Raytheon Co.’s announcement Thursday that it may sell Wichita’s Raytheon Aircraft Co. is big news, given the uncertainty it creates for 6,000 employees and their families. But it’s no secret that Raytheon sought to sell the plant several years ago. And analysts considered it likely that the “for sale” sign would go out again when the company’s financial picture improved, which it now has.
The success that Boeing Wichita’s former commercial division has seen since being sold off and reinvented as Spirit AeroSystems also will take the edge off the anxiety for some in the community. Spirit has demonstrated the advantages of a declaration of independence from an aerospace giant.
Still, the possible sale of a large community employer can’t help but stoke familiar fears about job cuts, labor contracts and the local economy. Sad to say, but Wichita probably ought to be used to this by now.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The Daily Kos, one of the Internet’s most influential liberal blogs, is trumpeting Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ revitalization of the state Democratic Party and her ability to split the Republicans, drawing away moderate supporters and contributions (she’s sitting on a $2 million war chest for the fall campaign). “Sebelius is a rock star, and my favorite for the veep nod in 2008,” gushes blog founder Markos Zuniga.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Did you see the crazy article in Tuesday’s Eagle about all the drugs and alcohol that security officers have found stashed in potted plants and elsewhere at Wichita City Hall? In the first 39 days since the city installed a security checkpoint, officers seized 3,457 prohibited items, includes bags of crack, marijuana and an open bottle of whiskey. And that was just from City Council members — no, I kid. As City Manager George Kolb noted, there is nothing stopping people from turning around and leaving when they see the security checkpoint. Nothing other than their own stupidity.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
“Alberto Gonzales is achieving something remarkable, even miraculous, as attorney general: He is making John Ashcroft look good,” columnist Ruth Marcus wrote in The Washington Post. She says that Gonzales is more amiable and not as polarizing or ideological as Ashcroft. But, she wrote: “As I watched Gonzales testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, it struck me: In terms of competence (the skill with which he handles the job) and character (willingness to stand up to the president), Gonzales is enough to make you yearn for the good old Ashcroft days.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
One of GOP gubernatorial candidate and physician Jim Barnett’s most reported campaign lines — it’s been printed in The Eagle twice! — is: “We need more than a governor who will say, ‘Take two aspirin and call me when I’m president.’” But is that really an effective pitch — to remind voters that their current governor is so respected nationally that she gets mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate? And as a letter to the editor in today’s Opinion page points out, Barnett has said that, if elected, he would continue his medical practice (as he has while he has been a state senator). So do we need more than a governor who still wants to be a doctor?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
It was nice to see former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, as he put it, get nailed to the wall. Dole was honored Tuesday by having his portrait displayed in the lobby outside the Senate chambers at the U.S. Capitol, one of fewer than 40 senators in our history to be so recognized. Dole wasn’t without faults, but, much more than today’s congressional leaders, he was a pragmatist who was concerned more with solving problems than scoring political points.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
THE ROLLING STONES TO OPEN WRANGLERS GAME AT LAWRENCE-DUMONT; ‘We Have Turned the Corner on Attendance,’ Says City Official
POLICE SHUT DOWN CITY HALL AS KNOWN CRACK HOUSE; Mayor’s, City Council’s Abusive, Erratic Behavior Seen In New Light
BOB DOLE’S OFFICIAL SENATE PORTRAIT SHOWS BRITNEY SPEARS SITTING ON HIS LAP; ‘Elizabeth Hasn’t Seen It Yet, But I Think It’s A Good Likeness,’ A Smiling Dole Tells Media
Posted by Randy Scholfield
