Remember the guys in cockroach costumes at last month’s Kansas State Fair gubernatorial debate who protested Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ veto of an abortion clinic regulations bill? State Rep. Vaughn Flora, D-Topeka (in photo), now faces a count of misdemeanor battery in Reno County for his alleged contact with one of the “cockroaches,” aka Troy Newman of Operation Rescue; a paper clip that was holding a mask cut Newman’s scalp during the incident. If convicted, Flora could face up to a year in prison and a fine of less than $1,000. Flora’s attorney is Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
It turns out that lobbying isn’t just a growth industry in Washington, D.C. In 2005, $560,000 was spent to lobby the Kansas Legislature, down from $593,000 in 2004. But in the first eight months of 2006, lobbyists already have spent a record-breaking $885,000 on food, drinks and other tools aimed at delivering their clients’ message to state legislators. The largest reported increase has been because of the $412,000 spent so far this year on media campaigns, many related to telecommunications legislation, in which constituents have been urged to encourage their lawmakers to do this or that.
Of course, legislators argue that lobbyist dollars don’t buy votes. But as Sabrina Standifer, the Wichita attorney who chairs the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, told Harris News Service: “People need to be aware that there are large sums of money being spent to try and influence legislation.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
As we considered how Wichita’s priorities are faring these days in Topeka for our editorial last Sunday, we noticed that the Wichita area has supplied the state with five lieutenant governors just since 1975, including the current Lt. Gov. John Moore. State Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, would be the sixth should GOP nominee Jim Barnett, an Emporia state senator, unseat Gov. Kathleen Sebelius next month. Sebelius has noted that her new running mate, Mark Parkinson, grew up in Wichita. Seeing so many Wichitans in that secondary role is great as far as it goes, but it’s hard to quantify the influence and effectiveness of Kansas’ lieutenant governors — which probably means they don’t have much of either.
And don’t forget: Wichita hasn’t seen one of its own elected Kansas governor since 1955, Kansas House speaker since 1950 or Senate president since — well — ever. If Wichita wants to see itself favored in Topeka, it could use higher-quality area candidates in all kinds of races — people who can grow into Statehouse stars.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The U.S. population could top 300 million this week, but as of yet there aren’t any plans for bell clanging and a celebration speech in Washington, D.C., as Lyndon Johnson did in 1967 when we passed the 200 million mark. Maybe that’s because of the concern many people have about illegal immigration. Immigrants — both legal and illegal — account for nearly 40 percent of our population growth. But shutting off the immigrants could result in flat rate growth such as what Europe and Japan have, and that would create a serious crunch in Social Security and Medicare.
Posted by Angie Holladay
There’s something a little unsavory in the news that Madonna has adopted a 1-year-old Malawi boy.
She and her film director husband, Guy Ritchie, took custody of the child Thursday. Yohame Banda, the father, said he met the celebrity couple and likes them: “I know he will be very well looked after in America.”
Materially speaking, that might be the understatement of the decade. The boy is going from one of the poorest countries in the world to one of the richest, from a penniless father to a multimillionaire mom.
Yes, it’s great that Madonna wants to make a difference. But is this about helping a single child, or more about another celebrity dilettante burnishing her own ego?
A child advocacy group in Malawi also has reservations. Eye of the Child said on Friday it would seek a court injunction to stop the adoption if the government did not suspend its interim order approving the process. “It’s not like selling property,” the group’s spokesman said.
Posted by Dave Knadler
It turns out the latest contract to publish Kansas! magazine isn’t the only promotional deal being farmed out of state. Harris News Service reports that a Colorado firm got $100,000 to pitch Kansas stories “to national media and travel guides,” that an Arizona company got $139,462 to market Kansas to foreign companies, and that Midwest Living in Iowa (the new Kansas! magazine publisher) also gets $739,000 to publish the Kansas Visitor Guide every two years. Other state contracts worth $200,000 have gone to firms in Missouri and Florida. From a cost-benefit standpoint, these deals may make perfect sense, but as state Rep. Candy Ruff, D-Leavenworth, said of the Kansas! magazine deal: “People of Kansas, ya know, are blood. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with rules and regulations requiring that you need to look in your own backyard first before going out of state.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
