It’s official. Everyone who was involved in a 15-year-old sexual harassment lawsuit against Paul Morrison has said there was no settlement to end it. Morrison said that. So did his attorney. So did the woman’s attorney. And now, so does the woman. In an interview with a Kansas City, Mo., TV station, Kelly Summerlin said there was no settlement, either monetary or nonmonetary.
So now, all those in the Kline camp are left with is arguing that by claiming there was a settlement, they were just referring to the agreement to dismiss the case. Please. Next, they’ll start debating the definition of “is.”
Ironically, Kline’s claims and dirty campaign ad have shown why Morrison is the best candidate.
If a 15-year-old, unproven accusation is the best Kline can come up with to try to tarnish his opponent’s sterling reputation, Morrison must really be impressive. And if our state’s top attorney treats unsubstantiated allegations as if they had been proved true, it’s time for a better attorney.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
As if the campaigns of attorney general candidates Phill Kline and Paul Morrison weren’t bad enough, now outside groups have launched their own negative advertising. Great.
A group called “Kansans for Consumer Privacy Protection” — which appears to be connected to the ProKanDo abortion rights political action committee — sent out mailings claiming that “Snoop Dog Kline” wants to invade our privacy. The Republican State Leadership Committee — a Washington, D.C.-based group that apparently is funded by corporate special interests — ran TV ads claiming that Morrison is soft on crime. No doubt more shadowy, third-party groups will join in before Election Day.
But the candidates have shown themselves more than capable of slinging mud. They don’t need outside help.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Forget about Republicans vs. Democrats in 2008. The most interesting race between now and then might well turn out to be Clinton vs. Obama.
While Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has just signaled an interest in running, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is signaling her own interest in a different way: by spending nearly $7 million last month in a Senate re-election campaign where she already holds a 32-point lead and almost nobody has heard of her opponent.
As this story in the Hill newspaper points out, Clinton wants a landslide to show she can appeal to a wide range of voters, and to refute critics who say she’s too polarizing to beat a moderate Republican in 2008.
The same strategy appeared to work for George W. Bush in 1998, when he outspent his opponent 4-to-1 to win re-election as Texas governor.
Posted by Dave Knadler
Living the good life in Kansas just reached a new milestone with the New York Times report of new census data showing the percentage of income needed to pay rent in Olathe was higher than in New York City. Olathe also had the biggest jump in the percentage of people paying at least 30 percent of their income on rent, as well as in those paying at least 50 percent on rent, the paper reported.
The population of Olathe is growing at a rate of 4,000 per year, which has driven up housing prices. Housing has doubled in the past five years, with the average home now selling at $350,000. Builders also aren’t building enough apartments and duplexes, which is keeping rental prices sky-high.
Posted by Angie Holladay
Speaking of housing, but on the other end of the scale: How would you like to live next door to blight? As an Eagle article Saturday showed, it can take years for city inspectors to resolve cases involving run-down, eyesore properties. In one example, a home that burned two years ago still sits empty and boarded up, attracting trash and vandalism.
Granted, the process can be complicated because of due-process concerns. But the patience of nearby homeowners is wearing thin — and you can’t blame them.
The city is seeking tougher fines and code enforcement rules, and that’s welcome. One goal should be speedier resolutions of worst-case properties. As Wichita City Council member Jim Skelton said of the sometimes years-long delays: “It’s wrong. It’s unacceptable.”
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The young African-Americans who in 1958 staged a sit-in at the Dockum Drugs lunch counter didn’t know it, but they were making history. It’s time for Wichita to honor that history.
As a recent reunion of participants revealed, the Dockum sit-in — perhaps the first protest of its kind in the nation — helped end segregation locally and establish a strategy of nonviolent resistance in the civil rights movement. Only in recent years have historians begun to recognize the importance of their achievement.
Now a group of Wichita youths is circulating a petition to honor the Dockum protests by renaming Reflection Square Park after Chester I. Lewis (in photo), local leader of the NAACP at the time.
How fitting — the “pocket park” on Douglas Avenue downtown, once the site of a Woolworth’s, already features a prominent lunch-counter sculpture in tribute to Wichita’s Dockum sit-in.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Ex-vice president and environmental crusader Al Gore appeared at a rally in California to lend his support for Proposition 87, an initiative targeted toward oil companies. If it passes Nov. 7, oil companies will be taxed on oil taken from California, and charged billions to produce alternative energy sources to reduce California’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Gore arrived to the rally in his eco-friendly “100 miles per gallon” Toyota Prius hybrid, but his entourage followed in two limousines and a Dodge Ram pickup truck. They may not be so excited about leaving the style and comfort for alternative fuel vehicles.
Posted by Angie Holladay
