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Daily Archives: Nov. 21, 2006
Is Corkins leaving the building?
Nov. 21, 200611:59 a.m.
The Kansas State Board of Education has scheduled a special executive session Wednesday to discuss personnel, and the speculation is that Education Commissioner Bob Corkins is on his way out.
Some of those to be part of the board’s new moderate majority are not yet in place, but they’ve made it clear that canning Corkins, a conservative activist with scant education or management background, will be high on their to-do list.
If Corkins saw the writing on the wall after the August GOP primary (how could he not?), he probably has been shopping his resume.
Stay tuned. Whatever the outcome, it’s pretty clear that Corkins’ days as commissioner are numbered.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Putting the brakes on teen drivers
Nov. 21, 200611:57 a.m.
As we argue in today’s editorial, several recent fatalities involving teens show the need for tighter rules for young drivers in Kansas.
Teens are easily distracted and think they’re indestructible — a deadly combination on the road.
Despite accounting for just 7 percent of registered drivers, teen drivers are involved in 20 percent of Kansas accidents.
And car crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers.
Legislators should pass a couple of proposed changes in driver regulations — restrict nighttime driving for teens (say, after 9 p.m.) and limit driving with other teens in the car. No cell phones, either.
Of course, parents provide the most important models and oversight. Some tough love could save a lot of young lives.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Wrong to publish O.J.’s book
Nov. 21, 20061:03 a.m.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. made the right decision Monday in canceling O.J. Simpson’s “If I Did It” book, in which he recounts how he would have carried out the 1994 killings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman if he had, um, done it.
Right. Just an intellectual exercise while O.J. continues searching for the real killer.
In announcing the decision to scrap both the book and a tie-in TV special, Murdoch said that he agreed with the American public that this was an “ill-considered project.”
That’s an understatement.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
69 pit bulls cause almost as many problems
Nov. 21, 20061:02 a.m.
It was shocking to learn in recent days of the effect the 69 seized pit bulls have had on the Wichita Animal Shelter. They have cost $30,000 and “essentially shut down the animal shelter for its essential purpose — to claim strays from the community and hold them until their owners claim them,” Assistant City Attorney Jay Hinkel told Sedgwick County District Judge Eric Yost last week.
The shelter reportedly has been turning away owners looking to put their animals up for adoption, as well as wannabe adoptive pet owners. The only apparent solution to the problem is for the city to kill the remaining 51 dogs, pending the owner’s appeal. Add in the city’s lack of openness regarding the effect of the pit bulls on the shelter’s operations, and you have a regrettable mess.
Worse, two children were living in the Wichita house when the dogs were seized in July — a house so reeking of urine that it sickened a police officer and at least two animal control workers.
Reports of the pit bulls’ aggressive behavior at the shelter surely affirm the rule against putting up such dogs for adoption. But that raises a question Wichitans love to argue: Should a breed viewed as unsuitable for adoption by the city’s animal shelter be lawful to own?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Don’t make impeached judge the House’s keeper of spy secrets
Nov. 21, 20061:01 a.m.
It makes sense for Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to try to respect seniority in handing out committee chairmanships. But she should draw the line at choosing Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., to be chairman of the House Intelligence Committee over the current ranking minority member, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif. Yes, Hastings was acquitted of bribery charges when he was a federal judge, but he was later impeached by the House and removed from the bench by the Senate. And even if Hastings’ conduct doesn’t bother his constituents, it ought to bother Pelosi. Especially after Pelosi backed Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., to be majority leader, she needs to ensure that her assignments don’t make a joke of her vow to lead history’s “most honest, ethical” Congress.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Wranglers were third in line for Wichita’s baseball attentions
Nov. 21, 20061:00 a.m.
It’s hard to argue with Wichita Wranglers owner Bob Rich’s assessment of why the city is losing the team, as finally explained via a sister publication of the Wichita Business Journal:
Compared with Wichita State University’s baseball program and Rich’s own National Baseball Congress World Series, Rich said, “The Wichita Wranglers are probably a bad third out of the three” in public support. He added: “Even when they announced the possibility that the team was going to leave, the attendance needle didn’t move at all. I really don’t think (the Wranglers) are truly part of that community.”
Makes you wonder what kind of attendance the team will manage for 2007, before it moves to Springdale, Ark.
Another cause for concern: The article’s headline said Rich is “almost certain” the NBC tournament will stay in Wichita. “I think what will happen is we’ll sign up a long-term agreement to (keep) the NBC, which they love, and they go there in record numbers,” Rich said.
It’s up to city officials to seal that deal.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
