There remains a lot of uncertainty about the future of Raytheon Aircraft Co., but at least its 6,300 Wichita employees now know what company will control that future, thanks to the $3.3 billion deal announced Thursday. And it’s not as if the owners of the newly named Hawker Beechcraft Corp. are unknown entities. Since the Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp. turned the former Boeing Wichita commercial plant into Spirit AeroSystems last year, the new company has been thriving and hiring. And the other Raytheon buyer, Goldman Sachs, is only the biggest name on investing these days, having just reported the largest yearly profit in Wall Street history.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
"Out of deep and enduring respect for the will of the people, I cannot approve of Kline’s appointment as Johnson County district attorney by a small, narrow group of partisan political operatives," Gov. Kathleen Sebelius wrote in declining to sign Phill Kline’s certificate of appointment. But as Sebelius noted, her signature was purely ceremonial; party activists were free to chose whomever they wanted, regardless of what Sebelius or voters think. "I join the people of Kansas in hoping he conducts himself differently as district attorney than he did in his term as attorney general," Sebelius concluded. That, apparently, includes not using government property for campaigning purposes. The state’s Governmental Ethics Commission is now accusing Kline of improperly using state computers in his failed re-election campaign.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Nine months after the resignation of Interior Secretary Gale Norton, there is another former Wichitan in the president’s Cabinet — Defense Secretary Robert Gates. For whatever reason, Cabinet members from Wichita are getting to be the rule rather than the exception. Before Norton there was Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, the former Wichita congressman who served five years in President Clinton’s Cabinet.
These native Wichitans have brought a wealth of experience to their important responsibilities and, we’d like to think, a generous measure of Kansas-bred common sense and integrity. It’s gratifying to see our community give rise to such important public servants. And for all the essential community talk about how to keep talented kids from leaving, such Wichitans-made-good stories, in all walks of life, send a valuable message to area young people about their potential to contribute to the world.
Unlike most Cabinet members named midway through a lame-duck president’s term, Gates cannot be a placeholder. In taking his oath Monday to replace Donald Rumsfeld, he became perhaps the most important Cabinet member of President Bush’s two terms, with the urgent duty to help find and employ the right next strategy on Iraq.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Of the 42 soldiers from Kansas who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, 29 have come from rural communities, The Eagle reported. Nationally, the death rate of soldiers from rural areas is 60 percent higher than those from urban and suburban areas. A main reason for the higher rates is that rural areas have higher enlistment rates — in large part because there are fewer job opportunities in rural areas.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Government officials who wonder at the contempt some citizens feel for them should learn from stories such as the one about legal aid officials’ $70 lunches, $14 desserts, $18 breakfasts, $27 snacks and $423 chauffeured rides. Legal Services Corp., the government’s legal aid program for the poor, is changing its liberal expense policies under pressure from Congress and the program’s inspector general, opting to use the expense limits that apply to other federal agencies. “I hope $14 cookies and limo rides around town are a thing of the past,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. That won’t even things up with poor Americans who’ve been turned away from a cash-strapped legal aid office, but it’s a start.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Thanks to those who have donated to this year’s Share the Season campaign. All money collected goes to screened applicants who have specific needs, such as trouble paying their mortgage, rent or utility bills. If you haven’t already, please lend a hand. Send contributions to Share the Season, Wichita Community Foundation, 200 W. Douglas, Suite 250, Wichita, KS 67202. Or go online at www.sharetheseason.org and click on “Giving.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee