The gambling legislation that cleared the Kansas House is imperfect, and faces an uncertain future in the Senate. But unlike some past proposals, it would give Sedgwick County voters an opportunity to decide whether they want a local casino and slot machines at the dog track, rather than limit expanding gambling to northeast or southeast Kansas. It also would acknowledge that while many people, including many GOP legislators from the area, have sincere moral objections to gambling, many Kansans enjoy gambling already and would like to do so closer to home.
As our editorial notes, if a local casino election is held as a result of this bill, "it will be thanks to area Democrats and one Republican in the Kansas House — and no thanks to the rest of the area GOP House members, many of whom worked long hours in recent days against allowing local voters a say."
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Wichita State University deserves credit for not overreacting to news that artist Tom Otterness shot a dog to death 30 years ago as part of an art film.
Yes, it’s a disturbing incident. And some critics argue the incident is reason enough to scrap Otterness’ $450,000 "Millipede" sculpture planned near the Ulrich Museum of Art.
But Otterness, a Wichita native, has made clear his profound regret about his action, which he said happened during a low point in his life. What’s relevant here is not a mistake that happened decades ago but the artwork and whether it meets the purposes of the university.
It’s worth noting that Otterness’ work "is probably some of the most community-friendly, family-friendly work being produced by a major artist in America," according to Adam Weinberg, director of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
Let the art stand on its own merits.
(It might be smart, though, for Otterness to make a generous contribution to a local animal shelter.)
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appears to be losing support, with key Republicans expressing a loss of confidence in his truthfulness regarding his role in the eight fired U.S. attorneys.
Meanwhile, the Bush White House has circled the wagons and still refuses to budge on its refusal to allow Bush adviser Karl Rove and others to give testimony in public, under oath, with a transcript.
And Monica Goodling, an aide to Gonzales who was liaison between the Justice Department and the White House, reportedly will plead the Fifth Amendment and refuse to testify in upcoming Senate hearings on the spreading scandal.
All of it reinforces the perception that the Bush administration has something to hide here. If it did nothing wrong, then why not lay it all out?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Menu Foods has recalled some of its dog and cat food because it contains trace amounts of rat poison, which has led to kidney failure and the untimely deaths of at least 16 dogs and cats. The tainted food has come from both a factory in Emporia and a factory in New Jersey.
The Food and Drug Administration is looking at the wheat gluten, a thickening agent that Menu Foods imports from China, to see if it could’ve been tainted with rat poison. But that raises the question: Why is Menu Foods importing wheat gluten to Kansas? Surely the Chinese can’t beat our prices for wheat. Isn’t this like the old saying about selling coal to Newcastle?
Posted by Ross Stewart
When shopping for a president, American voters traditionally favor governors over members of Congress — four of the past five commanders in chief came to the White House via a Statehouse. Governors haven’t fared so well this time, though, presumably because of the post-Sept. 11 need to know a lot about foreign policy. Gov. Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh didn’t run. Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack bailed after just three months. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (in photo) is still in it, as is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and a couple more candidates even less well-known, but the front-runners so far are the senators past and present. And the strongest in the field, Romney, stumbled badly recently by inadvertently using a Fidel Castro phrase to try to reflect South Florida Republicans’ fervent desire for a free Cuba. But “if I were an investor, I’d invest in governors,” said Barry C. Burden, a political-science professor at the University of Wisconsin. “During these next few months, they’re going to begin to introduce themselves.”
Or jump into the race? (Paging Jeb Bush. . . .)
Posted by Rhonda Holman
It was great to see Exploration Place drawing big crowds with its Titanic exhibition, which closed Sunday after a successful run that drew more than 70,000 people and made about $200,000 profit for the museum.
Hosting these blockbuster traveling exhibitions is looking like at least part of the solution for turning around the fiscally troubled science museum.
As Exploration Place president Al Meloni told The Eagle, “Wichita is ready for world-class quality. The arena’s got nothing to worry about. If you bring quality acts, people will always respond.”
Posted by Randy Scholfield
