Sedgwick County commissioners certainly can make the case that they should go ahead and charge a $3 parking fee at the Kansas Coliseum, because comparable venues elsewhere charge to park and the Coliseum could use the revenue. Maybe the longtime events that are talking about walking are just bluffing. But there is a context for this latest proposed fee — the arena tax, the mill levy increase, the proposed inmate jail fees, higher tax bills because of appraisals — and commissioners need to proceed with caution.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Northern Ireland’s Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams sitting side by side, talking agreeably, was a sight many people thought they would never live to see. Paisley, leader of the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party, and Adams, leader of the Catholic Shinn Fein Party, struck a deal for a new provincial government in which both parties would cooperate.
“Those pictures of Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams will resonate around the world,” Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said. “If after the last 40 years or more they can talk, anything and everything is possible for Northern Ireland.”
The agreement should also give hope to others who strive for peace elsewhere.
Posted by Patrice Hein
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
About two dozen people attended a rally for an arena revote Sunday. Not exactly an overwhelming show of support.
Mayor Carlos Mayans attended, saying that he wasn’t opposing the arena but was all for accountability. "This is not as much about the arena than it is about their frustrations," he said of those attending the rally.
Well, no — the rally was to call for a revote on the arena to scuttle the project.
Did any WE Bloggers show up?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
It seems like everybody has an opinion about John Edwards’ decision to keep running for the Democratic presidential nomination despite his wife’s cancer comeback. Many, including lots of conservative Republicans, praise their determination. Some think it’s selfish or strange not to refocus their lives on her health and their young kids. But few could criticize the admirable grace and strength both John and Elizabeth Edwards showedon "60 Minutes" Sunday (see CBS photo), even though her breast cancer has metastasized not only to a rib but also, they newly revealed, to a "hot spot" in her right hip. She said, persuasively, "If I had given up everything that my life was about — first of all, I’d let cancer win before it needed to."
They certainly invite scrutiny by doing "60 Minutes" and remaining on the trail, but it seems strange that so many are so willing to pass judgment on this family’s painful choice and so quick to boil it down to what it means politically.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
As it is, Kansans who initially leave the state for college must pay out-of-state tuition if they are away more than a year. A smart bill that has passed out of the House and Senate — and whose champions include Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, and Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichtia — would extend the window of opportunity to still pay in-state tuition to within five years after a Kansan had left the state. As local and state leaders plot how to retain as well as attract new workers, this legislation could be a useful tool, providing an incentive for those suffering from second thoughts to come home to a Kansas campus.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
While schools are spending much time and millions in tax dollars to help low-performing students meet the No Child Left Behind law’s mandates, many gifted and talented students are the ones being left behind.
Because there is little funding for special programs to support and encourage our brightest students, “these students lose interest in their passions, become frustrated and unmotivated from the lack of challenge their school curricula provides them,” according to an article by two Duke University education professors. Many gifted students drop out before graduating from high school because of this lack of academic challenge. “As a result, they become our lost talent,” the professors wrote.
Another misconception is that gifted and talented students are the children of privilege. “Giftedness” cannot be bought or learned; it is not determined by gender, religion, economics or skin color. It is just that — a gift. And what a waste of these gifts if we don’t put effort into helping gifted and talented students meet their potential.
Posted by Patrice Hein
The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com:
PRESIDENT OF IRAN DECLARES WAR ON SPARTA; Vows to Nuke 300 Warriors
GIULIANI’S EX-WIVES MARCH ON WASHINGTON; Police Estimate Crowd at 200,000
BUSH STRIPS LIBBY OF NICKNAME; President: ‘I Hardly Knew the Man’
I WON’T BACK GINGRICH, SAYS SATAN; Former House Speaker Loses Longtime Supporter
NCAA RENAMES MARCH MADNESS ‘MARCH BIPOLAR DISORDER’; Under Pressure from National Institute of Mental Health
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The Kansas Legislature needs to put the brakes on a bill that exempts health care professionals from the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.
What’s been overlooked about the bill, which already passed the House, is that it would exempt not just doctors but all kinds of health care practitioners from charges under the Kansas consumer law — including hearing aid specialists, chiropractors, assisted living nurses, pharmacists, health spa personnel, weight-loss clinics and alternative healers of all sorts.
Consumers have some protection under medical malpractice law, but only in cases of professional negligence, not intentionally deceptive and injurious practices.
For instance, the exemption would give consumers no recourse against a laser eye surgeon who, say, sells a consumer on the latest technique but then performs an entirely different one.
The bill is being opposed by Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison, Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston, and Kansas AARP, among others.
“This bill would prevent my office from investigating the most deceptive and unconscionable acts committed by anyone in the health care industry,” said Morrison.
That should give lawmakers pause. Many of them, upon learning that this exemption covers far more than doctors, are rightly having second thoughts.
True, under the bill, health care practitioners could still be charged for deceptive billing and advertising — but what if the promise of treatment is a statement, not an ad?
Moreover, the exemption sets a bad precedent — no doubt other industries, from home builders to accounting, will be lining up for exemptions if this passes.
Lawmakers should give this bill a closer look and first do no harm to Kansas consumers.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
It always popular politically to boost jail time for drunk drivers.
But a Kansas House bill that would double sentences for some DUI offenders overlooks a critical component: Jail space.
County sheriffs lobbied hard against the bill, complaining that it would impose a costly burden on their already overflowing jails.
Why didn’t lawmakers listen to their valid concerns?
Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville, who sponsored the original bill, told The Eagle editorial board Friday that the House version veered in a different direction. He called it “harsh” and expressed concern that the sentencing spikes would probably require “500 to 1,000 beds just in Sedgwick County alone.”
“It’s all stick and no carrot,” he said, adding that he’d like to see a more balanced bill that includes emphasis on treatment programs and other alternatives that would reduce the number of people driving drunk.
The Senate shouldn’t let this bill pass in its present form.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Former Vice President Al Gore in congressional testimony this week took on the warming skeptics:
“The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don’t say, ‘Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it’s not a problem.’ If the crib’s on fire, you don’t speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action.”
posted by Randy Scholfield
A new British study challenges why some drugs are regulated or illegal and why others aren’t. It ranked the danger of different drugs based on the physical harm to the user, the drug’s potential for addiction, and the impact on society, Associated Press reported.
Heroin and cocaine topped the list as most dangerous, followed by barbiturates and street methadone. Alcohol was the fifth-most harmful, and tobacco was ninth. Marijuana was 11th, and Estasy was at the bottom of the list.
So does alcohol or tobacco need more regulation, or does pot or some other drugs need less?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
A bill in the Kansas Legislature that would make it harder to vote is a disservice to democracy, we argued in Thursday’s editorial.
The measure would require a passport or birth certificate from people registering to vote, as well as photo ID from people actually voting.
This is a solution in search of a problem. There’s no evidence of any significant level of voter fraud.
What is clear is that the measure would discourage thousands of Kansas citizens from voting at a time of already abysmally low turnout rates.
State officials should be making it easier to vote, not raising more barriers.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
FYI: Reps. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, and Nancy Boyda, D-Topeka, are scheduled to appear on “Ask Your Legislator” this Sunday on KPTS, Channel 8. The program airs from 5-6:00 p.m. You can call in questions toll free at 877-491-5787, or e-mail them in advance or during the program to ask@kpts.org.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
France this week became the first country to open all of its government UFO files to researchers. French authorities unveiled an online site that thoroughly documents some 1,600 sightings over five decades. About 25 percent of the evidence reportedly received a "type D" classification, meaning that despite credible witnesses and good evidence, no explanation for the phenomena could be found.
The file probably won’t either convince skeptics or dissuade UFO believers, but it is a laudable exercise in open government and scientific cooperation.
The United States should follow suit. Back in 2002, former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta called on the Pentagon to release all of its UFO files, saying, "It is time for the government to declassify records that are more than 25 years old and to provide scientists with data that will assist in determining the real nature of this phenomenon."
And while they’re at it, they should release the bodies of those aliens in Hanger 18.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer sees nothing wrong with firing the eight U.S. attorneys and thinks that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is a decent and honorable man. "But," he wrote, "in time, and the sooner the better, Gonzales must resign. It’s not a question of probity but of competence. Gonzales has allowed a scandal to be created where there was none. That is quite an achievement. He had a two-foot putt and he muffed it."
Krauthammer’s complaint is that Gonzeles allowed his aides to "go to Capitol Hill unprepared and misinformed and therefore give inaccurate and misleading testimony." And that he allowed his deputy to say that "the prosecutors were fired for performance reasons when all he had to say was that U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president and the president wanted them replaced."
