It’s good to learn the Wichita City Council wants a new ordinance that would dial down the brightness on those distracting strobelike LED business signs, according The Eagle’s new Hall Monitor blog.
Most of the signs already have dimming controls, John Lay of George Lay Signs told the council last week.
So let’s turn them down a notch. Either that or give drivers welding goggles.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Conservative Republicans in the Legislature who are fuming about the gambling expansion may find a way to console themselves, especially if the new revenue estimates are rosy: “This is a golden opportunity to cut taxes now and help boost the state’s economy,” said state Sen. Jim Barnett, R-Emporia, who had fought the gambling bill.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
“I want to (believe it) really bad,” said John Mathews, a homeless man, after all the candidates running for Wichita mayor and City Council endorsed a 24/7 homeless shelter. “But, no, I just can’t believe it.”
His skepticism is justified. After all, it’s been 16 years since the city began its “temporary solution” for housing the homeless during cold winter nights.
The city and Sedgwick County do have a blue-ribbon task force examining the homeless issue. It will make recommendations, which may or may not include a 24/7 shelter.
But as Ed Haynie, a member of the Advocates for Ending Chronic Homelessness, noted, several of the candidates are incumbents who have had at least four years to act. “What have they done for you lately?” he asked.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Most freshmen lawmakers have to bide their time in the background before delivering on their campaign promises. State Reps. Raj Goyle, D-Wichita, and Vince Wetta (in photo), D-Wellington, didn’t wait. Goyle, an attorney, co-wrote the bill to place limits on funeral protests, aimed at the Phelps clan, as he said he would last fall. “This bill is designed to protect a constitutional right to privacy during the funeral of a family that’s mourning a loved one,” Goyle said of the bill, which went to the governor last week. And Wetta was key to ensuring that Sumner County and south-central Kansas generally were included in the gambling expansion. “It’s everything we hoped for,” Wetta said. “Now we’ve got to work together to make this the best deal for the state of Kansas, make sure that the money goes to help people, help the economy, and that we use it wisely.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The effort to pass an unneeded bill declaring English as the state’s official language has demonstrated that effective communication requires more than a common knowledge of English. Negotiators have struggled to reconcile the House version, which includes funding for English classes, with the Senate version, which doesn’t. One senator suggested the bill was dead for the session. At one point during a meeting, Rep. Candy Ruff, D-Leavenworth — never one to mince words — told Senate negotiators, “We’re not a bunch of four-eyed virgins sitting at this table having never done this before.” Maybe lawmakers need a mediator — or perhaps a translator — to get together on this bill.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
