Daily Archives: April 6, 2012

Flying to see Kansas teams play is part of governor’s job

April 6, 201212:54 p.m.

It’s natural for Kansans to envy Gov. Sam Brownback and his traveling parties for having used a state-owned airplane to follow the University of Kansas men’s basketball team to St. Louis and New Orleans for the Elite Eight and Final Four games. But such trips are part of the job for the Republican governor – who, for example, spoke at a pep rally before Monday’s NCAA championship game. And rather than ride solo, why wouldn’t Brownback invite relatives, friends, staff and legislators including House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, to go along? Even if the cost to taxpayers turns out to be more than the $3,000 cited in response to an open-records request filed by The Eagle, this seems like justifiable state business. The same could have been said of the flying that KU-crazy Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius did (though she won points for making her guest list bipartisan).

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government, Sam Brownback | Comments Off

County scores poorly on health outcomes

April 6, 20126:00 a.m.

Sedgwick County ranked 72nd in health outcomes out of 100 Kansas counties reviewed in a study released this week by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. That’s not good. Sedgwick County ranked 94th for social and economic factors, such as child poverty, unemployment and violent crime rates. The only category in which the county scored relatively high was clinical care, including the availability of primary care physicians and number of preventable hospital stays. Riley County has the healthiest residents in Kansas, according to the study.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Health and safety, Sedgwick County | Comments Off