When Sumner County voters approved the idea of a destination casino way back in December 2005, one of the strongest arguments was its potential to lower property taxes. Just seven months after the Kansas Star Casino opened, that’s about to happen in Mulvane. City Administrator Kent Hixson has included a 10 percent cut in the property-tax mill levy in his 2013 budget proposal, along with a 5 percent cut in city electric rates in the current year. The city, which receives 1 percent of gross revenue from the casino, already has received $844,000 and is making improvements to its water and emergency response systems.
In a poll last week of 401 likely Sedgwick County voters in the GOP primary, conducted by SurveyUSA and sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12, Marc Bennett had pulled way ahead of Kevin O’Connor in the district attorney’s race and challenger Jeff Easter was leading Sheriff Robert Hinshaw. Bennett, deputy district attorney in the office of the retiring District Attorney Nola Foulston, had 51 percent support, compared with 33 percent for O’Connor, a former deputy district attorney. Easter, a captain in the Wichita Police Department, had 49 percent support, compared with Hinshaw’s 38 percent. In polling three weeks ago, Bennett led O’Connor and Hinshaw led Easter by 1 percentage point.
Today is the 89th birthday of Bob Dole, who represented Kansas in the U.S. Senate from 1969 until he resigned to be the GOP presidential nominee in 1996. Sixteen years later, Dole still stands out not only for the length of his service and his dedication to veterans but also for his ability to work extremely well with others in Washington, D.C., to get big things done. Dole once said he hoped that the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence would become a place “where conviction coexists with civility, and the clash of ideas is never confused with a holy war.” The state and country need more such places.
“It’s a free country, I’m not beholden to anybody anymore, and I’m going to go out and help my friends.” – former Gov. Bill Graves (in photo), telling the crowd at a Wichita fundraiser what he said when Sen. Pat Roberts asked why Graves was returning to Kansas to campaign for moderate Republican state senators
“The Senate is the last bastion of traditional Republicanism here. We’re fighting for the heart and soul of Kansas.” – Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, to Reuters
“We started using words like ‘war’ and ‘mutiny’ with our moderate leadership.” – Sen. Ty Masterson, R-Wichita, also to Reuters, on the conservative-moderate split in the state Senate under Morris
When Sumner County voters approved the idea of a destination casino way back in December 2005, one of the strongest arguments was its potential to lower property taxes. Just seven months after the Kansas Star Casino opened, that’s about to happen in Mulvane. City Administrator Kent Hixson has included a 10 percent cut in the property-tax mill levy in his 2013 budget proposal, along with a 5 percent cut in city electric rates in the current year. The city, which receives 1 percent of gross revenue from the casino, already has received $844,000 and is making improvements to its water and emergency response systems.
