Beaten down by all the aircraft layoffs, Wichita needed some good economic news. And it got it Thursday with NetApp’s announcement that it plans to add 400 jobs at its Wichita facility. These are good-paying jobs – averaging $73,000 a year – that will help diversify Wichita’s economy. Congratulations to local and state economic development officials for helping make this expansion happen, and thanks to NetApp for believing in Wichita. We needed the boost.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach seems to be everywhere these days – except in Kansas doing his job. Last week he was in Pennsylvania trying to resurrect a law he wrote barring landlords or employers in Hazleton, Pa., from dealing with illegal immigrants. He then was in Alabama defending that state’s anti-immigration law at a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights hearing. Kobach’s testimony was disrupted by protesters, one of whom shouted, “These laws are made from hate.” This week Kobach was in Tampa, Fla., persuading the Republican Party to include anti-immigration measures in its official platform. “If you really want to create a job tomorrow, you can remove an illegal alien today,” Kobach said. He also filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Dallas over the Obama administration’s plan to stop deporting certain young illegal immigrants and grant them work permits.
