House Appropriations Committee Chairman Marc Rhoades, R-Newton, said recently that “the writing is on the wall” in regard to school vouchers, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. “In my opinion, it’s like a tidal wave that’s coming, and I don’t know that the education establishment can withstand it forever,” Rhoades said. Actually, the reason vouchers haven’t been able to clear the Legislature is not because of the “education establishment.” Many conservative lawmakers have been concerned about the cost of vouchers and how they might affect small school districts.
“I don’t often go to ribbon cuttings, but I’d go to that one.” – Rep. Mike Pompeo (in photo), R-Wichita, on the idea of Boeing reversing itself and keeping the Air Force One work in Wichita
“Communities don’t have health problems. Individuals do.” – Sedgwick County Commissioner Richard Ranzau, likening water fluoridation to collectivism and communitarianism
“If they reimbursed you for pain and suffering, they would be paying quite a bit more.” – Harvey County Commissioner Marge Roberson, in the Newton Kansan, about a $4,558.50 check from the state to help with overtime costs for the computer switch and resulting long lines for tags and driver’s licenses
“I was against a young man who I considered a friend.… He was asked to run by Sam Brownback. And will be a puppet of Sam Brownback.” – Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, in a Financial Times article headlined “Moderates lick wounds in ‘bleeding Kansas’”
It is exciting to see the former Britt Brown Arena at the Kansas Coliseum complex being transformed into the Aircraft Structural Testing and Evaluation Center, an expansion of the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University. Developer Johnny Stevens and NIAR are remodeling the arena so that NIAR can conduct structural tests on aircraft as big as Boeing 737s and 787s. Work at the center is expected to begin within a month, and the offices are scheduled to be open the first week of January. The new center will further enhance Wichita’s stature as an aviation manufacturing and research hub.
Wichita’s reputation for being a hard place to draw a crowd is at serious risk. Exploration Place’s exhibition of “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” attracted more than 57,000 visitors between Memorial Day and Labor Day, behind only its earlier “Titanic” and “Our Body: The Universe Within” exhibitions. And Theatre League’s four-week run of Disney’s “The Lion King” at Century II during September made Wichita history for drawing 60,000 people and grossing $4.3 million (compared with the 45,000 who saw the 24-performance run of “Wicked” in 2009). Meanwhile, the Intrust Bank Arena came in 33rd in the country and 67th in the world in third-quarter year-to-date attendance on Pollstar’s ranking of Top 200 Arena Venues, with nearly 125,000 tickets sold. Such numbers demonstrate the size and buying power of the south-central Kansas audience, when presented with what it sees as a compelling reason to come and spend money in downtown Wichita on a traveling show.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Marc Rhoades, R-Newton, said recently that “the writing is on the wall” in regard to school vouchers, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. “In my opinion, it’s like a tidal wave that’s coming, and I don’t know that the education establishment can withstand it forever,” Rhoades said. Actually, the reason vouchers haven’t been able to clear the Legislature is not because of the “education establishment.” Many conservative lawmakers have been concerned about the cost of vouchers and how they might affect small school districts.
