Monday was a big night for Kansans, and especially Lawrence residents — so big that the University of Kansas gave its students the next day off. But Lawrence public schools didn’t cancel classes, and 2,134 of the district’s 10,000 students missed school that day, compared with 790 absences on average on recent Tuesdays.
It’s hard to get three-quarters or even two-thirds of Kansans to agree on much these days, but the Air Force succeeded: In a SurveyUSA poll sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12 in Wichita, 80 percent said the contract to build a U.S. military airplane should not go to the lowest bidder if it’s a foreign company, as it did in the case of the refueling tankers. Asked if Boeing’s loss of the refueling tanker contract will have a major impact on the local economy, 68 percent said it would. Plus, 62 percent said they thought such a plane would be less safe if built by a foreign company.
Judging from the TV commercial touting Sunflower Electric Power Corp.’s proposed expansion of “Holcomb station,†coal-fired power plants make sunflowers grow and families grow closer. They also involve wind turbines. “The visuals overwhelmingly show images of a clean, healthy, sunflower-filled Kansas, hoping viewers will actually associate the Holcomb coal-fired power plant with beauty and health rather than what many may normally associate burning coal with, which is dirty air,†observed Washburn University political scientist Bob Beatty.
Sunflower president Earl Watkins said: “We think the public’s entitled to know both sides of the debate.â€
Speaking of how the Kansas Senate started its Tuesday, chaplain Fred Hollomon’s Kansas Day prayer bears repeating:
“One hundred and forty-seven years ago today, Kansas moved from territory to statehood. From the very beginning Kansas wore a label: If anything could be done, Kansas folks were able. We have been described as being both hit and miss, ‘from the heights of ecstasy, to the black abyss.’ We’ve been called ‘anomaly,’ hard to understand. ‘Peculiar, but interesting,’ a ‘problematic’ land. We once were ‘Bleeding Kansas,’ fighting to be free. Finally winning the battle, and statehood came to be. Yes, you saw it all, O God, but you play a greater role: Through your many ministers you can save Kansas’ soul!â€
Many a Kansas schoolchild knows that today is Kansas Day, the 147th anniversary of the Kansas’ entrance into the Union as a free state. The older folks among us tend to think of it as an excuse for Kansas Republicans to party (which they did over the weekend in Topeka). But Kansans of all ages could be better acquainted with their fascinating state, which is more than the sum of its “bleeding,†cattle-herding, wheat-growing, planemaking and ball-playing parts.
We’ll get a good gauge of what Kansans value most about the Sunflower State today, when Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and the Kansas Sampler Foundation announce the Eight Wonders of Kansas, as chosen by more than 24,000 people online.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius isn’t the only member of her family getting media attention; so is one of her sons — albeit in the “news of the weird†category. John Sebelius, 23, is selling “Don’t Drop the Soap,†a prison-themed board game he created as part of a class project at the Rhode Island School of Design, Associated Press reported. The description of the game on his Web site (which also lists the governor’s mansion in the contact address) says: “Escape prison riots in The Yard, slip glass into a mob boss’ lasagna in the Cafeteria, steal painkillers from the nurse’s desk in the Infirmary, avoid being cornered by the Aryans in the shower room, fight off Latin Kings in Gang War, and try not to smoke your entire stash in The Hole.â€
Nicole Corcoran, the governor’s spokeswoman, noted that the game — which sells for $34.99, plus packaging, shipping and handling — isn’t intended for children.
UPDATE: As of late Monday, John Sebelius’ Web site no longer listed the governor’s mansion as the contact address, using a Lawrence address instead.
The Eagle identified nine people “to watch in 2008†— Matt All, Rod Bremby (in photo), Winston Brooks, Joey DeLeon, Peter Gustaf, Kim Janzen, Jack Pelton, Mary K. Vaughn and Bill Warren — and left a 10th spot open to represent the key posts currently vacant.
Meanwhile, the Topeka Capital-Journal named the residents of Greensburg as its Kansans of the Year, an honor that’s richly deserved. Among that newspaper’s Distinguished Kansans for 2007 were Iraq surge architect Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, KU football coach Mark Mangino, NASCAR contender Clint Bowyer and Google Earth creator Brian McClendon.
Any WE Bloggers feel left out? Or see obvious omissions from either list?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Most of the critics of Kansas Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby’s rejection of permits for two coal plants in western Kansas have been from western Kansas. So there’s no gauging how the full Legislature would vote on any measure aimed at overruling the decision, let alone trying to override a governor’s veto of such a bill. But at least one key Johnson County lawmaker, state Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, appears ready to stand with plant proponents. “The Legislature needs to take legislative action to overrule Bremby’s decision,†Vratil said this week, arguing the state’s action could deter businesses from investing in Kansas.
That seemingly puts Vratil at odds with Sen. Jim Barnett (in photo), R-Emporia, a physician who recently said Bremby was right to consider the health effects of carbon emissions when he denied the permit (but also said there are more serious air-quality issues in other parts of the state).
Posted by Rhonda Holman
When it comes to marketing to potential tourists, Kansas’ spending is about as big as you’d think: 44th among states for funding of its tourism office ($4.5 million last year) and 48th among states for marketing and promotion ($1.1 million). All agree the Sunflower State can do better. At a legislative meeting last week, the question was how. One idea: a new semi-independent tourism authority, patterned after the Kansas Bioscience Authority.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
No jokes here about Derby’s designation designation by U.S. News & World Report as a “Best Place to Retire” (49th place), just three months after Family Circle counted it among America’s “10 Best Towns for Families.” Derby stands out among American suburbs for being less a bedroom community than a full-service city that just happens to be next to Wichita. With 20,000 residents and a high quality of life and leadership, Derby is due congratulations — and imitation.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Monday was a big night for Kansans, and especially Lawrence residents — so big that the University of Kansas gave its students the next day off. But Lawrence public schools didn’t cancel classes, and 2,134 of the district’s 10,000 students missed school that day, compared with 790 absences on average on recent Tuesdays.
