JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge who cleared the way for a gay marriage in the state’s most populous county says he doesn’t regret his action.

But Chief Johnson County District Court Judge Kevin Moriarty says some of his colleagues disagreed with him.

An administrative order from Moriarty led the court clerk’s office issued a marriage license Friday to a gay couple, but hours later, the Kansas Supreme Court temporarily blocked additional same-sex marriage licenses.

The Kansas Constitution bans gay marriage. But Moriarty’s order noted the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal Monday to hear appeals from five states seeking to preserve similar bans.

With Kansas receiving national attention — and its courts receiving criticism from conservatives — Moriarty responded in a statement Friday.

By Mike Sherry
Hale Center for Journalism

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kansas City, Kan., Mayor Mark Holland on Thursday evening unveiled an initiative to ensure that all residents can use a proposed new community center regardless of their financial circumstances.

Holland announced the initiative as part of a community forum at City Hall for the “healthy campus” proposed for an urban site just west of downtown Kansas City, Kan.
A proposal championed by Holland, the healthy campus would be a mixed-use development that would revolve around Big Eleven Lake, which is bounded by 10th and 11th streets between State Avenue and Washington Boulevard.

Holland unveiled the healthy campus idea in his State of the Government address earlier this year.

At the forum, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., also expects to unveil a master plan for the development.

As part of the implementation process, the Unified Government is considering adopting a formal Downtown Central Parkway Implementation Plan, which government officials expect will be drafted by Oct. 28.

Under the timeline for enactment, the planning commission would hold a public hearing on the plan Nov. 10, followed by a hearing by the board of commissioners on Dec. 4.

In an interview Thursday, Holland said he expects to announce the establishment of a technical team that will develop a community center access plan. He said the team would include representatives from the Unified Government, along with school officials and appointees from the YMCA of Greater Kansas City.

In meetings with neighborhood groups and other interested parties, Holland said, access to the community center has been the No. 1 concern that has emerged.

“Access to healthy living should not be something that is income-driven,” he said. “It should be something that is available to everyone.”
Holland has discussed the idea of operating the community center in partnership with the YMCA. He expressed confidence that the team would devise a solution, given the Y’s experience in serving diverse communities across the country.

In addition to access to exercise facilities, Holland said he wanted the community center to host classes for the community on topics like healthy cooking.

Thursday’s event is a follow-up to a community forum the Unified Government hosted in the spring, when some participants expressed doubts that the project would happen in a part of town where residents have felt let down by City Hall in the past. That forum drew about 270 participants.

Holland said the skepticism was warranted given the dearth of economic development downtown for several years.

“Empty promises don’t pay the bills,” he said.

His vision for the campus, he said, is to make it the biggest thing to happen in downtown for generations.

The vision includes construction of a grocery store along with the community center. Those two projects alone, Holland has said, would represent a roughly $30 million investment in that part of town.

Elected officials from the Unified Government have committed $6 million in casino proceeds to the community center.

The Wyandotte Health Foundation also has pledged $1 million to the healthy campus.

Farms and ranches offer children a unique environment in which to live, play, work and grow up.

With all the excitement and whirlwind of activities, potential hazards lurk around every machine shed, tractor, silo and grain bin.

Like a moth to a flame, belching diesel smoke, the roar of engines and rubber wheels on tractors, combines or silage cutters draw children to them. And like fire, they can be dangerous.

Such equipment can cut, crush, trap or kill children. It can harm the ones we want to protect the most – our children.

Childhood farm injuries and fatalities most often occur while children play where farm activities are going on, or the youngsters are innocent bystanders.

Each year, hundreds of children are killed, and thousands more are injured in farm-related incidents, according to National Safety Council statistics.

Children younger than 10 years old experience one of the highest rates of pediatric farm-related injuries, says Holly Higgins, Kansas Farm Bureau safety director.

“In an ideal world, parents should keep children away from farming activities and environmental hazards associated with farming and ranching,” Higgins says. “Never invite children to ride in the tractor. Stress that your youngsters stay away from machinery. Don’t let them play or hide under or around machinery like tractors.”

Education and awareness are the key ingredients to help make the farm a safer place for children to play, Higgins says. Brushing up on some of the potential hazards can also make it safer for parents.

While barns, grain handling facilities and big buildings can be fun to play in, children can fall or be exposed to harmful substances like chemicals and electricity.

Explain the dangers associated with stored grain. Stress that grain can entrap a person almost immediately. Children should never play around, or in grain that is stored in bins, trucks or wagons. Emphasize that it is difficult, or can be impossible, to pull a child out of grain if he/she becomes trapped.

Discuss with your children the potential dangers involved with farm animals. Remind them that while animals are fun to be around they can also bite, trample and stomp.

Tell your youngsters the signs that show an animal may be dangerous. Some of them include pawing the ground, snorting, raised hair and ears laid back.

“Animals – even friendly ones – can be unpredictable,” Higgins says. “Have children stay away from large ones. Emphasize they stay away from animals with newborn or young. Tell them to remain calm, speak quietly and move slowly when around animals.”

Wide-open spaces can provide children with ideal playgrounds. However, this isolation may also lead to difficulty finding help in the event of an emergency.

Remember, it is important youngsters have a safe place to play. Ask them to identify safe play areas. Talk about areas away from farm machinery, animals, manure pits and silos.

Carefully define safe boundaries. Let children know where they can and cannot play.

Safe play areas remain the best alternative to bringing children into the worksite. This is especially important when off-farm child care is not available.

Keep your youngsters safe while they play on the farm.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster says an upcoming forum will provide a second opportunity to gather people’s thoughts about challenges facing urban police forces.

Koster is billing Tuesday’s event in Kansas City as a “round-table discussion” on solutions to low minority participation in city law enforcement agencies.

The racial composition of police forces has come under scrutiny following the Aug. 9 shooting of a black 18-year-old by a white police officer in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. The police force there has three black members among its 53 officers, though two-thirds of the town’s residents are black.

At the St. Louis event, some people said black residents often have strained relationships with police from a young age.

MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials have approved a daily pill that can cure the most common form of hepatitis C without the grueling pill-and-injection cocktail long used to treat the virus.