By JIM MCLEAN

The four teenagers running to be the next governor of Kansas were tested Thursday at a forum organized by their peers at Lawrence Free State High School.

Standing at the center of the Free State gym, they fielded questions on gun control, race, drugs, abortion and a host of other divisive issues.

They answered forthrightly. Honestly. Not by pivoting to talking points like more practiced politicians.

“There’s the art of not answering questions, but what good does that do for voters and our democracy?” asked Tyler Ruzich, a 17-year-old Shawnee Mission North student from Prairie Village who is determined to be on the Republican primary ballot.

Candidates have a “moral and ethical” responsibility to share their true beliefs so that voters can make informed choices, Ruzich said.

“That’s something I think is pretty important,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for. We’re here for change. Younger people want answers.”

The Free State students certainly did.

They pushed the high-school hopefuls for their positions on issues that many politicians are reluctant to discuss.

In addition to Ruzich, Jack Bergeson and his lieutenant governor running mate, Alexander Cline, both students at The Independent School in Wichita, participated in the forum along with Ethan Randleas, a student at Wichita Heights High School, and Dominic Scavuzzo, who lives in Leawood but attends Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo.

A question about gun control touched off a lengthy debate.

Randleas, a Libertarian, said he was opposed to stricter gun control laws. Instead, he said decriminalizing drugs would reduce gun and gang violence “exponentially.”

Bergeson, the first of the four teen candidates to announce, said he differed with most other Democrats on the issue.

“I am very much for Governor (Sam) Brownback’s conceal-carry law,” Bergeson said. “But I am for banning automatic weapons and semi-automatic weapons.”

Cheers erupted when Ruzich, a self-described moderate Republican whose parents are Bernie Sanders Democrats, said he favored “getting guns off of campuses and universal background checks.”

That’s what Free State senior Paul Jesse wanted to hear. He’s strongly opposed to recent changes in state law that allow students, faculty and visitors to carry concealed handguns on university campuses.

“I’ve lived in Lawrence my whole life, and one of the reasons I’m not going to KU is because of that,” Jesse said. “It has definitely changed my point of view on the state itself.”

Varied policy priorities

As he did throughout the forum, Randleas held fast to his Libertarian views.

“There’s a lot of trigger words here like guns off of campuses,” he said, arguing that it’s “asinine” to suggest that someone’s Second Amendment rights are suspended when they step onto a college campus.

The role of government also proved to be a point of contention, with Randleas arguing for smaller government and the elimination of individual income and corporate taxes and the others calling for increased investment in education, health care and infrastructure.

“I understand the idea of hands-off, laissez-faire economics, but it’s just not realistic,” Ruzich said. “We tried it in this state and it has miserably failed.”

Reducing political corruption and improving access to health care topped Bergeson’s list of priorities. In addition to calling for implementation of a single-payer “Medicare for all” health care system, he said campaign finance reforms are needed to curb the corrupting influence of “big corporate donors”

“I support publicly financed elections but believe that system will only work if there is a national framework behind it,” he said, pledging to set an example by accepting only individual donations of $500 or less for his campaign.

There was relative harmony on some issues, including LGBT rights.

“I think this is something we all agree on, and that’s pretty cool,” Randleas said.

Scavuzzo, a Catholic, said his religious beliefs make it difficult to support laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, but he said he is personally opposed to it.

“People just need to be more accepting,” Scavuzzo said, adding that he would “try to appoint” members of the LGBT community to his Cabinet if elected.

Likewise, the candidates were in lockstep on the need to legalize, or at least decriminalize, marijuana. Several promised if elected to release inmates serving time in state prisons for non-violent drug offenses.

Bergeson said he would push to add Kansas to a growing list of states that have legalized medical marijuana.

“In my opinion, it is despicable that the law in this state forces people with certain illnesses to choose between abiding by the law … or living a healthy life,” he said.

‘There was no fear’

Ella Keathley, the Free State student who organized the forum, said the event exceeded her expectations, particularly the level of student involvement.

“That was the thing I was worried about,” Keathley said. “Are they going to feel like this was a waste of time? But I really do feel like they got very interested.”

The teacher who helped Keathley pull the event together also was pleased.

“I thought it came off great,” said Blake Swenson, who teaches government, history and social studies at Free State.

In particular, Swenson said he was struck by the maturity of the candidates and their direct answers to tough questions

“I was impressed. When the questions came, there was no fear,” he said.

Kansas is one of a handful of states that doesn’t require candidates for governor to be of a certain age.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach wants to change that.

“I think it’s both amusing and encouraging that high school students are throwing their name into the governor’s race, but it is appropriate to have minimum ages for the governor’s office,” Kobach told the Kansas City Star in September.

But Keathley said there is no reason that Kobach, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, or anyone else should be threatened by the wave of teen candidates.

An effort to impose an age requirement now that Kansas teens have engaged in the political process would “just show that they’re cowards,” she said.

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service,  You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks.

 

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – A new name is being sought for a Missouri elementary school that originally was named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that a committee was picked this week to come up with recommendations on what to call the century-old Columbia school. Twenty-five years ago, the school became Lee Expressive Art Elementary School, with the Lee standing for “learn, explore, express.”

In the wake of a deadly car attack at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a board that is made up of parents, teachers and administrators voted to formally request that the Columbia Board of Education start the process of renaming the school.

The renaming committee includes a parent, a staff member, a student and community members.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Relatives of man who died at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility are alleging that a fungus infected his brain and slowly killed him while his pleas for help were ignored.

The lawsuit claims Marques Davis died in April after suffering for four months while his vision blurred, his speech slurred and he became so disoriented that he drank his own urine.

The Kansas City Star reports that the lawsuit was filed on behalf of Davis’ mother and his daughter, who live in Wichita. The lawsuit names private prison health care contractor Corizon, 14 company employees, three doctors and 11 nurses.

Corizon provides health care throughout the Kansas prison system.

Corizon spokeswoman Martha Harbin said the company sympathizes with Davis’ family but cannot discuss the details of care he received in prison.

Davis had convictions for attempted first-degree murder, drugs, burglary, battery and assault, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government is urging that large, personal electronic devices like laptops be banned from airline checked luggage because of the potential for a catastrophic fire.

The Federal Aviation Administration says in a paper filed recently with a U.N. agency that its tests show that when lithium-ion batteries used in laptops, cellphones and other devices overheat in close proximity to an aerosol spray, they can cause explosions capable of disabling an airliner’s fire suppression system. The U.N. agency sets global aviation safety standards.

Tests of overheating batteries packed in luggage containing other consumer products like nail polish remover and hand sanitizer also resulted in large fires.

The FAA says permitting passengers to carry larger personal electronic devices only in the cabin is the most effective way to protect safety.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – An Ohio man is facing charges alleging he defrauded five NFL players in a charity scam.

Thirty-eight-year-old Camario Richardson, of Maple Heights, Ohio, was arrested Friday in Ohio on a five-count indictment. Prosecutors allege he claimed to have contacts with Nike and agreed to deliver merchandise to the players for charity events.

The players, who were not named in the indictment, allegedly paid Richardson a total of $25,000.

Players from the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals reportedly paid Richardson to provide backpacks for charity events but the merchandise was never delivered. Prosecutors say the players all bought backpacks from another source for their events.

Prosecutors say Richardson told a San Diego Chargers player he would provide athletic shoes for an event but didn’t deliver.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans must now shift their focus to enacting President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax plan, a far heavier lift than the $4 trillion budget plan they’ve muscled through the Senate to lay the groundwork.

The Senate on Thursday narrowly approved the budget plan, methodically working through a pack of amendments and rebuffing Democrats’ successive attempts to reshape the blueprint and derail the tax cuts. The final vote was 51-49 with deficit hawk Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky the lone opposing GOP vote.

 

Our tax code is burdensome, confusing & outdated. Pleased the Senate took this step to provide tax relief to hardworking Americans. pic.twitter.com/vFi3vrn7UK

— Pat Roberts (@SenPatRoberts) October 20, 2017

It won’t be nearly as easy with the complex plan to bring steep tax cuts, especially for corporations, and overhaul a tax system which has divided House Republicans on regional fault lines.

Tonight I voted for and the Senate passed the FY2018 budget as first step to accomplishing tax reform. My statement: https://t.co/pXdtUUFEtb

— Jerry Moran (@JerryMoran) October 20, 2017

 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – An official from a company working to commercialize high-speed Hyperloop transportation says Missouri is among the top five contenders for a track.

Hyperloop One Global Head of Policy Dan Katz told The Associated Press Thursday that Missouri now is among the company’s top five options, if not among the top three. Hyperloop technology comprises a tubular track through which a train-like pod carrying passengers or cargo travels at high speeds.

Hyperloop, explained. pic.twitter.com/ZHY3iBjhjL

— Hyperloop One (@HyperloopOne) August 2, 2017

Missouri last month didn’t earn a spot in a top 10 list of possible future routes. But Missouri Chief Operating Officer Drew Erdmann told AP he expects the state to rise to the top of the list if it completes an estimated $1.5 million, privately funded feasibility study.

Hyperloop One’s Katz said Colorado and Texas also are conducting feasibility studies.