Davis and Brownback just prior to Saturday’s Debate
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and his Democratic challenger, Paul Davis, have laid out their positions on education, taxes, Medicaid expansion and renewable energy during their first debate.
Both candidates tried to portray themselves as supporters of education during Saturday’s debate at the Kansas State Fair. Some of the sharpest exchanges came over tax cuts under Brownback that have led to two credit downgrades and a projected budget shortfall for the state.
Davis is trying to woo moderate Republicans and independent voters who are concerned about the effects of Brownback’s tax cuts.
Davis told a standing-room-only crowd that he would expand Medicaid in Kansas if elected governor because rural hospitals are fighting to survive without the expansion. Brownback blamed the health care overhaul for lowering funding to the hospitals.
TOPEKA — A member of the Kansas Children’s Cabinet who’s known for actively encouraging private businesses to support early childhood development programs will not be appointed to a second four-year term on the advisory panel.
Jonathan Freiden said Gov. Sam Brownback’s appointments secretary, Kim Borchers, called him last week to say he would not be reappointed. His term expired June 30.
“This is the administration’s way of silencing someone who they saw as an obstacle to getting their way,” said Freiden, a moderate Republican from Leawood who was appointed to the Children’s Cabinet in 2010 by then-Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat. “I’m very disappointed. You can look at this say, ‘Oh, it’s just sour grapes,’ and that’s fine. But I’ve been a very, very strong advocate for kids, and I take this work very, very seriously.”
Brownback’s office Friday announced that LeEtta Felter, vice president of the Olathe Public Schools Board of Education, had been appointed to Freiden’s seat on the Children’s Cabinet.
Felter has a bachelor’s degree from Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma and a master’s degree in business administration from Baker University. She owns Cars4Less, an Olathe business that in July hosted a Brownback campaign event that featured an appearance by former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.
Freiden, 40, is part-owner and CEO at U.S. Toy and Constructive Playthings, a national company based in Grandview, Mo. He has been a key player in the Children’s Cabinet’s efforts to build public and private support for early childhood programs in several Kansas communities.
Created in 1999, the Children’s Cabinet is a 15-member board charged with advising lawmakers on how best to spend monies generated by the state’s master settlement agreement with the nation’s tobacco companies – roughly $50 million annually – on early childhood development programs. Cabinet members also oversee the administration of several grant programs.
Frieden said that in the past three and a half years, he’d clashed with administration officials over several issues, including:
• proposing to eliminate the state’s Early Head Start programs.
• using Temporary Assistance for Needy Family funds to underwrite Reading Roadmap, a Brownback initiative aimed at raising the state’s fourth-grade reading scores.
• diverting $9.5 million in tobacco revenues to the State General Fund.
• allowing the awarding of a no-bid, $12 million contract to a Newton-based reading software company in former House Appropriations Committee Chairman Marc Rhoades’ district.
“We (cabinet members) are supposed to be good stewards of this money, and this money is supposed to be spent on early childhood development,” Freiden said. “It’s not supposed to be turned into some kind of honeypot for special projects that may be well-intended but are not early childhood development.”
Eileen Hawley, Brownback’s communications director, said the governor appreciated Freiden’s tenure.
“It is the Governor’s goal to engage as many Kansans as possible in the work of various commissions,” she wrote in an email to KHI News Service. “The Governor is proud of the work the Children’s Cabinet has done to build and support innovative models for at-risk children and families with a clear focus on achieving results, being accountable and encouraging change by asking businesses to work closely with education leaders.”
She disputed Freiden’s notion that Brownback had not heeded many recommendations from the Children’s Cabinet.
“Our efforts in early childhood programs have been to provide our youngest Kansans with the skills they need to succeed in life,” she wrote. “Ensuring that children are able to read by fourth grade, developing a skill that helps them throughout their lives and finding lifetime families for abused and neglected children in our system are NOT ‘pet projects.’
“These are necessities for Kansas if we are to move our state forward,” Hawley wrote. “Our children will one day be the employees and leaders of our state, and this early investment in their development is critical.”
Amanda Adkins, a Brownback appointee now in her third year as chair of the Children’s Cabinet, said Freiden’s “significant and important commitment to build business relationships in key communities, encouraging discussion on how early learning as an investment is important to future growth of the community, (and) is very much appreciated and in alignment with the vision Gov. Brownback has for the State of Kansas.”
Adkins is a former chair of the Kansas Republican Party.
Shannon Cotsoradis, a Children’s Cabinet member and chief executive with the advocacy group Kansas Action for Children, said Freiden’s departure “is a disappointment; it’s a loss.”
“Jonathan has really been a champion for kids within the business community,” Cotsoradis said.
Freiden said he contributed “a couple thousand dollars” to Brownback’s first gubernatorial campaign. “It was great,” he said. “I met with him, we talked, he was supportive. He said he really wanted to do good things. It was exciting. But then he didn’t follow through on his promises. He and his people talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk. They’re dishonest.”
Freiden said he intends to vote for Paul Davis, the governor’s Democratic challenger.
“The Davis people asked me to be on some kind of economic advisory committee, but I couldn’t make the meeting and I’ve not gotten back to them,” he said. “I’ve not talked to anyone over there. I’m a registered Republican.”
Freiden said he would continue to advocate for children. “I’m not going to let this stop me.”
It is Kansas Legislators Day at the State Fair in Hutchinson.
The fair is hosting a gubernatorial debate between incumbent Governor Sam Brownback and Democratic challenger Paul Davis at 10:00 a.m.
At 11:00 a.m., the fair is hosting a senatorial candidate debate between incumbent Republican Senator Pat Roberts and independent candidate Greg Orman.
Live-Stream provided by WIBW Radio and WIBW News Now.
All debates are being held at Bretz & Young Injury Lawyers Arena
Missouri Western State University has been awarded a micro-grant of $3,000 to purchase and install two electric vehicle charging stations on the university’s campus.
The grant is part of the KCP&L Energizing Our Environment Micro-Grant Program, designed to help fund environmental projects in communities throughout KCP&L’s service region. The grants range from $500 to $3,000 and will provide nonprofit organizations an opportunity to improve the environment in their communities in a meaningful way.
“Our micro-grant program will impact thousands of lives and help improve our region,” said Elizabeth Danforth, KCP&L Director Public Affairs. “We are excited to partner with these organizations on their projects because we share a commitment to improving the environment.”
KCP&L received almost 150 applications for projects ranging from river cleanups to recycling programs to solar panel installations. Of those applications, KCP&L awarded almost 20 grants to nonprofits throughout the region.
For more information on KCP&L’s Energizing Our Environment Micro-Grant Program, please visit kcpl.com/energize.
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – The co-owner of a defunct Missouri construction company pleaded guilty this week to defrauding a federal program that set aside contracts for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Michael J. Parker, 40, Blue Springs, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States, one count of major program fraud and one count of wire fraud. In his plea, he admitted that he and his father, co-defendant, Warren K. Parker, made false claims in order for their company, Silver Star Construction LLC of Blue Springs, Mo., and Stilwell, Kan., to obtain more than $6.7 million in contracts from the Veterans Administration and more than $748,000 in contracts from the Department of Defense. The contracts were awarded under the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program.
After an extensive investigation, federal agents determined that in fact Warren Parker never was classified as a service-disabled veteran by the Veterans Administration or the Department of Defense.
Sentencing will be set for a later date. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 51 months in federal prison and restitution.
Co-defendants include:
Warren K. Parker, who was sentenced to 87 months.
Mary Parker, who is set for jury trial Oct. 6.
Thomas Whitehead, who is awaiting sentencing.
Silver Star Construction, LLC, which is set for trial Oct. 6.
Grissom commended the Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigation Division and the General Services Administration’s Office of Inspector General; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tris Hunt for their work on the case.
If the EPA’s proposed rule to redefine waters of the United States becomes law, farming and ranching as we know it today may end.
“This is one of the most egregious oversteps of Congressional intent that has happened in modern times,” says Ryan Flickner, Kansas Farm Bureau public policy senior director. “Certainly since the Clean Water Act of 1972.”
John Schlageck writes for the Kansas Farm Bureau.
Under the proposed rule, the Environmental Protection Agency intends to wield much more authority than Congress wrote into this law.
EPA published its proposal in the Federal Register April 21. It contends the new rule clarifies the scope of the Clean Water Act. In reality it provides more confusion and less clarity for farm and ranch families and could classify most water and some land features as waters of the United States.
Ordinary field work and everyday chores like moving cattle across a wet pasture, planting crops and even harvest may one day require a federal permit if this proposal becomes final.
Clean water is important to all of us, but this issue is not about water quality – it’s about federal agencies attempting to gain regulatory control over land use.
Throughout this republic’s history, Congress, not federal agencies, has written the laws of the land. Two Supreme Court rulings have affirmed the federal government is limited to regulating navigable waters. EPA’s recent proposal sends conflicting messages and would extend the agency’s reach.
Also at stake here are the roles of state and federal government, Flickner says – where that line is drawn and where it may be crossed.
Congress initially said the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers could only regulate “navigable” waters.
Farmers and ranchers are straight-forward people who believe words mean something. Agricultural producers believe the authors (Congress) of the Clean Water Act included the term navigable for a reason.
Is a small ditch navigable?
Is a stock pond navigable?
Ever see any maritime barges trying to navigate a southwestern Kansas gully during a cloud burst?
Because a farmer’s field, a homeowner’s lawn, a golf course or a playground collects water after a rain does not mean they should be regulated under waters of the United States. The new regulatory proposals could do exactly that.
What about the EPA claims that agricultural exemptions currently provided under the federal Clean Water Act should relieve farmer and ranchers of any need to worry about the proposed rule?
Exemptions provided in the act are mostly limited to plowing and earth moving activities. They do not apply to farm and ranch tasks like building a fence across a ditch, applying fertilizers or other forms of pest and weed control. Nor do they offer protection from land that has entered agricultural production since the 1970s.
If EPA’s proposed rule becomes law, many farming practices would require government approval through a complex process of federal permitting.
EPA’s so-called exemptions will not protect farmers and ranchers from the proposed waters rule. If farmlands are regulated as waters, farming and ranching will be difficult, if not impossible.
Public comment will be accepted until Oct. 20. Contact the EPA and Corps and let them know your opinion on this critical issue.
“Enough is enough,” Flickner says. “Kansas farmers and ranchers have worked with our state agencies including the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Department of Agriculture and our elected officials. Let’s continue to work with these people who are more knowledgeable about our state.”
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee says as hard as the GOP is working to win Republican control of the U.S. Senate, Kansas can’t be the place that fails the party.
Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas told business leaders Friday in Wichita that as hard as Republicans are working to win seats across the country, it would be a “terrible mistake” for Kansas to fail to keep Pat Roberts in the Senate.
Moran also urged his audience to imagine the circumstance where the GOP puts in so much effort and Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is not re-elected.
Both Brownback and Roberts are facing tough re-election battles.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS says it has lost emails from five more workers who are part of congressional investigations into the treatment of conservative groups that applied for tax exempt status.
The tax agency said in June that it could not locate an untold number of emails to and from Lois Lerner, who headed the IRS division that processes applications for tax-exempt status. The revelation set off a new round of investigations and congressional hearings.
On Friday, the IRS said it has also lost emails from five other employees related to the probe, including two agents who worked in a Cincinnati office processing applications for tax-exempt status.
The agency blamed computer crashes for the lost emails. In a statement, the IRS said it found no evidence that anyone deliberately destroyed evidence.
FULTON (AP) – A Missouri judge has ordered a man suspected of killing a 6-year-old boy to be held without bond after an unidentified person inquired about whether a cashier’s check could be used to post what had been a $1 million cash-only bond.
The Fulton Sun reports 27-year-old Scottie Willett of Fulton is accused of fatally shooting Dayne Hathman on Aug. 28 at a home where Willet had been living with the child and his mother. He is charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering and receiving stolen property.
A Missouri Board of Probation and Parole representative says Willet told him if he bonded out, he would flee and not show up in court.
Willet’s next court date is set for 9 a.m. on Oct. 3.
BLUE MOUND, Kan.- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 11 a.m. on Friday in Linn County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Freightliner straight-truck driven by Brian C. Broom, Manford, OK., was eastbound on Kansas 31 two miles west of Blue Mound.
The semi drove off the right side of the roadway. The driver over-corrected and lost control of the truck. It re-entered the roadway, crossed the center lane and rolled onto its passenger side.
A westbound 1994 Ford truck-tractor drive by Randal S. Beckmon, 58, Kincaid, attempted an evasive maneuver to avoid the Frieghtliner, drove into the north ditch and rolled. The vehicles did not collide.
Beckmon was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Broom was not injured.
The KHP reported neither driver was wearing seat belts.
