ITEMS IN THE NEWS

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports there is yet another possible move toward a full-time Kansas Legislature--and ironically, it's conservative House Republicans leading the way.
Conservatives have grown frustrated with a budget process that leads to more spending each year. The state budget has grown 10 fold every generation, which means that by 2033, the state could have a $100 billion budget.
State Representative Joe McLeland of Wichita has proposed changing the budget process, saying that legislators rarely look at the "base" budgeting, usually reserved for the documents agencies send to the governor's budget director.
Veteran legislator Carl Holmes of Liberal says that could add another three months to the session for some legislators.
McLeland's proposal would have the 23 members of the House Appropriations Committee and the 13 senators on the Ways and Means Committee spend an extra three months working on the budget.
At current pay rates--and Kansas has the second-worst paid legislature in the country--that would cost taxpayers an extra $11,200 a day, or $1.08 million for the year.
As we pointed out before, there may be other reasons for the lack of knowledge about the budget process.
--R.J. Dickens

April showers bring may flowers... what comes to your mind?

Wichita USD 259 Superintendent Winston Brooks dangles an interesting proposition in front of taxpayers in Sunday's Wichita Eagle.
Brooks says it's possible that busing could end in the district after 38 years, because most neighborhoods are integrated.
What he doesn't say--at least, not all that clearly--is that it will likely involve building a few more schools...and based on previous remarks he and other district officials have made, in areas that are already devloped...which would increase the cost of land aquisition.
This could mean another bond issue--or higher taxes.
Would ending busing be worth that?
--R.J. Dickens

The right wing has been at it again, blowing two line items on John Edwards' latest campaign finance statement completely out of proportion, and accusing him of paying for $400 haircuts.
Here's the truth.
--R.J. Dickens

By a 61-61 vote, the Kansas House this morning derailed a plan by conservative Republicans to fund deferred maintenance at Regents' institutions and community colleges.
The plan would have required Sedgwick, Butler, Cowley and Reno Counties to levy an additional sales tax to cover deferred maintenance at state-owned institutions in their counties.
That's the good news. The bad news is, are there really 61 education-hating state representatives in the House?
--R.J. Dickens

From MSNBC:
"The White House acknowledged today it has conducted about 20 briefings recently for federal agency employees on the election prospects of Republican candidates - the sort of meetings that sparked an investigation into whether Bush aides engaged in illegal political activity.
"An independent investigative unit, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, this week launched a probe into a presentation by Bush aide J. Scott Jennings to political appointees at the General Services Administration. At issue is whether the January session violated the federal Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from engaging in political activities with government resources or on government time.
"The Office of Special Counsel, led by Scott Bloch, is in charge of enforcing the Hatch Act. At the same time, Bloch himself is being investigated by the Bush administration on separate matters, including his enforcement of the Hatch Act."
To paraprhase Foghorn Leghorn, is that--I say, I say--is that a fox in that there White House?
--R.J. Dickens

Tell us what's on your mind as the weekend approaches.

MSNBC's Tim Curry has an interesting essay on their website today.
Curry wonders what kind of race Democrats will have in 2008: one for the soul of the party, or one in which the candidates have to nitpick to find enough differences to get any attention.
Much like 1968, there is a war on, but without the other societal changes we went through back then, like the civil rights movement and the beginnings of the women's movement.
Much of the differences, Curry says, are "binary" in nature: New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama getting much of their money from Hollywood and Wall Street, while John Edwards is hitting a nerve with many Clinton and Obama supporters with his populist stands, particularly on globalization.
The war is another issue where there is division among the three major candidates. Obama trumps the fact he voted against it in the first place, Edwards repudiates his 2003 vote for it, and Clinton talks about what should be done next in Iraq.
Interesting takes and quotes. What are yours?
--R.J. Dickens

The Associated Press reports that Bush aide Karl Rove is under investigation for possible violations of the Hatch Act, which makes it illegal for civil service employees to engage in political activities.
"Six participants have confirmed that, at the end of the presentation, GSA Administrator Lurita Doan asked all present to consider how they could use GSA to 'help our candidates' in 2008,'" 25 Democrats wrote in a letter of complaint on Monday to White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten.
Among questions the senators asked Bolten:
-"Why did Mr. Jennings and his staff communicate the presentation materials which bear the White House seal, via a private e-mail account affiliated with the Republican National Committee?"
-"Does the White House consider the preparation and delivery of such a presentation to be an appropriate use of taxpayer funds?"
The Los Angeles Times, which first reported the wider inquiry, said Doan doesn't recall making such comments.
Isn't the irony of a Republican under investigation for a violation of a law written by Republicans to stop allegations of Democratic activity delicious?
--R.J. Dickens

"(T)he debate on Capitol Hill over an Iraq-withdrawal deadline was 'helpful in demonstrating to the Iraqis that American patience is limited.'"
Find the answer here.
--R.J. Dickens

The upcoming special election on Aug. 7 on casino gambling in Sedgwick County could make for a pretty crowded ballot.
This morning, the Wichita City Council approved Sunday liquor sales, passing it as an emergency resolution to give opponents time to collect 6,701 signatures on a protest petition so that the issue can be on the ballot at the same time.
Add to that the Revote Arena group, who want to persuade Sedgwick County Commissioners to force a revote on the downtown arena, and possibly, a third group trying to get a vote on strong mayor, and August 7th could be a busier day than you might think.
--R.J. Dickens

Boris Yeltsin, the enigmatic, quirky leader to took Russia out of Communist rule, died yesterday at the age of 76.
Those of us who followed him around the day he visited Wichita at the invitation of then-Kansas U.S. Senator Bob Dole have a vault full of memories--taking an American flag and marching up and down with it in front of a bleacher full of delighted airmen at McConnell; giving a surprised plant manager at Dold Foods his jacket (and, he told a Wichita State audience, also offering his pants); and laughing as he scattered photographers driving a combine, pulling up at the wrong end of a line of reporters and shaking hands.
Of the 15 world leaders I've met, Yeltsin was by far the most likeable.
--R.J. Dickens

Ho-hum.
Another wrap-up session of the Kansas Legislature, another long to-do list for solons to come back to:
--Deferred maintenance;
--Deciding whether or not to allow Sumner County to bid on a casino (whatever happened to Harvey County in all of this?);
--Finding money for a federal match to fund repairs to roads damaged in last winter's storm;
--Finding the $37 million to pay back the feds for Medicaid money wrongfully spent on education;
--And health care reform.
There are some other issues that might crop up, too:
--A possible attempt to override Governor Kathleen Sebelius' veto of a bill that would have prohibited local governments from establishing their own more stringent concealed-carry ordinances;
--Possible funding for 1-5 homeland security training centers sought by Adjutant General Tod Bunting.
But, rest assured. We dare not be distracted by such trivialities as making sure our colleges have usable, serviceable facilites.
No doubt, conservative Republicans will find some bright, shiny object to keep us all occupied while they work as hard as they can to accomplish... nothing.
--R.J. Dickens

Tell us what's on your mind this week.

Interesting conversation on Fox News Sunday yesterday.
Two members of a special commission appointed by Virginia Governor to investigate what happened at Virginia Tech last week suggested that something may have to be done to the laws to make it easier for parents to step in and do something about an obviously mentally ill adult child.
Chris Wallace asked Virgina Lt. Governor Bill Bolling and George Washington University President Stephen Trachtenbergy, "Have our privacy and disability laws gone so far, perhaps too far, in protecting the individual at the expense of protecting the community?"
"I think that's a very legitimate question that we have to ask and answer in the wake of this tragedy," Bolling responded, "Especially given what we now know about the problems that the one who committed these crimes had experienced in the past."
When Wallace asked about the effect of current privacy laws, Trachtenberg--whose university had to pay damages to a student suspended after he was accused of being mentally ill--responded:
"Between the FERPA laws and the Buckley amendment, we can't tell parents students' grades, much less that they are drinking in excess or having psychiatric problems or other kinds of problems.
"I think it needs to be examined, and that's why I'm very grateful that the governor has appointed this commission, because I don't think we ought to do this episodically."
It's an interesting proposition, and I feel strongly about it both ways.
On one hand, there are times parents need to step in...drug use, involvement in dangerous religious cults (don't prejudge that remark until you've walked a mile in my shoes, folks), and violent behavior.
On the other, if the laws were changed, what would stop collection agencies from harraunging parents over their child's credit card debts?
What do you think?
--R.J. Dickens

Just out of curiosity, I did a little research on the educational backgrounds on key members of the Kansas House.
None of the following make any mention of their educational backgrounds: House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, Appropriations Committee Chair Sharon Schwartz, Appropriations Committee members Ty Masterson and Jason Watkins, Education committee members Owen Donohoe, John Faber, Steve Huebert and William Wolf.
Granted, failure to mention something is no sign you don't have one, but college degrees are normally things people are proud of.
Hmmmm...
--R.J. Dickens

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, somebody, somewhere, says it better than you possibly could.
From the blog down the street:
Something I have been wondering: Bush is promising to veto any bill sent to him that has a timeline for troop withdrawal. My understanding is that these timelines are non-binding resolutions which have no real force. So, is Bush responding to an empty gesture, with another empty gesture (a veto that isn't needed since the resolution has no real meaning)?
(Steven Davis)
That's so Washington.
--R.J. Dickens

Tell us what's on your mind this weekend

Kudos to U.S. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma for standing up and saying what needed to be said to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
“The best way to put this behind us is your resignation,” Coburn bluntly told Gonzales — one GOP conservative to another — at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday.
But clearly, Gonzalies--and his fellow Bushites and neo-cons--just flat out don't get it.
“The moment I believe I can no longer be effective I will resign as attorney general,” Gonzales said after making it clear he did not believe it had come to that.
Bush spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters at the White House, “The attorney general has the confidence of the president. ... The attorney general acted to replace the U.S. attorneys and there was nothing improper.”
And this from Congressional apologist Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah:
"I hope he doesn't apologize," said Cannon, who spoke with Gonzales a week ago. "He is in a really miserable position where people are focused and saying nasty things. He thinks that he acted appropriately. I told him he ought to be less gracious in his responses."
Just stay oblivious. 2008 ain't that far away.
--R.J. Dickens

Just when I think news in this town is improving, we have an issue like the Kansas House Republican deferred maintenance plan.
The Associated Press story on the plan, as printed in the Wichita Eagle left out one very important detail: the plan leaves the door open for the arena tax to be made permanent, to fund deferred maintenance at Wichita State University.
You can see the actual press release from House Speaker Melvin Neufeld here and here.
This is far too important a detail to be left out of a story, and shoved to the back.
You education-hating taxanoids are about to be eaten alive...by your own kind.
I would think some of you would like to do something about it.
--R.J. Dickens

Tell us what's on your mind today.

The sheer, unmitigated gall of House conservative Republicans in Topeka never ceases to amaze.This afternoon, House Republicans finally produced their deferred maintenance plan... such as it is.
The right wing proposal includes:
--Repaying the Crumbling Classroom Bonds;
--Allowing counties with Regents institutions to impose a one percent sales tax;
--"Allowing" Sedgwick County to use the arena tax to apply to local property relief;
--Prepaying $20 million in Regents Research Bonds and shifting $10 million in funding to deferred maintenance
--Establishing the Technology Upgrade Matching Fund that allows schools one project for dollar for dollar match
--Providing $300 million in Low Interest Revolving Loan program for universities and community colleges
--Requiring schools retire unnecessary and obsolete buildings;
--Requiring schools identify funding for future maintenance and operations of new buildings built with non-state funds;
--Dedicating interest collected from tuition and restricted fees to deferred maintenance support fund.
The operative phrase here, folks, is that the arena tax would be made permanent.
And you have anti-tax, anti-education Sedgwick County Republicans Dick Kelsey, Ty Masterson, Joe McLeland and Jason Watkins to thank for that.
--R.J. Dickens

In the wake of Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech, more attention is being paid to people's writings.

Professors at the school sought counseling for Cho Seng-Hui after he submitted a play in which the 13 year old protagonist accuses his father of pedophilia, his mother brandishes a chain saw, and the youth eventually kills his father.
Now, a Philadelphia firefighter is under fire from the Fraternal Order of Police for a rap song he wrote with the lyrics, "I hope the news is taping this, 'cause I'm gonna turn pigs into bacon bits."
Then, of course, there's what has become the inevitable jumping to conclusion by the Kool-Aid drinkers: blame evolution.
Ever since Tom Delay blamed Columbine on science classes, the education-hating Reich wing has been linking evolution to everything from the Holocaust to now, Virginia Tech, to Darwin.
Give it a rest, people. Writing doesn't kill people. Evolution doesn't kill people. Guns don't kill people.
People kill people. Really, really sick people.
--R.J. Dickens

Tell the world what's on your mind today.

The Kansas Legislature doesn't get back to work until next week, but some important work is being at least talked about this week by the House Appropriations Committee.
Among the decisions to be made is whether or not to have a Kansas presidential primary on February 12, as the Senate and a majority of House members have indicated they want.
House Speaker Melvin Neufeld is against it.
Your voice ought to matter.
The Wichita area representatives on the House Appropriations Committee are Republicans Dick Kelsey of Goddard, Ty Masterson of Andover, Joe McLeland (Northwest Wichita), Jo Ann Pottorff (East Central Wichita), Jason Watkins (far Northwest Wichita) and Democrat Tom Sawyer (Southwest Wichita).
You can click on the links for their contact information.
In addition, take the time to contact your own State Representative, if they are not listed (you can find their contact information here).
Let them know Kansans want a choice for president in 2008.
--R.J. Dickens

Several years ago, right after Dennis Rader was arrested, I was one of a couple of local journalists who escorted a crew from the Korean Broadcasting Service around as they shot a special on serial killers.
"How do you explain this kind of behavior?" they asked. "We don't have this kind of thing in our country."
Imagine what they're saying now.
Hey, we can't explain it, either.
--R.J. Dickens

The Wichita Eagle's "Hall Monitor" blog reports that City Council members may change the procedure for filling the District I vacancy created when Carl Brewer was elected mayor.
Instead of having candidates collect 100 signatures, then be reviewed by the District I Advisory Board, which would then narrow the field to five to be voted on by the City Council, City Attorney Gary Rebenstorf told Council members in a briefing Friday that they weren't bound by that.
Council members are free to nominate their own candidates, provided they live in District I.
New Council Member Jeff Longwell has suggested just having all the candidates address the council directly, and voting from there.
Now, that would seem to a lot of people like changing the rules in the middle of the game, but hey, isn't that what the Rule or Ruin Clique has been doing for the past umpteen years?
--R.J. Dickens

Tell us what's on your mind today.

Today's school shooting at Virginia Tech is going to dominate the coffee shop talk today, no doubt about it.
However, I think it's not always responsible to talk about "breaking news" until all the facts are in.
The one thing we don't know yet is how the shooter got the weapons used to kill 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus.
If this shooting follows the trend of school shootings over the last 20 years, it's a safe bet that:
a) The shooter had some sort of run-in with the law or mental problems that would make it difficult to obtain a weapon by legal means;
b) The weapon or weapons were likely obtained illegally; and
c) We will once again hear about how the Brady law works, and we need more gun control.
As well-intentioned as the Brady Law was, the fact remains is that all it's done is force a criminal to commit another crime so he/she can commit a crime with a gun.
If that's progress, I fail to see it.
--R.J. Dickens

Tell us what's on your mind today.

Two candidates are in to replace Carl Brewer on the District I seat on the Wichita City Council.
Our own James Barfield made his first campaign appearance at the Hyde Neighborhood Association Saturday afternoon (funny how that paper down the street refuses to acknowledge his existence).
That night, State Representative Oletha Faust-Godeau told me she was in.
The MSM's front-runners, Lavonta Williams and Treatha Foster-Brown, haven't said anything yet...at least to us.
--R.J. Dickens

Props to Wichita State Athletic Director Jim Schaus for picking off the hottest prospect in the basketball coaching ranks this year, and getting Winthrop's Greg Marshall to replace Mark Turgeon.
That is one incredible feather in his cap. A lot of basketball insiders think the Shockers are getting an even better coach than the one that left
That doesn't happen very often, although it did last year in Manhattan.
We get Frank Martin because K-State players and recruits made their demands before Marshall could be brought to Manhattan, Schaus keeps his own counsel, and locks in on the coaching find of the year.
K-State is stuck in this position because when Bob Huggins left, he only had to pay a $100,000 buyout.
Okay, so we K-Staters don't have the best basketball coach in the state...but we sure seem to have the worst athletic director.
--R.J. Dickens

What's on your mind this weekend?

Wouldn't you know it?
Just when I praise a conservative like Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee,he flip-flops and does something a little nutty, like compare Rosie O'Donnell to Don Imus.
That's just a little bit of a stretch, don't you think?
Yes, O'Donnell goes a bit over the top at times, but there's a stretch between occasionally annoying, and jump the shark stupid.
At the rate Huckabee and Sam Brownback are going, if the two of them by some act of God became the Republican ticket, it would usher in a generation of Democratic rule.
--R.J. Dickens

The published reports that Karl Rove says he can't remember deleting emails, or thought they were backed up somewhere, or whatnot, is just too much to take.
I mean, come on does even he think anyone's going to believe him?
The best crack of the day about this was in an e-mail sent to me from a former anchor on a national morning show: somewhere, the ghost of Rose Mary Woods is giving Karl Rove a high five for this one.
--R.J. Dickens

Seven percent of all marriages in the U.S. are now interracial, according to recent studies.
We've come a long way since Loving v. Virginia in 1967.
Two years later, the first of five interracial marriages in my family took place. They're getting ready to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in Hawaii.
In my own life, I'm now engaged to an Asian woman for the 4th time. I've also dated over 20 African American women. After reading the article referenced here, I actually had to go back and think about that... I never thought of any of them as Asians, or African Americans--just people...the way my family taught me.
--R.J. Dickens

Tell us what's on your mind today.

Harris News Service reports there is a backlog for English as a second language classes all over Kansas.
The $500,000 a coalition of House Democrats and moderate Republicans placed into Don Myers' "English only, but you're not prevented from using another language" bill would only have provided money for another 1,000 students...a drop in the bucket compared to the number wanting to take classes.
Isn't keeping the money out of that bill tantamount to one of those Big Government, unfunded mandates conservatives rightfully complain about?
--R.J. Dickens

Some interesting takes abound now that Don Imus has been fired, both by MSNBC and CBS Radio.
The most celebrated of these is Jason Whitlock's column in the Kansas City Star:
"While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.
"I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.
"It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.
"Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves."
The column has generated nearly 250 pages of reader comments from across the country, many of them from Boston station WEEI.
Another interesting comment came from CBS President Les Moonves:
"He (Imus) has flourished in a culture that permits a certain level of objectionable expression that hurts and demeans a wide range of people," Moonves said. "In taking him off the air, I believe we take an important and necessary step not just in solving a unique problem, but in changing that culture, which extends far beyond the walls of our company."
A nice thought, but a quick glance at the blog down the street shows it's not going to happen any time soon.
--R.J. Dickens

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."
--Ecclesiastes 1:9-14
Nowhere is that more evident than in a collection of cartoons from Ben Hammond, who worked at the Wichita Eagle from 1912 to 1965. The full collection is at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum.
It's amazing how many of Hammond's cartoons still hold water today. (Check out slide #12.)
--R.J. Dickens

Tell the world what's on your mind today.

Kurt Vonnegut, author of such classics as Slaughterhouse Five and his final work Man Without A Country, died last night of complications from a fall at the age of 84.
Vonnegut's mother had killed herself shortly before he was sent off to Germany in World War II, and he was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and taken to Dresden, where he endured the air raids holed up with other soldiers in a slaughterhouse freezer.
It was those events that many say led to Vonnegut's somewhat sarcastic style, a style that led him to call the Bush Administration "a bunch of upper-crust C students who know no history or geography."
For those who refuse to take life--or themselves--seriously, this is a huge loss.
Vonnegut spoke at Wichita State 20 years ago. Anyone care to share their memories?
--R.J. Dickens

A commentary on the Duke lacrosse case by Newsweek's Stuart Taylor, Jr. is one of the best things I've read in months.
First, Taylor lauds North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper for going beyond the typically cautious statement that the rape charges against three former players on the Blue Devil lacrosse team were not provable beyond a reasonable doubt, and saying what needed to be said all along:
“We believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges,” Cooper said.
"We have no credible evidence that an attack occurred in that house that night.
“The eyewitness identification procedures were faulty and unreliable.
"No DNA confirms the accuser’s story.
"No other witness confirms her story.
"Other evidence contradicts her story.
"She contradicts herself.”
Cooper went on to say that Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, who turned the case over to the AG's office to fight disbarment proceedings brought against him, "shows the enormous consequences of overreaching by a prosecutor,” adding that “in the rush to condemn, a community and a state lost the ability to see clearly.”
As we have now seen, all points well taken.
But did Cooper, in Taylor's words, "give the young men their repuations back"?
As Taylor observed, "they also spoke thoughtfully of a broader lesson: If affluent young men able to afford the best legal talent in the business could be victimized in this way, imagine what must happen every day to countless poor defendants who lack the means to fight back against bad prosecutors and cops."
“This has opened my eyes up to a tragic world of injustice that I had never imagined,” defendant Reade Seligman told a ballroom full of reporters, teammates, and others. “We all need to take a step back from this case and learn from it.”
Indeed.
Take a moment to read this powerful commentary.
--R.J. Dickens

First, anti-abortion activists see a conspiracy in naming Wichita attorney Dan Monnat to the Kansas Sentencing Commission.
Then, anti-gaming activist Glenn Thompson claims the new gaming bill will mean slots at every Quik Trip
Puh-leeze. Are conservatives really that ignorant?
Only the really, really simple-minded and undereducated fall for this stuff. The rest of us have wised up.
--R.J. Dickens

Tell the world what's on your mind.

Anti-abortion leaders in Kansas are upset about the appointment of Wichita attorney Dan Monnat to an unexpired term on the state Sentencing Board.
“It’s one of those things that makes you go, ‘Hmm,’” Mary Kay Culp, Kansans for Life’s executive director, was quoted in the Topeka Capital-Journal as saying. “It’s beginning to make ‘The Sopranos’ look like ‘The Brady Bunch.’”
She said the appointment shows that Tiller, Morrison and Sebelius are politically cozy and makes abortion opponents worry there’s an effort afoot to protect Tiller by manipulating sentencing laws. Troy Newman, Operation Rescue’s president, called the appointment “monkey business” and a “political payback.”
Monnat said the two organizations are floating “zany conspiracy theories,” showing they are “crackpot extremist” groups.
Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said of the groups’ statements, “That’s just so bogus, it kills me.”
Get over yourselves, for crying out loud. This isn't about you. The whole world isn't about abortion...and, as the last election clearly shows, the rest of us get it.
--R.J. Dickens

A quick check of the five top news sites on the web:
CNN: Anna Nicole's baby's daddy;
Fox News: House committee subpoenas Gonzales over U.S. Attorney firings (funny how that changed since I mentioned it on the air tonight);
MSNBC: Imus, Imus, Imus;
Yahoo!: House committee subpoenas Gonzales;
MSN: Anna Nicole's baby daddy.
Three of the five major news sites, and three (at one point four) of them aren't even leading with news!
If this kind of stuff actually interests you, sleep on, cretins.
--R.J. Dickens

New Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer sounded some good themes as he was sworn in this morning: increased focus on downtown Wichita, citywide wireless internet and more efficiency in government.
But two real questions remain in my mind:
--Will city staff let him do it?
--And will input and ideas from outside the Good Old Boy Network even be tolerated?
Being an eternal pessimist, there's nothing I like more than being proven wrong. Problem is, it doesn't happen near often enough.
But right now, I don't think it makes any difference who is elected mayor or city council...previous councils have abdicated so much power to city staff, and they have learned Machiavellian ways to manipulate council members to advance their own agendas (and ostensibly, those of their friends).
I have suggested to council members an idea that piggybacks on City Manager George Kolb's wireless internet plan that would improve the internet infrastructure in the inner city using federal funds already available to Kansas nobody else seems to want... but because it's me suggesting it, forget it.
That's my challenge to Mr. Brewer and the City Council... prove me wrong.
--R.J. Dickens

Tell the world what's on your mind today.

A new AP-Ipsos poll shows Congress has climbed back to a 40 percent approval rating, up from 25 percent shortly before the November 2006 elections.
That's the good news--such as it is.
The poll also shows:
--57 percent disapprove of the way Democrats are handling Iraq;
--Only 32 percent of independents approve of Democrats, compared to 57 percent last November;
--And 86 percent of Republicans disapprove.
But, things could be worse. President Bush is hovering between 32-39 percent, depending on who you believe.
--R.J. Dickens

Today's Catherine Crier Live featured the story of the Wichita man who spent 71 days in jail for allegedly stealing two hot dogs from a Quik Trip--and was aquitted by a jury.
Not the kind of publicity we like about our beloved Doo-Dah, but it's nice to see some national scrutiny of the de facto racket that is the Sedgwick County court system.
--R.J. Dickens

First, it was Bob Huggins at K-State.
Now, depending on who you read, Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon could be next.
The Houston Chronicle reports Turgeon has already come to an agreement to become the next coach at Texas A&M, while CBS Sportsline reports Turgeon is visiting College Station, but will sign only after he decides he likes what he sees.
In the case of Huggins and Turgeon, fans of both schools should have known it was just a matter of time.
K-Staters did all they could to keep Huggins, and if the West Virginia job hadn't opened up, it might have worked.
Turgeon was a different matter. WSU fans--especially the aging ones--need to realize it's a different world than it was in the 1950s. Wichita State is, and will never be, more than just a mid-major in a non-BCS conference. Any coach coming here is looking to move up.
KU isn't out of the woods, either. Barring a national championship, Bill Self is going to wear out his welcome in Lawrence, sooner rather than later.
--R.J. Dickens

Tell us what's on your mind today.

You have to wonder why Kansas House Speaker Melvin Neufeld continues to oppose a presidential primary for Kansas.
Heck, if he were to reconsider, Neufeld might get credit for being the person who took Hillary Clinton out of the Democratic presidential race.
Here's how that could happen:
--Iowa, Jan. 14: Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards and Illinois Senator Barack Obama overwhelm Clinton in the first beauty contest, with the New York senator barely edging New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
--Nevada, Jan. 19: Obama, Edwards and Richardson top Clinton in a close caucus.
--New Hampshire, Jan. 22: Clinton mounts a comeback here, taking second to Obama, buying her a little more time.
--South Carolina, Jan. 29: Edwards wins with Obama a strong second, knocking Richardson out of the race.
--"Super Tuesday," Feb. 5: Edwards wins Alabama, Arizona, shocks Clinton in Arkansas, Idaho, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Georgia and Texas; Obama wins California, Pennsylvania and Illinois, Clinton narrowly wins New York, Connecticut and Delaware.
--Feb. 9: Edwards takes Nebraska and Louisiana; Obama and Edwards finish 1-2 in Michigan.
--Maine, Feb. 10: Edwards and Obama finish 1-2 in that state's caucus.
--Feb. 12: Obama crushes the field in D.C., wins in Maryland; Edwards takes Virginia and Kansas; Clinton withdraws.
The early states tend to favor Edwards because Obama simply hasn't built the organization yet.
Given this "murderer's row", New Hampshire becomes a must-win for Clinton. Assuming Obama continues to focus on building an organization in California, a win there--and a close second to Clinton in New York and Connecticut--would just about shut the door on the former first lady, with Kansas the final nail in the coffin.
You think conservatives like Neufeld would be salivating at the thought.
--R.J. Dickens

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee may be down with our own U.S. Senator Sam Brownback in some recent polls, but he is definitely making an impression with non-conservatives.
Yesterday on Face the Nation, he lambasted claims by Mitt Romney's staff that he had been a lifelong hunter, and praised former New York Mayor Rudolph Guiliani for going into South Carolina and saying he supports federal funding for abortions.
Heck, he's even praised Hillary Clinton on occasion.
What do our Republican friends think?
--R.J. Dickens

Post your thoughts on anything else on your mind here.

Sunday's Wichita Eagle brings us the story of a man who spent 71 days in jail for forgetting to pay for two hot dogs at a Quik Trip--and was aquitted by a jury.
According to the story:
--The hot dogs cost a total of $2.11. The man went back to the store to try to pay for the hot dogs... and got nailed for an extra two days in jail for trespassing.
--It cost taxpayers... a/k/a you and me... $360 to pay the 12 jurors who heard the case for two days; and another 450 for the 30 jurors in the pool.
--And $4,260 to keep him in jail for 71 days.
And the point here is... ?
--R.J. Dickens

Despite an on-air apology, and promises from his employers for greater oversight, you have to wonder if Don Imus has stepped in it for the final time.
The latest brouhaha? His calling the Rutgers' women's basketball team "a bunch of nappy headed hos".
The Rev. Al Sharpton says if Imus isn't gone by Friday, he'll picket radio station WFAN, Imus' flagship station.
Well, at least it gives Sharpton something to do for a while....
--R.J. Dickens

K-State basketball players are apparently lining up behind assistant Delonte Hill to replace the departed Bob Huggins.
If they don't get what they want, they're going to take their ball and go...somewhere else.
Meanwhile, K-State alums, longing for the good old days, want to offer the sun, the moon and the stars to Lon Kruger--whose departure for Florida started the whole decline of K-State basketball in the first place.
If they can't get Kruger, they want his top assistant, Steve Henson, a native of McPherson.
It's a safe bet that if his previous gig weren't as an assistant at KU, new Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich would be in the mix.
Meanwhile, athletic department insiders have been quietly pushing Winthrop Coach Greg Marshall.
So, who's in charge here? The players? The alumni?
The administration?
If Hill or Frank Martin get the gig, you have to wonder, given Huggins' past with players at Cincinnati, if or when things will get out of hand.
If Kruger or Henson get it, the players Huggins recruited will never adapt to their system--meaning, they're gone, even if they have to wait a year.
Marshall is an excellent coach that has done wonders with little, but you'll have a lot of people going, "who?"
What are your thoughts?

MSNBC reports the Defense Department is planning to send another 12,000 National Guard troops to Iraq.
Late Thursday afternoon, the office of Kansas Adjutant General Tod Bunting announced that at least 170 of them will be Kansans, as the 35th Military Police Company of Topeka has been placed on alert and will report to Fort Dix for training.
The announcement noted that two more Kansas units have been alerted for possible deployment, but the actual identity of the units will not be disclosed until actual orders are given.
Wasn't this surge thing supposed to help prepare to get us out of Iraq?
--R.J. Dickens

The ugly, sleazy side of college basketball reared its ugly head again last night, as it was announced that Bob Huggins was leaving K-State after one year and going to West Virginia.
It also shows what trusting rubes we K-Staters can be.
John Belein had to pay $2.1 million to be let out of his contract at WVU to coach at Michigan. Huggins has to pay K-State a lousy $100,000.
Chump change.
It's a safe bet that most, if not all, the players Huggins recruited to play at KSU will attempt to follow him--leaving the program in worse shape than when Tom Asbury came to Manhattan after Dana Altman was chased out of town (how come he waited until after he left the Big 12 to learn how to coach?).
Barring a miracle of Bill Snyder-esque proportions, December, January, February and March will continue to be the most unbearable months of the year to Real Kansans.
Didn't K-State officials tell us they went into this situation with their eyes open? How come there weren't stiffer protections for the university placed into Huggins' contract?
Someone's gotta pay for this. Tim Weiser's head, anyone?
--R.J. Dickens

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown spoke at KU last night, and it was a tell-all if there ever was one.
From the Topeka Capital-Journal:
"While he pointed a finger at the Bush administration for its handling of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, Brown also pointed another back at himself.
"'I accept blame for what went wrong, too,' he said.
Brown said he lied to the American public about what was being done by FEMA in response to the hurricane and should have 'crumpled up the White House talking points.'
"He remembers saying FEMA was moving more cots, food, blankets and rescuers into the Gulf Coast than it had for any other disaster in the United States. But, he said, his words were 'meaningless' because there weren't enough supplies and personnel to meet the victims' needs and they weren't getting to where they needed to go.
"'I should not have lied,' he said.
When asked by an audience member what stopped him from telling the truth, Brown replied, 'People get fired for telling the truth.; He said government officials are often faced with becoming whistleblowers or trying to change the system from within.
"He said lying is a 'systemic problem' in Washington, but 'when it comes to life and death issues, you should really tell the truth.'"
Well, duh.
--R.J. Dickens

Now that Carl Brewer has been elected Mayor, there's a need to fill his vacated seat as councilman for District 1. Personally, I think our Wednesday night host of The River City Forum, James Barfield should apply. James is not one to accept the status quo. He asks questions, he researches, and he tries to hold people accountable.
He will need to get 100 signatures from registered voters in that district on a petition, but I don't think that's a problem. What do
you think? Brewer may not welcome Barfield on the Council, but Brewer
is only one vote. I say, "Go for it, James!"
--Sheryl Nutt

Kansas House Speaker Melvin Neufeld of Ingalls sent out a self-congratulatory press release yesterday morning, as the Legislature went home for "Spring Break" (please, get the visions of Brenda Landwehr in a "Girls Gone Wild" video out of my head!!!).
"I am extremely pleased with this session's progress," Neufeld said. "Despite what some might say, the Kansas House of Representatives has accomplished much so far this session. And as
Republicans, we made great strides to returning to our party's roots of fiscal responsibility."
Yeah, some might say the education-hating conservatives who run the lower house might have forgotten what most reasonable people felt was Job 1 this session--deferred maintenance at our Regents' institutions.
Instead, as close as we've gotten so far was a push by State Representative Sharon Schwartz of Washington to raise property taxes in counties that are home to Regents' institutions (that means Sedgwick County).
Among the "accomplishments" Neufeld cites are:
--"Kept our promise to Kansas students and their parents to fund schools;
--"Strengthened our laws against those who would do our most vulnerable harm;
--"Encouraged our state's entrepreneurial spirit;
--"Brought more creditability to our state's electoral process;
--"Began the process of reforming our state's health care system;
--"Committed the State to restructuring its employee pay matrix"
Keep in mind, the press release was authored by his press secretary, Sherriene Jones, whose previous gig was campaign press secretary for Phill Kline.
I'd still like to drag Melvin to the Frankenstein Room at K-State and give a personal guided tour of one of my childhood haunts--from 40 years ago.
--R.J. Dickens

MSNBC's Chuck Todd has written what I think is the most insightful piece about the 2008 presidential race I've seen yet.
Among his points:
"(T)here's one conclusion that's impossible to avoid when it comes to handicapping either party's presidential primary: there are no frontrunners.";
"Hillary Clinton may lead in national polls, but she trails John Edwards in Iowa caucus polls, though narrowly. And most importantly, she no longer is the financial juggernaut that many analysts expected her to be. If rumors of Clinton's primary fundraising are true, it's likely Barack Obama outraised her for the quarter."
"(T)he biggest single group of Republican donors appears to be the folks who chose not to give. By my count, a good $15-$25 million in Bush money from early '99 and '03 has yet to show up in any bank account belonging to McCain, Romney or Giuliani."
"So where does this leave us?" Todd asks. "We're in the midst of what could be the most open and unpredictable presidential contest of our lifetimes."
Which, of course, means my colleagues in the electronic media have the potential to really screw things up.
--R.J. Dickens

A lot of people describe me as a "populist".
Such a description would have made my old friend, former Kansas Governor Joan Finney, proud.
But in my heart of hearts, I'm a "logical positivist"; that is, I believe that the way things are structured and function play a greater role in things than people do.
It is for that reason that those who feel that "harmony on the Wichita City Council" will make a difference are in for a rude awakening.
I don't think it really matters who won Tuesday. I'd like to think that if all the candidates I supported won, it would have made a difference, but truth be told, I don't think it would.
There are just too many times on too many issues that city staff just runs amok. I don't think it really matters who's elected.
I also think that needs to change.
107 years ago, the people of this city had had enough of their corruption-ridden form of city government and demanded a change. The result that Wichita became one of the first cities in the world to adopt the City Manager form of government.
It's time for another change.
I'd like to gauge support for a petition drive to put the strong mayor form of government on the ballot, either this August or for the February presidential primary.
Who's with me?
--R.J. Dickens

I would compare Carlos Mayans to my old friend, former K-State football coach Vince Gibson.
Both were given impossible tasks.
Both succeeded more than anyone thought they would, but then expectations were raised, and suddenly, it wasn't enough.
But Vince Gibson made K-Staters care about football.
Carlos Mayans made Wichitans care about city government.
The future?
I am hopeful that what happened to K-State football will happen to Wichita. We went through a couple of dreadful leaders (Ellis Rainsberger and Stan Parrish), but the alumni demanded accountability and results.
Then we got Bill Snyder.
I believe the same will happen here. Despite the Eagle's elitist tendancies, I believe real Wichitans will band together and demand more accountability, and eventually, we will change the structure of city government to attain it.
--R.J. Dickens

A so-called "cleanup" bill, ostensibly to clean up language in the gaming bill passed by the Kansas Legislature last week, would clean out Sumner County completely.
Meanwhile, Sedgwick County Commissioners have set August 7th as the date for a special election on gaming here.
"People are familiar with that day," Commissioner Tim Norton told the Eagle.
As the Eagle's own blog says, doesn't that favor social conservatives?
Meanwhile, on the horizon, the Prairie Band Pottowatomi are preparing a challenge to the new law.

Did you vote today?
Advance vote?
When did you vote? Where?
What was turnout like at your polling place?
What were your experiences with the machines?
Give us your thoughts on election day, and James and I will read your posts on the air beginning at 7 PM.

With the agreement between EMI and Apple announced yesterday, which allows iTunes to sell songs without the hated Digital Rights Management software, it would seem to appear that somebody in the music industry finally gets it.
After all, CDs are sold without DRM, why should mp3s have it?
If you've ever crashed your hard drive, or upgraded your computer, you know what a pain DRM is.
Now, if they could just come up with a cure for SESACness...

The Kansas Sampler Foundation is conducting a survey to find the "Eight wonders of Kansas".
What are your choices?

It appears as if the crisis over 15 British sailors captured by Iran may be on its way to resolution.
Iran has agreed not to air any more "confessions" from the sailors, citing "positive changes" in British attitudes.
For its part, the Brits say they're "not apologizing", but engaged in talks with the Iranians.
Yeesh. If men and women postured like this, the human race would have vanished from the earth eons ago.

Newsweek is reporting former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson is considering giving up his day job as the star of Law and Order to make a run for President.
Current polls have him in third among GOP hopefuls, running behind Rudy Guiliani and John McCain--but ahead of Sam Brownback.
Is this a candidacy our Republican friends can wrap their arms around?

Both Mayor Carlos Mayans and Council Member Carl Brewer say they'd like to see a 1 percent reduction in the mill levy for next year.
That would be a symbolic $11.50 tax cut for the owner of a $100,000 home, but at least it would be something.
Over the past few years, the mill levy hasn't increased--it hasn't needed to. Appraisals go up, and ergo, your property taxes go up.
It's a nice idea, but until The Warlord, Sharon Fearey, gives her approval...
Well, it's not like we have a democracy here in our beloved Doo-Dah.

Those people touting the downtown arena as the site for at least one KU or K-State home game a year should look at this article from the Lawrence Journal-World.
The piece points out that moving the KU-Missouri game to Arrowhead this year will cost Lawrence merchants over $700,000.
That's a huge hit--especially when it comes on one weekend.
Per capita, basketball does much better in Lawrence, because the games are usually held at night, meaning more hotel rooms, meals, etc.
One more reason arena proponents should do a little more research before making bold statements.