Kansas voters elected a conservative Republican governor and a conservative Republican-controlled legislature. Together, they were to be a juggernaut. Something has gone terribly amiss. They are not at all of one mind.
Eric Holder’s controversies are distracting a nation, which should be focusing on key issues, such as the economy, health care and immigration. The U.S. attorney general would be doing his president and the nation a great favor by tendering his resignation sooner, rather than later.
If President Barack Obama and some in Congress think they can push through any kind of gun control legislation, they are deluding themselves and wasting time. Obama and certain senators who are still leading the charge for some kind of gun control have a total disconnect with the extraordinary fears of gun owners.
Hostess has a new owner, who is opening the plants that make Twinkies, Ho Hos and Ding Dong brands. Only they are reopening without any unions. That’s one big step for American capitalism. And one big step backward for unions.
By the acquisition of major newspapers, wealthy Koch brothers of Wichita could purchase the forum for opinion that influences millions of voters. Whether you are conservative or liberal, the prospect of having that much power concentrated in so few hands should be plenty scary.
Gov. Sam Brownback recognizes the importance of higher education to keep Kansas competitive and to turn out a well-trained workforce. In addition, Brownback knows that research is a key to maintaining excellent universities.
Johnson County’s Department of Corrections is one of the best in the nation that helps keep people out of jail by teaching them how to think differently. It is our approach to the management of youth and adult criminal offenders that sets us apart.
Perhaps Don Pipes’ greatest achievement was in exhibiting the professionalism that served as a template for other city managers, particularly in Johnson County. He surrounded himself with a brilliant staff, who oversaw the expert planning and infrastructure projects that would make Overland Park not only large, but impressive in its quality of growth.
It would be appropriate for Johnson County citizens to have a say in the future of Kansas City International Airport, but alas, all we can do is vent. Or perhaps we can help persuade our neighbors to say no when it comes time to vote.
Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot while aiming at Gov. Sam Brownback. Income tax cuts are a reality we have to deal with. The question is, do we really want to see deep cuts to the very things that give us our quality of life? The answer should be no. We should swallow hard and extend the sales tax.
The polarization of America is epitomized in Berkeley and Johnson County, as well as California and Kansas. I would prefer something in between the two extremes.
Like the closing of White House tours, this is a high-visibility way to make a point that the sequester cuts are painful and we will all feel the pinch. If this action is any example of what we can expect from the across-the-board budget cuts, then it really is not that painful.
Johnson County Sheriff Frank Denning and Overland Park Chief of Police John Douglass do not see eye to eye on gun control. In a post on his website, Denning came down hard on weapon bans of any kind. Douglass is adamantly opposed to weapons in public buildings.
Voters will really be selecting an attitude when the cast ballots April 2 for the districtwide at-large position on the Shawnee Mission school board. They can elect an established status-quo candidate, Cindy Neighbor, or they can elect Mark Read, a candidate who promises to raise lots of questions, some of which need to be asked.
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world. So says Wikipedia. We should all feel pretty proud that the 142-year-old museum’s first major foray outside its home in New York is to Overland Park.
There needs to be a truce in this Border War, and the leadership for such a truce needs to come from Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback. It is assumed Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon would go along with any truce emanating from Kansas.
To allow a third-grader into fourth grade who cannot read is a travesty. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal to end the practice may not have enough funding, and it does not yet have many of the elaborate, comprehensive efforts that Florida is providing, but it is a good start.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach is one of the most clever and brilliant Kansas politicians in recent times, so he tries to make you think he is looking out for Kansans. And he says so eloquently. Meanwhile, Kobach is really trying to build a fiefdom.
A dangerous, heavy-handed bill in the Kansas House of Representatives would nullify the outcome of an election held in Johnson County 13 years ago. This is but a part of a bill that robs all citizens statewide of the right to choose the method by which its governing bodies are elected.
The Boy Scouts of America are finally considering joining the modern era, one where gays are — for most people, at least — equal members of all parts of our society. Thank goodness. It has been an embarrassment for such archaic rules to stand for community in an organization that asks its young men to consider others.
If we can wager in a casino, or bet on the lottery, why shouldn’t we, in Kansas, allow sports betting in our casinos? Why not legitimize it, eliminate corruption, and tax it? It would bring in extra revenue to states like Kansas, which are hunting for new sources of revenue to make up for wide budget gaps.
For those who claim U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder is just another “tea-partier,” because he voted seemingly to send us over the “fiscal cliff,” I would say to them: If you believe that, you do not know much about politics and voting records.
KanCare, the privatization of Medicaid health services in Kansas for the 380,000 poor — approximately 40,000 of whom live in Johnson County — is only about two weeks old. It is supposed to save the state a billion dollars over five years. So far, it is off to a rocky start.
