Month: October 2014

Cobb returns home Saturday to race in Nationwide Series at Kansas Speedway

Jennifer Jo Cobb (File photo)

Jennifer Jo Cobb, a Kansas City, Kan., native, will return home Saturday to race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at the Kansas Speedway here.

Cobb will be driving the Rick Ware Racing No. 87 Mark One Electric Chevrolet in the Kansas Lottery 300 on Oct. 4.

So far this year, Cobb has driven exclusively in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where she competes in a Chevrolet Silverado. In 2011 she raced a full season in the Nationwide series, then returned to the truck series.

According to a spokesman, Cobb probably will not race in more Nationwide Series races this year, but wanted to race in this one in order to return home to Kansas City, Kan.

Cobb is currently 16th in the points standings in the truck series, with four or five races left, and her goal now is to finish in the top 15, according to a spokesman.

The top sponsor for Cobb on Saturday will be Mark One Electric, a leading Kansas City area electrical contractor. Returning sponsors include Arrow Truck sales, which sells pre-owned medium and heavy-duty trucks in North America, and Pizza Shoppe in Kansas City area. There also are two new sponsors for Cobb at Kansas Speedway, Precision Roofing and 435 Overland Park Place Hotel.

“Racing is such a great sport for companies that want to really get involved with the driver. We have the privilege of entertaining employees and guests of our sponsors during the pre-race and race day activities,” Cobb said in a statement. “It’s always crazy around our hauler and in the pits which makes the whole weekend fun for everyone.”

Among Cobb’s accomplishments is being one of two drivers in 2014 who does not have a “did not finish” listing for this season. She also has broken records for females in the truck series including the highest points finisher in 2010, the highest race finisher (sixth at Daytona) in 2011, and the truck series all-time record holder for most race starts by a female driver.

Cobb will sign autographs for the public at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, at Pizza Shoppe, 7687 N.W. Prairie View, Kansas City, Mo.

For ticket information on the races at Kansas Speedway Oct. 3-5, visit kansasspeedway.com.

Democrats win case involving Senate seat

The state Democratic Party today won a decision in Shawnee County District Court involving the U.S. Senate seat on the ballot in Kansas.

The court stated in a decision today that challenger David Orel, a Democratic voter from Kansas City, Kan., had failed to adequately support his petition that asked the court to order the party to fill the vacant slot on the ballot, after candidate Chad Taylor withdrew from the contest.

If it stands, this decision today means that that race for U.S. Senate in Kansas now is essentially between incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts and independent challenger Greg Orman. There is also a Libertarian candidate, Randall Batson.

The district court decided that Orel lacked standing to bring the suit. The court said in order to have standing, Orel would have to have “an injury or interest specific and peculiar to himself, and not one that he shares with the community in general.”

The district court also stated that Orel did not appear in court for the evidentiary hearing on Sept. 29.

The court also did not allow Secretary of State Kris Kobach to intervene in the case. The court said Kobach had no stake in the answer itself in his role as secretary of state, only a timely need for an answer. It also said that as secretary of state, he has no authority to sue; that authority is with the attorney general.

Kobach had filed a motion saying he needed the decision by 2 p.m. Oct. 1 so that ballots could have time to prepare overseas ballots.

The case was sent to the Shawnee County District Court by the Kansas Supreme Court recently.

The court also did not think that the Democratic Party must fill the seat after the primary election had taken place.

The 22-page decision announced today can be viewed at http://www.shawneecourt.org/DocumentCenter/View/523.

UG adding staff to process motor vehicle paperwork

The Unified Government currently is adding staff to process motor vehicle paperwork, according to UG officials.

At a Monday night UG committee meeting, Administrator Doug Bach said he had authorized staff to be increased in the Treasurer’s department. He said a few weeks ago, some of the staff started to leave the department.

He said the department is not yet back up to full staffing. Putting on more staff could bring the department above budget, however.

In answer to a commissioner’s question, he said that the department does use part-time and temporary employees.

If there are other UG employees who have been previously trained in title work, an effort also may be made to have them share some of the workload during part of the day, he said.

Commissioner Jim Walters said he had been contacted by residents and he was interested in if the department plans to offer extended hours on weekdays, or Saturday hours to get outside of normal operating business hours. He said there was a very short window in the day for people to get their name on the list of people to be served, and that extended hours would be helpful to people who have to take off work to get their licenses taken care of.

The UG also recently announced in its newsletter that the annex at 8200 State Ave. and the Treasurer’s Office downtown would be closed on Monday, Oct. 13, for off-site training for office staff. Normal business hours will resume Tuesday, Oct. 14.

The UG has posted the job vacancy for the fiscal support assistant position, who handles motor vehicle items, on its website at www.wycokck.org.