December 2014 – Page 33 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

KCK native writes new historical book

by Mary Rupert
A native of Kansas City, Kan., Joe Vaughan, has written a new historical book, “Thomas Johnson’s Story and the History of Fairway, Kansas.”

Vaughan said his book covers Shawnee Mission history that actually started in the 1830s in what is now Wyandotte County.

When the mission started in 1830, it was in the Turner area of what is now Kansas City, Kan., he said.

After President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, requiring all native Americans to move west of the Mississippi, some churches started missions to the new area. The Methodist Church summoned the Rev. Thomas Johnson, the namesake of Johnson County, to start a mission, Vaughan said.

Johnson had 27 people in his first class. In those days he said, it was an aggressive movement by the churches to “Christianize and Americanize” the native Americans. Vaughan said his book’s wording remains true to the terminology used at the time, referring to the Shawnee Indian Mission.

The mission was originally in the Turner area because it was thought that trails coming west from Santa Fe and Independence would follow the Kansas River, he said. The missionaries knew that in 1831, Moses Grinter was going to set up the ferry crossing for the military between Fort Leavenworth and Fort Scott at what is now 78th and K-32 in Kansas City, Kan.

Johnson picked what is now Turner, on high ground around 55th and Metropolitan, to start his mission, Vaughan said. A historic marker currently is at the site, he added.

Possibly the first settler here to leave and move to Johnson County, Johnson and the mission left when it became apparent in 1839 that trails were going farther south. It also was difficult to haul water uphill from the Kansas River to downtown Turner, and the mission moved to where it is now on a little creek that moves through Fairway, Kan., according to Vaughan.

Johnson became a very powerful person, in the vacuum of any governments being in the area, he said. He was in the area before there was a city, county or state government.

The book traces the Shawnee Mission through the years of the territorial Legislature and into Kansas statehood in 1861.

“People talk of the strangeness of politics today,” Vaughan said. Johnson sometimes was on all sides of the issues. For example, he owned slaves but he eventually supported Kansas as a free state in the territorial elections.

The Shawnee Mission was closed in 1862 after statehood occurred. Johnson later moved to an area that was south of Kansas City, Mo., of the time, and lived on a 600-acre farm. It is believed he was murdered in 1865 in something resembling a home invasion by people who thought he had $1,000 at the house, Vaughan said. Apparently, it was not true that he kept money there, and the debt had already been paid off, Vaughan said.

Besides the history of Johnson, the book also covers historical information about Fairway, Kan., which was named for three golf courses surrounding it, he said. It was part of a J.C. Nichols development.

Vaughan remarked that resources for writing this book were very different from his previous book about the history of Kansas City, Kan. With the Kansas City, Kan., book, he had the use of photo resources at the Wyandotte County Museum, which was established in 1889.

For his latest book, the Johnson County Museum was not established until 1974 and did not have the same sorts of early photo resources. Also, there were no photos before the Civil War to show the early days of the Shawnee Mission.

Besides the current book, and the photo history of Kansas City, Kan., Vaughan has written a book about the history of radio in the area, and has written 50th anniversary books for the cities of Westwood and Mission, Kan.

The new book is 160 pages and sells for $21.95 retail. It is available at the Wyandotte County Museum book store and also at Rainy Day Books in Fairway, Kan., www.rainydaybooks.com.

Vaughan attended four Wyandotte County schools, Mark Twain Elementary, Northwest Junior High School, Wyandotte High School, and Kansas City Kansas Community College. He received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.

A former radio broadcaster, Vaughan is CEO of Joe Vaughan Associates in Prairie Village, Kan., and is a Prairie Village resident. He also serves on the Johnson County Water District No. 1 board. Currently, he is the chair of the United Way campaign in Wyandotte County.

He has several ties to historical groups, and is a past historian and past treasurer of the Wyandotte County Historical Society. He has been named historian of the year by the Wyandotte County Historical Society and Museum.

Express Factory Outlet to move into Hilfiger store space at Legends Outlets

The Tommy Hilfiger outlet store at The Legends Outlets will close on Dec. 28. Moving into the space will be Express Factory Outlets. (Staff photo)

The Tommy Hilfiger Outlet store at The Legends Outlets will close Dec. 28, and moving into the space will be the Express Factory Outlet, which will sell men’s and women’s fashions and accessories.

According to a spokesman for The Legends Outlets, after the Hilfiger store at The Legends closes Dec. 28, preparations will be made for the Express Factory Outlet store to move into the space and open sometime in the spring. Currently, the Hilfiger store is planning some special sales in advance of the closing, according to the spokesman.

It is the only Express Factory Outlet in the metro area, and the nearest one is in Branson, Mo., the spokesman said.

The store’s location is next to the Phoenix Theaters Legend 14 near the Civic Courtyard Fountain at 1837 Village West Parkway B-129. It occupies 7,061 square feet.

Express Factory Outlet will offer everything from work wear to weekend wear to going out wear to casual wear, the spokesman said. It has a modern, cool style with an assortment of apparel and fashion accessories.

The Legends Outlets location will be Express Factory Outlet’s first Kansas store and fifth in the Midwest region. Express Factory Outlet joins other recently opened stores at Legends Outlets including Kansas City’s only area Eddie Bauer Outlet, Haggar Clothing Co. and Coach Factory Store.

Campaign announced to exempt food from Kansas sales tax

Organizers see both challenges and opportunity in state’s budget crisis

by Jim McLean, KHI News Service

Topeka — A coalition is forming to make healthy food less expensive in Kansas.
Led by KC Healthy Kids, a nonprofit organization supported in part by the Kansas Health Foundation, a coalition is being formed to guide a legislative effort to exempt food from the state sales tax.

“Cutting the sales tax on food will make it more affordable for Kansans to eat healthier,” said Ashley Jones-Wisner, state policy manager for KC Healthy Kids.

Kansas is one of only 14 states that levies a sales tax on food. And its 6.15 percent per dollar is the second highest in the nation, trailing only Mississippi’s 7 percent rate.

Low-income Kansans can apply for a $125 reduction in their state income tax bill to partially offset the amount of sales tax they’ve paid on food.

Even in good financial times, legislators have rejected attempts to exempt food from the sales tax. So, it’s a given that it will be an even tougher sell in the coming session given the state’s mounting budget problems.

With a steep drop in tax collections due in large part to the income tax cuts championed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, legislators will be faced with the urgent task of cutting $280 million from this year’s already approved budget when they convene in January. They also must deal with a projected deficit in the neighborhood of $600 million as they craft the budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2015.

Exempting food from the sales tax would lower revenue collections by about $390 million a year.

Jones-Wisner sees opportunity where others see almost certain failure. The budget crisis, she said, guarantees that state tax policy will be discussed. That discussion will give the coalition an opportunity to shine a brighter light on a tax that its members believe is both regressive and a contributing factor to Kansas’ steady drop in national health rankings, she said.

In 1991, Kansas was the nation’s eighth healthiest state, according to rankings compiled annually by the United Health Foundation. It now ranks 27th.

“We know that there is going to have to be a really robust conversation this session about tax policy, and we think that this needs to be a part of that conversation,” Jones-Wisner said.

If lawmakers refuse to consider the exemption because of its cost, Jones-Wisner said the coalition may urge a partial exemption for whole fruits and vegetables.

Two members of the Kansas Senate – a Republican and a Democrat – announced in October that they would pursue legislation to eliminate the sales tax on food. Republican Michael O’Donnell and Democrat Oletha Faust-Goudeau, both from Wichita, said their proposal would likely phase out the tax over several years.

In addition to its support of KC Healthy Kids, the Kansas Health Foundation is the main funder of the Kansas Health Institute, the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service.

The KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute. It is supported in part by a variety of underwriters. The News Service is committed to timely, objective and in-depth coverage of health issues and the policy-making environment. All News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution, including a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online. More about the News Service is at khi.org/newsservice or contact 785-233-5443.
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