Month: March 2016

KCKCC to be host for Women’s History Month event

by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College is celebrating Women’s History Month by honoring women in public service.

“The Honor and the Fulfillment: My Life in Public Service” is from noon to 1:30 p.m. March 23 in Room 2325 on the KCKCC Main Campus, 7250 State Ave. Admission is free. Light refreshments will be served.

The presentation features former Chief of Police Ellen Hanson, who became a police officer in Lenexa in the 1970s. Hanson grew up in Kansas City, Kan., and became the first female police chief for the Lenexa Police Department in the early 1990s. She worked for the department for 37 years before retiring in 2012. Less than two years later, she came out of retirement to take the role of interim Chief of Police for the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department. Like in Lenexa, she was the first female police chief in the department’s history. She served in the position for one year.

Hanson is a 1966 graduate of Wyandotte High School and received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Kansas. She also received a master’s of management degree from Baker University. In 1980, Hanson graduated from the FBI’s National Academy and is past president of the Johnson County Chiefs and Sheriffs Association as well as the Metropolitan Chiefs and Sheriffs Association.

The event is sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center, the Intercultural Center and the American Association of University Women. For more information, contact Jennifer Gieschen at 913-288-7193.

Bill making it easier to impeach justices passes Kansas Senate

A bill that would make it easier to impeach Kansas Supreme Court justices passed the Kansas Senate 21-19 on Tuesday.

“I think it’s just another attempt to have the Legislature intimidate our Supreme Court,” Sen. David Haley, D-4th Dist., said.

He said the Legislature and governor have had a “monolithic school of thought” about how government should be run.

“So Senate Bill 439 is an attempt to intimidate this current Kansas Supreme Court into trying to think more along the lines of the governor and Legislature,” he said.

School finance is probably the biggest decision the Supreme Court has ruled on that the majority of the Legislature doesn’t agree with, and there have been other issues, such as overturning the marriage amendment.

On the bill, Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, said, according to the Senate Journal, “Alexander Hamilton said ‘Laws are a dead letter without courts to expound and define their true meaning and operation.’ SB 439 blatantly seeks to muzzle our Kansas Supreme Court, thereby compromising its ability to freely interpret and serve as the final arbiter of Kansas laws.”

Sen. Mitch Holmes, R-St. John, stated in the Senate Journal that there were several examples of judicial activism. “When officials are allowed to have absolute power, we run a real risk to our democratic processes. We live in an era when people believe that independence of the courts and absolute power are synonymous,” he stated. “’We the People’ will have no recourse against a branch with absolute power.”

The bill went to the House on Tuesday, where it was introduced.

Career and Education Fair offered April 9

Oak Ridge Missionary Baptist Church, 9301 Parallel Parkway, is offering a Career and Education Fair Saturday, April 9, for residents of Wyandotte County and surrounding cities.

Local employers and educational institutions will have information at the Career and Education Fair.

The event will be from 8:30 a.m. to noon April 9 at the church. It is open to the public.

After registration from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., the event will include speaker presentations at 9 a.m., with the career fair and mini workshops from 9 a.m. to noon.

Workshops will be held on resume and application review; appropriate interview questions; dress for success; computer assistance for applying online; and employment reference information.

High school and college students, and the public, may attend this event.

There are expected to be full-time, part-time, internships and seasonal employment opportunities.

Business professionals who work in specific careers will talk with potential applicants about obtaining employment. Professionals will answer questions about their organizations and available positions.

There will be demonstrations, interactive designs, mini-learning sessions to help job applicants learn about careers.