T-Bones miss against Wichita’s Link

Wichita starter Jon Link gave up hits to only three Kansas City batters Tuesday night, as the Wingnuts beat the T-Bones, 5-1, at Lawrence Dumont Stadium in Wichita.

The Wingnuts took an early lead when leadoff hitter Christian Stringer walked against Kansas City starter Jeremy Strawn in the bottom of the first. A double by Brent Cox moved Stringer to third, which allowed Stringer to score on a groundout to shortstop by Brent Clevlen, giving Wichita a 1-0 lead. Cox swung a hot bat all night, going four-for-five with an RBI.

In the fourth inning, Wichita added the only other run it needed, thanks to back-to-back doubles by Richard Prigatano and Harrison Kain. That gave the Wingnuts a 2-0 lead. Strawn (0-4) had trouble working out of trouble all night, allowing at least one runner in scoring position in each of the first four innings. Although he struck out five and walked only one, Strawn allowed eight hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Strawn’s counterpart, Link (4-2), who threw seven scoreless innings against Kansas City in a win last week at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, went seven again, this time allowing one run and five hits, while striking out seven and walking only one. He won his fourth consecutive game. Link’s only blemish came in the fifth, when Vladimir Frias belted a solo home run, his second of the year.

Kansas City had six hits in the game but half of them came from Brandon Tierney, who went three for four. Besides Frias’ home run, the other two hits were off the bat of Tyler Massey, who went two for three with a double.

The T-Bones (11-15) will take on Wichita (13-12) again Wednesday night at 7:05 at Lawrence Dumont Stadium. All of the action can be heard online at TBonesBaseball.com.

– Story from Matt Fulks, T-Bones

Thousands of Kansans in limbo over proof of citizenship requirement


by Stephen Koranda, Kansas Public Radio


Editor’s note: This story is part of a 2016 Kansas elections collaboration involving KHI News Service, KCUR, KMUW, Kansas Public Radio and High Plains Public Radio.

Thousands of people in Kansas have incomplete voter registrations, which means they haven’t been able to vote. They were caught up in the state’s requirement that some people provide citizenship documents when registering. Now, a federal appeals court says many of those people should be allowed to vote in federal elections.

Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has pushed for the more stringent voter registration rules to ensure security in elections, but voter advocacy groups say the cost has been too high.

A few years ago, people didn’t need as much to register to vote. Now, people registering for the first time in Kansas need a document like a birth certificate or passport to prove their citizenship.

Bernadette Forge, with the League of Women Voters in Topeka, unpacked scanners and iPads at a recent voter registration event.

“The iPad, the advantage is you don’t need electricity. These copiers are inexpensive and rather slow,” Forge said.

That’s why Forge is registering people at a naturalization ceremony where nearly 200 people will become U.S. citizens. They’ll have freshly minted documents in hand ready to copy.

“We’re trying to get away from feeling upset about the proof of citizenship, and try to just look at ‘Here’s what has to get done now,’” she said.

But the process hasn’t been so simple for people like Tad Stricker. He moved to Kansas and registered to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles before the 2014 election.

“I walked in to cast my ballot,” Stricker said, “and I can’t tell you what a shocker it was to find out my vote wasn’t going to be counted.”

Stricker thought he had done everything required to vote, but his registration was incomplete because it didn’t include a document proving his citizenship. He is now a party in a lawsuit over the rules.

“I had this barrier put up that I just feel was very unjust,” Stricker said.

Marge Ahrens, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Kansas, said actual voter fraud cases are rare. She said, in the name of security, Kobach’s policies are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

“He has taken away the rights of, for sure, 20,000 people to vote,” Ahrens said. “It’s a terrible trade. It’s a loss of the most important privilege in a democracy to thousands of Kansas citizens.”

For his part, Kobach said voting crimes where non-citizens vote are real and documented.

“The League of Women Voters is deceptive with their words when they say that people are being disenfranchised or blocked,” he said.

Kobach said requiring people to provide a citizenship document is a necessary step because illegal votes cancel the votes of Kansas citizens, possibly turning the results of a close election.

“And that’s real disenfranchisement, not the fake disenfranchisement that the League of Women Voters complains about when they say someone is temporarily on a suspense list for a week while they get their birth certificate,” he said.

In fact, Kobach said 95 percent of people who register to vote complete the process. He believes the law will survive legal fights and said Kansas is leading on the issue.

With a primary and general election coming up, what could be the impact of thousands of voter registrations that are incomplete?

“If this law kept even a handful of people from voting in a hotly contested House race, that could be the difference in that race,” said Patrick Miller, a political science professor at the University of Kansas.

While it’s possible the voting rules could affect an election, Miller calls it highly unlikely because of the types of people on the list. He said many of them are younger people or move frequently.

“Disproportionately, we’re talking about a group of people who tend to register in the moment without a huge intention to actually following through with the documentation, let alone vote,” he said.

Right now, the voter registration rules in Kansas are up in the air. A court said people who registered at the DMV and are suspended should be allowed to vote, at least in federal elections, but there’s still some uncertainty. A federal appeals court will consider the issue in August.

The nonprofit KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute and a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor reporting collaboration. All stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online.

– See more at http://www.khi.org/news/article/thousands-of-kansans-in-limbo-over-proof-of-citizenship-requirement#sthash.JwW46ija.dpuf

KCKCC’s Lovell earns All-America baseball recognition

Eli Lovell  (KCKCC photo)
Eli Lovell (KCKCC photo)
Eli Lovell

Kansas City Kansas Community College outfielder Eli Lovell has earned Honorable Mention on the 2016 NJCAA Division I All-America baseball team.

The Blue Devils’ Most Valuable Player and leading hitter this season, Lovell was one of six Jayhawk Conference players earning All-America recognition. Two players from league champion Neosho County, sophomore catcher Ryan Toliver and freshman third baseman Brylie Ward, were named to the first team while Cowley pitcher Carson LaRue and infielder Shane Cooper and outfielder Caden Doga of Hutchinson joined Lovell on the Honorable Mention list.

A graduate Lincoln Southwest in Lincoln, Neb., Lovell was a two-year starter. As a freshman, he had 69 hits, 38 RBI and a .358 batting average as a freshman but no home runs. This year he had a team leading 15 home runs while pacing the Blue Devils in hits (96), extra base hits (41), stolen bases (16) and batting average (.451). He also finished in the Top Three in voting for the Jayhawk East’s Most Valuable Player award.

“Eli put up tremendous numbers because of all his hard work,” Goldbeck said. “He really worked hard on his craft. He also made himself into a good centerfielder after playing the corner outfield spots last year.”

In addition to a rigorous training schedule, Lovell played for the Midwest A’s in the Mid-Plains League in Kansas City last summer.

“I worked my tail off, lifting and hitting every day and before and after practice in the fall,” he said. “It was a lot harder my freshman year. I enjoyed my time here at KCKCC for sure. I definitely learned a lot my freshman year about the conference and where I needed to be my sophomore year and how much more prepared I needed to be.”