Month: January 2018

KCKCC to take 16-4 record into nation’s toughest conference

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Safely over the final non-conference hurdle, focus now turns to the toughest NJCAA Division II conference in the nation for Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women’s basketball team.

The Lady Blue Devils closed out the non-conference season Thursday, boosting their record to 16-4 with an 83-67 win over William Penn junior varsity in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Region VI play begins Wednesday when the Blue Devils invade Johnson County (16-4), the No. 5 ranked team in Division II and one of three conference teams ranked in the Top 10 nationally.

Unbeaten Highland (20-0) is ranked No. 4 while Labette (16-2) is No. 9 in the current NJCAA poll.

While not ranked in the Top 20, KCKCC is 23rd in votes received. Tipoff at JCCC Wednesday is 5:30 p.m. with a men’s game to follow.

“I’m very happy for this group to be 16-4 at this point in the season,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “There is certainly room for improvement in some specific areas but they continue to do what is needed to come out on top. The next 10 games are what’s important. We have to use the experiences we’ve had up to this point, both good and bad, to help us have a high level of success. This is where the fun really starts. I’m excited to see what happens. … I hope these girls are ready.”

The Blue Devils’ forward line of Lillie Moore, Kisi Young and Lizzie Stark again led the way at William Penn, combining for 50 points and 28 rebounds.

Young had her 10th double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds, Moore led all scorers with 23 points along with eight rebounds and Stark had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Perimeter scoring came from Alix Wilson, the Blue Devils’ lone sophomore, who had three 3-pointers for nine points; Camryn Swanson, who had a pair of treys and eight points; and Gena Ojeda, who had two 3-point goals. Caitlyn Stewart led in assists with six with Wilson and Young adding four each.

KCKCC never trailed, jumping to a 17-10 first quarter lead on the way to a 39-25 halftime lead.

The Blue Devils dominated the rebounding 43-27 but broke even in turnovers (21 each) and shooting percentage.

Thanks to 60.7 percent shooting in the second half, William Penn shot 47.5 percent from the field compared to KCKCC’s .471 accuracy.

Kansas plan for private prison deal in limbo

by Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback abruptly postponed a meeting Thursday where lawmakers were expected to approve or reject a plan for a private contractor to rebuild the state prison in Lansing.

Consideration of the proposal was already pushed off earlier this month. The additional delay raises questions that the project may not have enough support in the State Finance Council to advance.

A spokesperson for the governor, Kendall Marr, said the delay would allow for more information gathering.

“There are some questions that still need to be answered,” Marr said. “I know a lot of legislators still have questions on the Lansing prison project and we’re going to seek to get those answered here in the next few days.”

Marr didn’t say when the State Finance Council would next meet to consider the proposal, but he said the project is not dead.

Under the proposal negotiated by the Brownback administration, the state would pay about $360 million over 20 years to lease the new prison from contractor CoreCivic. At the end of the lease the state would own the facility.

The Department of Corrections says a new prison would require fewer staff. The savings from the more efficient design would be used to pay for the lease.

Some lawmakers have raised concerns about the plan being negotiated behind closed doors and questioned whether the cost estimates for the prison are realistic.

The delay could potentially raise the cost of replacing the aging correctional facility. CoreCivic’s CEO Damon Hininger has said further delays of the approval could create challenges.

The top Democrat in the Senate, Anthony Hensley, said the cancellation of Thursday’s State Finance Council meeting was not about the administration giving lawmakers time to ask questions.

“They didn’t have the votes. It’s as simple as that. That’s why we didn’t meet,” Hensley said.

The Finance Council is made up of the governor and eight legislative leaders. If that panel rejects the Lansing prison plan, then the full Legislature could consider the issue.

Parts of the Lansing prison are more than 150 years old and take more staff to operate than a new facility.

“The structure’s old and smells,” Governor Brownback said this week. “But more than that, it’s not structured for a modern prison.”

Some lawmakers that agree the state should consider building a new prison are still wary of the plan presented by the governor.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.
See more at http://kcur.org/post/kansas-plan-private-prison-deal-limbo.