Serving Kansas City (Wyandotte County) Kansas for over 50 years!
Caroline Meek, a native of Kansas City, Kansas, has been named to the University of Iowa’s dean’s list for the 2017 fall semester.
Students who achieve a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on 12 semester hours or more of graded course work during the semester are eligible for the dean’s list.
The college’s main campus is at Iowa City, Iowa.
Guest column
Opinion
by Rep. Pam Curtis, D-32nd Dist.
We just completed week 5 of the 2018 Kansas legislative session and are quickly approaching “Turnaround Day,” Feb. 22, which is the last day to consider non-exempt bills in the house of origin.
On Feb. 7, I posted on social media that it was a year ago that I testified in favor of HB 2185 that would allow local units of government the option to incorporate a prevailing wage requirement on public construction projects.
Introduced at my request, a hearing was held in the House Commerce Labor and Economic Development Committee and I remain hopeful that the committee will work the bill this session.
Paying a prevailing-wage supports a highly skilled and safe construction workforce that delivers more cost-effective construction projects and improves the overall economic health of communities. Here is a link to a petition in support of HB 2185.
It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I value and appreciate your input on issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address is Room 452-S, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at 785-296-7430 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. You can also e-mail me.
Last week on the House floor
This week, the House worked several bills on the floor. All of these bills passed through the chamber. They are as follows:
HB 2470: This bill allows microbreweries within the state of Kansas to contract with other microbreweries for production and packaging of beer and hard cider. The contracting Kansas microbrewery would be held to all applicable state and federal laws dealing with manufacturing, packaging, and labeling and would be responsible for payment of all state, and federal taxes on the beer or hard cider.
HB 2502: This bill will provide for newly authorized sales of beer containing no more than 6.0 percent alcohol by volume by cereal malt beverage (CMB) licensees to be subject to state and local sales taxes instead of the state liquor enforcement tax.
HB 2446: This bill adds a designation of ranking minority member to the Joint Committee on Kansas Security and to the Joint Committee on Information Technology. The ranking minority member of the Joint Committee on Kansas Security would be a representative member selected by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives in odd-numbered years and a senator member selected by the Minority Leader of the Senate in even-numbered years.
HB 2438: This bill prohibits state agencies from contracting with a vendor on an information technology project if that vendor prepared or assisted with: 1) The preparation of the program statement; 2) The project planning documents; or 3) Any other project plans prepared prior to approval of the project by the Chief Information Technology Officer of the relevant branch of government.
SB 262: This bill authorizes the Capitol Preservation Committee to approve plans to place a permanent statue of Dwight D. Eisenhower on the Kansas Capitol grounds.
HB 2441: This bill transfers responsibility for procuring independent audits from the Legislative Division of Post Audit (LPA) to the audited agencies.
HB 2492: This bill increases the maximum local sales tax rate that could be imposed by Thomas County from 1.50 percent to 1.75 percent
HB 2469: This bill prohibits local units of government from imposing restrictions or enforcing local licensing or registration ordinances on insurance claims’ handling operations during any catastrophic event threatening life or property.
Colyer addresses Legislature
On Wednesday, newly-inaugurated Gov. Jeff Colyer addressed both chambers of the Kansas legislature for the first time.
Colyer’s speech covered a broad range of topics, which he broke into three categories: reform, jobs, and education. Within these categories, he discussed the need for transparency in state government, his first executive order addressing sexual harassment within the executive branch and state agencies, and school finance litigation.
While Colyer called for an end to the cycle of constant litigation over the funding of Kansas public schools, he gave no specifics on how this might be done. The governor also expressed his wish to be the most accessible governor in the state’s history.
Whether Gov. Colyer delivers the “new day” in Kansas that he has promised is yet to be seen.
Resources:
My legislative Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/PamCurtisKCK
My Twitter account, https://twitter.com/pcurtiskck
My website, http://www.curtisforkck.com/
Kansas House Democrats Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/kshousedems/
Kansas House Democrats website, http://www.kshousedems.com/
Kansas Legislature website, http://kslegislature.org/
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
All losses hurt but some are more painful than others as Kansas City Kansas Community College’s young Lady Blue Devils found out against arch-rival Johnson County Saturday.
The Blue Devils roared to a 50-33 halftime lead against the No. 7 ranked Cavaliers but managed only 23 points in the final two quarters in a 79-73 setback that went right down to the final 30 seconds.
The loss kept Johnson County (5-1) a game back of unbeaten Highland (6-0) in the Region VI Division II standings while KCKCC (2-4) fell into a fourth place tie with Fort Scott.
The Blue Devils go back on the road at Hesston Wednesday and then return home Saturday for their final regular season games against Fort Scott at 2 and 4 p.m.
Led by Piper freshman Miya Ford, the Lady Blue Devils (18-8) turned in their best half since the 2016 national championship season.
Hitting 11-of-15 shots from the field including 6-of-8 3-pointers for 73.3 percent, KCKCC surged to a 29-17 first quarter lead and then expanded it to 50-33 at halftime by shooting 70.4 percent for the half (19-of-27). Ford, who was 7-of-9 from the field including a blistering 5-of-7 3-pointers, was the catalyst with a career high 19 points.
However, a much-needed knockout blow never came. It took the Cavaliers (21-5) just five minutes to knock all but three points off the Blue Devil lead by starting the second half with an 18-4 comeback.
Their lead whittled to 54-51, the Blue Devils withstood that rally thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Alix Wilson to re-open a 63-54 three-quarter lead.
But they couldn’t hold off a second JCCC comeback. The Cavaliers went ahead to stay 69-68 on a Kylee Williams’ 3-pointer with 3:16 left that triggered a run of eight straight points and a 74-68 lead before KCKCC made a final run.
A trey by Niji Collier and a layup by Kisi Young closed the gap to 76-73 with 1:36 left. Twice the Cavaliers misfired but each time they grabbed offensive rebounds and Cerena Reeves converted the second into a layup and a subsequent free throw with 26 seconds go to clinch the win.
Ultimately, the game was decided by rebounding and turnovers.
For the first 25 games of the season, the Blue Devils had outrebounded foes by an average of 13 a game but while JCCC’s final edge on the boards was only 41-35, a whopping 22 came off the offensive boards that led to 22 second-chance points. In addition, the Blue Devils committed 17 turnovers, most of which were unforced, to just five for JCCC.
Ford, who was held to just one shot in the second half, led all scorers with 19 points while Lillie Moore had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Young 15 points and Collier 10 points and six rebounds. Tristen McFeders had 16 points and Reeves and Williams 15 each for JCCC.
In other Region VI action Saturday, Highland defeated Labette 96-74 to set up a battle for first place with JCCC in Overland Park Wednesday while Fort Scott defeated Hesston 73-46.