Month: April 2021

Legislative update from Rep. Pam Curtis, D-32nd Dist.

Guest column
Opinion

Rep. Pam Curtis

by Rep. Pam Curtis

Last week was a very busy week. The House was on the floor Monday through Thursday and took action on 34 bills. This was also the final week for committees to meet and pass out bills for consideration.

Among the 34 bills debated on the floor was HCR 5015, which urged the U.S. Congress to reject the For the People Act of 2021. After heavy discussion on HCR 5015, it was clear that Democrats wanted to protect voting rights while Republicans would prefer to strip it away. In the last couple of weeks before we recess, we anticipate hearing controversially large bills that could each have a serious impact on the state of Kansas: sports wagering, the Brownback 2.0 tax bill, the Frankenstein school voucher bill, and the budget.

In the House Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Committee we worked and passed out the STAR Bond bill, which was set to expire. I offered an amendment, which would have aligned the economically distressed urban areas with the same criteria in the bill as the rural-small cities area. My amendment failed. However, the chairman of the committee instructed the Kansas Department of Commerce staff to work with me to draft a bill based on aligning economic development tools for our most economically distressed urban areas with rural incentives for consideration next session.

If the goal is to help economic development in the most economically distressed areas of Kansas than we should not separate out urban from rural. They share many of the same issues and challenges and if we let the data determine where those areas are, whether they are in a big city or a small city, we can align the economic development tools that are available to help those areas. I am looking forward to working on this legislation for next year.

Read more about the week’s legislative actions at https://www.curtisforkck.com/2021-legislative-update-11.

Gov. Kelly announced late last week that COVID-19 vaccinations for all adults and children over the age of 16 are open beginning this week. People over the age of 16, regardless of health or employment, are encouraged to get their vaccine.

There was no action taken on the floor by the House last week, but as we look into the next few weeks there are many controversial issues coming over the horizon. These issues include medicinal marijuana, an education bill aimed at defunding public school education, a bill that would give tax cuts to giant multinational corporations, and even a bill that discriminates against transgender people.

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, Kansas 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.

Resources
My Legislative Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/PamCurtisKCK.
My Twitter account, https://twitter.com/pcurtiskck.
Kansas Legislature website, http://kslegislature.org/li/.

KCKCC women cruise 92-58, to be in semifinal playoff next week

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women will have a first round bye and hold an NJCAA Region VI semifinal playoff game. That was confirmed by the Blue Devils’ 92-58 win at Fort Scott Wednesday.

The win sets up a probable rematch for the No. 5 ranked Blue Devils against No. 7 ranked and defending Region VI champion Labette next Wednesday night. The two teams collided last Saturday with KCKCC handing the Cardinals their first loss in 22 games 77-70.

The Region VI playoffs begin Monday with Labette (3-2) as host to Hesston (1-9) and Fort Scott (3-5) entertaining Highland (2-6).

The Labette- Hesston winner will play at KCKCC and No. 1 ranked Johnson County (8-0) will play the Fort Scott-Highland winner in Wednesday’s semifinals. The championship game will be played the following Saturday at Friends University in Wichita.

Six Blue Devils scored eight or more points as they won their fifth game in a row, Ranked No. 5 nationally, the win improved the KCKCC record to 18-2.

“Very happy with tonight’s outcome,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstrysaid. “Although we beat them handily the first time we played, I know playing on their court wouldn’t be easy. Our team gave a solid effort all night.”

Aliyah Myers had 19 points and three assists and Tiaira Earnest 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead the way. Ikla Elam added 14 points and DQ Guillory 12 and both had five rebounds while DJ Guillory chipped in with nine points and Trinity McDow masking her first start eight and three assists.

“Tiaria’s stat line is pretty impressive across the board and Aliyah was solid for us as she’s been most of the year,” McKinstry said. “Aliyah finishes the regular season with the third most assists in the country (101) and first in the country in steals (69). She’s been tremendous all season for us.”

The game marked the debut of 6-1 freshman forward Jewell Hart of Truman High School.

“It’s been over a year since she last played competitively in dealing with a knee and a shoulder injury,” McKinstry said. “She has some rust to shake off but it was great to see her on the floor.

“Now we’ve got six days to get ourselves prepared and I’m excited for this group to have the opportunity to host a semifinal game in our home gym.”

In other final season games, unbeaten JCCC got its 18th straight win 64-58 at Labette while Hesston posted its first win, defeating Highland 58-44 at Highland.

Frost in the forecast for Friday morning

Frost is in the forecast again for Friday morning. (National Weather Service graphic)

A frost advisory has been issued from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Friday, April 2, according to the National Weather Service.

Thursday morning began with frost and a low that reached about 29 at 6 a.m., then rose to about 34 degrees at 9 a.m.

Friday’s lows will not be quite as cold as Thursday’s, but widespread frost will occur over the region with another freeze, the weather service said. Tonight, the low could be around 34 and Friday, the high could be 66.

Temperatures will rise to 72 on Saturday and 78 on Easter Sunday, according to the weather service.

Today, it will be sunny, with a high near 54 and a light northeast wind, the weather service said.

Tonight, it will be clear, with a low of 34 and a southeast wind of 5 to 7 mph, according to the weather service.

Friday, it will be sunny, with a high near 66, the weather service said. A south wind of 8 to 18 mph will gust as high as 28 mph.

Friday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 47 and a south southwest wind of 11 to 14 mph, gusting as high as 21 mph, according to the weather service.

Saturday, it will be sunny, with a high near 72 and a southwest wind of 11 to 14 mph, gusting as high as 23 mph, the weather service said.

Saturday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 50, according to the weather service.

Sunday, it will be sunny, with a high near 78, the weather service said.

Sunday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 58, according to the weather service.

Monday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 79, the weather service said.

Monday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 60, according to the weather service.

Tuesday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 82, the weather service said.

Tuesday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 62, according to the weather service.

Wednesday, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 81, the weather service said.