Month: February 2022

Temperatures to reach high 50s today

There will be an increased chance of fire weather today as relative humidity will drop, with westerly winds gusting to 28 mph, the weather service said. Dry conditions will continue today.

Rain is not in the Wyandotte County forecast through the next week, according to the weather service.

A quick shot of cold air will move into the forecast area on Friday night behind a cold front that moves through on Friday, and ahead of a strengthening Canadian high pressure building into the northern plains, the weather service said. Lows will drop into the teens Friday night. The high will be 31 on Saturday, but Sunday should rebound to a high near 50, according to the forecast.

Today, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 58 and a northwest wind of 6 to 15 mph, gusting as high as 28 mph, the weather service said.

Tonight, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 31 and a northwest wind of 6 mph becoming calm after midnight, according to the weather service.

Thursday, it will be sunny with a high near 52, the weather service said. A light and variable wind will become southwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

Thursday night, it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 41 and a southwest wind of 8 to 14 mph, gusting as high as 22 mph, according to the weather service.

Friday, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 57, the weather service said. A west southwest wind of 10 to 16 mph will become north northwest in the afternoon, and winds may gust up to 25 mph.

Friday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 17, according to the weather service.

Saturday, it will be sunny, with a high near 31, the weather service said.

Saturday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 19, according to the weather service.

Sunday, it will be sunny, with a high near 50, the weather service said.

Sunday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 25, according to the weather service.

Monday, it will be sunny, with a high near 47, the weather service said.

Monday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 32, according to the weather service.

Tuesday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 60, and it will be breezy, the weather service said.

UG Commission moves forward on stormwater infrastructure program

The Unified Government Commission moved forward on stormwater infrastructure concerns Monday night after some months of delays on the issue.

At a special meeting Monday night of the full UG Commission, the commissioners unanimously approved the plan to submit an application to the federal government seeking financing under the Water Infrastructure and Innovation Act (WIFIA).

The commission approved a $100,000 application fee with the application, on a motion by Commissioner Melissa Bynum. There was no approval Monday night for a previously discussed stormwater rate increase.

“WIFIA is a great opportunity to help solve that combined stormwater sewer problem,” Bynum said.

The special meeting Monday night was to get the application in by a deadline of Tuesday, according to UG staff.

According to UG officials, after the application is submitted, the terms of a loan will be negotiated with the Environmental Protection Agency. The application includes stormwater, wastewater and street infrastructure projects.

UG staff members said the $130 million loan program would require a 51 percent match from the UG. There are many ways to match the loan dollars, including some in-kind work, according to staff. It would have low interest rates, and a 35-year repayment term, with repayment to start five years after construction on projects start.

The UG entered into a partial consent decree with the EPA in 2013 and created an overflow plan, according to staff.

Eight areas on the east side of Kansas City, Kansas, would be the sites for infrastructure projects, which historically have had stormwater problems. Such projects as separation of combined sewers, green infrastructure projects, curb and gutter repairs and bridge replacements could be included, according to UG staff. Stormwater work on the Leavenworth Road project also could be included.

The UG would want to maximize workforce partnerships with minority-owned and locally owned businesses, according to UG staff.

The project currently is in the early phases and would be moving into the third phase next, to determine its schedule, according to staff. By the fifth phase, they should get to loan approval, and partnering with the EPA on what should take place in the project, according to staff.

While the UG could do more with a change in its stormwater rate, the project is not dependent on the UG moving forward with a stormwater rate increase, according to UG staff, although it would become a more sustainable project. Some projects, such as Jersey Creek and the Argentine project, could be affected without a stormwater rate change, according to staff.

At the meeting, Commissioner Tom Burroughs, who supported the project, said he was surprised they still had $100,000 available for the application fee after they were told nothing was available.

Mayor Tyrone Garner asked UG staff for an explanation after he said they had been told that there was no money, deadlines had passed, but now they are finding out they can negotiate monies at a later date. How could everything be great now but they were in dire straits earlier, he asked. “I have an issue with that,” he said.

UG staff explained that there was never an issue with finding the $100,000 application fee, as it was set aside a couple years ago. Also, the previous administration wanted to pass a stormwater rate, according to staff. There was a sense of urgency presented because they wanted to tell the EPA what they were doing, and now they have an opportunity to negotiate, according to staff.

Garner said he supports the WIFIA program, and that he hoped in the future that the staff would get the information right. A deadline was presented, and now it has passed. He said he was perplexed as to misinformation that was presented to him and the commission.

“That is completely unacceptable, not just today but any time moving forward, when misinformation is given to this commission about millions of dollars that impact this community,” Garner said during the meeting.

Kansas Senate overrides the governor’s veto of Republican redistricting plan

The Senate override advances the map to the House. An override in that chamber would put the controversial redistricting plan into state law.

by Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service and KCUR

A last-ditch effort to override the governor’s veto of a controversial congressional redistricting plan succeeded in the Kansas Senate Tuesday, setting up a high-stakes vote in the House to put the map into law.

The Senate voted to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a redistricting plan that critics have said is gerrymandered to hurt Democrats and defeat U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the state’s only Democratic member of Congress.

The Senate vote came after the initial vote fell short Monday. Republicans used a procedural move to give them another day and another chance to pressure lawmakers to support the plan.

The 27-11 vote fell along party lines and was the bare minimum needed for an override in the Senate. The override initially failed Monday with 24 votes in favor. Two Republican lawmakers did not vote for or against the bill during the final override effort.

Republican Sen. Alicia Straub from Ellinwood was one of the lawmakers who faced pressure over the last day to switch from opposing to supporting an override. She switched her vote Tuesday.

“This is not about standing with the governor,” Straub said. “This is about standing for freedom.”

Another senator who switched his vote, Republican Mark Steffen from Hutchinson, supported the override while at the same time criticizing the plan because it puts Lawrence in the vast, conservative 1st District of western Kansas.

“They are dumping the Lawrence liberals in our lap,” Steffen said after voting to support an override. “Insidious redistricting will kill off the true conservative character of my beloved Big 1st.”

Steffens’ vote switched just hours after a bill he supported was advanced in the Legislature. A committee voted to support a bill that would limit investigations of physicians who prescribe unproven COVID-19 treatments. It would also allow parents to claim religious exemptions to any vaccine requirement at schools and daycares.

Steffen, a physician, has said in the past that he is under investigation by the state’s regulatory board, the Board of Healing Arts.

“We see what happens when you get 24 hours and you get to make some backroom deals to get your way,” Senate Democratic Leader Dinah Sykes, from Lenexa, said during the vote. “I am disappointed in this chamber.”

Democrats continued to criticize the map Tuesday for the way it divides the state’s congressional districts and splits the racially diverse Democratic stronghold of Wyandotte County.

“This map is a travesty,” Overland Park Democratic Sen. Cindy Holscher said. “When we do things like this, democracy dies a little bit.”

The state Republican Party wasted no time after the initial vote failed Monday, sending out an email alert urging people to call Republican senators who hadn’t supported the override.

“We cannot have Kansas Republicans voting to support Laura Kelly’s agenda,” the email read.

Kelly vetoed the bill because she said it violated redistricting rules by diluting minority votes and breaking apart communities.

“(The map) does not follow these guidelines and provides no justification for deviation from those guidelines,” Kelly said in her veto message last week.

Republicans have argued the changes are needed because of population shifts in the state.

If the House also votes to override the veto, the plan will likely still face a legal challenge.

The proposal draws districts for the state’s four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Kansas lawmakers must draw a new map every 10 years to account for population shifts documented in the U.S. Census.

Democrats have blasted the plan because they say it’s aimed at diluting the votes of left-leaning communities and people of color in an effort to defeat the state’s lone Democratic member of Congress.

Rep. Davids, a Democrat, holds the 3rd District seat in the Kansas City area. The plan would split part of Wyandotte County out of the 3rd District and replace it with Republican-leaning rural counties southwest of the Kansas City area.

The map would also move the left-leaning community of Lawrence from the 2nd District into the large, conservative 1st District that stretches west to the Colorado border.

Jim McLean of the Kansas News Service contributed to this report.
Stephen Koranda is the news editor for the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter @Stephen_Koranda or email him at stephenkoranda (at) kcur (dot) org.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-02-08/kansas-senate-overrides-the-governors-veto-of-republican-redistricting-plan