Highway crashes reported in KCK
Month: May 2022
KCKCC takes on Pratt in regional tournament action
by Tyler Scott, KCKCC sports information director
The KCKCC Blue Devils baseball team has claimed the No. 3 seed in the upcoming NJCAA Plains Regional Tournament, the conference announced.
The squad will enter the tournament at 45-10 overall and 26-6 in the KJCCC.
Because of the team claiming one of the top eight seeds, the Blue Devils will play host to one of the eight opening round sites.
KCKCC will play host to Pratt Community College in a best of three game series starting Wednesday. The two teams then square off again on Thursday, while Friday will be an “if necessary” match. First pitch for all three games is scheduled for 1 p.m.
KCKCC is coming off a big series against Cowley College, who claimed the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. The two teams split the four-game series where the Blue Devils took one game at home as well as on the road.
The Blue Devils have been playing some of their best baseball this season, which included a season-long 14-game winning streak and a 12-game winning streak at one point.
Brendyn Bard, Cole Dawson, Pablo Sanchez, Caleb Adams, Darius Freeman and Parker Bosserman are all batting over the .300 mark, while appearing in at least 45 games apiece. Adams has hit double-digit home runs with 11 on the season and Sanchez has hit eight long balls. Dawson leads the squad with 70 runs scored, while Bard has a team high 17 doubles and 65 RBI. Arlen Peters is the top pitcher for the Blue Devils with a 6-2 record. Tre Simmons and Hunter Cashero each have five victories and Cooper Carlgren has racked up a team-high 50 strikeouts.
Other opening round matches for the tournament::
(16) Seward County (14-40) at (44-9) (1) Cowley
(9) Coffeyville (31-22) at (32-22) (8) Butler
(12) Dodge City (28-25) at (41-15) (5) Johnson County
(13) Allen (26-24) at (35-19) (4) Colby
(14) Pratt (22-32) at (45-10) (3) Kansas City KS
(11) Neosho County (24-31) at (35-15) (6) Cloud County
(10) Hutchinson (34-21) at (32-24) (7) Fort Scott
(15) Labette (17-25) at (39-16) (2) Barton
If the Blue Devils advance past Pratt Community College, they will advance to the NJCAA Plains District Region VI Championship at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas, with games starting May 17.
Kelly goes shopping for sweet food sales tax repeal, settles for gradual reduction
Bill to be signed by governor ends 6.5% state tax on groceries in 2025
by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector
Olathe — Gov. Laura Kelly planned a trip to a Hy-Vee store in Olathe to sign a bipartisan bill Wednesday phasing out over three years the state’s 6.5% sales tax on groceries, but would prefer the Legislature reconsider her proposal to promptly wipe out the state tax on groceries.
The Republican-led Legislature is sitting on a large budget surplus, but has been wary of wholesale deletion of the state’s tax on food on July 1 because it would be a political victory for the Democratic governor and the lost state revenue could haunt lawmakers in a recession. The governor has campaigned to “Axe the Food Tax,” which would be popular among consumers grappling with the highest inflation rate in decades.
Instead, the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill that would culminate with repeal of the state’s food sales tax in 2025. The reform wouldn’t alter local sales tax on grocery purchases.
Under House Bill 2106, the state would lower the state’s sales tax on groceries to 4% on Jan. 1, 2023. It would slide to 2% by Jan. 1, 2024. The tax would be eliminated Jan. 1, 2025. The first phase of the rollback would cost the state $77 million. The second year revenue reduction would be an estimated $252 million, followed by $411 million in 2025.
Gov. Kelly referred to the Legislature’s alternative to her plan as a “good first step,” because it would deliver savings for every Kansan. She said strong state tax revenue collections in April demonstrated the Legislature could take up the issue May 23 when legislators return to Topeka.
House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, said an extreme downturn in the state’s economy had to be anticipated. The stair-step process of lowering the sales tax on groceries would allow the Legislature to remain nimble, he said.
The bill to be signed by Gov. Kelly defined food as standard groceries as well as bottled water, candy, dietary supplements, soft drinks and food sold through vending machines. It excluded alcoholic beverages, tobacco and prepared food offered by restaurants.
The unusually high statewide sales tax on groceries was raised to 6.5% in 2015. It was bumped up to help balance the budget because former Gov. Sam Brownback’s strategy of aggressively lowering the state’s income tax — his goal was to eliminate that tax in Kansas to create job growth — depleted the state treasury to an extent it was difficult state government to fulfill basic duties.
In 2019, Republicans in the Legislature passed two tax-cut bills vetoed by Gov. Kelly. GOP lawmakers attempted to induce Gov. Kelly to approve of the cuts by inserting a reduction in the state food sales tax. Gov. Kelly rejected the legislation, saying it would have been irresponsible to add financial instability to the budget.
Derek Schmidt, the attorney general and a candidate for governor in 2022, said the latest phased approach to the sales tax on groceries was Gov. Kelly’s “second chance to get it right.”
Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/05/11/kelly-goes-shopping-for-sweet-food-sales-tax-repeal-settles-for-gradual-reduction/