Author: Mary Rupert

KCK resident loses voice, gains $25,000 winning ticket

Susan Morgan, 58, of Kansas City, Kan., recently won $25,000 in a Kansas Lottery game. (Lottery photo)

Susan Morgan, 58, of Kansas City, Kan., came to Kansas Lottery headquarters missing something.

Morgan lost her voice last Thursday from laryngitis, but that didn’t keep her from telling about her $25,000 win on a $5 Extreme Cash Blast scratch ticket.

Morgan never thought she would win a top prize, even though she plays a $5 scratch ticket every time she gets a cup of coffee from QuikTrip.

“I’ve won $100 about ten times, and smaller prizes here and there, enough to keep me playing,” Morgan said. “But now I really believe, real people really do win.”

Morgan’s son was the one who picked up her coffee and the winning ticket for her when he came over to shovel her driveway. He went outside to get started and Morgan immediately called him back inside when she saw she had won $25,000.

“All he said was, ‘Mom, I think you finally won,’” Morgan remembered.

Morgan held on to the ticket for a few weeks before coming into the Topeka office to claim it. She is a full-time waitress and knows exactly what she’s going to do with the money.

“I’ve needed foot surgery for a long time, but I can’t afford to be off my feet that long since I’m a waitress. Now I have enough to get my foot fixed. It’s like my prayers have been answered.”

Morgan has two sons, both of whom will be sharing some of the prize money. Morgan said everyone around her has been so happy for her.

“They are just thrilled for me, that someone who works hard all the time won. They are believers now, too, that real people really do win.”

The ticket was purchased at QuikTrip 199, at 389 N. 130th St. in Bonner Springs. There are two $25,000 top prizes remaining in the game.

– Information from Kansas Lottery

Students recognized for scholarships

Students from 12 eastern Kansas counties were recognized for the scholarships they have been awarded from Fort Hays State University at a recent Student Recognition Program in Overland Park.

The event included students from Wyandotte County.

Scholarships awarded at the SRPs include the $1,200 Miller Black and Gold Academic Award and the $800 Hays City Silver Academic Award. Both are renewable provided students maintain the minimum required academic standing.

Also awarded are the $2,000 FHSU Presidential Award, the $700 Fort Hays Bronze Academic Award and the $500 Copper Academic Award, all of which are one-time scholarships given only to incoming freshmen enrolling in college for the first time.

The $1,000 Transfer Student Scholarship, which is a one-time award, is also awarded at SRPs.

Each SRP event also featured two drawings — one for a $400 FHSU Student Recognition Program Scholarship and another for an iPad.

Students from Wyandotte County schools included:

Bishop Ward High School:

Ana Palacio, a 2014 Bishop Ward High School graduate, accepted a $4,000 Access to Academic Opportunity Grant. Palacio, daughter of Carmen Palacio, Kansas City, Kan., plans to major in nursing. She is with FHSU President Edward H. Hammond, right, and Dorothy Ochs, assistant professor of nursing, left.

Ricardo Zamora, a 2014 Bishop Ward High School graduate, accepted a $4,000 Access to Academic Opportunity Grant, a $500 Academic Opportunity Award in the College of Business and Entrepreneurship and a $500 Copper Academic Award. Zamora, son of Veronica Vasquez, Kansas City, Kan., plans to major in management and marketing. He is with FHSU President Edward H. Hammond, right, and Micol Maughan, associate professor of management and marketing.

Sumner Academy:

Irma Machuca, a 2014 Sumner Academy graduate, accepted an $800 Hays City Silver Academic Award and a $500 Academic Opportunity Award in art. Machuca, daughter of Francisco and Graciela Machuca, Kansas City, Kan., plans to major in studio art. She is with FHSU President Edward H. Hammond, right, and Joel Dugan, assistant professor of art and design.

A reception was held by Fort Hays State University for several scholarship students recently in Overland Park, Kan.

Candidate says court ruling today to create separate and unequal voting in Kansas

Jean Schodorf, running for the Democratic nomination for Kansas secretary of state, today said a court ruling on proof of citizenship on election forms would create “separate and unequal” voting in Kansas.

Schodorf is running for the office currently occupied by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

She issued a statement today: “I am appalled by Judge Melgren’s ruling today,” Schodorf said.  “The federal voter registration form did not create a loophole to Kobach’s proof of citizenship requirements, it ensured that Kansans are able to vote in all elections, federal, state and local. Under Kobach’s two-tier voting scheme, some Kansans will be able to vote in all elections, while others will be unable to vote in their state and local elections, which would block their voice from key issues such as education and property taxes.

“Kobach’s war on voting must stop,” Schodorf said. “The federal voter registration form includes an affidavit that prospective voters must sign swearing they are citizens. This form is a legal document, and if you lie on a legal document, you go to jail. Kris Kobach should be focused on running the Kansas Secretary of State’s office so our business owners and entrepreneurs can create more jobs in Kansas, instead of focusing on his personal agenda.

“As secretary of state, I will work each and every day to protect all Kansas voters and our hard won democratic freedoms,” she said. “Kansans will not tolerate a system of separate and unequal voting. As I travel the state, I keep hearing my fellow Kansans say they are embarrassed. I don’t want my neighbors to be embarrassed anymore.”

Kobach, in a news release today, said there will be no need now for a dual election system.

“This is a huge victory for the states of Kansas and Arizona. They have successfully protected our sovereign right to set and enforce the qualifications for registering to vote,” Kobach said in a news release. “We have now paved the way for all 50 states to protect their voter rolls and ensure that only U.S. citizens can vote.”

The lawsuit against the EAC was brought seven months ago by the states of Kansas and Arizona and their secretaries of state. It asked the federal court to force the EAC modify the Kansas-specific and Arizona-specific instructions on the federal voter registration form to make it clear that applications will not be complete without submitting concrete evidence of citizenship.

“Because of this victory there will be no need for a dual election system,” Kobach said in the news release. “Otherwise we would have been stuck with a federal-elections-only ballot for those very few who used the federal form to register and failed to provide a citizenship document.”

See earlier story, https://wyandotteonline.com/kobach-wins-lawsuit-over-proof-of-citizenship-question-on-election-forms/.