A cluster of late-winter prairie fires in the Texas Panhandle has killed four people, including three ranch hands racing to herd livestock to safety, while scorching hundreds of thousands of acres of grasslands, officials said on Tuesday. Wildfires stoked by high winds and tinder-dry vegetation also raged across Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas, prompting thousands of evacuations and destroying numerous structures.
Category: Sam Brownback
Firefighters battle rural blaze, others prepare to head west
A firefighter uses a leaf blower to combat a grass fire turned brush fire Tuesday afternoon in the 1000 block of Labette Road, southeast of Pomona.
The Latest: Oklahoma woman dies trying to fight wildfire
Grass fires fanned by gusting winds scorched swaths of Kansas grassland Monday, forcing the evacuations of several towns and the closur… . Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Chaplain Jeff Thompson passes bags of chips to, from left to right, Suzanne Morgan, Carol Shaylor and Linda Nimmo Monday, March 6, 2017, inside an evacuation center at the Kansa… .
The Latest: Kansas governor warns dry weather will remain
Grass fires fanned by gusting winds scorched swaths of Kansas grassland Monday, forcing the evacuations of several towns and the closur… . Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Chaplain Jeff Thompson passes bags of chips to, from left to right, Suzanne Morgan, Carol Shaylor and Linda Nimmo Monday, March 6, 2017, inside an evacuation center at the Kansa… .
Kansas Governor welcomes ‘valuable’ Indian community8 min ago
Washington, Mar 5 Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has welcomed “valuable” Indian community to the state, stressing that “hateful” actions of one man doesn’t define them in the aftermath of the killing of an Indian engineer. A delegation of Indian-Americans in Kansas along with the Hindu-American Foundation joined the Indian Consul General in Houston, Anupam Ray, in meeting Brownback and Lt Governor Jeff Colyer.
Kansas school funding formula plans vie for legislative approval
Lawmakers have begun sifting through a raft of school finance legislation, with several plans competing for attention in the early stages of a process aimed at producing a new funding formula. Lawmakers have begun sifting through a raft of school finance legislation, with several plans competing for attention in the early stages of a process aimed at producing a new funding formula.
The Latest: Kansas AG urges focus on struggling students
In this Sept. 21, 2016 file photo, school district attorney Alan Rupe, left, presents his arguments in a school funding case at the Kansas Supreme Court in Topeka, Kan.
House frosh making a difference
The 47 freshmen in the Kansas House of Representatives who entered office this year are voting in large numbers for a change.
Chart to acompany Moore article of Feb. 27, 2017
Stop me if you’ve heard this story before. Governors and state legislators are pleading poverty again and they are demanding tax hikes of every imaginable kind.
Kansas Legislature’s lurch to center cuts governor’s clout
In this Feb. 22, 2017 file photo, Gov. Sam Brownback takes questions from the media after signing the veto of the tax bill sent to him from the legislature in Topeka, Kan. Debates in the Kansas Legislature over taxes, expanding the state’s Medicaid program and restoring guaranteed tenure for public school teachers illustrate how much clout Brownback and his allies have lost.
Kan. Senate needs help to remember its true purpose
With the swing of her gavel, Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, launched the Kansas Senate into the 2015 legislative session on Monday.
Kansas governor to wield veto pen on tax bill
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is preparing to make good on a pledge to veto a bill increasing personal income taxes as a budget fix. Brownback has a Statehouse news conference scheduled Wednesday morning to act.
Kansas governor to veto income tax hike meant to fix budget
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said Tuesday that he will veto a bipartisan bill that would roll back personal income tax cuts he’s championed to help balance the state budget. The conservative Republican governor announced his planned action four days after the GOP-controlled Legislature approved the measure.
Governors of Red, Blue States Urge Trump to Back Wind, Solar
A group of governors from both ends of the political spectrum are urging President Donald Trump to support renewable energy, saying the wind and solar industries are crucial economic engines for impoverished rural regions. The Governor’s Wind & Solar Energy Coalition is seeking increased federal funding to modernize local power grids and boost clean energy research, according to a letter submitted to the White House Monday.
Gov. Brownback wants to build an airport in Johnson County
With plans to revamp Kansas City International Airport stalled, Gov. Sam Brownback and others in Kansas government are exploring the possibility of building an airport in Johnson County to rival KCI, The Star has learned. “Airlines are requesting construction of a new single terminal airport at , and the state of Kansas is continually looking for new economic development opportunities,” the governor said in an e-mail.
Editorial: Kansas should expand Medicaid
Kansas is one of only 19 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and it’s long past time for the Legislature to extend health coverage to 150,000 low-income Kansans by passing House Bill 2064. After three days of testimony from advocates and opponents of expansion in front of the House Health and Human Services Committee, one thing is clear: There are far too many uninsured Kansans who have to live with the grim knowledge that any serious health issue could ruin them.
States expected to continue course toward clean energy future
In Wyoming, Republican Gov. Matt Mead is counting on a state-funded research center set to open this year to find a way to produce energy from coal without releasing carbon dioxide into the environment. In Kansas, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is eyeing new wind farms to bring jobs and economic growth.
Kansas Civil Air Patrol officer calls for legislator’s death
The Kansas man who recommended Rep. Stephanie Clayton “swing from a tree” for introducing a bill to prohibit carrying concealed handguns on college and university campuses serves as a lieutenant colonel in the state’s Civil Air Patrol.
Kansas State president warns students about travel restrictions, calls Trump order ‘detrimental’
In this Nov. 15, 2016, file photo, Kansas State President Gen. Richard Myers is announced.
Kansas State president warns students about travel restrictions, calls Trump order ‘detrimental’
In this Nov. 15, 2016, file photo, Kansas State President Gen. Richard Myers is announced.
Kansas university president says $15K degree is possible
The interim president at Fort Hays State University has accepted Gov. Sam Brownback’s challenge to make it possible for a higher education student to receive a bachelor’s degree for $15,000 or less. Andy Tompkins says that depending on the field of study, a student can get a degree for that cost if two years are spent at a community college and two years are spent at his university, the Hutchinson News reported .
Fixing Kansas’ budget shortfall with cuts only equates to 6.9 percent reduction
Closing the Kansas government’s nearly $350 million budget shortfall exclusively with spending reductions would trigger a 6.95 percent across-the-board cut in the current fiscal year, officials said Monday. Members of the House Appropriations Committee received the grim spreadsheet documenting implications of a cut-only strategy to operating budgets of state government.
Makin’ us great
President Donald Trump and his Republican Congress want to turn Medicaid over to governors like Sam Brownback.
KanCare problems never end
In Gov. Sam Brownback’s State of the State address on Jan. 10, he lauded KanCare as an innovative Medicaid program that’s gaining national traction: “Fortunately for our budget, Kansas had the foresight to reform Medicaid – a policy others are following.
Editorial: A message from Kansans: Stop embarrassing us
If you asked a few politically minded Americans how they would characterize our state, how do you think they would answer? Would they admire the prudent, bipartisan governance that has guided us through the past few years? Or would they say something about Gov. Sam Brownback’s 26 percent approval rating, Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s obsession with voter fraud, the reckless campus carry law that will take effect this year and a fiscal situation that can only be described as a disaster? This is the image of Kansas that has crystallized across the country.
Kansas lawmakers move quickly on new special elections rules
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, right, confers with Bryan Caskey, left, his elections director, during a state Senate committee hearing on a bill that would rewrite the state’s rules for special congressional elections to give military personnel overseas more time to cast their ballots, in Topeka, Kan. The bill arose from President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., as Central Intelligence Agency director.
Friends in high places: Asa edition
WELL CONNECTED: Political consultant Jon Gilmore, leading a fund-raiser for former boss Asa Hutchinson, uses this photo on his private business page to tout his connectyions to the state’s top politician. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson , getting out ahead of the legislative session – when campaign fund-raising has an even more fraught appearance than normal – is throwing a fund-raiser for his 2018 gubernatorial campaign Thursday at the Capital Hotel.
Big fiscal questions to shape Kansas lawmakers’ work in new session
Big questions about taxes and spending will shape the Kansas Legislature’s work after its annual session opens on Jan. 9. But the biggest question might be how much GOP moderates work with conservatives and how often they seek deals with Democrats on tax and budget legislation to protect funding for education and other programs.
Brownback: Not inclined to support changes to campus concealed weapons law
Governor Brownback said Wednesday he isn’t inclined to support changes to the state’s concealed weapons law for public colleges and universities. Gov. Sam Brownback said Wednesday he isn’t inclined to support changes to the state’s concealed weapons law for public universities, a signal to lawmakers they will have to gather veto-proof majorities to modify the policy.
Endorsements, election results reveal policy sentiment of Kansas voters
House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs took the unconventional step during the Kansas Democratic Party convention in Topeka of publicly identifying 15 Republican House members considered most vulnerable to defeat in the 2016 election cycle. The veteran lawmaker representing the Democratic stronghold in Kansas City, Kan., said during the April gathering limited resources would require emphasis on nine conservative GOP incumbents with ties to Gov. Sam Brownback or serving districts in which Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis did well in 2014.
Don’t shoot the messenger
It is difficult to divine whether Gov. Sam Brownback enjoys living in a state of denial – or if he actually believes repeating misleading statements often enough will convince Kansans they are true.