Pay the piper?

The Lawrence Journal-World reports: "The idea of having counties where regents universities are located increase local property taxes to help pay for $660 million in university repairs is picking up steam in the Legislature." Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, is quoted by the LJ-W: “The universities are a great economic benefit for those communities that host them. I don’t think it’s wrong to ask communities to share at least in some small way with this problem.” LJ-W also reports that Morris noted that the cities of Wichita and Topeka already assess local property taxes to help support Wichita State University and Washburn University and that House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, and House Democratic Leader Dennis McKinney, of Greensburg, said such a proposal should be considered in the other counties where regents institutions are located. Read the whole article here: Taxes touted to fund repairs.


My response: That might be an OK idea, if students from counties without a state university pay higher tuition to attend state universities or if their county of residence pays the state like they pay for county residents who attend another county's community college. And, it might be OK, if residents of counties with state prisons, state hospitals, the state capitol, highway patrol offices, KDOT facilities, state parks and lakes, state offices, and other state-owned and maintained facilities that also bring a locality economic benefits pay a local property tax for state building maintenance at the same rate as that proposed for counties with a state univeristy. After all, fair is fair. Right?

As far as Wichita and Topeka paying extra local property taxes for WSU and Washburn, let's remember that keeping the local property tax was a legislative requirement for WSU becoming state-supported. And, don't forget, Wichitans paid local property taxes at a higher rate for WSU before the state shouldered their burden and they still get special benefits from the arrangement. Washburn shouldn't even be included in the comparison, because it's not a Regents' institution and is more comparable to a community college that requires a local tax but also gets state aid.

Where in all this discussion about university building repairs is mention of the present state-wide property tax for buildings? I believe it's 1 mill, unless it's been changed. Wouldn't it be simple to increase the statewide rate to 2 or 3 mills and use it for the maintenance of state buildings wherever located? Sometimes, I just shake my head and wonder what kind of dolts the voters are sending to Topeka.

In the same LJ-W article, Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, is reported as saying that she wouldn’t be interested in such a plan as Morris advocates because “Property taxes are too high,” and legislators also must consider that while universities provide many benefits to their home counties, they also increase costs in public services.

My response, again: The latter part of Marci's statement is true. Would Morris, Neufeld and McKinney be willing to make in lieu of tax payments to cities and counties that host state universities and other institutions to help them contend with the public service burden these institutions impose on the host communities? I doubt it. I guess when you live in Hugoton, Ingalls or Greensburg, the clean air and bucolic setting of those places give you a special perspective on the rest of Kansas. Being from a remote location must cause you to think it's all right to spend other Kansan's money for state programs from which your children derive benefits equal to the children of host communities. I'll bet if those guys were smokers, their favorite brand would be O.P.s.

Conceal Carry Confusion

In Abilene, Hutchinsonand Topeka, conceal carry permit holders are frustrated by provisions of the new law that allow store owners to ban handguns from their premises by posting signs showing a handgun with a diagonal bar across it and words to the effect that weapons are prohibited on premises. Threats of boycotts of businesses have been made to pressure property owners to not restrict access to concealed gun carriers. In Lawrence, the mayor wants a stricter local gun law that includes jail for carrying firearms near bars to provide greater safety.

Sen. Journey and Rep. Ruff want changes in the state law to limit city and county hand gun regulation. They theorize that local laws prohibiting the ability to carry a handgun wherever a concealed carry permit holder wants is a restriction on the permitees' freedom of personal movement. This is interesting, because the state law for concealed carry permits that these weapons advocates got passed has some 20-plus places where concealed weapons are prohibited.

This idea of freedom of movement is a farce. Don't we have laws protecting private property by preventing unauthorized access like in trespassing and breaking-and-entering crimes. Businesses don't need a state law permitting them to set the conditions of access to their property. Conceal carry permit holders need to suck it up and get a handgun safe for their car so they can store them while shopping. I doubt that businesses will provide "check-your-gun" services. But if they do, I would like to have the state franchise.

Also, I'm not interested in some gun nut waving his pistol around if he feels threatened in a store while I'm in there. Actually, never in my life have I been in a situation where a handgun was presented by a criminal to rob the place I was in. Have you been in such a situation?

Kathy's Hometown Paper

Kathy Martin, one of the religious right's representatives on the Kansas State Board of Education is from Clay Center, Kansas. I visited the online site of the Clay Center Dispatch,The Dispatch Online, to see what they had to say about her. Using their very excellent search utility, I could not find a single story about Kathy Martin, even going back through all of 2006, by using the keywords: Kathy, Martin, Board of Education, Topeka, and Evolution. I can't believe such stories don't exist, but I got tired of looking. I did run across an editorial from March, 2006, that stated: "The holy warriors in Kansas have gutted their GOP, and Kansas is bleeding again--undergoing a transition as broad and profound as in the days before the Civil War. They are trying to define not only Republicanism, but Christianity itself, to suit their own prejudices and fears and then encode them in law." Well, at least we know where the editor of the Dispatch lands on one issue of the culture wars. Do you suppose that's why Kathy doesn't seem to get any hometown press?

S.B.D.

Baron AKA S.B.D.
The dog pictured is a Dachshund, pure-bred with papers, but not registered. Since he was neutered at a young age, there was not much point to paying a fee to the AKC. His full name is Baron Fidelius Von Die Nacht. It recognizes his German heritage and lineage. Baron is a fitting title for a German canine aristocrat. Fidelius, I understand, is German for the latin word, fido, or as we say, friend. Von Die Nacht recognizes that his mother was a black and tan, although his father had a reddish coat. Baron is approaching ten years of age. His favorite activity is eating. Hunting for food whether outdoors or in the house is his second love. Sleeping is his third love, only slightly ahead of 'dogging' me. A walk or car ride makes his day. He hates squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks who intrude on his yard space. He is not fond of cats and will chase them, bite them (if given a chance), and cower from them if challenged. He just never got used to felines, but he will respect them if they swat his nose with a clawed paw. He tries hard to figure things out and behave, but he doesn't quite get it, hence, the nickname, S.B.D., which stands for Stupid Black Dog. For example, if he hears a doorbell on the TV, he runs to the front door of our house to see who is coming for a visit. Actually, he seems to be pretty smart for a dog. He barks at the door to be let in. He runs back and forth toward a door to be let out of a room or the house. He positions himself beneath grandchildren at the table, because he knows where the food orts are most likely to fall. He responds to many commands like 'come', 'sit'. 'stay' (for a while), 'in' (goes to his cage or bed), 'run, run' (which causes a flurry of chasing activity without an object of pursuit), 'hurry up' (when there is business to be done) and some others, to the point that you think he understands human language. Anyway, he deserves to be featured in my profile. He loves going to the dog boarding place where he can visit his canine friends. After a few days, when he comes home, he sleeps for 24 hours straight, and he is so hoarse, he can't bark for several days, which is not all bad. Well, that's Baron, my buddy.

Willard Supporters

If you wondered how Ken Willard of Hutchinson got reelected to the Kansas Board of Education ahead of a well-qualified moderate, just consider the tone of these letters that his constituents sent to the editor of the Hutchinson News:

Follow the rules: Please consider that the subject of science in our school systems seems to be a hot topic ever since it was considered as a part of any curriculum. Now consider that the word science comes from the Latin, "scientia," which literally means... "to know." Now, I ask all legislators, teachers and parents alike, how can you "know" something that is a theory?
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New commandments: The moderate State Board of Education has saved Kansas from ridicule. With Darwinistic evolution reinstated as the only way to do science in Kansas public schools, I offer this replacement of the Ten Commandments (The Ten Suggestions of Naturalistic Evolution) to commemorate the occasion.
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Disturbed by BOE vote: I was very disturbed over the vote of the Kansas Board of Education on evolution.
READ MORE

Kansas News and Commentary

To keep Kansans abreast of the Kansas Legislature's deliberations and other happenings or editorial opinions and letters of state-wide interest, a new blog entitled, Kansas News, has been started. The URL, http://www.ksnews.org/, will access the site.

KansasNews provides links to news stories and commentary in 40 of Kansas' daily newspapers. The Web sites for the 40 dailies are checked daily, usually in the morning, but not at an ungodly early hour, for items that fit the broad criteria stated above. Each post is identified by the name of the newspaper and a link is provided to newspaper story or op-ed piece that fit the criteria. Beside the article's headline and its first sentence or two, other information when available on the paper's Web site, such as the date, writer, news service, etc. is included with the post.

The work is being done by two persons at this time. Additional volunteer workers are sought to do one (1) paper each day and to be an alternate for another worker to insure that all the day's postings are available in a timely manner and that the work will go on despite absences of individual workers. Persons interested in helping with the KansasNews blog are urged to contact this blog with their name and phone number.

Letter to Kansas Congressmen

In December, 2002, I wrote the following to the Kansas congressional delegation to express my views about the gathering war clouds being fomented by the Bush administration:

"I am writing to express my personal feelings towards the Bush administration's apparent preparations for war with Iraq.

I am not comfortable with the United States in the role of aggressor, or openly pursuing a military action against a country that is not a response to overt military aggression by that country against the United States or its allies. I do not support "gun-boat diplomacy" or "brinksmanship". Neither approach to international relations has any place in the 21st Century. I am appalled at national television news media's obsession with war, a disposition apparently fostered by White House and Pentagon staffers. I have not participated in parades or demonstrations against the prospects of war with Iraq, but more and more my sympathies are with the entertainment celebrities, college students and peace activists who are public in their opposition to war with Iraq. I want an alternative to war with Iraq. I feel that a policy of war is unwise. It will not solve the immediate problem, Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, that it seeks to cure without paying costs that are too severe in terms of the sanctity of human life, economic growth and stability, global good will and other measures of civilized progress.

I urge you and fellow Kansas Congressmen to reevaluate the course being pursued by the Bush Administration. Certainly, there is a more constructive means of dealing with Iraq than threatening war or, heaven forbid, following through with a military attack. We need leadership from Congress on this important issue. The last time I read the U.S. Constitution, the power to declare war was given to Congress, not to the President. Congress can not and will not escape responsibility for Bush's folly of seeking war as a solution to Iraq's behavior."

The only thing in this letter that I regret writing over four years ago is my reference to Iraq's WMDs. I regret that I believed my government when they said Iraq had WMDs. A basic trust has been broken. Never again will I accept a statement by the U.S. government, unless it is corroborated by overwhelming evidence. Taking the word of politicians won't cut it.

I am still opposed to the Iraq War. I oppose the idea of war with Iran. If anything, to heal the breech in our relations with Iran, the first thing we should do is apologize to the Iranian people for the CIA's actions in thwarting two attempts to rid Iran of despotic rulers. Next, we should enter a dialogue with Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, et al, about the future of the Middle East and what the USA can do to help them, even if that means withdrawing all military forces.

KU Basketball

After the game with Texas A&M last night, I have a new name for the KU basketball team: The Not Ready for Prime Time Players. Forget about talk of pro drafts, these guys need to stick around for four years. They can only get better. They are pretty good already, but the value of honing b-ball skills through 4 years of college ball is proven by the masterful play of Acie Law, Texas A&M's great Senior player.