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House decks Democrats on plan to cut property taxes
The Kansas House has voted down a Democratic property tax reduction plan that they say would have saved Sedgwick County taxpayers about $7.4 million a year.
On a 41-76 vote, representatives on Tuesday rejected the proposal to restore state payments to local governments for property tax relief. The $7.4 million for Sedgwick County would have been part of $45 million in relief statewide.
A competing Republican plan has yet to be voted on on the House floor.
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Snowy owl shot, killed at Cheyenne Bottoms
Wildlife authorities suspect a poacher killed a snowy owl last week at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area near Great Bend.
“No hunter has done this,” Brian Hanzlick, lead investigator and game warden for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, said Tuesday. “This was someone who literally violated the law. They knew exactly what they were shooting at when they pulled the trigger.”
Dan Witt, a Hoisington physician and wildlife photographer, spotted the wounded bird Thursday afternoon about a half-mile from the Kansas Wetlands Education Center. He goes to the Bottoms about five times a week.
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Brownback’s school finance plan faces uncertain future
TOPEKA – Gov. Sam Brownback’s school finance plan faces an uncertain future as lawmakers test out a variety of changes in hope of making it more palatable to fellow politicians and education officials.
Sen. Jean Schodorf, a Wichita Republican who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said Tuesday that her committee won’t vote on the plan before a critical legislative deadline this Friday when most bills must be approved by the House or Senate.
Instead, she sought an extension and said she’s not sure what the plan’s prospects are.
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Wichita City Council member O’Donnell to face state ethics charge over e-mails
Wichita City Council member Michael O’Donnell will appear March 21 before the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission to face a charge that he misused his city computer to raise money for a longtime friend in the Kansas Legislature.
O’Donnell called it “a silly mistake” and said he expects to be fined by the commission for using his city computer to solicit financial sponsorship for an Oct. 30, 2011, meet-and-greet for Sen. Garrett Love, R-Montezuma.
State law prohibits any officer or employee of a state or municipality from using public equipment to advocate for a candidate for state or local office, said Carol Williams, the executive director of the state ethics panel.
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Doctor who aided Tiller in abortion cases may lose license
An administrative judge has issued an order revoking a Kansas doctor's license over her referrals of young patients for late-term abortions.
The judge said Dr. Ann Kristen Neuhaus failed to meet accepted standards of care in performing mental health evaluations on 11 patients, aged 10 to 18, in 2003. The order was made public Tuesday.
Neuhaus provided the second opinions that allowed the late Dr. George Tiller, of Wichita, to terminate the patients' pregnancies.
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Downtown development group backs yes vote on hotel guest tax
The Wichita Downtown Development Corporation’s board of directors has endorsed a “yes” vote Feb. 28 on the Ambassador Hotel guest tax referendum.
City voters will decide Tuesday whether 75 percent of the guest tax revenue generated by the 117-room boutique hotel will be rebated to developers over the hotel’s first 15 years. The estimated total rebate is $2.25 million.
“This is an exciting economic development opportunity,” WDDC chairman Tom Docking said.. “The opportunity to see an entire city block redevelop, jobs created and a beautiful and historic building coming back to life is a great opportunity for any city at any time, but especially during these economic times.”
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Jeff Longwell to challenge Karl Peterjohn for Sedgwick County Commission seat
Wichita City Council member Jeff Longwell hopes to be the second elected official in as many elections to move from City Hall to the Sedgwick County Courthouse.
Longwell, a Republican, announced Tuesday that he will run against fellow Republican Karl Peterjohn for the District 3 seat on the county commission.
Peterjohn plans to seek re-election to the seat he won in 2008. District 3 covers the western part of Sedgwick County, including Goddard and Cheney.
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English pancake racers beat Liberal’s for first time since 2006
This year, Liberal did not have the fleetest pancake flippers in the world.
Olney did.
Devon Byrnes, an 18-year-old from Olney, England, ran the race 10 seconds faster than Liberal’s Kaela Krueger. It is the first time Olney has won the race since 2006.
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Old headstones found in ditch southwest of Haysville came from Highland Cemetery
A few clicks on a website that keeps cemetery records from around the world quickly solved part of the mystery of six headstones, including some at least 135 years old, that were found abandoned in a ditch a few miles southwest of Haysville.
Shortly after making the names on the headstones public about noon Tuesday, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office was bombarded by e-mails and phone calls saying the grave markers came from Highland Cemetery, Ninth Street and Hillside, in northeast Wichita, Capt. Gregory Pollock said.
People apparently made the discovery by plugging in the names on the headstones into findagrave.com. Once they matched the names and dates of birth or death with Highland, they contacted Pollock. He estimated he heard from 50 people within an hour.
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Kansas Star Casino nets $21.6 million in first few weeks
The Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, which opened to the public the day after Christmas, netted $21.6 million in gambling revenue through January, according to the Kansas Lottery.
Of that money, $4.7 million, or 22 percent, went to the state, as mandated by the state’s expanding gaming law.
The city of Mulvane and Sumner and Sedgwick counties each received 1 percent of the revenue, or $215,624.