Free Republic

A year ago, Steve Howe stood in front of the Johnson County Courthouse to announce his campaign for district attorney. Behind him were about 15 supporters from a broad spectrum of the Republican Party, including his two campaign managers: Charlotte O’Hara, a conservative from Olathe, and Greg Musil of Overland Park, from the party’s moderate wing. In April, they rallied behind him again. It was a stunning show of Kansas GOP unity after many years of divisive intraparty politics. But don’t think the rift between conservative and moderate Republicans has closed. The wound may have scabbed over some, but it...

Kristi Boone of Olathe never planned to file for the Kansas Legislature when this election year began. Neither had Chris Napolitano of Lenexa nor Judy Macy of Overland Park nor Sean Tevis of Olathe. They changed their minds, though, after attending the Democratic Party’s Feb. 5 presidential caucuses in Kansas. Now they are running as Democrats in Republican-rich Johnson County. All were swept along by a tide of enthusiasm for Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, and Democratic successes in Kansas in 2006.

A possible tornado has struck the Litle (spelling from site?) Sioux Scout Camp in Iowa. Very large response is being reported by media. Large number of injuries.

Saying he has a passion for justice, District Attorney Phill Kline announced Monday that he would be a candidate to retain his job as Johnson County’s top law enforcement officer. At an evening news conference, with his wife and daughter at his side, Kline said he would file today to run as a Republican. That means Kline will face former Johnson County prosecutor Steve Howe in the Aug. 5 primary; the winner will take on former Johnson County prosecutor Rick Guinn, a Democrat, in November.

It’s the only way Tory Bowen knows to honestly describe what happened to her. She was raped. But a judge prohibited her from uttering the word “rape” in front of a jury. The term “sexual assault” also was taboo, and Bowen could not refer to herself as a victim or use the word “assailant” to describe the man who allegedly raped her. The defendant’s presumption of innocence and right to a fair trial trumps Bowen’s right of free speech, said the Lincoln, Neb., judge who issued the order.

A cloud-to-ground ligtning strike from a severe thunderstom hit a large gasoline storage tank at the Magellan Petroleum tank farm in Kansas City, igniting 2 million plus gallons of unleaded gasoline, rapidly growing into a huge inferno of flame belching over 200 feet in the air. Local authorities have elected to let the fire burn itself out, which is anticipated to take a day or more. The fire is presently contained to the burning tank. Authorites and company officials feel confident the fire poses no danger to other large storage tanks nearby. Video from local news helicopters shows tank walls...

Machine politics is generally associated with cities, the cynical cronyism that is the prerequisite to wholesale corruption and urban decay. But these days it’s at its worst in, of all places, Kansas, under the governorship of leading Democratic vice-presidential contender, Kathleen Sebelius. Just ask Phill Kline.

...Sebelius would help the Illinois senator in several obvious ways -- she's a woman, a Catholic and a Democratic officeholder who has successfully reached across the aisle to make strong Republican allies in a deeply red state. When she was selected to give her response to President Bush's State of the Union address last January, she began: "In this time, normally reserved for the partisan response, I hope to offer you something more: An American response." Sebelius, in other words, is a Democratic politician who not only talks the Obama talk but walks the Obama walk. Recently, however, she has...

... What is beyond debate is that, with Kline, it has been one thing after another. So I can fully understand why Kansas GOP officials are throwing fits over news that Kline may renege on his promise to sit out this year’s election. Imagine their horror upon learning of the draft-Kline movement. And that it’s entirely possible he will run for a full term as Johnson County district attorney. Or at least won’t rule it out. ...

In the western third of the state, meanwhile, timely rains -- on top of the cushion of moisture left behind when more than 30 inches of snow fell in late 2006 -- made for ideal growing conditions. Essentially, the tables were turned last year. In the northwest crop-reporting district, for example, average yields last year amounted to 43 bushels per acre. This year, the forecast is calling for average yields of 38 bushels. That's would still be considered an excellent crop, but it's only 83 percent of last year's bin-buster. The central crop-reporting district, which includes Ellis County, is expected...

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas has been dealing with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius  for a while now regarding her scandalous and unrepentant support, as a Catholic, of abortion. He has now taken further action. The Kansas City Star reports: Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius should stop taking Communion until she repudiates her support for the “serious moral evil” of abortion, the Catholic archbishop for northeast Kansas says. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, also criticized the governor Friday for her recent veto of a bill imposing new restrictions on abortion providers. The...

" I was raised by small town folks from Kansas. With Midwestern values. Honesty and hard work and responsibility. And so this notion, somehow, that I'm some sprout-eating, Volvo driving person, when you know, of all the candidates remaining in this race - I probably-- came from-- the toughest circumstances,'' he said. "Not overly tough, I don't want to overstate. But some tough circumstances-- without a father in the house. And you know, raised by people who, you know, come straight out of Central Casting of small Midwestern towns. I think it just doesn't match up with who I...

On April 24, Kansas pro-life U.S. Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts issued a press release endorsing Steve Howe for Johnson County district attorney.... Phill Kline is currently the appointed district attorney and has been urged to reconsider his decision not to run to retain his seat in November. Why? Kline is the only DA in the country with a pending criminal case against a Planned Parenthood and is likely the only DA in the country with the intestinal fortitude to stick with such an investigation.... Brownback knows pro-lifers are encouraging Kline to stay. He knows because many influential pro-lifers...

A Kansans for Life spokesperson says the governor of the Sunflower State is so indebted to the abortion industry that she vetoed a very good abortion bill.  Mary Kay Culp of Kansans for Life says Governor Kathleen Sebelius has fought every effort to reduce abortions in the state, and now has vetoed a bill that would have simply given women more information to let them make a decision about the life or death of their child. Culp says Sebelius has vetoed a bill that sought to prevent coerced abortions, especially with underage girls who had suffered sexual abuse. The Comprehensive Abortion...

BALTIMORE - A federal judge in Baltimore ordered Westboro Baptist Church members to post their church building and nearly $500,000 more in cash and property while appealing a judgment for protesting a Marine’s funeral. The Kansas church members had hoped to avoid posting a bond while delaying payments in the $5 million judgment a jury awarded Albert Snyder, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder who died in Iraq. Westboro church members preach that God kills American soldiers as punishment for the country’s tolerance of homosexuality. They protested Matthew Snyder’s Westminster funeral in March 2006 by waving signs...

In honor of the win by the Kansas men's basketball team last night, I thought I'd post a couple of geological highlights from Kansas. People don't normally think of Kansas as a place with a lot of exciting geology, but it's got its places. Monument Rocks site: Paul Wicks (Nice!) Another Monument Rocks picture Rock City Konza Prairie Butcher Falls (Well, what did you expect?)

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - A bill allowing individuals to own machine guns, sawed-off shotguns and silencers has cleared the Legislature. The Senate approved it Thursday on a 28-9 vote. The House passed it last week 105-18. The bill goes to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. Spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran says the governor will have to review it before deciding whether to sign it. State law limits the possession of silencers, sawed-off shotguns and automatic weapons. In December, the attorney general said part of the law is so restrictive that only law enforcement agencies can possess silencers. That means no dealer can have them...

Topeka — Agreements with Mexico and Canada are setting the stage for construction of a huge highway that will gobble up Kansans’ property and jeopardize U.S. security, representatives from a wide range of groups said Monday. “Through incrementalism, apathy and inattention, our national sovereignty is being sacrificed on a cross of greed, socialism and globalism,� said state Rep. Judy Morrison, R-Shawnee. Morrison has introduced House Concurrent Resolution 5033 urging Congress to withdraw from further participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement and Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. At a hearing before the House Federal and State Affairs...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Deputies say a woman in western Kansas became stuck on her boyfriend’s toilet after sitting on it for two years.

NESS CITY, Kan. - Deputies say a woman in western Kansas became stuck on her boyfriend's toilet after sitting on it for two years. Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple said it appeared the 35-year-old Ness City woman's skin had grown around the seat. She initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital. "We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital," Whipple said. "The hospital removed it."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California processing plant because a video of animal abuse obtained by the Humane Society was splashed all over the news. The video showed workers cruelly using a forklift to move "downer" cattle (cattle that can't stand or walk) to be butchered. There are strict laws about moving non-ambulatory animals, so the former employees are facing five felony counts and three misdemeanors. Federal law prohibits using downer cattle for human consumption, but meat from this plant went to school cafeterias all over the country....

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A Democratic state senator with a history of butting heads with his party has run afoul of party leaders again, this time over what they said he did with sensitive polling data. Several Democrats have accused Sen. Jim Barone, of Frontenac, of trying to leave a December party retreat with the data stuffed down the back of his pants. A fellow senator has proposed removing him as caucus chairman. "This incident is beyond the pale, in my opinion, because the instructions for everybody were the poll wasn't to leave the room," said Senate Minority Leader Anthony...

WICHITA, KAN. -- Buyer’s remorse. That’s what sure-footed dreamers of a Mike Huckabee nomination are banking on. In his swing through Kansas the day before the primary, he’s finding crowds that number over a thousand - people who are looking for a John McCain alternative. McCain is a “Democrat running as a Republican,” one Kansas voter told me today sarcastically pointing out people can vote in the Democrats' caucus if they want to vote for one. “You may be aware some of the chattering class out there on the East Coast is not exactly thrilled about my being here,” Huckabee...

Perhaps you remember in 2006, when Governor Kathleen Sebelius took a stand for gaming legislation that eventually failed to get off the ground, saying "video games and music lyrics promote violence ... Moms and dads shouldn't be alone in their fight to raise children the right way." Perhaps unwilling to learn from mom's example, her 23-year-old son John has created a board game called "Don't Drop the Soap" in which players "fight [their] way through 6 different exciting locations in hopes of being granted parole ... Escape prison riots in The Yard, slip glass into a mob boss' lasagna in...

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Tuesday endorsed Barack Obama for president, a Super Tuesday boost in a GOP-leaning state that Democrats hope to reclaim in the White House campaign.

Johnson County, Kansas DA Phill Kline may become the first to bring down a local Planned Parenthood operation on a host of criminal charges including failures to report sexual abuse of minors, criminal late term abortions and forged records. The legal wars between Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and Kline boil down to two simple points: first, Kline alleges -- and has taken to a grand jury -- evidence that Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri routinely fails to report sexual abuse of children and its doctors perform illegal partial-birth abortions; second, that this particular Planned Parenthood -- which...

A judge ruled against attorneys for local abortion provider Dr. George Tiller Thursday. They wanted to halt a grand jury's request for sensitive clinic documents. Tiller is under investigation for possibly performing illegal late term abortions. The grand jury's findings would determine whether formal charges are filed. A grand jury has looked into alleged wrong-doings by the doctor in the past, and cleared him of any crimes. Grand jury proceedings are typically kept secret, but in an open courtroom Thursday, attorneys on both sides argued just how much authority a grand jury should have when it subpoenas evidence. In this...

Seldom will you read anything in a newspaper critical of public education. In small towns, the public school system is the lifeblood of the community, its largest employer and a main source of news and advertising for the local paper. Ball games, concerts and other school functions are often the only live entertainment available. Even churches plan events around the school calendar. When local control was local, this was not a problem, but powerful organizations have wormed the apple. School board members are whisked to Topeka for VIP treatment while the agenda-driven Kansas Association of School Boards instructs them on...

Sixth Presidential Candidate Files for Kansas GOP Caucus Fred Thompson becomes 6th candidate to participate in KS Caucus Topeka, KS—Today, Fred Thompson became the sixth candidate to file for the Kansas GOP Presidential Caucus. Thompson’s campaign filed the official paperwork and paid the filing fee this morning. Kansas Republican Party Chairman Kris Kobach stated, “I’m delighted to see that the Thompson Campaign has decided to devote its resources and attention to the Kansas Republican Caucus. “With the filing of Senator Thompson for the Kansas Republican Caucus, we nearly have a full field. The candidates all recognize that if there is...

In the article by Steve Kraske in the Kansas City Star today, he states that just before Paul Morrison resigned: Then came revelations that another newspaper had reported a series of threatening phone calls from Morrison to Linda Carter, the woman with whom he’s admitted having a two-year affair.

"In order to preserve the public’s confidence in this office, today I am announcing my resignation as Attorney General effective Friday, January 31st, 2008. "After careful thought and deliberation, I have concluded that my resignation is in the best long-term interests of the people of Kansas. "Not because I have ever done anything contrary to the laws of this state or the ethical standards of my profession, but because law enforcement should be the focus of this office, not my personal life.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Another wintry blast was forecast Friday for the nation's midsection, where 355,000 homes and businesses were still without power, while the Northeast dug out from heavy snow before it gets a second hit Saturday. Crews in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri worked overtime to get power back before the second storm hits later Friday. The system could complicate restoration efforts to the some 355,000 homes and businesses in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri still without power after the first storm darkened 1 million customers at its height earlier this week.

TOPEKA, Kan. - Attorney General Paul Morrison announced his resignation Friday, less than a week after he acknowledged having an extramarital affair with a former employee who has accused him of sexual harassment, and of professional misconduct aimed at his predecessor. "I have held others accountable for their actions, and now I must be held accountable for my mistakes," Morrison said in a statement read to reporters. At one point, he paused to gather himself. "Many people feel betrayed by my actions, and they have every right to feel that way." Morrison's resignation is effective Jan. 31, 2008. Gov. Kathleen...

TOPEKA, Kan. -- A sex scandal involving Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison could end up costing Johnson County big bucks. A former staffer and lover of Morrison's filed a sexual harassment claim against him with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. In a statement, Morrison admitted to having an extra-marital affair with Linda Carter, but denied harassment and other accusations.[snip] [snip]According to the Topeka Capital Journal, the relationship began two years ago when Carter was the director of administration for Morrison during his tenure as Johnson County District Attorney. Carter said the two engaged in sexual acts in vacant rooms in...

EL DORADO, Kan. - A missing Kansas college student believed to be the victim of foul play apparently led a double life as an Internet porn star by the name of Zoey Zane. Nude photos of 18-year-old Emily Sander appeared on a Zoey Zane Web site before she vanished, and investigators are looking into whether her modeling had anything to do with her disappearance last Friday. "She enjoyed it. She is a young teenage girl and she wanted to be in the movies and enjoyed movies. She needed the extra money," Nikki Watson, a close friend of Sander's at Butler...

I've never posted a live thread before and I did put it in front page news since it was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal as well as the Kansas City Star and I'm sure papers around the midwest. The fun starts tonight at pep rallys. The gates of the parking lot at Arrowhead Stadium open at 9 a.m. tomorrow and as my nephew, who is a reporter for the Lawrence Journal World told us this morning at his grandpa's funeral, the drinking will start then. This is huge in this part of the country.

Sitting at a computer keyboard, posing as 14-year-old girls, law officers have been going after child predators for several years. Now they’re using their high-tech methods with a new target in sight: child pornographers. Authorities say a growing number of people are creating, distributing and possessing pornographic photos of children. Child pornography has become easy to get on the Internet, with children as young as 3 and 4 years old being photographed. “Way back when, you had to know someone who knew someone” to obtain child pornography, said Sgt. Mike Pfannenstiel of the Johnson County sheriff’s office. “And now it’s...

BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals in the belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

..Until recently, its pastor, Terry Fox, was the Jerry Falwell of the Sunflower State — the public face of the conservative Christian political movement in a place where that made him a very big deal. ...So when Fox announced to his flock one Sunday in August last year that it was his final appearance in the pulpit, the news startled evangelical activists from Atlanta to Grand Rapids. Fox told the congregation that he was quitting so he could work full time on “cultural issues.” Within days, The Wichita Eagle reported that Fox left under pressure. The board of deacons had...

As much as liberals decry major corporations that act as if they're above the law, there's always quiet when the subject is Planned Parenthood, America's No. 1 corporate provider of abortions. During its 2005-2006 fiscal year, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America performed a record 264,943 abortions, reported a tidy profit of $55.8 million -- and received a record high in taxpayer funding of $305.3 million. This is one corporation the media hold in the highest regard. They're not "merchants of death." That would be the tobacco companies, or gun manufacturers, or hamburger joints. These are the heroic "providers" of...

The State of Kansas has denied a permit to build two coal powered electric plants to Sunflower Electric. The state of the art plants would use flue gas to grow algae which could be used for biofuels or animal feed. The complex near Garden City would include an ethanol plant. Local officials favor the plant. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment denied the permit because of carbon dioxide emissions even though the algae would actually reduce CO2 emissions. The denial won't adversely affect growth in the Kansas economy because the Kansas economy isn't growing that much anyway and the...

A Planned Parenthood clinic was charged Wednesday with providing unlawful abortions and other crimes by a county prosecutor who had engaged in a high-profile battle with the clinic when he was Kansas attorney general. Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline charged the Overland Park, Kan., clinic with 107 counts, 23 of them felonies. Besides 29 misdemeanor counts of providing unlawful late-term abortions, the clinic is charged with multiple counts of making a false writing, failure to maintain records and failure to determine viability. Case documents have been sealed, according to a court order. The first hearing is set for Nov....

"THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that language related to the practice and nature of homosexuality be removed from the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church. THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that such language be replaced with language that is more theologically compatible with United Methodist tradition, utilizing the medical, theological and social science disciplines to reflect a deeper understanding of God’s good gift of human sexuality."

This week-end, Race #3 in the Chase for the Cup is at the Kanasas Speedway. We'll see ya there.

DENVER, September 21, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Federal Appeals Court has dismissed a case brought by abortionists and other abortion supporters against Kansas for attempting to enforce their mandatory child sex abuse reporting law. Legislators had changed one word in the statute, rendering the case moot. Kansas law requires that health care professionals, teachers, and other professionals who work with children must report all suspicion of sexual abuse. Aid for Women, a Kansas City abortion mill run by abortionist Sherman Zaremski filed suit against former Attorney General Phill Kline after he issued an opinion indicating that abortion clinics were required...

A Kansas military cemetery has run out of space after the burial of another casualty of the Iraq war, officials said on Thursday. "We are full," said Alison Kohler, spokeswoman for the Fort Riley U.S. Army post, home of the 1st Infantry Division. U.S. Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, both Kansas Republicans, on Thursday sent a letter to William Tuerk, the under secretary for memorial affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, urging for full funding for a new cemetery for Fort Riley. "While a new cemetery would not be completed in time to alleviate this situation immediately, it...

Late-Term Abortionist's Patient Drops Bombshell Testimony Of Illegal, Coerced Abortion TOPEKA, Kansas, September 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A former patient of abortionist George R. Tiller gave jaw-dropping testimony before a joint interim legislative committee Friday, telling the detailed story of her late-term abortion experience that, as described, violated the Kansas ban on such abortions at nearly every turn. "This is perhaps the most explosive testimony that has every been heard at the Capitol. Based on this testimony alone, Tiller's medical license should not survive to the end of the day," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "We demand that the...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorSeptember 6, 2007Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) -- A Kansas pro-life group has turned in 8,000 petitions asking for a grand jury to convene to find out whether more illegal abortions were done at George Tiller's Wichita abortion center. Tiller as been charged with 19 misdemeanor counts of illegal late-term abortions, but Kansans for Life says there are likely more.Kansans for Life spokesman David Gittrich told LifeNews.com, “Late-term abortions are illegal in Kansas and it's time the law was enforced.""Today, we are presenting nearly 8,000 signatures of registered Sedgwick County voters to the Sedgwick County District Court requesting the...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorSeptember 6, 2007Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) -- Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison is accusing pro-life groups of hindering his case against late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller. Tiller has been charged with doing illegal late-term abortions, but pro-life groups say the pro-abortion state attorney isn't doing enough to prosecute him.A legislative panel is examining the issue of the state's late-term abortion law and its enforcement and Morrison is upset about it.And statewide pro-life group Kansans for Life turned in 8,000 petitions today to request a grand jury to investigate more possible violations regarding Tiller's abortions.Lawmakers reviewed a DVD featuring...

The national chairman of the NAACP said Wednesday that Mayor Mark Funkhouser should accept the resignation of a controversial parks board appointee. Julian Bond said Frances Semler’s membership in a group that has been part of armed patrols of the U.S. borders is crippling Kansas City’s image nationally. He confirmed the organization is reconsidering holding its 2010 convention in Kansas City. “If I were the city of Kansas City, I would want to remove this blot as quickly as I could,” Bond said in an interview with The Kansas City Star.