Free Republic

FNC’s Joy Lin snapped these pictures of two “chickens” at a rally for Speaker Newt Gingrich in Peachtree City, Georgia. One is wearing a Romney shirt and the other a Santorum shirt…note the signs they are holding.

OPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Eight Kansas legislators have endorsed former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Gingrich's campaign announced the endorsements Thursday. The Republican lawmakers include two state senators _ Ray Merrick, of Stilwell, and Rob Olson, of Olathe. Six Kansas House members have endorsed Gingrich as well. They are Anthony Brown, of Eudora; Mario Goico, of Wichita;

The Department of Health and Human Services has states spooked. At least, legislators in Kansas cited the administration's contraception mandate as a reason to expedite passage of a bill to protect religious freedoms: Supporters of a proposal in Kansas that’s described as an attempt to protect religious freedoms told state legislators Tuesday that President Obama’s ill-fated mandate for insurance coverage of birth control is a compelling example of why the measure is needed. …The state House Judiciary Committee had a hearing on the proposed Preservation of Religious Freedom Act and is expected to vote on it by Monday. State Rep....

The elections committee in the Kansas House just passed a an eligibility bill requiring state and federal candidates to show a certified copy of their birth certificate as proof of citizenship. This coincides with a similar effort in Kansas on voter identification. "A House committee approved a bill Wednesday requiring candidates for state and federal office to provide proof of citizenship, a reflection of the "birther" movement raising questions of President Barack Obama's status as a U.S. citizen." - - - "The objective of the bill, he said, should be to require proof of citizenship for state and federal candidates...

Topeka — Several homemade bombs were found Wednesday in a pickup truck parked near the Kansas Statehouse that had specialty license plates issued only to U.S. military paratroopers, and police said they arrested the owner inside an underground tunnel connecting the Capitol to an office building. Capitol Police spokesman Patrick Saleh said the incident was not connected to another arrest Wednesday of a man who allegedly phoned in a threat to Gov. Sam Brownback’s office from a Topeka motel. “Neither one of them was armed, and neither of them offered any resistance,” Saleh said. Saleh said officers went to investigate...

TOPEKA — With protesters chanting and pounding drums outside the Capitol, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, one of the nation’s most prominent advocates of illegal immigration crackdowns, urged lawmakers Wednesday to force employers and law enforcement officers to help chase off illegal immigrants. “There’s no question that if a state passes laws to discourage illegal immigration … then you will see some self-deportation,” Kobach told the House State and Federal Affairs Committee. The protesters outside said those laws are more likely to produce discrimination, worker shortages and costly lawsuits. “If Mr. Kobach, who is promoting, not only here in Kansas...

A memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower is scheduled to be unveiled on the Washington Mall in 2015, but first a thorny dispute needs to be resolved between Eisenhower's family and renowned architect Frank Gehry. Ike's relatives think Gehry's design—which features a statue of Eisenhower as boy in Kansas looking out on vistas of his future accomplishments—as a country bumpkin. They are demanding changes before the project moves forward, and Gehry has yet to comment publicly, notes the New York Times. (The AP had a similar story last month.) “He was chief of staff of the Army; he was a two-term...

TOPEKA, KS (KCTV) - A Kansas board that denied a licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine a license was primarily concerned about the man's political views. The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts is a 15-member panel appointed by the governor and decides the fate of doctors in Kansas. Terrence Lee Lakin rose to the ranks of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. He served on the front lines in Afghanistan and the war zone in Bosnia as well as a medical mission to Honduras. He saved lives around the world and received a Bronze Star for his service. "I like...

A little-known provision in Kansas law that allows the blind and other people with serious physical infirmities to carry concealed weapons in public places likely will not get reviewed by state lawmakers this session. Kansas legislators are expected to debate a proposal that would allow concealed carry permit holders to bring their guns onto college campuses and into many public buildings. But the chief proponent of that bill said Wednesday he has no plans to introduce legislation that would clarify a 2010 law change that removed the ability of the Kansas Attorney General to deny a concealed carry license based...

Duck if you’re headed into the state of Kansas. Mixed signals are flying fast. On the subject of undocumented immigrants, officials are all over the place. The secretary of agriculture wants to put them to work. The secretary of state wants to deport them. The governor vows to eradicate child poverty while taking food aid from the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. Are we confused yet? Let’s start with the simplest piece. That would be Secretary of State Kris Kobach, whose position on illegal immigrants never changes. He wants them gone, period. The legal eagle is always very busy helping...

Kansas Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman gets an earful from farmers and ranchers struggling to fill job vacancies. It is an economic calling, he said, worthy of thinking outside of the box. The cry of desperation from large dairies and feedlots is that loud. "You've got to listen to your customers," said Rodman, a veteran corporate agriculture executive comfortable wearing a cowboy hat in the Statehouse. He has traveled as secretary to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in an attempt to recruit people interested in agriculture careers in Kansas. That shows promise, but the payoff would be slow. He also...

A bill in the Kansas House of Federal and State Affairs Committee would allow concealed carry permit holders to bring firearms onto college and university campuses. The committee heard testimony Wednesday and Thursday on House Bill 2353, introduced by Rep. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona. Under the current law, public and private buildings may prohibit entry of permit holders’ firearms with signs posted at every entrance, which the University currently does. According to the new bill, public places would not be able to prohibit firearms by licensed carriers unless it had “adequate security measures,” including security guards and metal detectors at all...

Faced with a shortage of hired hands, Kansas ranchers and farmers are appealing to their state’s secretary of agriculture for a solution. And he says he has one: hiring illegal immigrants. It’s an idea that’s unorthodox enough to turn heads but practical enough to justify a series of meetings with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — a meeting which Kansas Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman told the Topeka Capital-Journal he has attended. His goal is for the state government to organize a network of illegal immigrants and willing employers into a hiring network. No such arrangement, of course, can go...

Former Senate Majority Leader — and 1996 GOP Presidential nominee – Bob Dole just tore into Newt Gingrich with an open letter that violates Reagan’s 11th Commandment so many times, Bob Dole will be in the confessional until Easter. ... .. Hardly anyone who served with Newt in Congress has endorsed him and that fact speaks for itself. He was a one-man-band who rarely took advice. It was his way or the highway. ... Gingrich had a new idea every minute and most of them were off the wall. He loved picking a fight with Bill Clinton because he knew...

Pedro moved to the Kansas City area about 13 years ago and has held the same job for 11. Though he sometimes struggles to pay bills, he knows most people think he should receive no public aid. He’s an illegal immigrant. He doesn’t deserve handouts. He understands that. “I’ve never asked for anything for myself,” said Pedro, who didn’t want his last name used to protect his family. “Never. I just work. Work hard.” A new debate swirling around Kansas, though, isn’t about Pedro. It’s about two of his three children. They were born here, and one day they will...

5 Unusual Sales Taxes You Need To Avoid With the economy still struggling, states are getting fairly crafty with how they charge consumers via sales taxes. It's no secret that dubious, yet all-too enforceable government laws have been with us since the dawn of the civilized world. In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs taxed cooking oil – of course, the main seller of cooking oil was the pharaoh. During the first century AD, the Roman empire taxed urine – a popular source of ammonia for common tasks like tanning hides and cleaning clothes. Then at the height of the Dark Ages...

An unlikely trio of House members has introduced an eclectic trio of gun-rights bills — one of which is a direct challenge to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other big-city mayors. With the support and aid of the Kansas State Rifle Association, Reps. Jana Goodman, Connie O'Brien and Jim Kelly came into the session locked and loaded, on a mission to make Kansas legally safer for gun sellers, gun manufacturers and corrections officers who want to conceal and carry. “It’s in the Constitution, and that right should be defended for self-protection,” Goodman said when asked why she is...

Four years ago, Larry Hall purchased an abandoned Atlas F missile silo in central Kansas. Today he is turning it into a doomsday survival condominium complex.

Topeka — Gov. Sam Brownback on Wednesday called for a cut in the state personal income tax and minimal budget increases, saying that will put Kansas in the fast lane on the road to economic growth. "Let's put our 'lost decade' … in the rear view mirror and speed ahead — at 75 miles per hour — to make this decade the decade of growth and job creation," Brownback, a Republican, said in the State of the State address. But his plan hit immediate bumps from legislators. Brownback's proposal would cancel a scheduled decrease in the state sales tax rate,...

Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal apologized Thursday for forwarding an email poking fun at first lady Michelle Obama and referring to her as “Mrs. YoMama.” The Lawrence Journal-World reported Thursday that O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican, sent the email from his personal account. The email also had a photo comparing Mrs. Obama to the Grinch and the subject line, “Twins separated at birth?” The photo has been circulating on the Internet and shows Mrs. Obama’s hair being swept by the wind, recalling a drawing of the fictional Dr. Seuss character from the classic Christmas cartoon. In forwarding the email, O’Neal joked...

So, tired of high taxes? Want to see big federal budget cuts? Congratulations. You're getting your wish. And you just cost 2,160 people in Kansas their jobs. [snip] Welcome to "living within our means," which means you don't necessarily have any means to live with. You can argue that cutting the defense budget has to be done, but those are some nice, well-paying jobs that are being lost. Jobs that the local Wal-Mart probably won't match. I suppose the real lesson, though, is that we can't have our cake and eat it too. You can't shrink government without cutting jobs....

A-29 Super Tucano Wins Air Force Bid for Light Air Support Mission SPARKS, Nev., Dec. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION and EMBRAER DEFENSE & SECURITY to supply aircraft, training and support to the Light Air Support program. A-29 Super Tucano to be built in Jacksonville, FL; over 70 U.S. companies to supply parts and services Eren Ozmen, President, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), and Luiz Carlos Aguiar, CEO, Embraer Defense and Security (Embraer), today announced that the U.S. Air Force has selected SNC, partnered with Embraer, to supply Light Air Support (LAS) aircraft to be used as...

As 2011 draws to a close, so do opportunities for farmers to take advantage of certain provisions of the federal tax code.... "The ability for bonus depreciation is changing, so if you're looking to make capital expenditures, this is the year to do it," ... "You can depreciate 100 percent now, it will go to 50 percent next year, and after that it could go away completely depending on what Congress does." ... The other significant impending change to the federal tax code involves Section 179, which according to Marrison, works somewhat similarly to the bonus depreciation allowance.

DENVER — Starting Jan. 1, getting shark fins, caffeinated beer, cough syrup or a tan is going to be tougher than it was in 2011. The National Conference of State Legislatures issued Monday its annual list of laws set to take effect in 2012, and there was nothing but bad news for connoisseurs of shark-fin soup. Oregon and California passed laws prohibiting the sale, trade, or distribution of the fins, which are considered a delicacy in China. California also became the first state in the nation to require a prescription for obtaining any drug containing dextromethorphan, an ingredient found in...

A Wichita man has been arrested in connection with the death of a 5-year-old child. Police say the boy was shot and killed in Lakewood, Colorado by a 3-year-old. Lakewood police say officers were called to an apartment complex Friday morning to investigate a report of a shooting. When they arrived, they found the 5-year-old suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. The boy was taken to a local hospital where he later died. Police say a 3-year-old friend whose family was visiting from Kansas accidentally shot the 5-year-old. The circumstances of the shooting have not been released. Officials...

If members of Occupy Kansas City want to march in the streets next week, they’ll need to pay a $4,100 fee for police protection, police commissioners announced Friday. ****snip**** Members of the movement have camped peacefully for months in a city park south of the Liberty Memorial. At a meeting earlier this month, a lawyer representing the group asked the police to waive the cost of having officers shut down traffic near Ninth and Main streets. The lawyer, Gina Chiala, said the march would be called “The death of the social safety net,” would involve about 100 people and would...

Republican elder statesman and former Senate leader Bob Dole on Sunday endorsed Mitt Romney to be the Republican presidential nominee, a day after the former Massachusetts governor received the backing of Iowa's main newspaper. In an open letter to Iowa voters, Dole - himself a former presidential candidate - said a great deal was at stake on January 3, when Iowa votes in the first nominating contest for the 2012 presidential election. "A number of my friends are currently candidates seeking the GOP nomination. But the time has now come for us to decide who among them can defeat Barack...

An executive of a financial exchange monitoring MF Global told senators Tuesday that Jon Corzine, the former head of the financial firm, knew that loans were improperly made with customer funds. The claim was made just minutes after Corzine professed his ignorance for how up to $1.2 billion in customer funds had gone missing. Terrence Duffy, the executive chairman of CME Group, the exchange that regulates MF Global, told the Senate Agriculture Committee that a CME auditor was told by an MF Global executive that Corzine knew that a loan was made to a European affiliate of the company, and...

At WH Holiday Reception last night, a reporter asked Pres Obama how he liked the BBQ from “We B Smokin’ in Osawatomie, Kansas on Tuesday. “You had BBQ?” a surprised Mrs Obama chimed in. Pres Obama seemed momentarily flustered. “You didn’t tell me you had BBQ,” said the First Lady. Pres Obama explained to his wife that reporters were miffed that they didn’t get any BBQ. Mrs. Obama would have known about the BBQ drop-by if she read the WH press pool reports – or followed certain Twitter sites.

Channeling his inner Teddy Roosevelt, President Obama on Tuesday gave a feisty speech in Osawatomie, Kansas that sought to rebut Republican arguments that he is waging class warfare...[Snip] We’ll leave the politics to others, but how accurate were some of his facts?  “I mean, understand, it's not as if we haven't tried this theory. Remember in those years, in 2001 and 2003, Congress passed two of the most expensive tax cuts for the wealthy in history. And what did they get us? The slowest job growth in half a century...[Snip] Inserting the words “for the wealthy” was interesting phrasing by...

Today in Osawatomie, Kan., Barack Obama laid bare his progressive agenda, calling for more federal involvement in education, increased spending on infrastructure, an extension of the payroll tax cut and increased taxes on the rich. He even invoked Teddy “the Trustbuster” Roosevelt, who, if you’ll recall, became increasingly socialistic as the sun of his national stardom began to set. Not surprisingly, Obama was disingenuous in a few places — but just a few. At one point, he said he had already signed $1 trillion in spending cuts into law. Presumably, he was referring to the cuts included in the debt...

OSAWATOMIE, KAN. -- President Obama will give an economic speech in Osawatomie, Kan., Tuesday at a location the White House says it was very specific in picking and was meant to stir echoes of President Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt spoke in the very same town more than 100 years ago on Aug. 31, 1910, where he presented his vision for America and the coming 1912 election. Sound familiar? That's by design. snip Roosevelt gave what was called a "New Nationalism" agenda, talking about regulation on special interests (even using that term), and calling out for welfare, human rights and a greater...

A pizza delivery driver says he was fired Thursday after scaring off a robber with a gun. Miguel Waide says Dominos Pizza fired him for violating company policy. Police say Waide was delivering a pizza at the Brentwood Apartments near Harry and Woodlawn Wednesday night. Waide tells Eyewitness News it was an unusally large order for the neighborhood and a suspicious man was hanging around by his car as he went up to the door. Waide says no one answered the door and he feared it was a set up. Waide went to his car and got a handgun out...

Wichita police are investigating a report of shots fired, involving a pizza delivery driver. It happened at an apartment in the 6600 block of E. Harry just before 10 p.m. Wednesday. Police said a Dominoes delivery driver arrived at the location to deliver a pizza, but no one answered the door. The driver returned to his car to get a gun, because he said he was concerned for his safety. The driver reported to police a man approached him from behind and tried to rob him, as the driver opened the trunk of his car. The delivery driver said he...

Mark Bradford, president of the school board, generated some tension when he discussed the district’s plans for standards-based grading at the sixth-grade level. And teachers who may not like it, he suggested, essentially would have a choice to make — just as people decide where they want to live, or where they might choose to work. “Once the decision is made on how we’re going to do grading in this school district," he said, “then that’s the way it’s going to be.” Kim Beeler, a parent from Southwest who has been critical of standards-based grading in middle school, quickly stood...

In Boston, one university has taken steps to help Muslim students maintain an important ritual: bathing before prayer ... Across the country a number of universities, including the University of Michigan in Dearborn and George Washington University in Washington D.C., have installed foot baths. So have two airports, the Indianapolis Airport and KCI Airport in Kansas City, Missouri. In each case the move came with some degree of resistance. ... Some of the foot baths in other states were built using public funds. The American Civil Liberties Union generally objects to public money being used for religious structures.But they don't...

DODGE CITY — Advocates for children and the poor say a new state welfare policy is denying or reducing federal food aid to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Kansas children. “This is making an already difficult situation even more difficult,” said Debbie Snapp, who runs the Catholic Social Services office in Dodge City...But officials with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services say the new policy, enacted in October, is fairer than the one it replaced because it equalizes benefits for children of illegal immigrants with those for children whose parents are confirmed U.S. citizens. “We’re not hurting anybody and...

A Kansas teen who refused to apologize to Gov. Sam Brownback for an insulting tweet got an apology today from the governor himself for his staff’s “over-reaction.” An unpleasant tweet by Emma Sullivan, 18, was flagged by Brownback’s staff last week. The teen was told by her principal at Shawnee Mission East High School to apologize, but she refused, and the national brouhaha has led to her Twitter following soar from 60 to more than 6,000. “My staff over-reacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize. Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms,” Brownback said in a...

A Kansas teenager is in trouble after mocking Gov. Sam Brownback during a mock legislative assembly for high school students. Emma Sullivan, a senior at Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie Village, was in Topeka on Monday as part of Kansas Youth in Government, a program for students interested in politics and government. During the session, in which Brownback addressed the group, Sullivan posted on her personal Twitter page: “Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot” On Tuesday, Sullivan was called to her principal’s office and told that the tweet had...

Emma Sullivan’s trip to Topeka with other high school students to learn about government taught her a few unexpected lessons: • Gov. Sam Brownback’s office monitors social media for postings containing the governor’s name. • Some folks exhibit little sense of humor or appreciation of free expression. • And sometimes a few “joking” words can land a student in the principal’s office, drafting a letter of apology.

Boeing seems “very serious” about its study on whether to shut down its Wichita plant, Sen. Jerry Moran said Tuesday. “I think Boeing considers this a real option,” Moran said. His comments followed Boeing’s announcement Monday that it was studying the future of its Wichita site, including whether to close the facility. Elected officials from Kansas and Wichita, and union leaders reacted Tuesday by requesting meetings with Boeing officials to remind them of the promises they made to put jobs in Kansas should the company win an Air Force contract for aerial refueling tankers. Gov. Sam Brownback said he and...

Helium is likely to move from a derived product of natural gas production in the United States to a primary drilling target in the next five years. Historically produced as a byproduct of natural gas, the US helium supply is declining, which has caused alarm throughout the industry. Why is helium so important? Most people associate helium with party balloons and squeaky cartoon voices; however, there is a very serious side of the helium industry that few people comprehend. Without helium, MRI machines don't function, NASA rockets aren't launched and semiconductor manufacturing grinds to a halt. Helium is simply indispensible...

Rivalries do end, and rarely are the reasons satisfactory to fans. Sometimes it’s because of a change in conference. Other times one school will feel disrespected by the other. With the Border War — the second-most-played series nationally at 119 games — it is a combination. MU left the conference, and KU, hurt that its longtime partner chose to depart, reacted with a “good riddance.” In other words: The hate that kept this rivalry going through two World Wars and plenty of bad football is the very thing that will likely put an end to this unmatched period of border...

In an ordinary town, in a quiet neighborhood, in a beige two-story house, a girl named Megan lives with her parents and eight siblings. She is 25, with a cheeky smile. Tall and tan and athletic, she has long, curly hair that tumbles down her shoulders in thick locks. Her voice is bubbly, with a pinch of country twang, and when she is talking about something she likes, she leans forward in her seat and says “Ohmygosh!” before unleashing a stream of syllables that come pouring out on top of each other. She is polite. If you were to stop...

Wichita physicians Aly Gadalla, Doug Nunamaker and Josh Umbehr are pioneers in the area’s medical community.They are pioneers in the sense that they are practicing some form of concierge medicine.Concierge medicine is not a new concept. But the three doctors are in the minority among their physician peers.By all accounts, the concept is growing nationally. Its growth will be fueled by a shortage of physicians, especially in primary care, as well as a desire by more physicians to take care of fewer patients, the doctors and experts think.And from their perspective, the Wichita doctors get to practice the kind of...

Hawker Beechcraft issued 60-day layoff notices Friday to 300 workers, the company said in a statement. A source said the notices included 210 salaried and 90 hourly workers. The same source said there could be more layoffs sometime around February. The company issued a statement saying that many of the employees were notified Friday of the cuts. Hawker Beechcraft employs about 6,000 people, including about 4,700 in Wichita and 200 in Salina. Some employees laid off were walked out the door Friday, although the company has said they would be paid for the next two months. The practice has been...

One of the holiest words in the Democratic economic lexicon is “infrastructure.” Yet the proposed Keystone XL pipeline represents a big, honking $7 billion, 1,700-mile-long infrastructure project that the Obama administration is delaying and the environmentalists are opposing. If Pres. Barack Obama thinks the country lacks its former economic verve, he need look no farther than the Keystone XL fiasco for a demonstration of one reason why. Keystone XL meets every possible standard. President Obama wants “shovel ready” jobs. The materials to build the pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast are waiting to go. The president rightly notes...

Anyone else feel that? Freaked my kids out, hubby too.

KANSAS CITY, MO - Three people were dead, three missing and two hospitalized after an explosion at a large grain elevator in Atchison, Kansas, City Manager Trey Cocking said on Sunday. The three missing workers were presumed dead, Cocking said, adding their whereabouts within the wreckage were still unknown. "At this time we feel it is a recovery effort," Cocking said. Rescues can be difficult because workers are usually scattered throughout the facility, he said. The blast at about 7 p.m on Saturday could be felt at least three miles away, Cocking said. The elevator is owned by Bartlett Grain...

The country’s first criminal prosecution of Planned Parenthood was left teetering Friday when it was revealed the state of Kansas destroyed abortion records that prosecutors planned to use as evidence. Johnson County prosecutors asked a judge to delay a Monday hearing to decide if there’s enough evidence to try Planned Parenthood on 23 felony counts of falsifying pregnancy termination reports. Prosecutors say the records, which are central to making their case, were shredded sometime in 2005, roughly two years before charges were brought against Planned Parenthood by former Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline.