Subject: Kansas State Legislature

• Whale Tale

  July 20, 2006

• Daily Briefs: Light Rail, Smoking Ban, Of Holes and Glory

  January 25, 2008

• Stealing Time: Tevis, Flanny, Herm

  By JUSTIN KENDALL Sean Tevis didn't win a seat in the Kansas Legislature, but the guy was still a campaign phenom. The latest from his campaign site is the story of taking his blog down after 10 years because his opponent would most surely use any and all silly photos against him in attack ads. "I felt like I was removing a part of myself," Tevis writes. "At least I know why politicians always seem so bland — they’ve done a good job sanitizing their life. Or, at least, they don’t live in

  November 14, 2008

• Kansas Liberty serves up more 'fair and factual' news

  By JUSTIN KENDALL Ronnie Metsker is too "liberal" for Kansas Liberty. Kansas Liberty has given us another dose of "fair and factual" news. A story published yesterday on Kansas Liberty's Web site, headlined "JoCo Republican showdown pits liberals against conservatives," is packed with the loaded language that makes media-critical conservatives howl. Kansas Liberty's story, however, comes with a conservative slant. "Slate supported by leader of liberal GOP group that claimed Ryun, Kline we

  November 18, 2008

• No Kansas hayseed

  March 23, 2000

• Kory goes public as Oz faces increased opposition

  April 6, 2000

• Sebelius gives State of State address

  Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius just delivered her seventh State of the State address. I don't blame you if you watched 24 instead. Lots of "we" talk. It wasn't a thriller, but if you want to read the whole thing, it's after the jump.

  January 12, 2009

• Wanted in Kansas: Leaders

  One topic among the punditry last week was the certainty that the Kansas Legislature will re-fight the battle over coal-fired power plants in Holcomb, Kansas.To recap: Sunflower Electric Power Corporation wants to expand. Some stuck-in-the-past legislators want to let Sunflower build coal plants, saying the project will bring desperately needed jobs to the western part of the state. Last year, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, after some serious prodding, put a stop to the polluting, old-world project. No

  February 23, 2009

• Best Politician

  October 7, 2004

• Long Division

  April 28, 2005

• Corps Vet Simmer

  May 5, 2005

• Radio Daze

  June 30, 2005

• As Kathleen Sebelius leaves to help Barack Obama reform health care in Washington, here’s a checkup on what happened in Kansas

  April 9, 2009

• The Sex Police

  An anti-porn crusader wants Kansas City juries to redefine what's obscene.

  October 25, 2007

• Capitol Bully

  March 29, 2007

• Dead Man's Camp

  February 1, 2007

• Free-Market Brewer

  The guy who's leading the fight against smoking bans may be the brewer of your favorite beer.

  January 25, 2007

• Lunch Money

  November 30, 2006

• Warning: Adult Content!

  Missouri tried last week but couldn't out-crazy Kansas.

  March 23, 2006

• A Cowpoke Reach-Around

  Late Night's Bonanza has just the right amount of Brokeback.

  February 16, 2006

• The Dark Ages

  Let's hope we don't see another year ruled by superstition.

  December 29, 2005

• He don’t need no education

  December 1, 2005

• Mm, Mm Good

  Startling allegations against an abortion doctor have been the centerpiece of two years of legislative warfare in Kansas.

  June 16, 2005

• Air for Sale

  While Kansas struggles to cash in on the wind, one slick salesman’s wheels are turning.

  February 17, 2005

• Wine Makes Us Wet

  For a state that still clings to its dry past, Kansas makes surprisingly good wine. But don’t try to ship it.

  September 30, 2004

• Ministers Hate Fags Too

  Kansas preachers want revenge on the Kansas Legislature — if they don’t get ratted out by spies first.

  July 22, 2004

• A Boy's Life

  The Supreme Court effectively threw out the Kansas Sodomy Law, but Attorney General Phill Kline won't let Matthew Limon out of jail.

  January 22, 2004

• Head Cases

  A man who had sex at Shawnee Mission Park and patrons at a St. Louis porn house carry the baton for gays and lesbians in Kansas and Missouri.

  January 2, 2003

• A Sorry Free State

  While Quindaro rots, slaves who escaped to freedom there must be turning in their graves.

  March 21, 2002

• Unprotected Sex

  Johnson County prosecutes a man for having sex.

  December 6, 2001

• House of Horrors

  Kansas regulators wouldn't close Christine Allen's house of horrors -- until a state trooper ordered them to.

  January 25, 2001

• A Done Deal

  The Johnson County Commissioners' yellow brick road leads to a green light for Oz.

  August 24, 2000

• On his case

  A animal rescue operator says a PitchWeekly article has brought undue state regulatory attention.

  May 25, 2000

• Firefighter learns that Sunshine Law enforcement remains weak

  A Camden Point firefighter's request for public records from his fire protection district is a struggle that typifies many citizens' battles for open government.

  May 4, 2000

• The Cost of the Game

  Kansas and Missouri legislators are crafting a second bistate tax proposal with the help of major league sports teams and the business community. Some people, including economists, raise questions about what taxpayers will get for their money -- if anyt

  March 30, 2000

• Kansas health-care reform official resigns

  Late Friday afternoon, the Kansas Health Policy Authority confirmed that its executive director, Marcia Nielsen, would soon be leaving the agency that's responsible for spending all of the state's health-care dollars and advising lawmakers on health-care policy (presumably so they can make good decisions about how to reform it). Nielsen was a key figure in former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' efforts to try to fix health care in Kansas. Marcia NielsenNielsen will take a job as Vice Chancellor of Publi

  May 11, 2009

• Missouri is about to execute Dennis Skillicorn. The state’s death penalty may not outlive him very long.

  May 14, 2009

• KS Senate minority leader not a fan of 'Redneck Rap'

  Anthony Hensley​Kansas state Rep. Bill Otto may have left us speechless with his "Redneck Rap," but not Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley. In a statement released today, Hensley called the rap video on YouTube "disturbing." Hensley makes note of the ending of the video in which Otto points to his handmade trucker cap that reads, "Opossum, the other dark meat." Otto says, "A little greasy, but hey.""If opossum is the other dark meat, what is the original dark meat he is referring to?" He

  October 15, 2009

• Kansas Republican will try to ban K2 synthetic weed

  Robert Olson wants you to please think of the children​Synthetic weed has finally broken out of Lawrence head shops and into Kansas City stores, but the clock is ticking.A prefiled bill in the Kansas Legislature -- KS H.B. 2411 -- would criminalize synthetic cannabinoids and make them Schedule I controlled substances. The bill is sponsored by Robert Olson, an Olathe Republican and Majority Whip in the Kansas Legislature."The police have been fishing for this, and I've listened to them an

  January 8, 2010

• KS schools coalition asks Supreme Court to reopen funding case

  John Robb​A coalition of Kansas school districts is asking the Kansas Supreme Court to reopen the landmark school funding case. On Monday, attorneys for Schools for Fair Funding asked the high court to send the case back to a trial court to decide whether the school finance system was fixed in 2005 and 2006 and determine the constitutionality of cuts to school funding. Attorneys Alan Rupe and John Robb argue that in the final year of a three-year plan, the Kansas Legislature reneged on the con

  January 12, 2010

• Kansans, stock up on K2 synthetic weed now!

  ​We'll tag this story under "no shit!"Yesterday, the Kansas Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee recommended approving a ban on the chemicals found in K2 synthetic weed. The product, which mimics the effects of marijuana on the brain, is being sold in Lawrence and Kansas City shops. According to at least one store owner, K2 is a big hit with Johnson County teens on probation.Legislation to ban K2's active chemicals was introduced by Kansas Legislature Majority Whip Robert Olson.

  January 14, 2010

• Kansas smoking hypocrites: Reps say fake pot's dangerous but don't mind tobacco (and its money)

  ​The cover story in this week's Pitch is about the Kansas Legislature's rush to ban fake marijuana. Besides being an excellent depiction of hysteria, Peter Rugg's report exposes a certain irony in lawmakers' effort to supposedly protect the people of Kansas.It took members of the state House and Senate approximately two weeks to ban a substance they know nothing about -- other than that teenagers are smoking it and it might or might not get them high. As Rugg reports, virtually no scientific s

  February 18, 2010

• Kansas politics: still dumber than you think

  February 25, 2010