KPR News Retention; Various KPR news

maybe i was just twenty one as bell and says lawmakers will be able to tell their constituents this week that they managed to cut cut taxes in the state during the waning hours of the legislature lawmakers sent the governor a measure that calls for a fifty percent reduction in vehicle taxes over the next five years they were also successful doing a lot of session in securing the future of the kansas lottery that's received a seven year extension of a gambling issues didn't fare so well lawmakers failed to pass legislation that would allow slot machines at state racetracks or to allow casinos on indian reservations legislative highlights though a great operas and pay raise the state employees was approved that was a bill that creates a new juvenile justice party to camp for youth offenders meanwhile one of the final acts of the

legislature before adjourning was to relax state liquor laws stand together the graves is a bill allowing residents to buy alcohol and liquor stores using a credit card the governor is expected to sign the measure at the statehouse that has mccain's reporting in nineteen thirty five kansas legislature had been described by some political commentators and slow and uneventful before adjourning for good this week and lawmakers tried to change that perception by approving some of the more contentious issues in the second leading the list of successes if the contacts with action package that will be probably be a gold mine and over the next five years the analogy that's house taxation committee chairman phil kline while the vehicle

tax cuts are significant kansans won't see any major differences in their tax bills at least in the short term during the first year they only be a seven percent reduction in vehicle property taxes that amounts to an average of sixty dollars savings lawmakers were also successful during their wrap obsession and extending the kansas lottery they voted to allow kansans to continue buying their powerball and lotto tickets for another seven years either gambling issues though didn't fare so well lawmakers fail to pass legislation that would allow slot machines at state racetracks or to allow casinos on indian reservations house majority leader been snowbound or argued that to expand the opportunities to gamble in kansas was simply bad public policy you know behind the headlines

ironically though it was the so called social conservative house voted in the end to cross the gambling measures it was the moderate senate gets stonewalled both the slot machines and indian casino proposals lawmakers did meet with excess on a number of other issues adrian mr percent pay raise the state employees was approved a bill that creates a new juvenile justice party to camp for youth offenders the new agency will take over control of the young criminals from the department of social and rehabilitation services in nineteen ninety seven one of the final acts of the legislature before adjourning on saturday was to relax state liquor laws sen together the great to the bill that would allow cameras and for the first time to buy alcohol at liquor stores with a credit card governor graves has promised to sign the measure me being a job well done well i would have to review as a sleepless or b minus because it's better than the last two sessions in the sense that we

did cut taxes rates like a given day it is because we are in contact with and not really give readers tom bradley is a two term republican legislator from topeka bradley of fiscal conservatives have gambling issues this year diverted the attention of the legislature away from its main goal of putting the state government on a diet rather than trimming government spending probably says the legislature's spent one hundred and thirty million dollars more this year and they did you know the whole were still caught up in court when top issues are still at the core of the problem people want us to be able to run the london whale have the highway patrol up there there really were gaining an only that's a terrible election cycle group of conservatives need to come in and i think we can truly the heart of the problem which is the government's too big were spending too much money if some

republican lawmakers are giving this year's legislature a poor grade so what democrats house minority leader tom sawyer maintains that i didn't reduce income taxes the nineteen ninety five kansas legislature did little to help the average ken's and he says the republican controlled legislature was more interested in providing tax breaks for business groups among the legislation passed this year with the elimination of the sales tax on utilities used in manufacturing and only bo used in new construction you're welcome liane republicans question and those businesses employ the common man but they're

always try to provide for and we think that the tax legislation for instance we passed on for businesses and jobs so i don't see any inconsistency there meanwhile with the nineteen ninety five legislature know over lawmakers are beginning to turn their sights on nineteen ninety six it'll be an important political year in kansas for the first time in four years old one hundred and twenty five representatives an all forty states senators will be up for reelection at the statehouse but since it's been this is william jennings bryan oleander commentary about going home finally from the legislature nineteen eighty five well folks it was a saturday night in the legislative session was finally are

all the political intrigue partisan intensity and renting rhetoric all the conference committees and late night sessions bills amended in other males although threats promises and compromises what your last bit of advice i asked my friend and fellow representative don smith democrat dodd city as we walked out of the chambers don't take it hard when you go home and nobody cares he said for every mile you travel west of topeka you'll see a lessening of interest about statehouse politics but not in my district and i said well let me tell you folks first thing monday morning i drove to their county public library i found my usual table and spread the wichita eagle in front of me i wanted to see their wrap up of the legislative session in lot buddy rogers well you yes you can hardly see where you've been in florida legislature i said why this

saturday night i always in topeka cutting your car taxes i know you were somewhere he said no kidding you say you don't know car all the way to florida he opened the topeka capital journal carried the summaries of the soap opera a minute later in oct fred cate he looked over the salon a journal for the winning numbers and how are all cash while and pick three william e janet evans sr for awhile you haven't been sick and ian read has almost death bed and i yelled i pointed to the powerball numbers while we headed out again and again about the lottery finally passed it at the last minute the same thing happened in recent friend three days in a debate the house will be fought as my kidney stone glad you won lottery though i know i keep dry i didn't feel

like shouting the truth telling folks and besides my good friend label name or walked in to look over the latest issue of organic gardening where you she said i would only you're back and that you worked so hard to see that exception is good to be back i bet you're way behind on your garden know she said why your letters will be better if you plant this late mabel i said i had to make some sacrifices some things have become before lettuce and meet oh yes she said i read the papers you mean things like credit card liquor sales mabel is the bcg you besides i said and go on hot peppers instead of lettuce is your typical foods as a little more spice to it you've gained weight set marty barnhill who had walked in looking for car and driver magazine have a good vacation when you i haven't been on vacation i said i stood up and look at all

these good folks i've known for so many years i've been in topeka in the legislature as your representative it on old buddy rogers looked up at me through his thick glasses we knew you'd been somewhere he said they went back to the soap opera subway i vowed to call represented smith since he turned out to be right and then i went back to the eagle's legislative wrap up during last year's gubernatorial campaign then secretary of state bill graves was labeled a glorified click by his opponent john slattery slattery argued that graves did not have what it takes to lead the state is important to the next governor of this state have had some experience in making tough decisions tough policymaking decisions and with all respect to the secretary of state's office it is not a policy making office there's no tough decisions are made by the secretary of state it wasn't just graves as political opponents though who were questioning his experience

political scientists to unclear where the graves could make our choices and respond under pressure professor burdett loomis at the university of kansas felt that way but not the graves is at the governor's office his assent an opportunity to reappraise its viewpoint i think in terms of the political side proving to be a real a politically he has maneuvered into a typical campaign dealing with very few come on bill graves considers lowering taxes in the state as his greatest victory so far as governor he's presided over a fifty three percent reduction in vehicle taxes he's also signed into law bills eliminating the sales tax on labor used in new construction and on utilities used in manufacturing graves is also proud of

pouring more money into public school education by raising the base a bit people for money for the first time in four years some political scientists aren't convinced though that graves should be taking credit for the successful passage of all these issues professor lawrence mr washburn university says that most of the session graves was notably absent from the ledges of the process is basically sat back and the only thing he's done is he's criticized the pace the legislature and it was like a speaker angry because he's a young because it pays but you haven't jumped in yourself get more from this week graves did eventually involve himself more in what the legislature was doing some lawmakers complained that he was frustrating their efforts by interfering too much graves now admits he had difficulty getting the balance right there are moments where i probably got involved with the legislature or more degree that maybe i should have and that caused some consternation among some of the members there were times when they would

call and say why don't you get and where we want some you know greater input but graves did show signs of inexperience in dealing with a legislature he scores top marks with lawmakers for his willingness to listen gravesite open door policy to any lawmaker wanted to express concerns that the doors open not just to those of his own party but democrats too we had more contact with governor graves and we did with the previous administration john paul sonne is a house democrat at at graves has shown a ability to look to other groups to find consensus and it isn't afraid to look across party lines and for me and the response or one solution well democrats of praise graves that is conviviality unwillingness to listen to opposing views they have not let up on the sideline a republican for the conduct of his policies democrats argue that graves is more concerned with pleasing business groups that he is the average terrorism whether the voters feel awake to is uncertain though popularity polls are being taken on belgrade since he was elected

but the tribe get a sense though of how residents feel we revisit it to voters who last year had the opportunity to interview bill graves as part of the kansas public radio election project we asked them where the graves was living up to the promises he made while on the campaign trail rather souls is an unemployed aerospace worker from bill plane i'll fire the bleeding pretty quiet the witty fairy would get to be about reducing cardiac and so far to have it deliver on that andy anderson is a freelance writer from wichita you probably do well at the governor could do with a little literary at work where i think a lot of people heard that the one thing that i did like about the great governor knew that they were going through while sincerity is a trait that wins approval from voters like eddie henderson

it isn't enough of a selling point to appease many conservative republicans in the legislature who were disappointed that graves did not do more to downsize government and slashed spending the signals with their graves wanted to put state government on a diet he talked about loading them high and tight and during his state of the state address he promised to turn the lights out on state programs that didn't work we're unsuccessful it can be performed by someone else well such comments were considered a rallying cry for fiscal conservatives in the legislature republican representative tom bradley topeka says graves never seem to translate his rhetoric into positive action we did not cut any program so in that tree lights out we spent one hundred and thirty million dollars more this year than last year and that's about three point eight percent which is double inflation rate so saudi's government is growing global inflation rate there's a tremendous amount of room for profit yet but i'm looking forward to its budget next year but some political scientists

questioned whether graves will be able to drastically downsize government next year either professor burdett loomis at the university of kansas government unity government but we knew that governor graves though remains adamant that his number one goal makes you will be to reduce the size of state government he says it'll be in nineteen ninety six that kansans will really begin to understand what his concepts of loading a high and tight and turning the lights out on state programs are all about at the state house this is mccain's reporting the graves you've been open about saying that you accomplished almost everything it wanted to deception reducing contacts

is lowering taxes on businesses and bring more money to public school education by yet increasingly yuppies a good pupil but some political commentators are questioning your involvement in the passage of all these bills on the success of the session democrats and that lawmakers even within your own party and said he was actually absent from the session you didn't get involved until the very end it with aggressive enough in telling the legislature what they should be focusing on how do you react to the criticism of your management style well i think one way or another whether you like my management style or not we accomplished most of the goals that we set out there are moments when i probably have gotten the legislature of morton agree that maybe i should have and that caused some consternation among some of the members there were times when they would call and say why don't you get and where we want some you know greater input i think that i learned during the first session that on almost a minute by minute basis every

day you make decisions about should i be involved in this issue or should i not whether whether times when the collective wisdom below a hundred sixty five members a sufficient to adequately either move forward or not move for certain issues and other times when the governor continues to be an indian in having some input we spent a great deal of time and car taxes we spent a great deal of time on the lottery we spent a great deal of time on on business tax cuts so you know i think the toyota prius in the pudding and then the result of the session are successful in i'm more shrewd the results are for the people of the state that i am for it from people who are more were analyzing my management style that almost everyone agrees that you are a nice guy ok rep republican senate democrats say it in this interview you'll come across that way but there's the saying good guys finish last of those who say bill graves cod to make the difficult decisions affecting the state if he

continues to be nice all the time once they get that i'm just not one who's ever thought creating recruiting controversy was really very productive i tend to be fairly discreet about expressing unhappiness her displeasure with people i generally realize the differences within the budget won the legislature someone who you maybe terribly upset with the air that at any given moment is the same person you need to have a bridge built with the relationship more to successfully get something accomplished do you need to be awfully careful about creating situations that day you might not be able to undo later on down the road so you know i am not a person loses control and someone that likes to have to stay calm and for forty and i think that in summary most difficult situations that's an asset that has served me well it's been said all my political life the

whole the the comments about dover has been a nice guy a nice guys finish last i have to keep reminding people that tone that i never lost election in my life i just heard what i think is one of the most successful sessions in recent memory and just about everything i wanted to accomplish was accomplished and so on i will continue to be a nice kyle continue to work hard for the people of the state and quite frankly a nod to the chagrin of my detractors why i plan on continuing to finish first as well you said that you accomplished about everything you wanted to this year but what happened to a high and tight and turning the lights out on state programs that don't work is a two concepts you have consistently talked about well you said you propose a high and tight budget that you actually came out with a budget hundred and thirty million dollars larger the new democratic predecessor john tiffany's i would seem to see any evidence that you'd get turned the lights out on programs will happen to these concepts have they been forgotten no actually not making fact i'm

on on a high and tight we think that that we came to the session with one of the most fiscally responsible budgets that we've seen in a long time but it's a budget that's a hundred and thirty million dollars more than last year's how is that high and tight your budget increased spending by twice the level of inflation well nick dunne we're not satisfied with that we know that now that we have our candidate place that we're going to have some experience under her belt we expect to have an even better even more responsible budget in terms of turning out the lights we discover like everyone fire was discovered that day are talking about it's one thing to eat is another we have our work cut out for us now that i have my news sri secretary rochelle crossed or half completed the cabinet with the reason appoint of steve williams wildlife and parks we will put a tremendous amount of focus on restructuring state government and out of making good on a promise to turn the lights on some things and i get i think when we present a state of the state

message in general next year one the people find another tight budget and maim and two we will in fact be proposing some significant changes in the way state government operates at a recent press conference you could save the day you greatest success the session is bringing on putting together a cabinet full of the types of people that you wanted to a skilled professionals in the fields that that they have expertise in some people might say well if that is your would you consider your greatest success than it was setting his sights set pretty low what would you say to that oh i think the term and the quality of government that the people of his state receive on a day to day basis is or is a reflection of the quality of people that serve them and that starts at the top it was absolutely critical to have a cabinet that was was i wanted new energy new ideas fresh faces i've succeeded in doing that i wanted people who didn't bring a lot of controversy to detracted from the ability to do good things for the people of kansas i think

we've succeeded us for in doing that while the sessions important now make no mistake about that i think the service to kansans is even more important and how we carry out and execute public policy decisions and so we're we're beginning the important work now and that is making sure this administration is responsive to the needs of kansans and and and doing so in a fairly of fiscally cautious way back to those who say that my sights were set too low to get your gear will simply re integrate we have an extensive agenda that was laid out in the state of the state message ninety percent of that agenda was achieved i have great people in place now the appointments to date have been well received and i just yeah i have no feelings right now with this administration is not been successful there for months i made a four year commitment so there's a lot of work to do and i have to leave it there governor graves thank you very much for joining us the horror of the

bombing of the federal building in oklahoma city suggests that it may be time to speak truth to power the truth is that bureaucrats that you're a bureaucrat and the clients of bureaucrats were brutally slain the truth is that this killing of bureaucrats is the most horrible an extreme manifestation of what has become a contemporary culture of contempt for bureaucracy for a full generation those who practice the noble profession of public service such as the military public school teachers the police and postal workers have been dehumanized and portrayed as bureaucracies and bureaucrats and subjected to her legless pattern of derision ridicule an insult there has been virtually no disagreement is the culture of contempt for bureaucrats have anything to do with the oklahoma city bombing is the suggestion of such a connection too extreme too farfetched the truth is that our elected leaders ask civil servant to a cub was difficult and often contradictory and ambiguous tasks and then sold and provides the resources needed to do the job and when difficult tests are not done well

how can it be explained far too often the political answer is bubbling bureaucracy and inept bureaucrats what happens in the culture of contempt for bureaucracy in truth it is blaming the workers and the systems of work is as much the same as blaming the victims were crime or blaming the corps for poverty as usual we citizens have a somewhat more sophisticated sense of the true is that our political leaders comprehend in the case of bureaucracy and bureaucrats the research indicates that citizens like their own neighborhood schools unlike their children's teachers we like our police and fire departments and respect very difficult job they are asked to do yet we are broadly persuaded that schools in the general sense are bad police are intrusive employees at the internal revenue service are unfair the real issues of government have to do with policy what is a fair and equitable tax system for example political leaders seem incapable of dealing with this issue without assuming that

much of the problem with a fair and equitable tax system has to do with the irs and those who work for the irs the truth is that the irs is doing exactly what the laws directed to do in this broadly based culture of contempt for bureaucracy is it possible at fringe groups and paranoid somehow feel emboldened to act are faceless and nameless bureaucrats now fair game the profound national response to the horror of the oklahoma city bombing should indicate that the public servants who died where our bureaucrats their clients were our friends and neighbors we will probably never know it's a guilty were in some twisted way encouraged by the culture of contempt for bureaucracy but it is unlikely that they were discouraged by anti bureaucratic rhetoric the lesson for our political leaders is this stomp your hot rhetoric about bureaucracies and bureaucrats if you disagree with or change it but don't engage in contempt for those who to the best of their ability with all laws in action as a bureaucrat

it would be a tribute to those who died in oklahoma city today we unveil kansas the sexiest highway and the winner is us highway one sixty between pittsburg in johnson city our judges are rex buchanan and jim mccauley who ordered can't use kansas geological survey and who courted the book roadside kansas represent the sort to dismiss golfers who think our state collection of humdrum towns cement not worked on flatness to begin our tour the land around pittsburgh is dominated by coal age geology exposed rocks from three hundred million years ago was word on when sixty passed independence we traveled through sandy chautauqua hills country some of this area is called the cross timbers it's a patchwork of tall grass is an oak woodlands next week the kansas flint hills this band of austria was tall grass prairie is distinctive for its bare subtle beauty the land comprises the same sediment are iraq's found elsewhere in eastern kansas

alternating beds of limestone and shale that here the lines on a sticker and there's church to which the locals call flint church is like or it's hard enough to scratch steel or like limestone it won't result in slightly acid water so you'll see a charred kept ridge is about to buy go is where limestone has been carved away after driving through arkansas rural owens we arrive in madison watch to see the red hills turn left unmarked gravel road a few miles past ten goes out the ways they loop back more to rejoin the highway the blood red buick mesa landscape along the way i've created what they have an ancient currency got cut off from the main body of water and dried up this happened again and again with each pulse of drying moreover sentiments gypsum and salts were deposited now is rather than rejoin one sixty withstand that same gravel road and drive north we come to sun city buchanan describes buster who owns the bar there as quote one of the last to the red hot characters that would curve

around to build a deer down to one sixty again rejoin we had in the pipelines past week we turned north and head up through plays dear flatness of the sea otters haskell county obligatory supervise the least relief in all of kansas factor of the day cutting summer a few samples in the county's northwest corner of the founders of climbing a mere ten feet per mile as you move from the county's southeast corner to its north west john continues to pick up and you as his city in johnson's that you're just a little more than the cannes favorite spot in kansas the center on national press phones ipods prairie buchanan says that a prayer is as interesting as a mountain forest if you tune your mind to it the poet emily dickinson set in another way she wrote to make a prairie it takes a clover and one b clover and reveries

bribery alone are few for all you know lotion seven for stretches outside translator cannes is not just a state the state of mind get it as part of the true story in the wall street journal back in nineteen eighty seven bob dole was asked how he spends his sunday mornings don't responded by saying he liked to ride his exercise bike while watching political talk shows on tv provided he said his wife didn't draw people to check first event i dont is reflective of how bob dole feels about religion he's making every effort to change that perception during this presidential campaign the kansas senator has been seeing regularly attending sunday church services as made clear during his speeches across the country that god is the central force that drives him oh yeah we are

many observers say your dog's choice of words a carefully targeted at the religious white a powerful voting block that the kansas senator hopes to win over to his side though is also hitting many of the hot button issues that christian conservatives have on their agenda the kansas senator says he supports a voluntary prayer in schools gun rights and school vouchers he also says if elected he would end federal funding for such so called liberal bastions as the national endowment for the arts more information at dole's interest in appealing to the religious right appears to go beyond just rhetoric recently though ohio the chief staff lawyer with the christian coalition as a field organizer by his campaign the christian coalition is the largest group of religious conservatives in america the move disturbs moderate republicans like nancy brown brown a former state representative is executive director of the mainstream coalition johnson county

based group that is fighting what it believes is a hostile takeover of the gop by the religious right i'm disappointed that all the sudden you see not just a blow a lot of candidates basically pandering to the right when philosophically they personally don't believe that way and i find that kind of a double message and i'm very disappointed that we do that it is a friend of mine and men and i would like to support and for the presidency however it i can support this bubble you're in the kansas house of representatives for ten years you have a lot of friends within the republican party we all across the state are they saying the same thing you are about although i did say that privately but a lot of people are not saying publicly and i'm disappointed in that too because that it sends a message that kansans are innocent for a candidate no matter what was my first concern of the getty images for a candidate no matter what and the second thing i think a dozen gives republican party bad name it we have it was doing is saying that the republican party can be defined by a special interest group well brown believes doors courting of the

religious right compromise is is otherwise moderate political views political strategists viewed very differently then it's a smart campaign tactic the washington based political magazine campaigns and elections recently reported that evangelical christian it's now they got one out of every three paid up republican party members in america the editor of the periodical dr romer for sure says the religious right is no such a powerful political force the dog cannot afford to ignore them anywhere between the delegates at the convention will be either directly or indirectly affiliated with christian conservatives are views home and he was not able to write and win the nomination according to the campaign's elections magazine the republican party is now dominated by the religious right in eighteen states thirteen others it says us

significantly controlled by christian conservatives among them is kansas last year the state gop elected born again christian david miller to head the party miller has been for many as the voice of the state's largest anti abortion group kansans for life religious conservatives also taken over the grassroots party apparatus in johnson and sedgwick counties just recently joe and gravy fundamentalist christian was elected chairman of the republican party and wind up county grange a computer salesman from kansas city is reflective of what is fast becoming the new face of the kansas gop he's adamant than in the new republican party issue abortion needs to take center stage we don't want it swept under the road is it the dealers that are uncertain i would love to see abortion out on the country while abortion is a prime issue for many of the new grassroots leadership of the gop it has not been an issue that bob dole has been willing to focus on doing his campaign but that may be just temporary recently the head of the christian coalition ralph reed put the candidates on notice saying that

religious conservatives won't back a candidate who refuses to speak out against abortion pills major political opponent senator phil gramm of texas is rising to the challenge last week graham spoke to tell the evangelist jerry falwell's university in virginia then he asked for americans to work towards the day when every unborn child is welcomed into the world and loved when they get their depression may be on daughter now responding kind but while political commentators say a for the move to the right can only help don't win his party's nomination it may backfire against him they say during the general election window is forced to appeal to moderate republicans and democrats were unhappy with bill clinton got the wrong fall short of the magazine campaigns and elections it is that people believe that is changeable and he has one thing one day and then another day bob dole or any other republican candidate who was the general election campaign usually very careful they

don't fall into the same trap dole's campaign aides say that's not going to happen the press secretary nelson wakefield refuses to admit the dough is in any way change in his political rhetoric just to get elected and that your candidate bob dole you don't have to try to appeal to one part of the party are one total electorate but politically irrelevant and record are going to the bottom of my letter change it but i think you're aware well christian conservatives may be becoming more familiar with feels increasingly conservative message they're certainly far from endorsing his candidacy according to a number of informal polls the loyalties of the religious right i'll still up for grabs a recent straw poll in the new york times should support from christian conservatives evenly split between dog and for us education secretary lamar alexander for kansas public radio this is mccain's reporting he's

both the pittsburgh three two one that there is that way as an amiable is decidedly skewed vision of just what constitutes a family that i was nineteen at a boatlift of cuban refugees arrived in miami florida there's a residual my is to revamp a former sugarcane worker at a sexy

attractive young woman who's been around and will do whatever it takes to adapt to american life and there's alfred molina has won a shy quiet political prisoner who is seeking out the wife and child i came here twenty years ago during that water thrown together in a tent city inside the vast miami orange bowl football stadium realizing that sponsorship of job opportunities come to family units arena goes about collecting her own family she first addresses wanted to duty is her husband who is coincidence as it also has a last name a bear is that young boys are signing and i'm an old man as her father and there you have that instant family just add water and mix the ruse works and soon they'll find a home within a catholic church and jobs selling flowers in the streets well one in the meantime is unable to contact his real wife carmela portrayed by angelica houston because she lives in a homeless and guarded by security alarms that is continually turned away the raid and meanwhile is seeking a romantic rises are almost tragicomic results and

so it goes in this ron palais of love and family you know it's not predictable you end up with you and that's part of the point of the paris family real family may have little to do with blurred lines and everything to do with a more special kinship of loyalty companionship and mutual support director mira nair who also did salaam bombay and mississippi marsala was to depict unlikely relationships against a vivid colorful mix of varied nationalities and cultures likewise the barrios family is drenched in the bright heat of the miami ad depicts the activities of a bunch of people who are all a little bad or sun struck at least the rig is always throwing yourself into iran against disease wanted to brew things on the past and he's always dreaming of impossibly blue skies and sandy beaches and gourmet led into shivering visions of the next visit by her detective boyfriend this latter subplot provides many beautiful gags in incidents i

really like the paris that way it's not likely spend in these days of what constitutes of modern nuclear family but it is so improbable and yet so delightful that i'm recommending this one for everyone there isn't a mate she's a standout and to give the prayers family and they might guess says john tibbets not talk to you next time so you have been calling this latest decision from the us supreme court historic victory for kansas why is this ruling so important well because it affects the flow of water in the southwest kansas and water as everybody knows is one of our most valuable resources this particular controversy with colorado has been ongoing for forty five years now and so for the united states supreme court to side with kansas and a position we've had all these years is tremendous not for the purposes of our listeners were not familiar with what this whole dispute between kansas and colorado has been about you said it's been going on for forty five years to just briefly what has been the problem

very briefly colorado's been stealing i want that says as sort of sweet as they get is seen as a deal with colorado farmers being allowed to drill wells alongside dr kansas river and substantially complete the flow of water into kansas we're really arguing three issues the wells within the absolute the biggest issue any comprise probably ninety percent of the case to gary smaller issues one was the the management of the trinidad reservoir and the second was the winter water storage program the court did not fight for us on those two but their miniscule compared to the water last it out of the well pumping in practical terms now that the us supreme court has in effect sided with kansas in this dispute what does this mean now in kansas what happens we begin the process of determining what the cost and the value of that water loss it just so that will now begin retainer at experts to determine how much was really lost and then what the value of that wasn't the damage to southwest kansas and the state of kansas that we anticipate that's probably another year long process before we have an opportunity to be going before the court

how much could you expected kansas expect to get out of this at the cost the state are on an eleven billion dollars in litigation for these eleven years that it's being that's dealing with this case surely has to be more than that level why would anticipate asking for every dime that we've spent on litigation as well as the amount that our experts determine we have lost in kansas has suffered but i'm not a position to make the projection at this point that's a word that had the experts determining for the next year the word individual farmers in kansas who've lost partner in fact somebody in some cases or they'll likely have as part of this dispute between the individual farmers see dollars in their hands as a result of this decision that'll be up to the legislature to decide any money to colorado want to kansas will go into the general fight in the legislature will decide how to appropriate those monies it's probably not likely that individuals will recover at all more likely will be that that money can be spent for economic development in southwest kansas to compensate the entire area sort of the bottom line off for so western

farmers right now it's more of the principle rather than an economic gain as well and certainly increase the water flow what we would hope the court would do it is due require colorado plug those wells at all if not the majority of them say that the water flows back down into kansas is increase we'd ever anticipate the water flow the way it was fifteen twenty years ago but nonetheless it should be much more substantial and what it is today what we talk about around seventeen hundred wells saying that colorado having to be kept off as a result of this decision but we really don't know what's actually going to happen that's right it's way too early to predict that we do know that there were wells about that number almost two thousand wells that were drilled along the r kansas river by farmers that were in violation of the contacts of the logical extension of that is that those wells would be required to be plucked this case has been going on for eleven years i know this seems like it on historic moment but i mean this could still go on for many years to come what was projected that it would take another year from the time we heard the supreme court's

initial decision to do the deranged phase of that the trial and then to get back before the us supreme court so we hope not more than a year to year to have to begin before the court with a decision but even that couldn't be the authorities in colorado than say we are happy with that we got a dispute that only going to take legal action against them there's no appeal from the united states supreme court so as far as the as it were legal recourse there won't be any their decision will be final how long it takes color at a paved kansas is another issue with our corps depend on what the supreme court says they owe and what other remedial remedies they have to have to pay to play so it's possible they could say we put ourselves on a tenured payment plan and then we wouldn't see anything until are well into the next a century the court would have to make those determinations as to what's reasonable there's some speculation we sometimes get in our office that we just want to foreclose on some of the ski resorts in colorado in and be able to claim some of his properties so will say well how much money the court says is in andover when it went through time has to be paid to kansas and change all kosovo finally joining absolutely it's my pleasure

it may be the last thing the university of kansas medical center wants to hear right now but a number of medical negligence lawyers say the hospital should be bracing itself for a slew of lawsuits over the next few weeks overland park attorney elaine johnson has made a career of suing doctors and hospitals for mismanagement and negligent practices he's a member of the board of governors of the kansas trial lawyers association it seemed to me to be very responsible conduct on the part of the hospital administration and the war or whoever that person was in charge of the current program i would think that there would be substantial opportunity for someone to recover damages if nothing else but for the emotional distress the pressure was put through a successful suit against bp medical center could put the kansas city kansas facility in a major financial squeeze lawsuits against hospitals don't come cheap a survey conducted last year by the pennsylvania based jury verdict research group found the other toward granted to

patients against hospitals was nine hundred and seventy seven thousand dollars some awards though go much higher just last march an eleven year old boy he was awarded more than six million dollars after suffering brain damage following a procedure performed at a florida hospital lynn johnston says it's uncertain what heart transplant patients at the k u medical center could expect to receive if they manage to sue successfully dr who the original allegations against the k u medical center what was published in the kansas city star newspaper they described how the hospital had refused all fifty don't know hard soften it from a hit last year to march of this year while at the same time continuing to accept patients for transplant operations they would apparently never get the former head of the heart transplant program at k you said the medical centers simply did not have enough skilled surgeons and nurses to perform such operations he admitted though the patients were not informed of that to assess further the

k u medical centers legal culpability we sent a copy of the kansas city star article to new york city attorney susan carter who specializes in medical cases and for that period cantor identifies at least for potential lawsuits that could be sold against the k u medical center based on the facts contained in the kansas city star article the first is the case of a forty six year old topeka patient who spent four months in the intensive care unit at the cave medical center awaiting a transplant but finally left without getting hot he later transferred to be a bicycle luke's hospital and received a transplant within three weeks then there's the three patients identified in the article who died while waiting on the quai you transplant list patience carter says could well received hugs if they were on the list and another area hospital she admits though that those cases are more difficult to prove in court the other reason for the

people to begin with and you have to the fact that in the nine month period either they review the transplant they have something happen to them in that nine month period that they were dying anyway even if the families of those patients did see when women in cut his opinion it's unlikely they would receive any multimillion dollar awards in kansas as in most states there is a two hundred and fifty thousand dollars cap on how much can be awarded by a jury that pain and suffering most of the astronomical awards come from cases where the economic damages involved such as loss of pay your livelihood as a result of what happened carver says as most patients with heart transplants and set to begin with there's unlikely to be any economic damages that need to be cleaned for cantor says the dollar figures though it shouldn't take away from the bizarre nature of this case cotton says more than

thirty years of dealing with doctors and hospitals as part of a legal practice she has never come across a case like the one at the k u medical center ny then as dr art caplan a medical ethicist at the university of pennsylvania was an expert on the nation's heart transplant programs situation we're transplant he accused of stealing to perform transplant opportunity for water resources to process a heart transplant field are you a patient kaplan says what's alleged to have happened at the k u medical center is a blatant betrayal of trust he predicts it will impact the public's faith in other programs of the hospital too kaplan also says the medical center could lose its national accreditation to perform any heart transplant the siege is that in future the university received the word and distribution for them but they were qualified or tripling of

cadaver heart that became available from the national system if there really were prepared to furnish you about we have the years of resources that are very fragile so big issues for the national systems will get while many questions still remain unanswered administrators at the k u medical center are refusing to offer any public comment on the allegations however in a written memorandum they did confirm that they would appoint an independent team of outside positions to reveal the operations of the heart transplant program the kansas board of regents the state body that governs the k u medical center is also pursuing its own investigation of the board's chairman frank zappa teeny is be made available to comment on that the executive director of the region's ports steven jordan did not attend any phone calls in connection with a story meanwhile the kansas legislature announced last week that they too would conduct a probe to try and get to the bottom of the issue democrat state senator anthony

hensley to be good is the legislature might get slapped with a lawsuit too oh yeah sen hensley says it is possible that the kansas legislature could be accused of at least partial responsibility of what's been happening at the k u medical center because of that long time and the funding of the facility a shortage of qualified staff and resources is considered one of the main reasons why the center sees performing the transplants in the first place the findings of the legislature's post audit committee investigation into the allegations of the cave medical center are expected to be released by the end of the summer meanwhile kansas patients awaiting heart transplants about being told to contact the san francisco spill in wichita or st luke's hospital in kansas city missouri at the state house this is mccain's reporting the issue of whether to hold

a presidential primary has been a contentious one in the kansas legislature some lawmakers about you that the cost of holding the election one point four million dollars is a waste of money they also contend that the kansas primary comes too late in the political process to make an impact i don't like to be a democrat from considering holding a crime we call it because bob dole and graduating the government won't wobble like him we're going to talk with him and more than one point five billion dollars a month despite those objections lawmakers grudgingly voted to approve funding the presidential primaries set for next april second a republican from an excerpt called the decision a victory for democracy the one point five million that we put into the presidential primary in a very small price to pay to allow citizens to become involved in the political

process and the workings of the country that has mccain's reporting if former democratic governor john cullen is confirmed by the senate to become the new us archivist he will take over one hundred and ninety million dollar a agency whose prime purpose is to preserve all national documents the sprawling national archives building in washington dc house is more than a billion government papers including the declaration of independence and the constitution the us archivist also manages the country's nine presidential libraries perhaps the archivists most critical role though is deciding which documents to save out of the avalanche of new information that comes out of federal offices at the white house each year he has the final say over whether government documents should be kept for posterity or destroyed it's a task historical groups say requires a professional background in history a qualification cullen the former dairy farmer and cattle salesman does not possess but jon cowan of the nominated through agriculture

i'd be out there was an uproar that the job he would be qualified for any of the early on the level or not a job he qualified for dr john mccauley is a professor of history at the university of kansas and a member of the american historical association one of sixteen academic organization's the plans to protest collins nomination before the senate governmental affairs committee this afternoon and then a vehement opponent of collins nomination is susan fox executive director of the society of american archivists we want somebody who really understand the issues that are involved with the national archives who cares about the age and it and nothing that john carlin have heard oregon have have indicated that he really cares about folk says it seems the only reason colleges been nominated for the job at all is because his close political ties to the president collins served as clinton's campaign manager in kansas in nineteen ninety

two but there's a political pawn they don't think they really have a profound impact on the record then access to records for a very very long time to come and it's being treated as if it's just a minor appointment in and i think that that that's not the case fox says that by nominating cullen the president is in fact violating and nineteen eighty four or that says the us archivist must be appointed without regard for political affiliation and solely on the basis of all professional qualifications fox interprets that to mean the candidates should be a skilled archivist or historian the white house though contends that the law means the nominee simply must be a professional at tim broad enough to include collins management experience and not just expertise in history white house deputy press secretary jimmy tucson oak says the columns appointments to the one hundred and twenty three thousand dollar your position has nothing to do with politics institution as a budget of over two hundred million dollars annually

and nearly three thousand employees governor carlin record ed beaver manager at providing fiscal responsibility and a proven commitment in the area of education of a record for what he left office and having an update governor so if you look at that back you would say that this goes well beyond politics which is why we have strong support from both republicans and democrats on the hill for this nomination republican senators bob dole and nancy kassebaum are behind comments nomination don't hold president clinton that he would do all he could to move the nominations through the senate as expeditiously as possible while collin has political friends in both parties he's not without its advocates within the academic community as well robert richmond a past president of the american association for state and local history and a former kansas state archivist is also endorsing column like the president richmond believes that the national archives are more in need of a talented administrator right now

than a historian especially he says since the agency has been without a leader since nineteen eighty three when the last officeholder don wilson resigned they've now been without real management for sometime and consequently i think administrative leave they have suffered a number of people left the archives take an early retirement simply because management has been something less than ideal that's probably years i think right now what they needed management there are plenty of people on the archive staff who can worry about conservation and arrangement of papers and those guns and the archivist of the united states has never had time to do that sort of work richmond says the wildcard is neither a professional historian nor an archivist he has been impressed with his keen appreciation for history and its importance as governor cohen played an instrumental role in the development of the kansas museum of history which is considered by many to be a state of the art facility richmond also cites collins two years of

service on the board of the national archives foundation a charitable organization that supports the archives education programs susan fox that what the society of american archivists is quick to discount the significance of that he only attended one meeting and really was very vague about what that particular combination of all about fox who have the opportunity to interview column before he was selected by the clinton administration said she had a clear feeling that the former governor had only one voted for wanting to become the us archivist he gave every indication that have prime motivator in to find a way to washington dc and he had the draft for example that he had not thought out the condition of people had come to him asking him to run and he thought that all that the one way to get to washington colin is matt is referring to comments like those made by fox and is referring all inquiries about his nomination for the white house officials there say they stand by their nominee in spite of such criticism but nevertheless fox and other

archivists are concerned that khan's political appetite and his friendship with bill clinton could threaten the ability of the national archives to act independently of the white house the last head of the agency donald wilson plays the integrity of the archives into question when he signed an agreement on the last day of the bush administration giving the president a full control of white house computer tapes that were the subject of a lawsuit seeking to preserve them the computer tapes dating back to the reagan years contain more than five thousand white house communications relating to the iran contra affair the agreement is still being fought in the federal courts but fearing that kind of political arrangement could happen again the society of american archivists has facts every us senator a press release that outlines their concerns about john cohen the society rights given his political background we see no reason to believe that john cullen would be able to withstand political pressure when and if it is applied we'd like to become and political ally and that nineteen ninety two campaign

manager and it made him how much of a political appointment to be able to act independently with those very critical record despite such a massive lobbying effort now underway by the society of american archivists and other historical groups most washington insiders say cullen is almost certain to be confirmed the chairman of the senate governmental affairs committee william ross was handling collins confirmation hearings says all indications are that the committee will look favorably on his nomination thanks largely to the weighty endorsement of senate majority leader bob dole while the hearings on colin are expected to begin and end this afternoon no vote will be taken until thursday a final vote by the senate is expected after the memorial day recess at the state house this is mike hayden's reporting more than a dozen academic organize asians are opposing john collins nomination they say he likes the historical expertise to handle the agency responsible for preserving the nation's most important government

documents among those expected to testify this afternoon is susan fox executive director of the society of american archivists we want somebody who really understand the issues that are involved with the national archives who cares about the agent thing and nothing that john carlin have heard oregon have have indicated that he really cares about cullen though does have some powerful supporters on his side including senate majority leader bob dole dole says the national archives are more in need of a skilled administrator at the helm right now than they are qualified historian morale within the agency is said to have reached rock bottom up to be leaderless for more than two years the previous archivist donald wilson resigned to become director of the george bush presidential library in texas while public testimony on the carlin nomination is expected to begin and end this afternoon a vote won't be taken to confirm column until thursday at the state house this is mccain's reporting

more than four hundred employees at the frank carlson federal building in downtown topeka a worst to have actually publicity shortly after eleven am have to do any of the us marshals service that they were alerted of the bomb threat by federal authorities in mississippi record the caller identified three federal facilities which would be targeted in the violence we're about that that federal courthouse was one of those facilities identified macguineas says the demands made by the call it mississippi to relating to the suspects being held in the oklahoma city bombing that then he said he had no details about the exact nature of those demands being welcomed the bomb disposal team almost three hours the police search the protocol for building no explosive device was found and there were many things federal offices have become a hot

pocket folks called since last month oklahoma city bombing federal officials though say they can't afford to take any chances two years ago the topeka federal office building was at the center of national attention when a lone gunman went on a rampage through the facility injuring several workers and killing a security guard after that speech security arrangements with stepped up with people entering the building would have to pass on the federal offices and metal detectors at the state house this is mccain's reporting the station's it's thursday may twenty fifth on the feet is a six minute thirty seconds that it should be run thursday or friday of this week not next week suggested league the kansas prison system now has more inmates in custody than ever in its history public corrections reports this week that has just one hundred inmates short of reaching capacity and if current trends continue we could end it could run out of bed space completely by the end of the year the situation has said to leave kansas lawmakers outside situation set to leave kansas lawmakers in an awkward political dilemma

release inmates or build more prisons kansas public radio's mccain says most expensive thirty seconds or less lead on backs coming three two one in may of last year kansas prisoners housed nearly six thousand inmates this made correction officials are trying to accommodate nearly seven thousand prisoners increasing almost a thousand inmates in just one year is a product in large part of legislative action over the last few years that has forced offenders to serve longer sentences we do that primarily because we are hearing from our constituents watch these people up and people that view from republican representative phil kline of overland park is typical of the kind of pressure kansas lawmakers and i wanted to do something about violent crime but while the legislature passes the tougher laws and the courts carry out those wishes it's the part of corrections just left with increasingly difficult job of handling the results of those policies over the last few months kansas correction officials have had to find creative ways to how was this

swelling inmate population in some prisons warehouses and classroom space is i've been converted into a makeshift dormitories to temporarily hold the influx of new inmates in the last few days the elder rainville maximum security prison just east of wichita began double bunting its inmates situation considered less than desirable in a facility intended to house the state's most danger us and violent offenders but the part of corrections spokesman bill driscoll says his agency has been left with no choice will consider to be a permanent solution we just heard a bit of the solution that we have available to us at the present time there are other options that are out there that may need to be pursued like i'm not a position to talk about specifics of what else we may need to look at most experts though agree that any for that band aid approach is to housing inmates could call security problems and the rest of the state's correctional facilities it could also violate a federal court ordered the bridge had its overcrowding the audit which went into effect in nineteen eighty nine

was the result of inmate suing over prison conditions now if the number of inmates meets or exceeds the prison capacity the state it must release some inmates early or create more space either through renovations on new construction kansas governor bill graves has made it clear that he wants no prisoners released early grades press secretary mike manson brussels safety the safety of kansans is important to go and get a price on and he wants to make sure that violent offenders are kept where they belong which is behind bars and an extent that that more prison space would be needed you would likely see him sign off on something like that so far governor graves has been willing to put his money where his mouth is late in the nineteen ninety five the legislative session graves asked the legislature to approve an additional two billion dollars for the department of corrections budget that would add more than four hundred and fifty additional beds to the prison system by february one at the time some lawmakers expressed resentment that the governor was

interfering with their plans to cut state spending the money was approved the part of corrections bill miskell says those additional beds are extremely helpful but he says given current trends it may not be long before those banks have failed to i would expect the country nor adventure for more adventure we won't need to be taking too the nineteen ninety six legislative session recommendations for construction of new space long term space but although a building a new prison has been an anathema for lawmakers bent on trying to cap state spending and lower taxes representative phil kline overland park is vice chairman of the joint committee on state building construction the body responsible for planning the construction of new prisons if and when they needed klein says that while paying for a new correctional facility is the last item on lawmakers' agendas right now they may have little choice many of my colleagues and i would prefer to divert that money to other programs and is that

something that we have to do this week and we've done it before we were under strain with them not to do it that we get it and we couldn't do it again the last president kansas built was the elder radio maximum security prison just outside of wichita the total cost of that facility back in nineteen eighty one was around fifty two million dollars fines as a brand new facility like that could cost closer to eighty million dollars to date with lenses kansas should not have to build a new separate prison there's a lot of room for expansion he says the existing president unveiled a radio only the master plan for the already know that was planned for six hundred and forty beds and the support facilities were designed for twice that capacity so that is where new prison expansion will come some will be internet privacy at somewhere out in the sticks in kansas he would be happy to existing prison likely be operating

absolutely said to have the support from seoul is already available for him a huge factor in the west even with the support facilities place plans as kansas would still face available around sixty million dollars to double the prison space adele the radio but there is some good news on the rise and that's the passage of the federal anti crime bill last year but it says kansas could become eligible eighteen billion dollars in federal money to construct new prisons and he's available on the seventy five twenty five percent match for use on a sixty million dollars prison inspection program the federal government paid forty five million dollars and leaving kansas to pay just fifty dollars that would be a real will fall to not only a windfall but a great political solution for kansas will make it will be seeking reelection next year legislators will be able to tell though a campaign flyer has more prisoners behind bars but more prisons or at the same time not raising taxes to do it eight corrections officials are awaiting

final confirmation from the clinton administered what exactly the eligibility requirements will be for obtaining that legend money they should know by the end of this summer at the state because this is mccain's reporting in italy every when humphrey bogart goes off on leeches with you which is your boss when midwesterners instead they still are loading on ticks their eight hundred fifty species into basic labors hard and soft both cars were plates made of the same stuff as crab shells that the heart takes have more plays the title sophie differently hard to explore john blood for days but only three times total in their lives soft takes me for a few minutes to a few hours but more frequently both types can get bigger than you want to know the largest subject is an inch and a half thick and crouch in a desert borrow for years until a recumbent camels body heat and carbon dioxide whisper to it dinner time the largest hard to grow as big as a wallet

is tortured host the three toed sloth permits days of un hassled feeding wire ticks tough to smash the body plays credit hard to like shaft sprouts of the front of the body is many bars some ticks even release chemicals that heartened around it and cemented in place like to conformity is john oliver who got his doctorate at the university of kansas oliver is the number one tip man in the united states according to george buyers buyers a k u professor emeritus of an apology had oliver as a student these days oliver teaches at georgia southern university home to the us national ticket collection one of his interests is to reproduction he turns dinner parties with tidbits but equating have its belly to belly or sperm really really big relative to the ticks eyes he also studies how tick borne microbes get past among animals

that expelling as with many hosts makes it an ideal disease carrier the black letter to populate but wrongly known as the deer tick is a carrier of the lions these microbes it belongs to a dangerous guy faure called big cities the format has microbes to more than one hundred twenty five species of birds mammals reptiles and us thirteen thousand cases of lyme disease were reported last year in this country that puts the tick ahead of the mosquito as a health wellness in north america but awake buyers oliver and other entomologists are edging toward a notion that the medical skills but hasn't yet accepted the black legged take may not be the sole carrier of the live microbes the lone star tick which beier says is more common in our neck of the woods maybe a transmitter either of lyme disease or the disease much like a female owns critics by the way have a little white not on their backs

interestingly the ticket or ticks that carry lyme microbes also infect mice yet no one comes to the animal as we homo sapiens and the tick borne migrants continue our battle through evolutionary time we to migrate a state of peaceful coexistence with them and that would give us one less reason to a tax it