Kansas Meadowlark

Just in time for the Fourth of July, the New York Institute of Photography offers some tips on photographing fireworks: Read the rest of this entry »

Why are missing, large money transfers between a Kansas PAC and a federal 527 PAC from 2006 ignored by the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission? Are a missing $25,000 transfer and two $15,625 transfers big enough to trigger the need for an “errors and omissions” notification, and the need for an updated PAC report? The Ethics Commission has known about these omissions since August 2007 but has taken no action. Read the rest of this entry »

Mr. Bruce McKinney was the Chair/Treasurer of a PAC, Wichita Voters for Truth, that sent out a hit piece in Wichita in Nov 2006 and then never filed a Jan 2007 report with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission cannot find this guy, but newspapers can find him and then quote him about his political activities? Read the rest of this entry »

Shawnee County is the 3rd Judicial District in Kansas and will soon be replacing District Court Judge Thomas Conklin, who retires on July 4.

A June 23, 2008 press release from the Kansas Judicial Branch indicated the nominating commission will pick the successor to Judge Conklin. But what is known about this commission and does their political makeup reflect Shawnee County?

Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday’s Kansas Register announced Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ appointment of Katherine Taylor DeBruce, a Democrat from Mission Hills, to the Supreme Court Nominating Commission.

Did the $13,000 contributed to Gov. Sebelius by Katherine DeBruce, her husband Paul DeBruce, and his DeBruce Grain company, have any influence on Sebelius’s appointment to the Supreme Court Nominating Commission? And what about the $5000+ DeBruce Grain gave to the Kansas Democratic Party in 2006 for “plane travel”? Read the rest of this entry »

The Wichita Voters for Truth PAC sent out this hit piece against State Rep candidate Jan Beemer in the Nov 2006 election, but never filed its Jan 2007 PAC report with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission explaining how much money was raised and spent on that mailing. Bruce McKinney from Wichita was the Chair and Treasurer of this PAC.

According to the June 24, 2005 Wichita Eagle, “Gay Pride Parade, Festival Sunday”, Bruce McKinney organized the first Wichita gay pride events in 1990 and was quoted by the Eagle June 22, 2007, “Parade and Festival Part of Gay Pride Event,” about last year’s event. Bruce will likely be at the 2008 Pride Parade and Pride Festival this Sunday in Wichita, so if anyone sees Bruce at these events will you remind him the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission would like to talk to him about his missing PAC report from 2007? Read the rest of this entry »

State Rep Annie Kuether, (D, Topeka), is a friend of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and is known as a strong environmentalist in the Kansas legislature. Why is she investing in “Big Oil”? Read the rest of this entry »

Last month the City of Lenexa held a mail ballot election on whether to raise its retail sales tax by 3/8ths of a cent. The measure passed with 5782 “yes” ballots (58.15%) and 4161 “no” ballots (41.85%). But Lenexa spent over $10 for each of these “yes” votes to raise its sales tax! Read the rest of this entry »

A D.C. group, Help Abolish Legal Tyranny (HALT), recently announced their 2008 report cards that blast state and federal systems for failing to hold judges accountable. Kansas received a C- grade. Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday’s Kansas Register, which is published by the Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, shows new permanent administrative regulations concerning the oversight of authorized poll agents. These new regulations go into effect on July 7, 2008: Read the rest of this entry »