Governor vetoes S.W. Kansas bill

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday vetoed a bill that supporters said would help rural Kansas.

But Sebelius said one provision of the bill was misguided and another needed more study.

The bill would have established a trust fund for a few southwestern counties to use severance taxes on natural gas to provide local property tax relief.

“Today, as we search for ways to fund critical programs within our current fiscal limitations, our focus, and any available state dollars, must be directed toward higher priorities,” Sebelius said.

The other provision would have allowed nine counties in southwestern Kansas to establish a new higher education facility. Sebelius said it was a good idea but that to ensure that all southwest Kansas was included in the opportunity, “I believe the Legislature, Board of Regents, and regional stakeholders must engage in more discussion and planning.”

FSHS student chosen for literary workshop

A junior at Free State High School has been awarded a full scholarship to attend a summer workshop at Cornell University.

Jennifer Green will attend “He Said, She Said: The Battle of the Sexes in Medieval and Renaissance Writing,” sponsored by the Telluride Assn., a nonprofit educational organization.

Sixty-eight participants were chosen from 876 applicants for the six-week program.