What some call pork, others call progress as Kansas congressmen Tuesday announced approval of more than $100 million in projects heading for President Bush's consideration.
The projects are part of a $388 billion appropriations package approved by lawmakers over the weekend. Bush, who has never vetoed a spending bill, is expected to sign the plan into law.
Locally, the bill includes $1.22 million for a science center at Haskell Indian Nations University and $700,000 for equipment at the school. An $89,000 line item would go toward visitor's center restoration for the Blackjack Battlefield Trust.
The city of Ottawa will receive $800,000.
"We're all very pleased," said Ottawa City Manager Weldon Padgett. "All told, it was a nice set of projects."
Of the amount headed to Ottawa, $500,000 will be used to pave a one-mile gravel road that leads to the city's industrial area, $200,000 will be used to put together a transportation master plan, and $100,000 will make improvements to a 1960s-era public swimming pool.
The big-ticket items for Kansas included $17.5 million for a construction project to strengthen Tuttle Creek Dam; a provision that allocates $9 million to an account that funds the National Plant Pest and Disease Lab at Kansas State University, part of a national network, and at least $6 million to Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research.
The plan also includes tens of millions of dollars in transportation, research and infrastructure improvements across the state.
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