Gov. Mark Parkinson on Tuesday listens before speaking at the annual meeting of the Governor's Council on Fitness that was held at the Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library. Parkinson advocated for a statewide ban on smoking in public places, and said he was evaluating whether to call for an increase in the cigarette tax.
Topeka — Gov. Mark Parkinson today said he would push for a statewide ban on smoking in public places. He also said he is considering whether to propose an increase in the state tax on cigarettes.
“We are going to put our full effort behind it,” he said of the smoking ban.
His comment made during a speech to the Governor’s Council on Fitness drew applause.
He then said his administration was looking at whether to propose a tax hike on cigarettes, noting that it would raise revenue while keeping some young people from smoking. He said a final decision on that will depend on whether more revenue is needed to shore up the ailing state budget.
11:30 a.m. Sam Brownback and Ron Thornburgh have scheduled an announcement for Thursday.
Is this an endorsement for U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, a Republican who is running for Kansas governor? Or could it be announcement of a ticket? Or both?
Brownback, Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, and Kansas Republican Party Chairwoman Amanda Adkins have scheduled a Thursday announcement “regarding Brownback for Governor campaign.”
Thornburgh was a candidate for the GOP gubernatorial nomination but dropped out in June, saying he was having trouble raising funds. At the time, he declined to make an endorsement.
No other Republican has surfaced to challenge Brownback in the August 2010 primary. There has been some speculation about who Brownback will select as his lieutenant governor running mate. Could it be Thornburgh, who has said he will not run for re-election as secretary of state?
The Thursday announcement is scheduled for 11 a.m. at state GOP headquarters in Topeka.
9:33 a.m. The story about the story at www.kansasliberty.com continues.
The Web site is owned by state Sen. Mary Pilcher Cook, R-Shawnee.
The Web site has a story about school funding that is critical of advocates for increased funding. The photo illustration along with the story is one of a black man holding money with the caption, “School districts threaten to sue. Is it a bluff?”
Kathy Cook, executive director of Kansas Families for Education, says use of the photo is “racially-charged.”
But whose photo is that? As one commenter to our blog correctly found out, it is a photo of the rapper-actor Bow Wow.
So what does Bow Wow have to do with Kansas school funding? Sen. Pilcher Cook has not returned messages.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.
ralphralph (anonymous) says…
Uh, it seems kind of non-dramatic, but maybe she was just looking for a photo of someone with money fanned-out, and there it was ... ?
A more interesting topic might be an examination of the effect of state-wide school finance, or the loss of local input, control and accountability, in favor of a massive Federal and state supersystem of outcome-based objectives, robo-teachers and standardized tests.
getreal (anonymous) says…
Or maybe it is that the legislator she quoted so extensively Rep. Peggy Mast sponsored a resolution on banning rap, maybe she wants to ban public school funding too?
Very poor choice of photos to go with the article, can't wait to hear the explanation. She's had plenty of time to come up with it!
I just hope that they paid for the photo, because there are copyright laws!
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
Politicians--often under the guise or permission of "God"--have a rather lengthy history of misappropriating images and music to push their agendas.
The words "copyright" and "intellectual property" have no meaning to them, if they think they can get away with it.
The biggest one, of course, was in 1954, when Congress trampled the intellectual property rights of Francis Bellamy. Bellamy was dead by then, so he had no real means of giving consent to having the words "under God" inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance, which he wrote.
There's Ronald Reagan's infamous tangle with Bruce Springsteen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_in_...)
Jackson Browne sued John McCain just last year: unauthorized use of a recording.
***************************************************
During August 2008, Browne sued John McCain, the Ohio Republican Party, and the Republican National Committee for using his 1977 hit, "Running on Empty", in an attack advertisement against Barack Obama without his permission.[11] In July 2009, the matter was settled under an undisclosed financial agreement with an apology from the McCain campaign and other parties.
***************************************************
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_...
getreal makes a good point: There are probably **thousands** of images out there that actually have something to do with education: kids sitting in a classroom, a teacher in front of the "smart board," kids in the library, kids doing homework, a stack of textboooks, the old "blackboard and an apple for the teacher." All kinds of stuff out there.
And they chose a picture of a black man holding a stack of currency, fanned out like playing cards?
For what?
Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com
classclown (Class Clown) says…
Let's see...
He's holding the money as if he's holding cards as he would in a poker game.
The caption asks if it's a bluff.
Bluffing is an integral element in the game of poker.
DUH!
Only somebody looking to be offended will be offended by that photo. Or somebody who's only interest is in looking to start trouble.
kansasmutt (anonymous) says…
Just what our state needs, more taxation and a ban on smoking. Kansas is going to shi7 in a hurry. I hate this place anymore, too many do gooders and nobody who cares about the little guy. What next ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
AreUNorml (anonymous) says…
hey Parkinson.. how about legalizing marijuana use by adults. You want to do something positive for this state, that would be a huge leap in the right direction. Not one person has ever died from smoking marijuana. How many people did cigarettes kill yesterday? While you're slapping a new penalty on cigarette smokers, why don't you get out your tax book and place a sales tax on marijuana. Also with the newly legalized marijuana, you can throw out every current court case and free anyone jailed for the use or possession of marijuana & paraphernalia.
How much revenue would that bring in? how much money would that save our courts system? how much time and energy would be saved by our police departments? and how many people would finally see a glimmer of hope in the dark bureaucracy of government?
Do something daring and right Gov. Parkinson.
kansasmutt (anonymous) says…
Maybe we should just hand over all our money and draw $20.00 out when we need something to eat.Nobody smoke , nobody go anyplace and we all just sit at home doing nothing. It is sad to see kansas go from poor to poorer we just as well give in and become Soviet KS now, why fight it. Call Stallin up and tell him we have a job for him I wonder if any of the North Koreans need a job, kansas is hiring. Special intrest groups have taken over. The common man has no place in the food chain anymore.
getreal (anonymous) says…
classclown writes:
Let's see…He's holding the money as if he's holding cards as he would in a poker game. The caption asks if it's a bluff. Bluffing is an integral element in the game of poker.
DUH!
Yeah because I'm sure that when you do a search for gambling photos one of Bow Wow comes up - right? So innocent isn't it.
yes ban smoking!
none2 (anonymous) says…
kansasmutt (Anonymous) says…
Maybe we should just hand over all our money and draw $20.00 out when we need something to eat.Nobody smoke , nobody go anyplace and we all just sit at home doing nothing. It is sad to see kansas go from poor to poorer we just as well give in and become Soviet KS now, why fight it. Call Stallin up and tell him we have a job for him I wonder if any of the North Koreans need a job, kansas is hiring. Special intrest groups have taken over. The common man has no place in the food chain anymore.
======================
Actually to become like Russia, we would need to have about 60% of the male population smoking. So there the common man does smoke, not in the USA.
classclown (Class Clown) says…
getreal (Anonymous) says…
Yeah because I'm sure that when you do a search for gambling photos one of Bow Wow comes up - right? So innocent isn't it.
========================
You don't understand symbolism do you?