The top issues that affect most Kansans aren't abortion, illegal immigration and gay marriage.
Sure, advocates on all sides of those debates attract more than their fair share of ink, air and cyberspace.
But they also distract attention from the major issues that elected leaders will face during the next four years.
There won't be many campaign ads talking about funding the public employee pension system, fixing crumbling buildings at universities or dealing with the outmigration of large areas of rural Kansas.
But these are the issues that will affect tax rates, personal income and the quality of life in Kansas for generations.
During the next six weeks, the Journal-World will present these issues to readers and call on the major party gubernatorial candidates - Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, and State Sen. Jim Barnett, a Republican - to address them.
Special coverage
Kansas Crossroads: Issues for the 2006 election
<p>The top issues that affect most Kansans aren't abortion, illegal immigration and gay marriage.</p> <p>There weren't many campaign ads talking about funding the public employee pension system, fixing crumbling buildings at universities or dealing with the outmigration of large areas of rural Kansas. Yet these issues will affect tax rates, personal income and the quality of life in Kansas for generations.</p> <p>Over the course of six weeks, the Journal-World presented these issues to readers and called on the major party gubernatorial candidates - Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, and State Sen. Jim Barnett, a Republican - to address them.</p>
- Water crisis demands attention
- October 15, 2006
- Beneath the soil of landlocked Kansas lies a vast, life-sustaining source of water called the High Plains aquifer. Formed millions of years ago, the aquifer - also referred to as the Ogallala - underlies an area of 174,000 square miles in parts of eight states, including most of western Kansas. Since the 1940s, farmers have ferociously pumped the aquifer to produce food for a hungry nation and world.
- What the candidates say about the aquifer
- October 15, 2006
- What do you think of the drawdown of the High Plains (sometimes called the Ogallala) aquifer? Is it a problem and how important? What have you done in the past to meet this challenge and what will you do in the future?
- Task force working to bolster towns
- October 8, 2006
- Like many small towns in Kansas, Onaga in Pottawatomie County was drifting into dormancy.
- Shrinking population vexes rural Kansas
- October 8, 2006
- Waiting to deliver a load of sunflowers at a processing plant, dryland farmer Tim Peterson was of two minds about rural Kansas. On one hand, some folks rooted in the vast stretches of empty landscape have become energized by innovation and entrepreneurship, he said.
- Neglecting our future?
- Technical education is key to the economy of Kansas, but many say it’s not getting its due
- October 1, 2006
- In Kansas, four out of five jobs require training beyond high school but not a full four-year degree.
- School suit means more stability, but much is unsettled
- Funding issue expected to top legislative agenda
- September 24, 2006
- Children in this year’s kindergarten class in Kansas were the first in many years to start their education out from under the shadow of a school finance lawsuit.
- Candidates spar over school funding
- September 24, 2006
- Will the $466 million, three-year school funding increase break the state budget?
- Questions and answers from Sebelius, Barnett
- September 24, 2006
- Crumbling colleges
- Maintenance deferred by politics
- September 17, 2006
- In 1999, most Kansas lawmakers couldn’t vote fast enough to increase taxes and sink the state in debt to fund a $13 billion, 10-year highway plan. Sure, there were political skirmishes along the way, but the plan to raise taxes and borrow $1 billion was approved by wide margins with minor prodding by the highway industry.
- Gubernatorial candidates weigh in on making repairs
- September 17, 2006
- If elected, what would you do, if anything, to pay for deferred maintenance and repairs at Kansas institutions of higher education?
- A plan for pensions: What’s next for the state’s public employee retirement system?
- Legislature faces critical decisions about KPERS
- September 10, 2006
- With test scores up and the school finance lawsuit recently settled, Kansas’ public school teachers have launched into a new and promising school year. Most of those teachers, however, have no idea their careers are at the center of a gathering storm in the Statehouse.
- National group seeks repeal of 'Stand Your Ground' law in Kansas May 27, 2012 · 124 comments
- Tuition victims May 22, 2012 · 52 comments
- On the street: How did you spend your Memorial Day? May 28, 2012 · 11 comments
- Blog: Writing Your Erotica: An Afternoon Lead By Dixie Lubin In The Company Of Other Women May 28, 2012 · 35 comments
- Kansas tax act most regressive in nation May 27, 2012 · 249 comments
- U.S. military sees new appreciation May 28, 2012 · 16 comments
- Body of Overland Park soldier returns home May 28, 2012 · 4 comments
- Parents have electronic tether to campus May 28, 2012 · 12 comments
- Sound Off: How much does the city’s transit system collect in fares compared with how much it costs May 27, 2012 · 126 comments
- Poll: Do you support Gov. Sam Brownback's income tax cuts? May 23, 2012 · 83 comments
- Thread of pain ran through Jackson’s career June 28, 2009
- Friends mourn Lynn Bretz, former voice of KU May 28, 2012
- Kansas tax act most regressive in nation May 27, 2012
- Experts: Remedial college classes need fixing May 28, 2012
- KU’s Elijah Johnson cautious at camp May 29, 2012
- Hilltop executive director Pat Pisani stepping down May 28, 2012
- Kansas football scouring country May 29, 2012
- City, county mull upgrade to emergency radio system May 28, 2012
- Lives forever changed by skywalk collapse July 15, 2001
- Remnant Rehab: Cheaply frame fabric art May 28, 2012
