As the governor, a skilled legislative veteran, prepared to deliver Kansas’ State of the State address, the multiple demands for state funding loomed large. The Supreme Court had mandated substantial additional monies for a critical state function. The highway fund was scraping bottom, ...
After a whirlwind transition, Gov.-elect Laura Kelly will be sworn in as the 48th governor of Kansas this coming Monday, and Kansans will have their first glimpse of how she grasps the key levers of governance. Having assisted former Gov. Mike Hayden in his transition of 1986-87, I experienced ...
Well, that sure did not take long. Outgoing Kansas Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins is becoming a lobbyist. Via Twitter, she recently announced the formation of a new venture, LJ Strategies, LLC, already registered to lobby in the state of Kansas. Ethics laws prohibit ex-members of Congress from ...
The Kansas teacher shortage reflects a national trend. When classes started this fall Kansas was 612 teachers short, up 19 percent from last year. Some positions still remain open. Furthermore, the cost of recruiting high-quality teachers has risen and become controversial. A recent furor ...
Kansas needs a rational, adult conversation about marijuana. State marijuana laws are changing nationally, even in solidly conservative states. Public opinion on marijuana is changing, even in Kansas. But the mindset of Kansas policymakers is stuck in 1927, when the state outlawed ...
Let the record show that the first official recruiting class in the Les Miles era of Kansas football will include at least six junior college signees. Insert your best eye roll, more-of-the-same statements and belly laughs worthy of Old Saint Nick here. Hasn’t Kansas tried this whole juco ...
Democracy can be a thankless venture. When eligible citizens place their name on a ballot and ask neighbors for their vote, they invite scrutiny and accept the verdict at the ballot box. In advance of the upcoming legislative session, please join me in publicly thanking a small group of ...
All right, all right, all right. I know what you’re thinking. And I’m here to tell you to stop. Look, I don’t blame you if you roll your eyes and quietly think to yourself, "Here we go again," every time Kansas lands a commitment from a transfer quarterback. Hey, you might be ...
“Take me back, take me way, way, way back …” — Van Morrison, “On Hyndford Street” January 1949. Republican Frank Carlson is sworn in as governor for a second two-year term, a seemingly ordinary event, given the GOP’s general dominance of Kansas politics. Who could have ...
New Kansas offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey has been on the job for barely 48 hours and already extended a scholarship offer to a four-star, dual-threat quarterback from Alabama. That’s a terrific start. And recruiting, no doubt, will be a huge part of Lindsey’s job at Kansas. But no ...
Democrats had a lot at stake this year. They won a qualified victory, and they owe it all to new voters. Sharice Davids captured the Kansas City-area 3rd Congressional District from incumbent Kevin Yoder, while Laura Kelly defeated the drama-seeking Kris Kobach for the governorship. Davids is ...
The list of former LSU Tigers who played for Les Miles and were drafted into the NFL is roughly as long as the number of junior college transfers the Kansas football program brought in during the past 10 years, hoping against hope that the juco route would be the elixir that cured KU’s woes. ...
Last week, on his final “Les Is More” podcast with his daughter, Smacker, for The Players Tribune, new Kansas football coach Les Miles caught people’s attention with one simple sentence: “I think we will win in the first year.” Bold plans for a bold man. But while some Kansas fans ...
Mix, match, customize — the modern world is an array of choices that permeate many aspects of our daily lives. Take, for example, public school choices approved by the Kansas State Board of Education. While not all options are listed here and not all are found in every school district, the ...
The onslaught of campaign ads has dissipated and the elections are over. But there’s still one more order of business and a couple of key votes ahead for Kansas senior Joe Dineen Jr. During the past couple of months, the Kansas football program has had a little fun with election season and ...
A funny thing happened on the way to hiring Les Miles. The outgoing Kansas football staff left him just one committed player in the 2019 class. And it might have been the best thing that ever could have happened. Sure, in a perfect world, you’d like to have a much more complete recruiting ...
The fake flights were real, there actually was a little deception and it all led to Sunday evening, when KU Athletic Director Jeff Long stood at a podium inside Hadl Auditorium and introduced his good friend, Les Miles, as his newest co-worker. Kansas football coach Les Miles, to be ...
Imagine, for a minute, that you were Les Miles on Saturday night and found yourself in front of a television set around 6:30 p.m. Wouldn’t you have flipped the tube to FOX to check out the Kansas football team’s second-to-last game of the season at Oklahoma? Whether with his family ...
The 2018 election was “Year of the Woman, Part Deux.” Women, particularly Democrats, made gains nationwide. Kansas factored into that, electing Laura Kelly as governor, Vicki Schmidt as insurance commissioner and Sharice Davids to Congress. Despite these gains, women still have not achieved ...
Some coaches in their final year on the job enjoy farewell tours that come with gifts and adoration from longtime foes in once-hostile venues. Former Missouri basketball coach Norm Stewart’s final farewell at Kansas is one that comes to mind, and Norm, who for decades had been urged over and ...