eFreePress 07.23.09

Transcription

eFreePress 07.23.09

Priceless
Take One
T HURSDAY
VOLUME 18, N UMBER 8
T HURSDAY, J ULY 23, 2009
W INNER OF THE K ANSAS G AS S ERVICE
E XCELLENCE I N E DITORIAL W RITING
K ANSAS P ROFESSIONAL C OMMUNICATORS
P HOTO E SSAY AWARD W INNER
K ANSAS P ROFESSIONAL C OMMUNICATORS
E DITORIAL AWARD W INNER
Miller Bans Guns In
Riley County Courthouse
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) _ A
Riley County judge says a new
state law allowing prosecutors to
carry concealed weapons into
county courthouses won’t be used
in his county.
Riley County Chief Judge Paul
Miller says he plans to issue an
order opting out of the statute,
which went into effect earlier this
month.
Three of the state’s biggest
counties _ Johnson, Wyandotte
and Shawnee _ also have banned
prosecutors from carrying guns in
courthouses.
Miller says security isn’t a
problem at the Riley County
Courthouse, so it’s not necessary
for prosecutors to carry guns
there.
The new law requires prosecutors who want to carry concealed
weapons on duty to obtain a state
permit and undergo additional
training. In return, they would
receive limited immunity from
lawsuits.
Voting Rate Dips In 2008
As Older Whites Stay Home
Watching Grass Grow Advances
Here is part of a mem given to
the Manhattan City Commission
Tuesday night to start the process
of building a Museum to watch
grass grow. The City needs this
building to get $50 million from the
State of Kansas to redevelope the
South end of Downtown. The
Memo:
“On June 17, 2008, the City
Commission approved a contract
for museum consulting services
with E. Verner Johnson and
Associates, Inc. (now Verner
Johnson & Associates, Inc. – VJI),
of Boston, Massachusetts, to develop a master plan for the Flint Hills
Discovery Center. VJI’s partners in
the project included Museum
Insights (museum planning),
Economic Stewardship (feasibility
and market analysis), and Hilferty
& Associates (exhibit design).
On May 5, 2009, the City
Commission adopted the Flint Hills
Discovery Center Comprehensive
Master Plan. The Plan established
for the Center a program plan,
architectural concept, interpretive
plan, and capital and operating
budgets. Because of their effective
work on the Master Plan and their
familiarity with the community and
the
exhibit
concepts,
the
Commission authorized City
Administration to negotiate with
VJI and Hilferty for the building
and exhibit design work for the
project.
DISCUSSION
Architecture and Exhibit Design
City Administration has negotiated a contract with VJI for the
building and exhibit design of the
Discovery Center. The process will
begin with a schematic design phase
that includes two public input meetings to be scheduled in August and/or
September. Unless the City
Commission directs otherwise, the
Architect and Exhibit Designer will
continue to work with both the
Steering Committee and Advisory
Group that assisted in the development of the Discovery Center Master
Plan.
Public presentation and review of
the schematic design is anticipated to
take place in October in conjunction
with the selection of a Construction
Manager At-Risk. Following the
selection of a Construction Manager,
the project will move into the more
detailed design development phase,
with an additional opportunity for
public input planned in January. The
Architect will work closely with the
Construction Manager (CM) to complete 25% of construction documents, which will allow the CM to
establish a guaranteed maximum
price (GMP) for the building construction. After the GMP is set, the
Architect will have traditional construction phase responsibilities for
evaluation of the contractor’s work.
FINANCING
The approved capital budget for
the facility, as adopted in the Master
Plan on May 5, 2009, is $22,890,000.
The fees for this contract were negotiated to fit within the parameters set
by the capital budget. VJI fees will be
billed at 12% of the total construction
budget, including site development
and furnishings, fixtures, and equipment.
The contract includes an additional
lump sum amount of $140,000 to
complete the Leadership in Energy
Efficiency and Design (LEED) certification process and an additional
lump sum of $74,600 for cost consulting. The total architectural fee is
estimated at $1,744,480. This
amount includes typical subcontractors such as the civil engineer,
plumbing engineer, landscape architect, audio visual consultant, and
information technology consultant.
Hilferty fees for exhibit design will
be billed through VJI at 27.5% of
exhibit and immersive theater construction, for a total exhibit design
fee of $1,406,625. The total budget
for reimbursable expenses such as
travel, printing, postage, and longdistance is $189,000. Total fees and
expenses for both exhibit and building design will not exceed
$3,340,105 unless the scope of the
project changes, which would
require pre-approval.
Architectural fees related to the
construction of the building are
STAR Bond eligible whereas design
fees for the exhibits will fall under
the obligation of the City. Design
and construction of the exhibits will
be temporarily financed until project completion and are anticipated
to be permanently financed through
the issuance of general obligation
bonds.
Once fees associated with the
Construction Manager At-Risk are
finalized, a bond resolution will be
brought forth for commission consideration encompassing all consulting and design fees.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — For all
the attention generated by Barack
Obama’s candidacy, the share of eligible voters who actually cast ballots
in November declined for the first
time in a dozen years. The reason:
Older whites with little interest in
backing either Barack Obama or John
McCain stayed home.
Census figures released Monday
show about 63.6 percent of the
nation’s eligible voters, or 131.1 million people, voted last November.
Although that represented an
increase of 5 million voters — virtually all of them minorities — the
turnout relative to the population of
eligible voters was a decrease from
63.8 percent in 2004.
Ohio and Pennsylvania were
among those showing declines in
white voters, helping Obama carry
those battleground states.
‘’While the significance of minority votes for Obama is clearly key, it
cannot be overlooked that reduced
white support for a Republican candi-
date allowed minorities to tip the balance in many slow-growing ‘purple’
states,’‘ said William H. Frey, a
demographer
for
Brookings
Institution, referring to key battleground states that don’t notably tilt
Democrat or Republican.
‘’The question I would ask is if a
continuing stagnating economy could
change that,’‘ he said.
According to census data, 66 percent of whites voted last November,
down 1 percentage point from 2004.
Blacks increased their turnout by 5
percentage points to 65 percent, nearly matching whites. Hispanics
improved turnout by 3 percentage
points, and Asians by 3.5 percentage
points, each reaching a turnout of
nearly 50 percent. In all, minorities
made up nearly 1 in 4 voters in 2008,
the most diverse electorate ever.
By age, voters 18-to-24 were the
only group to show a statistically significant increase in turnout, with 49
percent casting ballots, compared
with 47 percent in 2004.
Wunder Pleads Not Guilty
TOPEKA-- (AP) Former
Junction City Mayor and commissioner pleaded not guilty to
accepting bribes from a Lawrence
developer who wanted to build
subdivisions near Fort Riley.
Michael R. ``Mick'' Wunder
entered the plea Tuesday in U.S.
District Court in Topeka.
Prosecutors allege Wunder
accepted cash and gifts from
Lawrence developer David Ray
Freeman, who wanted to win contracts to develop housing on the
west side of Junction City for
troops and families at Fort Riley.
On June 30, Freeman pleaded
guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He
admitted to directing payments
totaling $19,000 to Wunder and
treating him to other gifts.
Freeman also acknowledged
that his company had secured
permission from Junction City to
develop subdivisions worth a
combined $12 million for the
company.
N EWS
Shields Promoted To Assistant
AD For Student Services
Jill Shields, an 11-year veteran
of the athletics department, has
been promoted to Assistant
Athletics Director for Student
Services, athletics director John
Currie announced on Tuesday.
“Over my initial six weeks it
became very clear that Jill has the
respect of not only our head
coaches and staff but also the
campus community,” said Currie.
“Her familiarity with K-State,
coupled with her student-athlete
centric background and coaching
experience make her a perfect fit
for K-State at this juncture.”
In this new role, Shields will
direct all aspects of the academic
support program and student
services for athletics. She had
previously worked as Associate
Director of the program with
stints directing the support services for football, women’s basketball and volleyball, as well as
Life Skills programming.
“This is a terrific opportunity
for me to expand my role working with the student-athletes,
coaches and campus community
at K-State,” said Shields. “I’m
passionate about academics and
student services, and our program
will strive to equip our studentathletes to meet the daily
demands associated with being
both a student and a Division I
athlete.”
Shields has played a pivotal
role in the academic success of
the women’s basketball team,
which posted the highest GPA
(3.374) by a BCS conference
school in the most recent edition
of the Women’s Basketball
Coaches Association (WBCA)
2A
MANHATTAN FREE PRESS - THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009
Academic Top 25 Team Honor
Roll. She has helped mentor four
CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine
Academic All-Americans, including two-time recipient Laurie
Koehn, as well as 62 Academic
All-Big 12 selections since 2000.
K-State has led the Big 12 in
Academic All-Big 12 honorees
each of the past two seasons in
women’s basketball, including a
school-record eight student-athletes on the first team in 2008-09.
“Jill is a professional of the
utmost integrity who possesses a
passionate commitment to providing student-athletes with the
direction, support and resources
necessary to achieve academic
success and excellence,” said
women’s basketball coach Deb
Patterson. “She has been a major
factor in our women’s basketball
program distinguishing itself academically as one of the most successful in the nation. Her knowledge of NCAA requirements, her
ability to organize, monitor and
advise, as well as to communicate
effectively with professors,
deans, student-athletes and
coaches is superb.”
In addition, Shields has played
a part in the academic excellence
of the women’s volleyball squad,
which has earned the American
Volleyball Coaches Association
(AVCA) Team Academic Award
each of the past seven seasons.
The team has also yielded two
Academic All-Americans and 61
Academic All-Big 12 selections
since 2000.
Shields came to K-State after
working at Wichita State for six
years, including the last year as a
senior admissions representative
in the University’s admissions
office. She spent the previous
five seasons as an assistant
women’s basketball coach for the
Shockers.
“Jill is an experienced professional respected by her national
peers for her leadership of student-athlete welfare and academic assistance programming,” said
Dr. Mike Holen, Dean of the
College of Education and Faculty
Athletics Representative. “She
understands the crucial nature of
maintaining academic integrity
while promoting success in the
classroom within a highly competitive athletics environment.”
Shields earned her bachelor’s
degree in Liberal Arts from the
University of Central Florida in
1990. A member of the Golden
Knights basketball team, she was
named most valuable player her
senior year. Shields earned her
Master’s degree in education
from North Georgia College in
1992.
“I am excited to see that Jill has
been promoted,” said Chris
Merriewether, senior men’s basketball player and President of
the Student-Athlete Advisory
Committee (SAAC). “She is very
poised and knows how to work
exceptionally well with studentathletes and administrators. She
is well respected and admired by
the student-athletes within
SAAC.”
A native of Assaria, Kan.,
Shields and her husband, Mark,
live in Manhattan with their two
children, Sydney and Sam.
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Darling Establishes Veterinary Scholarship
Irvin A. Darling, Vinita, Okla.,
has made a commitment of
$200,000 through a bequest to the
College of Veterinary Medicine at
Kansas State University to establish the Dr. Irvin A. Darling
Scholarship.
The scholarship will honor Dr.
Darling and provide financial
assistance to students enrolled in
the College of Veterinary
Medicine at K-State.
Darling is a native of
Manhattan, Kan. He is a 1949
graduate of K-State with a doctoral degree in veterinary medicine. He is a retired employee of
the
U.S.
Department
of
Agriculture.
Darling is a member of
Presidents Club, a KSU
Foundation philanthropic leadership organization for friends and
alumni of K-State.
“It was my desire to leave a
token of appreciation to the
College of Veterinary Medicine,”
said Darling.
“Scholarships in the College of
Veterinary Medicine allow us to
attract and retain the most talented future veterinarians,” said
Ralph Richardson, dean of the
College of Veterinary Medicine.
“We are very thankful for Dr.
Darling’s generosity.”
A bequest is a gift made
through a will or trust that
enables a donor to retain total
control of assets during his or her
lifetime and determine the distribution of assets upon the donor’s
death. For many K-State alumni
and friends, a commitment to
include K-State in a revocable
will or trust is a desirable way to
make a significant gift.
Philanthropic contributions to
K-State are coordinated by the
Kansas
State
University
Foundation. The foundation manages fundraising efforts with
alumni, friends, corporations and
foundations to secure private support for the university.
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N EWS
3A
Kansas Profile - Now That´s Rural
Ed Scheele - Museums
By Ron Wilson, director of the
Huck Boyd National Institute for
Rural Development at Kansas
State University.
What if you could open the covers
of a history book and walk through
it? In the view of one Kansan, that is
what a museum should be.
Visiting a museum should be like
walking through a book of history on
the topic of the museum. This Kansan
uses that approach in creating and
designing museum displays all across
the nation.
Ed Scheele is the director of the
Greyhound Hall of Fame in Abilene,
Kansas, but he is also a designer of
museum displays through his own
business, ESA Design.
Ed grew up near Detroit,
Michigan. He got his BA from the
prestigious Art Center College of
Design in Pasadena and returned to
Detroit where he worked to design
trucks for Dodge and develop trade
show exhibits.
Then he and two partners decided
to go into business on their own.
One of the partners was from
Kansas, so they moved their business
to an abandoned airstrip near the
rural community of Herington,
Kansas, population 2,517 people.
Now, that´s rural.
One of their first jobs was to
design museum displays for a startup
museum, the Greyhound Hall of
Fame in nearby Abilene. The displays
turned out well, but in about a year
the museum director chose to leave.
Ed Scheele contacted the board and
offered to serve as director but with
one caveat: He would also be able to
continue to work as a free-lance
exhibit designer on other outside
projects. The board took him up on
his offer, and the results have been
excellent.
Ron Wilson
Today, some 30,000 visitors a year
come to the Greyhound Hall of Fame.
Ed Scheele has served on the Kansas
tourism council, Travel
Industry Association of Kansas,
led the Tourism committee for the
city of Abilene for 30 years, and
founded the Interstate 70 Tourism
Association. He also served as president of the International Sports
Heritage Association.
Meanwhile, ESA Design has flourished also. It specializes in interpretive planning and exhibit design. Ed
is the principal designer. He credits
his wife Lynda as a key partner. She
does much of the research and writing.
They work with a team of design
assistants and production specialists.
These include Martha Slater, a
Kansas video producer who has been
featured in Kansas Profile before,
plus a company in Colorado that does
interactive computer elements and a
business in Atlanta that does video
electronics. His designs include
videos, high and low tech audience
interactions, and more.
Ed says, "Most everything I design
is modular. That saves time and guar-
antees that everything is square and
in the right place when we put it
together." He says, "We can take a
project from conceptual design all the
way to the ribbon cutting, or any
piece in between."
Kansas! magazine recently wrote a
list of three must-see museums in
Kansas. ESA Design was involved
with all three.
Some of ESA Design´s other projects include: Legacy Square for the
Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh,
Penn. Sprint Corporate History
exhibit at Sprint world headquarters.
Marra Museum in the Deaf Cultural
Center in Olathe. Enterprise Square
in Oklahoma City.
Johnson County Museum of
History in Shawnee. Negro Leagues
Baseball Museum in Kansas City.
Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of
Fame
in
Wilmington,
Del.
Sportswriters and Sportscasters
Museum in Salisbury, N.C. This business has come about not through
advertising, but through word of
mouth.
ESA Design is doing these projects
all over the country, while based in
Abilene, Kansas. It is exciting to find
a national museum design expert
right here in the heart of our state.
What if you could open the covers
of a history book and walk through
it? Ed Scheele says, "If the museum
deals with history, the exhibits should
be designed like a walk through a history book."
That approach to design has led to
his work being featured far across the
nation. We commend Ed and Lynda
Scheele and all those involved with
ESA Design for making a difference
by helping others depict history.
Now, it´s time to close the covers of
this book.
FDA Can’t Estimate It’s Own Budget Needs
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Food and Drug Administration —
which has struggled to fulfill its mission of regulating food, drugs and
other consumer goods that make up
nearly a quarter of the U.S. economy
— does not have the expertise to
forecast its own budget needs,
according to congressional investigators.
While many lawmakers and consumer advocates have long complained that the agency lacks the staff
and equipment to accomplish its mission, the Government Accountability
Office says the agency doesn’t even
have ‘’the data to develop a complete
and reliable estimate of the resources
it needs.’‘
The GAO places some of the
blame on the FDA’s lopsided budget
— which dedicates significant
resources to approving new products,
but far less to tracking their safety
once they’ve reached the market.
FDA officials acknowledged the
problems uncovered by the GAO,
saying they are working to get a better picture of the agency’s spending
and how much additional funding it
needs.
‘’We have to be able to talk about
the funds we need, and how we’re
using the money, with more detail
than FDA has in the past,’‘ said Dr.
Joshua Sharfstein, the agency’s
deputy commissioner.
The GAO report, released
Monday, is the latest in a series to
document the problems facing the
agency. The FDA has spent the last
few years careening from one public
health crisis to the next. They have
included the recall of the painkiller
Vioxx — which was linked to heart
attacks, contaminated blood thinners
imported from China, and an investigation into a salmonella outbreak that
dragged on for weeks before peppers
were identified as the culprit.
The agency’s product review program is largely funded by user fees
from drug and medical device companies, while the company’s safety
inspections are funded by taxpayer
dollars. Over the last 10 years, funding from private companies increased
nearly 270 percent, while funds from
the U.S. government grew less than
70 percent.
Currently, the federal government
pays for just over 30 percent of the
FDA’s medical products budget. As a
result, the FDA is approving more
new products but is spending far less
to make sure they are being used
safely.
‘’The approval of new products
has increasingly become the beneficiary of the agency’s budget,’‘ according to the GAO report.
Between 2004 and 2008 the
agency failed to inspect all U.S. drug
manufacturing plants every two
years, as required by law. In other
areas, such as reviewing reports of
negative drug side effects, the FDA
could not even say how much money
and manpower it spent.
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E ditorial P age
Thoughts From The Prairie
Yes, There is Hope- Part 2
Yes, there is hope, but it is not
in financial bailouts. Matt
Taibbi’s argument that Goldman
Sachs controls Washington was
strongly supported by events
reported by various news agencies this past week. Glen Beck
pointed out in a TV presentation
that the vast majority of the people administering the bailout are
previous Goldman Sachs employees or partners. Beck claims Bear
Stearns and Lehman Brothers,
both major competitors of
Goldman Sachs, were allowed to
fail. On the other hand, AIG
received an $85 billion bailout,
$12.9 billion of which was funneled to Goldman Sachs. Then
the Feds changed Goldman
Sachs’ status to a bank holding
company that, among other
things, exempts them from scrutiny by the SEC. The fox now
owns the henhouse!
Graham Bowley, in a July 16,
2009, Times article wrote, “A
new order is emerging on Wall
Street after the worst crisis since
the Great Depression- one in
Dick Miller
which just a couple of victors are
starting to tower over the handful
of financial titans that used to
dominate the industry.” JP
Morgan reported second quarter
earnings of $2.7 billion while
Goldman Sachs reported more
than $3 billion in earnings.
According to Bowley, “They are
capitalizing on the turmoil in
financial markets and their rivals’
weakness to pull in billions in
trading profits.” Just as Taibbi
says, “Organized greed always
defeats disorganized democracy.”
And Goldman Sachs is now
manipulating new derivatives and
orchestrating Bubble Number 6:
Global Warming. The $12.9 billion from AIG provided Goldman
Sachs about half of the funds they
used to purchase $1 billion worth
of carbon assets and 10 percent of
the Chicago Climate Exchange
(CCX) where Cap-and-Trade
assets will be traded. Generation
Investment Management (GIM),
an investment firm co-founded by
Al Gore and former Goldman
Sachs chief executive of Asset
Management also owns 10 percent of CCX.
Conservative estimates are that
$646 billion in carbon credits will
be auctioned in the first seven
years after cap-and-trade passes.
You better believe Goldman
Sachs and Al Gore want cap-andtrade big time and are spending
big bucks to lobby for its passage.
Then when the fabricated bubble
bursts, they will be the drain that
catches whatever is left of the
See Thoughts on page 10
“Conscience of Kansas”
Why You Should Love Your
Carbon Footprint
By: Paul A. Ibbetson
America, with all its imperfections, is still truly the land of
opportunity. This has been the
unique component that has
brought people from around the
world, in every way imaginable,
and even some ways not. This
opportunity to succeed and, yes,
to also fail, is a product brought
about by individual freedom that
has been unique to America since
our founding fathers placed their
lives on the line to create a better
future for themselves and their
families. If we are to hold worthy
the struggle of those who fought
to give us a free nation, should we
not also observe those who wish
to take away both our freedom
and the opportunity that living in
a free country brings?
The Obama administration is
truly a ravenous hydra, in which
there are many deadly heads, that
must be addressed one set of
fangs at a time. This time, the
head most near in striking distance is that of the Cap and Trade
bill, H.R. 2454, which has passed
the House of Representatives and
currently is being deliberated on
by the Senate.
The case against Cap and Trade
is all but overwhelming. The bill
runs on the faulty, if not dubious,
premise that by the government
making it so expensive for the
U.S. manufacturing and industrial
complex to emit CO2, businesses
Paul A. Ibbetson
will turn to “green” alternatives
on their own accord. This is to
happen while, at the same time,
the government selectively sells
CO2 permits to industries of its
choosing. Beyond creating what
Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma
described as the largest tax
increase in American history, this
will inevitably force viable industry outside the U.S. during a
recession period - when economic growth is an absolute must for
the country’s future survival.
Also, as painfully obvious, those
industries that are privileged
enough by whatever system of
measure the Obama administration sets forth to be able to buy
their emission permits, will then,
by the nature of simple economics, charge higher prices to the
average American for electricity
and other products to recoup their
costs. Yes, you and I, the
American people, will pay the bill
for Cap and Trade.
If that last statement hurts, this
next statement will be excruciating. The Cap and Trade program
will have no measurable effect on
carbon emission reduction. That’s
none, zero, zilch, nada. Other
than creating extreme debt,
reducing economic growth and
American freedom, Cap and
Trade is the equivalent of a dead
turtle in what has been promoted
as a jackrabbit race. My conversation with Dr. Calvin Beisner,
national spokesman for the
Cornwall Alliance on my radio
program, Conscience of Kansas,
only strengthens previous statements made this month by the
Environmental
Protection
Agency that U.S. action to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions will
have no impact on the climate. In
effect, our government will spend
trillions of American dollars for
absolutely nothing.
If there is no upside (and there
isn’t) to the Cap and Trade bill,
then why are liberals throughout
the Obama administration trying
to push the bill through without
proper inspection? Why does the
Obama administration give this
issue the full court press to
include wheeling out Al Gore
(who becomes more Bela Lugosiesque by the second) to sound the
“Earth alarm” by way of nothing
short of eerie organ music.
See Conscience page 10
4A
Opinion
Income Tax Surtax Should Not Fund
Government Health Care Expansion
By Brian M. Riedl
and Curtis S. Dubay
The Heritage Foundation.
Congress is reportedly considering
raising taxes by at least $540 billion
over 10 years to fund President
Obama's health care initiative
through a "surtax" on top of the highest individual tax rates.
This should finally put to rest
President Obama's implausible claim
that expanding government health
care benefits will save money, since
policies that save money do not typically require painful tax increases to
offset their cost.
The latest proposal would impose
an income surtax of between one and
5.4 percentage points on families and
small businesses earning over
$350,000. This latest tax scheme
would drive the top rates in the U.S.
to among the highest in the industrialized world, leaving economic
havoc in its wake. Congress should
seriously consider the consequences
of such a policy.
Surtax Creates a Cascade of
Progressivity
Under
the
House
of
Representatives' plan, families and
small businesses earning between
$350,000 and $500,000 a year would
pay a one-percentage-point surtax on
top of the top income tax rate. Those
making between $500,000 and $1
million would pay a 1.5 percentage
point surtax, and those making over
$1 million a 5.4 percentage point surtax.
Currently, the top rate is 35 percent. But in his budget President
Obama proposed raising the top two
income tax rates from 33 and 35 percent to 36 and 39.6 percent. Families
in the top 20 percent of income earners already pay 943 percent more
income taxes than middle-income
families. The new surtaxes would
extend progressivity at the top of the
income spectrum and raise the disparity in taxes paid between middleand low-income families and highearning families.
Moreover, the surtax could rise
even higher if certain savings included in the legislation do not materialize by 2012. In that case, the 1 and
1.5 percentage point surtaxes rise to 2
and 3 percentage points, respectively.
So, if all the amorphous proposals to
"bend the curve" do not pan out,
then--presto!--up goes the surtax.
Congress should ensure that savings
are banked before rushing headlong
into an unaffordable new, entitlement
benefit.
Higher Tax Rates Than France
Threatening to raise taxes is a sure
sign that health care reform has gone
awry, and this is underscored in the
fact that the tax increases now under
consideration are among the most
economically harmful the Congress
could consider.
U.S. tax rates are already among
the highest among the industrialized
nations. The average top income tax
rate for countries in the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) is currently 42
percent. (The OECD is an association
of the 30 most economically devel-
oped nations in the world.) The U.S.
average top rate--when including the
top federal income tax rate, the average of state and local income taxes,
and Medicare taxes--is also currently
42 percent. This includes the current
35 percent top federal rate, plus the
average of the top rates in all 50
states (including state and local
income taxes), and the 2.9 percent
Medicare tax. It also accounts for
federal and state deductibility and
other federal adjustments.
But if President Obama's proposal
to raise the top two marginal income
tax rates becomes law, the average
top rate will jump to 47 percent. This
would raise the top rate higher than
the OECD average and, as can be
seen in Table 1, put the top U.S. rate
on par with Germany and Australia
and leapfrog it ahead of Canada,
France, and Italy.
Then this 5.4 percentage point surtax would raise the average top tax
rate in the U.S. even higher to above
52 percent.[3] This higher rate would
then be higher than the top rate in
Finland, Japan, Austria, and the
Netherlands and higher than all but
three countries in the OECD:
Denmark (60 percent), Sweden (56
percent), and Belgium (54 percent).
Raising top marginal tax rates
above most European countries is a
horrible model for the U.S. to follow.
European countries have chronically
higher unemployment levels than the
U.S. and persistently lower rates of
economic growth. The U.S. will suffer from the same afflictions if it follows in the footsteps of European
countries--and worse if it actually
surpasses their punitive levels of taxation. Moreover, such a misguided
policy will drive business and economic activity out of the U.S. and
into other low-tax nations.
Top Earners in High Tax States
Hit Hard
In the six highest-taxed states,
Oregon (11 percent top income tax
rate), Hawaii (11 percent), New
Jersey (10.75 percent), New York
(8.97 percent), California (10.55 percent), and Rhode Island (9.9 percent),
the top rates would be higher than all
but Denmark among OECD countries
if the Obama plan and surtax become
law.
Under these higher taxes, families
and small businesses making over
$350,000 in every state would face
higher top rates than 21 OECD countries--including France, Italy, and
Spain. Even the nine states with no
state income tax at all would have
higher rates than these social democracies that are typically regarded as
countries with punitively high taxes.
Taxpayers in all 41 states that do levy
an income tax would pay a top rate
that is higher than all but seven of the
30 OECD countries.
High Tax Rates Punish
Incentives to Grow
Raising the top tax rates on individuals is especially damaging to the
economy because these individuals
are often the most productive in our
economy, as evidenced by their
incomes. They are also those most
able to respond to higher rates by
working less, shifting their compensation to more lightly taxed forms,
moving taxable activity offshore, and
retiring early.
These tax rates also fall on various
forms of capital income, discouraging saving and investment on the one
hand while on the other distorting the
pattern of saving and investment
toward more lightly taxed yet less
efficient forms.
Small businesses typically pay
taxes at the individual rate, so raising
the top individual income tax rates is
a hard slap at small businesses. The
President and his congressional allies
repeatedly--and correctly--praise
small businesses as the job creators
and great innovators in our economy,
and they are right. Yet repeatedly in
tax policy and elsewhere, President
Obama has threatened to depress
small businesses.
In the global race for capital,
income tax rates that are higher than
all but a few of the highest-tax countries will be a further hindrance to the
ability of the U.S. to attract new
investment, entrepreneurs, and businesses. The income tax creates perverse incentives driving business
activity toward the Slovak Republic,
for example, where it faces a 19 percent top income tax rate, or the Czech
Republic's 15 percent, as compared
to 45 percent in the lowest-tax U.S
state.
Unless the U.S. keeps its top tax
rate comparable to competitor
nations like those in the OECD, it
will continue to loose capital to
lower-tax countries. Less capital will
mean fewer jobs and lower wages for
American workers.
Tax Hikes during a Recession?
In addition to damaging our international competitiveness, the surtax
would surely worsen the recession.
Not a single economic school of
thought advocates raising taxes during a recession or threatening to do so
in its aftermath. To call for a tax
increase during the largest recession
in 70 years is downright reckless.
The proposed tax increase would
likely go into effect after 2010, yet
many expect the economy to remain
in a weak recovery at best 18 months
from now. The surtax will threaten
even a weak recovery if small businesses are facing a tax hike.
Furthermore, the negative economic effects would not wait until
2011. Small businesses typically plan
investments, expansions, and new
hiring years in advance. Learning that
their tax rates will rise in 2011 businesses would immediately curtail
investments and long-term hiring
plans.
Overall, the higher tax rates on
small businesses and upper-income
families would rob the economy of
vital investment dollars at a time
when large budget deficits are
already soaking up the economy's
savings. This will result in less job
creation and slower economic
growth.
Lawmakers will surely claim that a
surtax of one to 5.4 percentage points
is too small to harm the economy.
Weary taxpayers must wonder if this
is a case of the camel's nose getting in
the tent. There is already a provision
in the bill that allows the lower surtax
rates to increase. How long will it be
before the top rate goes up too? How
high would they go? Small businesses struggling to make payroll during
tough economic times would surely
disagree that these taxes are too small
to matter. Upper-income families
may be better able to afford the tax,
but the negative effects on savings,
investment, and the overall economy
would harm everyone.
Try Belt-Tightening
Its time for lawmakers to stop
unaffordably expanding government.
Over the past eight years, lawmakers
have created a new Medicare drug
entitlement, doubled the education
budget, enacted a $700 billion financial bailout, and passed a second
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"stimulus" bill that cost $1.1 trillion-all on top of unaffordable entitlement programs in Social Security,
Medicare, and Medicaid.
Adding another colossal health
care entitlement just digs the nation's
financial hole deeper. It would add to
a future of record debt, Europeansized tax increases, and economic
stagnation. Instead of dumping these
costs on recession-weary taxpayers,
lawmakers should tighten their belts
and offset any new health spending
with reductions to lower-priority programs.
Brian M. Riedl is Grover M.
Hermann Fellow in Federal
Budgetary Affairs and Curtis S.
Dubay is a Senior Analyst in Tax
Policy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute
for Economic Policy Studies at The
Heritage Foundation.
Obituaries
6A
Area Obituaries
Susanne Ross
Susanne Ross, 77, of Alma,
died Tuesday, July 21st, 2009, at
Mercy Regional Health Center
with her family by her side.
Susanne was born on June 16,
1932 in Ludwigshaven (A-Rh)
Germany. She was the daughter
of Christian and Barbara
(Kimmell) Ochs. She was raised
on the family farm until her home
was bombed out during WWII.
She spent most of her childhood
running to bunkers avoiding the
overhead bombs that were
dropped without notice. On April
7, 1956 she married the love of
her life, Earl Ross while he was
stationed overseas. Susanne was
on a ship sailing over to the
United States in 1960 the very
day JFK was announced as the
next president. She was a loving
and dedicated military wife and
mother and moved several times,
as the military often requires,
with never a complaint. In 1964
after working diligently, attending night school and studying
very hard, she earned her United
States Citizenship. From that day
on she was a proud American and
wore her flag pin everyday to
show her dedication to this coun-
try. In 1973 her husband retired
from the United States Army and
they moved to Alma in 1975. She
worked at K-State for three years
before obtaining employment
with Alma High School where
she worked for 18 years as the
custodian before retiring in 1994.
Susanne would speak on her
experiences for the high school
history class and proudly shared
her fascinating story to many students throughout the years. In
addition to working full time,
being a mother and wife, she
helped out with the farm, often
driving the John Deere with her
husband. She and Earl built and
operated City Farmers Flea
Market that originated from an
old chicken house in Alma and
eventually expanded into the old
Sears Department Store and later
the JC Penney’s store in
Manhattan. After 20 years of
owning and operating the market,
she an Earl finally retired. She
touched hundreds of lives and
never knew a stranger. She loved
Alma, her country, her husband
and her family and will be sorely
missed and truly is an irreplaceable soul.
Survivors include: her loving
husband, Earl Ross of Alma, KS;
her daughters, Chris Leven of
Kansas City, MO, and Barbie
Shoemaker and her husband Curt
of Riley, KS; her sons, Manfred
Clay Ross and his wife Debbie of
Wichita, KS and Les Ross and his
wife Susan of Montezuma, MO;
her 7 grandchildren, Sheila
Dawn, Jeremy Redman, Corey
Ross, Brandon Ross, Lindsy
Cusic, Aron Ross and Bret
Shoemaker; her 5 great grandchildren, her sister, Maria
Hoffman and several nieces and
nephews of Germany. Susanne
was preceded in death by her parents and 2 sisters.
Funeral services will be
Monday July 27th at 12:00 noon
at Stewart Funeral Home of Alma
with burial following at 2:00 p.m.
at Ft. Riley Veterans Cemetery.
The family will hold no formal
visitation but she will lie in state
at the funeral home on Sunday
July 26th from 12-6:00 p.m. A
memorial has been established in
Susanne’s name for the ASPCA,
as she had a special love for animals, and contributions may be
left in care of the funeral home,
P.O. Box 126, Alma, 66401.
Online condolences may be left
for the family at www.stewartfuneralhomes.com
Same AZ U To Preform At Zoo Grew
On
Thursday,
July
30th,
SameAzU, a relatively new band to
the Salina area, will perform at
Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure’s
second Zoo Brew of the summer.
SamAzU is group of everyday working stiffs (Just Like U) who love to
Rock & Roll. They rock their crowds
by combining their own personal
style with music by both current and
classic famous rock bands including
The Beatles, Def Leopard, Red Hot
Chili Peppers, and many more. They
have been together since May 2004
and have been doing Gigz since July
2004.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing
SameAzU to the Salina area. They
have become very popular in
Hutchinson and McPherson, and we
are sure they will be a hit with our
Zoo Brew guests,” says Debbie
Tasker, Special Events Coordinator.
This afterhours event is designed
specifically for adults 21 and over
and will feature a variety of specialty
beers and happy hour style food
which includes all-you-can eat
Sandwich Stacks & Chips. Zoo Brew
guests will be able to stroll through
the park, take a tram ride (with their
brew), and enjoy three hours of live
musical entertainment by SameAzU
on the Overlook patio.
Admission to Zoo Brew is $10 for
Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure
members and $15 for nonmembers,
this includes Zoo admission, entertainment, food, and tram rides. Zoo
Brew runs from 5:30 to 8:30 pm and
only adults 21 and over will be
admitted. A $2 per person discount is
available for groups of 15 or more by
calling 827-9488 ext 114.
County Minutes ________________________________________from page 9
Steering Committee.
Sherow suggested watershed and
ridge top protections in the Gateway
Plan update.
Cattell discussed making preparations for the 2010 Census with a
Complete Count Committee.
McCulloh suggested getting the
KSU Student Senate and KSU
involved. McCulloh suggested we
see what Ames, Iowa did last time.
Cattell discussed the Census
Steering Committee.
Wedel stated Riley County is also
concerned with the small cities participation in the census.
Kearns stated he has heard we will
be low on military personnel from
February – July 2010 and that concerns him with the count being in
April.
McCulloh said she had suggested
the Riley County staff be able to fill
up at the City fuel station. McCulloh
said it will be a time and money savings and thanked the City for their
cooperation.
Pepperd said the City is interested
in using Riley County’s large vehicle
wash bay at the new shop.
Kearns
stated
the
Health
Department requested $306,961.00
for their 2010 budget. Kearns said
Riley County is holding the line on
appropriations and for the Health
Department
that
amount
is
$276,780.00.
Hilgers stated in the past the City
has fully funded the Health
Department’s request.
Johnson pointed out Riley County
is treating every department the same
and said 15 of 24 departments submitted requests of 0% or less.
Pepperd said he is concerned with
Riley County and Geary County having the highest rates of H1N1 virus.
Murphy said they anticipate giving
the regular flu shots in the fall and the
two H1N1 shots when the vaccine is
available.
Murphy stated the Board of Health
already cut the 2010 budget by
$50,000.00. Murphy said the
Department of Health has reduced
funding by $97,000.00. Murphy stated next year the Health Department
will ask for a significant increase in
funding.
Murphy said the State reduces
funding dollar for dollar based on
local funding. Kearns asked what
Fort Riley is doing to prepare for the
H1N1 virus.
Murphy said he is sure the military
has looked at it.
Kearns asked if K-State has immunization required. Kearns said they
should be concerned with the dorms
and housing.
Sherow suggested seeing what
KSU’s policy is on the H1N1 shot
requirement.
Holeman discussed the NACo prescription card program.
4:37 Kearns moved to adjourn.
McCulloh seconded. Carried 3-0.
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Aug 15, 09
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404 Humboldt St, Suite D
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G OVERNMENT M INUTES
The Board of County
Commissioners Minutes
The Board of County
Commissioners
Of Riley County, Kansas
The Regular meeting of the Board
of County Commissioners met at the
Riley County Plaza East Building
July 13, 2009 with the following
members present: Alvan Johnson,
Chair; Mike Kearns, Vice Chair;
Karen McCulloh, Member; and Rich
Vargo, County Clerk.
8:30 Public Comment & Business
Meeting
Johnette Shepek, Budget and
Finance Officer; Debbie Regester,
Register of Deeds; Javier Gonzales,
Manhattan Mercury; and Leon
Hobson, Director of Public
Works/County Engineer, attended.
Kearns moved to approve a
Renewal
of
Online
Access
Agreement with Commerce Bank for
the Register of Deeds’ Office.
McCulloh seconded Carried 3-0.
Renewal
of
Online
Access
Agreement with the New Millennium
Title Group, LLC for the Register of
Deeds’ Office. McCulloh seconded.
Carried 3-0.
Kearns moved to sign the Real
Estate Tax Roll Correction for Robert
D. Taylor and Roy Taylor (125-15-020-05-007.00-0) for tax year 2008.
This results in a decrease in tax dollars of $137.28. McCulloh seconded.
Carried 3-0.
Kearns moved to approve the
Special Meeting minutes of July 8,
2009 for a 2010 Budget Work
Session as amended. McCulloh seconded. Carried 3-0.
McCulloh moved to approve the
minutes of July 9, 2009 as amended.
Kearns seconded. Carried 3-0.
9:00 Rich Vargo, County Clerk
7A
Clancy
Holeman,
Counselor/Director of Administrative
Services; Joyce Mermis, KMAN;
Johnette Shepek, Budget and Finance
Officer; Debbie Regester, Register of
Deeds’ Office; and Jan Kruh, League
of Women Voters, attended.
Vargo presented year to date budget and expenditure reports.
9:28 Debbie Regester, Register of
Deeds
Clancy
Holeman,
Services; Joyce Mermis, KMAN; and
Jan Kruh, League of Women Voters,
attended.
Regester requested the cancellation of the e-recording contract with
ACS.
Holeman recommended the Board
pass a motion to cancel the agreement.
Kearns moved to cancel the ERecording contract with ACS, Inc.
and direct the County Counselor to
send the required notice to ACS, Inc.
9:30 Press Conference
Brad Schoen, Director of Riley
County Police Department; Jennifer
Wilson, County Extension Director;
Eileen King, Treasurer; Joyce
Mermis, KMAN; and Jan Kruh,
League of Women Voters, attended.
Schoen reported the 2nd quarter
crime stats year to date part 1 – serious were 11 in 2008 and 21 in 2009,
part 2 – less serious were 90 in 2008
and 102 in 2009.
Schoen said he met with the
Leonardville City Council and discussed the manner in how RCPD
managed the county officers.
Schoen said RCPD is considering
bumping up the supervision to the
Lieutenant position. Schoen stated it
would not affect patrolling on the
streets. Schoen stated Leonardville
seemed to feel it would be okay.
Wilson presented a copy of the
Riley County Fair tabloid. Wilson
said the Riley County Fair will occur
July 23, 2009 – July 27, 2009. Wilson
discussed the Riley County Fair
activities.
King reported the following:
New
License
Plates
and
Procedures, effective July 1, 2009:
Personalized Plates
Yellow and Orange with a windmill and wind turbine on either side,
Kansas seal in middle, lettering
America’s Heartland at bottom
Fee $46.00 payable upon ordering
Only 1 lettering per State rather
than County
First person that applied for lettering will have first option
State will be sending letters to the
affected plate holders
Pick up at renewal time in 2010
In God We Trust Plates
Blue with yellow wheat on left
side with wording In God We Trust
Plates will not be manufactured
until 1,000 have been sold state-wide
Letter will be sent when they are
available, probably late 2009
No personalization
No annual donations
Gold Star Mother’s Plates
Form DD1300, DD2064, DD93 or
Official notice of death
Birth certificate of Mother to prove
relationship or obituary notice
Disabled Veteran Plates
Disabled only needs to be 50%
rather than 100% to be eligible
Or loss of the use of a limb or permanent visual impairment to a prescribed degree.
Name on titles should match the
person’s name on their driver’s
license or ID.
Our office will be asking to see driver’s license when registering and
titling vehicles. Businesses will need
to bring in their FEIN number.
We now provide customers with
the option of giving us their e-mail
address for their renewal notices.
Saves the State postage costs and
hopefully insures that people receive
their notices.
Vargo stated there is a new on-line
voter registration system available
through the State. Vargo stated the
See Commission page 8
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G OVERNMENT M INUTES
Commissioners ______________from page 7
link is on Riley County’s website.
Vargo said to do this you must have a
valid Kansas driver’s license.
10:10 Leon Hobson, Director of
Public Works/County Engineer
Clancy Holeman, Counselor/
Director of Administrative Services;
Joyce Mermis, KMAN; Johnette
Shepek, Budget and Finance Officer;
Jerry Howard, Facility Supervisor;
Robert Nall, Information Technology
Director; and Jan Kruh, League of
Women Voters, attended.
Hobson discussed installing a
HVAC unit for the Information
Technology department.
Nall stated every year when it
warms up the dissipation of the heat
in the Information Technology equipment room becomes a problem.
Nall said on July 4th the A/C unit
stopped and the temperature
increased by twenty degrees.
Nall said there has been another
incident as well when the temperature increased. Nall stated the new
unit will supplement the current system, which runs constantly.
Kearns asked, is there money in
the building fund for this?
Hobson said there is.
Holeman stated if we are using the
emergency section of the procurement code are you saying there is no
time to go out for bid.
Hobson stated in his opinion Riley
County is at risk of the equipment
failing.
Holeman recommended Hobson
document that first.
McCulloh stated this is a prime
example of why we need money in
CIP to be more proactive to these
types of matters.
Hobson said we are also trying to
provide emergency power to the
Information Technology department.
Hobson said this project provides
an immediate solution to the HVAC
issues we have been encountering. It
also provides a backup system which
protects the County’s investment.
Additionally, it provides a system
which can be used in conjunction
with a future emergency backup generator.
Hobson said staff would recommend we accept the proposal submitted and use the emergency procurement section of the procurement policy to expedite this project. Due to
the problems we have experienced
and the high temperatures we are currently experiencing and expect to
continue, it is necessary to move
quickly. Should a failure occur during
this timeframe, the risk for damage or
loss of service is greatly increased.
Hobson said we recommend utilizing Thermal Comfort Air to perform
this work for the following reasons:
Thermal Comfort Air currently provides all of the preventative maintenance, repairs and replacement of our
HVAC systems in the Courthouse
Plaza Buildings. As such they are
familiar with the existing systems
and their design. Also, they have
repeatedly demonstrated their capabilities, technical knowledge and cost
effectiveness.
Kearns moved to accept the proposal from Thermal Comfort Air in
the amount of $11,800.00 for the
installation of a ductless HVAC system in the IT Department and further
move to utilize the emergency provision in the procurement code to purchase such equipment to be funded
from the County Building Fund.
Hobson presented an update on
Public Works projects. Hobson discussed the need for an 8’x10’ above
ground safe room at the Transfer
Station. Hobson estimated it to cost
$10,000.00 - $11,000.00 from Solid
Waste funds.
The
Board
of
County
Commissioners, by consensus,
agreed to allow staff to go out to bid
for a safe room at the Transfer
Station.
10:45
Clancy
Holeman,
Services
Administrative Work Session
Leon Hobson, Director of Public
Works/County Engineer; and Jan
Kruh, League of Women Voters,
attended.
Holeman discussed Article K –
Riley County Drug Policy.
10:52 Cheryl Collins, Museum
Curator
Clancy Holeman, Counselor
/Director of Administrative Services;
Works/County Engineer; Cindy
Volanti, Human Resource Manager;
Eileen King, Treasurer; and Jan
Kruh, League of Women Voters,
attended.
C. Collins presented the Riley
County Museum staff report.
Shepek stated the Health
Department Director said he will cut
out the Health Department’s pay
increases due to revenue cuts.
Shepek reported Riley County
Police Department’s 2008 Riley
County mil levy was 5.475 and is
currently proposed at 5.972 a .497
increase.
Shepek presented Option 2 revised
of the 2010 proposed budget.
McCulloh stated 1.46% salary
increase is an economic benefit to our
economy through the multiplier
affect it would equal $800,000.00 to
our local businesses.
12:00 County Officials Luncheon
1:00 Kearns moved to adjourn.
The
Board
of
County
Commissioners
Of Riley County, Kansas
The Regular meeting of the
Board of County Commissioners met
at the Riley County Plaza East
8A
Building July 16, 2009 with the following members present: Alvan
Johnson, Chair; Mike Kearns, Vice
Chair; Karen McCulloh, Member;
and Rich Vargo, County Clerk.
8:30 Public Comment & Business
Meeting
Register of Deeds; Clancy Holeman,
Services; Pat Collins, Director of
Emergency Management; Joyce
Mermis, KMAN; and Leon Hobson,
Director of Public Works/County
Engineer, attended.
Hobson stated the $24,700.00 for
the jail rail extension was only the
material.
Hobson said including labor it will
cost approximately $43,000.00.
Hobson stated the Board has not
signed the change order yet.
Kearns discussed the increase in
daily operating expenses of the North
Central Kansas Juvenile Detention
Facility. Kearns stated usage of the
facility is decreasing as well.
Kearns said at the Chamber
Summit he was told by some attendees that from February – July of
2010 there will be a dramatic
decrease of soldiers at Fort Riley, but
after July then a gradual increase to
all time high levels.
Kearns said at the Fire Battalion
Commanders meeting paging of the
firefighters was an issue.
Kearns discussed concerns with
See County page 9
G OVERNMENT
Riley County Commission
property ownership where fire stations are located.
Kearns said Sue Peterson said Dr.
Miller from KSU wants to discuss the
possibility of wind generators at the
shop site location.
Renewal
of
Online
Access
Agreement with Lori Allen for the
Register of Deeds’ Office. McCulloh
seconded. Carried 3-0.
Kearns moved to approve the purchasing card documents through
Commerce Bank. McCulloh seconded. Carried 3-0.
Contract Agreement with Schultz
Construction, Inc. for Riley County
Fire District #1 Fire Station
Replacement Project, Stations 7, 8,
and 11 in the amount of $210,000.00.
Kearns moved to approve the payroll vouchers in the amount of
$207,065.21 and the following warrant vouchers for July 17, 2009:
2009 Budget
County General $537,117.40
CDBG Housing 2,693.28
County Auction 778.93
Riley Co Juvenile Service
5,223.48
Motor Vehicle Operations
4,278.48
21st Jud Dist Teen Court 876.73
Riley Co Adult Services
7,453.51
Economic Development 207.34
Emergency 911 19,510.16
Solid Waste
5,117.01
County Building 2,631.66
Special Parks & Recreation
1,208.75
Road & Bridge Cap Project
22,676.13
LEC – SURPLUS
450,693.68
RCPD Levy/Op 1,583.34
Landfill Closure 1,151.74
LEPC-HMTA 5,369.97
Riley Co Fire Dist #1
6,995.23
Riley Co Fire Dist CapOut
2,465.00
University Park W&S
604.24
Hunters Island Water Dist
1,338.01
Deep Creek Sewer
63.84
Moehlman Bottoms
288.74
Valleywood Operations
75.00
Terra Heights Sewer
5.54
Konza Water Operations 579.85
Sharm Drive Paving District
23.90
TOTAL. . . . . . . .$1,081,010.94
9:00 Pat Collins, Director of
Emergency Management
Register of Deeds; Clancy Holeman,
Services; Joyce Mermis, KMAN; Jan
Kruh, League of Women Voters; and
P.
Collins
presented
the
Memorandum
of
Understanding/Agreement
for
declared disasters regarding animal
care.
Kearns moved to allow Pat Collins
to sign the Memorandum of
Understanding with KSU and the
Riley County Animal Response
Team. McCulloh seconded. Carried
3-0.
P.
Collins
presented
the
Emergency
Management/Fire
District #1 update.
9:19 Debbie Regester, Register of
Deeds
Finance Officer; Clancy Holeman,
Services; Joyce Mermis, KMAN; and
Jan Kruh, League of Women Voters,
attended.
Regester presented the year
to date revenue figures for the
Register of Deeds’ Office which is on
level with what is projected.
McCulloh
moved
to
approve the minutes of July 13, 2009
as amended. Kearns seconded.
Carried 3-0.
9:33
Clancy
Holeman,
Services
Administrative Work Session
Finance Officer; Joyce Mermis,
KMAN; and Jan Kruh, League of
Women Voters, attended.
9:33 Kearns moved that the
County Commission recess into
executive session for the purpose of
consultation with an attorney for the
Commission, which would be
deemed privileged in the attorneyclient relationship, an exception to
the Kansas Open Meetings Act, the
open meeting to resume in the
County Commission Chambers at
9:43 a.m. McCulloh seconded.
Carried 3-0.
9:43 Kearns moved to go out of
executive session. Johnson seconded.
Carried 3-0.
No binding action was taken during the executive session.
10:00 Rich Vargo, County
Clerk
Finance Officer; Clancy Holeman,
Bill Felber, Manhattan Mercury;
Chuck Murphy, Manhattan-Riley
County Health Department Director;
Susie Kufahl, Manhattan-Riley
County Health Department; Monty
Wedel, Director of Planning and
Development; Cindy Volanti, Human
Resource Manager; Robert Nall,
Information Technology Director;
Eileen King, Treasurer; and Leon
Hobson, Director of Public
Vargo reviewed a copy of the Tax
Savings Committee report presented
to the Riley County Commission on
October 30, 2008.
10:19 Johnette Shepek, Budget
and Finance Officer
2010 Budget Work Session
Clancy
Holeman,
Bill Felber, Manhattan Mercury;
Chuck Murphy, Manhattan-Riley
County Health Department Director;
Susie Kufahl, Manhattan-Riley
County Health Department; Monty
Wedel, Director of Planning and
Development; Cindy Volanti, Human
Resource Manager; Robert Nall,
Information Technology Director;
Eileen King, Treasurer; Greg
McHenry,
Appraiser;
Shelly
Williams, Director of Community
Corrections; Barry Wilkerson,
County Attorney; Kathy Carpenter,
Office Manager; Debbie Regester,
Register of Deeds; Becky Topliff,
Court
Administrator;
Larry
Couchman, Director of EMS; and
Shepek presented Option 2B with
a 1% COLA for the 2010 budget.
Shepek reviewed budget Options 2
revised, 2A and 2B.
Kearns stated 15 of 24 departments
either held or reduced their non-personnel budget. Kearns stated the
salary survey was to keep us competitive with local entities. Kearns said
yesterday at the Juvenile Detention
meeting he visited commissioners
from surrounding counties and some
counties are getting no salary
increase to a 3% increase possibly.
Kearns stated in visiting with
Hobson we could cut $195,000.00 in
the Public Works budget without
doing irreputable damage to the
Roads and Bridges projects.
Hobson recommended moving
$65,000.00 in culverts to bonding for
next year and reducing striping.
Hobson stated we cannot go on
indefinitely cutting these funds.
Kearns stated we can only keep the
budget at absolutely bare bones and
then we have to pay the piper. Kearns
stated he hopes things turn around in
2010.
McCulloh said she is really concerned with putting things off when
we did that last year during good
times. McCulloh suggested incremental increases. McCulloh stated
residents could afford $3.33 per
month to adequately pay staff and
fund capital projects.
Johnson said he took Option 2A
and reduced reserves and took some
money from the County Attorneys
($10,000.00) and Public Works
($100,000.00) budgets with no step
increase and reduce the mil levy to
just below 1 mil. Johnson stated
Riley County Police Departments’
increase impact on Riley County is
approximately half a mil and the legislature cut our funding a half mil as
well. Johnson stated a 1 or less mil
increase will offset those losses.
Kearns stated he is apprehensive in
lowering reserves lower than we
have. Kearns said he can go with the
1% merit increase, because of what
he hears in the area. Kearns said he
can take $195,000.00 from Public
Works.
Vargo
suggested
moving
$65,000.00 of the culverts and
bridges of the Public Works budget
and bonding it for 2010.
Murphy stated in 2010 the Health
Department has already been reduced
by $50,000.00.
Murphy discussed the possible
impacts of the H1N1 virus. Murphy
stated the local cuts are dollar for dollar cuts from the State of Kansas.
Johnson said because of actions by
the legislature we are struggling to
fund the responsibilities the State is
asking us to subsidize.
McCulloh stated it is easier to raise
the mil levy a little every year rather
than 4 mils in one year. McCulloh
suggested the 1.650 mil increase.
King pointed out each tax statement, by law, shows how much each
taxing entity affected their tax bill.
Johnson stated he would like the
mil levy to stay below 1 mil, but he
has no support.
Johnson then moved to create a
budget within the 1.159 mil levy
increase with a 1% merit increase.
Kearns seconded. Kearns stated he
included $580,000.00 for non-appropriated and $850,000.00 in budget
stabilization. Carried 2-1. McCulloh
opposed.
4:00 City/County Meeting
(at City offices)
Representing
the
City
of
Manhattan were Jayme MorrisHardeman, Loren Pepperd, and Jim
Sherow – City Commissioners; Dale
Houdeshell, Director of Public
Works; Jason Hilgers, Assistant City
Manager; Eric Cattell, Assistant
Director of Planning; Gary Fees, City
Clerk; and Karen Davis, AICP
Director. Representing the County
were Alvan Johnson, Karen
McCulloh and Mike Kearns – County
Commissioners; Rich Vargo, County
9A
Clerk;
Clancy
Holeman,
Services; Monty Wedel, Director of
Planning and Development; Chuck
Murphy, Riley County-Manhattan
Health Department Director; Susanne
Kufahl, Riley County-Manhattan
Health Department; and Johnette
Shepek, Budget and Finance Officer.
Joyce Mermis, KMAN, attended.
Wedel stated City and
County staffs have initiated the
Gateway Plan update.
Wedel discussed organizing a strategy in proceeding with the update.
Wedel discussed the formation of the
See County page 6
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N EWS
40 Years Later, Moon Still
Giant Leap For Mankind
BY SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The
measure of what humanity can
accomplish is a size 9 1/2 bootprint.
It belongs to Neil Armstrong,
the first man on the moon. It will
stay on the moon for millions of
years with nothing to wipe it
away, serving as an almost eternal
testament to a can-do mankind.
Apollo 11 is the glimmering
success that failures of society are
contrasted against: `Ìf we can
send a man to the moon, why
can’t we ...’‘
What put man on the moon 40
years ago was an audacious and
public effort that the world hasn’t
seen before or since. It required
rocketry that hadn’t been built, or
even designed, in 1961 when
President John F. Kennedy
declared the challenge. It needed
an advance in computerization
that had not happened yet. NASA
would have to learn how to dock
separate spaceships, how to teach
astronauts to walk in space, even
how to keep them alive in space _
all tasks so difficult experts
weren’t sure they were possible.
Forty years later, the moon
landing is talked about as a generic human achievement, not an
American one. But Apollo at the
time was more about U.S. commitment and ingenuity.
Historian Douglas Brinkley
called the Apollo program ``the
exemplary moment of America’s
we-can-do-anything attitude.’‘
After the moon landing, America
got soft, he said, looking for the
quick payoff of a lottery ticket
instead of the sweat-equity of
buckling down and doing something hard.
In years since, when America
faces a challenge, leaders often
look to the Apollo program for
inspiration. In 1971, when
President Richard Nixon declared
a war on cancer, his staffers
called it `à moon shot for cancer.’‘ Last year, then-candidate
Barack Obama and former Vice
President Al Gore proposed a
massive effort to fight global
warming, comparing it to Apollo
11. An environmentalists’ project
to tackle climate change and promote renewable energy took the
name `Àpollo Alliance.’‘
Those still-unfinished efforts
recall May 25, 1961, when
President Kennedy, fresh from a
disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of
Cuba, announced that America
would land a man on the moon by
the end of the decade and return
him safely home.
`Ì thought he was crazy,’‘ said
Chris Kraft, when he heard
Kennedy’s speech about landing
on the moon.
Kraft was head of Mission
Control. He was the man responsible for guiding astronauts to
orbit (which hadn’t been done
yet) and eventually to the moon.
Kraft first heard about a mission
to the moon when Kennedy made
the speech.
``We saw that as Buck Rogers
stuff, rather than reality that
would be carried out in any time
period that we were dealing
with,’‘ Kraft recently told The
Associated Press in a telephone
interview from Houston.
Less than three months later,
Kraft was in the White House
explaining to the president just
how landing on the moon would
be done. Kraft still didn’t believe
it would work.
``Too many unknowns,’‘ he
said.
It was the Cold War and
Russian Yuri Gagarin had just
become the first man in space.
Kennedy chose landing a man on
the moon because experts told
him it was the one space goal that
was so distant and complicated at
the time that the United States
could catch up and pass the
Soviet Union, Kennedy adviser
Ted Sorensen said.
The idea in a world where
American capitalism was pitted
against Soviet communism on a
daily basis was ``to prove to the
world which system was best,
which one was the future,’‘
Sorensen said.
`Ìt’s not just the fact that the
president wanted it done,’‘
Sorensen recalled. `Ìt was the
fact that we had a specific goal
and a specific timetable.’‘
In another speech, Kennedy
famously said America would go
to the moon and try other tasks
``not because they were easy, but
because they were hard. Because
that goal will serve to organize
and measure the best of our energies and skills.’‘
They weren’t just skills with
rockets and slide rules. Bringing
together countless aerospace
companies, engineers, scientists,
technicians, politicians and several NASA centers around the
nation was a management challenge even more impressive than
building the right type of rockets,
said Smithsonian Institution
space scholar Roger Launius.
And it cost money. The United
States spent $25.4 billion on the
Apollo program, which translates
to nearly $150 billion in current
dollars _ less than the U.S. spent
in both wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan in 2007.
Yet, in the view of those heavily involved in the challenge, what
made Apollo work was two
tragedies: the assassination of
Kennedy in 1963 and the fatal
Apollo 1 fire in 1967.
The assassination of Kennedy
made the Apollo program and its
budget politically nearly untouchable. The moon-landing goal _
which Kennedy later talked about
modifying and even including the
Soviets on _ became a symbol of
the martyred president. NASA’s
launch center was renamed from
Cape Canaveral to Kennedy.
Thoughts ________________from page 4
financial assets of what once
was the most affluent nation on
Earth.
So how did we get here?
Again Matt Taibbi has an observation: “If anything, it seems to
me that what defines these Wall
Street characters is not religion
but the absence of it: even a hardened atheist like myself comes
away from the experience of
reading about the last two
decades of Wall Street history
shocked by that community’s
complete and utter Godlessness
and moral insanity. What I’m say-
ing in other words is that if any of
these clowns actually had a real
religious sensibility, we wouldn’t
be in this mess.”
This should not be a surprise if
we knew history, for President
John Adams declared two centuries ago that, “Our Constitution
was made only for a moral and
religious people. It is wholly
inadequate to the government of
any other. ... The only foundation
of a free Constitution, is pure
Virtue…A
Constitution
of
Government once changed from
Freedom, can never be restored.
Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”
Yes, there is hope, but it is not
to be found in politics that have
been corrupted by self-interest.
Steeerike One! Neither is hope to
be found in a financial rescue that
has been infested by greed.
Steeerike Two! We may be in the
last inning. If we are to avoid
Strike Three, we must act now.
Yogi says, “When you come to a
fork in the road, take it.” I say
5,000,000 of us show up on their
steps September 12th and show
them which fork to take!
10 A
Conscience ______from page 4
ment of central planning and thus
stifles innovation. We also know that
strong economies innovate better
than weak ones, but cap and trade
weakens economies. Perhaps most
importantly, stable economies innovate better than unstable ones, especially for something like energy
where the investments often run into
the billions of dollars and the payoffs
play out over decades. But cap and
trade adds a significant element of
instability, which we have seen in
Europe with wild swings in the price
of carbon allowances, and energy
companies less interested in long-
term investment and more interested
in short-term gaming of the system.
In conclusion, the economic realities of cap and trade are becoming
clear in Europe. If we adopt a similar
approach here, expect considerable
economic pain for minimal environmental gain.
Ben Lieberman is Senior Policy
Analyst in Energy and the
Environment in the Thomas A. Roe
Institute for Economic Policy Studies
at The Heritage Foundation.
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No fee! 1-800-259-8548.
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Onex Discussed Cutting Work Force Age
WICHITA, Kansas (AP) _ Before
buying Boeing Co.’s commercial airplane operations in Kansas and
Oklahoma, Canadian investment
conglomerate Onex Corp. discussed
in e-mails plans to reduce the age of
the work force to cut costs, according
to recently released court documents
in an age-discrimination lawsuit.
Former Boeing workers have sued
Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems Inc.,
the subsidiary Onex formed to run
the commercial aircraft operations in
Wichita and Tulsa and McAlester,
Oklahoma. The workers claim they
lost their jobs because of their age
and filed suit in December 2005.
This week, lawyers for the workers
filed documents to back up their
request for class-action status for the
suit. The documents included depositions and internal company memos
that the plaintiffs say show that Spirit
cut older workers using a ``selective
rehire’‘ process in which all Boeing
employees were laid off and forced to
reapply for their jobs with the new
company.
One memo Onex presented to its
board of directors to support the purchase noted that the Boeing work
force was `òlder and more expensive’‘ than the work force the new
company would have. Employees
ages 45 to 54 were considered the
most expensive, company memos
show.
``We are moving from a demographically expensive population
towards one that should be cheaper,’‘
Spirit said in one internal document.
The court documents also indicate
that when Boeing was trying to sell
the division, it marketed potential
cost savings prospective buyers could
expect by reducing the number of
workers. Onex finalized its purchase
of the division in June 2005.
Spokesmen at the companies have
declined to comment on this week’s
filing, and calls to their defense attorneys have not been returned. But in
earlier court documents, Boeing and
Spirit denied any employment decisions were based on age.
Bob Brewer, Midwest director for
the
Society
of
Professional
Engineering
Employees
in
Aerospace, said Thursday that the
companies were playing with people’s lives and careers for a few dollars.
``Most everything I’ve read today I
was absolutely amazed and appalled
at,’‘ Brewer said.
When Boeing sold the Kansas and
Oklahoma operations, it laid off all
9,300 workers at those plants. Onex
then asked people to reapply for their
jobs. At the time, Onex, which is not
part of the lawsuit, said it had hired
more than 8,000 former Boeing
workers.
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N EWS
Pottawatomie County
Receives Designation
Continuing the success of the
Entrepreneurship
(E-)
Community
Partnership,
NetWork Kansas selected nine
additional communities to participate during its third competitive
round. These communities will
partner with NetWork Kansas to
raise up to $1.2 million in seed
funding for entrepreneurs in their
respective communities.
“It is very exciting to see our ECommunity Partnerships expand
and achieve continued success,”
said Erik Pedersen, NetWork
Kansas Associate Director. “Our
goal is to help rural communities
in Kansas become an ECommunity so they have a
greater ability to connect every
entrepreneur and small business
owner in their community to the
expertise, education and economic resources they need in order to
succeed.”
Every E-Community benefits
from an injection of capital that is
raised locally through the
NetWork
Kansas
Entrepreneurship Tax Credit
Program. This funding is used to
help start and grow businesses in
rural Kansas communities.
During its first two rounds, a total
of 12 E-Community partners
were granted more than $1.75
million in tax credits, and currently have over $2.3 million in seed
funding they can use to provide
matching grants or loans to entrepreneurs and small business owners in their communities.
“The Pottawatomie County
Economic
Development
Corporation is excited and
pleased to partner with Network
Kansas to create an ECommunity revolving loan fund
to provide “gap” financing for
qualifying small businesses
throughout our county” PCEDC
Director, Bob Cole said. “We are
excited to be able to help small
businesses obtain financing for
startup and expansion projects
that are great concepts but without gap financing may not be
quite bankable.”
Each E-Community partners
with NetWork Kansas to achieve
the following results: 1) Through
a tax credit grant, communities
establish a fund for entrepreneurs
and small business owners that is
administered at the local level; 2)
Each community identifies local,
regional and state assets available
to assist entrepreneurs and businesses; 3) Each community
establishes a long-term tracking
and accountability system to
measure business and economic
growth; and 4) A long-term partnership with more than 470
NetWork Kansas resource partners statewide provides assistance to entrepreneurs and small
businesses.
For more information about the
NetWork Kansas E-Community
Partnership or Entrepreneurship
Tax Credits, visit www.networkkansas.com,
or
call
877.521.8600. NetWork Kansas
was established as a component
of the Kansas Economic Growth
Act of 2004 to further entrepreneurship and small business
growth as a priority for economic
and community development in
the State of Kansas. Backed by
more than 470 partners statewide,
the NetWork Kansas service promotes an entrepreneurial environment by connecting entrepreneurs
and small business owners with
the expertise, education and economic resources they need in
order to succeed.
Tallgrass Earns Top-10
Finish In Beer Championship
Tallgrass Brewing Company took
its Midwestern brews national this
month, with a top-10 showing in the
first annual United States Open Beer
Championships.
The Manhattan brewery won four
medals, including two gold, and was
honored as eighth overall. Tallgrass
joined breweries from Oregon,
Wisconsin,
Massachusetts,
Minnesota, Hawaii, California and
Georgia in the top 10. Overall honors
were awarded based on the number
of medals earned in 50 individual
beer style categories.
In the individual beer competitions, Tallgrass Ale won a gold in the
English Brown Ale category, while
Tallgrass Wheat earned a gold in
Belgian Witbier. The craft brewer’s
newest brews also medaled, with the
limited-edition Oasis winning a silver
for ESB, and Köld earning a bronze
for German Lager/Pilsener.
“More than 500 beers were submitted, and although all the top 10
winning breweries were based in the
U.S. this year, at least 20 international breweries representing Canada,
Belgium, Germany, England and
China also medaled,” said Dow
Scoggins, head of the
U.S. Open Beer Championships.
While 62 breweries medaled,
Tallgrass was among only 14 to win
two medals or more.
For more about Tallgrass Brewing
Company, visit tallgrassbeer.com. To
read about the winning beers, visit
USOpenBeer.com.
12 A
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