2/22/2010

Intelligence director Blair in Kansas

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair is in Kansas to give an update on the United State's efforts to detect and deter terrorists.

Blair will speak Monday afternoon at Kansas State University as part of its Landon Lecture series.

Kansas State officials say Blair is expected to discuss the changing role of intelligence, as well as the progress and benefits of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.

He will conclude with a review of the challenges ahead for the intelligence community due to globalization and the information revolution.

Blair has recently testified in Congress, warning of the growing cyberthreat. He says computer-related attacks have become dynamic and malicious.

------ A job, but there's a catch: a 1,000-mile commute

JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) -- In the early dawn, after another week building cars, Michael Hanley leaves his job in Kansas. He quickly zips into Missouri, then heads up a ribbon of highway past grain silos and grazing deer, across the frozen fields of Iowa, over the Mississippi River and into the rolling hills of Wisconsin. Finally, he pulls into his driveway -- 530 miles later.

It's one heck of a haul: more than 1,000 miles roundtrip, 16-plus hours of driving, every week.

"I like to say I gave up an eight-minute commute for an eight-hour commute," he says wearily, running a hand though salt-and-pepper hair as he watches his two sons play basketball for the first time this season.

After the aging General Motors plant where he worked for 23 years was idled about a year ago, Hanley faced a Hobson's choice: Stay with his family and search for an autoworker's salary ($28 an hour) in a county where more than 40 percent of its manufacturing jobs disappeared from 2006 to 2009. Or hang on to his GM paycheck and health insurance and follow the job, no matter where it leads.

In his case, it led to Fairfax, Kan., the same place his brother and two brothers-in-law -- also GM workers, and now his roommates -- landed. For others, it has been Indiana or Texas.

The long commute is not just a story of hard times, tough choices and a shrinking American auto industry. It's also a case study of what happens when an aging industrial town loses an anchor, when workers too old to start over and too young to retire are caught in a squeeze and when economic survival means one family, but two far-flung ZIP codes.

------ Analysis: Kan. not ready to give up on tax breaks

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Many Kansas legislators aren't giving up on new tax breaks or incentives for businesses, even as they face closing a big shortfall in the state budget.

Educators, advocates for the needy and Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson want the Republican-controlled Legislature to raise new revenues to sustain school funding, higher education, social services and other government programs. But when legislators' annual session passed its halfway mark last week, no plan for raising taxes to close the budget gap had emerged from committee in either chamber.

Instead, the Senate had approved legislation on tax credits that, by one estimate, cost the state nearly $6 million a year in revenue. And the House Taxation Committee rejected a proposed legislative rule to block lawmakers from passing new tax exemptions or incentives for three years.

At least a few of Parkinson's fellow Democrats -- and a few GOP moderates -- are frustrated, arguing that when the state faces a revenue hole, the legislators ought to at least stop digging. But, three decades on, President Ronald Reagan's economic philosophy still has a strong hold on many Republicans, and they want to leave open the option of using new tax incentives to lure businesses to Kansas and create jobs.

"There's a philosophy out there that the more we cut taxes, the more prosperity we're going to have," said Revenue Secretary Joan Wagnon, who backed the proposed moratorium on new tax breaks and incentives in the House.

Parkinson, legislators, and other state officials are in their second year of struggling with the budget problems created by the mid-2008 collapse of the nation's economy. After five rounds of spending reductions and other adjustments last year, the state still faces a projected shortfall of $416 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

------ New storm hits Kansas; several die on slick roads

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A mixture of freezing rain, sleet and snow caused numerous accidents, several of them fatal, in Kansas, authorities said Sunday.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office said two people died around 5:15 p.m. Saturday on U.S. 56 when their car skidded sideways on an ice-covered bridge and was struck by a tractor-trailer. The victims were identified as Kenneth Brown, 57, and his wife, Diane, 60, of Goddard, Deputy Michael Ottensmeier said.

Near the southwest Kansas town of Deerfield, one person died and five others were injured around 9 a.m. Sunday when a sport utility vehicle veered out of control on an icy curve and rolled. The Kansas Highway Patrol identified the fatality victim as 51-year-old Raquel Alvarado of Deerfield.

In Shawnee County, the driver of a tractor-trailer died when the rig skidded on a slick stretch of Interstate 70 around 2:50 a.m. Sunday, rolled and caught fire, Sgt. Danny Lotridge of the sheriff's office said.

The accident shut down eastbound lanes of I-70 for several hours. Lotridge said the name of the victim was not immediately released.

Numerous non-fatality accidents also were reported, including one involving a Kansas Department of Transportation snow plow that landed on its top Sunday near the northeast Kansas town of Maple Hill.

------ Former Topeka police helicopter for sale

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The Topeka Police Department is selling its helicopter after money for the unit was stripped from its budget.

Online bids for the 1994 Schweizer 300C police helicopter can be made through a public auction that begins this month and closes in mid-March.

An announcement from the auction company Simnitt Brothers Inc. says the helicopter's parts and tools will be sold separately. The helicopter has about 9,200 hours of flying time.

The helicopter unit was temporarily grounded following an April 2008 crash at Washburn University. Both officers onboard walked away with minor scratches.

In January 2009, an assessment of the department's helicopter unit was released. It found that lax management, inadequate training and overconfidence led to unnecessary risk and dangerous behavior.

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------ Kansas State athletic director cuts 8 jobs

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas State University is eliminating eight positions in its athletics department.

Athletic director John Currie sent a statement Saturday night to The Topeka Capital-Journal confirming the restructuring plan.

In the statement, Currie cited an expected reduction in university and state funding for the department. He said the cuts had nothing to do with performance.

Names of the laid off employees were not released.

Currie said the employees affected by the move will be placed on paid administrative leave until June 13.

Currie says two other currently vacant positions will remain unfilled. The restructuring is expected to reduce athletic department payroll by about $310,000 annually.

------ 93-year-old aviation enthusiast from Kansas dies

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A 93-year-old woman who was fixture in Kansas' aviation community has died.

The Wichita Eagle reported that Marguerite Lawrence died this past week.

Until her 90th birthday, she volunteered at the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual AirVenture Oshkosh. After selling tickets by day, she would camp in a pup tent.

Her son, Stan Lawrence, says she refused to stay in a hotel.

Marguerite Lawrence also was a longtime volunteer at the Kansas Aviation Museum and was involved with other aviation groups.

She was 21 when she soloed and earned her pilot's certificate three years later.

------ Washburn University students buy water for Haiti

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Students at Washburn University have purchased bottles of water to ship to quake survivors in Haiti.

Pepsi and the on-campus dining service added to the students' donation.

Family of God Church agreed to help load the bottles into a shipping container bound for Haiti.

The church already has sent one shipping container of relief supplies to Haiti.

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Information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com

------ Where major issues stand in Kansas Legislature

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Here are where major issues stand after the Legislature's annual "turnaround" deadline last week, when most bills had to clear their chamber of origin to be considered further.

Monday is the 50th day of the Legislature's annual session, out of 90 scheduled.

STATE BUDGET

Both chambers have approved a bill making $92 million in adjustments in the current budget, though many lawmakers believe it won't be enough to keep the budget balanced through June 30 because of revenues that continue to fall below expectations. The bill is going to Gov. Mark Parkinson.

Subcommittees in both chambers are working on proposed budgets for individual state agencies for the fiscal year beginning July 1, and the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means committees will be considering some of their recommendations this week.

The state is facing a projected $416 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year.

------ Central Missouri's Stugart named Sioux Falls coach

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Sioux Falls has stolen away Central Missouri's new defensive coordinator, Jed Stugart, to lead its NAIA championship-winning football team into NCAA Division II action.

The university announced late Saturday that Stugart had agreed to lead the Cougars, which won three national NAIA titles in five years under Kalen DeBoer. He'll be formally introduced at a Monday news conference.

"Jed will be the most experienced football coach to ever walk the University of Sioux Falls sidelines. With the success that our program has achieved, that speaks volumes," said Sioux Falls athletic director William Sanchez.

The Baptist-affiliated, 1,600-student South Dakota school moves up to Division II next season.

"We were looking for a person who could bring much more to the table than just the ability to coach football," said Sioux Falls President Mark Benedetto. "As our athletic program transitions from NAIA to NCAA, it is imperative that our football team serve as a catalyst for our overall success."

Stugart had been at Central Missouri for about two months.

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