TOPEKA — Firefighters responded to an overnight fire outside headquarters of the Johnson County Republican Party in Overland Park that resulted in no injuries.

The incident inspired inflammatory comments by the leader of the Kansas GOP, who placed responsibility on liberals. In a statement, she offered no evidence the fire, which didn’t cause significant damage, was linked to partisan ideology.

“Extreme liberals can’t do anything right, including arson,” said Danedri Herbert, who serves as chair of the Kansas Republican Party and spokesperson for Attorney General Kris Kobach. “Their hateful attempt to intimidate Republicans will also fail.”

Johnson County Republican Party chair Sue Huff said she was grateful no one was hurt in the “vicious attack.”

Overland Park firefighters responded to the county’s GOP headquarters near West 105th and Mastin Street around 12:45 a.m. Friday. KCTV 5 said the department reported the fire was confined to the doorstep of the building.

Jeanna Repass, chair of the state Democratic Party, said in a statement acts of violence should play no role in resolving political differences. She said it was a relief no one was hurt in the “senseless act.”

“We stand with law enforcement as they pursue justice in this matter,” Repass said. “We will never be able to solve political differences with acts of violence, and we send our thoughts to the Johnson County GOP and the Kansas GOP.”

Repass said she was confident Overland Park investigators would hold to account anyone responsible for the fire.

“Violence anywhere, whether at a local party headquarters or our U.S. Capitol, undermines our democracy and must be condemned in full. Real progress cannot be made through fear, intimidation or destruction,” she said.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

TOPEKA — Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran pressed Trump administration officials on federal budget and personnel decisions by framing inquiries in terms of potential threats to the farm economy and public safety in Kansas.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins were on the receiving end of Moran’s questions during recent Senate hearings.

Moran inquired during an appropriations subcommittee hearing about implications of a recommended $545 million cut in expenditures that could eliminate 1,300 FBI jobs. The GOP senator said lawmakers were told reductions would be accomplished by ending duplicative intelligence gathering, initiatives tied to diversity, equity and inclusion, and projects championed by Democratic President Joe Biden.

“Is that accurate?” Moran said. “Is that capable of being done? We can find this in what I suppose most people around here call waste, fraud and abuse? Or, does it have real consequences to the level of personnel and the capabilities of meeting the mission of the FBI?”

Patel said the objective of reorganization at the FBI was to “make the mission work on whatever budget we’re given.”

Moran said an overall force reduction at the federal law enforcement agency could weaken public safety in Kansas.

“Fewer FBI special agents, intelligence analysts and professional staff could hinder the bureau in executing the president’s commitment to making our communities safe,” Moran said. “Our law enforcement, whether state, local or federal, keep our nation safe and carry out justice.”

‘Is that true?’

Moran, chairperson of the Senate’s commerce, justice and science appropriations subcommittee, asked about Patel’s initiative to move FBI positions out of Washington, D.C. The senator said the FBI might shift up to 40 agents to Kansas.

Moran urged Patel to not concentrate new personnel in FBI offices in Garden City, Manhattan, Wichita and Topeka or to curtail collaboration with local law enforcement.

“While your decentralizing Washington, I don’t want to shortchange the field office, but I want to make sure the field office doesn’t then shortchange the other aspects of law enforcement in our state,” Moran said. “We should see an increase in FBI participation, in partnership, with local law enforcement as a result of this change in policy? Is that true?”

Patel said the FBI didn’t intend to transfer agents by “throwing darts on a map.” The FBI would concentrate staff transfers in areas with higher incidence of violent crime, he said. The director said geography of sparsely populated states would be a factor in assignment of agents.

“We aren’t sending more agents to LA just because it’s LA,” Patel said.

Insufficient USDA personnel

In terms of agriculture policy, Moran shared with USDA Secretary Rollins a perspective on President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate thousands of probationary federal employees. The senator emphasized the detrimental result of personnel cuts designed to “right-size, downsize, whatever the right words are” the Farm Service Agency and other USDA offices in the state.

“We love the circumstance when a young man or woman out of college returns home and goes to work for USDA in the county office,” Moran said. “We do not have sufficient personnel in those county offices today. Secretary Rollins, will you pay particular attention to making certain that county offices, where farmers sit across the table from USDA employees, are sufficiently staffed?”

Hollins said it was important to keep in mind USDA was formed to serve interests of farmers and ranchers. The Trump administration was focused on delivering economic prosperity to agriculture, she said.

“As President Trump is working to make America great again and restore prosperity across the country, my role in that is to ensure that rural America sees a level of prosperity that perhaps we haven’t seen in our lifetimes,” she said.

Moran asked Hollins to outline USDA’s vision for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan. The $1.2 billion federal laboratory was built to research biological threats transmitted from animals to humans, including foot-and-mouth disease and swine fever.

“Tell me or get me a report on NBAF’s operational status,” Moran said.

Hollins said the Trump administration was committed to moving NBAF forward “in a way that serves all of America.”

Mission ‘more urgent’

Moran, who co-chairs the Senate Hunger Caucus, asked Hollis to provide assurances USDA was interested in preserving the U.S. Food for Peace program and the McGovern-Dole Food for Education program in wake of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Hollis said she’d spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the programs, which had for decades relied on surplus U.S.-grown food to save lives abroad. She said USDA would comply if Congress passed and Trump signed a bill authorizing the transfer.

“No surprisingly,” she said, “I don’t want to get ahead of my boss.”

Moran said the U.S. food programs were “the difference between life and death for millions of people around the world and has made circumstances better for farmers here at home.”

He argued the mission of international food distribution was increasingly urgent with more than 730 million people facing chronic hunger.

“It was Kansas farmers who came up with the idea for Food for Peace as a moral and commonsense solution to prevent excess American food from going to waste and using it to feed the hungry across the globe,” he said.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

TOPEKA — The bullhorn-powered war of words between Satanists and Catholics boiled over into brawling and a handful of arrests Friday during an extraordinary event at the Kansas Capitol that pushed boundaries of free speech and the separation of church and state.

After about two hours of speeches, prayers and sign waving among hundreds of people mostly segregated by barricades staffed by law enforcement officers, Satanic Grotto president Michael Stewart, with supporters and reporters in tow, entering the Statehouse to conduct what he had described as a black mass. He was warned at the door to the visitors’ center that any formal protest inside the building that violated a permit limiting his religious expression to the lawn or steps of the Capitol would result in his arrest for trespassing.

In the rotunda, Stewart began the rebellious form of a mass and was interrupted by three people intent on stopping was could be interpreted as a mockery of their faith. An unidentified man and woman, with young kids at their side, physically intervened to stop Stewart. He turned away from them. Counter-protester Marcus Schroeder joined the fray and twice reached to take papers from Stewart’s hand. Stewart responded by punching Schroeder in the face twice. More than half a dozen Capitol Police wrestled Stewart to the floor to make the arrest.

“I’m not resisting. I’m not resisting. I’m not resisting,” Stewart repeatedly yelled.

Schroeder, who wore a shirt declaring “Death is not welcome here,” wasn’t arrested by Capitol Police. In an interview, he defended his maneuvering to thwart Stewart.

“I tried to take his papers. He punched me in the face,” he said.

After the area cleared, two other satanists tried to pick up where Stewart left off and were taken into custody. One other person was cuffed and taken away by law enforcement outside the Capitol on Friday. An individual grabbed Stewart by the legs in a bid to stop Stewart from stomping on crackers intended to represent those used in a Catholic mass to represent the consecrated body and soul of Christ. In that brief exchange, Stewart also punched the guy before law enforcement stepped in.

Hundreds of Christians upset with an organization’s plan to conduct a satanic black mass at the Capitol delivered a robust counter-protest to emphasize their disdain for followers of Satanic Grotto. Both sides of the debate used bullhorns to punctuate their messages, creating a blended sound that was difficult for anybody to hear clearly. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

“He was was trying to tackle me to get to the cracker underneath,” Stewart said. “I was able to kind of fend him off. I do think he may have picked up the crumbled cracker and ate it. Did I get physical with him? Yes.”

The opposition

The colorful display of affection and affliction for organized religion culminated attempts by Gov. Laura Kelly, Attorney General Kris Kobach, leaders of the Kansas Legislature and Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, to derail the demonstration planned by Satanic Grotto.

Kelly had the group’s permit amended so no protest could transpire inside the Capitol. Legislative leaders modified policy regarding use of the Capitol to specifically target Satanic Grotto. Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Wichita, said the First Amendment didn’t protect offensive speech or violations of law.

Francis Slobodnik, a Topeka representative of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, told hundreds of Catholics gathered on the south side of the Capitol that state public officials shouldn’t have allowed satanists to assemble on public property. He said the event reflected a misguided understanding of freedom of speech and religion and a lack of appreciation for how a black mass represented worship of Satan.

“Today’s horrific event, the first of its kind in the history of Kansas, is a sacrilege,” Slobodnik said. “Of course, there have been terrible crimes and injustices that have happened in our state over the years. However, nothing in our past compares with what is happening today where God is being directly challenged on the state Capitol grounds. The state Capitol represents all of us.”

He praised the people present at the rally to stand in opposition to Satanic Grotto, referring to them as the Navy Seals of the Catholic faith. He said these activists were willing to confront God’s enemies head-on as if on a field of battle. He said the great sin perpetrated by Stewart and other worshipers of Satan meant that others had to step into the void.

“Satanists do not realize that Satan hates all of God’s creation, including them,” Slobodnik said. “Their reward for worshiping and serving him will be eternal fire.”

And, an exorcist

Former U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, who served in the Kansas Senate before elected to Congress, said he consulted with a priest with experience in exorcism to figure whether he should participate in a television interview with Stewart.

“Father had a simple question: ‘Why would you do this? What do you hope to gain?’ I stumbled around in my answer,” Huelskamp said. “I wanted to share the truth about Christ. The truth about the Eucharist. His summary response was quite stunning to me. He said, ‘There is no good that could come from being in the same room with a Satanist.’”

Huelskamp said it was suggested his participation in the interview with Stewart might serve interests of Satan. The former Republican congressman woke ill the next day, and cancelled the interview. In the end, Huelskamp said he decided it was important to run to the fire created by Satan rather than shrink from it. He said it was the same as making his views known about the evil of abortion and defending the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman.

“I am quite stubborn and hardheaded,” he said. “We cannot be silent. We are required, if we call ourselves Christians, if we call ourselves Catholic, we are publicly required to defend the faith and to stand up for the truth.”

In an interview amid calm before the storm of his arrest, Stewart said he was convinced Catholics assembled around him didn’t understand why Satanic Grotto was at the Capitol to talk about religious oppression.

“What we only want is the rights that every American has,” Stewart said. “I’ve heard people say we’re setting a precedent. Well, if the precedent is freedom of religion for everyone in public spaces, yes, that’s what we’re trying to establish. We are dragging this issue out in the light and we’ll let the people look at it. The issue is that we’re not all being treated the same here.”

This story was produced by the Kansas Reflector which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas public administration professor Chris Koliba has it on good authority that federal governments need major change now and then.

It was President Thomas Jefferson who suggested every generation ought to engage in its own version of revolution, but Koliba said the primary author of the Declaration of Independence didn’t literally recommend national governments should be ruthlessly splintered and recast from scratch again and again.

“What he meant was that as societies evolve, become more complex and new problems arise the chances to refresh and renew some of the fundamental principles and practices in the way government operates are necessary,” Koliba said.

The misinterpretation of Jefferson and erosion of foundational rules and standards of democracy has become an international crisis, he said. The latest action by President Donald Trump to challenge longstanding principles of democratic government demonstrated how quickly the American system could be unraveled, Koliba said.

The list of at-risk framework pieces in the United States included adherence to constitutional obligations, separation of powers, scientific reason, thoughtful regulation, individual rights and promotion of tolerance, he said.

“We’re in an era now that’s been characterized in the political science literature as democratic backsliding — the deconstruction of some of the democratic norms that guided the administration of American society for generations,” Koliba said. “We are seeing a reformation of democratic institutions at the federal level that could fundamentally alter the nature of our democracy.”

“If we start to lose these foundational ideas, what are we left with? We’re left with a highly politicized apparatus that is then subject to the whims of authoritative movements,” he said.

A majority of the six-person Kansas delegation in Congress, however, repeatedly expressed enthusiasm for Trump’s aggressive overhaul of the federal government. That point was driven home as U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, the 1st District Republican, responded to Trump’s recent speech to the House and Senate.

“America is back!” Mann said. “President Trump’s address laid out a clear vision for our country as we work to secure the border, reduce federal spending, cut taxes and restore America’s role on the world stage. I am eager to work with him to make it happen. Promises made, promises kept.”

Professional appeal

On the Kansas Reflector podcast, Koliba delved into an editorial he published in the Journal of Public Affairs Education in response to the global barrage of norm-threatening conduct by government leaders. He urged the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, which accredits public administration programs, to strengthen teaching standards to embolden democratic standards relied upon to shape the profession.

Populist movements on the right and left have been advancing agendas contrary to core ideals of public administration by conflating of truths with opinions, perpetuation of organizing lying and pedaling of dangerous conspiracies, he said. These attacks on democracy were designed to undermine trust and confidence in the bureaucracy within democratic government in the United States and elsewhere, he said.

“I argue that our accreditation standards are not explicit enough in their dedication to democratic values. They are vague and leave things open to interpretation,” Koliba said.

For example, he said, academic standards for public administration touched on constitutional obligations but that language fell short because the duty to adhere to the state or federal constitution wasn’t acknowledged as a bulwark foundation principle.

Accreditation standards ought to clearly emphasize for students of public administration the necessity of improving the effectiveness of government services in response to societal needs, he said.

Ripple effects

This aspirational approach to work of government had implications from meat inspections at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to clean water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, tax audits at the Internal Revenue Service, military readiness at the U.S. Department of Defense, criminal investigations at the U.S. Department of Justice and hundreds of other federal responsibilities.

“There’s a lot of things the government does on our behalf that are right below the surface, right below our radar screens,” Koliba said. “There’s so many things that government services provide that we have taken for granted. We’ll see how deep these cuts go and how sustained they are.”

Koliba, director of KU’s Center for Democratic Governance, said undemocratic trends were occurring in established democracies around the world in one way, shape or form. Domestically, the spotlight has been directed at the jarring work of Trump and billionaire Elon Musk to downsize the federal workforce, dismantle federal agencies and programs and slash federal expenditures often without approval of the legislative branch.

“Much has been written about the state of democracy in the United States and around the world. We’re seeing certain leaders pressing the margins and exploiting loopholes in our democratic system,” he said.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

TOPEKA — Democratic Rep. Ford Carr requested the filing of a formal complaint and appointment of a special investigative committee to examine allegations Republican Rep. Nick Hoheisel engaged in “inappropriate” conduct on the House floor.

In a letter to House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, Carr said conversations with Capitol Police and his personal attorney led to his decision to seek an inquiry by House colleagues into allegedly “uncalled for” and “inappropriate” remarks by Hoheisel that Carr believed violated House rules.

Carr, who has been vocal about policy differences with House GOP leadership, asserted Republicans would have quickly submitted a complaint against Carr if he had admonished Hoheisel for abusive language that included obscenities. The two lawmakers engaged in a verbal exchange last week at Carr’s desk in the House chamber.

“Had this behavior been engaged in or reciprocated by my person, formal charges would have likely been suggested and filed prior to any reconvening of the House immediately following the incident,” Carr said. “In as much as I am keeping my own safety in mind I additionally have safety concerns for my colleagues. Specifically those who have directly expressed these concerns to me.”

A spokeswoman for Woodard said on Monday the House Democratic leader “does not have a comment at this time.” The spokeswoman for House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The Kansas Highway Patrol, which includes the Capitol Police, said a case number was assigned to a report of the Feb. 20 incident involving Carr and Hoheisel, both of Wichita.

The rumble

Hostility between Carr and Hoheisel surfaced as the House was debating merits of House Bill 2104, which would mandate Kansas public school districts rely on the National Rifle Association’s “Eddie Eagle” program if a local school district decided to offer gun safety instruction to students.

Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, said Hoheisel walked among Democrats on the House floor before arriving at Carr’s desk and repeatedly saying, “That’s bulls---.”

The disturbance prompted House Republican leaders to recess the chamber for about two hours and postpone deliberations on the NRA bill. At that point, House Democrats convened a caucus meeting and instructed reporters, lobbyists and others to leave the room.

On Tuesday, House Republicans ordered a reporter with Kansas Reflector to leave the GOP caucus. No justification was given for the decision.

During Tuesday’s open caucus among House Democrats, Woodard said he was grateful to Democrats who took part in a “team effort to kind of deescalate” conflict. Woodard also addressed fellow Democrats about his decision to call a closed meeting in wake of the Hoheisel-Carr fracas.

Kansas Reflector published a story, based on a recording, that included closed-door remarks by Democrats. Some House Democrats expressed concern for their physical safety in the Capitol because legislator carry firearms.

“You have my commitment that going forward in those (closed) meetings, we’re not going to discuss legislation,” Woodard said. “We are allowed to, but we’re not going to. If we ever have those closed caucus meetings, those are truly to be closed. I don’t know who, and I’m not going to point fingers or ask questions about who leaked audio to the press, but that is the only time we actually get to have a conversation. And people said things and were very vulnerable in those moments, and those were not meant for the general public.”

Woodard also referred to a closed meeting among House Democrats as a “very sacred moment.”

‘Shoot-first’ state

Lenexa Rep. Jo Ella Hoye, the House Democrat’s whip and a proponent for legislation designed to improve firearm safety, introduced a bill in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee that would prohibit people from carrying concealed firearms in the Capitol.

For more than a decade, individuals have been allowed to carry guns in the building despite deployment of metal detectors at the main entrance.

“We’re a shoot-first, ask-questions-later kind of state — the stand your ground and some self-defense laws,” Hoye said. “I think that removing firearms from a place where we do have the freedom of speech and expression gives people more of an opportunity to feel safe and comfortable expressing those views.”

She said the proposed bill was intended to hold the Kansas Legislature to a higher standard in terms of decorum and security. She said the presence of firearms didn’t make legislators safer.

“I would condemn political violence in every form, and we’re seeing it heightened across the country,” Hoye said. “There has been an attempt to assassinate a former president, who’s a current president. Now we’re seeing that, I think, spread.”

The precedent

There is precedent in the Legislature for formation of special bipartisan committees to consider evidence of rules violations by senators or representatives. In the House, a panel of legislators would have the option of doing nothing in response to a complaint or recommending the full House censure, reprimand or dismiss a legislator.

In 2021, six House Democrats filed a complaint that prompted an investigation of Rep. Aaron Coleman’s arrests for allegedly driving under the influence and a domestic violence incident. There had been a bipartisan call for Coleman, a Democrat from Kansas City, Kansas, to resign. Coleman was previously admonished by the House for threatening Gov. Laura Kelly and for a record of abusing girls and women.

The Kansas House appointed a special committee in 2015 to consider a complaint filed by nine Republican representatives against Rep. Valdenia Winn, a Democrat. She had criticized proponents of a bill that would deny in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities in Kansas to children of immigrants without legal documentation to reside in the United States.

Winn said the legislation was a “racist, sexist, fearmongering bill” and that it represented “institutional racism.” She didn’t declare a specific person to be a racist, but highlighted institutional racism that she believed influenced the legislative process in Topeka.

That investigative committee of three Republicans and three Democrats heard testimony from two GOP House members behind closed doors before recommending that case be dropped.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

TOPEKA — U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas asserted President Joe Biden’s attempts to improve diversity among air traffic controllers by rejecting white male applicants factored in the catastrophic midair collision of a passenger jet from Wichita and a military helicopter.

Marshall, a Republican, said he was convinced the Biden administration’s emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion policies within the Federal Aviation Administration lowered hiring standards, increased the frequency of near-miss incidents in U.S. airspace and set the stage for the Jan. 29 crash.

He connected those points to the fireball collision of a U.S. Army Black hawk helicopter and American Airline’s Flight 5342 about half a mile from Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C. The 64 people on the airline, including passengers from Kansas, and three aboard the helicopter died.

“I think diversity issues did contribute to the accident,” Marshall said during a news conference Monday in Topeka. “What I think you’re going to find is there were a lot of qualified white men that they were not hiring because they were holding spots for DEI hires.”

Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, Wichita Mayer Lily Wu, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom and U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, a Republican representing Wichita, issued a joint statement declaring their “unequivocally stand with the families and friends of the passengers of Flight 5342. Caring for and supporting those impacted is our top priority.”

The group vowed to be “unrelenting in our work at the local, state and federal levels to ensure U.S. aviation safety remains the best in the world.”

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas, said the roster of victims hadn’t been made public, but there were Kansans among them.

“Many Kansans are personally impacted by this tragedy,” Moran said. “It was a sad day for Kansas and our nation, and I know this is a loss we will be grieving for a long time.”

Marshall, too, expressed concern for victims and their families or friends. He said at least three of the dead were from the El Dorado area where he grew up.

Marshall, who was employed as a physician prior to election to Congress in 2016, said working in an air traffic control tower was more difficult than being a medical doctor because of the multitude of tasks and responsibilities involved in directing aviators in and out of airports.

“It takes a very special person,” the senator said. “I don’t care if it’s a guy or a girl, what color your skin is, it needs to be a qualified person. They need to be able to do their job.”

Marshall echoed comments by President Donald Trump, who criticized DEI initiatives at the FAA. Trump pointed to an FAA report noting the agency had been intent on hiring more people with disabilities as air traffic controllers.

In addition to the DEI issue, Marshall questioned why the Reagan National air controller didn’t step in when the Army helicopter climbed to an altitude of 325 feet when that route required helicopters to hold to a ceiling of 200 feet. He said the controller should have been commanded the military helicopter pilot to reduce altitude and ordered the crew to more closely hug the shore of the Potomac River.

The National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation of the collision of the Virginia-based helicopter and the passenger jet from Wichita’s Eisenhower National Airport.

Early indications were a single air traffic controller was handling both aircraft at Reagan National and the helicopter pilot was warned twice about presence of the passenger jet on final approach.

Marshall said there had been an unresolved shortage of air traffic controllers since he was first a candidate for U.S. House in 2016.

“There’s a huge problem with the air traffic control situation, a huge problem where the military helicopter was,” he said. “I’m not the person that thinks we have to form committees and pray about this for two years to realize that there was a problem here.”

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

TOPEKA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat, said President Donald Trump’s sudden pause of federal grants, loans and other financial assistance programs was causing unnecessary disruption and anxiety for Kansans.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., temporarily blocked the spending freeze until Monday when a hearing on the issue was scheduled.

The Trump administration’s standstill in allocation of federal tax dollars was devised to create a window for an administrative review intended to root out initiatives opposed by the president.

“Families shouldn’t have to worry about feeding their kids, keeping a roof over their heads or affording health care,” Davids said. “This reckless and deliberately vague order cuts vital investments in our economy that hardworking Kansans rely on to stay safe and healthy.”

Davids said the Trump administration should be working to address “real needs of our communities” that included lowering the cost of living for families rather than prioritizing interests of “big corporations and special interests.”

The president’s order put public safety as risk by jeopardizing funding to law enforcement, homeland security and disaster response programs, Davids said. Questions were raised about implications for federally funded road, bridge and transit infrastructure projects, she said.

Davids said the president’s directive could interfere with operation of Head Start, mental health services, the 988 Suicide Crisis Lifeline as well as funding for tribal communities, small business loans and energy programs.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, said Trump’s directive wouldn’t disrupt services and benefits offered through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Moran, chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said he was assured no VA programs, including those provided through grant recipients, would be undercut by directives issued by Trump through the Office of Management and Budget.

“Veterans and their families, as well as the organizations that serve them, will continue to have access to the benefits, services and resources provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Moran said. “I appreciate the VA quickly providing answers to my questions and continuing the important programs that serve our veterans and their families.”

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

TOPEKA — A Kansas House member was shoved to the floor at a Topeka bar during an argument between a Wichita City Council member and a Democratic state representative from Wichita who disagreed about plans to test Wichita residents potentially harmed by a toxic chemical spill in a historically Black neighborhood.

Rep. Henry Helgerson, an Eastborough Democrat attending an informal gathering adjacent to the Capitol, was knocked backward while attempting to intervene in the Wednesday night dispute between Democratic Rep. Ford Carr of Wichita and Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson.

Video of the disturbance showed Helgerson smashing into a table and breaking glassware after shoved by Carr. Helgerson was helped to his feet by two people. Helgerson again tried to restrain Carr, who continued the back-and-forth argument with Johnson at the reception for Wichita-area politicians.

“Ain’t nobody scared of your punk a--,” Johnson shouted in a two-minute video clip widely shared at the Statehouse.

“Bring it on,” replied Carr, still wearing his identification badge as a state legislator.

“No. No. No,” Helgerson said, while temporarily moving Carr away from Johnson. “You don’t want to hurt me, do you?”

At one point, Carr threw his suit jacket to the floor in anger. Several people went in and out of view on the video as they attempted to end the spat or stay clear of the primary combatants. Johnson eventually left the bar amid more shouting.

In an interview, Johnson said he was at the Celtic Fox, a bar across the street from the Statehouse in Topeka, when Carr confronted him about handling $2.5 million set aside by the 2024 Kansas Legislature and $125,000 allocated by City Hall to begin a testing program to learn more about extent of chemical contamination in a northeast Wichita neighborhood.

A chemical spill in the Union Pacific railyard decades ago apparently allowed cancer-causing trichloroethylene, or TCE, to infiltrate groundwater and spread for several miles. Wichita residents in path of the spill weren’t informed of possible health complications until 2022.

Johnson said he was eager to focus on important work of addressing health ramifications of the spill in Wichita. He said he was less interested in debating the bar feud.

“That event will be properly investigated. And the video and those present can speak to the specifics of what happened and by whom,” Johnson said. “I don’t want that incident to in any way distract from the genuine, positive efforts and progress we’re making for residents to address the vitally needed testing and remediation at the 29th and Grove neighborhoods.”

Carr, who advocated for state funding for testing during last year’s legislative session, said municipal government officials in Wichita hadn’t moved quickly enough to advance the initiative.

He said the Wichita City Council and Sedgwick County Commission should have launched testing months ago. The required $1 million local match has yet to be secured, but the city and county appear to have found consensus on how to proceed.

Carr said the animated conversation at the bar was inspired by concern the state appropriation could be rescinded if the cash wasn’t spent before the fiscal year ended in June.

“They wanted me to give them an attaboy or a pat on the back for having this plan,” Carr said in an interview. “I told them I’m appreciative that they came up with a plan, but I’m not going to stand up and rejoice a plan that took eight months to develop. At that point, Brandon Johnson took it personally.”

Carr said he hadn’t consumed an intoxicating beverage, but indicated Johnson appeared to be drinking a dark ale.

“I’m not going to say he was inebriated. I’m just going to say that’s what he was drinking,” Carr said. “His voice began to get elevated. And, after his voice elevated, he made a physical gesture, put his finger in my face, and at that point I stood upright, so then he equally stands.”

Carr said he interpreted Johnson’s gesture at the bar as a threat.

“And I’ve always been the kind of person that you can start that trouble — I know how to finish it,” Carr said.

He said he didn’t realize in the moment that it was Helgerson who attempted to intervene. He said he regretted shoving Helgerson hard enough that he fell to the floor. He referred to Helgerson as a friend.

“I pushed Henry out of the way. Apparently, in the heat of passion, I’m a little stronger than I thought,” Carr said. “I can’t say that I regret moving him out of the way, but I just regret that he lost his balance and fell. It was never intended to be any harm to Rep. Helgerson.”

Helgerson, who was at the Capitol on Thursday, wasn’t available to comment on the incident.

House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, declined to discuss the bar incident but issued a statement.

“We are taking this matter seriously and are committed to resolving it,” he said. “Our focus remains serving the people of Kansas and advancing policies that meet their needs.”

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

TOPEKA — U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall delivered bleak messages to the nation’s postmaster general about the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service by channeling frustration of Kansans, specifically Dana from El Dorado, Mike from Topeka and Stacy of Marysville.

During a hearing of the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C., the Kansas Republican quizzed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who took the top USPS job in 2020. DeJoy has faced criticism for inconsistent handling of first-class mail, decommissioning high-speed sorting machines, forming bigger regional processing hubs that slowed delivery to rural customers and six postage rate hikes since 2021.

“We asked some folks back home, if you could be in front of the postmaster general, what questions would they ask you,” said Marshall to DeJoy. The senator said Stacy and Mike proposed the same query. “What is justifying the consistent price increases with no change or improvement in delivery time or service?”

DeJoy said mail-delivery service was slipping before he was selected by the Postal Service’s Board of Governors.

“Senator, we had a defective pricing model for 20 years,” DeJoy said. “Mail volume was cut in half and we weren’t allowed to raise our prices to accommodate that.”

The cost of a U.S. first-class stamp was 1 cent in 1863 and didn’t hit the 5-cent plateau for a century. The price of the basic postage stamp hit 50 cents in 2019. Under DeJoy, the cost of a forever stamp surged to 58 cents in 2021, 60 cents in 2022, 63 cents in early 2023, 66 cents in late 2023, 68 cents in early 2024 and 73 cents later in 2024.

The Postal Service’s financial trajectory must be stabilized before delivery metrics substantially improve, DeJoy said. He also said there had to be workplace adjustments.

“I have my people, 640,000 people, that need to learn how to operate like Fed Ex and UPS,” the postmaster said. “That’s the only way we survive.”

Half Kansans disappointed

Marshall said Dana from El Dorado would have asked the postmaster general why rural mail was no longer delivered in a timely manner. She yearned for days of two- or three-day delivery anywhere in the United States.

DeJoy said the standard USPS delivery time was reset in 2021 at five days, up from the unrealistic goal of three days. The Postal Service was spending $3.5 billion flying mail around the country in an attempt to hit the three-day target, he said.

“We put everything on a truck on a ground service. We’ve taken $1.5 billion out of our transportation budget,” DeJoy said.

Marshall said a poll was sent to about 400,000 Kansans to get a sense of attitudes about mail delivery. More than half of Kansas respondents said their mail service was unreliable. Nearly 70% said they’d personally experienced delays in the past year.

“Certainly you’re not going to call that success?” Marshall said.

DeJoy’s confession: “We have issues in Kansas. I’m working a strategy specifically to enhance the service in Kansas. I recognize it’s there, and we’re going to fix it.”

Marshall said he was convinced DeJoy wanted to make the system better, but urged the postmaster general to explain where resistance to reform was coming from.

“I think there’s a romance with an organization that long ago lost its ability to do the service that everybody expected,” DeJoy said. “That’s the issue here.”

What about Winchester?

Marshall asled DeJoy to pledge to complete work on a contract so the city of Winchester in Jefferson County could have a post office for the first time since October 2020. The senator sent a letter last summer to DeJoy about Winchester’s lack of a post office. At the hearing, DeJoy said he was uncertain he could make the commitment.

DeJoy said Congress had long burdened the Postal Service with “significant unfunded mandates.” He said members of Congress were loath to embrace his plans for price hikes, shorter post office hours and slower first-class mail delivery. He said U.S. House members had begged him not to saddle their congressional district with unpopular changes.

“It would have been easier for me to build a new postal service than to transition this one, because we’re also delivering 400 million pieces of mail and packages a day,” DeJoy said.

While serving as postmaster general, DeJoy has been accused of conflicts of interest and meddling with mail-in voting to distort outcomes in the 2020 election.

He’s also been lauded for securing passage of a bipartisan Postal Service reform bill, delivering 500 million COVID-19 test kits through the mail and agreeing to change course and move the Postal Service’s fleet to electric vehicles.

Other inquiries, comments

Prior to the hearing, Marshall requested followers on Facebook recommend questions for DeJoy. Some asserted DeJoy’s initial assignment from then-President Donald Trump was to undermine the Postal Service so it would be easier to privatize the federal agency.

“Wasn’t DeJoy a Trump appointee specifically to slow down and screw up USPS?” said Timothy Cable. “I’d like you to mention that.”

“Stop with the pandering,” Andrea Pfeifer messaged Marshall. “You knew when he was put in place by Trump, with no experience, that he was put in there to try and destroy the basic functions of the P.O. in order to try and privatize the services and make money for the rich corporate pocket liners.”

Allen Crowder wondered if DeJoy could explain why Postal Service union members were given “so much power to slow down the mail?”

“I am a former postal worker, and have seen the corrupt unions doing their corrupt tricks,” Crowder said.

Mellissa Chestnut, who said she was a Postal Service employee, said it didn’t make sense DeJoy embraced a philosophy of giving Amazon packages preference over regular mail.

“I’d like to know what the plan is to get Amazon under control? Amazon is killing us. Why are we putting Amazon priority over everything else?” she said.

Meanwhile, Mike Smith recommended Marshall and DeJoy talk about allowing local mail to be canceled in the city of origin for delivery the next day. In some instances, letters must be hauled long distances to centralized facilities for processing before transported back to the place of origin.

“From here to Dodge, to Wichita for canceling, then to Dodge, and back to Ashland. That’s government for you,” Smith said.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and X.

TOPEKA — A statewide online survey of political and public policy issues reveals nearly half of registered voters in red-state Kansas who plan to cast a ballot in the presidential election support Republican Donald Trump and more than 43% favoring Democrat Kamala Harris.

The 48.2% for Trump and 43.2% for Harris suggested further narrowing of the Kansas advantage for Trump, who has been the GOP nominee for president in 2016, 2020 and 2024. In 2016, Trump carried Kansas with 56.6% against 36% for Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump won Kansas in 2020, but the gap closed modestly with Trump at 56.2% and Democrat Joe Biden at 41.5%.

On the national level, the November race between Trump and Harris was a toss-up with the outcome tied to voter preferences in a half dozen swing states.

The survey of 645 adult Kansans by the Docking Institute for Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University indicated 59% were dissatisfied with Biden and 28.5% satisfied with Biden’s work as president. On the other hand, 46.4% approved and 27.1% disapproved of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

In terms of the Kansas Legislature, 30.3% were dissatisfied and 29.1% were satisfied. And, 20.6% were dissatisfied and 26.8% satisfied with the Kansas Supreme Court. Fifty-five percent were disappointed and 15.9% were impressed with the U.S. Congress.

The Docking Institute says 60.5% were confident the reported winner of elections in Kansans accurately reflected the vote. While some Republicans in state and federal office argue elections were undermined by fraud, 52.3% of respondents in the FHSU survey said it wasn’t a problem in Kansas. In this year’s survey, 12.4% said Kansas elections were distorted by fraud.

Fifteen percent said undocumented immigrants were voting in Kansas elections “in large numbers,” but 37.2% disagreed with that unproven claim. By a two-to-one margin, the survey showed Kansans wanted to retain the option of advance voting and use of mail-in ballots.

Abortion, economics

More than two-thirds of respondents said women were in a better position than politicians to make decisions about abortion. Sixty-one percent said it should be legal for women to travel outside the state for an abortion if the Kansas Supreme Court discarded constitutional protections for abortion rights and the Legislature banned “all or most abortions.”

In the 2024 survey, the percentage who believed the Kansas economy was getting weaker moved from 43.7% in 2022 to 37.6% this year. Despite a declining inflation rate, half of those taking part in the survey said inflationary pressures had affected their family “a great deal.”

“Kansans’ rating of the Kansas economy has become more positive in the past three years,” said Jian Sun, co-author of the Docking Institute survey. “The percentage of Kansans rating the Kansas economy as excellent or very good increased from 16.1% in 2022 to 21.1% in 2024.”

Seventy-five percent of people answering the survey said expanding eligibility for Medicaid, and drawing down hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, would help rural Kansas hospitals remain in business. Only 4.5% disagreed with that view. Half of Kansans said expansion of Medicaid to lower-income Kansans was a “highly or extremely important” issue when deciding who to vote for in state House and Senate races.

Consistent with previous Docking Institute surveys, 65.2% of respondents supported legalizing recreational marijuana sales to individuals 21 or older. A higher percentage — 72.9% — wanted the Legislature to legalize consumption of cannabis for medical purposes.

Fifty-five percent said they strongly or somewhat disagreed with a 2015 state law allowing adults to carry concealed handguns without a license or permit. And, 58.8% objected to state law allowing adults to carry concealed guns on college campuses.

The survey said 83.1% wanted to block sale of firearms to people reported as dangerous to law enforcement by mental health providers. Seventy-seven percent say a person convicted of violent misdemeanors shouldn’t be allowed to buy a firearm. Nearly three-fourths of Kansans in the survey want to require background checks for private and gun-show sales of firearms. Fifty-four percent support a ban on assault-style weapons and ammunition clips holding more than 10 bullets.

In terms of immigration, 53.8% agreed legal immigrants enriched American culture and values. Just under half said legal immigrants were accepting jobs that U.S. citizens didn’t want, while 45.7% said too many immigrants were coming into the United States.

Thirty-six percent of respondents said illegal immigrants should be arrested and placed in detention camps while awaiting deportation hearings, but 41.1% disagreed with that policy. Forty-five percent said illegal immigrants were a threat to public safety, but 31.9% had the opposite view.

Housing, child care

On the issue of housing, 41.8% said they didn’t have savings to cover their monthly expenditures for housing. Almost 60% said lack of affordable houses to purchase or rent had negative impacts on their community.

“We’ve been tracking housing issues for three years now, as housing is not just important to a family’s quality of life but also to a community’s ability to attract and retain a workforce,” said Brett Zollinger, the survey’s co-author and the Docking Institute director.

Three-fourths of respondents in the 2024 survey said state government should pass laws expanding access to affordable child care and 71.2% said the federal government should do likewise. In addition, 67.7% want local government to use public resources to expand access to child care.

One-third of those answering the survey said local government wasn’t sufficiently invested in conserving water resources, while 36.8% said state government fell short in terms of water conservation. Half said they were concerned Kansas might be running out of water and 62% said Kansas farmers needed to change farming practices due to declining water levels.

A copy of 2024 Kansas Speaks survey results, as well as results from previous years, can be found at https://www.fhsu.edu/docking/Kansas-Speaks/.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and X.

TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson were safely evacuated Wednesday from the celebration honoring the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs after gunfire erupted outside Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, and killed at least one person and injured two dozen, officials said.

“Today, a day that should have been a celebration of the Chiefs’ remarkable skill and success, has turned into a day of mourning,” Kelly said. “This senseless act of violence goes against everything Kansas City and the Chiefs Kingdom stand for.”

Parson was among thousands of fans who attended the parade and celebration after the Chiefs’ victory Sunday over the San Francisco 49ers to seal back-to-back NFL championships.

“As we wait to learn more, our hearts go out to the victims,” the Missouri governor’s statement said.

Kristin Bowen took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to urge the Missouri Republican and Kansas Democrat to “seriously commit to partnering and doing more to ensure something like this mass trauma never happens again. Better gun laws are needed.”

Tara Bennet, a volunteer with the Kansas City chapter of Moms Demand Action who was attending the parade, said it was “absurd that we cannot celebrate our city’s victory without fearing for our lives at the same time. We won’t be broken by this. We are Kansas City Strong.”

Biden: ‘Make your voice heard’

President Joe Biden said the Super Bowl was a unifying force in American, but the shooting in Kansas City “cuts deep to the American soul.” He said the day’s events “should move us, shock us, shame us into acting. What are we waiting for? What else do we need to see? How many more families need to be torn apart?”

“It is time to act. That’s where I stand. And I ask the country to stand with me. To make your voice heard in Congress so we finally act to ban assault weapons, to limit high-capacity magazines, strengthen background checks, keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business owning them or handling them,” Biden said.

The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department said three people had been taken into custody. The Kansas City Star reported a Johnson County resident died after shooting began as the rally ended around 2 p.m. Wednesday.

The Kansas City Chiefs issued a statement saying all players, coaches, staff and their families were accounted for and denounced the “senseless act of violence.”

Mayor Quinton Lucas said people assembled for the celebration were compelled to become “members of this club that none of us want to be a part of, which is those who have experienced mass shootings.”

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, said he joined fans who came together to experience the conclusion of a joyous season that culminated in the overtime win in the Super Bowl.

“I am devastated and angered by the senseless act of violence that turned a day of celebration for our community into a complete tragedy,” Marshall said. “My heart breaks for those who were a victim of this needless violence. I am praying for everyone and the entire KC community.”

The ‘evil hatred’

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat serving the Kansas City area on the Kansas side of the state line, said she appreciated bravery and coordination of law enforcement officers, first responders and health care workers who helped with the evacuation and provided medical care for victims.

“Though our community stands together in the present, the traumatic memories of today will stick with children, families and community members for far too long. This does not reflect the spirit of Kansas City, and I support those asking for a change to ensure a brighter and safer future,” Davids said.

U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Kansas Republican, said individuals responsible for the shooting must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

“There is absolutely no place in our society for this kind of evil hatred,” LaTurner said.

Meanwhile, Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said he was heartbroken a celebration of success was shattered by violence.

“On a day that should be about celebrating the success of the Chiefs and the Kansas City area, it’s heartbreaking to hear of the lawlessness that occurred after the parade,” Hawkins said. “I appreciate our hard-working law enforcement officers for risking their own lives to keep others safe.”

State Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat, said she had walked past the Union Station area of the shooting minutes before the barrage of gunfire.

“What a horrible ending to the day,” she said. “I’ve been pushing for common sense gun reform for years. We don’t have to live this way.”

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.