Clay County Lawmaker Joins Kinder’s Challenge to “Dear Colleague” Letter May 27, 2016

Clay County St. Rep. T.J. Berry says the Obama administration’s new regulation on transgender bathroom preference in public schools could encourage pedophile and child molesters.
“If I’m a pedophile and found in the other bathroom, now I just claim I’m transgender and it allows me to access it (the other bathroom)”
Berry is one of 108 Missouri state lawmakers who signed onto the letter from Lt . Peter Governor Kinder.
Kinder’s letter demands the Obama administration rescind the ‘Dear Colleague” letter sent out to US school districts earlier in May.
“your administration is seizing local control from public schools,” Kinder charges in the letter.
The letter says students who be able to use the bathroom of their preferred sexual identity rather than their gender at birth.
The “dear Colleague” letter from the Obama Education and Justice departments warned that district that do not comply are risking their federal funding.
11 states have sued the Obama administration challenging the regulation.
Kansas and Missouri, however, are not among them.

Transit Policy Stalls May 26, 2016

The proposed ‘Transit Oriented Development Policy’ran into opposition Thursday at a joint meeting of two Kansas City Council committee.

Sponsor Jolie Justus pulled the proposal back at the end of the meeting.

Several council members, including three from the Northland, raised questions about the scope and intent of the plan.

Northland Council member Dan Fowler said he had just received a copy of the lengthy plan. He was concerned that only transit activists had been involved in drawing up the proposal.

“There has been no effort to reach out to those groups beyond those in the city center.” Fowler said, “That’s my concern. Something is going to be passed that most of us are not aware of”.

He added in was in favor a general transit policy,. He think less densely populated parst of the city, like the Northland and South Kansas City, need to be more involved. .

The proposal is intended to guide development along the streetcar line downtown and along some of the city’s bus stations, especially ones of the dedicated MAX bus routes.

The goal is to try and link economic development and transit.
City leaders claim the new 2 mile downtown streetcar route helped revive downtown and south of the loop.
Kansas Citian Sheila Styron testified at the hearing with her guide dog at her side. Styron is blind.

She said it’s right for the city to require business to make sure there bus station near by their operations that the disabled can use easily.

Kansas Citian Fred Gambino noted he owned property in Olathe, Kansas.

He says the city needs a transit guidance plan.
“Because without a policy, there’s no policy. And you’re going to end up like Olathe. Heaven help us,” he said.

The planning department leaders say they will arrange for a set of meetings in both the Northland and South Kansas City before drawing up a revised transit development policy.

Transit Policy Has to Streetcar Plan May 26, 2016

Kansas City, Missouri’s Director of planning says there is no intent to expand the new streetcar line through a new transit policy.

” No. It is not implicitly a plan to expand the street car,” said Jeffery Williams, Planning Director.

The issue came up early in a lengthy Thursday morning meeting on the proposed “Transit Oriented Development” proposal the council is considering.

Northland Council member Heather Hall brought up her concerns about the streetcar expansion early in the meeting. She says she has concerned about a possible expansion.

” I do. I hear, as he (Williams) was discussing the plan, ‘future streetcar expansion’ is in the policy. To me, that means future streetcar expansion,” she said.

Hall remains skeptical about the no-expansion pledge.

Selling Kemper Could Save Millions May 16, 2016

Selling Kemper Arena to the Foutch Brothers Development company could save City Hall millions of dollars, according to City Councilman Scott Taylor.

“Anywhere from five to six million dollars, anywhere up to 10 million dollars, pending upon how it’s torn down,” said Taylor.

The city also spends about a million dollars a year just keeping the building operating.

The Foutch Brothers originally presented a plan to buy Kemper to the City Council. In their plan, Kemper would have a second floor on the second deck and use it has a youth sports facility for basketball, soccer and other sports.

Foutch Athletics already runs two indoor facilities in the Kansas City area and two more in other locations in the Midwest.

Taylor also thinks a revitalized Kemper could help encourage more economic development in the West Bottoms.

Taylor says the facility would draw families who would be dropping off athletes to compete there.

“They’re going to need a place to eat, to shop. This will spur economic activity,” Taylor said.

There will be a special City Council Committee meeting Wednesday night at Kemper area on the proposed sale.

It will be preceded by a tour of Kemper which is open to the public.

McCain Thinks Roberts’ Hold on Army Secretary Misses the Mark April 28, 2016

(AP) – Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts is blocking a vote on the nomination of Eric Fanning to be the next Army secretary. At issue are efforts by the president to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer detainees to the United States.

Republican Sen. John McCain tried to secure a vote on Fanning, who if confirmed would be the first openly gay leader of a U.S. military service.

But Roberts objected on Thursday, saying he won’t relent until the White House promises no detainees will be moved to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

McCain says it’s unfair to block Fanning’s nomination over an unrelated issue. McCain calls it a distortion of the Senate’s advise and consent role.

Fanning has served in several roles at the Pentagon.