Free Republic

".....Yuma,Colorado, a farming town of 3,500 people near the Kansas border, celebrated last month as homegrown Republican Cory Gardner was elected to the U.S. Senate. Gardner, a high school football player and the son of a farm equipment dealer, defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall to help the GOP gain control of the Senate in the second-most expensive congressional race of all time.Gardner represented Colorado’s 4th Congressional District for four years, an expansive territory that covers the mostly flat and rural eastern third of the state. Farmers there mostly grow corn to feed cattle, and water comes from the quickly...

Hunters from all parts of the country come to Kansas hoping to shoot a buck with a trophy-class set of antlers. Well, for Chuck Rorie, half of the dream came true Wednesday afternoon when he shot what he thought was a nice buck. Instead, the set of eight-point antlers were attached to a doe. “I didn’t think much about it; it just looked like a nice buck when I was watching it and shot it,” said Rorie, of Monroe, N.C. “But when I was skinning it I realized something didn’t look right. It didn’t have the right private parts. “I...

Transfer of Public Lands Act’ demands Washington relinquish 31.2 million acres by Dec. 31. In three weeks, Utah intends to seize control of 31.2 million acres of its own land now under the control of the federal government. At least, that’s the plan. In an unprecedented challenge to federal dominance of Western state lands, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert in 2012 signed the “Transfer of Public Lands Act,” which demands that Washington relinquish its hold on the land, which represents more than half of the state’s 54.3 million acres, by Dec. 31. ... With the 2012 law, Utah placed itself on...

The most pivotal moment of his career is about to unfold on prime time TV, and Kris Kobach has no way to watch. “There’s really no TV in here?” he says, and a waitress at a downtown diner in tiny Tonganoxie shakes her head. “How about a phone? Anyone have enough cell service to stream live radio?” Kobach asks, and a few of the Republicans assembled here for a county meeting rush up to help. (SNIP) Governors have been texting his cellphone and Senate staffers have been sending e-mails, and everyone is asking Kobach a version of the same question:...

The Johnson County moderate, a fixture of Kansas politics for decades, is an increasingly endangered species. Republicans and analysts on both sides of the moderate-conservative divide say the Nov. 4 election results confirm that conclusion. The centrist bankers, lawyers and businessmen who once defined the county’s politics are giving way to younger, more socially oriented conservatives who now play the major role in determining the county’s approach to government. “The old guard just doesn’t have the weight they used to have,” said Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Republican just elected to a second term. “The fact that the elites...

The 36-year-old mother of four had suffered severe burns over more than half her body and had cuts on her head when firefighters found her November 14, naked in a park near the Wichita State University campus. The suspect in the case, twenty-six-year-old Cornell A. McNeal, also of Wichita, was charged Friday with attempted capital murder, rape and arson. Lt. Espinoza says the charges against McNeal will now be amended to include murder. McNeal is accused of raping, beating and setting on fire a 36-year-old woman who was walking in Fairmount Park, south of Wichita State University’s main campus, about...

A woman who was sexually assaulted and burned in Fairmount Park last week has died, Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza said. [Snip] {Cornell A.] McNeal is accused of raping, beating and setting on fire a 36-year-old woman who was walking in Fairmount Park, south of Wichita State University’s main campus, about 11 p.m. Nov. 14.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is among a group of five Republican senators who introduced a bill this week that, if passed, would impose a travel ban preventing those in countries currently afflicted by Ebola from coming to the United States. A release on Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's official website detailed the legislation. Rubio and Grassley are joined by Sens. Pat Roberts (Kan.), John Thune (S.D.) and Mark Kirk (Ill.). Under the proposed bill, people living in countries experiencing "widespread transmission of Ebola" as noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be unable to acquire a visa to...

WICHITA, Kan. (CBS St. Louis) – Wichita police say a woman was sexually assaulted, hit on the head, and set on fire Monday night in Fairmount Park. According to police, the woman was on the ground, almost in a crawl, barely moving, and naked. The woman was helped by a neighbor – Johnnye Marshall woke up her boyfriend Deon McPherson when she heard somebody scream for help. “What if that was my daughter? I’d want somebody to go in and get her,” McPherson told The Wichita Eagle. “Where there wasn’t blood, there was a burn.” The flames from the fire...

They are going there to get subsidized Section 8 housing vouchers to take to another state. Refugee resettlement is a euphemism for importing whole Muslim communities, importing jihad. I have long documented the targeting of gateway cities (smaller cities) overwhelmed with Muslim refugee immigration from countries like Somalia — cities like Emporia, Kansas, Nashville, Greeley and Fort Morgan, Colorado, Lewiston, Maine et al. The over-saturation and drain on city resources has driven these immigrants northward to settle in Wyoming, according to these reports. Organizations like Lutheran Family Services profit enormously from the Federal government handling these refugees. The sharia compliant...

....The U.S. Geological Survey has confirmed the epicenter of the quake as 8 miles south of Conway Springs, Kansas. According to Sumner County Emergency Manager, James Fair, a there are few structures with foundation damage. A tree with a diameter of 18-20 inches was uprooted and a propane tank was shifted off its foundation.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court said Wednesday that same-sex marriages can go ahead in Kansas. The nation's highest court denied the state's request to prevent gay and lesbian couples from marrying while Kansas fights the issue in court. The state constitution includes a provision banning gay marriage, approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2005.

Strong, pronounced shaking felt in Wichita. Likely felt in Tulsa, OKC, and probably as far away as Kansas City

State revenue forecasters said Monday that the state can expect hundreds of millions of budget dollars less than previously thought to fund schools, social programs and highway projects. The consensus revenue estimating group lowered the official projections it made in April by $205 million. If accurate, the revised forecast means that Gov. Sam Brownback and legislators will have to raise taxes or make deep cuts in spending during the remaining seven months of the budget year to avoid a $278 million deficit. Additional cuts will be necessary to prevent a $435 million deficit in the next budget year, the analysts...

After surviving a primary challenge and winning a general election, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) declared that he heard his "marching orders" from Kansas voters to be conservative. "I've heard my marching orders loud and clear," Roberts, a Marine veteran, said during his Tuesday evening victory speech. "I will be bold. I will be conservative. And I will be constructive." Roberts, who has been against amnesty legislation since the 1980s, survived his primary challenge against Milton Wolf because there was no daylight between Roberts and Wolf on illegal immigration....

I’d almost forgotten to write this column. I’m sitting here watching election returns, and I am just stunned. Massachusetts? Maryland? MARYLAND?!?! Forget the Senate for a minute, or the massive Republican majority in the House, and think about the fact that Republicans did so well in the gubernatorial races across the country. In Michigan, after passing a “Right-To-Work” law, Gov. Rick Snyder wins handily. Union money and muscle plus President Obama campaigning against him couldn’t sink a man with the Twitter handle @OneToughNerd. Speaking of unions, no one had a bigger target placed on their back by the unions than...

Yesterday’s Democratic wipeout had many causes, but immigration was clearly one of them. When the president said, “My policies are on the ballot this fall,” he was talking about things already done, like Obamacare, but also things to come. And whatever we think he might do in the future, he’s made only one concrete policy promise in that regard — unilateral lawless amnesty for millions of illegal aliens by the end of the year. (SNIP) As Mickey Kaus noted, “Schumer would probably be chairman of the lucrative Banking Committee if he hadn’t pushed his amnesty bill.” (SNIP) Only one ballot...

The Kansas governor’s race was a nailbiter all night, with Republican incumbent Sam Brownback neck and neck with his Democrat challenger Paul Davis right up until Davis conceded around midnight EST. Looking at recent media coverage leading up to the election, though, you never would’ve known that #KSgov was a race to watch, especially since so many talking heads heralded it as a referendum on conservative policies. Left and right wing outlets began writing Brownback off for his aggressive tax policies weeks and even months ago, with many calling his predicted loss a mandate for moderation. With 100% of precincts...

Brownback wins; Paul Davis concedes.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) was projected to defeat Independent candidate Greg Orman, according to CBS and Fox News. The Kansas Senate race heated up in September, when Democrat Chad Taylor withdrew from the race and attempted to remove his name from the ballot. According to the AP, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach declared Taylor didn't fully comply with a state election law in submitting his letter of withdrawal, and the dispute was taken to the state Supreme Court. The court ordered the state to remove Taylor's name from the ballot. A September poll suggested the court's decision might have...