Opinion: Hogsett and Trump, engulfed

Posted on by Brian A. Howey

INDIANAPOLIS — As a political reporter I have received numerous news tips over the past four decades about rumors involving public servants. Some of them have panned out; others have been devoid of truth.

My threshold for taking such “rumors” to print often comes down to this: Does the situation affect this public servant’s ability to perform the job, to function at high capacity? And is blatant hypocrisy involved?

Two politicians are currently under such scrutiny: Democratic Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump. 

The former’s mayoral administration is engulfed in allegations and resignations involving widespread sexual harassment that had been reported and ignored for years. The latter is in apparent cognitive decline to the point that his reality is becoming an abstract concept that most of us cannot understand.

Mirror Indy and IndyStar investigations focused on Thomas Cook, Hogsett’s former chief of staff and past campaign manager, and strongly suggested a toxic culture existed for female employees, almost eight years following the #MeToo movement.

Cook left the administration two years ago, some five years after the first sexual harassment allegations surfaced. Last week another Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development employee was terminated after the city’s corporation counsel described “overwhelming evidence” against him. Another five city employees are under similar probes.

The media has been dogging Mayor Hogsett since these allegations surfaced. Before a show by a local comedian on Saturday, Hogsett told the audience: “I want you all … look, I ain’t on the ballot. I ain’t running for nothin’. I’m running from things, but I ain’t running for nothin’. But I want everybody here to make sure you get registered to vote at this election in November.”

On Friday, Hogsett skipped a ribbon cutting at a city animal shelter, sending a female deputy instead to take questions from the media.

Lauren Roberts, a former Hogsett administration employee who has said Cook sexually harassed her, told Fox59/CBS4 that when it came to alerting Hogsett of Cook’s inappropriate behavior, “May of 2017 is when I started emailing the mayor. … The mayor and the city claimed they investigated my report, but I was never interviewed.”

I’ve known Hogsett since 1986 when he managed Evan Bayh’s first statewide campaign. Throughout his legacy as secretary of state, as a congressional and attorney general candidate, as district attorney and finally as mayor, this is the most existential political threat he has faced, even worse than his wife filing for divorce two months before his 2023 reelection.

Democratic strategist Elise Shrock told IndyStar: “When people look at the behavior of the mayor and his top advisors I think they’re wondering where the self-awareness, personal accountability and baseline empathy are. What conditions make them feel that comfortable and so empowered to behave this way? To make jokes in the face of sexual assault?

“… And the void of calls for accountability from many in our party makes for deafening compliance,” Shrock said.

This is a party that has helped place female mayors in the state’s second- and third-largest cities. Now when the party seeks more women to register to vote, the most conspicuous public servant has provided a haven for horndogs.

On Monday, the City-County Council voted 22-1 to launch a wider probe. Now a mere nine months into his third term, the question for Mayor Hogsett is this: Does this mushrooming scandal impair his ability to govern? If he’s skipping events to avoid the media and keeps talking about “running from things,” his days in office will be numbered and his legacy tarnished.

As for Donald Trump, he has spent the past nine years doing and saying things that no other American candidate or officeholder has said and survived. He has become the zombie nominee, surviving and rising in the polls despite indictments, convictions and utter weirdness. It appeared Joe Biden’s win in 2020 drove a stake through Trump’s heart, which was followed by Trump’s coup attempt on Jan. 6, 2021. But after that defeat and congressional losses in 2018 and 2022 that had Trump’s fingerprints all over them, here he is once again with his third GOP presidential nomination.

In the past week, Trump appears to be twisting, twisting, twisting into his own bizarre reality.

Saturday at a MAGA rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, Trump rambled for nearly two hours. It prompted journalist Heather Cox Richardson to observe on her Substack page: “A number of us who have been watching him closely have been saying for a while that when voters actually saw him in this campaign, they would be shocked at how he has deteriorated, and that seems to be true: his meandering and self-indulgent speeches have had attendees leaving early, some of them bewildered.” 

Trump referred to the most conspicuous billionaire (besides himself) as “Leon Musk” (dyslexia?). He forgot the name of the governor of North Dakota (the Doug without the emu who was one of Trump’s veep finalists).

He talked of local school districts performing gender-affirming surgery on children. “Can you imagine you’re a parent and your son leaves the house and you say, ‘Jimmy, I love you so much. Go have a good day at school,’ and your son comes back with a brutal operation?” Trump said. “Can you even imagine this? What the hell is wrong with our country?”

If you don’t want to take my word that this is pure poppycock, go ask your local principal or superintendent how many gender transformations have occurred down at the nurse’s office.

Trump talked of his (and Project 2025) plans to deport some 20 million immigrants (the World War II internment of Japanese Americans in camps numbered around 150,000). “And you know,” Trump said, “getting them out will be a bloody story.”

Say what? What does this mean, dude?

Donald Trump’s world veered into a dystopian nightmare. “If I don’t win Colorado, it will be taken over by migrants, and the governor will be sent fleeing,” he said.

“I will prevent World War III, and I am the only one that can do it. I will prevent World War III. And if I don’t win this election, Israel is doomed. Israel will be gone. I’d better win.” 

And this: “I better win or you’re gonna have problems like we’ve never had. We may have no country left. This may be our last election. You want to know the truth? People have said that. This may be our last election. It’ll all be over, and you gotta remember, Trump is always right. I hate to be right. I’m always right.”

Spoken like a stable genius, right?

On the subject of E. Jean Carroll (whom he owes more than $90 million for continually shooting off his mouth despite court orders), Trump said last week: “She said I was making out with her. And then, after 15 minutes — and she changed her story a couple times, maybe it was quicker — then I grabbed her at a certain part and that’s when she had enough,” Trump told reporters as his lawyers looked on. “Think of the practicality of this: I’m famous, I’m in a plane, people are coming into the plane. And I’m looking at a woman, and I grab her and start kissing her and making out with her. What are the chances of that happening?”

Trump added, “And frankly — I know you’re going to say it’s a terrible thing to say — but it couldn’t have happened, it didn’t happen and she would not have been the chosen one. She would not have been the chosen one.”

Eeeeow! That was a terrible thing to say, bro.

On Sunday, he tweeted on his social media platform, Truth Social: “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again. We cannot let our Country further devolve into a Third World Nation, AND WE WON’T! Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.” 

And Trump is still channeling “the late, great Hannibal Lecter” (a fictional cannibal) and Al “Scarface” Capone, who was responsible for the St. Valentine’s Day massacre (and the ultimate humiliation of Geraldo Rivera, standing next to that empty vault in Chicago).

Are these two men — Hogsett and Trump — capable of serving in office?

Brian A. Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.

They Said It (09.12.24)

Posted on by David Jacobs

“Ain’t nothing we ain’t been through before.” —A Terrebonne Parish resident on Hurricane Francine, reported by Sam Karlin on X

“The time to evacuate has now passed.” —Jacques Thibodeaux, director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, during the last pre-landfall press conference at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday

“Stay home and stay put…Just because it is a Category 1, or possibly a Category 2, doesn’t mean it’s just going to be a thunder bumper.” —Gov. Jeff Landry at the same Wednesday presser

“MR. CANTORE DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT COMING HERE” —A digital sign on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway referencing Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel

“Just grab a shovel and do it.” —Keep Tiger Town Beautiful founder Jennifer Richardson, urging residents to clear out the storm drains on their properties and in their neighborhoods, in Daily Report

“The fact still remains that constituents in my district, as well as those of members of this committee, don’t feel comfortable going to New Orleans unless they are carrying a large caliber pistol and two spare magazines while wearing a bulletproof vest.” —Sen. Blake Miguez, at a Judiciary C hearing with Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams

Our History: Pope John Paul II visits New Orleans

Posted on by David Jacobs

Pope John Paul II celebrated a massive mass in New Orleans on today’s date 37 years ago. 

New Orleans, and south Louisiana in general, has long been more Catholic than the rest of the South. The papal visit, on a hectic weekend that followed 16 months of planning, highlighted the importance of the city and its people to the Church. 

After spending Friday night at Notre Dame Seminary, the pope visited St. Louis Cathedral for a reception with 3,000 clergy members. At the Superdome, he spoke to Black Catholic leaders and Catholic educators, and also to a youth rally that featured a mini-Mardi Gras parade and the St. Augustine Marching 100 band. He also spoke about higher education at Xavier University. 

That afternoon, the pope celebrated an outdoor Mass near the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena. Estimates of the crowd ranged from 130,000 by the police, which was about half of what was expected, to 200,000 by the Archdiocese.

Sweltering heat followed by afternoon rains no doubt kept many devotees at home. A busy sports weekend may also have had something to do with the lower-than-anticipated turnout. 

Those that braved the weather also got to hear Pete Fountain (who played “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”), Al Hirt (“Ave Maria”) and Ronnie Kole (“Amazing Grace”).

Tangible reminders of the visit include a plaque sunk into the flagstones in front of St. Louis Cathedral proclaiming the area “Place Jean Paul Deux,” and a marker at Xavier showing where the pope stood.

A Times-Picayune survey a year later found that 75 percent of the respondents said that seeing John Paul provoked a spiritual renewal in their lives. 

Catholics make up a little more than 21 percent of the U.S. population. They are prominent in battleground states, and often a majority of Catholics back the presidential winner, which is why you may hear a lot about the “Catholic vote” this time of year. 

From 1928 to 1968, Catholics voted solidly Democratic in presidential elections, with perhaps one exception: Gallup says they voted Democratic in 1956, while the National Election Studies says they voted Republican.

In 1972, a majority voted for Republican Richard Nixon. In the next few decades, they tended to vote Democratic but were not as reliable as they had been for the party of FDR and LBJ. 

More recently Catholics have been split, with nearly equal shares going to each party. Most white Catholics identify as Republicans, while a majority of Hispanic Catholics are Democrats.

Perhaps due to the nearly even split, Catholic preachers tend to avoid politics in their sermons. Only 41 percent of Catholics heard at least one sermon that mentioned the 2020 election, according to Pew, as compared with 71 percent of evangelical Protestants and 63 percent of Black church and mainline Protestants, writes Thomas J. Reese, an analyst for Religion News Service.

“The combination of official nonpartisanship with a congregational mix of Democrats and Republicans could make Catholic churches a unique location for civic conversation, where diatribes and hate speech are not allowed,” he says. 

Sources of information reviewed for this piece include The Times-Picayune, The New York Times, Pew Research Center and America. 

Lee, Haslam hosting fundraiser for Maryland U.S. Senate candidate

Posted on by Erik Schelzig

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and his predecessor, Bill Haslam, are hosting a fundraiser at the governor’s mansion in Nashville on Thursday for former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Hogan has been running neck-in-neck with Democrat Angela Alsobrooks despite Maryland’s otherwise heavy Democratic tilt. Hogan has also been distancing himself from national Republicans and Donald Trump, though the former president has endorsed his bid for the Senate.

Trump’s imprimatur has apparently signaled the green light for close allies like U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood and Bill Hagerty of Nashville to be listed as special guests at the Hogan fundraiser (though they miss the event due to obligations at the U.S. Capitol). Blackburn, Hagerty and Lee were famously absent for the state GOP’s annual fundraiser last year when then-presidential rival Ron DeSantis was the keynote speaker.

Lee came into Trump’s crosshairs following the Aug. 1 primary when the the governor endorsed state Sen. Jon Lundberg’s re-election over Republican challenger Bobby Harshbarger, the son U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Kingsport. After Harshbarger won the race, Trump went after Lee in a social media post as a “RINO governor, whose endorsement meant nothing.”

Lee later declared himself perplexed at Trump’s attack, telling reporters he “can’t really explain what that was about.” The governor said the attacks didn’t change his support for Trump’s election this fall.

Former Tennessee Sens. Lamar Alexander of Maryville and Bob Corker of Chattanooga are also expected to be at the Nashville fundraiser.

Hogan outraged Trump in June when he asked Americans to “respect the verdict” when the former president was convicted on 34 counts related to hush money payments to a porn star.

“We don’t want to alienate Trump voters,” Hogan told The Associated Press in April. “We need Trump voters. And we need a lot of Biden voters. Maryland is tough.”

Haslam in 2016 called for Trump to drop out of the presidential race after the release of the Access Hollywood tape in which he boasted of groping women.

“It is time for the good of the nation and the Republican Party for Donald Trump to step aside and let Gov. Mike Pence assume the role as the party’s nominee,” Haslam said said at the time.

Corker also had a volatile relationship with Trump when they were both in office. Corker in 2017 said Trump had turned the White House into an “adult day care center” and was setting the country “on the path to World War III.” Trump in characteristic fashion hit back at Corker, calling him a “lightweight” who “couldn’t get elected dog catcher in Tennessee.”

News You Can Use (09.12.24)

Posted on by David Jacobs

—Governing: What did states do with their budget surpluses? 

—Governing: Want to make the most of federal infrastructure funding? There’s a hub for that

—Campaigns & Elections: The fractured landscape of competitive digital data

—The Advocate: Francine makes landfall in Louisiana as Category 2 hurricane

—Illuminator: Hurricane Francine leaves power outages in its path

—WWNO: Hurricane Francine knocks out power for 175,000 in Louisiana

—Illuminator: Incarcerated people from three jails evacuated ahead of Hurricane Francine

—Illuminator: Louisiana coastal hospitals transfer patients to make room for any Hurricane Francine needs

—Associated Press: Residents in a Louisiana city devastated by 2020 hurricanes are still far from recovery

—The Advocate: Tropical depression in Atlantic could become Tropical Storm Gordon overnight, NHC says

—The Advocate: September 10 is the peak of hurricane season, and Francine may follow similar Louisiana pattern

Field Notes (09.12.24)

Posted on by David Jacobs

— NURSING HOME ORDER: Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order on Tuesday allowing nursing facilities that receive evacuated residents to temporarily exceed their licensed bed capacity. It is the 143rd executive order Landry has issued since taking office, which is more than any governor in any year since at least 1975. 

— GRAVES’ SOCIAL SECURITY BILL GAINING STEAM: A bipartisan collection of 119 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed the discharge petition to force a vote on Congressman Garret Graves’ Social Security Fairness Act within 24 hours of the petition being filed, putting it more than halfway to the necessary 218 signatures, Graves announced. The legislation is meant to repeal rules that reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of public sector workers. 

— MORE CANCELLATIONS: As you would expect, the Louisiana Economic Development Corporation has canceled the meeting that was scheduled for today. Friday’s planned House Appropriations meeting also has been called off. 

— MONDAY MEETINGS: A joint meeting of the House and Senate Governmental Affairs committees is planned for Monday. The K-12 Education Study Group and the Public Projects Payment Task Force also are set to meet Monday. 

LaPolitics Q&A: Mike Waguespack

Posted on by David Jacobs

LaPolitics: What are the most common ways that Louisiana local government entities get themselves in financial trouble?

Louisiana Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack: Some entities struggle to properly fund and maintain critical infrastructure, particularly water and sewer systems, which can lead to costly emergency repairs and service disruptions. Inadequate emergency reserves or long-term maintenance funds can leave local governments vulnerable to unexpected financial shocks. Many of our smaller municipalities, especially in rural areas, are dealing with population decline, which affects their tax base and complicates budget forecasting.  Timely financial reporting is essential for identifying financial stress early. Without timely reports, it is difficult for our office to gauge an entity’s financial position accurately. And some entities focus too heavily on short-term needs at the expense of long-term financial stability.

Is there an area where you are seeing noticeable improvement?

I am pleased to see progress in water infrastructure management, largely thanks to the Legislature’s Water Sector Commission. This has directed critical funding toward improving water and sewer projects across Louisiana. We are also seeing improvements in financial reporting timeliness among many local entities, and there is a growing awareness among local officials about the importance of maintaining adequate reserves and planning for long-term infrastructure needs.

Are government officials usually receptive to the feedback from your office?

Yes, for the most part. Sometimes, there can be resistance when audit findings are challenging, but our goal is to provide constructive solutions rather than criticism. We approach everything in a non-partisan, solution-focused manner. 

What is the office’s approach if officials don’t want to cooperate with your investigation?

We always begin with respectful, clear communication. Explaining our process and legal authority often resolves any initial concerns. Once officials understand our role, cooperation usually follows. In the rare event of ongoing resistance, we have the necessary legal tools to fulfill our responsibilities, but our preference is always to work collaboratively.

I understand you have a birthday this month. Any special plans?

I tend to keep things low-key, so I am looking forward to a quiet weekend with family at our place in Grand Isle. It is a chance to unwind, enjoy a good book, and appreciate the beautiful Louisiana coastline. The drive to Grand Isle is always a nice opportunity to appreciate the work being done by CPRA to preserve our coastal areas and natural resources for future generations. 

This Q&A has been edited for length and style. 

Civil Service under a microscope

Posted on by David Jacobs

Civil service protection is meant to reward merit and shield rank-and-file public employees from politics as much as possible. 

New governors aren’t supposed to be able to kick out experienced professionals to make room for their cousins and hangers-on, nor is the state workforce meant to be dragooned into shilling for whoever occupies the Fourth Floor. (Think Huey Long’s fabled deduct box.)

But critics say civil service rules can be too rigid, making it harder to attract and retain high performers while shielding workers who aren’t pulling their weight. 

“The merit principle has been overshadowed by entrenched bureaucracies, allowing lifetime employees to dominate to the detriment of our state’s progress and its citizens’ well-being,” Sens. Patrick McMath and Jay Morris, who chair Health and Welfare and Judiciary C respectively, write in a recent letter to the editor. “Our state’s departments, from the Department of Transportation and Development to the Office of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Children and Family Services, are plagued by inefficiencies that stem largely from outdated civil service policies.”

Morris’ SB 181, a proposed constitutional amendment which would have weakened civil service protections and given Gov. Jeff Landry more control over the Civil Service Commission, fell two votes short in the House on the session’s final day. Similar proposals are expected next year. 

Civil service officials have proposed tweaking their rules, in an apparent attempt to get out ahead of what’s coming, and the House and Governmental Affairs committee is preparing to dive into the issues later this month. 

“I think there is going to be an ongoing discussion on fine-tuning how the state handles its civil service employees,” HGA Chair Beau Beaullieu said. 

State government agencies must be reauthorized periodically. House Speaker Phillip DeVillier has asked lawmakers to use that process to look under the hood and make sure the agencies are working as intended, Beaullieu said.

HGA’s sunset review for the Civil Service department is scheduled for Sept. 23. Beaullieu said the meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the commission’s proposed changes to how employees are evaluated and spread that information to the public.

The proposed changes are posted on the department’s website. One would establish a five-tier performance evaluation system ranging from “exceptional” to “unsuccessful.” 

Employees deemed “unsuccessful” or “needs improvement” would not be eligible for promotion, and “unsuccessful” employees would not be eligible for market-based pay increases. If the anticipated state budget cuts necessitate layoffs, “unsuccessful” employees would be the first out the door, followed by those with the “needs improvement” rating. 

Beaullieu said the governor has expressed a desire to remove the highest-paid employees, such as those making more than $80,000 or $100,000 annually, from civil service entirely. That would align with the views of Lane Grigsby, the Cajun Industries founder whose checkbook often supports conservative politicians and causes. 

As part of a conversation about a potential constitutional convention, Grigsby recently told the Baton Rouge Press Club that “civil service works, but it can be modified,” arguing that civil service shouldn’t be in the state Constitution.  

“If you make more than $100,000 a year, do you really need civil service?” he said. 

LaPolitics was not able to speak with State Civil Service Director Byron Decoteau this week for this story.

Daniel Sullivan, executive vice president of the Louisiana Civil Service League, defended the current system in a letter you can read here. 

Farewell Francine: New homeland chairs learn the ropes with Cat 2 hurricane

Posted on by David Jacobs

Before he was elected to House District 104 in the Mandeville area, and long before Hurricane Francine sent his legislative team scrambling to serve constituents and local government officials, freshman state Rep. Jay Gallé was a meteorologist for 13 years, including eight on WDSU-TV in New Orleans.

While it’s no longer his job to inform the public about the weather via television, Gallé has been able to put his experience to work as the new chairman of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. Over the past week or so, for example, he attended Unified Command Group meetings and acted as the eyes and ears of his lower chamber colleagues as Francine approached. 

As a Louisiana weatherman, the most notable hurricane Gallé covered from a news desk was Isaac, which notably made two separate landfalls in Louisiana in August 2012. Isaac was only a Category 1 storm, but it was also slow. Really slow. There were moments Isaac barely moved at all, allowing the hurricane to deposit 10 to 20 inches of rain over a large swath of southeast Louisiana.  

“This thing has stopped,” Gallé recalls thinking to himself at the time. “It took Lake Pontchartrain and dumped it into LaPlace.”

Rep. Jay Gallé, the House homeland security chair, addresses the crowd inside the Emergency Operations Command Center in Baton Rouge on Tuesday.

Across Memorial Hall, another new political personality is chairing the Senate Select Committee on Homeland Security. With only 21 months in office, Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter brings a military background to the position, like Gallé. They’re both former Marines.

Kleinpeter said Hurricane Francine pulled their chairmanships to the forefront, but before the storm the pair likewise worked together on a variety of issues that never made it into public view. They are often on text chains together about potential emergencies, most of which they choose not to share. No one wants to needlessly worry people. 

“Once I feel like it’s time, then I share it with [Senate President Cameron Henry], and I ask him if he wants to forward it to the members,” Kleinpeter said. “For this one, on Sunday, he said, ‘Yeah, let’s go ahead and send it out.’”

The House and Senate select committees both have the same mission, which is to “study and review homeland security issues and make recommendations” to safeguard against natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Funding for and coordination of local and state agencies fall under the oversight of the committees, too.

Both Gallé and Kleinpeter say they’ve worked hard to serve as resources for State Climatologist Jay Grymes and Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Jacques Thibodeaux, who are the top folks Gov. Jeff Landry leans on during weather emergencies.

The relationship being developed between the chairs and GOHSEP is an important one, since the two men work closely with the agency on funding needs, which of course go well beyond storm prep and response. 

Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, the Senate homeland security chair, at the governor’s annual alligator hunt last week.

Looking beyond hurricane season, Gallé said two pressing needs involve making sure GOHSEP has what it needs to mitigate threats from cyber attacks and drones — and that will take money, either in the form of appropriations or grants. 

“They have our ear, so they can kind of sell us a little bit,” Gallé said.

Kleinpeter said the recent school shooting in Georgia has also caught the attention of the select committees. The shooting has led lawmakers to consider how schools can be better protected. He said AI gun detection technology possibly could be deployed at schools and high-crime areas to warn law enforcement of threats. 

“You go into any airport or courthouse or anything like that, you get searched,” Kleinpeter said. “But our kids are just sitting ducks over there.”

Back on the House side, committee members are planning a two-day hearing focused on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gallé laments the “detrimental effect” on small businesses, referencing closures and restrictions that were meant to slow the spread of the virus. 

“So let’s go over and review and decide what didn’t work, what do we not want to do again, and what do we do in lieu of those things that didn’t work as we move forward,” Gallé said. 

For now, however, as the remnants of Francine drift away from Louisiana, recovery will be the focus, according to Gallé and Kleinpeter — as well as keeping a wary eye out for the next possible storm.

Kansas Daily News Wire September 12, 2024

Posted on by State Affairs

Welcome to the Kansas Daily News Wire, your daily roundup of top state and political stories from newsrooms across Kansas. — Hawver’s Capitol Report/State Affairs

STATE

Lawmakers approve 3 Commerce Department audits after accusation of improper pandemic aid: The fallout continues from a now-deceased former official’s claims of improper pandemic aid conduct as the Kansas Department of Commerce will face three separate audits. (Richardson, State Affairs)

Investigators determine cause of explosion at Kansas State Fair that injured 6 people: A canned food item that was stored too close to a food warmer inside a trailer exploded at the Kansas State Fair Tuesday, injuring six people, investigators say. (The Wichita Eagle)

Postal Service addresses concerns; other states’ election officials weigh in: The U.S. Postal Service said Wednesday it has been in “close communication” with state election officials and will respond to Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s concerns directly. (Stover, State Affairs)

Once home to state’s most infamous criminals, historic Kansas prison opening for tours: Most people did their best to avoid this place for nearly 160 years. That’s about to change. (The Kansas City Star)

Committee meeting could be ‘new beginning’ for relationship between tribes, state: Outside statutorily required organizational meetings, the Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations had met only 10 times between its creation in 1999 and a daylong gathering Wednesday. (Stover, State Affairs)

Kansas State University researchers say carbon sequestration on farms can combat climate change: Farmers can help combat climate change and improve the health of their soil by switching to natural fertilizers and minimizing tilling, new research from Kansas State University shows. (Kansas Reflector)

State board of education looks to sharpen internal communications skills: The Kansas State Board of Education on Wednesday discussed ways that it can better communicate as a board. (Resnick, State Affairs)

LOCAL

Grand jury indicts ex-Shawnee County sheriff’s process server on 333 felony counts: A Shawnee County grand jury recently indicted a former civilian sheriff’s office employee on 333 counts of perjury and making false information, Sheriff Brian C. Hill announced Wednesday. (The Topeka Capital-Journal)

Fort Riley holds commemoration ceremony, remembering 9/11: Wednesday marked the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and the thousands of men and women who lost their lives. (WIBW)

AMBER Alert issued for missing Wichita child, forcibly taken: An AMBER Alert was issued for five-year-old Trevawn Strong Jr. in Wichita on Wednesday. (KSNT)

Lawrence City Commission to vote next month on purchase of building to move city hall: Lawrence city commissioners will vote next month on an agreement to purchase a building near Sixth and Iowa streets to serve as the new city hall. (The Lawrence Times)

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