U.S. Army Garrison Fort Riley and the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource office have formalized an ongoing partnership between  the garrison safety office and KTSRO with an Intergovernmental Support Agreement.

According to Col. Stephen Shrader, Fort Riley Garrison Commander, “I am excited to formalize this long-time partnership between Fort Riley and the KTSRO to share safety-related resources and services. ” Shrader noted the signing of intergovernmental support agreement enables lives to be saved, property to be protected and ensures a safe and quality environment for the installation and the state of Kansas.

Sharing safety-related resources and services will help both agencies meet their mutual missions to provide traffic safety education. Fort Riley expects cost savings of $8,000 per year, with an additional cost avoidance of up to $20,000 per year. The agreement is for five years, with annual review each year of the agreement.

Currently, the Fort Riley Garrison Safety Office provides traffic safety and other safety program training to the Fort Riley community at a cost of approximately $8,000 per year. Partnering with KTSRO to provide training aids and promotional material will save Fort Riley that annual cost. In addition, AS KTSRO provides items for Fort Riley to distribute, such as car seats and bicycle helmets, and provides opportunities for Child Passenger Safety Technician training and recertification, the garrison safety office could see a cost evidence of up to another $20,000 per year by not having to purchase items or pay the full cost of training.

KTSRO is also charged with providing traffic safety programs but does not possess some of the training equipment available from Fort Riley, such as a roll-over simulator, seat belt convincer and child passenger seat trainer. The agreement allows the KTRSO to use Fort Riley’s facility and equipment in its education programs, saving the state the cost of purchasing those training ads.

 

By Martin Hawver

We’re just a week away from the Governor’s Council on Tax Reform meeting in the Statehouse to consider ways to cut taxes. As lofty and nonpartisan as that title is, the real name could be “What Tax Cuts Will Get Us Elected or Re-elected.”

Yes, that’s what tax reform is. Finding the tax cuts that will get votes for you or your party and the way to do that is cutting the right taxes for the right voters and then telling them that you’ve done it in your upcoming campaign.

That’s why the “reforms” proposed by that council essentially turn into decisions on who gets what in the way of tax cuts. Corporations? Individuals? Grocery buyers? Property taxpayers?

That’s the real issue, though “reform” is a word that most of us like and which sounds noble. “Reform” can, in the Statehouse, be defined as finding what tax cuts will elect the most Republicans or Democrats in next year’s election when every Kansas House and Senate seat is up for election.

***

Now, it’s a little more complicated for Gov. Laura Kelly, who by executive order established that council. She, of course, has a government to run and that takes money and that means tax cuts…up to a point…but she needs to make sure the council leaves enough money in the State General Fund to keep the state, and its important programs, afloat. Nobody wants to be the governor of a state with no cash on hand.

***

So, what do we look for?

Most obvious is a recommendation from the council to the governor to reduce the 6.5% sales tax on groceries. But, remember the state’s sales tax is just the baseline. Local units of government put their own local sales taxes on those groceries, which is the reason that most food (and everything else) carries a sales tax of about 9%. But that council recommending cuts in local sales taxes isn’t a starter in the Legislature. So, the council probably ought to look at just state sales tax on groceries.

And then comes that word “reform” which may have some considering whether cutting the sales tax on bologna that poor people buy might be a little more noble than cutting the sales tax on steak and salmon that higher-income Kansans buy. Is that a “reform?”

Oh, and don’t forget that while cutting income taxes, possibly shuffling the break point between different rates, is also probably “reform” but it doesn’t show up before the election. A cut in rates on individual income taxes may show up as a few bucks a week in lower withholding from your paycheck but it’s not something that voters will see every time they drop into the grocery store for bread or soap or shampoo.

The sales tax? Those cuts could show up as early as…a couple weeks before the Aug. 4, 2020, primary election, and surely before the Nov. 3 general election.

That’s just one of those issues that can sound like “reform.”

Corporate income tax cuts? They can be sold to voters as ways to shore up employment and keep Kansas productive, but it’s not likely those corporate savings will trickle down very quickly to higher wages or more jobs and they can be portrayed in the elections as cuts for the wealthy business owners and executives. Nice crowd, probably good campaign contributors, but not a whole lot of votes in the executive offices…

Property tax cuts? That gets extremely complicated, and usually winds up with city, county and other local government coming to Topeka to battle over “separation of powers.”

 

 

 

The Geary County Sheriff’ Department has reported that Deputies responded to mile marker 302 on I-70 eastbound at 4:57 p.m. Saturday.

Matthew Loop, Junction City, was driving a 2015 Kia Optima westbound on the interstate when the vehicle struck the rear of a 2015 Harley Davidson driven by Harold Wesner, Ft. Riley, which then struck the rear of a 2008 Buick Enclave driven by Martin Rodenhouse, Topeka.

 

GEARY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an accident that injured two people just after 9p.m. Sunday in Geary County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Nissan Maxima driven by Denilson Acosta Rodriguez, 19, Manhattan, was eastbound in the westbound lanes of Kansas 18 three miles from Interstate 70.

The Nissan struck a 2013 Chevy Cruz driven by Christina D. Tanguay, 17, Junction City, and a 2005 Nissan Altima driven by Tori A. Lamb, 19, Ellsworth, head-on.

EMS transported an unidentified occupant in the Nissan and a passenger in the Chevy Hannah R. Burkhart, 17, Fort Riley to KU Medical Center.

Acosta Rodriguez fled the scene of the accident, according to the KHP.

Tanguay, a passenger in the Maxima Odalis M. Castaneda Carranza, 20, La Puente, CA., and Lamb were not injured. All were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

High

91°

Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 90s. South winds 5 to 15 mph.

Manhattan, Kan. – The Flint Hills Discovery Center (FHDC) will host three lectures this fall featuring topics related to its upcoming exhibit, Microbes in Manhattan: Fighting Flu and Polio in Manhattan. These programs are free and open to the public.

1918: The Great War and the Terrible Flu: Tuesday, September 24, 6:30-7:30 PM

Historian Jed Dunham will compress the complex and harrowing story of the great influenza outbreak of 1918 into a compelling narrative using his own original research. Dunham will root this story in the local context, focusing on Nurse Battey and the Manhattan, Kansas fight against influenza.

Dr. Hertzler: The Horse & Buggy Doctor: Tuesday, October 15, 6:30-7:30 PM

Carrie Herman will share the fascinating story of Dr. Arthur E. Hertzler who is world renowned for his excellence in pathology, his love of children and his concern for health education of the general public.

Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Prairie: Tuesday, November 19, 6:30-7:30 PM

Dr. Kelly Kindscher will dive deep into the world of ethnobotany, exploring how Native Americans used many prairie plants. He will also discuss the importance of protecting remnant native prairies and the work of the Kansas Land Trust.

These lectures are made possible by a grant from Humanities Kansas, the Kansas Learning Center for Health and the Kansas Land Trust.

The Ft. Riley Apple Day Festival is next Saturday, September 21.

Post officials said during this next week many volunteers will be preparing 1,700 apple pies for the event. The pies are sold during the festival to help support the activities of the Historical and Archaeological Society of Ft. Riley.

Among the volunteers helping with the pie preparation will be Ft. Riley Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Shrader and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Andrew Bristow II.