Kansas Urges Judge Not to Rule on Gay Marriage
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas attorney general's office has argued that a federal court should not weigh in on the state's gay marriage ban until the Kansas Supreme Court has reviewed it. Assistant Attorney General Steve Fabert yesterday (FRI) urged U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree not to issue a preliminary injunction preventing Kansas from enforcing its ban. Crabtree was hearing arguments after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of two lesbian couples. The couples were denied marriage licenses in Douglas and Sedgwick counties after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five other states seeking to preserve gay marriage bans. The Kansas Supreme Court has a separate petition from the attorney general's office after a judge allowed gay marriages in Johnson County.
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GOP Surrogates Say Little about Roberts in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The big-name Republicans parading through Kansas call Senator Pat Roberts the key to breaking Democratic control of the chamber, but seldom do they mention his record over 34 years in Congress. Yesterday (FRI), it was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who — like other GOP stars before him — provided a pitch for the incumbent without much elaboration. Charlie Black, a veteran Republican presidential strategist, calls such appearances by celebrity politicians a "long tradition designed to demonstrate party loyalty." He says they're often more beneficial to the visitors — many of whom have national ambitions. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush are among other Republicans who have been on the campaign trail with Roberts.
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Kansas Tax Collections Fall $23M Short in October
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas says its tax collections in October fell $23 million short of expectations and the bad news came days before the end of Republican Governor Sam Brownback's tight race for re-election. The Department of Revenue reported yesterday (FRI) that the state collected $417 million in taxes, or 5.2 percent less than the $440 million anticipated. Since the current fiscal year started in July, tax collections have been nearly $47 million less than anticipated, a 2.6 percent shortfall. The state expected to collect more than $1.81 billion in taxes and took in $1.77 billion. Brownback has faced months of criticism over personal income tax cuts enacted at his urging. But Budget Director Shawn Sullivan called the shortfall "manageable" and said Brownback's administration is looking for budget savings.
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NTSB: Kansas Plane Drifted to Left Before Crash
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board says six eyewitness have reported that a small plane drifted to the left side of the runway after taking off from a Kansas airport, then made a steep left bank before crashing into a flight training facility. NTSB investigator Josh Lindberg said yesterday (FRI) that the plane had undergone two maintenance test flights without problems. A cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder were on the aircraft, but investigators have not been able to access the crash site yet to recover them. Lindberg says investigators have not yet been able to get into the 30-foot hazard zone near the building where most of the wreckage is located due to safety concerns.