2 Injured in Eudora Train Accident
EUDORA, Kan. (AP) — A train has injured two people on a bridge in northeast Kansas. Douglas County dispatchers say emergency personnel responded yesterday (SAT) afternoon to the accident west of downtown Eudora. All train traffic was stopped while emergency vehicles parked on the tracks to attend to the victims. Two helicopters were called in to transport the severely injured victims. One person was taken to the University of Kansas Medical Center, while the other was flown to Children's Mercy Hospital. No other details were immediately available.
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Budget Shortfall Looms Over Kansas Governor's Race
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A predicted shortfall in the Kansas budget looms over Republican Governor Sam Brownback's close re-election race as he and Democratic challenger Paul Davis scramble for votes in the final days of their heated campaign. Davis started a swing into western Kansas yesterday (SAT) at a coffee shop in the Aggieville bar-and-restaurant district near the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan. He's pressed his argument that massive personal income taxes enacted at Brownback's urging have wrecked the state's finances. Brownback started his day in southeast Kansas on a state GOP bus tour meant to persuade voters that the state is on the right path economically even if it faces short-term budget challenges.The state reported Friday that tax collections in October fell $23 million short of expectations.
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Orman Dismisses Flap Over 'Clown' Comment
SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — Independent candidate for U.S. Senate Greg Orman says a Republican accusation that he called former Kansas Senator Bob Dole a "clown" is a distortion of his words. Orman is in a tight race with three-term Republican Senator Pat Roberts, who was traveling Friday with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Dole. Asked about a potential Republican organizational edge in the tight Senate race, Orman said Friday: "It sort of seems like a Washington establishment clown car to me. Every day a new person comes out of that car." Roberts' campaign released a statement calling Orman's comment "personal attacks and disdain for Senator Dole." Orman says he is "outraged" and calls Roberts' claim "distorting my words." Orman said Saturday that Dole is "a great example of bipartisanship."
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For a Man Without a Party, Turnouts is Big Test
OVERLAND PARK, Kansas (AP) — Independent candidate Greg Orman has been running a competitive race for the Senate in Kansas, but he's now facing a major challenge: getting his supporters to the polls without an established get-out-the-vote operation. Orman's opponent, Republican Senator Pat Roberts, has the benefit of a large GOP turnout apparatus that includes four phone banks and several thousand workers and volunteers. Orman, campaigning without a party behind him, has assembled a smaller group of volunteers to make sure his likely supporters cast their ballots. They will be using a database of registered independents, who are considered most likely to back him. The suburban Kansas City businessman became the top challenger after the Democrat in the race dropped out. Roberts, a three-term incumbent, maintains that Orman is a closet liberal Democrat.