This Summary is of selected criminal trends and is not reflective of all police activity
For the week ending 042709 Lenexa officers investigated 283 incidents, conducted 58 street checks and field interviews, wrote 175 citations, and made 79 arrests, including nine arrests for DUI and eight arrests for narcotics violations.
ROBBERY
On Saturday afternoon April 25th the clerk at an 87th St check cashing store reported that she had been robbed and kidnapped at gun point while she was leaving the business to make a deposit. The initial suspect description is that of a small build black male in his 20’s occupying a black Ford Explorer. Detectives are investigating.
PHYSICAL DISTURBANCES
Numerous domestic incidents, several involving “mutual combatants”, occurred this week in neighborhoods all over town, and as usual alcohol and/or drugs played a part in most of the incidents. In most all the cases patrol officers have arrested the offenders and charges are pending against the other prosecutable cases where the suspects have not already been arrested. The most serious injury incurred was a broken jaw that was discovered after the victim went to her dentist complaining of a toothache. It was determined that she had been battered two days beforehand by her boyfriend. The most unusual incident was the case where a couple went out drinking together and then decided to go to separate bars. When the female resident came home she found her husband in the company of several strangers. This led to an argument and an alleged physical confrontation where officers were called. The investigation is continuing.
Rose no longer owns the paper that was once (successfully) run by his father, the founder.
Rose lives in Mission Hills.
Though he lives within the Shawnee Mission School District — which, he will write, provides an excellent quality of education — for his own children, Rose chose Pembroke Hill, an expensive area private school. Rose practices the freedom of school choice because he can afford it, but he denies that freedom to others.
Rose only has his front-page column because he is legally obligated to it. He has successfully sued (or threatened litigation) at least once when an owner of the paper attempted to take him off of the front page.
Dick Bond and Charles Carlsen named Rose a JCCC Foundation’s “Johnson Countian of the Year,” which Rose’s paper makes a big deal about every year. Until this past year, there were over 100 members of the JCCC Foundation, and Leawood’s representation was six times the proportion when compared to county residents. Rose’s paper has never once mentioned that, until about 2002, that the entire group of foundation directors never actually voted on the annual award, but rather only two people (Bond and Carlsen) chose the winner. Bond and Carlsen, in other years, chose Bond and Carlsen as “Johnson Countians of the Year.”
The current president of the JCCC Foundation is Bob Regnier, another “Johnson Countian of the Year” (his friends have given him several other “greatest person” awards). Regnier also has the distinction of being Kansas City’s first recipient of the TARP federal bank bailouts; he is the CEO of Bank of Blue Valley. Regnier is also the recent chairman of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, a self-described “pro-business” group that supports the current CITY income tax (KCMO) and rallies around one of the most oppressive school districts in America, The Kansas City (Missouri) School District.
When four women accused Carlsen (former JCCC President) of sexual harrassment, Rose and most of the other “Johnson Countians of the Year” unsuccessfully attempted by public letter (published in The Sun) to instruct the board to stop the investigation of the former president, going so far as to state as fact that the work environment under Carlsen was a good one.
Sixty-three percent (63%) of Americans believe the border with Mexico should be closed until the swine flu epidemic is under control, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Thirty percent (30%) say closing the border is not necessary.
Sentiment for closing the border with Mexico, where swine flu reportedly first broke out, is high among all age, income, employment and partisan groups.
Just over one-third of all Americans (37%) are confident that the doctors in their community are adequately prepared to handle a flu epidemic. Twenty-six percent (26%) do not believe local doctors are ready for such an outbreak, and 37% are not sure.
A truly brutal poll number for New York Gov. David Paterson: 51 percent would prefer that Eliot Spitzer hold office.
Sptizer, along with being hounded out amid a sex scandal, was having a quite rocky time as governor.
But Spitzer isn’t entirely entitled to profit from the contrast - Paterson was, after all, his selection, and perhaps his single most consequential choice.
Sen. Jim Bunning skipped the Kentucky Derby this weekend, an unusual move for a Kentucky Republican supposedly running for reelection next year.
The Derby is an important event for politicians in the state to rub elbows with well-heeled fundraisers and meet with voters throughout the state.
Bunning’s decision to stay in Washington instead is certain to boost speculation that he is setting the stage for his retirement from the upper chamber. Last week, word leaked out that Bunning gave the blessing to Republican Secretary of State Trey Grayson to form an exploratory committee in advance of a potential Senate run.
The SEIU has already expressed concern about Sen. Arlen Specter’s voting record on labor issues, and hasn’t committed to endorsing Specter in a Democratic primary. Indeed, the group’s president Andy Stern is meeting today with his potential primary rival Joe Sestak.
And today a key AFL-CIO leader told ABC News that if Specter continues to oppose the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act, the group will not support him in a Democratic primary.
“Those decisions will be made by people in the state, and our members in the state know who will stand with them. And if Arlen Specter — he stood with them in the past — if he continues to stand with them, they’ll support him. If he doesn’t, they won’t support him,” [AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard] Trumka told us.
Trumka said the Democratic Party establishment won’t prevent labor leaders from making their own decision on Specter, even though President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., have all pledged to support Specter.
“We have a lot of members that are elected into that establishment, and our members generally do what’s right by workers, and we don’t care who’s lined up against us,” Trumka said. “If a candidate isn’t good for workers, we won’t be there. If they are good for workers, we will be there regardless of their party. I mean, we supported Arlen Specter — and he was a Republican — because he was good for what was happening. He was good for our members at that time.”
Much has been made of this sensational headline over the weekend. My, my we’ve become quick to eat our own and throw Jeb Bush under the bus.
But did anyone actually go beyond the headline to consider what he was actually saying (and there is more to it than was reported)?
First, shame on those of you who’d throw Jeb under the bus for his last name. Let’s compare his record to that of his brother’s or most other so called conservatives. Bush actually cut taxes in Florida, reformed education, allowed school choice, reduced government personnel, relied on the private sector, ended affirmative action in higher education, and a host of other conservative positions. He does not just talk the talk, but he walks the walk.
So when a guy like Jeb stands up and says, “You can’t beat something with nothing, and the other side has something. I don’t like it, but they have it, and we have to be respectful and mindful of that,” you might want to actually look beyond his last name to what he is actually talking about.
The reaction to his statement and the sensation headline at the Washington Times proves his point. It is time to get over Reagan - not the man or his ideas, but his administration.
If you remember, Reagan ran in 1980 against Jimmy Carter and stagflation. He ran against appeasing the Soviet Union. He ran against an out of touch and out of control Washington. Guess what? Most people these days think it was Republicans who caused the current economic crisis and Republicans who dismantled Reagan’s vision of government in favor of out of control government.
The traditional sign of an incumbent threatened for re-election is support under 50 percent; after Specter’s recent run of good press, he gets 49 percent support. More voters are turned off by his party switch than are pleased by it, and Specter’s opposition to Card Check is hurting his re-election chances. Clearly Pennsylvania voters are at least open to an alternative.
Further, in a state where 66 percent of voters approve of the job Barack Obama is doing, there’s clearly fear about Democrats having control of Congress. By an 8 percent margin voters fear that Democrats will be able to steamroll Republicans in Congress, and by the same 8 percent they say that’s a bad thing. And this is at a time when Democrats numbers are being lifted by the strength of a president with approval numbers that can only fall.
Right now Specter is riding a wave of positive press and is basking in the glow of association with a popular president and a popular agenda (at least among Pennsylvania voters). When Obama’s popularity drops, or when the public sours on his agenda, or when an opponent begins attacking Specter, his poll numbers will drop. If this poll is accurate, he faces a real challenge for re-election.
Because you can tell the difference between pouring water on a towel held over the mouth of three separate individuals (and under very carefully controlled conditions), and sending 17 million people to the gas chamber*.
For those who were questioning the National Council for New America based on who was not on board, one of the names of those not on board has been Sarah Palin. She is now on board.
Of course, as Rush said today, we don’t really need a listening tour. We need a teaching tour.
The leadership of the House of Representatives turned down a request from the Obama Administration for funding to begin closing the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The reason the Democrats refused to give the president what he wanted this time was not a lack of votes, as the members of his party in the House could have easily funded his request whether Republicans agreed or not. Appropriations Chairman David Obey said that the administration has not offered a clear plan to wind down operations at Guantanamo and relocate the detainees:
WASHINGTON (AP) - A unanimous Supreme Court said today that undocumented workers who use phony IDs can’t be considered identity thieves without proof they knew they were stealing real people’s Social Security and other numbers.
The court’s decision limits federal authorities’ use of a 2004 law, intended to get tough on identity thieves, against immigrants who are picked up in workplace raids and found to be using false Social Security and alien registration numbers.
Advocates for immigrants had complained that federal authorities used the threat of prosecution on the identity theft charge, which carries a two-year mandatory prison term, to win guilty pleas on lesser charges and acceptance of prompt deportation.
“These prosecutions have been taken off the table,” said Nina Perales, southwest regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
“AP: President Barack Obama is proposing to close tax loopholes for companies and individuals with operations or bank accounts overseas.
Obama said Monday he wants to prevent U.S. companies from deferring tax payments by keeping profits in foreign companies rather than recording them at home. He also called for more transparency in bank accounts held by Americans in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands.
Obama said that his plan would generate $210 billion in new taxes over 10 years and “make it easier” for companies to create jobs at home. Congress may resist portions of the plan.”
It is probably not a stretch to presume the NRA will be supporting Sarah Palin in 2012.
According to American Rifleman, the National Rifle Association will feature a custom made AR-15 made specifically for Governor Palin at its upcoming annual banquet. The NRA can raise millions of dollars for a candidate and can place tens of thousands of volunteers on the ground in a campaign. Their influence on the GOP will be tested in the 2011 Iowa caucus.
The all-white “Alaskan Hunter” is modeled after an M-4 and its .50 caliber Beowulf chamber leaves one former Special Forces veteran impressed.
“Wow, that’s sweet,” US military weapons specialist Jack Hancock told The Vote. “The fact that they actually got a .50 caliber on an AR-15 frame (for Palin) is remarkable.”
In a recent conversation with Jay Leve, founder and head of SurveyUSA, I was alerted to a split sample telephone survey experiment he conducted last October in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was on the subject of the government’s plan to bailout or rescue Wall Street.
Though the experiment dealt with an issue that is so last year (!), I’m writing about it now because it demonstrates how questions about specific policy plans can produce misleading results about the public’s views of the broader issue - a classic case of not seeing the forest for the trees.
SurveyUSA Experiment
Jay tested four different ways of phrasing the bailout question, and each one found mixed to slightly negative results. But then two follow-up questions starkly contradicted these results to suggest a clear majority of the public was supportive of the bailout efforts.
While the SurveyUSA experiment tested four different ways of wording the bailout issue, three are rigorously comparable, and so I mention them first. I’ll come back to the implications of the fourth version later in this post…
….
These results, based on a telephone survey in the San Francisco Bay Area, demonstrate how variable the survey results can be - even when the survey is about an issue that is the subject of much media attention. The first three versions of the bailout question could reasonably be interpreted to suggest that the Bay Area public was either ambivalent or negative about any bailout plan, while the question reported in Table 3 gives the opposite impression - that the same public was in fact looking for some action by the federal government.
The important lesson: Sometimes, asking about specific plans can blind us to the larger issue of whether some type of action is still desired.
Acknowledging that no one likes to pay taxes, President Obama announced proposals aimed at companies and individuals that use tax havens and offshore accounts to avoid doing so.
Obama made the announcement with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who was confirmed despite not paying Social Security and Medicare taxes for several years while working overseas. Geithner described the changes being announced today as ending “indefensible tax breaks and loopholes which allow some companies and some well-off citizens to evade the rules that the rest of the America lives by.”
“We will no longer provide tax incentives that disadvantage American innovation and American workers,” Geithner said at this morning’s announcement. “These are common sense changes designed to restore balance to our tax code.”
Obama said the proposals are a “down payment” on his administration’s larger effort to reform the tax code, changes meant to make taxes “simpler, fairer and more efficient.”
“Let’s begin with a simple premise: nobody likes paying taxes - particularly in times of economic stress” the president said. “But, most Americans meet their responsibilities because they understand that its an obligation of citizenship.”
A Quinnipiac poll released this morning (April 29-May 3, 1120 RV, MoE +/- 2.9%) finds Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, now a Democrat, drubbing former Rep. Pat Toomey (R) in the Senate race, while leading former Gov. Tom Ridge (R) by just 3 points.
The survey found Ridge winning over some of the independent voters Specter would take against the conservative Toomey. Will the poll influence Ridge to take on Toomey, whose conservative record made him a favorite over Specter in the primary but now place him as a decided underdog in the general election?
As Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said: “Gov. Tom Ridge is probably the only political figure in Pennsylvania who could give Sen. Arlen Specter a run for his money.”
Thanks to Terry McAuliffe’s candidacy, the Virginia gubernatorial contest is getting far more attention than normal, including multiple appearances by President Bill Clinton. Now comes the announcement by the McAuliffe campaign that rapper will.i.am will be appearing with the candidate at several stops around the state next Monday.
The grammy-winning peformer will appear alongside McAuliffe May 11 in Portsmouth, Hampton, Richmond and Arlington.
“Terry is my good friend and my closest political mentor,” said will.i.am, in a statement released by the campaign. “He will be a great governor because of his passion to help people and his understanding of the grassroots community. I look forward to joining him on the campaign trail.”
Robert Gibbs said today that the Obama administration has been making preparations for a Supreme Court choice since before inauguration day, but at this point said he is unaware of whether there’s an “A, B or C list” for the high court.
“The transition began identifying a long time ago candidates for what we assumed might be a pick for the Supreme Court,” he said today. “Right now there’s a collection underway for a pool of very qualified candidates.”
At the daily press briefing, Gibbs was asked an array of questions from reporters looking for clues about what direction the president might go in making his pick. Would it be a woman or minority? Will he choose a younger individual who’d likely have a longer tenure? And how quickly can he expect to get a candidate confirmed?
Pennsylvania voters approve 56 - 36 percent, including 81 - 10 percent among Democrats, of the job Specter is doing. By a 52 - 34 percent margin, voters have a favorable opinion of Specter. Toomey gets a 20 - 13 percent favorability, but 67 percent don’t know enough about him to form an opinion. Ridge gets a 55 - 19 percent favorability.
The seven members of the Johnson County Education Research Triangle Authority voted recently on the rules that universities must follow to obtain about $15 million a year in county sales tax.
The University of Kansas and Kansas State University will be required to keep triangle funds in a separate account, which will be audited annually at the expense of the authority.
WASHINGTON (AP) - A unanimous Supreme Court said today that undocumented workers who use phony IDs can’t be considered identity thieves without proof they knew they were stealing real people’s Social Security and other numbers.
The court’s decision limits federal authorities’ use of a 2004 law, intended to get tough on identity thieves, against immigrants who are picked up in workplace raids and found to be using false Social Security and alien registration numbers.
Advocates for immigrants had complained that federal authorities used the threat of prosecution on the identity theft charge, which carries a two-year mandatory prison term, to win guilty pleas on lesser charges and acceptance of prompt deportation.
“These prosecutions have been taken off the table,” said Nina Perales, southwest regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that a history teacher at a Southern California public high school violated the First Amendment when he called creationism “superstitious nonsense” during a classroom lecture.
U.S. District Judge James Selna issued the ruling last week after a 16-month legal battle between student Chad Farnan and his former teacher, James Corbett.
Farnan’s lawsuit alleged that Corbett made more than 20 statements that were disparaging to Christians and their beliefs.
In an interview last April, former Attorney General (and former Missouri governor and Senator) John Ashcroft said he didn’t think waterboarding was torture.
Ashcroft joined another former Attorney General — Alberto Gonzales — on a panel at American Jewish University.
“I don’t regret my service to the country,” Ashcroft said. “I don’t back up to the pay window to get my pay. Now I do think I should have done a better job there…but I don’t want to do it again, so thank you.” The questions were posed by MSNBC’s DanAbrams.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama plans to change tax policy is certain to be unpopular with corporations with international divisions and individuals who use tax havens.
Obama’s two-part plan, which he announced today at the White House, also embraces 800 additional federal agents to enforce the tax code.
The president’s proposal eliminates some tax deductions for companies that earn profits in countries with low tax rates, as well as consider U.S. citizens who use tax havens in the Bahamas or Cayman Islands guilty of violating U.S. tax laws. If Obama wins congressional approval for the changes - and he faces a challenge on Capitol Hill - the new enforcement initiative could yield $210 billion in tax revenue over the next decade.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner joined Obama for the comments. The White House released details of the plan earlier this morning.
The years-long fight over two coal plants planned for Western Kansas is over after Gov. Mark Parkinson worked out a deal for a single, smaller coal plant plus environmental concessions.
It’s a stunner, sure to rock Topeka in the closing days of the legislative session. The sometimes nasty fight over coal has festered in Kansas politics for at least two years.
“I thought it was time to bring an end to that impasse,” Parkinson said.
Here’s the deal: a single 895-megawatt plant with the latest pollution controls, a promise for more wind from plant builder Sunflower Electric Power Corp., and a set of pro-green measures to encourage renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Sunflower CEO Earl Watkins said he’s thrilled with the deal.
Discussing the Republican listening tour conducted by Former Governors Jeb Bush (FL) and Mitt Romney (MA), radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said they are “embarrassed” by Sarah Palin.
Limbaugh said the underlying issue of these speaking engagements is that Bush and Romney “hate” and “despise” the Alaska Governor and former running-mate of John McCain. Limbaugh added they have “presidential perspirations” and called their tour an “early campaign event.”
Limbaugh defended Palin and heralded her as the “most prominent and articulate voice” for conservatism.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unionized employees at the New York Times newspaper on Monday ratified a 5 percent pay cut, according to a memo obtained by Reuters.
New York Times newspaper employees who are members of the New York Newspaper Guild voted 377 to 36 to ratify the pay cut agreement, which includes 10 additional paid days off, while Guild members at the Times’ digital unit ratified the agreement by a 50-0 vote, according to the memo.
The Guild members signed off on an agreement with New York Times management last week designed to save the newspaper $4.5 million.
The White House on Monday expressed “concern” and “sadness” over the state of the ailing US newspaper industry, but made clear that a government bailout was not in the cards.
“I don’t know what, in all honesty, government can do about it,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. “That might be a bit of a tricky area to get into given the differing roles.”
Gibbs was responding to a reporter who asked what the White House thought about the recent closure of several US newspapers and a threat to shut down the venerable Boston Globe.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Nevada authorities filed criminal charges Monday against the political advocacy group ACORN and two former employees, alleging they illegally paid canvassers to sign up new voters during last year’s presidential campaign.
ACORN denied the charges and said it would defend itself in court.
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now had a handbook and policies requiring employees in Las Vegas to sign up 20 new voters per day to keep their $8- to $9-per-hour jobs.
Canvassers who turned in 21 new voter registrations earned a “blackjack” bonus of $5 per shift, Masto added. Those who didn’t meet the minimum were fired.
“By structuring employment and compensation around a quota system, ACORN facilitated voter registration fraud,” Masto said. She accused ACORN executives of hiding behind and blaming employees, and vowed to hold the national nonprofit corporation accountable for training manuals that she said “clearly detail, condone and … require illegal acts.”
A voter registration drive last year illegally required canvassers to meet quotas to keep their jobs and resulted in thousands of “garbage” registrations gumming up Clark County voter rolls, officials said Monday as they released a criminal complaint against the drive’s organizers.
The complaint names the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, as well as Chris Edwards, the group’s former Las Vegas field director, and Amy Busefink, who was regional director for voter registration.
In all, there are 26 charges of compensation for registration of voters and 13 charges of being a “principal” in the incident. An initial hearing has been set for 7:30 a.m. June 3 in Las Vegas Justice Court.
“In Nevada, it is unlawful for a person to provide compensation for registering voters that is based on the total number of voters a person registers,” said state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto.
MEXICO CITY, May 4 (Reuters) - Mexico will resume normal business activity this week after its swine flu emergency eased, but the global flu alert triggered a trade dispute on Monday over bans on Mexican, U.S. and Canadian pork.
International tensions triggered by the new H1N1 virus, which contains mostly swine components with bits of human and avian influenzas, emerged after about 20 nations banned imports of pork, pigs and other meat from the United States, Canada and Mexico, the three most flu-affected countries. [nN04402062]
