So much has happened on the campaign trail since our last correspondence. Pat continues criss-crossing the state of Pennsylvania each day, racking up endorsements, signing up new volunteers and raising the funds critical to winning next November.
A sure sign that Pat’s message is resonating with Republicans most recently came in the form of support from former Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor, Bill Scranton. Bill endorsed Pat’s candidacy on May 26 - a terrific sign that prominent members of the Republican Party are confident in Pat Toomey and his chances in 2010. We are working hard to bring our Party together to win this seat back.
Strong support is showing up clearly in the latest polling numbers as well. In a May 28 poll conducted by Quinnipiac University and in a June 2 poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research, Senator Specter’s 20 point general election lead over Pat Toomey was reduced to a mere 9 points. Moreover, Specter’s numbers stayed well below 50% - a sure sign of trouble for any incumbent, but especially dangerous for a 30 year lawmaker with national name recognition.
And here’s the kicker: Specter’s name recognition will likely do little to help him defeat the nearly announced U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak who is preparing to enter the Democratic primary field. Sestak seems undeterred by national pressure to lay down to Sen. Specter and polling shows that the numbers of a popular liberal like Sestak have nowhere to go but up.
Thank you for your continued and unwavering support of Pat Toomey’s campaign for U.S. Senate. It is your work and dedication that will win this election for Pat - but more important, all Pennsylvanians will benefit from sending a tax-cutting conservative like Pat to Washington.
NORFOLK, Va. — A judge who rejected Michael Vick’s first bankruptcy plan warned the suspended NFL star’s lawyers Tuesday that they have just one more chance to file a workable proposal for repaying the millions he owes to creditors.
As Vick sat silently in the front of the courtroom, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro set a July 2 deadline for submission of a revised Chapter 11 plan. A hearing to confirm or reject the plan was set for Aug. 27.
A survey of 520 locally-elected officials, such as mayors and city council members, showed that the vast majority use the Internet and say they profit from it. This rapid growth of Internet use is also injecting new life into community affairs. More citizens and local groups are being heard and recognized thanks to email. Some 73% of online officials note that email exchanges with constituents help them better understand public opinion; 56% of online officials say their use of email has improved their relations with community groups; 54% of online officials say that their use of email has brought them into contact with citizens from whom they had not heard before; and 32% have been persuaded by email lobbying campaigns at least in part about the merits of a group’s argument on a policy question.
President Barack Obama has had his way with business in his first hundred days in office. He is the only president in American history to fire a CEO of a private business, Rick Wagoner of General Motors. He called bondholders of Chrysler Corporation speculators after they refused a government-financed deal that would have paid them one-third or less of what they are owed; they would rather go through regular bankruptcy proceedings. Recently, out of fear of a nationalized health care system, private insurance trade associations and health care providers have pledged to the president that they will reduce $2 trillion in health care costs over the next decade. It might be the audacity of hope for President Obama, but it’s hopelessness for the private sector. (more…)
WICHITA, Kansas - Wichita police say a child was assaulted early Tuesday morning, but was able to help them catch his attackers.
It happened on Shelton St. near 21St N. at around 1 a.m. The 12-year-old boy told police he was attacked and beaten by two men. One of the men dropped a cell phone and the boy was able to grab the phone and take off running. He then called police on his alleged attacker’s cell phone. With the description the boy gave and the suspect’s phone, detectives were able to arrest two men.
A new partnership between Purple Wave Auction and KansasStateCars.com is helping to raise money for Kansas State University.
The program, called Cars for Cats, will let car owners use Purple Wave Auction at no cost to sell their vehicle and donate the sale’s net proceeds to the K-State fund of their choice through the KSU Foundation.
“It’s a perfect opportunity for folks who need to find homes for vehicles they no longer use or need while contributing funds to help continue the tradition of excellence at K-State,” Russ Briggs, president of Briggs Auto Group and founder of KansasStateCars.com, said in a release.
Kansas University’s new chancellor will receive about 25 percent more than outgoing Chancellor Robert Hemenway, the Kansas Board of Regents disclosed Monday afternoon.
Bernadette Gray-Little will receive a maximum of $425,000 per year, compared with Hemenway’s state-approved maximum of $340,352. The state contribution to the salary, however, remains the same: $267,177.
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — The Army plans to reduce the size of some of its 36 wounded warrior units by the end of the month and close three by October after tightening standards to stem a flood of patients, a spokesman said Tuesday.
According to the Army, the one at Fort Leavenworth will close and another one at Fort Riley will be restructured, KMBC’s Maria Antonia reported.
Sixty-two percent (62%) of U.S. voters say Iran should be required to stop developing its nuclear weapons capabilities before a meeting is allowed between the Iranian president and the president of the United States, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Women (37%) are more likely to have been unable to afford a prescription than men (26%). More adults under the age of 40 say they’ve skipped a prescription because of cost than have older Americans.
Thirty-seven percent (37%) of those with children at home say they’ve not filed a prescription because of the cost, compared to 27% of those not living with children. Fifty percent (50%) of those earning less than $20,000 per year say cost has kept them from filling a prescription.
Additional federal stimulus dollars are flowing into Kansas University.
The National Science Foundation has awarded $284,641 in funding to a linguistics research project at KU, according to a release from U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan.
The project, led by Joan Sereno, associate professor of linguistics, will collect data documenting the range of variation that occurs in the production of speech, and how native and non-native speakers adjust to the variation.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Dave Trabert, President
Phone: 316-634-0218PUBLIC POLICY CENTER ADDS STAFF
(Wichita) - Gretchen Colón has been named Vice President of Advancement and Marketing at the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy. Colón will lead fundraising efforts and will develop and implement a comprehensive marketing plan to make the organization’s research available to more Kansans. (more…)
Thieves are ripping off Kansas University’s Watson Library, tearing apart books filled with ancient and expensive artwork, taking what’s valuable and leaving destruction behind.
Thousands of dollars worth of expensive pages have been cut apart and stolen from rare books dating to the early 1800s, their bindings and remnants left sprinkled in unusual spaces throughout the library.
Forty-one percent (41%) of Americans expect the quality of General Motors cars to get worse now that the federal government is the majority owner of the bankrupt automaker.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 19% believe the quality of GM cars will improve while 16% expect little change and 24% are not sure. (more…)
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - George Tiller’s slaying has accomplished what anti-abortion activists had tried to do for decades: The doors to his Kansas clinic will shut forever.
The announcement Tuesday from Tiller’s family was a tainted victory for the nation’s anti-abortion movement. For years, it made Tiller the focus of protests, legislation and legal attacks. His death reignited a public debate over some abortion opponents’ tactics and left many wondering how it will transform the abortion battleground.
Now that Tiller and his clinic are gone, the epicenter of the anti-abortion movement is less clear. Kansas has long been a lightning rod in the hot-button social issue - and in 2002, the leader of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue even moved his organization to the city to wage an aggressive campaign. With the clinic’s doors closed, the movement loses one of its key protest symbols.
Ruth Dyer will serve as Kansas State University’s interim provost.
Dyer, who is currently K-State’s associate provost, will assume her new duties June 15.
“I am thrilled that Ruth Dyer has accepted the position as interim provost,” said Kirk Schulz, K-State’s incoming president. “Ruth is highly qualified, an excellent leader, and has extensive experience with dealing with budgets in these difficult economic times. This background will be extremely helpful in the coming months.
The Defense Ministry, with experts from the Technion-Israel
Institute of Technology, based their intelligence-gathering robot on a previous project of Ben-Gurion University, which created a slew of robotic animals with special abilities.
Eight months ago, researchers at Ben-Gurion University reported they had developed “robot snakes” capable of navigating through pipes and narrow openings.
