By FRANK MORRIS

Voters in south central Kansas will be the first in the nation to decide a congressional race in the age of Trump. The special election in the Kansas 4th District will replace Mike Pompeo, who now leads the CIA. It’s a district that would, under normal circumstances, be considered a lock for the Republican candidate. But of course, these are not normal times, and resources are flowing into the district from left and right.

Last November, when Democrats in rest of the country woke up to Donald Trump’s surprise win, Kansas Democrats had something to celebrate. After years in the wilderness, Kansas Democrats converted a dozen seats in the state Legislature in 2016. Trump’s victory and his appointment of then Kansas 4th District Congressman Mike Pompeo to head the CIA presented another opportunity.

The Democrat is a Sanders guy

James Thompson, a Sanders-inspired newbie, managed to beat a well-known politician in a local party convention to become the Democrats’ candidate in the 4th.

Thompson is a civil rights attorney and strongly pro-union. He grew up dirt poor, mainly in Oklahoma, and he served in the Army, a fact he promotes in his advertisements.

“I want to be your congressman,” states Thompson in one 30-second spot. “I’m going to fight for our jobs, fight for our veterans, and fight for our personal freedoms,” says Thompson as an image of him aiming a military-style rifle crosses the screen.

Thompson says he has lots of grassroots support, and he has been able to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, reportedly, with help from a Sanders email list. The liberal website Daily Kos has been promoting his candidacy, and a group called Democracy for America has been lining up people from across the country to call 4th District voters on Thompson’s behalf.

The Republican is a Trump guy 

Ron Estes is running TODAY for Congress in the Great State of Kansas. A wonderful guy, I need his help on Healthcare & Tax Cuts (Reform).

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2017

Thompson’s Republican opponent, Ron Estes, is hardly defenseless. The Kansas 4th is, after all, home to Charles Koch, Koch Industries and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce. In addition to Wichita, the district includes most of south central Kansas, a conservative stronghold. And Estes is an established insider.

“Ron Estes is the Kansas State Treasurer, and he’s, not a very well-known person, and nothing against him, but not a very dynamic politician,” says Bob Beatty, professor of political science at Washburn University.

Beatty says Estes is, however, a familiar face around Wichita, where he served as Sedgwick County Treasurer. Estes has worked as a manager in the oil and manufacturing businesses. He stands out among Kansas Republicans as an early and avid Trump supporter. Like Trump, Estes promises to cut regulations, and bring back manufacturing jobs.

In one ad he stands in an algae-covered pond, repeating Trump’s pledge to “drain the swamp”.

“After eight years of Obama, America is weaker, and the swamp is deeper than we thought,” says Estes in the ad. “And now the liberal activists are trying to steal this election, by supporting a Bernie Sanders-backed lawyer,” Estes continues with swamp images flashing on the screen.

4th District race overshadowed

With the Trump guy versus Sanders guy match-up, you’d expect this first congressional election of the new presidency to draw attention. But another race is attracting millions of dollars from all over the country sucking the political oxygen — money that is — out of the Kansas 4th where fundraising is measured in hundreds of thousands.

“There’s clearly going to be enough to run a solid campaign,” says Neal Allen, who teaches political science at Wichita State University. “But for both Republicans and especially Democrats, the fact that the Georgia 6th, looks to be very competitive, and that election occurs a week after the Kansas 4th, that has drawn most of the national money.”

That Georgia race is to replace Tom Price, who Trump named to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Georgia’s 6th is in suburban Atlanta. It’s also supposed to be a safe Republican seat. But the four viable Republican contenders face one Democrat; and the Democrat, Jon Ossoff, has raised more than $8 million. Ossoff is generating so much support that he threatens to win 50 percent in a crowded field and forego a runoff election. The national GOP is going to the mat to stop him.

While the race in Georgia overshadows the Kansas 4th on the national scene, Thompson isn’t even getting a lot of support from the Kansas Democratic Party. In fact his campaign has feuded with party leaders over a request for a measly $20,000. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been completely silent in Thompson’s race.

“If the Democrats are going to take the House back, they probably have to take a few districts like the Georgia 6th in the north Atlanta suburbs,” says Allen. “But the Kansas 4th is just a lot more Republican.  And the kind of voters that tend to be swinging toward the Democrats are just not that populous around Wichita.”

Tough territory for Democrats 

In the last three congressional elections, Democratic challengers attracted only about 30 percent of the vote against Mike Pompeo. Beatty says it’s unlikely Thompson will turn that around in the space of a few months.

“Everybody would just be shocked if Thompson won. Personally, if it were within single digits, in Kansas, I’d say, that’s unbelievable!” says Beatty

But, guess what, late last week the Kansas 4th District race suddenly popped up on Washington’s radar. The National Republican Congressional Committee abruptly weighed in with an attack ad. Republican operatives have been telling reporters that the Kansas race is uncomfortably close.

Beatty doesn’t buy it. He doesn’t think the talk, or the GOP’s last-minute ad buy necessarily signals a big turn in the race. He says the idea may be simply to make sure that Estes’s base takes the election seriously. Because, as early turnouts indicate, it’s a pretty safe bet that Thompson’s core people will.

Frank Morris is a national correspondent and senior editor at kcur.org, a partner in the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @FrankNewsman.

RENO COUNTY – A 9-year-old Kansas boy was injured in a farming accident just after 7p.m. Monday in Reno County.

First responders were dispatched to the southwest corner of a field near Kansas 14 highway and Arlington Road, according to the Reno County Sheriff’s Department.

The boy’s father told deputies his 10-year-old daughter was driving a tractor in the field, when the his 9-year-old son fell and was run over by the front and rear tires of the tractor.

The boy was walking in front of the tractor, cutting small trees down and throwing them in to the bucket of the tractor.

An emergency medical helicopter transported the boy to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. according to the sheriff’s department.

Name of the victim was not released.

HARVEY COUNTY – Law enforcement and school authorities are investigating an alleged threat of violence at a school in Newton.

On Monday, the administration at Chisholm Middle School became aware of a threat of violence communicated toward the school by a student, according to a social media report from Newton Police.

School administration and the school resource officer promptly began a thorough investigation of the perceived threat.

There is no evidence of a continuing danger to the school or any student.

Officials asked the community to be patient as they continue to work on this incident and they reminded the public that student safety remains a top priority of USD 373.

WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas man who used a stolen identity to take out a $43,000 car loan was sentenced Monday to 45 months in federal prison, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Jacob Michael Martin, 32, Wichita, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

In his plea, Martin admitted he used another man’s identity when he went to CarMax and applied for a loan to buy a 2012 Jaguar. As a result, Wells Fargo Bank issued a loan of $43,599.47 in the victim’s name. Martin presented a counterfeit Kansas driver’s license with his own picture and the name of the victim. He also gave the lender the victim’s Social Security number.

Martin is one of 13 people charged in an indictment filed in May 2016 alleging the conspirators worked together to steal mail from mailboxes, forge identification documents, obtain fraudulent credit cards and shop with stolen identities.

WICHITA -In addition to a visit by Texas Senator Ted Cruz , President Donald Trump stepped into a special congressional race in Kansas by recording a call urging prospective voters to cast their ballots for Republican candidate Ron Estes.

The Associated Press obtained a recording of the call Monday as the Estes campaign started using it ahead of Tuesday’s election.

The recording was provided by a person close to the campaign who didn’t want to be identified because the recording was released ahead of an official announcement. The person said it was recorded over the weekend.

Trump said in the call: “Republican Ron Estes needs your vote and needs it badly.”

Estes is in a tougher-than-expected race in the 4th Congressional District of southern Kansas against Democrat James Thompson. They’re seeking to replace Mike Pompeo after Trump named Pompeo CIA director.

——-

WICHITA— Texas Sen. Ted Cruz appeared in Kansas Monday to campaign for Republican candidate Ron Estes ahead of Tuesday’s special congressional election.

Cruz appeared with the candidate during a Monday afternoon rally at Yingling Aviation.

Estes is the state treasurer and he’s running to replace Mike Pompeo after Pompeo’s appointment as CIA director.

The Democratic candidate is civil rights attorney James Thompson. Flight simulator instructor Chris Rockhold is running as a Libertarian.

Cruz won the state’s presidential caucuses last year. Estes initially backed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio but is a longtime Republican activist.

The 4th Congressional District of south-central Kansas includes Barber, Butler, Chautauqua, Comanche, Cowley, Edwards, Elk, Greenwood, Harper, Harvey, Kingman, Kiowa, Pratt, Sedgwick, Stafford, and Sumner and a portion of Pawnee County. The largest city in the district is Wichita.

 
 

LYON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Lyon County are investigating a stabbing and asking for help to find a suspect.

Just after 5:30 a.m. on March 28, sheriff’s deputies responded to the 200 block of E Hwy 99 in Olpe, Kansas for a report of a stabbing.

Upon arrival, deputies located Rick Hammond, 52, Olpe had been cut after confronting a man in his garage, according to a media release.

Tyler McCarley, 31, is wanted in connection with the attack, according the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department.

McCarley is wanted for aggravated burglary and aggravated battery. He is believed to be from the Hutchison and has ties to Madison, KS and Kiowa and Ford Counties and Oklahoma.

McCarley was last seen driving a black 2002 Chevrolet mid-sized, extended cab pickup with Oklahoma tags.
McCarley should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with any other information on the location of this suspect, please call your local law enforcement agency or the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office at 620-341-3205 or Crime Stoppers at 620-342-2273.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After four years at the top of the Airline Quality Rating, Virgin America slipped to third in 2016, and the airline it announced a merger with last year – Alaska Airlines – has finished No. 1, with Delta coming in at a close second, according to the 27th annual Airline Quality Rating (AQR), released Monday, April 10 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

See the full report here.

A joint research project funded as part of faculty research activities at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott, Arizona, campus, the most recent AQR also showed that industry performance improved in all four core elements tracked by the study: on-time performance, rate of involuntary denied boardings, rate of mishandled bags and the rate of customer complaints.

Nine of the 12 airlines improved in three categories (on-time, baggage handling and customer complaints), and seven of the 12 airlines improved in all four categories. Airlines that performed better in 2016 were Alaska, American, Delta, ExpressJet, Frontier, SkyWest, Southwest, Spirit and United. Those whose scores declined in 2016 were Hawaiian, JetBlue and Virgin America.

“The best-ever overall industry AQR score is largely due to best-ever performance in the rate of involuntary denied boardings and the rate of mishandled bags,” said Dean Headley, associate professor of marketing at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University. “Air travel is great again – that statement can be followed with a period, exclamation point or question mark depending on the individual’s perspective.”

In April 2016, Seattle-based Alaska Air Group publicly announced it would be acquiring Virgin America in 2017 to form the nation’s fifth-largest airline. The 2016 Department of Transportation (DOT) data used in the study listed the airlines as separate entities.

“These results provide a rare insight into the airline merger arena. We have a carrier, Alaska, that wanted to improve performance, began improvement plans before any merger announcement, and is currently taking over the top performer, Virgin America. Going from fifth to first is rare, but a devoted corporate resolve can make that happen,” said study co-researcher Brent Bowen, dean of College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott, Arizona, campus. “Delta, for example, has been recovering from merger complications for several years and has climbed its way back to be a close contender for No. 1. It will be interesting to see if Alaska / Virgin America can avoid the common post-merger decline in performance. If combined they can stay at No. 1, it will be a significant departure from the past.”

An electronic version of the full report, with details on each airline, is available at airlinequalityrating.com. Also at the website is a new feature where passengers can provide information and comments about their personal flying experiences via the 2017 Airline Passenger Survey.

Inside this year’s rating
Below is the 2016 numerical ranking of the nation’s leading 12 airlines, according to the Airline Quality Rating, with the 2015 ranking in parentheses:
1. Alaska (5)
2. Delta (3)
3. Virgin America (1)
4. JetBlue (2)
5. Hawaiian (4)
6. Southwest (6)
7. SkyWest (7)
8. United (8)
9. American (10)
10. ExpressJet (9)
11. Spirit (13)
12. Frontier (11)
NOTE: The 2015 rating included 13 airlines. Envoy is not rated in 2016.

On-time performance
Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance (91.1 percent) for 2016, and Spirit had the worst (74.3 percent).

Nine airlines improved their on-time arrival performance in 2016. Six of the 12 airlines rated had an on-time arrival percentage of better than 80 percent. On-time performance for the industry in 2016 was 81.4 percent, compared to 79.9 percent in 2015.

Involuntary denied boardings
Hawaiian and Delta were the industry leaders in avoiding involuntary denied boarding incidents in 2016 with a rate of 0.05 and 0.10 per 10,000 passengers, respectively. ExpressJet (1.51) had the highest involuntary denied boarding rate per 10,000 passengers.

Seven airlines improved their denied boarding rate in 2016. SkyWest recorded the greatest improvement.

Overall, the industry had 0.62 denied boardings per 10,000 passengers in 2016, compared to 0.76 in 2015. This is the best rate since the AQR started in 1991.

Baggage handling
Virgin America had the best baggage handling rate (1.03 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers) of all airlines, and ExpressJet had the worst baggage handling rate (4.31 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers).

Nine airlines had improved mishandled baggage rates in 2016. The industry rate decreased from 3.24 per 1,000 passengers in 2015 to 2.70 in 2016. This is the best rate since the AQR started in 1991.

Consumer complaints
Southwest had the lowest consumer complaint rate (0.47 per 100,000 passengers) of all airlines. Spirit had the highest consumer complaint rate (6.74 per 100,000 passengers).

Customer complaints per 100,000 passengers decreased from 1.90 in 2015 to 1.52 in 2016. The majority of complaints (73.5 percent) to the DOT were for flight problems (41.4 percent), baggage (12.0 percent), customer service (10.5 percent), and reservations, ticketing and boarding (9.6 percent).

More about the Airline Quality Rating
As the nation’s longest-running study of airline performance quality, the Airline Quality Rating (airlinequalityrating.com) sets the industry standard, providing consumers and industry watchers with a means to compare performance quality among airlines using objective performance-based data.
No other study in the country is based on performance measures like the AQR. Criteria included in the report are screened to meet two basic elements: They must be readily obtainable from published data sources for each airline, and they must be important to consumers regarding airline quality. The resulting criteria include areas such as baggage handling, customer complaints, denied boardings and on-time arrivals.

SALINE COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating another alleged phone scam.

A 75-year old Salina was contacted by someone posing as a federal agent, according to Salina Police Sgt. James Feldman.

The imposter called and told the victim that he had won the California Lottery and needed money to cover transaction fees.

The victim was instructed to send the money via Western Union.

From March 1 to April 7, the victim sent three payments totaling $1,200. He contacted authorities when he did not receive his prize money.

Sgt. Feldman said that wired money can be difficult to track because it can be picked up nationwide and the suspect

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A former federal prison guard was sentenced Monday to three years in federal prison for taking bribes to smuggle tobacco to inmates, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Marc Buckner, 47, Kansas City, pleaded guilty to one count of a public official accepting bribes. In his plea, he admitted the crimes occurred while he worked as a guard at Leavenworth Penitentiary. Buckner said he was paid each time he smuggled tobacco into the prison. He hid tobacco and rolling papers in two handmade insoles in his shoes.

Inmates paid Buckner $750 for each can of Bugler brand tobacco and rolling papers he smuggled. He said he smuggled tobacco once or twice a month for years.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — The number of mumps cases at Kansas State University is now up to 15 since February.

The Manhattan Mercury (https://bit.ly/2plAGFS ) reports that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is recommending that people in close contact to others diagnosed with mumps receive a third dose of the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. The recommendation is based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s outbreak control guidance.

The university says that three students were diagnosed in February, forcing the school to consider the situation an “outbreak.”

The CDC says that some of the symptoms for the illness include fever, exhaustion and swollen salivary glands under the ears. Mumps is an airborne virus that can be spread by sneezing and coughing.

Riley County Health Department director Jennifer Green says health agencies continue to identify and contact those who may face increased risk.