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Putting aside that this is out of Hollywood, the steaming cesspool of the west, a mecca for liberals, and pure fantasy; which side do you think is liberal and which side is conservative?

One last political funny to start election day!

Clint Eastwood spoke at the Republican National Convention and was pretending to talk to President Obama as he sat in a chair. Obama had no hard feelings for this; here's the picture for proof!

Here is a gun for the Liberals that think people shouldn't have guns because they "might" shoot someone. I personally think all Liberals should own and operate one. Happy Hunting!---Mr. KSHillbillys

It was like a scene out of "Blazing Saddles" at the Martin Luther King High School gym in Riverside, California, when the Martin Luther King Senior Citizen's Club announced that Jeffrey Warren was the winner of their $1,000 college scholarship, and he stood up to accept it...and he was white. There was a stunned hush, then laughter as they realized the application just said black students were encouraged to apply, not that only black students could apply. Some club members said Jeffrey should keep the money, but when he realized their mistake, he insisted on giving it to the black female runner-up. The club members praised him for being such a good citizen and student, and he's getting offers of other tuition help. Some people questioned why the scholarship should only go to people of a certain color, but private groups are legally allowed to set criteria like that.

A spokeswoman for the Martin Luther King senior club said Jeffrey is a "really neat student" who deserved the scholarship and that Dr. King would say he did everything right. Actually, we know what Dr. King would say, because he already said it: that his dream was that someday, people would be judged solely by the content of their characters, not the color of their skin. He might be disappointed to learn that even in a club named after him, that's still not true.

For more of the Huckabee Report, visit MikeHuckabee.com.

Picture #1 is of Hartwell B. Walker's grave in Ozark, Arkansas. He was my great great grandfather.
Picture #2 is of Albert Brundage's grave in Longton, KS.
Picture #3 is of John Hughes' grave in Oak Valley, KS.
Picture #4 is of Alson G. Wicker's grave in Elk Falls, KS.
Picture #5 is of Francis Marion Chaffin's grave at the Ames Cemetery, south of Moline.

I'm needing information on how to find a list of names of all of the people who trained/worked at the Independence Army Airfield during WWII, especially a Sergeant stationed there in August of 1943 with the last name of Melton. That is all the information I have on him is the date and the name Sgt. Melton on the back of a photo. I really need to find more out about this man as it is very important to me but don't know where to look. I've looked at enlistment records but from what I know about the Independence Army Airfield, men came from all over the country to there for training so he may not have been from around this area. Please, if anyone knows what I should do, please let me know. It is of the utmost importance that I learn all I can about this man. Thanks! Jennifer Walker

Hope you have a most wonderful day!! 

I heard this poem at the Longton Christian Church Christmas Program and felt compelled to share it with you all because it touched me deeply! Enjoy and to all a Merry Christmas!

The Priceless Gift of Christmas
by Helen Steiner Rice

Now Christmas is a season
For joy and merrymaking,
A time for gifts and presents,
For giving and for taking;
A festive, friendly, happy time
When everyone is gay....
But have we ever really felt
The greatness of the Day?

For through the centuries the world
Has wandered far away
From the beauty and the meaning
Of the Holy Christmas Day.

For Christmas is a heavenly gift
That only God can give,
It's ours just for the asking,
For as long as we shall live.

It can't be bought or bartered,
It can't be won or sold,
It doesn't cost a penny,
And it's worth far more than gold.

It isn't bright and gleaming
For eager eyes to see,
It can't be wrapped in tinsel
Or placed beneath a tree.

It isn't soft and shimmering
For reaching hands to touch,
Or some expensive luxury
You've wanted very much.

For the priceless gift of Christmas
Is meant just for the heart,
And we receive it only
When we become a part
Of the Kingdom and the glory
Which is ours to freely take,
For God sent the Holy Christ Child
At Christmas for our sake,
So man might come to know Him
And feel His presence near
And see the many miracles
Performed while He was here.

And this Priceless Gift of Christmas
Is within the reach of all,
The rich, the poor, the young and old
The greatest and the small.

So take his Priceless Gift of Love,
Reach out and you receive,
And the only payment that God asks,
Is just that you believe.

Why is it that some months back, Elk Konnected could use the Reverse 911 System to let people know that a soccer game had been cancelled, but the same Reverse 911 System is not being utilized to let everyone know that there has been a dangerous person running around for several days?? I knew nothing of what was going on until a couple of days ago and I had been letting my kids leave the house alone to go uptown or to go play...How safe is that? ----Jennifer

Just got a phone call that it is snowing north of Howard and heading this way! Boo...go away! I HATE snow!--Jennifer

 The National Association of REALTORS is all over this and working to get it repealed,  before it takes effect. 
But,  I am very pleased we aren't the only ones who know about this ploy to steal billions from unsuspecting homeowners.

Did you know that if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8% sales tax on it?  That's $3,800 on a $100,000 home,  etc.  When did this happen?  It's in the health care bill and goes into effect in 2013.

Why 2013?  Could it be to come to light AFTER the 2012 elections?  So,  this is "change you can believe in"?  Under the new health care bill all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax.
 
If you sell a $400,000 home,  there will be a $15,200 tax. 

This bill is set to screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes.  Does this make your November and 2012 vote more important?
 
Oh,  you weren't aware this was in the Obamacare bill?  Guess what,  you aren't alone.

There are more than a few members of Congress that aren't aware of it either
 
  http://www.gop.gov/blog/10/04/08/obamacare-flatlines-obamacare-taxes-home <http://www.gop.gov/blog/10/04/08/obamacare-flatlines-obamacare-taxes-home> 
 

There are 111 Vesta wind turbines sprouting up in the tallgrass prairie of Elk County just west of Howard that will eventually provide enough wind power to supply electricity to 70,000 households.
The turbines that make up the Caney River Wind Project will stand 270-feet in the air on concrete towers, poured with 370 yards of concrete each, on 14,000 acres of land and can be seen for miles while approaching Howard. The site is located approximately 11 miles west of Howard in Elk County, recognized as one of Kansas' poorest counties.
From the Caney River project site, another wind farm located in Beaumont, closer to the Wichita area is visible, but the two sites are not connected in any way.
The Elk County project, owned by Enel Green Power North America, is expected to have an economic impact on the businesses and residents of Elk County of at least approximately $3 million annually through lease agreements with land owners and payments in lieu of taxes to the county. The project's contributions to the county will represent a 50 percent increase in annual revenues, according to Kossara Marchinkova, director of external relations and communications for Enel North America.
While the project is destined to help Elk County economically, another purpose of the wind farm is to alleviate or avoid the emission of over 580,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year into the atmosphere, which is what would be created by generating an equivalent amount of power through other means.
K.R. Liebau, chairman of the Elk County Commission, applauded Enel and its subcontractors for their congeniality during the negotiating process and since the construction on the project started.
"Those people have been wonderful to work with," Liebau said. "We negotiated the contract and they have done the things that have given Elk County an economic boost."
"They have used Cornejo Rock Company in Moline for most of their rock, which allowed those guys to hire some additional people at pretty decent wages, and the pizza places and service stations have done quite a lot of business. I'm guessing the little service station there in Moline has fixed more tires since the project started than he ever has," Liebau said.
Liebau said the Caney River Project will pay Elk County $990,000 per year for the next 20 years with a 2 percent increase every year after that.
"If the three of us on the county commission can't operate this county on an extra $990,000 per year maybe the people ought to elect some new commissioners," Liebau said with a laugh.
He said the contractors have done a good job of using local businesses for supplies and goods since the inception of the project.
"It's been good to Elk County," Liebau said.
Substantial completion of  the Caney River project is set for the end of December 2011, while the final completion date is not set until the end of the first quarter of 2012, according to Bernie Holst, Enel's vice president of engineering and construction for wind, headquartered in San Diego, Calif.
Holst said that of the 111 wind turbines that will dot the landscape, 51 are currently fully constructed.
"We have 51 of the turbines constructed and 80 of the towers set so far," Holst said. "We have received delivery of 82 of the turbines to the site, and there are actually 12 of the turbines currently generating power at the Caney River site."
Joe Conti, the assistant site manager, said the turbines that were spinning in the 30 mph winds were generating power. Keith Abshier works as the site manager for Enel.
"You can see the wind blowing those turbines over there. They are generating power at full capacity right now," Conti said.
He said the winds on the hill average up to 10 miles per hour, but some days the wind speeds are much greater.
"I understand yesterday (Tuesday) the winds were blowing at about 30 mph and would have been a great day for us to have all 111 turbines operating and generating power," Holst said.
"It would have been a great day for generating power but not for having people on the cranes putting the towers together," Holst said.
Holst said there will be 10 electrical circuits sending power from the site and eight to 12 of the turbines will be hooked up to each circuit.
The wind farm is being designed to generate 200 megawatts of wind power to the area. The Tennessee Valley Authority will distribute the power. Holst did not know where the 70,000 homes that will benefit would be located.
Since the construction was initiated there has been an electric substation constructed on the site, and nearly 38 miles of road have been built.
Holst also said an operations and maintenance facility that will house 15 to 18 people on site daily has been completed.
"The Caney River Wind Project was developed by EGP NA's development partner Trade Wind Energy and has a power purchase agreement with the TVA. Once fully operational, the wind farm will generate 765 million kilowatt hours of power annually," according to a press release put out by Enel Green Power.
The project will assist the economy of Elk County in the long run, but at present the hundreds of workers flocking to the site are generating economic benefits in terms of rental housing, motel stays and food and fuel.
"I've been in Howard since February, and the project began in May here at this site," Conti said.
Conti said there are approximately 300-350 workers on site in different capacities, as the wind turbines begin to dot the landscape of Elk County.
Because he was one of the first on site, Conti got the first pick of possible locations to reside while the wind farm is under construction.
"I am renting an attic apartment in Howard," Conti said.
"All these men and women are generating economic development in Howard, Elk County and throughout this area. This should be and is a big boost to this area."
Enel's overall investment in the project amounts to approximately $350 million.
The Caney River Wind Project is committed to funding for a Native Environment Conservation Plan focused on the tallgrass prairie in Kansas. The money is expected to fund the purchase of conservation easements for over 18,000 acres, the restoration of 6,000 acres of tallgrass prairie habitat and wind and wildlife research focused on this eco-region, according to Enel.
EGP-NA, a part of Enel Green Power, is a leading owner and operator of renewable energy plants in North America with projects operating and under development in 21 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.
EGP-NA owns and operates over 70 plants with an installed capacity of around 800 megawatts powered by renewable hydropower, wind, geothermal, solar and biomass energy. Together with its development partners (TradeWind Energy, LLC and Geronimo Wind Energy, LLC) EGP-NA is aiming to double its total installed capacity within the next few years.
Holst said Enel's partner, TradeWind Energy, was responsible for finding and selecting the Elk County site for the Caney River project.
Enel Green Power is an industry leader worldwide thanks to some 22 billion kilowatt hours generated from water, sun, wind and geothermal, meeting the energy needs of some eight million households and avoiding 16 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. The company has an installed capacity of more than 6,100 megawatts, with over 650 facilities around the world and a generation mix that includes wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass.
In terms of wind power, according to EGP-NA, they operate 405 megawatts of wind power in Kansas, New York, Minnesota and Canada. The Smoky Hills Wind Farm in Kansas, located near Salina, is the largest in Enel's worldwide portfolio (155 turbines, 250 megawatts). The Snyder Wind Farm in Texas boasts the largest turbines in the Americas at 345 feet.
While the Caney River facility is under construction, a 150 megawatt Rocky Ridge Wind Farm in Oklahoma is scheduled to begin construction by the end of 2011. -----Story by Allen Smith, Independence Reporter, Sunday Edition, Living Section November 6, 2011

A former employee of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. at the Rainbow Push Coalition has filed a bombshell wrongful termination and discrimination complaint against the civil rights leader with the City of Chicago's Commission on Human Rights.

The complaint, filed sometime last year by Tommy R. Bennett, a regular on the Tom Joyner Radio show and member of Barack Obama's LGBT Leadership Council, includes shocking allegations about Jackson's behavior toward the openly gay staffer including an allegation that the civil rights leader propositioned him.

Jackson has denied the allegations in a legal response that was filed in July 2010 and resurfaced when the Windy City Times published a story Tuesday.

Bennett, 55, claims Jackson ridiculed him in front of other employees and required him to perform "humiliating tasks" like escorting women to Jackson's various hotel rooms, cleaning up after alleged trysts and packing his clothing.  It also includes an allegation that Jackson asked for oral sex, according to the claim. Jackson flatly denied each claim in his response.

"The Rainbow PUSH Coalition unequivocally deny Tommy Bennett's false claims of harassment, retaliation and discrimination," the organization said in a statement released late Thursday, adding that it is "fully cooperating with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations and expect to be fully exonerated."

Bennett has not commented to NBCChicago.

Bennett worked for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition for more than two years as the National Director of Community Affairs.  The complaint states that Bennett endured a string of discriminatory treatment from multiple supervisors, but his protests were met with deaf ears.

In 2008, Bennett assumed the duties of Jackson's travel assistant.

In that capacity, Bennett alleges to "clean his [hotel] room after sexual intercourse with women."

Bennett's complaint requests back and front pay, compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages all to the tune of roughly $450,000.  Bennett also wants an amendment to the civil rights organization's non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Jackson, a former presidential candidate, has been married to his wife, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, since 1962, but has had bouts with infidelity.  One affair with a staffer resulted in the birth of a girl in 1999.

He has five children with Brown, including Jesse Jackson, Jr., who represents Illinois' 2nd District in the United States House of Representatives.


Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/jackson-push-bennett-lawsuit-119861339.html#ixzz1csW4cwqB

In tiny rural Kansas district, students out-performing global competition
By Liz Goodwin

National Affairs Reporter

PostsEmailRSSBy Liz Goodwin | The Lookout – 6 hrs agotweet24Share0EmailPrint


Cawker City, Kansas's massive ball of twine (AP)
In the rural Waconda Lake area of North Central Kansas, the nearest Wal-Mart is 60 miles away and the best-known local landmark is an enormous ball of twine that locals claim is the largest in the world. (Darwin, Minnesota begs to differ.)

But don't be fooled. The students in this sleepy agricultural community are not only out-performing American kids in other, much wealthier schools; they're also out-performing most students in developed nations around the world, according to a new analysis.

The average student at the Waconda school district of 385 kids scores better than 90 percent of students in 20 developed countries on math and reading tests, according to The Global Report Card, published in the journal Education Next. In fact, Waconda is the second highest performing school district in math in the country, after Pelham, Massachusetts, an affluent community that is home to Amherst College.

At most of the country's 13,636 school districts, the average student scores worse in math than most students in other developed countries. That even includes ritzy districts like Beverly Hills, where the average household income is more than $100,000.

So why are Waconda kids--65 percent of whom live in poverty--doing so well? And can other schools follow their lead?

The Waconda district comprises four small towns--Cawker City, Downs, Glen Elder and Tipton--and seven schools spread over 411 square miles. Most people in the area work in agriculture or in manufacturing.

The district's superintendent of seven years, Jeff Travis, told Yahoo News that after years of high test scores, the community expects its students to excel. Most years, he added, no one drops out of high school. The district won 14 state Governor Achievement Awards and one national "Blue Ribbon Award School" over the past four years.

"It's a tradition now, and they expect themselves to do well," Travis said. "Like a ball team that continues to win because of a tradition, we have an academic tradition."

Still, the community doesn't quite seem to get how exceptional they are. "Everybody's pretty happy [but] nobody understands how big a deal it is," he said.

Travis says the students' high level of achievement is even more extraordinary given that 65 percent of them qualify for free or reduced federal lunches, an indication that they live in poverty. High poverty schools are often dogged by low test scores and high dropout rates. Many educational observers indeed blame the nation's sky-high child poverty level for the country's comparatively low performance in math.

One theory Travis has is that Waconda school kids have no sense that they're materially deprived. "North Central Kansas is rural, and urban poverty is kind of different [from] rural poverty," he said. "A lot of our people don't even understand that they're living in poverty." According to state data, most of the students are white, and no kids need English language learning classes.

About 10 percent of the students in the school district are foster kids, Travis says. "We just [have] a lot of adults that care about kids, so it's been a popular thing for parents to take in foster children."

Travis says that high parental involvement is one of three main factors in the district's success. Almost every parent shows up for parent-teacher conferences at the elementary school level, he says, and participation stays high in the older grades as well.

The second factor, he says, is the district's commitment to keeping its pre-kindergarten to third grade classes very small. Only 12 to 15 kids are placed in each class, so that "we get to a lot of problems quickly and early in child development," he says.

Finally, the district created an assessment card for each student that follows him or her from grade to grade. The card lists skills the state expects each child to master in each subject--and teachers update them continuously, to provide them with a good idea of what each child needs to work on to be able to pass state standardized tests.

The national education reform movement has focused on tying students' standardized test scores to teacher pay and opening up independent charter schools as a way to lift student achievement. But Travis says the district doesn't follow education trends.

"We don't believe in the next biggest thing or the next biggest theory. We've not made any major changes," he said.

Waconda faces big funding challenges, though. Travis cut about 10 percent of staff positions over the past several years to tackle budget cuts. The average teacher salary in the district is $40,000, among the lowest of any district in the state. "It's going to get tougher as we go," he says.

Another problem is that the school's high-achieving kids often leave and don't come back. Many end up in Kansas City, Travis says.

"It's where the services and the goods and fun are," he said. The high school tries to encourage kids to come back to the community after college by asking them to design a small business plan for the area.

A quick note on the research: One of the Global Report Card's authors, Josh McGee, says the small size of Waconda schools may have skewed the results slightly, since randomness has a greater impact on a smaller sample size. Most of the best-performing school districts in his ranking were small, and many of them were also made up of charter schools. You can read more about his methodology here.

Maybe people in other states will now start to realize that Kansas is NOT full of morons!

[Elected officials don't listen to will of the people]

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Elected officials don't listen to will of the people


Walter E. Gunther, Las Vegas

Friday, Aug. 20, 2010 | 2:02 a.m.

Regarding Michael K. Casler's Saturday letter to the editor, headlined "A career in politics can be a pretty good gig":

Casler stated the influence and benefits enjoyed by members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Is there any wonder, then, why these elected officials fight term limits? Of course not.

A few elected officials may go to Washington with good intentions to serve the people and do what is right for America.

But the vast majority will serve their own self interest and their party. Money from special-interest groups, whether corporations or others, makes the wheels go around — and the only time the people are important to the officials is during election years.

Once they are elected, they do what they want, not what the people want. When the elected officials cram laws down the throats of people that go against the wishes of the people, it cries out loud that we are not a government of the people, by the people and for the people.


It's happening everywhere: local, state and national. The elected people don't care what the people that elected them think about anything they would like to see done. I do hope We the People remember this at election time. It's time to let the politicians, no matter who or where they are, know that they won't get your vote if they don't start listening to YOU. ---Jennifer L. Walker

[REAL]

On the front page of today's Prairie Star, there are three pictures and five stories, ranging from a ranch rodeo to Elk Konnected to Central's upcoming Homecoming festivities. I continued reading through the paper looking for two stories that I thought were front page worthy, but ended up not being worthy at all to be in this week's edition. I looked again, just to make sure.

On the front page of Tuesday's Independence Daily Reporter there were TWO stories about very interesting happenings in or about Chautauqua County. One was the story of a man who had been found dead last Friday morning in his burned vehicle outside of Peru and the other was a story about a ceremony being held in Maryland this Saturday for Fallen Firefighters that includes a firefighter from Peru, Kansas, that died of smoke inhalation in 2010. Both items would have been available on Monday to put in this weeks' Prairie Star.

I think it's very sad when a newspapers' top priorities for the front page are the 25th Annual Ranch Rodeo, a picture of Steve and Jane Fry's future home, Elk Konnected's meeting, Bob and Shirley Black reopening the fitness center, Chautauqua County's drive thru flu shot clinic and Central preparing for Friday's homecoming! A man being found dead in a burning vehicle and a Fire Captain being honored as a Fallen Firefighter didn't even MAKE THE ENTIRE PAPER, LET ALONE THE FRONT PAGE!

WHERE'S THE REAL NEWS? ----Jennifer L. Walker

[Other states are trying to abolish the death penalty. My state is putting in an express lane."]

Sent to death row 20 years ago as a convicted cop killer, Troy Davis was celebrated as "martyr and foot soldier" Saturday by more than 1,000 people who packed the pews at his funeral and pledged to keep fighting the death penalty.

Family, activists and supporters who spent years trying to persuade judges and Georgia prison officials that Davis was innocent were unable to prevent his execution Sept. 21. But the crowd that filled Savannah's Jonesville Baptist Church on Saturday seemed less interested in pausing in remorse than showing a resolve to capitalize on the worldwide attention Davis' case brought to capital punishment in the U.S.

http://news.yahoo.com/troy-davis-mourned-martyr-1-000-ga-200346278.html

Texas death row inmate Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, was executed by lethal execution at 7:21 p.m. ET Wednesday, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.

Brewer was one of three men found guilty for his involvement in the dragging death of James Byrd 13 years ago.

Brewer and two other white men kidnapped the 49-year-old black man on the night of June 7, 1998. They chained him by the ankles to the back of a pickup truck and dragged him for 3 ½ miles down a country road near Jasper, Texas. Byrd died when he was decapitated after he hit a culvert.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/21/texas-death-row-inmate-executed/


Ok...What I want to know is if these people in Georgia (and all over the world according to the story) are so outraged by the death penalty, how come NO one is being pissy about Brewer getting lethal injection the same night? I'm tired of reading about it. Cop killers deserve to die. I think every state should be like Ron White's Texas: "I'm from Texas. In Texas we have the death penalty and we USE IT! That's right... if you come to Texas and kill somebody, we kill you back. That's our policy.
They're trying to push a bill right now in the Texas legislature that'll speed up the process of execution in heinous crimes where there are more than three credible eye witnesses. If more than three people saw you do what you did, you don't sit on death row for fifteen years, you go straight to the front of the line.
Other states are trying to abolish the death penalty. My state is putting in an express lane." Why does this country coddle their murderers? Let's quit paying their way for decades and kill them a week after they are put on death row. Saves time and money and may even serve as a deterrent!! ---Jennifer

Teresa...I like the LIKE buttons on Facebook. Here lately, there have been a lot of posts on this forum that are deserving of a LIKE button...Is there anyway you can put a LIKE button on here or maybe a thumbs up/thumbs down thing like on YouTube or Yahoo??----Jennifer

[* Recipients of child care assistance will be required to work a minimum of 20 hours a week.]

BY BRAD COOPER AND BRENT D. WISTROM

Eagle Topeka bureau




TOPEKA — Kansas is undertaking a series of welfare reforms, including one measure that would remove a financial advantage for unmarried couples on the welfare rolls.

State social services Secretary Rob Siedlecki announced the reforms late Friday, saying they're intended to level the playing field in several programs that serve tens of thousands of people.

The reforms will affect Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, child care assistance and food stamps. The proposed changes include:

* A "soft," four-year lifetime limit will be imposed on welfare benefits in the needy family program. The current time limit is five years. Seven other states, including Missouri, have a 4-year cap on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.

* The income of an unmarried, live-in boyfriend or girlfriend will be included in determining the amount the household gets in welfare assistance.

* Recipients of child care assistance will be required to work a minimum of 20 hours a week.

* Welfare recipients will be required to provide proof of school enrollment for all the children in the family in order to qualify for assistance.

* Applicants seeking benefits in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program will be required to be looking for a job.

* People will no longer be able to use Vision Cards — the electronic form of food stamps — to purchase alcohol, tobacco or lottery tickets.

* The entire income of anyone not in the country legally will now be counted in assessing how much welfare assistance goes to a household. Currently, the income of someone not living here legally is pro-rated in calculating welfare assistance, officials said

An SRS spokesperson said using the income of the unmarried boyfriend/girlfriend to calculate welfare assistance isn't related to encouraging marriage.

She said there is a built-in inequality in that a partner could have an unlimited amount of income while the other is able to qualify for certain benefits for themselves and any children living in the household.

"If one member of a married couple has an income, and the other doesn't, neither qualifies for certain benefits," the spokeswoman said.

"And this is the case regardless of the presence of children in the household. This change is a simple matter of equity and fairness," she said.

As for preventing Vision Card money from being spent on alcohol, tobacco or lottery tickets, SRS spokeswoman Angela de Rocha said the state doesn't track how much money has been used for such purchases. But she said that it is "widespread."

"We would have to stand in every convenience store in Kansas to figure out how much," she said.

These reforms will be implemented over the next three months, and should all be fully in place by Jan. 1, 2012, officials said. Siedlecki said the reforms could save between $10 million and $15 million.


Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/09/17/2020427/state-announces-welfare-reforms.html#ixzz1YG3q59A3

Well, yes, please work at least 20 hours a week before I pay for your childs' babysitter! Don't just be shipping your kid off to a babysitter so you can sit at home and smoke your crackpipe and expecting ME to pay for it! Since when did people get to start buying alcohol, tobacco and lottery tickets with their Vision Card? This is an outrage! Hell, I've been boycotting Papa Murphy's pizza since I saw the "we accept Vision cards" on their ads! That pisses me off! If you want to buy alcohol, tobacco, lottery tickets and take and bake pizza, get a damned job and pay with cash like everyone else has to! Just absolutely pisses me off! ---Mrs. KSH