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A House committee has endorsed Gov. Sam Brownback's proposal to reorganize the state's juvenile corrections system.

Brownback signed an order last month to move the Juvenile Justice Authority inside the Department of Corrections. The JJA is currently an independent agency.

Supporters of the reorganization point to legislative audits that showed repeated safety and security problems in a facility run by the JJA.

Representative John Rubin, a Republican from Shawnee, says the move is needed to improve the agency.

Gov's reorganization of JJA gets more support; Legislators question Brownback's tax plan; Kansas housing organizations get money to help renters.

Committee Backs Gov's Reorganization Of Juvenile Justice Authority

A House committee has endorsed Gov. Sam Brownback's proposal to reorganize the state's juvenile corrections system.

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Kansas Official Faces Questions On Business Taxes

I thought Quartet was a short-story movie, like the 1948 classic of Somerset Maugham stories. I was delighted to find that it is one of those multi-starred character studies that the British are so good at, but Americans hardly touch except on television like "Seinfeld," which is famously about nothing.

A Kansas Senate committee continued hearings Wednesday on a controversial bill affecting union paycheck deductions.

A Kansas Senate committee is debating whether to delay or change requirements that the state's utility companies use more renewable fuels.

The state required major utility companies to be able to generate 10 percent of their energy through a renewable source by 2011.

Those requirements would increase to 15 percent by 2016 and 20 percent by 2020.

The Senate committee on utilities is considering extending the 15 percent mandate to 2018 and the 20 percent requirement to 2024.

The United States Postal Service announced plans Wednesday to stop mail delivery on Saturdays beginning in August.

Under the new schedule, packages will continue to be delivered on Saturdays and post offices currently open on Saturdays will continue to provide that service. Mail addressed to PO boxes will also continue to be delivered.

The USPS says the move will save the organization about $2 million.

Compared to other major cities, Wichita has a relatively small African-American population.

Because of this large, black-owned commercial enterprises, such as insurance companies, never developed here. Nevertheless, there exists a strong tradition of smaller-scale African-American entrepreneurship in this city.

Wichita continues to be a city where minors are lured into sex-trafficking; runaway and homeless youth are picked up then taken across state lines, often into Texas or Missouri.

This happens, in part, because Wichita and Sedgwick county are situated at the crossroads of America. There is easy access to major highways that can quickly take people across state lines. This location makes south-central Kansas a prime spot for domestic minor sex-trafficking, known as DMST, which is the buying and selling of children and youth for sexual purposes.

The Wichita City Council Tuesday approved the Bicycle Master Plan. It recommends ways to make bicycling easier, safer and more convenient in Wichita.

A 19-member steering committee worked on the plan for two years. More than 4,000 people participated in the planning process at various meetings and events.

At the council meeting, Scott Wadle of the city's planning department outlined some of the recommendations:

A Senate Committee has delayed work on Gov. Sam Brownback's tax proposal. A printing mix-up meant the scheduled debate was left off the official Senate calendar for Tuesday, and the committee's chairman says he didn't want to work on the tax plan without letting the public know about it.

The committee was scheduled to debate the bill and offer amendments, also called "working" the bill.

Senate Tax Committee chairman Les Donovan says they’ll benefit from the extra time to prepare.