The Kansas Capitol Dome

The Kansas Capitol dome has been refurbished with new copper and it looks great. The overall Capitol renovation project cost $320 million and took 12 years to complete. The dome portion of the project cost about $10.3 million. As the project nears completion, some ask, "Why did we spend this money on the Capitol building and the Dome when the money could have been spent on educating our children?"

Well, excuse me for enjoying the new look of the Capitol dome.

And furthermore, the decision was never to spend money educating our children or to refurbish the Dome. The Legislature never considered a bill to either educate our kids or fix the roof of the Statehouse. The Legislature chose to redo the Dome because the roof was leaking. And, at the same time, they chose to spend money on educating our kids. In fact, the Legislature spent as much money as they wanted to on education. Some would have spent more, some less.

Every citizen of Topeka is proud of Topeka High School, a building we are told time and time again was the first public high school building west of the Mississippi to cost over $1 million. It was an impressive building when it opened in 1931 and it remains to this day a building that has allowed generations to marvel at it and understand that Topeka places a high value on excellence and education. I've always joked that the school board that approved the cost of constructing Topeka High School was voted out of office at the next election. I don't know if this is true, but I'll bet there was someone in Topeka, perhaps named Ebenezer Ledbetter, who attended the school board meetings and railed against the profligate spenders who threw all that money at bricks and mortar instead of books and teachers.

The fact is that we have to do both. We have to fund education and we have to fix the roof to stop the leaks.

Checks and Balances

Remember your High School Government class when you studied the U.S. Constitution and learned we have a system that divides power between the three branches of government?  Remember when you learned about the Checks and Balances each branch has with the others?  That is what is happening now with the Federal Government closed for business.  The guy pictured here is James Madison, the person who devised and wrote most of the Constitution and who authored many of the Federalist Papers explaining how the Federal government would work (or not work) under the Constitution.  James Madison is smiling now, because our Federal Government is working just as he envisioned it would.  Congress, starting with the House, would appropriate funds to the Executive to spend.  The House has approved an appropriations bill, but it doesn't fund the Affordable Care Act popularly known as Obamacare.  The Senate refuses to vote on this bill or any appropriations bill unless funds are included for Obamacare.  The President calls those dirty, rotten House members names for refusing to fund his health care law, forgetting they, like him, were popularly elected by a majority of the voters in their districts.  What will happen?  There will be a compromise.  Our constitutional form of government requires all parties to work together - to share their powers - to compromise - to see that the work of the federal government gets done.  God Bless You, James Madison!                 

Lauren Drain - a courageous woman!

Meet Lauren Drain, a true woman of courage.   

She was married recently.  I've never met Lauren, but I know several members of the cult that she fled from and I know of their hatred for mankind.  Here's a story about her wedding.  She is embarking on a new life and a new adventure, and my best wishes and admiration for her courage go with her.

Lisa & Adam's Wedding

Lisa Kenney and Adam Wright are getting married this weekend in Kansas City. Here is a video I prepared to honor them:

We wish them much love and happiness!

Charles Wesley Wright III

My brother, Charles "Chuck" Wesley Wright III, died this week. I don't think he was ever comfortable being Charles Wesley Wright the Third, but I know he enjoyed being Chuck Wright.

Chuck Wright wore a smile and had a lot of friends. Chuck stood 6 foot 3 1/2, but people looked up to him because of his character. Chuck was a leader from the day I was born.

As kids, it seems like we did everything together. We roomed together and played whatever sport was in season together. We swam, shot baskets, played golf, and wore out the grass in both the front and back yard playing catch and throwing grounders to each other. Chuck was good at all of these sports and I tagged along because I was his little brother. He played shortstop and center field on a local team that included future Major Leaguer Mike Torrez. I got my face in the team photo as the batboy. Chuck won a local election to serve as the batboy for the Topeka Reds, Topeka's minor league baseball team. One year later, I got to be the batboy. No election this time. The club asked Chuck to do it again and he said "No, let my brother do it this year."

Chuck was good at elections. In Junior High, Chuck ran for President of the Student Council. With all the school assembled in the auditorium, his campaign manager, a fellow student named Jackie Stewart, gave a stemwinder of a speech, explaining why students should vote for Chuck. He was to end the speech with the campaign slogan, but he messed it up. "Remember," he said, "You can't go Wright with Wrong!" The students howled with laughter at the mistake, Jackie's face turned red in embarrassment, and Chuck was elected by a landslide.

It was great to be Chuck's little brother! On the first day of school, when the teacher calls the class roll for the first time and puts a name with a face, invariably, after my name was called, I would be asked if I was related to Chuck. "Yes," I said, noting the smile on the teacher's face.

Even better, girls - older girls - looked at me and talked to me because I was Chuck's little brother!

Of course, he earned every award there was to earn in Scouts and never shied away from helping me follow the path he set. He presented me with my Eagle Scout Award. In front of the assembly, he shook my hand and, according to the ceremony, was supposed to say "I congratulate you as a brother Eagle Scout...." With a sly grin and perfect timing, he said, "I congratulate you for being my brother...and for being an Eagle Scout."

Chuck showed me how to throw a curveball, and then, after I tried to throw one, he showed me how to repair a broken window. I developed an expertise in window repair, not pitching. He served as best man at my wedding; I served as his. I thought my relationship with him would last forever, and it has, but along the way, it changed. He left home to attend KU, I stayed in Topeka. He married a wonderful lady, Sherri, (photo) and they always welcomed me into their home. They moved away from Topeka and began a family...a wonderful family who I wish lived closer to me and who I wish I knew better, but a phone call or visit always brought Chuck and me back to our youth - to the wonderful times when there were just the two of us - and the world was ours.

The record shows his name to be Charles Wesley Wright the Third, and while he might have been the third of one thing, in my book, he was the first in all other things. He was one of a kind and, Chuck, until we meet again Thank You for Everything...for the example you have been for me...for everything you've taught me...for what you've done for me and Thank You for being my brother.