Kansas City News Blog

www.peaceworkskc.org

Ann Suellentrop of Physicians for Social Responsibility

​Anti-nuke activists turned out to protest this morning's meeting of the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority, whose board voted unanimously to approve a development agreement to build a new weapons facility at Highway 150 and Botts Road. The National Nuclear Security Administration Campus will replace Honeywell's 60-year-old factory on Bannister Road, which manufactures 85 percent of the non-nuclear parts for nuclear weapons under a contract with the U.S. government.

During the public comments period, representatives from several peace organizations, including Physicians for Social Responsibility and PeaceWorks KC, voiced their disapproval. Ron Faust, a minister with the Disciples of Christ, read a poem he'd written. Then, Theodore "Priest" Hughes and Desmond "337" Jones, a pair of spoken-word artists who call themselves The Recipe, performed a piece called "Self-Destruction." I found a video of the duo performing the same piece at another event; try to imagine this happening in the stodgy context of a board meeting:  

Cindy Circo

​A city committee exploring the development of a 1,000-room convention hotel decided that it needed to hire a communications professional. The choice? The committee chair's campaign manager.

On Tuesday, the Kansas City Convention Center Hotel Development Steering Committee awarded KC Consulting a contract "to educate and inform constituents regarding the potential development" of the hotel. KC Consulting is run by Kim Carlos, an attorney and political consultant. Carlos, a former aide to former Third District Councilman Troy Nash and the co-author of a book about living with breast cancer, formed KC Consulting in 2003.

Councilwoman Cindy Circo chairs the steering committee. Campaign records indicate that her campaign paid KC Consulting five payments of $4,000 over the first five months of 2007, the year Circo won her seat.

​Flags across the state of Kansas are flying at half-staff today after the death of former William H. Avery.

Avery died yesterday at age 98.

Avery was born August 11, 1911, in Wakefield. He was a 1934 graduate of the University of Kansas' law school.

In 1950, the Republican was elected to the Kansas state Legislature. After four years, he was elected to the U.S. Congress. He held the seat until 1965, when he was elected governor of Kansas.

Avery lasted only one-term, losing to Robert Docking.

Avery condemned Perry Smith and Richard Hickock to the gallows for murdering the Clutter family. The murders were featured in Truman Capote's true-crime novel In Cold Blood.

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson issued this statement:

"Governor Avery led our state during a time of tragic loss and national attention; Kansas honors his long life and service to our state. Our thoughts and prayers are with his children and family."

Flags will fly at half-staff until Avery's interment. A press release from the governor's office says services are scheduled for November 14 in Wakefield, Kansas.

Photo via the Kansas State Historical Society.

​In the latest edition of her e-newsletter, O'Fallon loon (and Missouri state Rep.) Cynthia Davis shows off her concealed-carry permit -- this woman can legally carry a gun? -- and argues in favor of churchgoers packing heat in houses of the holy.

Damn those draconian Missouri laws outlawing guns in churches. She writes:

One concern I have with the current law is that guns are prohibited in churches. This means there is no defense for the members if a criminal act is attempted or perpetrated.

You don't say.

Sweet stupid Cynthia doesn't think the state should tell churches whether they can have parishioners carrying guns. The churches should decide, Davis argues, Hey, isn't that what Jesus would have wanted? Of course it is!

Most of us were taught as children that the church is God's house. Just think how differently things may have turned out if it were not for a heroic woman with a gun at the New Life Church in Colorado.

Yeah, just think about what might have happened.

Cynthia, we don't have to imagine. I'm sure you will remember the assassination of abortion provider George Tiller, who was gunned down while ushering at a Wichita, Kansas, church. Yeah, just think if someone could have come to Dr. Tiller's defense.

Michelle Malkin

​Kansans, if your Spider Sense is going off, there's good reason. Self-loathing conservative columnist and Dunkin' Donuts hater Michelle Malkin is coming to the Sunflower State today.

Malkin's speaking at a fund-raiser for Kris Kobach, who's running for Kansas Secretary of State, at the Terradyne Country Club in Andover. The event starts at 6 p.m.

Malkin and Kobach have a lot in common. She even gave Kobach a shout-out in her book Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies:

And on May 29th, 2009, constitutional lawyer and former Bush Administration official Kris Kobach entered the race for Kansas Secretary of State, citing Obama's favorite left-wing racket as his primary motivation. Kobach distilled the essence of the vast web of its partnerships: "ACORN is a criminal enterprise."

I'm sure they'll have lots to talk about.

Geraldo Rivera isn't a fan of Malkin, telling the Boston Globe in September 2007:

"Michelle Malkin is the most vile, hateful commentator I've ever met in my life," he says.

That's saying something.

Newt Gingrich

​Mr. Contract with America Newt Gingrich is in Kansas today and tonight, speaking at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics on the University of Kansas' campus.

His 7:30 p.m. speech is called "Tripartisan Solutions for the 21st Century." Afterward, you can ask the former Speaker of the House a whole bunch of questions.

Newt isn't the only Gingrich making an appearance in the area.

His sister, Candace Gingrich, is slated to give the keynote address at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Pride celebration next Wednesday (November 11).

Candace Gingrich's talk, "The Accidental Activist: A Personal & Political Journey," is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Pierson Auditorium in the University Center.

Here's a 14-year-old New York Times story about Newt and Candace's relationship. Hopefully, they talk more now. I get the feeling they don't.

​Everybody loves a new drug. Especially a legal one. Even Huey Lewis.

K2 -- synthetic pot -- isn't new, just new to us. Did I mention that it's legal?

The Kansas City Star made itself useful and gave a free ad to a Lawrence shop selling the stuff:

The Sacred Journey, a botanical store in Lawrence, sells bags of K2 for $15 to $30. A store manager declined to comment, but an employee said K2 should be burnt as incense and isn't meant to be smoked. A competing brand is marketed online as "plant food."

But you smokers of the chronic better hurry (and stock up). Kansas state Rep. Peggy Mast is ready to play party pooper (every party has one), talking about making the stuff illegal.

Oh yeah, and K2 hasn't really been studied. So smoke at your own risk.

​Voters renewed the COMBAT anti-drug sales tax yesterday by a large margin: more than 71 percent of the vote.

But let's be clear about the "overwhelming" support for the tax; less than seven percent of Kansas City's registered voters actually went to the polls (according to The Kansas City Star's report today).

All the glossy mailers and yard signs helped pass the tax, but having an apathetic electorate also didn't hurt.

​A committee studying the notion of a downtown convention hotel is beginning to spend its $500,000 allowance.

On Tuesday, the committee selected a consultant who will endeavor to find the City of Kansas City, Missouri, a developer and a hotelier. The proposal that's brought back will then be examined by a third party to determine the size of the crater it will make in the city budget. A "convention headquarters" hotel will require substantial taxpayer assistance if it's to be built.

Councilwoman Cindy Circo, who chairs the Kansas City Convention Center Hotel Development Steering Committee, says the third-party review will serve as a "reality check" against the typically lofty promises of developers. "Whoever wants to do the deal is going to bring you whatever it is you want to hear, is going to bring you all the numbers to say, 'Yes, this is the right thing to do.' We wanted to make sure we had a stopgap."

The committee chose Convention Center Hotel Advisors, a Minnesota company that in July completed an analysis of the key planning issues for a prospective convention hotel. Apparently, the keys include hiring Minnesota consultants.

The real Sarah Palin

​The unfunny Sarah Palin is coming to Salina, Kansas.

The "rogue" Republican is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet on February 5, according to the Associated Press.

A couple of weeks ago, Palin announced a December 2 speaking engagement -- talking about "patriotism, citizenship and civic engagement," don'tcha know -- at the College of the Ozarks, a private Christian school in southwest Missouri.

The speaking engagements come after the former governor of Alaska talks to Oprah on November 16 (and the release of her book a day later).

Of course, this is just an excuse to post more videos of Tina Fey playing Palin.

​It didn't take long for eBay to pull the last two auctions aimed at raising money for the legal defense of Scott Roeder, the man accused of killing Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

The online auction house removed several auctions for Roeder early Monday, including one for a pencil sketch of Biblical character David holding the decapitated head of Goliath, whose forehead read "Tiller" and corpse read "Child murdering industry."

But two auctions -- one for a "prolife Bible" that belonged to Shelley Shannon, a convicted clinic arsonist who shot and wounded Tiller in 1993, and a Catechism from anti-abortion activist Michael Bray and signed by members of the militant anti-abortion group the Army of God -- lasted into late Monday afternoon before eBay pulled them.

I watched both items top $50.

Jeff Sharlet

​I apologize for the short notice on this one. Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family, a look inside a Washington, D.C., secret society that prays together and shapes public policy, is scheduled to speak Tuesday night at Congregation Beth Torah (6100 W. 127th St.) in Overland Park.

After his talk, Sharlet with sign copies of his book. 

Mainstream Coalition is sponsoring Sharlet's talk, which should hit home to Kansans. The Family's members include Kansas' U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback and U.S. Reps. Todd Tiahrt and Jerry Moran as well as former Reps. Jim Slattery and Jim Ryun.

If you hurry, maybe Mainstream's Boo Tyson will be nice enough to still let you in. Tickets cost $10 for Mainstream members and $30 for the general public. But a Mainstream membership and a ticket to hear Sharlet costs $25. Call 913-649.3326 or click here for more info.

The chiefs didn't lose Sunday. They also didn't play. Mercifully for us and them. But the Larry Johnson news didn't stop over the weekend. The Chiefs and LJ agreed on a settlement figure the troubled running back will give up during his suspension: $300,000.

So LJ can keep bragging about having money -- but not for long if the Chiefs dump him. Arrowhead Pride compiled a couple of news reports (here and here) surveying NFL general managers, and none seem interested in a back that's nearly 30 and good for about 2-yards a carry.

Arrowhead Pride also dug up this video of LJ mocking ex-Chiefs coach Herm Edwards.



Once this whole football thing flames out, King Pink should try out for one of KC's improv groups.

Also this weekend, six people had really bad Friday nights/Saturday mornings. Four people were shot outside of Independence's Do Drop In early Sunday.

Congressman Todd Tiahrt's hair may be facing an ethics probe.

Stay far away from Weatherby Lake -- unless you like E. coli.

Kansas City's bus service will be in deep shit in five years.

Bad weekend for Kansas' college football teams. Texas Tech "decleated" the Jayhawks (check the video), and Oklahoma held off the pesky Kansas State Wildcats. Missouri rolled Colorado, jumping back in the Big 12 North race.

***
We're here. Thanks to those who love us and hate us for coming back for more.

Jolly elfin state legislator Bill Otto says he won't apologize for his "RedNeck Rap," which has been called racist for criticizing President Obama and then proclaiming the deliciousness of "opossum the other dark meat."

Now, the NAACP is demanding an apology, according to KSHB Channel 41.

Otto promised to do another rap -- one that praised Obama. Take it away, MC Otto.

​Sad news for our O'Fallon loon (and Missouri state Rep.) Cynthia Davis: A judge threw out her lawsuit (fronted by Orly Taitz) claiming President Obama couldn't be president because he's from Kenya.

Central District of California Judge David O. Carter dismissed the case. But the trouble for Taitz may be just beginning.

Check this passage:

The Court has received several sworn affidavits that Taitz asked potential witnesses that she planned to call before this Court to perjure themselves. This Court is deeply concerned that Taitz may have suborned perjury through witnesses she intended to bring before this Court. While the Court seeks to ensure that all interested parties have had the opportunity to be heard, the Court cannot condone the conduct of Plaintiffs' counsel in her efforts to influence this Court.

The Washington Independent has the whole decision, which Davis will probably declare was shot down because of Taitz' accent. And here's Drudge.

Advice to conspiracy theorist Cynthia, keep consulting your Constitution.

Jay Nixon dropped the ax today

​Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced today that 700 jobs will be cut to make up for a shortfall in state tax revenues.

Prime Buzz says the cuts are on top of $430 million in budget slashing earlier this year.

Add that on top of American Airlines closing its overhaul base at Kansas City International Airport (and the announcement of 700 job cuts nationwide), and it's been a really bad day.

Mac Tonnies

​After some technical difficulties this morning, we're finally up and running.

Sad news. Mac Tonnies, author and local blogger of Posthuman Blues, has died.

Coast-to-Coast AM had a nice write up about Tonnies, calling him an "acclaimed fortean writer and researcher."

The prodigious blogger was a fixture of the online esoteric community with his site Posthuman Blues and was highly respected by many leading researchers who saw him as a bold and fresh new voice on the paranormal scene.

Tonnies appeared on Coast-to-Coast on September 28, discussing "his groundbreaking 'cryptoterrestrial hypothesis' with George Noory."

A blog titled Amuck says Tonnies died in his sleep a week ago.

He passed peacefully though in his sleep sunday evening due to a problem with his heart. Mac had told us once that many years ago he had some irregular heart beats. Tests had been done then but nothing was found; obviously there was a problem!

Tonnies' last Twitter update was on October 18.

Also over the weekend ...

Scott P. Roeder

​Need a good bomb recipe? Do a bunch of anti-abortion extremists have a deal for you. They're auctioning off manuals with bomb-making recipes as well as recipes for prison cheesecake (delish!) to raise money for the legal defense fund for the man accused of killing Wichita abortion provider George Tiller. Also in the auction, drawings autographed by accused killer Scott Roeder.

Here's a clip from The Kansas City Star story:

One is a sketch of David and Goliath.

"It has David with a slingshot in one hand and the head of Goliath in his other hand and the name 'Tiller' on Goliath's forehead," she [Roeder's friend Regina Dinwiddie] said. "On the corpse on the ground, it says 'child-murdering industry.'"

Bet prosecutors will be interested in those.

Finally, some quick hits ...

Early Sunday morning, there was a shootout outside troubled strip club Gerry's Silver Slipper.

The girl with amnesia in New York isn't missing Belton girl Kara Kopetsky.

The Chiefs resumed their losing ways, and KU and Mizzou got their asses handed to 'em by Big 12 South powers Oklahoma and Texas. Oh, and K-State stayed winning.

***
Welcome back.

via cnsnews.com

Mark Muller

​A couple of days ago, we read about Mark Muller's boycott of the NFL.

Muller, owner of Max Motors and wannabe arms dealer (he offered $450 vouchers so Missourians get an AK-47 with the purchase of a truck from his dealership), claimed he was giving up his Kansas City Chiefs season tickets after the NFL supposedly blocked Rush Limbaugh's attempt to buy the St. Louis Rams.

I finally caught up with Muller yesterday, and he clarified: It's not about Rush. It's about America being "destroyed by a bunch of bunch of left-wing, politically correct morons."

"When the NFL decides that they want to step up and condemn a whole segment of America -- conservatives -- because he's [Rush] not appropriate for the NFL, then I'm not an appropriate fan," Muller said.

Rick Santorum

​I expected something a lot dirtier when I saw the name "Santorum" linked to Congressman Todd Tiahrt. Alas, the e-mail was about the man, not the "frothy mix."

Rick Santorum -- the former Republican senator from Pennsylvania who believes there's no constitutional right to privacy in your bedroom and compared gay sex to incest, polygamy and beastiality -- is lending his seal of approval to Tiahrt.

The press release from Tiahrt's office quotes Santorum saying:

"Courage is in short supply in Washington D.C. Whether it is fighting for the right to life or fighting for the liberty we hold dear, compromise and "going along to get along" cannot be an option for conservatives."

Tiahrt is running for Sam Brownback's U.S. Senate seat and faces Jerry Moran in the Republican primary.

​Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is on the mend after having a procedure to remove the most common form of skin cancer from her forehead.

The silver fox was looking rough, like Quasimodo rough -- check out the screen capture taken from the Associated Press -- yesterday while she testifying before Congress.

Reports say Sebelius had a spot of basal cell carcinoma -- a slow-growing form of skin cancer -- removed.

Get well soon, Kathy.

Bill Otto

​Jolly redneck elf (and Kansas state Rep.) Bill Otto is going to milk his "RedNeck Rap" controversy for at least one more video.

Now -- after a reported meeting with civil rights activist Sonny Scroggins -- Otto says he'll release a pro-Obama video.

Otto caught hell last week for a "rap" in which he criticized President Obama and talked about the tastiness of opossum. Kansas state Sen. Anthony Hensley called out Otto for the rap's racial overtones -- and a separate incident in which Otto allegedly told a legislative liaison that he nearly shot him because he looked like Rod Bremby, Kansas' secretary of health and environment. It's a stretch.

Sarah Palin, the unfunny one, is coming to Missouri. But gee golly darn it, the "rogue" Republican isn't coming to KC.

Palin's speaking engagement --- talking about "patriotism, citizenship and civic engagement," don'tcha know -- is scheduled for December 2 at the College of the Ozarks, a private Christian school in southwest Missouri. (And don't forget that the former governor of Alaska will be talking to Oprah in November.)

To tie you over, here's the funny one.

Kit Bond

​

Sam Brownback

​Props to U.S. Sens. Kit Bond and Sam Brownback for pushing President Obama to make sure U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan get the mental health care they need.

PrimeBuzz reports that Bond and Brownback are among a group of senators urging Obama to "fight against the military's misuse of personality disorder discharges," which they all teamed up on in 2007.

PrimeBuzz notes that "the military views personality disorders as a pre-existing condition, [but] many returning service members with mental health problems have been unable to receive health benefits."

In a letter to the president this week, the senators wrote:

"In many instances, service members discharged with 'personality disorders' are forced to repay thousands of dollars to the federal government in re-enlistment bonuses they deserved while serving in hazardous combat conditions."

Now, if only Bond and Brownback would fight to keep defense contracts away from companies that require their employees to agree not to sue them if they are raped by co-workers.

Jay Nixon

​Jason Rosenbaum, our pick as Best Blogger of 2009, captured Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's reaction (click for the video) to The Kansas City Star's big story on political consultant and former lawmaker Rod Jetton and accusations of "pay for play."

In short, Nixon wants limits on campaign contributions. The Democratic governor had to be happy the spotlight was off him -- if just for a moment -- but the Lake of the Ozarks dirty water scandal keeps dogging him.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Tony Messenger nailed Nixon in his column today for his political amnesia. Messenger notes that after three news conferences, Nixon still can't remember when he first found out about the dangerously high levels of E. coli bacteria at the lake. Messenger does a great job of pointing out the unanswered questions -- who gave him the info and how the hell did Nixon pass on bad info to the public -- and Messenger wonders how much voters will remember come 2012.

Whatever those answers are, they're not good for Nixon.

Hat tip to The Source.

Kansas state Rep. Bill Otto took heat last week for his "RedNeck Rap" in which he criticizes President Obama and talks the tastiness of opossum. Kansas state Sen. Anthony Hensley called out Otto for the rap's racial overtones -- and, in a separate incident, allegedly telling Patrick Woods, a legislative liaison, that he nearly shot him because he looked like Rod Bremby, Kansas' secretary of health and environment. He doesn't.

In Otto's latest video, Otto goes Behind the Music and explains the genesis of his rap, says he's not a racist and blames his kids for pulling the video.

True to his word, Otto tacks the rap on the end of the video.


Via Forward Kansas.

Al Franken

​There are a few things that the majority of us can agree on. Among those things: Rape is bad. Gang rape is really fucking bad. Employers that try to get their employees to sign away their rights to sue if they're raped by co-workers? Fucking EVIL.

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken introduced an amendment that would have kept the Pentagon from awarding defense contracts to employers that force their employees agree not to sue them if they are raped by co-workers.

Franken was doing this all because of Jamie Leigh Jones, whose co-workers gang-raped her while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Iraq and locked her in a shipping container to keep her from reporting the attack. Jones couldn't sue the company because of her employment contract, which forced her claims of sexual assault to go to arbitration. The story is even worse than it sounds.

The good news: The amendment passed 68-30. Missouri Sen. Claire "Bear" McCaskill voted for the amendment.

The bad news: Three metro-area senators -- Kit Bond, Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts -- were among the dirty 30 who voted against the anti-rape amendment. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart broke it down and gave Missouri Sen. Bond some face time last week, showing Bond's hypocrisy when it comes to Acorn. Shameful.


The vote has spawned this classy satirical Web site: Republicans for Rape.

Whether it was the light drizzle, crisp temperatures or their military training, the veterans on the big, blue biodiesel bus got right to the point when they stopped at Liberty Memorial last week.

Operation Free bus tour stops at Liberty Memorial

​"Climate disruption is a clear and present national security threat," Rafael Noboa, a former Army sergeant from Colorado, said. "The U.S. cannot afford to wait."

The small crew of military veterans are on a 21-state tour, trying to convince citizens -- and Congress -- that global warming is a threat to national security, just like terrorists or the Taliban. Their group, Operation Free, is a new alliance of former service members pressing legislators to strike against climate change and invest in renewable American energy before the ugly international consequences of global warming become a colossal problem for the U.S. military.

But the Operation Free veterans weren't just blowing through town on their two-week tour. One of the guys who helped kick start the campaign in Washington, D.C., lives right here in Kansas City.

Rod Jetton

​The big story of the weekend was the Kansas City Star's look into one of the most powerful men in Missouri politics: political consultant and former lawmaker Rod Jetton. It's a must-read story that looks into campaign donations to Jetton's clients, especially those coming after controversial votes and allegations that Jetton is more of a lobbyist than a consultant, thus skirting ethics laws. The Star reports that the way Jetton "conducts political business has attracted the scrutiny of the FBI as it probes 'pay for play' allegations in Jefferson City."

Great reporting by Jason Noble and Steve Kraske.

From the blotter: One person was in critical condition after an early Saturday morning shooting. Two firefighters were burned on an early Sunday morning call. A For Riley soldier is facing rape charges in two counties.

A woman allegedly dropped her 1-year-old son off a balcony. Someone caught him; he's OK.

Sixteen cops could get laid off in KCK.

The JoCo kids aren't all right; they're on the heroin and OxyContin.

Kansas Democrats still somebody -- anybody? -- to run for governor against Sam Brownback. Larry Gates is out.

Fox 4 turned 60.

The Wizards were knocked out of playoff contention. The Missouri Mavericks dropped its first two games.

Colorado shocked Kansas. Missouri is still winless in conference play. And K-State is on top of the Big 12 North.

The Chiefs won ugly (four field goals and a safety). A win is a win.

***
Monday is here. Let Metallica pull the strings.

The uproar over Kansas state Rep. Bill Otto's "RedNeck Rap" escalated yesterday when Kansas Senate Democratic leader Anthony Hensley called out Otto for the YouTube video's racial undertones.

In a statement, Hensley recalled that Otto once made a comment to an African-American staff member about shooting an African-American member of the governor's cabinet. Hensley was referring to Patrick Woods, a legislative liaison for the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, who claimed that Otto mistook him for Rod Bremby, Kansas' secretary of health and environment.

Woods claimed Otto said, "I almost shot you. You look a lot like Secretary Bremby."

Otto reportedly denied that he threatened to shoot anyone. He told Prime Buzz: "I did say 'I'd like to fire you,' and then I realized it was not Bremby. Of course you could call that racist. But If you do know them both, they do look a little bit alike."

This is Patrick Woods.

Patrick Woods

​And this is Rod Bremby.

Rod Bremby

​
Tell us what you think.

Meghan McCain's twitpic

​

Anthony Hensley

​Kansas state Rep. Bill Otto may have left us speechless with his "Redneck Rap," but not Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley.

In a statement released today, Hensley called the rap video on YouTube "disturbing." Hensley makes note of the ending of the video in which Otto points to his handmade trucker cap that reads, "Opossum, the other dark meat." Otto says, "A little greasy, but hey."

"If opossum is the other dark meat, what is the original dark meat he is referring to?" Hensley asks in his statement. "After a nearly three-minute rant about President Obama and his administration, it is only logical to presume that Otto was making reference to the President's race. It is not only thoughtless, but outrageous for an elected official such as Bill Otto to make this reference to describe any person, let alone the President of the United States."

Hensley says Otto's latest video -- there have been several -- "crosses the line."

"He makes light of some very serious political issues and clearly mocks African-Americans at a time when our nation needs its leaders to do neither," Hensley writes.

This isn't the first incident involving race that Otto has been involved in, Hensley writes. 

"In addition to his latest video, two other past incidents point to Bill Otto's bigotry," Hensley claims in the statement. "He has attempted to abolish the Kansas African-American Commission and I have been informed that he made a remark to an African-American staff member about shooting an African-American member of the Governor's cabinet.

"Such behavior cannot be tolerated from anyone, especially a member of the Kansas Legislature. Bill Otto is an embarrassment to the people of Kansas, and in particular, to the people of the 9th House District."

Here's the rap.