Deborah Shaar / KMUW/File photo
Former Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell was fined $25,000 by the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission for violating campaign finance laws.
O’Donnell admitted to nine campaign finance violations during two elections. The state panel said the fine will be cut in half if O’Donnell pays within 90 days. I want to rectify this, O’Donnell said during a hearing in Topeka on Wednesday. I want to take responsibility for my actions. I put people on retainer for my campaign, and I see now that was wrong.
According to a consent decree, O’Donnell admitted to using campaign money for personal use, paying people on his campaign staff for work they didn’t do, filing fraudulent campaign finance reports and co-mingling campaign contributions with personal funds.
What s on tap for Wichita and Kansas in 2021? With luck, a do-over Suzanne Perez, The Wichita Eagle
Jan. 1 Every year at this time, we gaze into our journalistic crystal ball and write about things to look forward to around Wichita and Kansas in the coming year.
I ve written several of these look-ahead pieces myself, mentioning all the notable concerts, festivals, new businesses, restaurants and events on the community s agenda.
This year, of course, is different.
For 2021, we re hoping for two things: an end to the coronavirus pandemic and a do-over.
Many of the items mentioned in our forecast for 2020 never happened because of COVID-19, which struck Sedgwick County in March and never relented.
Recent Kansas editorials
Question of the Day
The Topeka Capital-Journal, Dec. 26
As soon-to-depart President Trump flails about attempting something - anything - to change the election results from November, we should note a pillar of democracy that has stood strong.
Our judicial system.
Judges and Supreme Court justices on both the state and federal levels have given precious little oxygen to the president’s nonsensical claims of election malfeasance. They have weighed evidence, considered legal arguments and, in case after case, shut down the president.
That’s far from a partisan verdict, by the way. Many of these judges were appointed by Trump himself. What the president doesn’t seem to understand is that even judges of a conservative bent swear an oath to the U.S. Constitution - not the person in office.
Originally published on December 24, 2020 4:48 pm
Robert Carter and his wife Mary Ridenour drove up to an alleyway behind First Metropolitan Community Church on a cold December morning in Wichita.
After waiting in a line of cars that sometimes backed up for blocks, they greeted The Rev. Jackie Carter, no relation, but a familiar face, who spoke their names into a walkie talkie.
Within minutes, volunteers had packed the food into their car and moved on to the next family.
“I don’t know what we’d do without this place,” Robert Carter said. “When you have four kids, they give you enough.”
James Clendenin
WICHITA, Kan. A Wichita city councilman who has been under fire for his role in a plot to frame the local GOP chairman for a false ad against a mayoral candidate has resigned.
James Clendenin said Tuesday in a written statement that had “become a distraction” and that his resignation was taking effect Dec. 31. Last month, the Sedgwick County district attorney’s office filed a civil petition seeking the ouster of Clendenin.
District Attorney Marc Bennett accused Clendenin of misconduct while in office, making false allegations against the chairman of the county’s Republican party and soliciting financial donations to a charity to be used in a political campaign.