Author Archives: Rich Steele
Steele: The Truth About Kansas Found in the Driest of Places
Quite possibly the least ideological—and least sexy—publication in North America is the “Purchasing Economy Survey Report” produced by Creighton University… Now unless some deep operative from the Sam Brownback administration bought the editors’ cooperation with promises of new farm implements, … Continue reading
Posted in Rich Steele
Tagged Creighton University, Kathleen Sebelius, Rich Steele, Sam Brownback
11 Comments
Steele: Why Star Downplayed NC Muslim Slaying
Each day the Kansas City Star emails “Your Morning News,” a summary of its Top 10 news stories of the day… Before opening my email, I guessed that the tragic slaying of three young Muslims – two of them female in … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bill Maher, Craig Stephen Hicks, Kansas City Star, Mitt Rpmney, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Rich Steele
7 Comments
Steele: What Non-Hysterical Kansas School Budget Reporting Looks Like
Kudos to Bryan Lowry of the Wichita Eagle‘s Topeka Bureau for his analytical look at education funding in Kansas… A sentence as balanced as the following has not graced the Kansas City Star since it had daily competition: “Some lawmakers … Continue reading
Posted in Rich Steele
Tagged Bryan Lowry, Kansas City Star, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, Wichita Eagle
9 Comments
Steele: Star’s Racist Attack on UMKC Plays Out
With UMKC Chancellor Leo Morton‘s apology for the inflated rankings of the university’s Bloch Business School, the Kansas City Star succeeded in its goal of embarrassing the university… Although no one questions that the data submitted to the Princeton Review … Continue reading
Steele: Star’s Brownback OCD May Be Fatal
As I write this, three of the five “trending stories” on the Kansas City Star‘s website involve Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and his budget… In one of the stories the Star absolves KCK’s much discussed 48K piano for Kansas’s budget … Continue reading
Steele: The Star Is Wrong About ‘Pianogate’
“So maybe the ‘optics’ are unfortunate,” reads the opening sentence in the Kansas City Star editorial on Pianogate, “but the Kansas City, Kan., school board ought to be applauded for investing in its students.” For starters, any editor who uses “optics” … Continue reading
Steele: The Media ‘Misremember’ a Lot of Stuff
NBC anchorman Brian Williams has taken more fire over his remarks about Iraq than he ever took over Iraq itself… In the process, Williams has added a handy new locution to the lexicon of the disingenuous, the word “misremember.” A … Continue reading
Posted in Rich Steele, Uncategorized
Tagged 30 Rock, Brian Williams, David Letterman, Kansas City Star, NBC News, Rich Steele
25 Comments
Steele: So Why Does KCK Super Make Twice What Guv Does?
“What’s the Matter with Kansans Valuing Tax Cuts above Education?” KCK School Superintendent Cynthia Lane asks in her blog. “Have we considered the ramifications of these actions on our communities and way of life? Perhaps Kansas is comfortable accelerating a system of the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Cynthia Lane, Kris Kobach, Rich Steele, Ron Estes, Sam Brownback
5 Comments
Steele: A $47,000 Piano but Kansas Schools Are Hurting?
There’s scarcely a media outlet in the world that has not wept a Niagara of tears for the alleged slashing and eviscerating of the Kansas education budget… The outcry is so universal that even Aljazeera America–typically mum about the slashing … Continue reading
Posted in Rich Steele
Tagged Jim Ward, Rich Steele, Sumner Academy, Superintendent Cynthia Lane
10 Comments
Steele: How KC Can Spare Itself a St. Louis-Style Bloodbath.
No one tracks crime and punishment more analytically than local political scientist Dr. Ernest Evans… Evans predicted what would happen in St. Louis after the Michael Brown shooting on August 9, and his predictions have come sadly true. In the … Continue reading
Steele: KCTV Risks PC Blowback, Praises City Union Mission
In a recent piece on the City Union Mission, KCTV5 did a positive story about the excellent work the Mission has been doing for the last 90 years with the area’s homeless… Notably, KCTV5 did so without mentioning the Mission’s policy on … Continue reading
Posted in Rich Steele
Tagged City Union Mission, Dan Doty, Kansas City Star, KCTV5, Rich Steele
7 Comments
Steele: Is The Star Getting the ‘Teen’ Message?
In a refreshing change, nowhere in the article on the abduction of a south Kansas City man does Kansas City Star reporter Matt Campbell refer to the accused, De’zahn James Carey, as a “teen.” He’s referred to only as a … Continue reading
Posted in Rich Steele
Tagged De’zahn James Carey, Matt Campbell, Rich Steele, Robert Caldwell
Leave a comment
Steele: Am I the OP Abduction Suspect?
According to KCTV5, the suspect in an attempted kidnapping last week in Overland Park was “described as 6′ tall, heavy-set, and was wearing a ball cap and a dark heavy coat.” Let’s see, 6′ tall? That’s me. Ball cap? Me. … Continue reading
Steele: Oh No, ‘Lobbyists’ See Brownback Budget
The Sam Brownback budget is to the editors at the Kansas City Star what Moby Dick was to Ahab, what Bill Clinton was to Monica, what snow is to CNN (Juno, anyone?)–an unhealthy obsession bordering on mania… The latest breathtaking … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bill Clinton, Kansas City Star, Moby Dick, Rich Steele, Sam Brownback
14 Comments
Steele: Missouri Dem Office Squabble Gets Nasty
As reported in the Missouri Torch, Democratic State Rep Keith English of Florissant got a new office and made some new enemies… Apparently, English was awarded the office after crossing party lines to help Republicans overturn a Jay Nixon tax … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Democratic State Rep Keith English, Gina Mitten, Michael Brown, MissourimTorch, Rich Steele
2 Comments
Steele: More of Those Mischievous “Teens”
The Kansas City Star headlined its story on the recent water park death of a young black girl, “Three KC teens charged with murder in slaying of 14-year-old Alexis Kane.” The Star is hardly unique in its use of the … Continue reading
Posted in Rich Steele
Tagged Alexis Kane, Ce-Antonyo, Kansas City Star, Michael Brown, Rich Steele
47 Comments
Steele: Have Kansas Teachers Become The Rural Aristocracy?
Although rural Kansas school districts do not have anything like the seventy-four $100K-plus employees of the Blue Valley District or the sixty-two $100K-plus employees in Shawnee Mission, they don’t do half bad – especially compared to the people paying their … Continue reading
Steele: Guess How Many Blue Valley Employees Make 100K +
Employees of the Blue Valley School District have got to enjoy the chronic editorial handwringing about the alleged underfunding of public schools… In between calls to their stockbrokers and money managers, this has to be a subject of great amusement … Continue reading
Posted in Rich Steele
Tagged Blue Valley School District, Blue Valley Schools, Rich Steele, Tom Trigg
32 Comments
Steele: Steve Kraske, Please Tell Us The Sebelius Story Is A Joke
The featured Kansas City Star headline reads as follows, “Kathleen Sebelius criticizes Gov. Sam Brownback’s vision for Kansas.” This is one of two prominent Brownback-bashing articles in Wednesday’s newspaper – by freelance political writer Steve Kraske – a slow day … Continue reading
Posted in Rich Steele
Tagged George Tiller, Jon Stewart, Kathleen Sebelius, Rich Steele, Sam Brownback, Steve Kraske
11 Comments
