TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas women are truly "going through hell" living, working and coping with the repercussions of Brownback's chosen policies, but we must keep going! NOW is not the time to give up!

The grassroots response and outcry surrounding the recent domestic violence debacle in Topeka reminds us of the power that we hold. Women's rights advocates and supporters are capable of changing public policy. This is possible in our local communities and at the state level. We must be diligent, ever watchful and forceful in our response to injustice.

WICHITA, Kan. - Governor Brownback has certainly been no friend to reproductive justice in Kansas. He has signed numerous anti-choice bills into law, which have resulted in several lawsuits. The women of Kansas have discovered that we must fight harder than ever to keep what remaining rights and access we have within our state. This fight does not begin and end with each legislative session, it must carry on throughout the year. Kansans must stand in support of those organizations fighting for reproductive rights in spirit, with action and with contributions.

It is a full time, high energy fight for our very rights and freedoms. Freedoms that are seemingly eroding by the minute. As the roasting of our rights commences from the governor's mansion, Kansas NOW is planning a fundraiser to enable them to continue to fight for the women of Kansas.

Join us as we serve up some BBQ, dish some dirt on the radical right and party like socialist swine...

A moving moment that year came when McCutcheon, Tom Chapin, and others, with Linda Tilton signing, led the crowd in the grandstand in a rousing rendition of, "The Great Storm Is Over." Everyone in the crowd that night needed a chance to come together, without the bitterness of politics and hate, and sing as one voice.

WICHITA, Kan. - It's in the air along about the middle of August. Even though we're still in the heat of summer, and this particular summer has been brutally hot, an undercurrent signals sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the Walnut Valley Festival, which has taken place in Winfield, thirty-five miles south of Wichita, on the third weekend in September for the past thirty-nine years. This coming Sept. 14-18, forty years of bluegrass will once again fill the Winfield air and double the population of the town for one weekend.

To the Winfield natives and those of us who have attended for most of those years, the Festival is just known as "Bluegrass," as in, "Are you going to Bluegrass this year?" Or people will ask, "Will I see you at Winfield this year?" We know what they mean and, yes, I will be there.

WICHITA, Kan. - The Kansas Tequila Party inaugural event in Wichita will take place on July 29th, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. (CST) at Nomar Plaza, 204 E. 21st Street.

We will be rallying and registering new Hispanic voters at our registration booth. We will have speakers and entertainment available where our speakers will be discussing the unifying issue to Latinos from all political backgrounds -- the immigration issue.

Tea Party politician Kansas Representative Virgil Peck stated earlier this year that a way to handle the illegal immigration issue is to "shoot immigrants like feral hogs".

Our rally will be a rallying point and a rally cry against the bigotry facing the fastest growing population in the nation.

WICHITA, Kan. - I was 19 when the original Summer of Mercy descended upon Wichita. I had moved to Wichita that very month from a small Kansas town. While I was busy trying to navigate the 'big city' and find my way back and forth from my waitressing job without getting lost, one landmark that I quickly came to rely upon was Dr. Tiller's clinic. I had to drive by it every day and it was impossible to miss with masses of people that were in front of it.

My small town upbringing had not given me cause to ever really think about abortion. I dare say that I hadn't even really formulated a view one-way or the other on the issue. Seeing those shouting people, what struck me most was the mob scene that they created. I knew I didn't like bullies and these people were most certainly bullying the women that entered that clinic.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The Johnson County NAACP is bringing together local politicians and activists to address some of the political and social issues at the forefront of society.

Host of KCUR's Central Standard show, Jabulani Leffall, will moderate "The NAACP in the 21st Century: A Diverse Perspective."

This forum will give community leaders an opportunity to critically explore current issues. It will be held from 1 to 3 PM on Saturday, July 30th at the West Wyandotte Branch of the Kansas City Kansas Public Library (1737 N 82nd Street, KCK).

TOPEKA, Kan. - Join us August 6 as we STAND UNITED in a Celebration of Fairness, Equality, Patriotism, and Freedom for ALL!

UNITED WE STAND in our opposition to the Brownback administration's devastating policies that damage the quality of life of all Kansans.

UNITED WE STAND against policies aimed at forcing narrow, ideological extremism upon all Kansans.

UNITED WE STAND for equality, for jobs, for healthcare, and for quality education.

UNITED WE STAND to remind Governor Brownback that dissent is patriotic.

MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Monthly Film Series, sponsored by the Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice, presents The Dark Side of Chocolate on Wednesday, July 13th at 6:30 pm at the Manhattan Public Library Auditorium. The public is invited to attend.

Film Synopsis: While we enjoy the sweet taste of chocolate, the reality is strikingly different for African children. Since the '90s numerous non-governmental organizations working in the Ivory Coast and Ghana have reported the use of children as slaves on cocoa plantations. The Ivory Coast alone produces about 43% of the world's cocoa beans. The simple truth is that all the heavily advertised chocolate, M&Ms, Hersey, Godiva, and Nestlé, is made by child slave laborers.

Estimates placed the number of cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast at approximately 600,000. The number of children working these farms is estimated as high as 15,000. Young boys from the age 12 to 16 are forced to work on cocoa farms in order to harvest the beans from which chocolate is made. Most boys that are forced to work on these farms come from Mali were slave trader agents hang around bus stations looking for children who are alone or begging for food.

WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita and abortion have a long and tumultuous history. The city epitomizes the climate of intolerance against this legal and necessary medical procedure. Wichita was once a town with five abortion clinics. A hostile political climate combined with organized terrorist activity, which ultimately culminated with the murder of Dr. George Tiller has successfully eliminated abortion in the city - for the time being.

We stand ready and waiting for our next physician and abortion rights champion, Dr. Mila Means, to open her clinic and offer the abortion access that this city needs. Meanwhile, the election of a new clan of anti-abortion zealots passing more restrictive laws, combined with the threats of violence against our new doctor leaves our community's fate in the balance.

Everyone is invited to come on June 24 and join Kansas NOW, Dr. Mila Means, Attorney Lee Thompson and Stephen Singular, the author of The Wichita Divide: The Murder of Dr. George Tiller and the Battle over Abortion for a discussion of the intersection of religion, politics, abortion and terrorism.

Event details here...

READING, Kan. - Following up on last night's trip to Reading to check on a client, I accompanied my neighbors, Clyde and Carolyn, in a return visit this afternoon. For those who want to help, check in with the Highway Patrol who are monitoring Interstate 170 both east and west of town. They provided us with a piece of paper that asked for your name and which resident you were intending to assist. The police also ask that you provide a phone number (but I couldn't get cell service anyway) and leave by 6 pm.

Updated 8:32 pm: OK, it seems I was mistaken about volunteers being able to just drive to Reading and check in with the cops. Mike Dorse,y who's in charge of the Lyon County Community Organization Active in Disaster, indicates that all volunteers need to check in at the Lyon County Extension Center (that's on west Highway 50) at 9:00 am to board buses to Reading. He says that if anyone goes in alone then they will be turned away.

Most of the town has been effected.