Little Apple Jazz Festival 2011

Community Bridge opens this week with Beth Bailey and Ben Hopper, Union Program Council, along with musician CJ Manning for a preview of this year’s Little Apple Jazz Festival. At about half past the hour, Ashley Long, Lindsay and James Thompson of the Riley County Humane Society join us in studio to discuss the work of the organization and how people can support it.

2011 Little Apple Jazz Festival Line-Up
5:00 - 6:00 pm KC Youth Jazz Band
6:00 - 6:30 pm Barefoot Dixieland Band
6:30 - 7:00 pm Kelly McCarty Band
7:00 - 8:00 pm Pablo Sanhueza Latin Jazz Trio
8:00 - 9:00 pm Steven Richard Band
9:00 - 9:30 pm Swing Machine, a KSU Jazz combo
9:30 - 10:45pm CJ Manning and Company

Related Links:

Our Animal Selves, Linda Hogan, YES! Magazine, March 9, 2011.

10 Best Things We Can Do For Animals, Jane Goodall, YES! Magazine, March 31, 2011.

What’s So Special About Humans?, James Trimarcom YES! Magazine, April 13, 2011.

How Happy Was Your Meal?, Madeline Ostrander, YES! Magazine, March 27, 2011.

Collusion between KDHE and Sunflower Energy

In our second hour, we are first joined by Stephanie Cole, Kansas Sierra Club, and Scott Allegrucci, Great Plains Alliance for Clean Energy, to discuss the collusion that was revealed in KDHE e-mails between the department and Sunflower Energy over the proposed Holcomb plant permit process.  Then at half past the hour, Elaine Mohr and Darrel Parks from the Manhattan Farmers Market join us to talk about what's new at the market this summer.

Related Links:

Kansas agency, utility worked closely on permit for plant, Karen Dillion, Kansas City Star, June 18, 2011.

Kansas failed its residents on Sunflower power plant, Kansas City Star editorial, June 20, 2011.

The Message to Kansans: ‘Let Them Eat Coal Dust’, Editorial, Great Plains Alliance for Clean Energy.

KDHE had close ties with Sunflower Electric Co., Associate Press in the Lawrence Journal World, June 20, 2011.

“The Cleanest Coal Plant in the Country?” Not., report from the Great Plains Alliance for Clean Energy on whether or not Holcomb 2 is the "Cleanest Coal Plant in the Country." 
Read the GPACE White Paper here.

New Coal Plants Fail To Provide Promised Jobs, Beth Buczynski, Care2.com, April 2, 2011.

Kansas Farmers' Markets, website of the Kansas Rural Center.

World Social Forum 2011

Community Bridge opens this week with Jim Hamilton and Gwethalyn Williams for a discussion of this weekend’s youth experimental theatre project at the Manhattan Arts Center. Then Mallory Knodle joins host Christopher Renner for a discussion of the World Social Forum that took place in February in Dakar, Senegal.

Additional Links/Articles:

Experimental Theatre Workshop

World Social Forum 2011 Dakar - in pictures, The Guardian UK, February 9, 2011.

World Social Forum activists buoyed by fall of Egypt and Tunisia regimes, Liz Ford, The Guardian UK, February 14, 2011.

Climate Justice Declaration at World Social Forum 2011


Axelrod claims Bush saddled Obama with a big deficit, PolitiFact.com, January 2010.


Bush Administration "the Least Fiscally Responsible in History," Budget Hawk Says, Aaron Task, Newsmakers, March 31, 2010.


Bush Era Tax Cuts Increased Budget Deficit, Joshua Sanders, The Economy in Crisis, August 188, 2010.

GOP Cuts To Food Aid For Seniors And Food Banks Equals One Day Of Bush Tax Cuts For Millionaires, Pat Garofalo, Think Progress, June 14, 2011.

Study: Bush Tax Cuts Cost More Than Twice As Much As Dems' Health-Care Bill, Susie Madrak, Crooks and Liars, September 9, 2009.

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June 16 - Obama and the Gays

In our second hour we first hear about what programs are available for young and old alike at the Manhattan Arts Center this summer with Amanda Hedrick. Then we hear from singer-songwriter Jeremiah Clark about his music. Clark will be in concert in Manhattan on June 25th. Due to work conflicts, our discussion of the Koch brothers with Mark Ames and Mike Elk has had to be rescheduled. Instead we will hear from Progressive Radio as Matthew Rothschild interviews editor and author Tracy Baim about her book “Obama and the Gays: a Political Marriage.”

Additional Links/Articles:

Manhattan Arts Center

Jeremiah Clark Music

Windy City Times

Obama and the Gays: a Political Marriage

Obama and the Gays - Book Salon Review at FireDogLake

Obama administration calls on United Nations to support gay rights, Julie Mianecki. Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2011.

Obama, gay marriage, the constitution and the Crackerjack prize, Michael Tomasky, The Guardian UK, February 24, 2011.

UN Rights Council Passes 'Historic' Gay Rights Bill, Hui Min Neo, Common Dreams, June 17, 2011.

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Mark Potok on the Rise of Right-Wing Extremists

Community Bridge opens this week with Mark Potok, Southern Poverty Law Center, in a discussion of the Center's annual report "The Year in Hate."  Potok discusses the rise of right-wing extremists and how they are infiltrating organizations such as the Tea Party to make racism mainstream once again.  We close out the hour with Monique King, Yasche Glass, and Jonathan Anderson, from the Manhattan Juneteenth Planning Committee discuss this year's celebration.

Related Articles:

The Year in Hate and Extremism, 2010; Marl Potok, Intelligence Report, Spring 2011.

'Armed and extremely dangerous' ex-militia leader hunted after Mont. shootout; The Associated Press, Reuters, NBC News and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report, June 14, 2011.

Exclusive: Polluter Billionaire David Koch Says Tea Party ‘Rank And File Are Just Normal People Like Us’; Lee Fang, Think Progress, January 6, 2011.

Right-Wing Militias Are Resurging -- Will They Produce More Terrorists Like Timothy McVeigh?; David Love, AlterNet, August 2009.

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The Impact of Budget Cuts on Kansas Schools

In our second we open with a short chat with Lisa Engelken about her upcoming concert at Jardine's in Kansas City, then we take a look a the impact of Brownback’s budget cuts on Kansas public education. Several days after taking office, the extremist Brownback proposed the largest cut to our public schools in Kansas history. The final budget left many state agencies decimated and more than $72 million in the state’s savings account, something the fanatic Brownback called the budget “a victory for Kansas.” Such cuts are anything but a victory for Kansans! Mark Desetti, KNEA; Tom Krebs, Kansas Association of School Boards; Kathy Cook, Kansas Families for Education; and Usha Reddi, a elementary school teacher for USD 383 discuss the impact of the budget cuts to public education in Kansas.

Related Articles:

Kansas budget focuses on mere numbers without regard to the harm, Rep. Paul Davis, Kansas City Star, June 7, 2011.

REPORT: Meet The Billionaires Who Are Trying To Privatize Our Schools And Kill Public Education, Zaid Jilani, Think Progress, May 21. 2011.

Brownback score card? Toss up, Steve Kraske, Kansas City Star, May 13, 2011.

Senate Passes State Budget, Dion Lefler, Wichita Eagle, May 12, 2011.

KNEA reacts to Brownback's budget cuts, Tim Huelskamp, Kiowa County Singal, March 14, 2011.

Public schools take hit in Kan. gov.'s budget cuts, John Milburn, Associate Press, March 11, 2011.

Casualties in the American Right-Wing's War on Science and Education, ToddWV, DemocraticUnderground.com, January 23, 2011.

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Coming Up with a City Budget for 2012

On this week's Community Bridge, we open with Bernie Hayden, Director of Finance for the City of Manhattan, for a discussion of how the City of Manhattan goes about developing it’s annual budget and a look at the budget for 2012. Then we will hear a short summary of the Global Commission on Drug Policy’s new report that finds the US-led "War on Drugs" campaign is a failure and recommends major reforms of the global drug prohibition regime. Click here to download the report.

Related Links/Articles:

City of Manhattan, Budget Information Center

Common Good - Common Good is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 2002 with the mission of rebuilding reliable legal structures that will permit Americans to use their common sense.

Information about the impact of spending you dollars in a locally owned vs. big box store and its impact on the local economy.

Going Local: New Opportunities for Community Economies, talk (transcript) by Michael Schuman.

State’s balanced budget could force local governments to increase taxes or cut services, Scott Rothschild, Lawrence Journal World, June 5, 2011.

US-led global war on drugs a failure: report, IB News Staff Reporter, Business and Law, June 2, 2011.

Global war on drugs 'a failure,' Al Jazeera, June 2, 2011, (video and written story)

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The Future of the Arts in Kansas

On May 29th, Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law the $13.8 billion state budget, and as expected he line-item vetoed funding of the Kansas Arts Commission.

In February, Brownback had issued an order to eliminate the Arts Commission as a cost-cutting move and replace it with a private, nonprofit foundation. The plan brought widespread opposition with supporters of the commission saying it was needed to lure federal arts dollars and provide important programs in local communities. The Kansas Senate rejected Brownback’s order and both the House and Senate agreed to fund the commission at $689,000 for the year. Even so, Brownback earlier this month issued layoff notices to the commission’s staff of five employees.

In his veto message to the Legislature, Brownback said, “In difficult fiscal times such as these, the state must prioritize how to spend its limited resources and focus its attention on providing core services. The arts will continue to thrive in Kansas when funded by private donations, and I intend to personally involve myself in efforts to make this happen.”
Sam Brownback has cost the State of Kansas over $1.2 million by vetoing the funding for the Kansas Arts Commission.

We take up the question of the future of the arts in Kansas with: Llewellyn Crain, Kansas City Symphony; Jay Nelson, Kansas Arts Commissioner; Henry Schwaller, chairman of the Kansas Arts Commission; Penny Senften, Director, Manhattan Arts Center.

Related Links/Articles:

Kansas Citizens for the Arts on Facebook.

Kansas Arts Movement on Facebook.

Fallacies of the Kansas Veto, Jonathan Katz, Executive Director, National Assembly of State Art Agencies, June 2011.

Reactions to the demise of the Kansas Arts Commission, Ian David Moss, Createquity, June 6, 2011.

State’s balanced budget could force local governments to increase taxes or cut services, Scott Rothschild, Lawrence Journal World, June 5, 2011.

'Falling backwards': Lawrence artists react to Kansas Arts Commission closing, Sarah Henning, Lawrence Journal World, June 5, 2011

Moderation wanes in Kansas as Brownback off to fast start, John Hanna, Associate Press, Lawrence Journal World, June 4, 2011.

Governor names arts chairman, pledges funding, Hawver's News Company, June 3, 2011.

Open letter to Kansas governor Sam Brownback, Laura Zabel, Minnesota Playlist, June 1, 2011.

Art's Ax, editorial, Lawrence Journal World, June 1, 2011

Americans for the Arts criticizes Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of Kansas Arts Commission funding, John Hanna, Associate Press, Lawrence Journal World, May 31, 2011.

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