Sam Brownback

Top officials from Kansas aviation firms gathered in Wichita for an economic summit on the industry. Gov. Sam Brownback asked the firms on Monday to decide what the state needs to do to keep and expand Wichita's role as the aviation capital of the world. Several executives on the manufacturing and service sides of the industry spoke said the state needs to continue funding work force training such as the National Center for Aviation Training. The officials also discussed how they are constantly being courted by other states offering economic development incentives.

A former candidate for Kansas governor was taken into custody this week.  Joan Heffington ran against Sam Brownback during the latest race for governor. Sheriff's records show Heffington was arrested for unlawfully hosting minors consumer liquor. Heffington has yet to be charged. Eyewitness News spoke with her Tuesday. She says she wants the charges dismissed because she wasn't hosting an underage drinking party. She tells us her 16-year-old son had about 20 kids over to her Derby home and some of them had been drinking before they arrived.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback was among those attending a ground breaking of a new clinic in Wichita's Planeview neighborhood. The 2,850 square-foot primary care clinic is at 2760 S. Roosevelt. The Planeview Transformation Coalition hopes this is the first of several projects in the area. The group says the community is one of the most "underserved" in the city with 50% of residents living in poverty. Hunter Health Clinic expects to serve 2,000 to 2,500 people in its first full year of operation.

Gov. Sam Brownback says he is using his constitutional authority to cut $56.5 million in spending immediately in the current Kansas budget. Brownback wants to balance the FY 2011 State General Fund budget to zero. The current fiscal year ends June 30. The biggest cuts come from aid to Kansas' 289 public school districts. Cuts to schools total $50.2 million, or $75 off base state aid per student. That drops the per-student amount from $4,012 to $3,937. The governor's office is also applying $35 million from a federal jobs grant to schools, reducing the cut to schools to $22 per student.

Supporters of the Kansas Human Rights Commission gather at the statehouse to speak out about a proposal to end the civil rights organization. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback proposed eliminating the 58-year-old commission earlier this year and making it a part of the Attorney General's office. Civil rights activists say the governor's policies will take Kansas backwards. "But when our rights are being trampled, and when they are being threatened by our leadership, I think we are at a point where we can not sit idle and not do any thing," says Ben Scott of the NAACP.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports Kansas' Hispanic population grew by 59 percent over the past decade. Figures provided Thursday to state officials said the 2010 Census counted 300,042 residents of Hispanic origin in Kansas. That's compared to just more than 188,252 Hispanic residents in 2000. That's nearly 112,000 new Hispanic residents. The state's Hispanic population also doubled between 1990 and 2000. The news comes on the same day Gov. Sam Brownback talked about a proposal to help grow rural Kansas.

A resolution to block Gov. Sam Brownback's executive order abolishing the Kansas Arts Commission passed a Senate committee Thursday. Brownback signed the executive order in February making the commission part of the Kansas Historical Society. Now, the Legislative Research Department says the plan does not contain enough information to answer the question of how much money Kansas would lose in matching funds from national and regional arts organizations. The state currently receives more than $1.2 million from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Mid-America Arts Alliance.

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as President? 38%-Approve 59%-Disapprove 3%- Not Sure Asked of 600 Adults Margin of Sampling Error for this question= +/-4% Complete Interactive Crosstabs Do you approve or disapprove of the job Pat Roberts is doing as United States Senator? 55%-Approve 28%-Disapprove 15%-Not Sure Asked of 600 Adults Margin of Sampling Error for this question= +/4.1% Do you approve or disapprove of the job Jerry Moran is doing as United States Senator?

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is declaring an end to what he calls the days of ever-expanding state government. Brownback said in his first State of the State address Wednesday evening he'll submit a series of executive orders reorganizing state government. He said he'll eliminate eight state agencies, although he didn't list them in the text of the speech provided to reporters before its delivery. Brownback also said he'll propose an immediate freeze on state spending and the elimination of 2,000 unfilled jobs in state government.