Trump & Masterson Launch “Kansas River Luxury Cruises”

(Featuring the official flagship)

Look at this beauty.

This is the vessel. The pride of the fleet. The ship that will “never let you down.”

Donald Trump and Ty Masterson have apparently partnered up to launch a brand-new cruise line that will ply the mighty Kansas River. They were originally going to put a casino on it — because nothing says fiscal genius like Trump’s Atlantic City track record — but that idea sank faster than the boat itself. So now it’s just a “luxury river experience.”

And who did they put in charge of boat repair and construction?

Ty Masterson.

The same Ty Masterson whose home-building company, Masterbuilt Homes, collapsed in 2006. The same guy who blamed a former employee for the unauthorized charges and mismanaged projects. The same guy who later filed Chapter 7 with roughly $300,000 in assets against $1.13 million in debts and left creditors with pennies. The same guy who in 2008 told voters he would never declare bankruptcy out of “personal responsibility”… then did exactly that two years later.

Of course they put him in charge of the boat. Look at the holes in the hull. Look at the rust. Look at the way it’s sitting high and dry on the sand like it gave up halfway through the voyage. That’s not a cruise ship. That’s a floating metaphor for Masterson’s business career — and now, apparently, for the economic vision Trump just endorsed for the entire state of Kansas.

Trump once built a television career yelling “You’re fired” at people who failed less spectacularly than this. Now he’s out here co-signing the guy who should have been the first one shown the door, calling him a “fantastic Candidate” who will never let Kansans down.

Never let you down. While the boat is already on the beach. With holes in it. And the repair guy is the one who previously bankrupted a construction company.

Kansans have every right to be angry. This isn’t leadership. This is a punchline with a campaign logo on it.

The flagship has already run aground. The captain has a bankruptcy on his record. And the owner is the same man who keeps insisting this is the best possible choice.

You’re not launching a cruise line. You’re launching another failure. And you’re asking the rest of us to buy tickets.

(A boardroom that never happened, but should have)

 "You're Fired, Ty"

(A boardroom that never happened, but should have)

Scene: The Apprentice boardroom. Trump is in the big chair, hair perfect, scowl locked and loaded. Ty Masterson sits across the table in a stiff suit, trying to look like a serious businessman who definitely did not crater a home-building company and then file Chapter 7.

Trump leans forward.

“Ty. Masterbuilt Homes. Failed in 2006. You blamed a former employee for unauthorized charges and mismanaged projects. Classic. Always the employee’s fault. Never the guy whose name is on the door. Then four years later you walk into bankruptcy court with three hundred thousand in assets and one-point-one-three million in debts. Corner Bank. Emprise Bank. Over a hundred sixty thousand on the credit cards. Case closed in 2012. Creditors got almost nothing. Beautiful.”

Masterson starts the usual speech. Personal responsibility. Buck stops here. Attorneys told me to file but I refused out of principle… back in 2008, while campaigning.

Trump cuts him off.

“You said that in 2008. Then you filed in 2010. That’s not principle. That’s a two-year delay. You told voters the buck stopped with you. Turns out the buck stopped at the bankruptcy trustee. And now you want to run a state? You couldn’t keep a residential construction company from going under and left the banks and suppliers holding the bag. What exactly qualifies you to manage anything bigger than a lemonade stand that already went bankrupt?”

The rest of the boardroom is silent. Even the interns know better than to defend this one.

Trump stands up, points the finger.

“You’re fired.”

Cut to reality, 2026.

The same Donald Trump who would have fired Ty Masterson on national television for exactly this record is now on Truth Social calling him a “fantastic Candidate” with his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to be the next governor of Kansas. “HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN,” the post screamed.

Never let you down. The same guy whose company already did. The same guy who discharged more than a million dollars in debts while preaching personal responsibility on the campaign trail two years earlier. The same guy who traced the whole mess to a former employee instead of looking in the mirror.

This is the “successful businessman” Trump is vouching for. This is the fiscal hawk Kansas is supposed to trust with the state budget. This is the man who will never let you down… after already letting Corner Bank, Emprise Bank, a pile of credit-card companies, and a bunch of subcontractors down for roughly eight hundred eighty-five thousand dollars in unsecured debt.

Trump once built a brand on “You’re fired.” Now he’s out here hiring the guy who should have been the first one shown the door.

Masterson got the endorsement. Kansas gets the punchline.

You’re not fired, Ty. You’re endorsed. And somehow that’s worse.

Kansans are entitled to ask what “successful” means in this context.

Trump’s “Fantastic Candidate” Who Mastered Bankruptcy

Ty Masterson likes to present himself as a successful small-business man who understands the real economy. President Trump has now endorsed that version of the story, declaring Masterson a “fantastic Candidate” with his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to be the next governor of Kansas and promising that “HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN.”

The public record tells a different story.

Masterson’s construction company, Masterbuilt Homes, collapsed around 2006. According to Masterson himself, the failure was the fault of a former employee who made errors, mismanaged projects, and ran up unauthorized charges. The company went under. The debts did not.

In late 2010 Masterson filed personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Court records showed roughly $300,000 in assets against about $1.13 million in debts. Nearly $885,000 of that was unsecured. Among the commercial loans were approximately $209,000 to Corner Bank and $53,890 to Emprise Bank, plus more than $160,000 in credit-card debt. The case was closed in August 2012. Few creditors recovered meaningful amounts. Masterson later told reporters he continued informal repayments to a couple of banks and vendors even though the court no longer required it. That is the version of “personal responsibility” that survived the discharge.

Two years before the filing, while campaigning in 2008, Masterson publicly rejected the idea of bankruptcy. He said attorneys had advised him to declare it and walk away, but his convictions would not allow him to leave fellow businessmen “holding the bag.” He spoke of personal responsibility and declared that “the buck stops here.” The buck eventually stopped in federal bankruptcy court.

This history is not obscure. It was reported by the Associated Press, the Wichita Eagle, and the Topeka Capital-Journal when Masterson was elevated to chair the Senate Ways and Means Committee. It appears in Wikipedia. It continues to surface whenever his name is attached to higher office. Yet the same man is now marketed as the steady, successful hand Trump trusts to run Kansas.

There is a particular comedy in watching a president who once branded himself the ultimate deal-maker and successful businessman place his full endorsement behind a former home builder whose company failed, whose debts exceeded a million dollars, and whose creditors received pennies on the dollar. “He will never let you down” is a bold claim about a candidate whose business already did exactly that. The employee supposedly made the mistakes. The bankruptcy court made the debts disappear. The political class is now asked to treat the whole episode as irrelevant ancient history.

Kansans are entitled to ask what “successful” means in this context. Building houses until the company collapses and then filing Chapter 7 is one form of experience. Managing a state budget, negotiating with creditors of a different sort, and delivering on promises is another. The record shows Masterson has the first kind of experience in abundance. Whether that qualifies him as the “fantastic” choice Trump describes is a question voters can answer for themselves.

The facts are public. The endorsement is recent. The gap between the two remains wide open.

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Fw: HomeTeam is hiring!

Henry McClure

785.383.9994 

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From: Maurie Blick <mblick@hometeam.com>
Sent: Monday, 27 July 2026 11:24:56
To: Henry McClure <mcre13@gmail.com>
Subject: HomeTeam is hiring!

 

 

HomeTeam is Expanding to serve you better!    For over 20 years, HomeTeam has been serving Topeka, Lawrence and the surrounding area and we are looking to expand.     HomeTeam is currently seeking a qualified applicant to join our team. Must be able to weather the 8-12 week on the job training period, with the anticipation of growing to full time lead inspector status by summer. (Starting pay range $55-$60K + company car)   This position offers tremendous opportunity for growth into a master inspector role, leading a team, while working with a company that uses industry leading technology and some of the best marketing and operational programs available.    The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications: Friendly with excellent communication skills and able to meet the public well. Professional in manner and appearance. Comfortable presenting to small groups Responsible and dependable.   Quick learner, Comfortable with technology Residential construction experience is essential in order to have the required knowledge base to work from. If anyone you know meets these qualifications, please have them send their resume to   mblick@hometeam.com   The Topeka/Lawrence HomeTeam has ranked among the top 10% of all HomeTeam Franchise locations for the last 8 yrs     Fast, Trusted, and Accurate. That's the HomeTeam Promise.   Schedule your inspection team today! For fast, trusted, and accurate inspections guaranteed, give us a call at (785) 235-8811 or (785) 830-9233 in Lawrence. Or visit us and place your order online at http://www.hometeam-topeka.com/. Each office is independently owned and operated. 1430 SW Woodhull #4166 , Topeka, Kansas 66604 click here to unsubscribe

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There is no single universal “best,” but clear patterns emerge from lab testing, independent rankings, sales data, and enthusiast consensus.

What Actually Matters in a Lion’s Mane Extract

Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) works primarily through two groups of compounds that stimulate nerve growth factor (NGF):

• Hericenones — mainly in the fruiting body.
• Erinacines (especially Erinacine A) — mainly in the mycelium; some research suggests they are more potent and better at crossing the blood-brain barrier.

Key quality markers:

• Fruiting body vs. mycelium-on-grain: Pure fruiting body extracts are generally higher in beta-glucans and free of starch/alpha-glucans. Mycelium grown on grain is often diluted (sometimes dramatically) unless the brand is transparent and quantifies actives.
• Extraction method: Hot-water extraction pulls beta-glucans/polysaccharides. Alcohol extraction pulls the terpenes (hericenones/erinacines). Dual extracts capture more of the spectrum. Alcohol-free products (like yours) miss the alcohol-soluble fraction.
• Verification: Look for third-party testing that reports beta-glucan % (ideally ≥25–30% for fruiting body extracts) and, ideally, specific markers like Erinacine A. Safety-only COAs (heavy metals, microbes) are table stakes, not proof of potency. High “mg” claims without ratios or active percentages are often marketing.

Highest in Sales / What the Market Buys

Host Defense (Paul Stamets’ brand) is the clear commercial leader in the U.S. natural/grocery channel. They claim #1 best-selling mushroom brand and specifically the #1 Lion’s Mane in that channel (SPINS data). Their products are primarily mycelium-based (grown on organic brown rice), widely available, and heavily marketed around cognition.

On Amazon and direct-to-consumer channels, volume leaders tend to be products with aggressive dosing claims (e.g., “10,000 mg,” “16x strength,” high polysaccharide percentages) and heavy advertising — brands like Toniiq, various private-label high-potency capsules, and liquid/gummy brands including AURI-style elixirs. Mainstream grocery also moves a lot of Om Mushroom.

Sales leaders ≠ highest quality or most bioactive.

Most Effective / Quality Consensus (2026 Rankings & Forums)

Independent rankings and Reddit’s r/MushroomSupplements (where people actually dig into COAs) converge on a few names:

Aspect	Real Mushrooms	Oriveda
Primary focus	Pure fruiting body, high beta-glucans	Quantified Erinacine A + fruiting body
Typical price	~$35 for 60 servings	~$83 for combo (~60 servings mycelium)
Form	Capsules or powder	Capsules (two bottles)
Shipping speed (US)	Fast (domestic)	Slower (2–3+ weeks common)
Best use case	Daily driver / general benefits	Targeted cognitive / NGF emphasis
Transparency	Excellent (beta-glucans)	Excellent (Erinacine A + beta-glucans)

Real Mushrooms repeatedly tops ConsumerLab-style and independent reviews for purity and verified beta-glucan content. Oriveda is the frequent “if you want the strongest evidence-aligned product for nerve/cognitive support” recommendation because it deliberately supplies both compound classes at measurable levels.

Your Current Product: AURI Super Mushroom Lion’s Mane Elixir

It is alcohol-free liquid, uses both mycelia and fruit body, claims 10,000 mg per serving, is third-party tested by Eurofins for safety (microbes, heavy metals), and has strong anecdotal reviews on their site for focus and memory.

Caveats:

• The 10,000 mg figure is typical marketing language and does not clearly state extract ratio or concentration of beta-glucans/erinacines/hericenones.
• Public COA focuses on contaminants, not potency markers.
• Alcohol-free means it prioritizes water-soluble compounds and misses alcohol-soluble ones.
• It is a convenient, well-reviewed consumer product, but it sits in the mid-tier “marketing + safety testing” category rather than the top-tier “quantified actives + full spectrum” category occupied by Real Mushrooms or Oriveda.

If it subjectively works well for you, there is no urgent reason to switch. Individual response varies a lot with these products.

Practical Recommendation

• If you want maximum verified bioactives and don’t mind capsules: Start with Real Mushrooms (reliable daily driver, excellent testing) or Oriveda (if cognitive/NGF is the primary goal).
• If you prefer liquid and alcohol-free: Stay with AURI if results are good, or look for dual-extract tinctures that publish beta-glucan and marker testing.
• General dosing context: Most researched ranges are roughly equivalent to 1–3 g of fruiting body extract daily. Effects (when present) usually build over 2–8 weeks of consistent use.

Lion’s Mane evidence is promising in animal and small human studies for mild cognitive and nerve support, but it is not a miracle drug. Quality of the extract matters more than brand hype. Always check current batch COAs when possible, and talk to a doctor if you have neurological conditions or take medications. 

Aspect	Real Mushrooms	Oriveda
Primary focus	Pure fruiting body, high beta-glucans	Quantified Erinacine A + fruiting body
Typical price	~$35 for 60 servings	~$83 for combo (~60 servings mycelium)
Form	Capsules or powder	Capsules (two bottles)
Shipping speed (US)	Fast (domestic)	Slower (2–3+ weeks common)
Best use case	Daily driver / general benefits	Targeted cognitive / NGF emphasis
Transparency	Excellent (beta-glucans)	Excellent (Erinacine A + beta-glucans)

Are there billionaires today supporting the NO vote in Kansas

Yes.

Two clear connections to billionaires appear in the contribution list:

1. Lynn Schusterman (Tulsa, Oklahoma) — $1,000,000 She is a confirmed billionaire. Forbes lists “Lynn Schusterman & family” with a real-time net worth of approximately $4.4 billion as of mid-July 2026. Bloomberg has carried higher estimates in the past. She is a major progressive philanthropist through the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.
2. Open Society Policy Center (New York) — $400,000 This is the 501(c)(4) lobbying/political arm of the Open Society Foundations network founded and long funded by George Soros, one of the world’s best-known billionaires. (His son Alex Soros has taken a more public leadership role in recent years, but the organization remains the vehicle of the Soros family’s political and philanthropic spending.)

No other individuals on the list are known billionaires. The remaining large donors are either organizations (ACLU entities, Planned Parenthood entities, National Education Association, Health Forward Foundation, etc.) or law firms and non-billionaire individuals/philanthropists. 

The NO's - Following the Money: Kansas United for Impartial Courts Files $7.6 Million Report Opposing Election of Supreme Court Justices

On July 20, 2026, Kansas United for Impartial Courts (KUIC), based at PO Box 3021 in Lawrence, Kansas 66046, filed its Receipts and Expenditures Report with the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission for activity promoting or opposing a Kansas constitutional ballot question. The report covers calendar year 2026 activity and was received by the Commission on July 22, 2026. It was signed by Micah Kubic.

This is no small-dollar grassroots effort. The numbers are large, concentrated, and heavily tilted toward national progressive organizations, major trial-lawyer firms, and a handful of high-dollar individual and foundation donors. The group is the lead opposition force against the Kansas Elections for Supreme Court Justices Amendment that will appear on the August 4, 2026, primary ballot.

The Ballot Question and the Stakes

The amendment, placed on the ballot by the 2025 Legislature via SCR 1611, would change how Kansas selects its Supreme Court justices. Currently, Kansas uses a merit-selection system: a nominating commission screens candidates, the governor appoints from the list, and justices face retention elections. The proposed amendment would replace that with direct election of justices by the voters for six-year terms (staggered starting in 2028, 2030, and 2032), with vacancies filled by election. A “Yes” vote supports electing the justices; a “No” vote keeps the existing appointment/retention system.

KUIC is campaigning for “No.” Its report shows the financial muscle behind that effort.

The Headline Numbers

From the summary page:

• Total Contributions and Other Receipts (Schedule A): $7,635,371.03
• In-Kind Contributions (Schedule B): $260,515.92
• Total Expenditures and Other Disbursements (Schedule C): $6,600,675.29

Itemized contributions accounted for $7,615,288.96; unitemized contributions of $50 or less totaled $20,082.07. The group certified that, for the period beginning July 1, 2025, it had not knowingly accepted contributions or made expenditures from a foreign national, and that each named donor was not a foreign national and had not knowingly accepted more than $100,000 in the aggregate from foreign nationals in the prior four years.

The Big Money: Largest Contributions, Biggest First

When the contributions are ordered by size (aggregating multiple gifts from the same entity or closely related entities where the report shows repeated large transfers), a clear pattern emerges. National progressive organizations and a small number of wealthy donors and trial-lawyer firms dominate the top of the list. Here are the largest, ranked from biggest to smallest:

1. American Civil Liberties Union entities (national ACLU, ACLU of Kansas, and ACLU Foundation of Kansas) — approximately $2,100,000. Multiple large transfers appear, including $500,000, $250,000, and $100,000 gifts plus substantial in-kind support.
2. Planned Parenthood entities (Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes) — approximately $1,450,000. This includes repeated six-figure cash gifts ($400,000, $250,000, $200,000) plus in-kind contributions.
3. Lynn Schusterman (110 W 7th St Ste 2000, Tulsa, OK 74119) — $1,000,000.
4. Open Society Policy Center (400 W 59th St, New York, NY 10019) — $400,000.
5. National Education Association (1201 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036) — $250,000.
6. Health Forward Foundation (2300 Main St #304, Kansas City, MO 64108) — $175,000.
7. Kansas Fair Court Fund (1031 Vermont St, Lawrence, KS 66044) — $115,921.36. 8–17. A cluster of $100,000 contributions from plaintiff/personal-injury oriented law firms and one individual:
   • DM Law Kansas City LLC (Kansas City, MO)
   • DeVaughn James LLC (Wichita)
   • Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman (Kansas City, MO)
   • Prochaska Law Firm LLC (Wichita)
   • Davis Bethune & Jones LLC (Kansas City, MO)
   • Langdon & Emison LLC (Lexington, MO)
   • Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP (Kansas City, MO)
   • Dickerson Oxton LLC (Kansas City, MO)
   • Nicholas Rowley (Decorah, IA)
   • Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP (Kansas City, MO)
8. Dollar, Burns, Becker & Hershewe, LC (and related entries) — approximately $90,000–$100,000 range across listed gifts.

19–22. Several $50,000 gifts from additional law firms:

• Slape and Howard (Wichita)
• Palmer Law Group LLC (Topeka)
• Patterson Legal Group LLC (Wichita)
• Bull Attorneys, PA (Wichita)
• Jonathan E. Baum Revocable Trust (Mission Hills)

23–33. A group of $25,000 contributions that includes:

• John Bird / Glassman Bird Law LLC (Hays)
• Ann Stegman Isenberg (Mission Hills)
• Mann & Wyatt LLC (Hutchinson)
• Schmitt Templin LLC (Kansas City, MO)
• Graybill & Hazelwood LLC (Wichita)
• Fred Spigarelli (Pittsburg)
• Simon Law Firm PC (St. Louis, MO)
• Hutton & Hutton Law Firm, LLC (Wichita)
• Kansas Bar Association (Topeka)
• Quinn Delaney (Oakland, CA)

Additional notable five-figure gifts include Gary Robb and Anita Robb (combined roughly $46,800 across entries), Kansas Women Attorneys for Freedom / Kansas Women Attorney’s Association (combined roughly $40,000+), Hite, Fanning & Honeyman LLP ($20,000), Martin Pringle Oliver Wallace & Bauer LLP ($20,000), Polsinelli ($20,000), Fowler Pickert Eisenmenger Norfleet LLC ($20,000), and the KTLA Consumer/Civil Justice PAC ($12,979.08). Rebein Brothers (Dodge City), Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLC, John Isenberg, Rachel Smith, Injury Law Associates LLC, and several other firms appear at the $10,000 level.

Below that threshold are hundreds of smaller contributions—many in the $25–$1,000 range—from individual Kansas lawyers, retired judges or court-related professionals, and private citizens across the state (Topeka, Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, Mission Hills, Emporia, Hutchinson, Dodge City, and elsewhere) plus a scattering of out-of-state individual donors. Interest deposits from Great American Bank in Lawrence also appear as minor receipts. The report’s unitemized total of just over $20,000 covers the smallest gifts of $50 or less.

In-Kind Support

Schedule B lists $260,515.92 in in-kind contributions. The largest single item is $148,825.31 from Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity (Washington, DC). Other significant in-kind donors include Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes ($46,792.33), the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas ($45,922.03), the national ACLU ($8,168.59), KS Value Institute ($6,850), the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association ($2,963.84), and smaller amounts from Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the Sedgwick County Democratic Party.

What the Money Bought

The group spent roughly $6.6 million. The expenditure schedules (many pages of Schedule C) show heavy volume of credit-card processing fees (ActBlue, Stripe, Anedot), payroll and benefit services, software and digital tools (EveryAction, Zoom), office supplies, legal services (including Elias Law Group), compliance consulting, digital strategy, and—by far the largest category—advertising and campaign services. This is consistent with a high-intensity media and field campaign in the weeks leading up to the August 4 primary.

Observations

The donor list is not a broad cross-section of ordinary Kansas voters writing small checks. It is dominated by:

• National progressive advocacy organizations with strong interests in judicial selection and related social issues (ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Open Society Policy Center, NEA).
• A network of plaintiff-side personal-injury and consumer law firms, many of which have long preferred appointed rather than elected high courts.
• A small number of very large individual and foundation gifts, including the $1 million from Lynn Schusterman and the $400,000 from the Open Society Policy Center.

Local and regional law firms, the Kansas Bar Association, and Kansas-based progressive groups round out the upper tier. Hundreds of smaller individual donations exist, but they do not drive the totals.

This report provides a clear, publicly available snapshot of who is financing the campaign to keep the current merit-selection system for the Kansas Supreme Court. Voters can now weigh that information alongside the policy arguments as they decide how to vote on August 4. The full 54-page filing is a public record with the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission and the Secretary of State. 

All figures come from the official Kansas Public Disclosure Commission filing. These are reported contributions supporting one side of a contested constitutional ballot question.

1. In-Kind Contributions (~$260,516 total — fully detailed in the provided Schedule B)

Key observation: In-kind support is heavily concentrated in reproductive-rights groups, with ACLU entities as the clear secondary source.

kansasvaluesinstitute.org

2. Overall Contributions (Cash + In-Kind, ~$7.64 million)Public summaries of the full Schedule A and contemporaneous reporting show a similar progressive/advocacy tilt at much larger scale, with these major categories:

• National and state progressive nonprofits / advocacy groups (largest category by far):
  Multiple large gifts from ACLU entities (national and Kansas affiliates — hundreds of thousands to over $1 million combined in various reports), Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes (hundreds of thousands combined), Open Society Policy Center (Soros-linked, reported at $400,000), National Education Association (NEA, reported at $250,000), and related foundations (e.g., Health Forward Foundation). Kansas Values Institute (a left-of-center 501(c)(4) focused on issues including “fair and impartial courts,” education funding, and opposition to changes in judicial selection) also appears as a contributor.
  @EarlGlynn
• Individual high-dollar donors:
  Notable example includes Lynn Schusterman (reported at $1 million). Many smaller-to-mid five- and six-figure gifts appear from Kansas-based individuals.
• Law firms, trial lawyers, and individual attorneys:
  Numerous contributions in the $50,000–$100,000+ range from law firms and individual lawyers (common in judicial-selection fights, as the plaintiffs’ bar has a stake in the current merit-selection system). Kansas Women Attorneys Association and similar professional groups also appear.
• Labor / education unions:
  National Education Association and related education interests.
• Local Democratic Party and allied political entities:
  Smaller relative to the national progressive nonprofits (e.g., the Sedgwick County Democratic Party in-kind example).
• Other / unitemized / interest:
  Small unitemized contributions (<$50) plus minor bank interest; these are a tiny fraction of the total.

Overall Patterns and Context

• Dominant donor types: Progressive national nonprofits (especially reproductive-rights and civil-liberties groups) + high-dollar individuals + the plaintiffs’ trial bar/law firms. Local Democratic Party money is present but secondary.
• Geographic mix: Significant out-of-state money (national ACLU, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Open Society, NEA, URGE/Unite) alongside Kansas-based law firms, individuals, and the Kansas Values Institute / ACLU of Kansas.
• Alignment with the ballot measure: The group opposes the August 2026 constitutional amendment that would alter the method of selecting Kansas Supreme Court justices (moving away from the current merit-selection system toward greater electoral accountability). The donor profile is consistent with organizations that have historically supported the status-quo merit system and progressive policy priorities in Kansas.
• Limitations: Exact percentages for the full $7.6 million require summing every line of the multi-page Schedule A PDF. In-kind data is complete and cleanly categorizable; cash data follows the same ideological/interest-group pattern at larger scale. The group’s own expenditures ($6.6 million) are not broken out by vendor or purpose in the summary materials provided.

Vote

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Dollar General Trip Generation: A Data-Driven Assessment for Neighborhood Traffic Planning

When evaluating the traffic impacts of a typical Dollar General store, the most reliable starting point is the company’s own operating performance rather than generalized assumptions. In fiscal 2025, Dollar General generated approximately $42.7 billion in net sales across a store base of roughly 20,900 locations. This equates to an average of about $2.05 million in annual sales per store.

The average transaction, or ticket size, at Dollar General has historically fallen in the range of $18 to $20. Independent analyses of shopper behavior have placed the figure near $19.99 in earlier years, while more recent industry observations of the broader dollar channel remain clustered around $19 to $20. Using a midpoint of $19.50 produces a straightforward calculation: $2.05 million in annual sales divided by $19.50 yields roughly 105,100 customer transactions per year at an average store.

Converted to a daily basis, this represents approximately 288 customer visits each day, or a practical working range of 255 to 310 visits depending on the precise ticket size applied. Because the majority of these visits in rural and suburban settings occur by automobile, each customer trip typically generates both an inbound and an outbound vehicle movement. Conservatively accounting for this pattern produces an estimated 500 to 600 vehicle trips per day associated with customer activity alone. Adding employee arrivals and departures, together with routine vendor and delivery traffic, elevates the total daily vehicle activity associated with a typical store into the range of 550 to 700 trips or higher.

These derived volumes align with, and in many cases exceed, the rates published in the Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation Manual for comparable land uses. Free-standing discount stores (ITE Land Use Code 815) are generally expected to generate 50 to 56 weekday trips per 1,000 square feet of floor area. For a store in the 8,000 to 8,500 square-foot range that Dollar General commonly employs, this produces an expected daily total of roughly 400 to 480 trips under pure ITE averages. The higher figures obtained from actual sales and transaction data are consistent with Dollar General’s operating model: frequent, low-basket-size trips for everyday consumables in markets that often lack nearby alternatives. The result is a higher trip rate relative to store size than would be predicted for a conventional larger-format discount retailer.

The practical implication is clear. A single Dollar General location can be expected to generate several hundred vehicle movements each day on a consistent, year-round basis. In a residential or mixed-use neighborhood setting, this level of activity constitutes a meaningful addition to the local traffic stream. When combined with observed pedestrian activity, school-related travel, or existing roadway conditions that lack adequate crossing provisions or speed control, the data support measured interventions. A reduction in posted speed limit and the installation of a marked crosswalk represent proportionate responses to the volume and character of traffic that such a store introduces.

These estimates are intentionally conservative. They rely on company-wide averages rather than site-specific sales figures, which may be higher or lower depending on local demographics and competition. They also treat most customer visits as vehicle trips, an assumption that is reasonable for the majority of Dollar General’s locations but can be refined with local observation. Even under these measured assumptions, however, the numbers demonstrate that a typical store is a consistent generator of daily traffic at a scale that warrants formal consideration in roadway design and pedestrian safety planning.

The analysis above can be adapted with greater precision if actual store square footage, local sales performance, or observed peak-hour counts become available. In the absence of such site-specific data, the company averages and established engineering rates provide a transparent and defensible foundation for discussion with municipal staff.

The core problem: Since 1960, Topeka’s land area grew about 65% while population grew only about 7%. The city has become less dense and more expensive to serve.

City of Topeka Land Use and Growth Management Plan (2014 video from the City of Topeka)

This short promotional video explains Topeka’s updated Land Use and Growth Management Plan, an element of the city’s comprehensive plan. It promotes a shift toward fiscally responsible, sustainable “smart growth” instead of continued low-density sprawl.

Key Points

• The core problem: Since 1960, Topeka’s land area grew about 65% while population grew only about 7%. The city has become less dense and more expensive to serve. Population has leaked to unincorporated Shawnee County (the city’s share of county population has declined, while the population outside the city has more than doubled). Only 2 out of every 10 new county residents have moved into the city, compared with Lawrence, where 8 out of 10 stayed in the city. Keeping Topeka’s historic share of county growth could have meant roughly 23,000 more residents and several million dollars more in annual revenue.
• Three-tier growth framework:
  • Tier 1 (highest priority): Existing city limits. These areas already have (or can readily receive) the five basic services—police, fire, water, sewer, and roads. Emphasis is on reinvestment in the core, infill, and higher density rather than abandoning older neighborhoods.
  • Tier 2: Areas just outside the current limits that are realistic candidates for annexation in the next ~25 years because the five services can be extended without major new investment.
  • Tier 3: Longer-term Urban Growth Area (UGA) that should be planned for but is not ready for near-term inclusion.
• Benefits of the approach: Reusing existing infrastructure and services is far more efficient than extending them outward. Compact, mixed-use, walkable development supports better quality of life, helps attract and retain younger residents and families, and generates higher returns on public investment. Examples highlighted include successful downtown and North Topeka redevelopments (e.g., adaptive reuse of historic buildings and a former junior high school into housing) that significantly increased property values, often aided by historic tax credits and neighborhood revitalization incentives.
• Supporting data and tools: The plan uses more realistic population projections than the 2003 plan. It notes roughly 1,200 vacant lots already inside city limits (potential for ~4,000 additional residents) that already have infrastructure. New planning and utility rules are intended to encourage urban densities as the city grows.

The video closes by framing the plan as a choice: continue costly, low-density sprawl or adopt a more compact, strategic pattern that strengthens existing neighborhoods and makes growth more sustainable and affordable for taxpayers. It directs viewers to topeka.mindmixer.com for public feedback.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMK8alutJHo 

Fw: Activist Judge Blocks Three-day Grace Period Repeal

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From: Rep. Pat Proctor <pat@patproctor4ks.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2026 3:02 PM
To: mcre13@gmail.com <mcre13@gmail.com>
Subject: Activist Judge Blocks Three-day Grace Period Repeal

 

Henry, A radical judge in Douglas County just issued a temporary injunction to block our common-sense law repealing the three-day grace period for mail-in ba

View this email in your browser Support Our Campaign Tomorrow is our most critical reporting deadline of the year, and we are still short of our goal. National Democrats are watching our public finance report closely. If we do not continue to demonstrate financial strength, they will see an opening and focus their resources on our race. With your help, we put up record-setting fundraising numbers in 2025, which helped us clear the primary field. But the real work begins now. My opponent is backed by a massive, out-of-state political action committee supported by foreign billionaires who are desperate to rewrite our election laws. And the Axis of Ballot Harvesting—the ACLU, Loud Light, and the League of Women Voters—likewise awash in foreign money, has been working overtime to beat me and engineer a Democrat takeover of Kansas elections. We have very little time left to build the resources we need to win. I need your help today. Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a difference. Click the button below to invest in our campaign. Contribute ACTIVIST JUDGE BLOCKS THREE-DAY GRACE PERIOD REPEAL An activist judge in Lawrence just issued a temporary injunction to block our common-sense law repealing the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots. This disastrous ruling reinstates a massive vulnerability in our election system after voting is already underway for the August primary. In this edition of the Proctor Election Report, I will discuss this activist court decision, the practical solutions we passed to protect your vote, and why we desperately need the Right to Vote constitutional amendment to hold these rogue judges accountable. “Republican state Rep. Pat Proctor, who is running for secretary of state and is chair of the House elections committee, said the judge’s opinion should be a basis for electing justices to the Kansas Supreme Court. “'This decision represents the worst kind of legislating from the bench – completely subverting the will of the people as expressed overwhelmingly by their elected representatives in the Legislature,' Proctor said. “'And this guy came a hair’s breath from being yet another left-wing activist Supreme Court Justice. I hope Kansans have this decision front of mind as they go to the polls to decide the fate of the Right to Vote amendment,' he said.” Brad Cooper Sunflower State Journal July 16, 2026 Learn More On Thursday morning, Douglas County District Judge Carl Folsom III handed down a poorly-reasoned order that freezes Senate Bill 4. This is the law I carried and passed to eliminate the three-day grace period for mail ballots. Because of this injunction, election officials are now being forced to revert to the flawed 2017 law. Outrageously, this decision came after mail-in ballots have already been sent out to voters! Attorney General Kris Kobach is making an emergency appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court to overturn this unprecedented ruling. He rightly noted that this decision completely upsets an election process that has already begun. I fully support his efforts to ensure that in Kansas, Election Day is actually Election Day, but I don't hold out much hope that our broken, left-wing Kansas Supreme Court will follow the Kansas Constitution and overturn this decision. As Chairman of the House Elections Committee, I fought relentlessly to pass the repeal of the three-day grace period. We successfully overrode Governor Laura Kelly's veto to get Senate Bill 4 signed into law. We did this because the grace period actively harms Kansas voters. The same day that Presiden Trump issued his Executive Order on Election Integrity, which included a call for all states to make Election Day the last day they accept ballots, I led the Kansas Legislature's successful override of the Governor's veto of our repeal of the so-called "three-day grace period."  The organizations I call the "Axis of Ballot Harvesting"--the ACLU and LoudLight chief among them--claim that ending the grace period suppresses votes, but they are ignoring the facts. Under the old rules, any ballot arriving after Election Day had to have a postmark to prove it was mailed on time. But the postal service frequently fails to postmark envelopes. In the 2024 primary election alone, as many as a thousand advance ballots arrived during that three-day window without a postmark, disenfranchising lawful voters simply because a postal worker failed to stamp their envelope. The voters did everything right, but their ballots were thrown out due to a bureaucratic error out of their control.  And this problem will only be worse this year, as the US Postal Service has announced that in the future, they will not postmark ballots until they arrive at central processing facilities. By ending the grace period and requiring all ballots to be received by 7:00 p.m. on Election Night, we removed the need for a postmark entirely. It is a simple fix, adopted by 32 other states, that ensures every valid, legally cast vote is actually counted. Since I began serving you as the Chairman of the House Elections Committee, I have been focused on restoring confidence in our elections by increasing transparency. And one of my biggest wins has been repealing the so-called "three-day grace period," making Election Day once again Election Day. Furthermore, accepting ballots for days after an election, as they do in California, destroys voter confidence. When vote totals keep changing for nearly a week after the polls close, it makes Kansans question the integrity of the entire process. We passed this practical solution to provide absolute transparency and timely results. Unfortunately, Judge Folsom ignored these facts and instead relied on a deeply flawed legal foundation. In his ruling, he cited a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court in Watson v. the Republican National Committee. In that case, which I believe was poorly decided, the highest court in the land upheld a similar mail-in ballot grace period in Mississippi. But even in that decision, the US Supreme Court never mandated a grace period. I warned at the time that the US Supreme Court's refusal to defend Election Day would embolden liberal state judges like Folsom. That is exactly what has happened here. Activist judges are twisting the law to push their political agendas and rewrite our election statutes from the bench. We should not be surprised by Judge Folsom's extreme ruling. He is a radical activist with a history of legislating from the bench. Just two months ago, he issued a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of our state's ban on gender-mutilation surgery and chemical castration of minors. “Kansas Family Voice, an advocate of the [Right to Vote judicial selection] amendment, cast a warning about Folsom, underscoring that he’s been recommended by a nine-person screening panel for a seat on the Kansas Supreme Court... “'A Douglas County judge appointed by Gov. Laura Kelly blocked the law protecting Kansas children from experimental sex-change operations,' the post said. “'Now that same judge has applied to be on the Kansas Supreme Court with no check from the people of Kansas. The solution is on your ballot: Vote yes on the constitutional amendment to return direct elections for Supreme Court justices,' the post said. “'This is how people check judicial activism,' the post said.” Brad Cooper Sunflower State Journal June 17, 2026 Learn More In that case, Folsom overturned the Help Not Harm Act by inventing a new constitutional right out of whole cloth for parents to demand medical treatments for their children, even if they are illegal. By this logic, a parent could demand heroin or marijuana for their child and the state would have no power to stop them. Folsom sided with the ACLU to strike down protections for Kansas children. This is the exact same judicial overreach we are now seeing applied to our election laws. The Axis of Ballot Harvesting, led by LoudLight and Kansas Appleseed, brought this case as well, fighting to protect their ability to subvert our elections. These groups hide behind a non-profit status to rake in millions in dark money from George Soros, foreign billionaires, and out-of-state special interests and then use it to prosecute lawfare against the people of Kansas. As the Chairman of the House Elections Committee, I am focused on restoring confidence in our elections by combating ballot harvesting. Every time we pass laws to combat ballot harvesting, a group I call the "Axis of Ballot Harvesting"--led by the Soros- and foreign-billionaire-funded ACLU and Loud Light--sues to block them. So lastyear, I carried and passed legislation to ban foreign money in our elections. I know I hit the mark, 'cause they're suing that law, too! Their partner in crime is the Elias Law Group. This is the notorious left-wing law firm that perpetrated the Russia-gate hoax on behalf of Hillary Clinton in 2017.  They're camped out here in Kansas, suing on behalf of the Axis of Ballot Harvesting to block every common-sense election safeguard we pass. They do not want you to have confidence in our elections. They want to keep our voter rolls and ballot procedures vulnerable so the only ballots that get counted are the ones that their allies harvest. This entire debacle highlights exactly why our current judicial system is fundamentally broken. Unelected activist judges like Carl Folsom are using their benches to subvert the will of the people and unravel our practical solutions. We cannot allow radical judges to dictate how Kansas runs its elections. In a recent election decision, the Kansas Supreme Court came within just a single vote of stripping the state legislature of its constitutional authority to write our state's election laws. If just one more justice had flipped, activist judges would have had the power to strike down every common-sense safeguard we've passed—from signature verification to bans on ballot harvesting. It is time for Kansans to Take Back the Court!  This is why we desperately need the Right to Vote constitutional amendment. Currently, Kansas is the only state in the country that uses a nominating commission dominated by unelected lawyers to pick our highest judges. It is a system controlled by political insiders operating behind closed doors. The Right to Vote amendment will abolish this unaccountable commission. It will finally give the citizens of Kansas the right to directly elect our Supreme Court justices. This is a common-sense safeguard that ensures our highest court reflects the values of the people of Kansas. Early voting has started. Please check your local election office for the time and location for early voting in your county. If we do not pass this now, I can almost guarantee that you will never get another opportunity in your lifetimes to fix this broken system. This is the most important question on the ballot this election season! Early voting has started. Get out and vote! As the Chairman of your House Elections Committee, I have fought relentlessly to restore confidence in our elections by increasing transparency. As your next Secretary of State, until we can take back our courts from the radical Left, I will continue that fight, defending the measures we passed against this left-wing lawfare. I produce this weekly newsletter, the Proctor Election Report, because it's important to me, as the Chairman of the House Committee on Elections and a candidate to serve you as Kansas Secretary of State, to keep you informed on the latest developments in Kansas elections. But I also want to focus on the subjects that are of interest to you. Is there a topic you would like me to discuss in a future edition? Do you have feedback or questions on the topics in this edition? Please REPLY to this email. I respond personally to every reply I receive to this newsletter. I look forward to hearing from you! Copyright © 2026 Pat Proctor for Kansas, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in by providing us with your email address. Our mailing address is: Pat Proctor for Kansas PO Box 3421 Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Any solicitation contained herein is not intended for lobbyists, political committees, or persons other than individuals. Paid for by Proctor for Kansas, Amy Cawvey, Treasurer