ICE detainees in Leavenworth. Regulatory limbo. Poetry season. Crime views. Healthcare costs.

By Sherman Smith | editor-in-chief

LEAVENWORTH — CoreCivic’s newly reopened prison is holding about 250 immigration detainees, a slower ramp-up to full capacity than expected, an official said Monday.

Misty Mackey, warden of the Midwest Regional Reception Center, said that while the company expected to move to capacity of 1,104 detainees slowly, it is a little behind schedule.

“I know with the ICE budget that was passed, that might pick up a little bit now, so we’ll see what that has in store for us,” she said.

Mackey spoke after the first meeting of the 14-person CoreCivic Community Relations Advisory Board on Monday, set up to ensure CoreCivic doesn’t repeat past negative behaviors at its reopened prison facility.

TOPEKA — Shawn Lagemann asked the Kansas Legislature to wade into a dispute pitting her vision of agricultural tourism and education against the city of Lenexa’s blueprint for regulation and zoning of rural properties in the path of economic development.

Lagemann, CEO and co-owner of Walnut Pond Agricultural Discovery Center, said the plea for help came after Lenexa eliminated all agriculture zoning from its comprehensive plan. She asked state lawmakers to place in statute a definition of agritourism that differentiated between private agricultural education organizations and business entities such as petting zoos or wedding venues open to the public.

“What we are trying to do at Walnut Pond is show kids real food,” she said. “Let them have an appreciation for the animals that are raised. Or, better yet, they can pick the tomato off the vine and eat it in the garden.”

By Huascar Medina

National Poetry Month has come and gone, and the flowers are still blooming, and the poets are still reading. It came and went so fast that I am not sure any of us were actually able to sit with the poems floating by us — or if we stopped long enough to smell the sweet scent of flowers, planted and envisioned.

This year marked the 30th anniversary of the beloved monthlong celebration of poetry and poets. In 1996, the Academy of American Poets launched the program to celebrate the vital role poetry plays in our culture. Now, National Poetry Month is celebrated internationally. Programs from the Academy of American Poets included “Poetry & the Creative Mind,” “Poem in Your Pocket Day,” “Dear Poet” and “National Poetry Month Poster.”

So much poeticizing, so little time.

Americans’ views on crime often don’t match reality — and a new report suggests those perceptions are shaped as much by personal experiences and economic conditions as by crime itself.

WASHINGTON — Voters, including those within the Make America Healthy Again movement, say the rising cost of healthcare is a significant concern that will have an impact on whom they support in November’s midterm elections, according to a poll released Wednesday by KFF.

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