The Kansas State House
Credit: Susie Fagan / Heartland Health Monitor

The Kansas Statehouse is relatively quiet these days. Only the arrival of the occasional busload of school children disturbs the calm.

That will change when lawmakers return April 27 to face what is expected to be more bad news about the budget.

Legislative leaders are hoping to finish their wrap-up session in a matter of days. But many involved in the process say that could be wishful thinking given a lack of consensus on how to balance the state budget in the face of continuing revenue shortfalls.

Tax receipts were $54 million below official estimates in February, and lawmakers are bracing for more bad news this week when the March numbers are revealed. And Shawn Sullivan, the governor’s budget director, said it’s likely that the consensus revenue estimating group will once again lower the projections used to formulate the budget.

“I would expect — and I think anybody who sees the balance sheet and the revenues […]

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Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage

AUGUSTA, MAINE — Maine Gov. Paul LePage is so angry at Democrats for rejecting one of his nominees that he canceled the swearing-in ceremony for a newly elected senator.

The Republican governor on Friday refused to sign a proclamation certifying the result of Tuesday’s special election.

The election was won by Democrat Susan Deschambault, of Biddeford. She arrived at the Maine Statehouse in Augusta on Friday for a scheduled ceremony at LePage’s office. But she was told it had been canceled.

LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett says the governor canceled the event in response to a party-line vote Thursday in the Legislature’s labor committee, which turned down LePage’s pick for the unemployment insurance commission. Bennett said Democrats treated the nominee, Steven Webster, ‘‘despicably.’’

Phil Bartlett, chairman of the Maine Democratic Party, said LePage is disregarding the will of voters.

‘‘Once again, the governor decides to throw a temper tantrum and refuse to do his job because he did not get his way,’’ Bartlett said.

Bennett said LePage is not refusing to […]

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The coastline being predicted in Florida and the Gulf

A new study confirms what leading climate scientists have warned about for many years now: Only very aggressive climate action can save the world’s coastal cities from inundation by century’s end.

We still could limit sea level rise to two feet this century if we keep total warming below 2°C, according to analysis using these new findings. Otherwise, we should be anticipating five to six feet of sea level rise by 2100 — which would generate hundreds of millions of refugees. That isn’t even the worst-case scenario.

This latest research from the journal Nature underscores that what the nation and the world do in the next decade or two will determine whether or not cities like Miami, Boston, New York, or New Orleans have any plausible chance to survive by 2100.

The study, “Contribution of Antarctica to past and future sea-level rise,” analyzes “new processes in the 3-dimensional ice sheet model.” It makes use of mechanisms involving the impact of warming oceans on the unstable Antarctic […]

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