heartland - October 24 2024

1. Boeing Machinists Extend Strike, Reject Contract with 35% Wage Hike
2. Spirit could have layoffs after Boeing strike continues
3. Kansas City Developers Face Subcontractor Liens Amid Fraud Allegations
4. Nitrate Pollution Shuts Down Two Pratt Water Wells
5. Kansas Officials Urge Voters to Hand-Deliver Ballots Amid USPS Concerns
Sports

1. Boeing Machinists Extend Strike, Reject Contract with 35% Wage Hike

Boeing’s largest union rejected a new labor deal Wednesday, extending a six-week strike that has plunged the jet maker into increasing financial peril. Members of the machinist union voted 64% against a proposed contract that would have delivered a 35% wage increase over four years, union leaders said. Without a deal, factories that build the 737, 767 and 777 jets remain idled, further sapping the company’s revenue and risking more disruption in its supply chain. Shares fell nearly 4% in early Thursday trading. The vote came on the same day Boeing warned investors that it would bleed cash into 2025 after burning through more than $10 billion in the first nine months of 2024. Analysts estimate the walkout is costing Boeing around $1 billion a month.

Article Source: WSJ

2. Spirit could have layoffs after Boeing strike continues

On Wednesday night, 64% of Boeing machinists in Washington voted to reject the latest contract offer.  A Spirit spokesperson told KSN News that regardless of the outcome, 700 Spirit workers in Wichita are still being furloughed on Monday. The offer would have given 33,000 Boeing machinists a 35% wage increase over four years and end the 41-day strike.  Buccino said because Boeing machinists turned down this contract offer, more drastic cuts could be coming.  “Unfortunately, due to a significant inventory overstock on our 767 and 777 programs, we are moving forward with the furlough of approximately 700 Spirit teammates,” said Buccino.  Buccino said the “no” vote means job losses could be coming.  “Should the strike continue beyond November 25th, financial pressures and a significant inventory buffer will force additional measures for us, more drastic furloughs certainly and layoffs of our teammates,” said Buccino.

Article Source: KSN

3. Kansas City Developers Face Subcontractor Liens Amid Fraud Allegations

One month after executives for the developer Lux Living were indicted for fraud in St. Louis, two of their Kansas City luxury apartment projects under construction — Katz on Main and Wonderland — are said, according to the company’s attorney, to be continuing “full steam ahead.” Except court actions, interviews and a visit to an open and unsecured Katz work site suggest the projects are facing troubles. Two Kansas City area subcontractors this month have filed mechanics’ liens against Lux Living and its in-house general contractor, Big Sur Construction, for more than $1 million in unpaid bills. One of the contractors, Epic Concrete Construction, Inc. of Kansas City claims it is owed just short of $648,000 for work done at Wonderland, the 215-unit project still being built at 1923 Broadway Boulevard. The company poured concrete for foundations, footings, slabs, balconies, sidewalks, curbs and driveways. The other, Contract Services Corporation of America, is a family-owned steel fabricating company in Raytown. It claims it is owed about $395,000 on more than $1 million worth of structural steel to be used for the 192-unit Katz on Main project at 3948 Main St. The steel, company officials said, was to be used for the support columns and the rooftop swimming pool deck that would serve as the top of historic Katz Drug Store.

Article Source: KC Star

4. Nitrate Pollution Shuts Down Two Pratt Water Wells

Nitrate pollution has forced a central Kansas town to shut off two wells that make up nearly one-quarter of its total permissible water supply. The state of Kansas will help Pratt afford the cost of drilling a new well in a different location with cleaner groundwater. But ultimately this town of 6,500 people, like so many others in the middle of the country, will need to find a way to cover the steep price tag of removing an increasingly widespread contaminant from its drinking water. In south-central Kansas, scientists from Kansas State University sampling private wells across 10 counties say most of the nitrate they’ve found comes from chemical crop fertilizer. South-central Kansas groundwater is particularly vulnerable to this contamination for several reasons. The region’s groundwater is often very close to the surface. Much of the region is also sandy, making for especially permeable ground.

Article Source: KAKE

5. Kansas Officials Urge Voters to Hand-Deliver Ballots Amid USPS Concerns

Rep. Pat Proctor worries the U.S. Postal Service’s inability to properly process mail-in ballots that disenfranchised nearly 1,000 Kansas voters in the August primary could be exacerbated by broader interest in the Nov. 5 election. Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican who chairs the House Elections Committee, said that damage to the voting public in the primary was limited due to the lackluster 17% statewide turnout. In the upcoming general election, he said, turnout would be substantially higher and ramifications of more USPS’ fumbling could be significantly worse. Secretary of State Scott Schwab, who is the state’s chief elections officer, sounded an alarm in September by disclosing results of a survey of Kansas’ 105 county election offices. The survey showed as many as 1,000 mail-in ballots were received by county election offices within the three-day, post-election grace period established by state law, but were rejected because they lacked a postmark to prove they were mailed prior to close of polls at 7 p.m. Election Day. Without an official postmark, the Kansas ballots couldn’t be counted. Schwab, a Republican, encouraged Kansans to avoid potential processing obstacles by hand-delivering ballots to a county election office or a ballot drop box prior to the Nov. 5 election.

Article Source: KS Reflector

Sports

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Sources

1. https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/boeing-union-vote-end-strike-9036e136?st=9zztyt&reflink=article_copyURL_share

2. https://www.ksn.com/news/local/spirit-could-have-layoffs-after-boeing-strike-continues

3. https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article294362734.html

4. https://www.kake.com/home/pratt-is-the-latest-kansas-town-facing-nitrate-pollution-one-quarter-of-its-water-supply/article_0fcab194-9220-11ef-9d82-5f67b6d60368.html

5. https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/22/kansas-election-official-urges-voters-to-avoid-u-s-postal-service-delivery-obstacles/