October 17 2024

1. Pfizer Laying Off 80 Salaried Employees at McPherson Plant, No Impact on Production
2. Tulsa Remote Program Helps Reverse Rural Brain Drain, Boosts City Revenue
3. Campaign Finance Reports From Kansas Congressional Candidates
4. Kansas Law Enforcement Maintains Opposition to Medical Marijuana Legalization
5. Historic Union Pacific Big Boy Locomotive Rolls Into Kansas on Heartland Tour

no heartland newsletter tomorrow

1. Pfizer Laying Off 80 Salaried Employees at McPherson Plant, No Impact on Production

McPHERSON, Kan. (KAKE) - Pfizer is laying off dozens of salaried employees at its plant in McPherson, Kansas. According to Kansas WorkforceONE, 80 layoff notices were handed out Wednesday and Thursday. Professional salaried positions in management and engineering are being impacted. There are no cuts in production. Around 1,800 people are employed at the McPherson plant. Pfizer sent the following statement to KAKE News: "Pfizer regularly evaluates our manufacturing network to ensure capacity is effectively utilized based on projected product demands. Following the announcement of our margin assessment program in May 2024, we’ve conducted a series of these evaluations focused on operational efficiencies and network optimization. Based on these evaluations, we have aligned headcount with our site capacity designs to meet the needs of the business. All colleague separations will be managed in alignment with our corporate values, policies and all local legal requirements and considerations."

Article Source: KAKE

2. Tulsa Remote Program Helps Reverse Rural Brain Drain, Boosts City Revenue

Five years after the George Kaiser Family Foundation began offering $10,000 to remote workers willing to move to Tulsa for at least a year, some 3,300 people have taken up the offer. The sudden onset of remote work during the pandemic prompted plenty of cities and states — Topeka, Kan., and Savannah, Ga.; West Virginia and northwest Arkansas — to vie for new residents with programs offering cash incentives. Tulsa’s program is one of the largest. Researchers at Harvard and other universities examined the effects of Tulsa Remote, wondering whether it was proving a good deal for the remote workers and the city itself. Their research, released this month, surveyed 1,248 people — including 411 who had participated in Tulsa Remote and others who were accepted but didn’t move or weren’t accepted but had applied to the program — and found that remote workers who moved to Tulsa saved an average of $25,000 more on annual housing costs than the group that was chosen but didn’t move. The relocations were also a boon for the State of Oklahoma and the City of Tulsa, bringing in some $14.9 million in annual income tax revenue and $5.8 million in sales taxes from the remote workers, the researchers estimated. Figuring out how to keep professionals has long been a challenge for midsize, non-coastal cities. Tulsa was losing roughly 1,000 more college-educated people than it was absorbing each year from 2015 to 2019. During that period, people who moved to Oklahoma were nearly all over the age of 45 and mostly had incomes below the state average

Article Source: NYT

3. Campaign Finance Reports From Kansas Congressional Candidates

Kansas congressional candidates collectively have millions of dollars to fund their campaign activities with advance voting already underway ahead of Election Day 2024, but there are large disparities between the frontrunners and their challengers. The Federal Election Commission has released campaign finance information reported by the candidates for Kansas' four congressional districts. 

1st Congressional District

U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., is the incumbent in this district representing the western half of the state plus north-central Kansas extending east into Lawrence. He is being challenged by Democrat Paul Buskirk. Mann's FEC report shows he raised about $242,000 in net contributions during the period, and has raised $1.18 million this election cycle. He spent about $37,000 during the period, and about $647,000 so far this cycle. Mann had $1.76 million cash on hand at the close of the reporting period and no debt. Buskirk's FEC report shows he raised about $12,000 in net contributions during the period, and has raised $43,000 this election cycle. 

2nd Congressional District 

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, R-Kan., decided not to seek reelection in this district representing Topeka and much of the eastern third of Kansas minus most of the Kansas City metro. Running to replace him are Republican Derek Schmidt, Democrat Nancy Boyda and Libertarian John Hauer. Schmidt's FEC report shows he raised about $562,000 in net contributions during the period, and has raised $1.05 million this election cycle. He spent about $301,000 during the period, and about $648,000 so far this cycle. Schmidt had about $434,000 cash on hand at the close of the reporting period4. Boyda's FEC report shows she raised about $96,000 in net contributions during the period, and has raised $105,000 this election cycle 

3rd Congressional District

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, is the incumbent in this district representing Johnson County and most of the Kansas City metro area, as well as some rural areas in nearby counties. She is being challenged by Republican Prasanth Reddy. Davids's FEC report shows she raised $1.24 million in net contributions during the period, and has raised $5.22 million this election cycle. She spent a net of $2.12 million during the period, and $3.55 million so far this cycle. Davids had $1.75 million cash on hand at the close of the reporting period and no debt. Reddy's FEC report shows he raised about $281,000 in net contributions during the period, and has raised $1.24 million this election cycle. He has spent a net of about $398,000 during the period, and $1.01 million so far this cycle. Reddy had about $713,000 cash on hand at the close of the reporting period 

4th Congressional District

U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan., is the incumbent in this district representing Wichita and much of south-central Kansas. He is being challenged by Democrat Esau Freeman. Estes' FEC report shows he raised about $292,000 in net contributions during the period, and has raised $1.63 million this election cycle. He spent a net of about $132,000 during the period, and about $874,000 so far this cycle.+ Estes had $1.8 million cash on hand at the close of the reporting period and no debt. Freeman's FEC report shows he raised about $18,000 in net contributions during the period, and has raised about $72,000 this election cycle.

Article Source: Topeka Capitol-Journal

4. Kansas Law Enforcement Maintains Opposition to Medical Marijuana Legalization

Kansas police are once again saying no to drugs — including medical marijuana.  On Tuesday, groups representing police chiefs, sheriffs and peace officers across the state continued to shoot down the idea of legalizing medical marijuana. They argued that legal weed would create a more lawless Kansas where cartels roam the streets and opioid deaths jump.  They took issue with everything from possible state regulations to the foul smell of cannabis.  “You drive by Blackwell, Oklahoma, and you get hit with that odor,” Kechi Chief of Police Braden Moore told lawmakers. “That’s a quality of life thing. … I don’t want that in my home state, too.” The 2024 Special Committee on Medical Marijuana, with five senators and six House members, is meeting in Topeka. What’s supposed to be a special committee that doesn’t meet yearly is becoming an annual fixture in Kansas. Lawmakers have discussed medical cannabis each year since 2021 and are setting up another conversation in the 2025 legislative session.  Political squabbles have squelched multiple bills to legalize medical marijuana in the Kansas Statehouse. And opposition from law enforcement in the state has remained steady.

Article Source: Kansas Beacon

5. Historic Union Pacific Big Boy Locomotive Rolls Into Kansas on Heartland Tour

A. A historic Union Pacific train will make its way across Kansas. The Big Boy Heartland of America Tour pulls into the state on Thursday arriving in Topeka at 12:15 p.m. and departing the Great Overland Station at 701 N. Kansas Ave. at 12:45 p.m. “Big Boy” will be on display in Salina on Friday at the Salina Depot from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The train will make stops in Wilson, Hays, Grainfield and Sharon Springs before heading west as it wraps up an eight-week tour of the country.

B. Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their great length, the frames of the Big Boys were "hinged," or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves. They had a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, which meant they had four wheels on the leading set of "pilot" wheels which guided the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following which supported the rear of the locomotive. The massive engines normally operated between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyo. There are seven Big Boys on public display in various cities around the country. They can be found in St. Louis, Missouri; Dallas, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; Denver, Colorado; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Cheyenne, Wyoming.  

Article Source: KWCH, Union Pacific

Sources

1. https://www.kake.com/home/pfizer-laying-off-80-salaried-employees-at-mcpherson-plant/article_30633622-8ca5-11ef-ab8a-f3eda1416e58.html

2. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/16/business/tulsa-remote-workers.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

3. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/10/17/kansas-congressional-candidates-file-campaign-finance-reports-with-fec/75684865007/

4. https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2024/10/17/medical-marijuana-is-illegal-in-kansas-police-want-it-to-stay-that-way/

5. A https://www.kwch.com/2024/10/17/historic-big-boy-locomotive-rolls-into-kansas-heres-where-you-can-find-it/
B https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/4014/index.htm