“It looks to be one of the highest turnout primary elections in recent years, which signals that abortion is not only an issue that Kansans care deeply about but one that mobilizes voters to participate in elections, and likely in other ways as well,” Alexandra Middlewood, an assistant professor of political science at Wichita State University, told BuzzFeed News via email. Advocates and political observers viewed the election in Kansas as a test of how fired up people are to defend abortion rights in the wake of the court’s June 24 decision. Wade, the landmark 1973 opinion that legalized abortion nationwide. It was the first time that voters have weighed in on the issue since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v.
Workman said they will shoot for October for a public hearing on the revisions they’ve made.Kansas voters rejected an attempt to strip abortion protections from their state constitution on Tuesday, protecting people’s right to end a pregnancy in the Great Plains state as nationwide access continues to crumble.Īccording to preliminary election results, 59% voted against the Value Them Both amendment, which would have added language to the Kansas Constitution that it “does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion.” The ballot measure’s defeat means abortion will remain protected as a right under existing provisions of the state constitution, as held by the Kansas Supreme Court since 2019. “In the event that these wind energy companies aren’t in a position to remove the towers, we want to have something in place that says that the county will be protected and not have to pay for that decommission,” said Long.īoard members said the plan is to make the changes within six months. Long said the top three areas they would like to see focused on are: decommissioning, setbacks which is how far the turbines are from a home and sound limits. “We are really pleased with the fact that the county is looking at it, and we would hope that they would take the text amendment that we have proposed because it is very detailed,” said United Citizens of Tazewell County member, John Long. Workman along with other members thanked the group for bringing the changes to their attention.
“This ordinance was adopted back in ’04, ’05 a lot has changed, technology has changed, renewable energy is a lot more prevalent now,” said Workman. Workman said there will be an extensive amount of changes made. “It does feel really good that we are able to bring a lot of the research to the county and now with the six months, they are going to take that into consideration,” said United Citizens of Tazewell County member, Amber Towle. It was a three-month conversation between wind energy companies, the group, attorneys, and the board. The group presented an 18-page ordinance to the board with, hopes to see those changes come to life. Wind energy farm discussion continues in Tazewell Co. The group raised concerns about the ordinance in May. The urge for change was sparked by the United Citizens of Tazewell County. “In that time we will work on amendments to the existing ordinance and get that updated,” said Tazewell County Community Development Administrator, Jaclynn Workman. Members said this six-month hold will allow them to make the appropriate changes needed before any new wind farm is set up in Tazewell county. Wednesday night, board members approved a six-month moratorium until the ordinance is revised. The current ordinance when it comes to building wind turbines in Tazewell County is changing, and it means no farms will be built for at least six months.