United Kansas met the requirements to become a registered political party in the state, one of only three minor political parties active in the state, according to the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office.

The party started canvassing for supporters two months ago to get to the statutorily required 19,548 signatures, or 2% of the total votes cast during the last gubernatorial election. United Kansas follows No Labels Kansas, which was recognized in January as a minor party, and the Libertarian Party of Kansas, which has been recognized since 1992.

The party says its mission is “to unite Kansas under shared values and common goals” and that it values multiparty dialogue, grassroots community efforts and inclusivity for all Kansans. It says its key issues are fostering business-friendly environments, affordable health care, quality education and continuous funding, fostering civic engagement, infrastructure modernization and environmental protection.

In a letter on its website, United Kansas’s party chair Jack Curtis advocates for fusion voting to transform the Democratic process to make it more collaborative.

“By allowing them to cross-nominate candidates, we ensure that these parties have a genuine stake in the electoral process rather than be sidelined as a potential spoiler. This not only amplifies diverse voices but also encourages major parties to adopt more moderate and inclusive stances, leading to a more balanced political environment,” Curtis wrote.

Curtis is joined in party leadership by vice chair Sally Cauble, a former Republican State Board of Education member, and treasurer Aaron Estabrook, an Independent former member of the Manhattan City Commission and USD 383 Board of Education.

The party will be able to select candidates for the November elections through a convention or caucus by June 3. It will be able to hold statewide primaries for office if its candidate for governor gets more than 5% of the vote statewide.

There’s no question that Sarah Gonzales-McLinn killed Laurence businessman Hal Sasko. She was found guilty by a jury of her peers, and she’s serving a minimum 25-year prison sentence.

Yet someone can both be guilty of a heinous crime and also see it as their only way to escape a dire situation. Gonzales-McLinn, in advocates’ estimation, was the victim of sex trafficking by Sasko. She suffered repeated rape and abuse for his sexual gratification. Those advocates want Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly to understand both truths and to grant Gonzales-McLinn clemency. More than a year into their efforts, they now want the public to contact Kelly’s office.

Former reporter Dave Ranney has appeared at recent public presentations, and he spoke to me for this week’s episode of the Kansas Reflector podcast.

He said Gonzales-McLinn’s account of the situation, in which she began living with Sasko at age 17, remains consistent.

“Sarah’s story has never changed. I mean, from day one,” he said. “Sara has been evaluated by two forensic psychologists, both of whom reach the same conclusion that she’s no longer a risk to society. And her story doesn’t change with either one of them. And these are professionals who are very accustomed to detecting whether someone is telling you the truth or making stuff up.”

When I wrote about Gonzales-McLinn in January 2023, I put it this way: She was failed on every level by the people in her life.

She was failed by people around her as a child and teen. She was failed by Sasko, who presented himself at first as a kindly parental figure before unfurling a devious scheme to bind her economically and psychologically. She was failed by those who knew about the situation but chose not to act. She was failed by the legal system that didn’t allow jurors to hear of her shocking abuse. And she has been thus far failed by a political system that should have redressed her situation long before now.

That fundamental take has not changed in the 16 months since.

Neither has Gonzales-McLinn’s address.

Michelle McCormick, executive director of the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence, told me that advocates see similar situations all too often.

“The tactics that he used fit into all the categories that we train, when I provide professional training to law enforcement and prosecutors and advocates and health care providers and any person who will ever listen,” she said. “You know, we talk about the tactics that are used in sexual violence, domestic violence, in the emotional control tactics. The way somebody is identified as vulnerable. How someone will groom them, isolate them from supports, using emotional belittling tactics to try to chip away their self worth like that. The experiences that Sarah describes, in her own words, match the experiences of hundreds and hundreds of Kansans that I’ve worked with in the 25 years I have been an advocate.”

If we have failed Gonzales-McLinn, as I believe we have, think about all the other victims we have likewise failed along the way. Think of all the stories that we didn’t hear or believe. And think of the suffering that resulted.

“What bothers me the most, I think, is that none of this information was considered in any of the criminal processes,” McCormick said. “It wasn’t even considered in the early media coverage.”

If we don’t listen to or believe victims of sexual assault, we help perpetuate it.

That goes for lawyers, judges and journalists.

Unfortunately, writing or talking about injustice often invites comparisons. What about other cases in which our justice system imprisoned people for crimes they did not commit? What about poverty or climate change or wars halfway around the globe? What about all of those people and their lives? Shouldn’t they come first in line? For that matter, what about law-abiding Americans struggling to make ends meet?

I have one answer: Care about this case because it can be addressed right now.

Care about this case because Gonzales-McLinn suffered a gross miscarriage of justice.

Care about this case because we cannot close our hearts to all the women and children who suffer at the hands of abusers.

Unfortunately, Kelly must wrangle the dark art of politics. With primary and general elections coming up this year, Gonzales-McLinn’s freedom could well cost Democrats and moderate Republicans seats in the Legislature. I can imagine the mailers from big money groups now. No one takes office with the intention of costing their party or allies, and Kelly has two more years left in office.

I know what I think. But I’m not the one who holds the cards.

The final words today come from Gonzales-McLinn herself. She wrote a short note explaining what she hopes to do and accomplish if granted clemency. For those curious about her ambitions in the years ahead, please take a look. That goes for you too, governor.

“In a lot of ways, I just want to be normal,” she writes. “I want to hit the milestones that a lot of people my age do. Work, spend time with my family, finish college, hang out with friends, buy a home, go on vacations, just live my life.

“I also know that I have a strong desire to share my story. With the hope that it can help someone who is struggling to make it through something similar. I want people to know that there is life and healing after trauma. Even though it feels like things will never get better I want them to know it does. And your life doesn’t have to be defined by it. I want them to know that there is a future and hope.”

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

For the first time in franchise history, the Kansas City Mavericks will be playing for the Kelly Cup. The Mavericks ousted the Toledo Walleye in six games to advance to their first championship series. The club celebrated its first Western Conference title thanks to a convincing 7-1 win on home ice to close out the Walleye, a perennial contender that is still searching for a Kelly Cup of its own.

To see the Mavericks claim the Bruce Taylor Cup as Western Conference champs shouldn’t be much of a surprise, given that they had the best record in the ECHL by far this season. Their 114 points in the standings were nine points ahead of the next closest team – Toledo – and the Mavs had six more wins than any other team during the regular season.

🚨 THE KANSAS CITY MAVERICKS ARE THE KINGS OF THE WESTERN CONFERENCE AND ARE OFF TO THEIR FIRST KELLY CUP FINAL IN FRANCHISE HISTORY! 🚨

Congrats to the ECHL Western Conference Champion @kc_mavericks!@ECHL #ECHL #KellyCup pic.twitter.com/Ux9qSMI7Gq

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) May 27, 2024

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Kansas City’s hockey history is long and disjointed, but the Mavericks have been the city’s hockey team since 2009-10, then playing in the now defunct Central Hockey League. In all those years, the furthest the Mavericks had made it was to the Western Conference Final.

Since joining the ECHL in 2014-15 when the league picked up a number of CHL clubs after that circuit dissolved, Kansas City has reached the playoffs just four times, including this season. Over the last two seasons, the organization has shown tremendous growth and has benefited from a strong affiliation partnership with the NHL’s and AHL’s newest franchises, the Seattle Kraken and Coachella Valley Firebirds.

This season has been on another level, however.

In their Memorial Day showdown with Toledo, it was the Jeremy McKenna show. McKenna, who appeared in 11 games with Coachella Valley in the AHL earlier this season, registered a hat trick in the clinching game, scoring goals one, two and four.

🚨 Jeremy McKenna gets the @kc_mavericks on the board first with this beauty 🤩

📺: https://t.co/CKaXgbzAxQ@ECHL#ECHL #KellyCup pic.twitter.com/fefaS0JzWK

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— FloHockey (@FloHockey) May 27, 2024

McKenna got the scoring started with a breakaway goal off of his backhand on Toledo goalie John Lethemon at the 16:20 mark of the first period. 

The game looked like it would stay close until McKenna struck again at 8:12 of the second period. Cole Coskey added another goal just over two minutes later to start putting some distance between the Mavericks and Toledo.

McKenna looked like he stuck a fork in the Walleye just 1:28 into the third period when his quick one-time shot on the rush slipped through Lethemon to make it 4-0 to complete the hat trick.

TOSS THOSE HATS 👒🧢🎩
JEREMY MCKENNA COMPLETES THE HAT TRICK!

The @kc_mavericks have a 4-0 lead early in the third period of the @ECHL Western Conference Finals!

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Make sure you’re tuned in for the end of this one!
📺: https://t.co/CKaXgbzAxQ#ECHL #KellyCup pic.twitter.com/IodLb2LwDh

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) May 27, 2024

Kansas City goalie Jack LaFontaine grabbed his sixth win in seven postseason appearances. He has been on an absolute roll through the postseason despite alternating starts with tandem mate Cale Morris. The former University of Minnesota standout has a stunning .954 save percentage in these Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Toledo kept the fight going with a goal from Matt Anderson in the third period. That led Toledo coach Pat Mikesch to pull his goalie early in hopes of injecting more life into the game. Instead, Kansas City’s Theo Calvas found the empty net to make it 6-1, before Justin Nachbaur added insult to injury with another late goal to make it 7-1, completing a four-goal third period from the Mavs.

The Mavericks can now take some time off as they await the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Florida Everblades currently hold a 3-2 lead over the Adirondack Thunder as the series goes back to Glens Falls, N.Y., for Game 6 on Tuesday night.

You can watch that game exclusively on FloHockey.

Regardless of who wins, Kansas City has home ice advantage and is sure to see a packed Cable Dahmer Arena for the first ever championship series in a town that certainly knows a thing or two about winning teams.

While KC may be used to football and baseball teams winning championships, the last time a Kansas City hockey team won a championship was the Kansas City Blades, which won the International Hockey League’s Turner Cup in 1992. 

Western Conference Finals Results

Kansas City Mavericks (54-12-6) Vs. Toledo Walleye (48-14-9)

Game 1 – Kansas City 3, Toledo 2
Game 2 – Kansas City 5, Toledo 1
Game 3 – Toledo 4, Kansas City 3
Game 4 – Kansas City 2, Toledo 1 (OT)
Game 5 – Toledo 3, Kansas City 1
Game 6 – Kansas City 7, Toledo 1

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