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The North Campus Corridor project will bring significant changes to sections of Kimball, North Manhattan, College and Denison Avenues. If planning and funding continues to move forward as expected, the project could get started with a bang as early as next summer.
The commission discussed funding strategies, Tuesday, which utilize a mix of city funds, KDOT and TIGER grants, STAR Bonds and help from Kansas State University.
AFAIK, Denison will be widened to 4 lanes from Marlatt to Kimball. This article doesn't mention that Marlatt would need to also be widened to 4 to accommodate the "wide load" tagged cattlel semis hauling diseased bovines to their final resting place. /sarchasm? Maybe. Note that one early NBAF feedlot supporter from W. KS (LTE Manhattan Mercury 2008) was sure that would mean faster identification of disease, over Plum Island Animal Disease Center. Surely "overnight" shipment means overnight, no matter where you are. Or does he envision loading sick beeves into a pickup & speeding all the way to the NBAF to save his feedlot?
The Army's distribution of "dead" anthrax samples to many installation labs failed => AS IN THE STERILIZATION PROCEDURE RESULTED IN THE ANTHRAX REMAINING VIABLE. The anthrax was shipped via UPS/FEDEX & since it wasn't labelled as viable, some recipients opened the box, had no immediate need for dead anthrax observation & left the spores out unsecured.
over the last decade live anthrax samples had been sent from Dugway to 86 government and private labs and other facilities in the United States and seven other countries: Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea.
The UP SIDE? DHS/USDA has stated that anthrax will NOT be studied @ the NBAF. No, but of the ~ 16 BBSL4 3rd world zoonotic diseases (transferable to humans, with no known treatment) currently proposed for NBAF, one pathogen looks so much like a multicellular microorganism, that Western microbiologists routinely misidentify it.
I heard @ Thanksgiving that The Mercury now runs a weekly column by Marty Vanier (daughter of THAT Vanier), DHS' director of strategic partnership development for the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility Program Executive Office. There were some smirks over turkey.
The state of Kansas has spent more than $557 million of taxpayer money over the last 16 years financing the development of retail shopping districts and tourism projects, and now some lawmakers are beginning to question how much benefit the state is getting back.
That's the amount of state sales tax revenue that has gone to repay what are known as "Sales Tax and Revenue," or STAR bonds, a tax increment financing mechanism in which municipalities issue bonds to pay the cost of roads and other infrastructure in a designated district, and those bonds are repaid with the new sales tax revenues that are generated by the project.
The commission discussed funding strategies, Tuesday, which utilize a mix of city funds, KDOT and TIGER grants, STAR Bonds and help from Kansas State University.
I don't think a bistro owned by the Vanier family within a building on the NBAF corridor counts as "retail shopping district," or "tourism project." I'd like to see Manhattan's projected sales tax revenue from the N end corridor retail (?) establishments. As KSU owns the land, wouldn't the legislature have to OK turning state lands over to private entities (such was done for the 40 acres KSU ag farm lost for Via Christi Village on Browning).
This is the problem that I have seen in a few cities in KS, they build up retail and somehow believe they are a "tourist" attraction, of which many fall short. I saw it in both Fort Scott and Emporia, they bring in retail (mostly clothing although Emporia just got a large Hobby Lobby) and restaurants in communities where the household incomes are quite low and taxes high. And, the city gives these places that provide few jobs, many part-time and near minimum wage (except Hobby Lobby) big tax incentives/grants, etc.
I suspect many of the personnel at the NBAF were transported into the area rather than hired locally, but I suspect the area paid big in order to recruit it.
We can't afford to stay in KS once we retire (like yesterday) due to real and personal property taxes, and we appear to not be alone in this.
This is the problem that I have seen in a few cities in KS, they build up retail and somehow believe they are a "tourist" attraction, of which many fall short. I saw it in both Fort Scott and Emporia, they bring in retail (mostly clothing although Emporia just got a large Hobby Lobby) and restaurants in communities where the household incomes are quite low and taxes high. And, the city gives these places that provide few jobs, many part-time and near minimum wage (except Hobby Lobby) big tax incentives/grants, etc.
I suspect many of the personnel at the NBAF were transported into the area rather than hired locally, but I suspect the area paid big in order to recruit it.
We can't afford to stay in KS once we retire (like yesterday) due to real and personal property taxes, and we appear to not be alone in this.
Good luck with that. I cannot wait for your next round of complaints about the state you decide to settle it.
I do question some of the money spent on star bonds, I hate to say it, but throwing money at most of these small towns is the same as lighting a match and burning it. If local municipalities decide to give tax breaks or bonds, sure, but I’m not too crazy about the state doing it. Unless it’s to bring in some manufacturing, and not just some retail store like Hobby Lobby.
Kansas isn’t a retirement destination, but I can’t imagine someone complaining about our cost of living or tax implications.
The Manhattan City Commission unanimously approved a resolution of intent Tuesday to use $500,000 per year from the city/university fund for the north campus corridor project.
The city/university fund is made up of revenue from sales tax and franchise fees generated on campus.
The non-binding resolution said this 20-year process would begin in 2020 for a total of $10 million toward the project, which is expected to cost more than $40 million.
Should they be worried. In my experience with KSU/KANSAS/DHS => YES
In June '08, Cols/Drs Jerry & Nancy K. Jaax (both KSU employees) wrote a LTE of the Manhattan Mercury about how safe the NBAF would be. They stated they'd worked safely @ the U S Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. They lived nearby. They walked to work. Their son still lived in that house => EXAMPLES OF HOW SAFE BSL-4 LABS ARE.
In Aug '08, the FBI announced the ANTHRAX MAILER, Dr. Bruce Ivins, had committed suicide before they could arrest him. The ANTHRAX MAILER worked for 19 years @ USAMRIID; the ANTHRAX MAILER had co-authored a study with Dr. Nancy; the ANTHRAX MAILER lived nearby; the ANTHRAX MAILER often walked to work.
The ANTHRAX MAILER is the POSTER CHILD for DUAL USE RESEARCH OF CONCERN:
Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC) is life sciences research that, based on current understanding, can be reasonably anticipated to provide knowledge, information, products, or technologies that could be directly misapplied to pose a significant threat with broad potential consequences to public health and safety, agricultural crops and other plants, animals, the environment, materiel, or national security. The United States Government’s oversight of DURC is aimed at preserving the benefits of life sciences research while minimizing the risk of misuse of the knowledge, information, products, or technologies provided by such research.
There's little doubt the Jaaxes were well aware that they had conducted DURC @ USAMRIID. That the FBI was closing in on the 2nd USAMRIID employee believed to be the Anthrax Mailer; had traced the Anthrax strain to USAMRIID; that their safety & security protocols had turned out to be woefully inadequate & easily circumvented by Dr. Ivins. Yet, they wrote a LTE of the Manhattan Mercury about how safe the NBAF would be. They stated they'd worked safely @ the U S Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. They lived nearby. They walked to work. Their son still lived in that house => EXAMPLES OF HOW SAFE BSL-4 LABS ARE NOT.
IKE: "development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture" (his warning comes at ~ 5:00 on the video)
This is the full text of a LTE I sent to Bill Felber, The Manhattan Mercury in August 2008. NO, it was not printed. However, I also CC'ed it to 164 editors (members of the KS Press Association => they gave Felber an award for his "coverage of the NBAF), KSU President Wefald & KSU Colonels Franz, Jaax & Jaax. Felber was th only one to reply (15 minutes later) with ~ this has nothing to do with hte (sic) NBAF . . .
Dual Use Research of Concern was around in 2008:
In the 2008 Meeting of States Parties to the BWC, parties were encouraged to “be alert to potential misuse of research, and assess their own research for dual-use
Military-Industrial Complex Speech, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
“My fellow Americans:
Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.
This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen. . . .
. . . Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.
In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.
It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.”
Since October 29, 2001, President Bush has issued 21 Homeland Security Presidential Directives. The 9th of these Directives: Defense of United States Agriculture and Food, January 30, 2004, is now of immediate importance to citizens of the United States. Six states currently vie for the privilege to be the site of bio- and agro-terrorism microorganisms that pose a high risk of life-threatening disease and for which there is no known vaccine or therapy.
This 9th Directive tasked the Secretaries of Agriculture (USDA) and Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a plan to provide safe, secure, and state-of-the-art agriculture biocontainment laboratories that research and develop diagnostic capabilities for foreign animal and zoonotic diseases.
To meet this task, the DHS proposed building a National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF). Kansas State University was campaigning to become THE site for bio - and agro -security prior to the existence of the DHS.
In 1999, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) held the first congressional hearing focusing on the threat of food or agriculture terrorism. In his comments to the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce in 2006, Roberts stated: With our star panelists featuring (KSU) President Wefald and his cadre of outstanding scientists, congress learned first hand of how a land grant university – second to none – could lead the effort in safeguarding our food supply. What has happened since is history.
KSU launched the Homeland Defense Food Safety Security and Emergency Preparedness Program in 1999; created the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center with DHS funds in 2002; and held a groundbreaking on October 24, 2003, for the Biosecurity Research Institute (to be named Pat Roberts Hall).
KSU created new administrative positions to foster the public’s perception of the need for agro- and bio-security; and hired KSU Veterinary Medicine alumni retiring from the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Ft. Detrick, Maryland to fill those positions. To quote USAMRIID’s web site: (USAMRIID) is the lead medical research laboratory for the U.S. Biological Defense Research Program. The Institute plays a key role as the only laboratory in the Department of Defense (DoD) equipped to safely study highly hazardous infectious agents requiring maximum containment at biosafety level (BSL)-4.
Those KSU retired USAMRIID Colonels are:
David R. Franz, D.V.M., Ph.D. Deputy Commander, Commander (1995-98), USAMRIID at Fort Detrick, MD; Director of KSU’s National Agriculture Biosecurity Center, 1999. Member DHS Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee (HSSTAC), 2004. Chair, Working Group on International Collaboration, National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, National Institutes of Health, 2004. Chair, KSU Biosecurity Advisory Committee, 2008.
Col. Franz is also Vice President and Chief Biological Scientist, Midwest Research Institute (MRI). Prior to joining MRI, Franz was Vice President, Chemical & Biological Defense Division, Southern Research Institute (SRI), University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1998 - 2002. Franz led both of these scientific-technological elite contractors’ locations at Fort Detrick. Col. Franz had successfully passed through the "revolving door" that allows high level military officers to go to work for major defense contractors.
Gerald P Jaax, D.V.M., Chief of Veterinary Medicine and Laboratory, Army Medical Research Institute for Chemical Defense at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD; Chief of the Veterinary Medicine Division, USAMRIID, and Director of the Biological Arms Control Treaty Office, at Fort Detrick, MD, 1989-1998; Associate Vice Provost for Research Compliance and University Veterinarian, KSU, 1999. “Head,” National Agriculture Biosecurity Center, 2002
Nancy K. Jaax, DVM, Chief of Pathology, USAMRIID at Fort Detrick, MD, 1989-2002; Interim Director, National Agricultural Biosecurity Center, KSU, 2003; Special Projects Officer in the Office of Sponsored Research Programs, KSU, 2004; Program Director, Office of Vice President for Research, KSU.
All Kansans should be concerned about KSU’s appointment of these retired USAMRIID Colonels as administrators responsible for securing the location of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility at KSU.
This concern should not be based upon whether our Country needs the NBAF, nor the safety of the Facility. Neither should we be anxious about whether or not the economic benefit of the NBAF would bring riches to Manhattan, or one of the other sites.
Kansans should instead be troubled by the lack of information on the level of security to be maintained by the NBAF under DHS protocols. Will the security level be commensurate with the dangers of having Bio Safety Level 4 laboratories in our midst? Will the scientific-technological elite who work at the NBAF undergo vigilant background checks to weed out possible bio-terrorists?
Based upon the track record of USAMRIID Colonels Franz, Jaax, and Jaax, I would suggest that the answer is: NO!
In support of this concern, I offer the following:
The FBI announced on August 6, 2008, that its completed investigation found Dr. Bruce Ivins to be the sole suspect in the killing of five people through anthrax-tainted letters in 2001. More than 30 years ago, Dr. Ivins was hired to study anthrax vaccines at the USAMRIID.
In March 2003, Bruce E. Ivins was awarded the DoD’s Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service. There should be little doubt that Col. Franz had signed off on Dr. Ivins’ performance evaluations as Commander of USAMRIID. You don’t receive the highest honor given to Defense Department civilians on the basis of one act. Ivins and Franz had spent 23 years together working at Ft. Detrick.
Here is what Col. Franz had to say on ABC News, 4 April 2002: I think a lot of good has come from it. From a biological or a medical standpoint, we've now five people who have died, but we've put about $6 billion in our budget into defending against bioterrorism.
Well, maybe Franz previously suffered from a lack of critical judgement on the security of his scientists and had no concerns regarding bioterrorism. In August 2008, Franz told National Public Radio: people studying the disease didn't need clearances in order to work with the agents. Some people had clearances to access sensitive intelligence, but in general, the country was more concerned with protecting secret information than dangerous material.
At the time of the anthrax attacks in 2001, only senior managers at USAMRIID were routinely required to obtain top-secret-level security clearances. Following the anthrax attacks, doors to labs at USAMRIID were locked, armed guards were posted, and security clearances were required.
Well, perhaps Franz is more adept at establishing safe, secure protocols for a BSL-4 lab like the NBAF?
In 2004, six researchers at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute were exposed to the dangerous live anthrax bacterium. The researchers believed they were working with a dead sample, but were inadvertently shipped live anthrax by their supplier, Southern Research Institute.
Yes, that’s the same SRI where Col. Franz served as VP, Chemical & Biological Defense Division. The Oakland Research Institute is not authorized to handle live anthrax. The sealed liquid agent was shipped via FedEx, double-boxed, from Fredrick, MD. Wonder if they had to sign for it?
My concerns regarding Colonels Gerald P. and Nancy K. Jaax are less specific. They were coworkers of Dr. Ivins for 20 years at USAMRIID. Mrs. Jaax and Ivins both researched inhalation anthrax in the rhesus monkey.
Jerry Jaax has run a “dog and pony show” since November 2001, serving as “KSU’s Chicken Little of Bioterrorism” to tout the need for an NBAF-type BSL-4 lab, traveling to small towns and rural areas, as well as conventions, legislative committees, Chambers of Commerce, and a multitude of assorted gatherings. In 2007, Col Jaax crowed “The Bioterrorist Threat: Is It a Real Possibility” before the Park Law Enforcement Association at the National Park and Recreation Congress and Exposition Annual Conference in Seattle.
The Lavin Agency, which handled the Jaaxes speaking engagements, advertised:
The Jaaxes play heroic roles in the best-selling book, The Hot Zone; and their work inspired the movie Outbreak, with Dustin Hoffman.
What do Nancy and Jerry talk about? Inside The Hot Zone: Report From The Front Line Of Virus Control.
In the Jaaxes’ August 27, 2007 Letter to the Editor of The Manhattan Mercury: CITIZENS NEED STRAIGHT TALK ON NBAF SAFETY, they calmed our nerves with:
Our son still lives within a mile of USAMRIID and its "deadly BL-4" labs. Some would have you believe that this somehow places his family at increased risk. We strongly dispute that as misguided fear. The synergistic intellectual and economic energy that USAMRIID has provided Frederick County for decades has made it one of the most vibrant and desirable places to live on the entire East Coast. We have no doubt that the NBAF would ultimately have a similar effect in Riley County.
The Colonels failed to mention their coworker and anthrax terrorist, Dr. Bruce E Ivins, walked to work.
It is apparent that neither Col. Jaax has ever worked in a truly secure, post 9/11, BSL-4 lab where researchers receive a Top Secret clearance prior to working with the weapons of bio- and agro-terrorism.
The NBAF is rumored to be, or have, a Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facility (SCIF). John Verrico, Public Information Officer, DHS Directorate for Science and Technology, says the SCIF isn’t in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement because it “would have no impact on the environment.” It’s a room for classified meetings, he says, not for research, and it would include no labs, pathogens or biological agents. It would exist, Verrico says, for “that rare instance” in which law enforcement personnel (FBI agents, for example) would need to make use of NBAF’s information, perhaps in response to a bioterror attack. Thus, the SCIF is a classified area for the purposes of law enforcement and security, not for research.
So it’s only necessary to maintain this type of TOP SECRET- Sensitive Compartmentalized Information within one room? And how many NBAF employees would have the TS-SCI clearance needed to enter that room? How long will it take to get a TS-SCI clearance? In remarks before the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference in 2006, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff asserted:
We are going to expedite the classified, secret level clearance process so that we get clearances out to the field more quickly and more generally than we've been able to do in the past. And, as necessary, we're going to work to be more nimble and quicker in granting top secret and SCI clearances for those who do require that level of classified access.
To paraphrase Scott Rush, Director of Pat Roberts Hall, home to KSU’s Biosecurity Research Institute: The diseases to be studied at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility affect agricultural animals, the nation's food supply and the public. As it stands today, the nation is not prepared to meet such threats. The initiation of Top Secret- SCI clearance background checks on the researchers of animal diseases is desperately needed . . . . To not pursue this mission puts Americans at further risk.
To reiterate President Eisenhower, it is our responsibility to be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.
The comment period on the NBAF Draft Environmental Impact Statement is June 27 through August 25, 2008. All comments, both oral and written, received during this period will be given equal consideration when finalizing the NBAF EIS.
:
U.S. Mail: U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Science and Technology Directorate; James V. Johnson; Mail Stop #2100; 245 Murray Lane, SW; Building 410; Washington, DC 20528
Toll-Free Fax: 1-866-508-NBAF (6223)
Toll-Free Voice Mail: 1-866-501-NBAF (6223)
E-mail: nbafprogrammanager@dhs.gov
Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD), KSU
Leadership and Staff
Bill Felber (editor of The Manhattan Mercury in 2008; they routinely printed front page articles without bylines prepared @ KSU by former reporter Kathryn Mayes; most with the DHS emblem on top)
Media/Public Relations Consultant
Katie Mayes, Adjunct Faculty, A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications, KSU
The Manhattan Mercury => She then went on to join Kansas State University's Media Relations Office where she worked on the university's campaign to bring the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility to Manhattan, Kansas.
David Mayes is the university photographer for K-State. Mayes is responsible for running K-State Photographic Services studio and shooting assignments on location to fulfill the photographic needs of the K-State community as well as maintaining the Photo Services photographic archive.
Mayes started his career at K-State working for Student Publications from 1988-1994 and then spent fourteen years in the newspaper industry with stops along the way in Tahoe City, Cal., Hutchinson, Kan. and, most recently, a thirteen year stint at the Manhattan Mercury.
NOTE: The Manhattan Mercury was hemorraghing staff in 2007-8. When I inquired in August 2008 of Editorial Page Editor Walt Braun re: the Jaax' LTE telling readers how SAFE THE NBAF WOULD BE, he told me to contact Katie Mayes @ KSU. You see I asked if they had that LTE in their NBAF "reading file," he said no such file existed.
The last 27 years at the Mercury — four as news editor and the last 23 an editorial page editor
You’ve obviously put a lot, a LOT of time and thought into this, but do you really think people are going to read all of this? I’m not going to waste countless hours debating this, but Wow, you are definitely making some leaps. That’s all I will say. Continue your crusade if you like.
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STAR Bonds for NBAF?
