John Alcala | |
---|---|
Member of the KansasHouseofRepresentatives from the 57th district | |
Assumed office January 14, 2013 | |
Preceded by | Sean Gatewood |
Personal details | |
Born | May 23,1959 |
Political party | Democratic |
Education | Washburn University |
John Alcala (May 23,1959) is an American politician currently serving as a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives,representing the 57th district (Topeka,Kansas in Shawnee County,Kansas). He is a graduate of both Topeka High School and Washburn University. For 14 years he was a member of the Topeka City Council after which he became city's Deputy Mayor. [1]
Kansas is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north;Missouri to the east;Oklahoma to the south;and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named after the Kansas River,in turn named after the Kansa people. Its capital is Topeka,and its most populous city is Wichita;however,the largest urban area is the bi-state Kansas City,MO–KS metropolitan area.
Topeka is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County,in northeast Kansas,in the Central United States. As of the 2020 census,the population of the city was 126,587. The Topeka metropolitan statistical area,which includes Shawnee,Jackson,Jefferson,Osage,and Wabaunsee Counties,had a population of 233,870 in the 2010 census.
Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. was an American minister and disbarred lawyer who served as the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church,worked as a civil rights attorney,and ran for statewide election in Kansas. A divisive and controversial figure,he gained national attention for his homophobic views and protests near the funerals of gay people,AIDS victims,military veterans,and disaster victims who he believed were killed as a result of God punishing the U.S. for having "bankrupt values" and tolerating homosexuality. Phelps founded the Westboro Baptist Church,a Topeka,Kansas-based independent Primitive Baptist congregation,in 1955. It has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as "arguably the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America". Its signature slogan,"God Hates Fags",remains the name of the group's principal website.
Karl Augustus Menninger was an American psychiatrist and a member of the Menninger family of psychiatrists who founded the Menninger Foundation and the Menninger Clinic in Topeka,Kansas.
For many decades,Kansas has had a vibrant country and bluegrass scene. The Country Stampede Music Festival –one of the largest music festivals in the country –and the bluegrass/acoustic Walnut Valley Festival are testament to the continued popularity of these music genres in the state. Among current leading country artists,Martina McBride and Chely Wright are natives of Kansas.
Washburn University (WU),formally Washburn University of Topeka,is a public university in Topeka,Kansas,United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs,as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members,who teach more than 6,100 undergraduate students and nearly 800 graduate students. The university's assets include a $158 million endowment. As of 2008,Washburn also took over overseeing the technical school in the area,Washburn Tech.
Harry Hines Woodring was an American politician. A Democrat,he was the 25th Governor of Kansas and the United States Assistant Secretary of War from 1933 to 1936. His most important role was Secretary of War in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's cabinet from 1936 to 1940. After 1938,Roosevelt rejected isolationism regarding Europe. Woodring quietly opposed Roosevelt and was eventually fired.
KTWU is a PBS member television station in Topeka,Kansas,United States,owned by Washburn University. The station's studios are located on the western edge of the Washburn University campus at 19th Street and Jewell Avenue in central Topeka,and its transmitter is located on Wanamaker Road on the city's northwest side.
Topeka Regional Airport,formerly known as Forbes Field,is a joint civil-military public airport owned by the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority in Shawnee County,Kansas,seven miles south of downtown Topeka,the capital city of Kansas. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a general aviation airport.
KTMJ-CD is a low-power,Class A television station in Topeka,Kansas,United States,affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside NBC affiliate KSNT;Nexstar also provides certain services to dual ABC/CW+ affiliate KTKA-TV under joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Vaughan Media,LLC. The stations share studios on Northwest 25th Street,near the unincorporated community of Kiro;KTMJ-CD's transmitter is located along Southwest West Union Road west of Topeka.
The Kansas Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Kansas and one of two major parties in the state,alongside the Republicans. The chair of the party is Jeanna Repass.
The Amarillo Wranglers are a Tier II junior ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's South Division. The team's home arena is the Amarillo Civic Center in Amarillo,Texas.
Anthony Hensley is a former Democratic member of the Kansas Senate,representing the 19th district since 1992. He was the Minority Leader from 1996 through 2021 and has also been a committeeman of the Democratic Precinct since 1976. In 1992,he was the Majority Whip. From 1977 to 1992,he was a Representative. In 1991 and 1992,he was the chairman of the 2nd District Democratic Committee and from 1981 to 1986,he was the chairman of the Shawnee County Democratic Central Committee. On November 3,2020,he was defeated in his re-election campaign by Republican Rick Kloos.
The Topeka Sizzlers,originally the Kansas City Sizzlers,were a professional basketball team based in Kansas City,Missouri from 1985 to 1986 until they relocated to Topeka,Kansas where they played from 1986 to 1990. The Sizzlers were members of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA).
The 2014 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 4,2014,to elect the governor of Kansas,concurrently with the election of Kansas' Class II U.S. Senate seat,as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
J. Basil Dannebohm is a former Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives,representing District 113. He was the only non-incumbent to run unopposed during the 2014 election.
Steven Charles Watkins Jr. is an American politician and former military officer. He served as the U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 2019 to 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party,and was succeeded by Jake LaTurner. He earned degrees from the United States Military Academy at West Point,Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.),and Harvard.
There is an African-American community in Kansas,including in Kansas City,Kansas. Nicodemus,Kansas is the oldest surviving town west of the Mississippi River settled solely by African Americans.