Nick’s Picks | Counting, Courts, Attractions and More …

The Counting Continues

Election Day is over. The counting isn’t.

Nearly a week after voters went to the polls, Kansas election officials have ordered “close-race audits” in six contests, including the races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state.

That hasn’t stopped Democrats Cindy Holscher and Chris Mann from declaring victory.

Holscher leads Republican Ty Masterson by roughly 7,000 votes in the governor’s race, while Mann holds a nearly 13,000-vote advantage over incumbent Attorney General Kris Kobach.

Masterson is threatening to “get lawyers involved.” But even senior Republican leaders privately acknowledge that overturning those leads would require an unprecedented shift in the vote count.

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Last Week Reviewed

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Hamilton Goes to Washington

From Sunday sermons to Senate briefings.

Kansas Senator-elect Adam Hamilton heads to Washington this week for new-member orientation.

He won’t be the only new face from our area on the multi-day “Capitol Hill crash course.”

Also in freshman training will be Kansas City radio host Chris Stigall, the Republican who won Missouri’s 6th Congressional District.

They’ll trade their orientation packets for official duties on Jan. 3, when the new Congress is sworn in.

Missouri Amendment Headed Back to Court?

Missouri voters have spoken. But will the courts get the last word?

Last week, voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 6, sharply restricting lawmakers’ ability to rewrite laws approved by the public.

Now Republican lawmakers are threatening a lawsuit this week, arguing that portions of the measure violate the state constitution.

The biggest sticking point is a provision extending protections to voter approved initiatives dating back to 2010.

That includes Missouri’s 2010 puppy mill law, which restricted large breeding operations, and a 2024 measure increasing the minimum wage and providing paid sick leave. Lawmakers later weakened both measures.

Missouri voters thought they’d settled the matter on Tuesday. The legal battle may only be beginning.

Liberty Memorial at 100

Wednesday is Veterans Day. It’s also a milestone birthday for one of Kansas City’s most iconic landmarks.

Liberty Memorial turns 100.

Dedicated on November 11, 1926, the towering tribute to those who died in World War I drew President Calvin Coolidge to Kansas City, along with an estimated 150,000 spectators. According to The Kansas City Star’s archives, it was the largest crowd the city had ever seen.

A century later, the memorial is marking the occasion with free admission to the National World War I Museum and Memorial for veterans and half-price tickets for everyone else.

Wednesday is also your last chance to catch the memorial’s new centennial light and motion show. The free spectacle runs every 15 minutes from 6 to 10:30 p.m.

Last Call for the Arabia

After 35 years, one of Kansas City’s most unusual attractions is preparing to pull up anchor.

The Arabia Steamboat Museum is scheduled to close its doors Friday after more than three decades in the City Market.

The museum has long outgrown its space, while City Market officials have been exploring other uses for the property, including a possible hotel.

The museum’s owners say several communities have expressed interest in becoming its new home, including St. Joseph, Leavenworth, St. Charles and locations in Pennsylvania, where the original steamboat was built.

But so far there’s been no deal.

Opened in 1991, the museum houses the world’s largest single collection of pre-Civil War artifacts, recovered from a steamboat that sank in the Missouri River in 1856.

$20 Million Data Center Tax Break

Voters just delivered a stinging rebuke to data centers at the ballot box. But this week, Kansas City leaders may be preparing to give one a big tax break.

The City Council is scheduled to consider an ordinance Thursday providing roughly $20.3 million in property tax relief over 10 years to the Constant Company, a Florida tech firm which operates a data center in the Northland.

The proposal also authorizes up to $572.5 million in industrial revenue bonds to finance equipment purchases.

A local watchdog group is sounding the alarm, questioning why the city is offering such generous incentives.

The vote comes just days after voters in three Kansas cities, Ottawa, Emporia and El Dorado, approved bans on large AI facilities.

And the pushback may not stop there. Cindy Holscher, the presumptive winner of the Kansas governor’s race, has called for a statewide moratorium on new data center development.

Algeria Returns the Love

Who knew the World Cup could spark an international love affair?

One of the tournament’s most heartwarming stories was the unlikely bond between Lawrence, Kansas, and Algeria, whose national soccer team made the college town its World Cup base camp.

Now Algeria is returning the affection.

A delegation of 36 Lawrence residents, including city officials, police officers and KU representatives, heads to Algeria this week on a trip paid for by the Algerian government.

The weeklong trip will include cultural activities, sightseeing and a chance to cheer on their former World Cup guests.

Algeria’s national team plays Togo Saturday in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.

The Week in Sports …

• CHIEFS: Fresh off snapping their losing streak with a convincing win over the Jets, the Chiefs are heading to Atlanta on Sunday. Kickoff against the Falcons is at noon.
• CURRENT: The Kansas City Current are just two victories away from hoisting the biggest prize in American women’s professional soccer. After edging Angel City 1-0 in extra time, the Current advance to this weekend’s NWSL semifinals against Gotham FC in New York. Gametime: Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
• ROYALS: It may not have been a season Royals fans will remember fondly, but Bobby Witt Jr. still has a shot at baseball’s biggest individual prize. Witt is one of three finalists for the American League Most Valuable Player Award. The winner will be announced Thursday at 6 p.m.

See, Watch and Do …

• Ted Lasso is back in town. Jason Sudeikis returns to the Uptown Theater Saturday to host Thundergong, the annual benefit for the Steps of Faith Foundation, which helps amputees obtain prosthetic limbs. Joining him are celebrity friends including Will Forte and “Weird Al” Yankovic. The show is sold out.
• NBC’s Today Show host Jenna Bush Hager is in town Friday night for a Rainy Day Books event at Unity Temple on the Plaza.
• Lyle Lovett is in Lawrence. The four-time Grammy winner brings his distinctive mix of country, folk, jazz and Texas charm to the Lied Center Thursday night.
• Worlds of Fun for free? That’s not something you hear every day. The amusement park is opening its gates for free this weekend as part of a community celebration by its new owner, Kansas City based EPR Properties. There’s one snag. Advance registration is  required, and reservations are currently full. Check the park’s website for cancellations or additional openings.  

Nick Haines tracks the week’s most impactful, confusing and downright head-scratching local news stories on Week in Review, Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. on Kansas City PBS.