State senator parties, politics

Club Patrone, near 21st and Woodlawn, got true VIP treatment when state Sen. Donald Betts, Jr. showed up on Friday to celebrate his 29th birthday.

Betts, in his suit and tie, was unafraid to hit the dance floor and remind people that he can still "party walk" with his Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brothers by his side.

Then, on Saturday, Betts was back to business as the host of his second annual town hall meeting, which drew more than 150 people at WSU's Hughes Metropolitan Complex. The meeting lasted more than three hours and gave community members a chance to meet with other black lawmakers such as Melody McCray-Miller, Oletha Faust-Goudeau, Kansas African American Affairs Commission director, Danielle Dempsey-Swopes and Roderick Bremby, with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, among others.