Brewer took the top 33 precincts

Not only did city council member Carl Brewer win big in Tuesday's primary, he won almost every major precinct in town. That means Mayor Carlos Mayans did not have any significant strongholds in the city -- at least among the 23,892 people who voted for a mayoral candidate. Mayans' best showing Tuesday was in precinct 524, according to a quick spreadsheet analysis by The Hall Monitor this morning. Mayans had 134 votes there, but Brewer had 205.

But, it's worth noting that Mayans logged nearly 29,000 votes in the general election in 2003, which means the potential for him to gain significantly in the April vote is there. But it would probably take a 32 percent turnout like 2003 when there were big name write-in campaigns. This year, it appears no big names are jumping into the race. So turnout could again be a problem for the incumbent in April.

Mayans may be right that many of his would-be supporters stayed home, contributing to Tuesday's dismal 13 percent voter turnout. And it's likely that Brewer's Democratic support brought the party faithful out to the polls. But it appears Mayans will need significant Republican party help to boost him enough to compete with Brewer in April. And it's not yet clear if the county Republicans are going to push hard on Mayans' behalf.

I'm so excited! No, really. I am.

In the at-large Wichita school board race, Kevass Harding after a day of campaigning was ready to do cartwheels.

Karl Peterjohn? Well, let's just say he was awake.

When The Hall Monitor called to interview him about winning a slot in the April 3 election, he saved his excitement and was more reserved than usual. Peterjohn, the taxpayers advocate, isn't animated by nature but a drop in excitement was still noticeable.

So why no excitement? It's really about being cautious saying that his "campaign continues" and they will "continue to get the word out."

And we'll continue to keep tabs on you Mr. Peterjohn. YEAH! Or should we say... yeah.

Party with the candidates

Want to stand around and drink punch and exchange gossip while the primary election results roll in?

Here's where to do it -- at least with the big campaigns.

Carl Brewer: Courtyard by Marriott in Old Town, 820 E. 2nd St. Starts at 7 p.m.

Carlos Mayans: Broadview Hotel, 400 W. Douglas. Starts at 7:30 p.m.

County commissioner hires consultant for fishing

Sedgwick County Commissioner Tom Winters says he's thought long and hard about the issue of consultants, what with the county and city of Wichita recently releasing information about how often they're hired with public tax dollars.

In fact, he's decided to take the issue home with him: He and his son are hiring a consultant to help them go fishing in Oklahoma.

"We're going to a lake we've never been to and fishing for a fish we've never fished for before," Winters said. "Now, we know how to fish, but in order for us to fully enjoy our experience, we thought a consultant would help us."

The "consultant" is a fishing expert who will spend half a day with Winters and his son. The consultant will show them where the best spots in the lake are and how to find different kinds of fish.

"You know, sometimes you just don't know everything and you need a little help. That's what this guy is for. And, though there are areas of expertise an organization like Sedgwick County needs to have, there's some things we just don't know."

'Nuff said.

Let the campaign ads begin

While the direct mail from city council and mayoral candidates have been hitting mailboxes for more than a month and signs are popping up all over town, the TV ads are just beginning.

Carl Brewer's ads started running this morning and you can expect to see more in between TV newscasts, Sunday morning political talk shows and even between snippets of Ugly Betty, the ABC show that airs before Grey's Anatomy (one of the most popular shows on TV).

The ad features a female voice over talking about Brewer's community activities and military career. Hitting TVs is probably the quickest way to develop name identification, which is, right now, the biggest problem for the Brewer camp since Mayor Carlos Mayans is well-known after four years as mayor and 10 years as a Republican state representative. No word yet on any Mayans ads. But stay tuned.

Brewer's ad debuts just a day before candidates are required to file their latest campaign finance reports. The reports will likely show how many more TV ads viewers can expect as campaigns go into full speed after next week's primary.

Candidates opine on downtown development

The Wichita Downtown Development Corporation published their candidate questionnaire responses online today, giving voters their most in-depth look yet at candidates' downtown ideas. (The Eagle's voters guide is due out Tuesday. See how mayoral candidates responded to the Wichita Independent Business Assocation here and how city council candidates responded here.)

The WDDC has long been focusing on parking and that showed in their questions. Candidates, meanwhile, all seemed to gravitate toward parking plans as the most important issue facing the core of the city. All the mayoral candidates that responded said they would support city-owned parking downtown, although some, like King David Davis, said city involvement should be a last resort.

Mayor Carlos Mayans didn't respond, and he wasn't available by phone this afternoon.

Parking, however, is already in the works. The city council is weeks away from a vote on the city's biggest TIF district ever. But questions remain about who should get inside of the borders.

Charged with illegal dumping after complaining about a messy yard

A few months ago, Sunflower Community Action got fed up with the mountain of garbage that was almost swallowing an entire house near 10th and Volutsia. They spoke at council meetings and they issued press releases.

They they decided to go to City Manager George Kolb's house. Kolb wasn't home, but his wife was. His wife accepted a letter from Sunflower, said it's George's problem to deal with not her's and then she closed the door, Sunflower reps. say. Sunflower left some signs in Kolb's yard with photos of the messy yard, ostensibly to show Kolb what it's like to live next to something like that. But it backfired.

Now, three Sunflower staffers and a 78-year-old woman who lives next to the trashy yard (which has since been cleaned up after a court battle), are being charged with illegal dumping and criminal trespass, according to a Sunflower press release.

Sunflower will have a press conference Friday to share their views about the charges, and, next week, they'll have court appearances.