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The Wichita Eagle/Kansas.com investigated Wichita’s City Council awarding of a $500 million water treatment plant contract, exposing a pattern of unethical behavior by city officials including cozy relationships with contractors, thousands of dollars in unreported gifts from bidding firms, potential sharing of insider information and suspension of competitive bidding -- problems exacerbated by the fact that Kansas law is silent on gifts to local elected officials, who are left to police themselves on ethical questions. The mayor’s handling of the water contract became a major issue in the mayoral election and led to his defeat.