44 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • Early Summer 2018 TheCoastalBend.com eliminating regulations on business—a political ally of former Governor Sam Brownback, who led the small government, conservative movement in Kansas. Schwab is currently running for Kansas Secretary of State. In response to Caleb’s death, the Kansas legis- lature passed a bill in 2017 requiring more stringent inspections of waterslides, although this year they slashed already loose regulations on county fair-type amusement rides. State Senator David Haley (D-Kansas City) has taken up the issue of re-regulating amusement park rides in Kansas and has called for a review of state laws that apply to parks like Schlitterbahn. Even in the wake of the tragic and preventable death of the son of a col- league, and even in light of criminal indictments that expose how far corrupt and unqualified operators can go in exposing the public to serious injury and death— along with their capacity to cover it up under current law—Republicans in the Kansas Legislature have shown little interest in tightening regulations on the amuse- ment park industry, or on any industry for that matter. And what about Texas? Schlitterbahn is loved in the Lone Star State, and for good reason—millions of us enjoy their parks every year and are willing to pay handsomely and stand in long lines to do so. Nothing should be taken away from that, and what happened in Kansas City does not in any way translate to any of the company’s waterparks in Texas. It is very possible that Jeff Henry became intoxi- cated on his own legend and growing national profile as a reality TV star, and once in too far, he and his co- horts had no way out but to cover up and lie—and then the unthinkable happened. A child died on Verrückt, and in the worse way imaginable. Knowing that they had carried out an ongoing cover up policy that, if re- vealed, could lead to the worst-case scenario—serious criminal charges against the participants and the com- panies involved—Jeff Henry used sycophant Tyler Miles to dig a deeper hole of deception, and then employed a company attorney to interfere with the investigation by attempting to intimidate an under aged witness while trying to deceive his mother and a police detec- tive. These are desperate measures to which a desper- ate man resorted—and hopefully is not worse than it already appears, for sake of millions of Schlitterbahn fun seekers. Schlitterbahn’sResponse Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts declined to comment for this story beyond the public statements they have issued in response to the indictments. In the interest of full disclosure and fairness, these are their entire statements: March 23, 2018—We were shocked by the allegations being made by the Kansas Attorney General about Tyler and our KC park. The allegation that we operated, and failed to maintain, a ride that could foreseeably cause