Kansas Bill Would Delay Start of School Until After Labor Day
TOPEKA, Kan. (KWCH) - A bill in the Kansas Legislature would delay the start of school until after Labor Day. The House bill, sponsored by Rep. Bill Rhiley. of Wellington, would prohibit districts from starting classes before the holiday. If the legislation becomes law, it would take effect for the 2026-27 school year. A similar bill died in committee in 2024. KWCH TV reports that it was once common practice to start the school year after Labor Day, but that practice is now somewhat rare across the country.
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Kansas Lawmakers Get Back to Work; Gov Delivers State of the State Address
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - Lawmakers are back at work in Topeka. It's day two of the Kansas Legislative session. Later tonight (TUE), Democratic Governor Laura Kelly will deliver her last State of the State address. The address begins at 6:30 pm and can be seen on KTWU, Channel 11 in Topeka. The speech will also be streamed online by the governor's office.
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Former Kansas Cybercrime Investigator Charged with Making Child Porn
CHEROKEE COUNTY, Kan. (KPR/KSNT) - A former southeast Kansas sheriff's deputy is charged with making child pornography. Federal prosecutors say 25-year-old Garrett Gayoso, of Baxter Springs, is accused of sexually exploiting a child in the production of child porn. The former Cherokee County sheriff's deputy is scheduled to appear in federal court in Wichita next month. Last year, Gayoso was charged in Massachusetts when authorities say he traveled there to have sex with a 16-year-old girl he met online. At the time, Gayoso was a detective assigned to investigate online crimes against children. KSNT reports that Gayoso was indicted in December, but the indictment was only recently unsealed.
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Truck Driver Found Guilty of Murder in 1996 Death of KCK Woman
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) - A jury in Wyandotte County has found a murder suspect guilty in the death of a woman nearly 30 years ago. KCTV reports that Gary Dion Davis has been convicted of second-degree murder in the November 1996 death of Pearl Davis. The case went unsolved for decades. The Wyandotte County District Attorney's Office says Davis was charged with killing another woman in 1998 but was found not guilty in that case. Prosecutors say Davis is from the Kansas City area but worked as a long-haul truck driver. Prosecutors also say Davis could be responsible for other crimes across the country because of his job. He's facing life in prison.
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Kansas Leading the Nation in Confirmed Bird Flu Infections
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KNS) - Human cases of influenza are high in Kansas. So too are the number of bird flu cases. In fact... Kansas has the highest confirmed number of bird flu infections in the nation. That includes cases of the disease in commercial and backyard flocks. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 400,000 Kansas birds are affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza. There are outbreaks in four Kansas commercial flocks and six backyard flocks. 380,000 of the birds are from a commercial egg-laying flock in Pottawatomie County. 65 total flocks in the U.S. have confirmed cases. The federal government has recorded 71 human cases of the bird flu. None were in Kansas. The CDC’s website says the risk to the public is low.
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Kansas Governor's Office Warns Fed Data Request Could Put Information in Hands of Foreign Governments
UNDATED (KNS) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s office says the federal government’s request for data on food benefit recipients could be shared with foreign governments. The Kansas News Service reports that Kansas is one of more than 20 states is challenging the federal government’s request. State officials say it amounts to federal overreach. The governor’s office says a provision allows the data to be shared with foreign governments, and there’s no reason that should happen.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has requested the personal information of Kansans who have applied for food assistance, including Social Security numbers and birth dates. Kansas is withholding the data. State officials have said turning over the information would violate recipient privacy.
The Kansas Department for Children and Families says 730,000 Kansans live in households that applied for and/or received SNAP benefits between 2020 and 2025.
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Kansas City Metro Area Home to Wealthy Kansas, MO Counties
UNDATED (KCUR) - The metro is home to some of the wealthiest counties in Missouri and Kansas. The list comes from the financial tech company Smart-Asset. In Missouri, the wealthiest county is St. Charles in suburban St. Louis with a median income of $103,000. Number two is Platte County with a median income of $96,000. Cass County is third and Clay County fifth. Johnson County, not surprisingly, is the richest county in Kansas with a median income of $107,000. Miami County, just south of Kansas City, is second and Leavenworth third. Smart-Asset says the wealthiest county in America is Teton County in Wyoming. The average tax return there shows income of $215,000.
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Researchers Find Dense Tree Cover Linked to Higher Biodiversity
UNDATED (HPM) — In farm country, dense tree cover can be hard to come by. But, researchers from the University of Illinois have found that more trees that surround rivers and streams are linked to higher biodiversity. Harvest Public Media reports that researchers found evidence of an additional land species for every 10% increase in forest cover. Eric Larson leads the lab that conducted the study. “We detected bobcats that have had a big population recovery in Illinois over the last few decades, we detected bats, we detected box turtles. And I think those kind of benefits to wildlife also have benefits to people,” he explained. The researchers collected water from streams and analyzed any traces of DNA they could find in the samples. The process is called environmental DNA metabarcoding. Larson says the sampling method can be as easy as throwing a bucket on a rope off a bridge, so volunteers or farmers can collect samples to support a wide range of conservation research. (Read more.)
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Johnson County Threatens to Sue Man Who Demanded Ballot Question Recount
UNDATED (KCUR) — Johnson County is threatening to sue the man who demanded a recount over a ballot question in Prairie Village in the last election. The question was whether Prairie Village should abandon its mayor-council form of government. Voters rejected the plan by 30 points. Still, one of the plan’s chief backers, John Cantrell, paid for a hand recount. The recount resulted in the same outcome, meaning Cantrell owed the county $4,800 dollars. But the county says Cantrell reneged on the payment. KCUR reports that in a letter sent Thursday, the county said Cantrell reversed his credit card payment, quote, without any legal basis to do so. Cantrell has until February sixth to make payment. He did not return a phone call seeking comment.
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Internationally-Renowned KU Fungi Collection Faces Federal Funding Problems
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KNS) - A fungi collection at the University of Kansas that supports research into agriculture is facing money problems. KU houses the world’s biggest collection of special fungi that can help plants grow, including many crops. It was funded by the National Science Foundation but that money ran out. So, the team that runs the collection has launched an endowment account to try to keep it afloat.
Jim Bever, a professor at the Kansas Biological Survey, says they are spending down money earned by shipping samples to other scientists and labs. But, he says that’s not enough to sustain this collection - the biggest of its kind in the world. “You know at this point we’re just trying to do everything. You know, try all approaches to keep this going," he said. It’s still possible that more federal funding might come through. But - appropriations for science are uncertain right now. Competition is fierce and the Trump administration has shrunk the National Science Foundation.
Bever says KU's collection of fungi helps researchers around the globe. “There are very few institutions that have the facilities and have the expertise to grow and culture out these fungi. They’re very important organisms to understand," he said. Bever's team has launched an endowment to try to keep the collection afloat if more federal funding doesn’t come through. The new endowment is an account at the KU Endowment Association. The fungi collection is housed at the Kansas Biological Survey.
(The fungi collection at KU is called the International Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi.)
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Commercial Truck Driver Arrested for Drunk Driving; Seven Times over Legal Limit
LYON COUNTY, Kan. (KMBC) - A commercial truck driver has been arrested for drunk driving in Lyon County. The sheriff's office says the driver was pulled over on I-35 Sunday for reckless driving. KMBC TV reports that deputies administered a breath test that revealed the truck driver had a blood-alcohol concentration seven times the legal limit for commercial truck drivers.
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Sheriff: Three Arrested on Drug Charges in Southeast Kansas
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Kan. (Hays Post) - Four people have been arrested in southeast Kansas on various drug-related charges. The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office says the recent arrests helped removed methamphetamine and fentanyl from the streets. The Hays Post reports that two men and two women, all from Independence, were booked into jail on various drug charges: Tyler Norton, Noah Daniel, Breeanna Conrad and Heather Leach.
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