Governor Kelly Vetoes Legislature’s Tax Cut Proposal
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Democratic Governor Laura Kelly Thursday vetoed the third Kansas tax plan sent to her desk this year. Kelly says the bipartisan effort still costs the state too much and is not sustainable. The vetoed plan would have slashed Kansas revenue roughly $470 million each year through income, Social Security and property tax cuts. The governor says the bill needs to be less than her $425 million limit because of other tax bills lawmakers have already passed. “It's not going to be $425,” Kelly said. “It'll be less than that because I've got to account for those other things that are already law.” Kelly says she will announce next week the date for a special legislative session to hammer out a compromise on taxes.
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University Leaders in Kansas Propose Tuition Hikes
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - The cost of a college education in Kansas will likely go up this year. All six of the state’s public universities have proposed tuition increases. University leaders told the Kansas Board of Regents that raising tuition will help offset inflation and make up for tuition freezes imposed during the pandemic. They also want to pay faculty more. Proposals range from a 2.8% increase at Kansas State University to a 6% increase at Fort Hays State. Wichita State is asking to raise tuition 3.9% and the University of Kansas is requesting a 3.5% tuition hike. KU Chancellor Douglas Girod says colleges got more state funding this year, but not enough to make up for rising costs. “While we’re extremely appreciative for all of that,“ Girod said, “it doesn’t help pay the bills on a day-in, day-out basis.” The Board of Regents will vote on the tuition plans next month.
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Spirit Announces Layoffs for Hundreds of Workers
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS/KMUW) - Spirit AeroSystems has announced it will lay off hundreds of workers in the coming weeks as a result of ongoing issues with the Boeing 7-37 MAX. An email from Spirit to union members says it will lay off at least 400 hourly production employees, about 4 percent of its Wichita workforce. Spirit is a key supplier to Boeing on the 7-37 Max. Spirit said in a statement that a reduction in the delivery rate of its commercial programs triggered the layoffs. Federal safety officials slowed the rate on 7-37 Max deliveries because of continued manufacturing problems including the recent incident in which a door blew off an Alaskan Air flight in January near Portland, Oregon. In an earnings call earlier this month, Spirit said it lost more than $500 million dollars in the first quarter of this year. Spirit is one of the state’s largest employers with more than 12,000 employees
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Governor Signs New Kansas School Funding Bill
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Governor Laura Kelly has signed a bill to fully fund Kansas public schools. The bipartisan legislation also provides $75.5 million in additional money for special education and $1.3 million for a mentorship program for early-career educators. Kelly vetoed a provision that earmarked state tax dollars for weapons detection software. She objected to language in the bill that would have required schools to purchase a specific type of AI security system in order to get matching money from the state. Kelly said the provision amounted to a no-bid contract and wouldn’t give schools the flexibility to invest in other security efforts.
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Kansas Education Leaders Approve New Graduation and FAFSA Requirements
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Kansas education leaders have approved the first update to high school graduation requirements in nearly two decades. The State Board of Education voted 8-2 Wednesday to pass the new requirements. For the first time, graduates will need two credits earned outside the classroom, such as community service or work experience. The new requirements will include a half-credit each of health, communications and financial literacy. Students will also be required to file an application for federal financial aid, known as a FAFSA.
Tamara Seyler-James is a parent of four from Johnson County. She says a lack of financial aid forms shouldn’t keep students from graduating. “They should not have to wait on their parents to complete their FAFSA, or an opt-out form for a FAFSA, to receive the diploma they have already earned,” she said.
The changes in graduation requirements takes effect with the Class of 2028, which will start high school this fall.
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Kansas City, Kansas, Had Worst Air Quality in America on Tuesday
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Washington Post) - Kansas City, Kansas had the worst air quality in the United States on Tuesday. The Washington Post reports that the air quality was considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. The culprit? - Wildfire smoke coming from western Canada, where, for a second year in a row, fire season is off to an active and early start.
(-Related-)
Kansas Getting More Days of "Fire Weather"
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS/KMUW) - Kansas is getting more days of fire-prone weather. A new report from the group Climate Central says the number of days with wildfire-prone weather has increased since the early 1970's. High temperatures, low humidity and strong winds can all promote the spread of wildfires. A new report by the organization shows that these conditions are all becoming more common in Kansas. Climate Central is a nonprofit that analyzes climate data. Kaitlyn Trudeau is a senior research associate with the group. She says climate change is increasing temperatures and decreasing relative humidity. "All you need is a spark and then these conditions are really set to just create a much more dangerous fire than if the conditions were otherwise," Trudeau said.
The central Kansas region saw 18 more fire weather days in 2023 compared to 1973, followed by 13 more in southwest Kansas and 11 more in south-central Kansas. Most new fire weather days are occurring in the spring. Trudeau says this could impact controlled burns in the flint hills, which also occur in the spring. (Read More)
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Products Recalled at Western Kansas Walmart Stores Because of Salmonella
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – Products at five Walmart stores in western Kansas have been recalled because they may be contaminated with salmonella. Walmart is recalling one lot of its “Great Value Organic Black Chia Seeds,” which come in 32 ounce packages. Salmonella is a type of bacteria that can lead to serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or older adults and those who have weak immune systems. Even healthy people who come into contact with salmonella may develop symptoms like fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Walmart keeps a list of affected stores on its website. KSNT reports that the affected Walmart locations in Kansas include stores in Colby, Goodland, Garden City and Liberal.
The FDA says no reports of illness have been received yet in association with the recalled seeds. However, the products are still being recalled out of an abundance of caution. More information about the recalled seeds can be found below:
Lot code: 24095 C018
Expiration date: Oct. 30, 2026
UPC: 078742300665
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KC Chiefs Kicker Congratulates Women Graduates but Says Most Are Probably More Excited About Motherhood
ATCHISON, Kan. (AP/KPR) — Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is getting attention for comments he made during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend in which he congratulated the women receiving degrees, but then said most were probably more excited to get married and have children. The three-time Super Bowl champion is well known for his conservative Catholic views. Butker also railed against President Joe Biden’s stance on abortion. Biden, a fellow Catholic, supports abortion rights without restrictions. Butker also spoke out against Catholic leaders he said were “pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America.”
Butker delivered his roughly 20-minute address Saturday at Benedictine College, a private Catholic liberal arts school in Atchison, in northeast Kansas. Butket congratulated the women receiving degrees — and said most of them were probably more excited about getting married and having children.
“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” Butker said. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” he said. Butker said that his wife embraced “one of the most important titles of all. Homemaker.“ Butker received a standing ovation from graduates and other attendees.
Butler, 28, referred to a “deadly sin sort of pride that has a month dedicated to it” in an oblique reference to Pride month. Butler also took aim at Biden's policies, including his condemnation of the Supreme Court's reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and advocacy for freedom of choice — a key campaign issue in the 2024 presidential race. Biden, who is Catholic, has a fraught history on the issue. He initially opposed the Roe v. Wade decision, saying it went too far. He previously opposed federal funding for abortions and used to support restrictions on abortion.
Butker also tackled Biden's response to COVID-19, which has killed nearly 1.2 million people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique,” he said. “Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from pervasiveness of disorder.”
Graduates had mixed views on the speech. ValerieAnne Volpe, 20, who graduated with an art degree, lauded Butker for saying things that “people are scared to say.” “You can just hear that he loves his wife. You can hear that he loves his family,” she said.
Elle Wilbers, 22, who is heading to medical school, said she was shocked by Butker’s criticism of priests and bishops and his reference to the LGBTQ+ community, one that she described as “horrible.” “We should have compassion for the people who have been told all their life that the person they love is like, it’s not OK to love that person,” Wilbers said.
Kassidy Neuner, 22, who will spend a gap year teaching before going to law school, said being a stay-at-home parent is “a wonderful decision.” “It’s also not for everybody,” Neuner added, saying, "I think that he should have addressed more that it’s not always an option. And, if it is your option in life, that’s amazing for you. But there’s also the option to be a mother and a career woman.”
The Chiefs declined to comment on Butker's commencement address.
The 2017 seventh-round pick out of Georgia Tech has become of the NFL's best kickers, breaking the Chiefs' franchise record with a 62-yard field goal in 2022. Butker helped them win their first Super Bowl in 50 years in 2020, added a second Lombardi Trophy in 2023, and he kicked the field goal that forced overtime in a Super Bowl win over San Francisco in February.
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Topeka Was at Center of Brown v. Board. Decades Later, Segregation of Another Sort Lingers
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The school system in Topeka, Kansas, was at the center of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that struck down segregated education 70 years ago. In school lessons, memorials and ceremonies, Topeka is marking its ties to the 1954 ruling. But just as clear to many is the legacy of discrimination that stands in the way of its promise of equity. Segregation persists today, not as a matter of law but as a reflection of underlying disparities, including in housing. In greater Topeka, as in school systems across America, students of color are concentrated in districts that disproportionately serve low-income families.
The lesson on diversity started slowly in a first-grade classroom in Topeka, where schools were at the center of a case that struck down segregated education. “I like broccoli. Do you like broccoli?” Marie Carter, a Black school library worker, asked broccoli-hating librarian Amy Gugelman, who is white.
The students were comparing what makes them the same and what makes them different. It’s part of their introduction to Brown v. Board of Education, a ruling commemorated at a national historic site in a former all-Black school just down the street. Linda Brown, whose father Oliver Brown was the lead plaintiff in the case, was a student there.
Within a few questions, the first-graders at Williams Science & Fine Arts Magnet school watched the two women hold their arms next to each other. “My skin is brown,” Carter observed, “and Mrs. Gugelman’s skin is not.”
And then Gugelman reached the heart of the lesson. “Can we still be friends?”
The students, themselves a range of ethnicities, screamed out “yes!” oblivious to the messiness of the question, to the history of this place, to the struggles with race and equity that continue even now.
In school lessons, memorials and ceremonies, Topeka is marking its ties to the 1954 ruling that struck down “separate but equal.” But just as clear to many is the legacy of discrimination that stands in the way of its promise of equity in Topeka and elsewhere.
The district is now 36% white, down from 72% in 1987. The changes coincide with the nation growing more diverse. Yet none of Topeka’s neighboring districts have a white enrollment below 64%; one district has a 94% white enrollment.
This concentration of students of color in districts with higher numbers of poor students partially reflects historic redlining and that poorer families couldn’t afford to move to suburban districts with more costly homes, said Frank Henderson, who has served on the state and national school board associations.
Four years ago, the largely white suburban district of Seaman, north of Topeka, where Henderson was the first Black school board member, was forced to confront the darker aspects of its past.
In 2020, student journalists confirmed the district’s namesake, Fred Seaman, was a regional leader of the Ku Klux Klan a century ago. The school board ultimately voted unanimously to renounce Seaman and his KKK activities but to keep the name. “I felt it was probably the best that could be done to be able to address this hot issue,” said Henderson, whose 16 1/2-year school board term ended in January.
Madeline Gearhart, who was co-editor-in-chief of the high school newspaper, was disappointed. But now she thinks the student journalists who broke the story laid the groundwork for the issue to be taken up later in a district that is 80% white. “I just think it’s so ironic that in a world where Topeka was a part of Brown v. Board, we still are maintaining the namesake of the district and not trying to disassociate,” said Gearhart, who is white and now a junior at the University of Kansas.
Seven years after the historic ruling, Beryl New began attending the all-Black school, Monroe Elementary, where Linda Brown and another plaintiff child were students. It was still largely segregated, not by district policy, but by redlining.
Her family was friends with the president of the Topeka chapter of the NAACP who recruited the 13 families that sued the Topeka district. Their case was eventually joined by school desegregation cases from Virginia, South Carolina and Delaware. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court overturned the doctrine of “separate but equal” in the case that bore Oliver Brown’s name. A similar case from Washington, D.C., was decided at the same time in a separate ruling.
The ruling embarrassed city leaders because they believed they had built equitable schools for white and Black students, said New, who serves on the African Affairs Commission for Kansas and is a former principal and district administrator. “But of course, there were issues that were deeper than just what a building looks like,” she said.
For New, the mission now is to diversify the district’s workforce. Nationally, only about 45% of public school students are now white, but around 80% of teachers are, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
The district is handing out symbolic teaching contracts to high schoolers and vowing to hire them when they graduate from college. And to clear roadblocks for Black aides who want to become full-fledged teachers, it sometimes pays their salaries while they student teach.
That is what allowed teacher Jolene Tyree, who is Black, to finish her degree. The longtime-aide, hopes it makes a difference to her students to have someone who looks like them. Growing up, she recalls having very few Black teachers. “You just feel somewhat on the outer side,” said Tyree, whose mother also attended Monroe and whose first-graders are now learning about the desegregation case.
Back in the library, Tyree’s students’ lesson was ending. Tiffany Anderson, Topeka’s first Black female superintendent, strode to the front of the room, quizzing the children on whether they wanted to be teachers, doctors or even the president of the United States someday.
Hands shot into the air. Anderson said many of the kids wouldn’t have done so in the past because they hadn’t seen anyone who looked like them in those roles. “So, boys and girls,” Anderson said, “as I’m looking out at the sea of differences that make you all special, ... I just want to remind you, do differences really matter?”
The children shouted “no” before trickling out of the room.
Seven-year-old Jamari Lyons stayed behind. “It’s OK to be white. And it’s OK to be Black. You can still be friends. You can still be neighbors. You can still love each other,” Jamari said, spreading his arms out wide.
Then he asked: “Right?”
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Lesser Prairie Chicken Still Under Threat in Southwest Kansas
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) - It’s mating season for the lesser prairie chicken, but bird watchers will have fewer feathered friends to watch as the population continues to dwindle in southwest Kansas. The lesser prairie chicken used to roam the plains by the millions, but Audubon of Kansas estimates only around 25,000 remain. It is a metric that animal conservationists use to gauge the health of native grassland ecosystems, but 90% of the bird's habitat has been lost. Wayne Walker is with Common Ground Capital, an endangered species organization in the southern plains. “Imagine if 90% of the rain forest was cut down. People would be freaking out about that," he said. Walker and others are working on a program to pay ranchers for protecting the grasslands. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit last year to remove the bird from the threatened species list.
Proponents of the lesser prairie chicken say the species is synonymous with the Great Plains but the bird could go the way of the buffalo. Most of the bird’s remaining habitat is located in southwest Kansas. There are fewer places overall for the chicken to roam and less biodiversity in the prairies. Walker says that’s because cropland has replaced native prairie ecosystems. “I mean, it’s this massively complex and cool ecosystem. And you know, we look at a field full of wheat. And it's just like golly, you know, we plowed up this to make that?, he said.
Check out this new commentary about the lesser prairie chicken from Rex Buchanan.
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“NASA Acres” Helping Farmers with Data from Space
UNDATED (HPM) - A research program called NASA Acres is helping farmers make use of NASA satellite data to improve their efficiency in the field. Now in its second year, NASA Acres is funding research projects at 10 universities across the country. Tom Wagner works for an organization called NASA Earth Action. He says they are developing new ways to use satellite data regarding land, water and weather to make farming and agribusiness decisions. “When you get something like Acres going, you get a group of people focused on a problem," he said. "And I think over the next five years plus, we’re going to see some real changes for agriculture in terms of what we can do with data from space.” Current projects in the program include forecasting crop yields and monitoring nitrogen levels in crops, allowing for adjustments in fertilizer use.
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Abortion Clinic Will Open in Southeast Kansas to Help Meet Demand from Neighboring States
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP/KPR) - A new abortion clinic will open in southeast Kansas this fall, bolstering the state’s role as a regional hub for abortion services. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, neighboring states like Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma have limited abortion access. Planned Parenthood Great Plains announced this week that Pittsburg will be home to a new center providing abortion procedures and pills, among other services. The number of out-of-state residents seeking abortions in Kansas is higher now than it was before Roe was reversed. Voters rejected a constitutional amendment that might have led to an abortion ban in Kansas.
A new abortion clinic will open in southeast Kansas this fall, bolstering the state’s role as a regional hub for reproductive health services whose neighbors have severely restricted access since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
After the Roe reversal, Kansas was the first state in the nation where voters weighed in on abortion at the ballot box, rejecting a constitutional amendment that may have led to an abortion ban. Since then, the state — which prohibits abortions after 21 weeks of pregnancy — has become a destination for people from more restrictive nearby states seeking abortion.
In March 2023, 44% of abortion patients at Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas traveled more than 250 miles, compared with just 1% two years earlier, according to the organization. More than half of abortion patients are now from Texas, and some have come from as far as Florida in recent weeks, said Emily Wales, president and chief executive officer of Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “You walk across the state line from Missouri to Kansas and you automatically become a freer person who can actually take care of your medical needs in a different way,” Wales said. “We see it on the faces of patients who literally breathe easier when they get into Kansas.”
The abortion landscape across the U.S. has been in flux after the Supreme Court's June 2022 decision that revoked a constitutional right to abortion nationwide. New bans or restrictions have taken effect in most Republican-led states, including 14 where abortion is now outlawed in all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions, and three more where it’s banned after about six weeks of pregnancy – often before women realize they’re pregnant.
For people from those states seeking to end their pregnancies, the main options are either getting abortion pills via telehealth or underground networks, or traveling out of state for abortion pills or procedures.
There were roughly as many in-state residents as out-of-state residents seeking abortions in Kansas in the years before the Supreme Court decision, according to statistics reported to and published by the state's health department. That's largely because Kansas City, Kansas, is easily accessible from Missouri, which historically has been limited in providers of abortion services.
In 2022, the figure for out-of-state residents given consent forms more than doubled to 8,475, state data shows.
Pittsburg is more than 100 miles south of Kansas City, and 150 miles east of Wichita. That means the new clinic location will be hours closer to patients who may be traveling from Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma — and even as far as Louisiana or Texas — where the procedure is restricted. The southeast Kanss town has a dearth of providers for contraception and other sexual health services, Wales said, but it has the “added benefit of being so closely located to neighboring states.” The Pittsburg facility will later provide gender-affirming services as well.
Clinics are shifting to accommodate out-of-state demand elsewhere, too. New Mexico has pledged $10 million to a new facility in Las Cruces, near the Texas border; a clinic opened last year in Western Maryland, a few miles from West Virginia; and two new clinics have opened in the southern Illinois city of Carbondale.
Ingrid Duran, director of state legislation for National Right to Life, said it's not surprising to see new clinics pop up to meet out-of-state demand because of the financial opportunity for providers, she said.
“And it's not surprising to know that people who want to get abortions would travel out of the state if it's not being offered there,” she said. She said states should also offer resources that “hopefully persuade abortion-minded women to choose something different."
Caitlin Myers, an economics professor at Middlebury College who researches abortion policies, said she’s counted 78 abortion facilities opening across the U.S. between May 1, 2022, and April 1 of this year. That number includes 10 moved from another location in the same state, seven that moved across state lines and 61 new providers. The growth in providers situated near state lines has generated new efforts from those opposed to abortion to restrict the practice, calling it “abortion trafficking.”
A Texas man is trying to force his former partner to say who helped her obtain an out-of-state abortion in a step toward civil enforcement of the Texas abortion ban.
Lawmakers in at least two states have taken aim at people who help minors access abortion without parental consent. Tennessee legislators last month passed a bill that would make it illegal to help minors obtain abortions without parental consent; Republican Gov. Bill Lee has not yet taken action on it. Idaho adopted a similar law last year, though a federal judge has blocked enforcement while its constitutionality is questioned.
Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly is a strong supporter of abortion rights, but the GOP-controlled Legislature has veto-proof majorities and strong contingents opposed to abortion.
This year, the Legislature passed bills — and later overrode Kelly's vetoes — for statutes that will require abortion providers to ask patients why they are terminating their pregnancies and report the answers to the state, and that will make it a specific crime to coerce someone into having an abortion.
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Next Season, the KC Chiefs Are Scheduled to Play on Almost Every Day of the Week
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP/KPR) - With their record-setting quarterback and pop-star dating tight end, the Kansas City Chiefs were the NFL’s version of the Beatles last season. This season, the Chiefs will come close to matching the Beatles' famous song “Eight Days a Week.” Along with the traditional Sunday games, Kansas City is also set to play games this season on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday - every day but Tuesday. It's an odd occurrence that has happened only once before in the NFL.
With their record-setting quarterback and pop-star dating tight end, the Kansas City Chiefs were the NFL's version of the Beatles last season. This season, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Chiefs will be as close to matching the Beatles' “Eight Days a Week” as any NFL team in nearly 100 years.
Along with traditional Sunday games, Kansas City is also set to play games every day of the week except Tuesday under the newly released NFL schedule. The Chiefs will be the first team since the 1927 New York Yankees — the football version, not the version with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig that dominated the baseball diamond — to play games on six days of the week in a single season. Those NFL Yankees under coach Ralph Scott went 7-8-1 that season with a roster that featured Hall of Famer Red Grange and played every day other than Monday.
The increase of television packages and broadcast windows have given one of the NFL's most high-profile franchises a most unusual schedule with a maximum of 11 games to be played on Sundays with at least two of those in prime time.
The Chiefs will open the season at home on Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens on September 5 in the traditional spot for the defending champions. They will also play twice on Monday nights (October 7 against New Orleans and November 4 against Tampa Bay) and then were tabbed for two of the newer broadcast windows to fill some of other days of the week.
Kansas City will host the Las Vegas Raiders in the second annual Black Friday game on Amazon Prime Video on November 29 and was picked for the Christmas Day doubleheader on Netflix for a Wednesday game at Pittsburgh. The teams playing on Christmas in Week 17 were given Saturday games in Week 16 to get adequate rest, with Kansas City hosting Houston that day.
That gives the Chiefs games scheduled for every day of the week other than Tuesday.
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