Another Measles Case Identified in Kansas, This Time in an Adult
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH/KPR) - A 25th case of measles has been confirmed in Kansas. KWCH TV reports that the latest case involves a Finney County adult who tested positive for measles after traveling out of state. The cases are generally clustered in southwestern Kansas, with 22 of the 25 cases confirmed in children; the overwhelming majority are in people who have not been properly vaccinated. Many Kansas counties are now offering free testing and vaccines. Learn more about the measles here.
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Kansas Lawmakers Return to Topeka this Week for Veto Override Session
TOPEKA, Kan. (KAKE) - Kansas lawmakers return to Topeka on Thursday. KAKE TV reports that Republicans may be looking to override several of Governor Laura Kelly's vetoes. Before ending the regular legislative session for the year, lawmakers set a date to come back to Topeka on April 10 for a veto session, the day they look at any vetoes the governor has sent to them and decide whether to try to override her. This year, the governor has vetoed at least eight bills during the adjournment, which Republican leadership says it will be looking to override. For each bill, Republicans will need a two-thirds majority vote to successfully override her.
Among the bills GOP lawmakers will be looking at include House Bill 2033, which would add programs and services to approved at-risk educational programs. The governor called the bill overreaching, citing it took over the state Board of Education's job. There's also Senate Bill 29, which would ban local health authorities from prohibiting public gatherings to control infectious diseases. In addition, House Bill 2217 would expand the Kansas inspector general's investigatory powers into all state cash, food and health assistance programs, which the governor called redundant and a waste of money. These bills and three others originally passed with a veto-proof majority, meaning Republican leadership just has to hold on to those votes in both the House and Senate.
For two other bills, though, Republican leadership will have to find more votes in the House to achieve an override. Senate Bill 79 seeks to bar SNAP, or food stamp, users from buying candy and soft drinks with state assistance money. Also, Senate Bill 14 would automatically renew budget items unless lawmakers vote on a change, which the governor called another overreach, this time into the executive branch.
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Kansans Rally to Protest Trump Administration, DOGE
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - Thousands of Kansans took part in rallies across the state over the weekend to protest many of President Trump’s policies. One of the largest of those rallies was held at the Kansas Statehouse. Topeka protestors had a long list of grievances. Chief among them, the efforts by billionaire Elon Musk to downsize government by shuttering agencies and firing tens of thousands of federal workers. Other topline concerns included President Trump’s tariffs. Cuts to Medicaid and veterans’ health care. And feared cuts to Medicare and Social Security. Several protestors carried signs that read: “Hands off our democracy.” There is no official estimate, but the crowd in Topeka numbered well over a thousand. There was also a large demonstration in Wichita. Smaller rallies were staged in various cities across the state, including Hays, Marysville and Garden City.
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Trump Administration Seeks to Rewrite WOTUS Rules
UNDATED (HPM) - The Trump administration wants to rewrite a rule that governs what the Clean Water Act protects. Harvest Public Media reports that the rule has become shorthand for federal government overreach for some Midwestern farmers. What counts as a Water of the U.S. has gone back and forth in decades of court challenges. That has left farmers confused, says Missouri Farm Bureau President Garret Hawkins. “As a farmer, I've always said my fellow farmers have always said, you know, we support clean water, we want clean water, but we also need clear rules," he said. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin is proposing a rewrite of the rule that he hopes will be permanent. But environmental lawyers say the rewrite will lead to less protections preventing pollution in water.
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Kansas Prisons Collaborate to Open Child-Friendly Visitation Areas
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) - Prison officials in Kansas are working with the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center to open child-friendly visitation areas for incarcerated parents. The Kansas News Service (KNS) reports it’s an effort to strengthen family bonds. The initiative brings crafts, interactive toys and colorful murals to once plain, cinder-block visitation rooms. Dene Mosier is President of the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center in Topeka. She says the separation that comes with parental incarceration has long-term consequences for kids. “The only mitigating factor that we know for children who are impacted by parental incarceration is to strengthen those family bonds, and that comes through high contact, quality visits with their parent who’s incarcerated," she said.
The spaces include interactive toys, crafts and a puppet theater. It’s an effort to get parents and kids playing together. Mosier says making visits with incarcerated parents positive for kids helps keep families together. “We know that many of these parents will be released, they will reintegrate with their family, and the most important thing we can do is to try to keep those family bonds," she said.
The new visitation spaces opened at state prisons in El Dorado and Ellsworth, and another is coming to Lansing this spring.
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Kansas Governor Vetoes Bills on Public Health and Food Assistance Limitations
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Democratic Governor Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed bills that would restrict the authority of public health officials and aim to ban using SNAP benefits on sugary foods. The Kansas News Service reports that Kelly rejected an attempt by Republican lawmakers to ask the federal government to stop covering certain sugary foods with food stamps. Governor Kelly says she supports promoting healthy eating but argues the bill is too restrictive and broad. It targets snacks like protein bars and trail mix, for example. The governor also vetoed a bill that would prevent public health officials from limiting the size of gatherings during a pandemic. Lawmakers will soon return to Topeka and vote whether to override her vetoes.
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Leawood Doctor Pleads Guilty to Medicare and Medicaid Fraud
UNDATED (KCUR) – A Leawood doctor has pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme that the government says netted him almost $700,000 over three years. KCUR reports that his trial was set to begin Monday morning. The government charged that 47-year-old anesthesiologist Scott Roethle conspired with several health care companies to proscribe unnecessary medical equipment, pain creams and genetic tests. Roethle did this thousands of times between 2017 and 2020, generally getting a $30 kick back from the companies for each prescription. He also pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare and Medicaid. In court documents, the government said Roethle never attempted to evaluate the patients’ actual medical needs. Roethle was licensed in 22 states, including Missouri and Kansas.
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Department of Commerce Offering Grants to Fund Murals in Rural Towns
UNDATED (KNS) – The Kansas Department of Commerce is offering $125,000 in grants this year to help fund murals for small, rural towns. Cities with 15,000 people or less in low-population Kansas counties can qualify for up to $7,500 in grant funds. Trisha Purdon, the director of the Kansas Office of Rural Prosperity, told the Kansas News Service that public art enriches life for people in small towns – and not just because it looks good. She says it also invites further investments in the community. “Art creates conversation. It gets people gathering in places they never would have maybe gathered before. It gets people investing in their community,” she added. Since founding the program in 2021, the department of commerce has given out more than $320,000. That amounts to 97 new murals across Kansas.
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FTC Reports Billions of Dollars Lost to Scams
UNDATED (KCUR) – The Federal Trade Commission says Americans lost 12 billion dollars last year to fraud, a 25% increase from 2023. That’s not necessarily because there’s more fraud, but because more people are reporting it. KCUR reports that in Missouri and Kansas, residents have received texts falsely claiming they owe tolls out of state. Kansas City FBI Agent Derek Wingle says that type of scam works because people are basically honest. “Often times people want to take care of that and clear their name of any wrongdoing. That is what allows a bad actor to continue to perpetuate these types of financial scams,” he explained. The FTC says the most prevalent scam in both Kansas and Missouri last year was that type of imposter fraud, followed by online shopping schemes.
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Children's Mercy Hospital to Undergo Major Expansion in Overland Park
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KMBC) — Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas has begun work to improve patient care and access to services with a major expansion. KMBC reports that the hospital is launching a $152 million expansion plan. Construction will take place in phases, with the first phase already underway. The first phase focuses on surgical services and should be finished in summer 2026. The hospital in Overland Park is the only freestanding pediatric hospital in Kansas. Overall hospital renovations will also take place, which are set to be finished by summer 2029.
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Solar Energy Now Producing 40% of Fort Riley's Power Supply
UNDATED (KNS) – Solar panels now produce enough power to meet 40% of the energy needs at Fort Riley’s family housing. The Kansas News Service reports that more than 1,600 family homes at Fort Riley have rooftop solar panels. Those generate more than 12 megawatts of electricity. Another 4 megawatts comes from ground-mounted solar installations. The company that manages the family housing – Corvias – says it’s looking into adding more solar power, as well as energy efficiency options like geothermal heat pumps for heating and cooling.
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KSDE Working to Recover Millions in Federal Funding
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) is working to recover $22.6 million in federal funding it was set to receive this year. That money was earmarked to help students recover from learning gaps experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. KSNT reports that on Thursday, the KSDE announced in a news release that state education chiefs learned late last month that the U.S. Department of Education was ending the period of time in which states could spend money from the Education Stabilization Fund (ESF), a $276 billion pool of money for state and institutional COVID-19 recovery and rebuilding efforts. Last year, the state of Kansas acquired an extension to utilize its remaining ESF funding through March 28, 2026. The Kansas Department of Education was preparing to use the remaining funds for training and programs to accelerate student learning recovery from the pandemic. The KSDE is seeking reinstatement of the fund, but in the meantime has paused all tasks related to contracts associated with the programs that would incur additional costs. The state of Kansas has already spent nearly $2 billion of its ESF funding.
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K-State Experts Encourage Use of Cover Crops
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) – Cover crops can reduce wind erosion, but only a fraction of farmers in Kansas use them. After increasing dust storms, experts are urging farmers to embrace cover crops. Southwest Kansas was the heart of the infamous dust bowl almost a century ago. Even all these years later, wind blows away 70 million tons of soil from the state each year. The Kansas News Service reports that Kansas State University is encouraging more farms to adopt cover crops, even in dry southwest Kansas where some people believe they cannot grow. Most farmers leave their soil bare between crop plantings. Cover crops keep the ground covered and provide the soil nutrients. K-State agronomist Logan Simon says these regenerative practices can work. “The people that are making that work are those that are using it as a grazing resource where we're bringing cattle back out on the fields,” he added. Research has suggested that this technique can actually increase a farmer’s total yields.
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Kansas GOP Rep Pat Proctor Running for Secretary of State
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - Republican state Representative Pat Proctor has entered the race for Kansas Secretary of State. Proctor says he would restore voter confidence as the top election official in Kansas. He points to bills the Legislature has passed since he became House elections chair … like a new law ending a grace period for mail ballots. Critics, however, say that law will make the state throw out more votes. Voting advocates also criticized Proctor in February after he was recorded saying early voting should be only for the quote, “military and severely disabled.” Proctor told the Kansas News Service after the tape leaked that he would not try to eliminate early voting. Current Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab is running in the Republican primary for governor in 2026.
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