Kansas Governor Issues Disaster Declaration
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has issued a declaration of disaster due to widespread damage caused by recent storms and flooding. The declaration issued Wednesday was prompted by severe weather in parts of central Kansas on Monday and Tuesday. Kelly’s declaration allows for resources to be used to help provide state assistance to areas hit by the severe weather. The Kansas Division of Emergency Management has partially activated the State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka to monitor flooding and help counties with any weather-related recovery needs.
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Freight Trains Kill Three in Two Separate Incidents in Kansas
UNDATED (KSN / KSHB) — Two boys were stuck and killed by a freight train Wednesday afternoon while they were walking across a trestle over the Neosho River in Erie. The incident occurred around 12:30. KSN reports the body of one of the boys was recovered. The other went into the flooded river. Police used a helicopter, drones, boats, and dogs attempting to locate the boy’s body. They were unsuccessful. The search was scheduled to resume Thursday with swift water rescue teams from the Chanute and Anderson County fire departments assisting. The Kansas Highway Patrol and Kansas Wildlife and Parks are investigating the incident.
In a separate incident, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a freight train in Olathe Wednesday afternoon. KSHB reports says officers from the Olathe Police Department were dispatched to West Elm Street and South Kansas Avenue shortly after three o’clock. They found a deceased adult male. That investigation is ongoing.
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Hundreds of Kansas Parks and Museums Could Lose Funding
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) — More than 200 museums and historical parks in Kansas and Missouri are facing big budget cuts. That’s because Congress has not yet released funding for the nation’s 62 National Heritage Areas, which funnel the funds to local museums and historic sites. That includes the National Heritage Area that encompasses Kansas and Missouri. An NHA representative told KSNT the lack of funds could cause many local sites to shut down.
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Study: Childhood Vaccine Rates in Kansas Falling
UNDATED (KNS) — A new study shows childhood vaccine rates in Kansas have fallen in recent years. The study comes from the Commonwealth Fund, an organization focused on health disparities. It shows the percentage of Kansas children who had all their recommended childhood vaccines fell from 74% in 2019 to 70% in 2024. Researcher Kristen Kolb says vaccine skepticism from federal officials, like Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., could lead to even fewer fully-vaccinated kids. “We need,” she said, “clear messages from local, state and federal health officials regarding the importance of vaccination.” Kansas is one of 36 states that saw a decline in early childhood vaccine rates for illnesses like measles and tetanus since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Smaller Cattle Herds Mean Higher Beef Prices
UNDATED (HPM) — Beef prices are at an all-time high because the size of U.S. cattle herds is down. Consistent drought has prevented the national cattle herd from rebuilding, leading to the lowest cattle inventory in decades. Derrell Peel is an Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist. He says less supply and strong consumer demand has caused the price of beef to jump, and now a drop in production has made supplies tighter, pushing prices up even more. Peel said it will take a while for the national cattle herd to grow. “The nature of cattle production,” he said, “is a slow process.” Aside from uncertainty around tariffs, Peel said he expects those prices to stay high simply because there will be less beef.
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Trump Administration Seeks Resumption of ICE Raids in Ag and Hospitality Industries
UNDATED (Harvest Public Media) – The Trump administration wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to raid worksites in the agriculture and hospitality industries. The directive comes after President Donald Trump shortly paused those raids, just days after ICE arrested more than 70 people at a meatpacking facility in Nebraska. At the time, Trump said the policy was “very aggressive” and could hurt farmers who rely on long-time immigrant workers. Now, experts like David Ortega, a professor of food policy at Michigan State University, say these operations could hurt the U.S. food system. “The threat of these mass deportations, the ICE raids, they have a pretty chilling effect on the agricultural labor supply. You know, there's a lot of workers that are afraid to show up to work,” Ortega told Harvest Public Media. The Trump administration is reportedly pushing for ICE agents to arrest a minimum of 3,000 people every day.
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Health Insurance Access at Risk with Proposed ACA Changes
UNDATED (KNS) – Kansas saw a significant increase of people who had access to health insurance in recent years. But the Kansas News Service reports that could be at risk with proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act. A study by the Commonwealth Fund, a private organization focusing on health disparities, shows the number of Kansas adults without health insurance dropped from 17.5% to 11.9% between 2013 and 2023. Researcher David Radley says more people had access to health insurance because of expansions to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. “Not only did these provisions help more people get coverage, fewer people skipped getting care that they needed because of its cost,” Radley explained. Federal lawmakers are currently considering steep funding cuts and eligibility changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Budget officials estimate at least 11 million Americans could lose health coverage over the next decade.
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Second Person Charged with Murder in Fentanyl Overdose Death
UNDATED (KCUR) – A 25-year-old Johnson County man is the second person charged with first-degree murder in a 2023 fentanyl overdose death of a pregnant woman in Kansas. KCUR reports that Nicholas Draven Gregg was charged this week – a year-and-a-half after the death of 31-year-old Alexandrea Hunter, who was pregnant. Hunter overdosed on fentanyl in a QuikTrip bathroom in Roeland Park. Earlier this month, 24-year-old Izabel Reed was also charged with first-degree murder. Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said cases built on circumstantial evidence sometimes take a long time to build, but he sees charging dealers in drug overdoses as a way to fight the fentanyl crisis.
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Wichita Schools Told to Hold Off on Bond Issue
WICHITA (KNS) — An advisory group told Wichita school leaders Wednesday that the district needs to rebuild trust in the community before seeking another bond issue. District leaders wanted the financial oversight committee to recommend putting a bond issue to voters by March of 2026. But committee members rejected that plan. They say the district has not made a solid case for why it needs a bond or precisely how it would use the money to repair and rebuild schools. The committee voted to continue meeting. It also recommended that the district use any year-end cash savings to repair and upgrade school buildings.
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Legendary Kansas High School Football Coach Roger Barta Dies at 79
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KPR) — A legendary Kansas football coach has died. Roger Barta led Smith Center High School to a 79-game winning streak and eight state championships. He finished his coaching career with an impressive 323-68 record. Barta retired in 2012 and was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. Coach Barta died Monday at a hospice in Manhattan. He was 79.
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Rare Albino Deer Spotted in Kansas
UNDATED (KPR) — Kansas wildlife officials reported seeing a rare albino fawn this week. They posted a picture of the all-white animal on the Department of Wildlife and Parks social media accounts. They did not specify the exact location of the encounter. Albino deer are very rare, with cases occurring at most once in 30,000 births.
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In the Air Capital of the World, Tariffs Come with Challenges — and Opportunities
WICHITTA, Kan. (KNS) — One Wichita manufacturer says tariffs are buoying demand for its products. But industry leaders warn of long-term harm to American planemakers. Etezazi Industries is working overtime. On a recent afternoon at the north Wichita manufacturer, machinists fashioned sheets of metal into airplane parts: one for a passenger plane’s engine pylon; another to hold a jumbo jet’s black box computer. The 35-person company’s customers include major planemakers like Boeing and Airbus, along with their suppliers. And here, steel and aluminum are king. Both materials now carry a 50% tariff when imported from abroad — which cuts into Etezazi Industries’ bottom line.
“We noticed some increases in a lot of costs,” CEO Amir Etezazi said. “We don’t know if some of that are due to inflation or if it’s due to some of the tariffs — we don’t see an itemized invoice. But we have seen some increases.” The situation at the company offers a window into how sweeping tariffs enacted by the Trump administration are already reshaping global commerce. That includes the Kansas aircraft manufacturing industry, with major businesses like Wichita’s Spirit Aerosystems and Textron Aviation and Olathe’s Garmin and Honeywell. Aviation employs tens of thousands of Kansans and contributes more than $7 billion annually to the state’s gross domestic product.
Some of Etezazi’s customers in Canada and Mexico have pulled back on orders in response to 25% tariffs against those countries initiated by President Donald Trump earlier this year that spurred reciprocal tariffs by their governments. “That has impacted our customers,” Etezazi said, “as far as doing business with U.S. companies.”
Amid the tumult, Etezazi said he’s also finding new opportunity. (Read more.)
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