Bill Would Allow Haskell University to Govern Itself
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) — Four members of the Kansas Congressional delegation have introduced a bill that would let Haskell Indian Nations University govern itself. Currently the school, which serves only members of federally recognized Native American tribes, is governed by the federal government. Republican senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran and Republican representatives Tracey Mann and Derek Schmidt introduced the bill on Monday.
The Lawrence Journal World reports the bill would transfer control of the school from the Bureau of Indian Education to the Haskell Board of Regents. The school would still receive federal funding. In a statement, Sen. Moran said Haskell has been “neglected and mismanaged” by the BIE and the best path forward is for the university “to be led by an independent Board of Regents.”
(–Additional Reporting–)
Federal Lawmakers Seek to Transfer Haskell Control to School's Board of Regents
UNDATED (KNS) – Federal lawmakers from Kansas have introduced a bill that would transfer control of Haskell Indian Nations University to Haskell’s Board of Regents. The Kansas News Service reports that the legislation would maintain federal funding for Haskell, but shift its governance away from the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Lawrence college serves about 850 American Indians and Alaska natives. U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran and Rep. Tracey Mann announced the draft bill in a news release. Joseph "Zeke" Rupnick is chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. He supports transferring control of the college. “This is something that we’ve worked for for a long time, to allow us to provide those services to our tribal members and students.” Haskell leaders have faced criticism from Congress over their alleged failure to address student complaints.
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Kansas Attorney General Asks U.S. DOE to Investigate School Districts over Transgender Student Policies
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) – Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach asked the U.S. Department of Education Tuesday to investigate four Kansas school districts over concerns about transgender students. The Kansas News Service reports that last year, Kobach sent letters to six Kansas school districts challenging policies that allow employees to hide from parents the fact that a student may be using a different name or pronoun at school. Now the attorney general is asking federal officials to investigate four districts he says are “socially transitioning” students without parents’ consent. The districts are Kansas City, Kansas, Olathe, Shawnee Mission, and Topeka. In a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Kobach says the policies violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Officials with the districts have said their practices protect students and parents and comply with current laws.
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Kansas Wheat Harvest Gains Momentum, Still Faces Challenges
UNDATED (KPR) — The wheat harvest is finally in full swing across much of southern and central Kansas, but some farmers are still facing setbacks. After recent rain and humidity slowed progress, farmers have returned to the fields, though many are having to navigate muddy conditions. According to the USDA’s crop progress report for the week ending June 22, the Kansas wheat harvest is only 20% complete. That’s behind the 49% completion rate at this time last year and the 31% annual average. The Kansas Wheat Commission says some crops have been infected with a virus called wheat streak mosaic, which is impacting yields.
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Kansas Nurse Recalls Seeing Iranian Missiles
LENEXA, Kan. (KCUR) — A humanitarian aid worker is back in Kansas after watching Israel and Iran trade rocket fire for a week. Roxanne Jones is a registered nurse and vice president of global programs at Global Care Force, an organization based in Lenexa that sends volunteers to provide medical aid across the world. She was in Jordan, a country located directly between Israel and Iran, on an unrelated trip to provide primary care and medications to refugees and Jordanians without access to health care when the conflict began.
“One of my team members was on the balcony of where we were staying and he says, ‘You've got to come look at the missiles,’” she told KCUR. “So, I ran out on the balcony and sure enough the sky was full of missiles going from Iran to Israel.” Jones says after a dozen aid missions to Ukraine she is used to air raids and missiles flying overhead.
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Riley County Opens New EMS Headquarters
MANHATTAN, Kan. (JC Post) — Riley County officials celebrated the opening of a new Emergency Medical Services Headquarters in Manhattan on Monday. The new facility cost more than $11 million. The project was largely funded through the economic stimulus bill signed into law by President Biden in March 2021. Riley County EMS Director David Adams told the Junction City Post the state-of-the-art facility will make it easier for his agency to meet the community’s needs.
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EEOC Files Lawsuit Against KDHE over Alleged Age Discrimination
UNDATED (KNS) — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing a Kansas agency for allegedly discriminating against an employee because of her age. The lawsuit claims that in 2023, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment discriminated against Annette Carper, a lab tech who was 58 at the time. The agency allegedly offered a promotion to a younger, less qualified employee without publicly listing the job. Josh Pierson, an assistant attorney for the federal commission, told the Kansas News Service that the lawsuit aims to send a message about ageism. “While we are of course interested in Miss Carper’s damages and we want her to be made whole, we value just as much the obligation that we have to ensure that this kind of discrimination does not happen again,” he added.
KDHE declined to comment because the case is pending.
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Sign Honoring All-Black Town in Kansas Damaged
ELLIS COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) — A sign honoring the oldest all-Black settlement west of the Mississippi River has been damaged in western Kansas. The sign, in the town of Ellis, honors the nearby town of Nicodemus, which was founded primarily by former slaves in 1877. KSNW TV reports that the sign, placed in Memorial Park, honors the settlers who arrived in Ellis by train before they continued to the town of Nicodemus, about 35 miles away. The Ellis Police Department believes the vandalism was recent and deliberate.
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KBI Arrests Former Cloud County Corrections Officer for Child Sex Crimes
CLOUD COUNTY, Kan. (KPR) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) has arrested a former Cloud County corrections officer for child sex crimes. On Monday afternoon, KBI agents arrested 36-year-old Brice Berk, of Concordia, at the Republic County Sheriff’s Office after he turned himself over to authorities. Berk was arrested for 12 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. The crimes allege Berk possessed and distributed child pornography. Berk served as a Cloud County Sheriff’s Office corrections officer until March 2025.
The KBI began investigating after a cyber-tip was submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Following the arrest, Berk was booked into the Republic County Jail.
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New PSU President Introduces Himself to Campus
PITTSBURG, Kan. (KRPS) — Pittsburg State University’s next president introduced himself to the campus Monday. Dr. Thomas Newsom is currently the president of Southeastern Oklahoma State University. The Kansas Board of Regents picked him Friday to be PSU’s 11th president. KRPS Radio reports that Newsom said he wants to continue momentum from previous administrations, noting that "...the first thing is, is that our mission will always be, that our success is not necessarily what our students do here at Pittsburg State. But our true success is what our students do when they leave us." Newsom has 20 years of experience in higher education. His hiring comes after former President Dan Shipp resigned earlier this year for a new position.
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Rare White Fawn Spotted by Kansas Game Wardens
UNDATED (Wichita Eagle) — Game wardens have spotted a rare critter in the Kansas woods. (No, it's not Bigfoot.) It's a completely white deer, possibly an albino fawn. The Wichita Eagle reports that the Department of Wildlife & Parks shared a photo of the white fawn captured on camera by one of its employees. The agency did not disclose where the deer was spotted in order to protect the fawn. In Kansas, albino and white deer are subject to the same hunting regulations as other deer, which means no special protections exist to prevent rare discolored deer from being hunted.
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USDA to Open Facility to Research New World Screwworm Threat
UNDATED (HPM) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to open a facility in south Texas to defend against new world screwworms – a parasite that once terrorized American ranchers. Harvest Public Media reports that screwworms are heading through Mexico toward the U.S. They were pushed out of the country in the 1960s by dropping sterilized insects from airplanes. The new facility at an inactive air force property in south Texas will be a staging area for that same technique. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said it was just one of her department’s investments to keep screwworms out of the country, including potential expenditures in new technologies, new science, and plans to move forward with the design process of a domestic production facility. A separate production facility to make more sterilized flies would also be housed at Moore Air Base, but Rollins said it would take several years to build. (Read more.)
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Midwest Innocence Project Attorney Leaving for New Post in Pennsylvania
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) — A prominent attorney, and a leading voice in criminal justice reform in Kansas and Missouri is leaving her post at an organization that represents people convicted of crimes they did not commit. Tricia Rojo Bushnell led the Midwest Innocence Project for 12 years, and helped free 15 people from incarceration. “Watching someone come home and seeing them lead their lives, and also knowing that others won’t experience the harms that they do is incredibly rewarding, ” she said. Bushnell says she can’t forget the cases that were unsuccessful, and the clients who died waiting for resolution, adding that “ ...it is certainly a fight because there are also really dark days.” Bushnell grew Midwest Innocence Project from one employee to a dozen. Their legal work is pro bono, and most of their budget comes from donations.
Bushnell will become leader of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania in August.
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Topeka Zoo Debuts Cheetah Brothers
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW-TV) — The Topeka Zoo introduced two new residents over the weekend, cheetahs named Roosvelt and Leopold. The cheetahs are brothers. They are the zoo’s first cheetahs. Animal Curator Shanna Simpson told WIBW-TV the cheetahs are a “perfect fit” for the enclosure that previously held African painted dogs. (Click here to see photos of the cheetahs.)
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