Panasonic Factory Opens, but Production Already Scaled Back
DE SOTO, Kan. (Nikkei/KPR) — Panasonic’s new $4 billion battery factory in De Soto is scheduled to hold a grand opening event Monday. But production at the plant may not be as grand as expected. That’s because Panasonic is already scaling back production at the plant. The Japanese news service Nikkei reports the reduction is due to falling electric car sales and the Trump administration’s opposition to renewable energy. The plant was expected to reach full production by March 2027, creating 4,000 jobs. A new target date for full production has not been set.
(–Additional reporting–)
Challenges Await Panasonic Plant Following Grand Opening
UNDATED (KNS) – Panasonic’s massive factory in De Soto, Kansas, just started making batteries to be used in electric vehicles. The Kansas News Service reports that the factory could face immediate challenges. Tesla sales are down. Auto tariffs are in flux. And as part of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, electric vehicle tax credits will end in September. Allan Swan is President of Panasonic Energy of North America. He says there’s reason for optimism in the long term, adding that “...we're in a brand new industry. So that industry's going to ebb and flow a little bit as she grows, and she will grow.” Panasonic aims to reach full production capacity at the plant by the end of 2026.
==========
Carbondale Residents Advised to Boil, Conserve Water
CARBONDALE, Kan. (WIBW-TV) — Residents of Carbondale in Osage County are being advised to boil and conserve water after a water line break affected the city’s water service. The line broke last Thursday near Highway US 75, resulting in dangerously low water levels. WIBW-TV reports the line has been repaired, but the boil and conserve order remains in effect, at least through Monday. Carbondale officials are asking residents to use only the minimum amount of water needed until the order is lifted.
==========
Kansas Sends Swift-Water Rescue Teams to Texas
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — Two swift-water rescue teams from Kansas are in Texas to assist in recovery efforts after the catastrophic flooding there. Kansas governor Laura Kelly says the teams left for Texas on Saturday, after a request from Texas for assistance. The teams include hard-bottom inflatable boats and personnel from the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office and various local fire departments. They will conduct search and rescue operations and provide basic life support. Under a multi-state mutual aid agreement, Kansas and other states assisting Texas will be reimbursed for the costs of the deployment.
==========
Popular Sunflower Summer Program Returns -- with Some Changes
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) – The Sunflower Summer program has started across Kansas. The Kansas News Service reports that decreased state funding means the popular program will run for only three weeks this year. Last year's program ran from May 25 to August 11. Sunflower Summer lets children from preschool through 12th grade visit museums, zoos and other attractions for free. It runs through August 3rd. Decreased funding from Kansas lawmakers means free tickets will be limited to one adult per student, rather than two adults as in past years. Tickets can be claimed through the free Sunflower Summer app and later redeemed at participating venues. More information is available at SunflowerSummer.org.
==========
Entry in Liberal Independence Day Parade Sparks Concern, Criticism
UNDATED (KNS) – Advocates say Kansas Latino politicians are facing an uptick in racism. A Fourth of July parade in Liberal, Kansas, included a truck with signs that said “vote Republican” and called on Mayor Jose Lara and Commissioner Janeth Vasquez to resign. They are Liberal’s only Latino politicians. Esmeralda Tovar-Mora is with the Kansas Immigration Coalition. She says the sign was racist and other Latino leaders across the state are experiencing similar discrimination. “They’re veiled in this sort of performative patriotism now and free speech, but they’re rooted in racism and white supremacy,” she added. An official with the Seward County Republican Party says the group was not responsible for the float and was “disgusted” by it.
==========
Report: Hotter Summers Expected for Kansas, Missouri
UNDATED (KNS) — Global warming means that, by 2060, summers in Kansas City will likely feel like summers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, feel today, and residents of Topeka and Wichita will feel like they live in Texas. That’s according to Climate Central, a nonprofit focused on explaining climate change. Joe Wheelock of the Heartland Tree Alliance says some neighborhoods urgently need trees to handle the increasing heat. “They’re kind of like nature's air conditioners,” Wheelock says. “So by their natural processes they give off water vapor, which, when it evaporates, cools the surrounding areas.” The Heartland Tree Alliance is helping add thousands of trees to historically marginalized neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri, over the next five years.
==========
Republicans Take Heat at Topeka Town Hall
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — Some Republican officials were put on the defensive at a town hall meeting in Topeka over the weekend. Most of the approximately 50 people who showed up came to express their opposition to President Trump’s policies. The meeting sponsored by a group called the Kansas Coalition for Accountability featured a panel of Republican and Democratic officials. But it was the Republicans—state Republican Party Chair Danedri Herbert and Kansas state senator Kenny Titus—who were subjected to the most persistent questioning.
Both acknowledged that cuts to food stamps and Medicaid in the president’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will hurt some Kansans. But Titus, who represents a district that includes Wamego and parts of Topeka, said, on balance, the bill will help most Kansans by keeping in place tax cuts. Titus said state lawmakers may have to spend more on programs cut by the federal government to ensure that the most needy Kansans continue receiving services.
==========
USDA Funding Cuts Hit Small Farmers, Ranchers, and Diversity Efforts Hard
UNDATED (HPM) – In recent months the U-S Department of Agriculture terminated or paused millions of dollars worth of funding opportunities. Harvest Public Media reports that many were meant to support small farmers and ranchers, as well as diversity efforts. The Kansas Black Farmers Association had been awarded 8.5 million dollars through a USDA land access grant. It was part of a collective effort between farms and nonprofits in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri. But the grant has been put on hold for review. JohnElla Holmes, head of the Kansas farmers group, says she worries the Black farmers she represents won’t find other opportunities. “There's been no new grants for us to write. And by this time, in a regular administration, we would have had an RFP so that we could have been writing, to continue these programs. It's just going to make me cry. I'm sorry,” she said. Holmes says many of their current grants will expire at the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. (Read more.)
==========
Union Pacific Open House Details Plans for Wichita Groundwater Cleanup
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW) – Union Pacific hosted an open house in Wichita over the weekend to update residents on cleanup plans for a contaminated railyard near 29th and Grove. KMUW reports that Union Pacific completed four rounds of indoor air sampling at properties within the zone. Results indicated levels well below the state’s risk-based standards. Experts at the open house shared poster diagrams of the affected zone, the indoor air sampling process, and the location of future groundwater treatment systems. Inafay Grays-McClellan lived in the contaminated area for 27 years. She says information at the open house was not shared effectively. “They just put these little graphs out and everything and this and that, that, that you know that's not telling you nothing,” she noted. Union Pacific plans to install four new groundwater treatment systems as part of the next phase of cleanup. The company currently has one groundwater treatment system at Murdock Avenue that treats 5 million gallons a month.
==========
KU Students Sue School, Say It Violated Their Constitutional Rights
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LT) — Two University of Kansas students and the campus group Students for Justice in Palestine are suing the university, saying they were unfairly punished for participating in pro-Palestine protests. The Lawrence Times reports the suit was filed in Douglas County District Court on Wednesday. In it, the students claim KU administrators violated their constitutional rights by imposing unlawful restrictions on their protests in May 2024, and punishing them when they violated those restrictions.
The two students were charged with violating university policies on disruption, camping, and unregistered protest activity. Last month, KU administrators placed the students on warning and labeled them “not in good standing.”
==========
KSDE Advising Districts on Adapting to Possible Federal Funding Losses
UNDATED (KNS) — Kansas school districts are grappling with a sudden freeze on $45 million in federal funding. The Kansas News Service reports that schools do not know if they’ll receive the money, including $16 million for professional development and $8 million for after-school programs. Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson says his department is holding meetings with districts to help them decide which programs to keep to meet state requirements. “It's the uncertainty coupled with the loss of money...that I think is causing a lot of consternation,” Watson explained. President Donald Trump’s administration says it’s reviewing the grants to make sure schools will not use them to promote left-wing ideas.
==========
Food Programs Worry as States Take on More SNAP Costs
UNDATED (HPM) — States will soon have to pay millions of dollars more for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program under the massive federal spending legislation that passed last week. Harvest Public Media reports that food advocates worry it could lower the number of people receiving the food benefit. The new law will make states responsible for a larger portion of SNAP administrative costs next year, and will add additional costs if their program’s error rate reaches 6%. Error rates are over- or under- payments to recipients, not fraud. Luke Elzinga, with the Des Moines Area Religious Council’s Food Pantry Network, says states will have to do more with fewer resources. “I think that's a real concern of what are the unintended consequences of states putting so much focus on this payment error rate, you know, because they could be on the hook for tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars,” Elzinga cautioned. Some lawmakers say the measure cuts waste and fraud, but food advocates say the changes will harm those who rely on SNAP benefits.
==========
Report: State of Kansas Has a Livestock Veterinarian Shortage
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) — Kansas does not have enough veterinarians to keep up with its massive livestock industry. The Kansas News Service reports that a new assessment is examining the reasons for the shortage. People in rural Kansas are not the only ones lacking access to health care. Cattle are in the same boat. There are twice as many cattle in Kansas as people, but the state still does not have the veterinarians to service all the feedlots, dairies and ranches. Kelsey Olson with the Kansas Department of Agriculture says the report from the Farm Journal Foundation reveals the shortage is critical. “Without veterinarians it would be devastational, because animals, just like people, get sick regularly, and so it's important that we have the appropriate medical care to provide them,” she said. But Olson admitted it’s hard retaining vets in rural places because of low pay and isolation. The state is looking for ways to let vet students experience rural Kansas during school.
==========
Royals’ Top Draft Pick Is Infielder from Des Moines
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) — The Royals selected three high school players and two college juniors in the Major League draft on Sunday. Royals general manager J.J. Picollo says the team is confident its picks will sign contracts with the Royals. “We have a good idea going into the draft who’s signable, who’s going to sign, and as long as they don’t slide in the draft there really is no question about whether or not they’re going to sign,” Picollo said.
The Royals’ top pick this year and 23rd overall is Sean Gamble, an infielder who grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. Gamble played baseball at the IMG Academy in Florida. The draft concludes Monday with rounds four through 20.
==========
Bobby Witt, Jr., Returns to MLB All-Star Game
UNDATED (KPR) – Bobby Witt Jr., who is regarded as one of Major League Baseball’s brightest rising stars, is one of four Kansas City Royals at this year’s All-Star festivities in Atlanta. But his first All-Star experience last year will be hard to top, for a variety of reasons. Last year’s All-Star game in Arlington, Texas, was just down the road from where Bobby Witt Jr. grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The Royals were seven games over .500, and his teammates Salvador Perez, Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans were also on hand on the All-Star squad. Witt said that "...yeah, just being able to do it with some teammates. Having Sal (Perez), Lugo and Cole (Ragans) all there, it was really special…and being able to do it in the home state, it was really fun." Witt finished second in the 2024 Home Run Derby, but chose to pass on this year’s competition. Once again, he is being accompanied by three All-Star teammates from the Royals…pitcher Kris Bubic, third baseman Maikel Garcia and closer Carlos Estevez. The 2025 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will take place at 7 p.m. (Central Time) Tuesday night at Truist Park in Atlanta.
==========
Angler Catches Record Catfish in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) — A Missouri angler has set a new record for reeling in the biggest catfish ever recorded in Kansas. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Park reports the fish caught in May weighed in at 121 pounds, breaking the old record by nearly 20 pounds. KSNT reports the angler, Daniel Mayer of Agency, Missouri, caught the big fish on the Missouri River using a rod and reel with common carp for bait. The fish was believed to be around 23 years old.
==========
This summary of area news is curated by KPR news staffers. Our headlines are generally published by 10 am weekdays and are updated through 7 pm. This ad-free news summary is made possible by KPR members. Become one today. And follow KPR News on X (formerly Twitter).