Former Kansas Senate President Steve Morris Dead at 79
HUGOTON, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) — Former Kansas state senate president Steve Morris has died. He was 79. His daughter told the Kansas Reflector her father had undergone a series of bypass surgeries and underwent treatment for prostate cancer. Morris was born in Garden City and grew up in Hugoton. He was elected to the state senate in 1992 and served as its president from 2005 to 2013. He was defeated for re-election in the 2012 Republican primary after many Republicans concluded he was too moderate.
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New Lawrence Food Pantry Opens Amid SNAP Shutdown
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) — With federal food assistance on hold for now, a new food pantry in Lawrence is expecting an increase in people seeking help. The Ballard Center’s new food and clothing pantry opens this morning. It’s located at 708 Elm Street. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the new pantry replaces one that was located in an old schoolhouse. The Ballard Center pantry assisted more than 7,000 people last year.
Related:
Lawrence Restaurant Offers Free Kids’ Meals Until SNAP Benefits Are Restored
A Lawrence restaurant is offering free meals for children as long as funding for the federal food assistance program SNAP is held up by the government shutdown. Jefferson’s Restaurants says the offer is for dine-in customers at its locations at 743 Massachusetts Street and 1540 Wakarusa Drive. “We want to do our part to help the community,” the company’s president, Brandon Graham said. No purchase is required for the free meal.
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Driver of Hit-And-Run Semi-Truck Sought in Dodge City
DODGE CITY, Kan. (KWCH) — Dodge City police are looking for the driver of a vehicle involved in a hit and run that caused property damage. KWCH reports the vehicle involved is a semi-truck. Police say the semi crashed into bollards in the downtown area Saturday morning, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Dodge City Police Department.
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Major Hack Exposes KCKPD Police Misconduct File
UNDATED (KCUR/WIRED Magazine) — A major hack of the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department exposes, for the first time, a list of officers’ misconduct. Information from the hack was obtained by KCUR and WIRED Magazine and it reveals a list police agencies keep in case the officer’s credibility could put a criminal case in jeopardy. The hack was released by a transparency nonprofit called Distributed Denial of Secrets. The files confirm what has been an open secret for decades: residents’ accusations that many KCKPD officers were corrupt or racist. That includes the criminal cases against former detective Roger Golubski, who took his own life before his federal trial last year. KCK Police called the hacked information a “unverified, stolen list” which could hurt officers’ reputations. (Read more from KCUR and WIRED.)
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Woman Sues Southeast Kansas Town for Alleged Handcuff Injury
NEODESHA, Kan. (TCJ) — An Arizona woman is suing the city of Neodesha for serious injuries she says she suffered after she was handcuffed by police there. Neodesha is located in Wilson County in southeast Kansas. Keya Draper was a passenger in a car that was stopped for speeding in April 2023. When she admitted she was in possession of marijuana, she was arrested and placed in handcuffs. Draper alleges the handcuffs were so tight that she suffered “a radial nerve injury” that has “required extensive medical treatment.” The Topeka Capital-Journal reports she’s seeking damages in excess of $75,000.
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Lawrence Seeks Snow-Shoveling Volunteers
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — The city of Lawrence is looking for volunteers willing to shovel the sidewalks of their elderly and disabled neighbors this winter. The annual Safe Winter Walkways program matches up each volunteer with a neighbor who needs help keeping their sidewalk clear when it snows. Volunteers must commit to shoveling for the entire snow season. The city requires snow and ice to be removed from sidewalks within 48 hours after a snowfall ends. Anyone who would like to be assigned a volunteer to help them shovel their sidewalks this winter must register with the city by November 21.
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Kelly Sues Kobach Over Court Representation
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — Democratic Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is suing Republican state Attorney General Kris Kobach over her ability to represent the state of Kansas in court. Recently, Kelly joined a federal lawsuit in Massachusetts against the Trump administration over the impending loss of food assistance under the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Kobach posted a message on social media saying only he has the power to sue the federal government on behalf of the state. Kelly’s lawsuit asks the Kansas Supreme Court to allow the governor to take steps in defense of Kansans without interference from the attorney general’s office. Last month, Kobach sued Kelly over her decision to not comply with federal demands for information on people who applied for or used SNAP in Kansas.
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National Guard Member Accused of Spying for Russia in Kansas
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KPR) — A member of the National Guard is accused of agreeing to work with the Russian government to spy on Fort Riley in Manhattan. The U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday that 28-year-old Canyon Anthony Amarys of Alamogordo, New Mexico, has been arrested and charged with violating the Export Control Reform Act. According to the indictment, in February 2025 Amarys met with someone he believed was a Russian agent and agreed to take photographs of Fort Riley. He also allegedly agreed to provide the Russians with a helicopter radio. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
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National Weather Service Faces Staffing Challenges in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — National Weather Service forecasting stations in Kansas are struggling to recover from federal staffing cuts by the Trump administration earlier this year. Goodland in northwest Kansas has one of the most understaffed offices in the country and the staffing shortage there is affecting other Weather Service stations around the state because they have to help cover the open positions in Goodland. The Goodland office has struggled to stay fully staffed in the past, but this year the problem is worse, with a 61% staff vacancy rate for meteorologists. The weather service says it takes 13 meteorologists to properly run a NWS station 24 hours a day and the Goodland station only has five. Officials at the National Weather Service say the current staffing problems are the result of the Voluntary Early Retirement employee buyouts offered to reduce the federal workforce.
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Physician Says Online Misinformation Complicates Comprehensive Birth Control Access
UNDATED (KNS) — Kansas women in much of the state have a hard time accessing comprehensive birth control methods. The Kansas News Service reports that online misinformation is making it even harder. According to Power to Decide, a non-profit that focuses on reproductive health, it’s already difficult to access full-range birth control options in parts of Kansas because many counties lack health centers to prescribe them. Johnson County OB-GYN Nicole Petrillo says in addition to that, misinformation about birth control acts as a barrier and makes it hard for people to trust doctors. “When we’re saying you know, ‘This is safe,’ or ‘This is okay to take’. And there are Tik Tok videos, talking about, you know, the downfalls or the cons of them,” she explained. Petrillo says that includes birth control causing significant weight gain or infertility. She says those have been disproven by research.
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Soybean Growers Look For Alternatives to Chinese Market
LINCOLN, Neb. (HPM) — China has reversed course and committed to buy 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans this year, but that’s only about half of what China purchased from U.S. farmers in 2024. Some farmers are now exploring alternatives. One of those possibilities is sending the soybeans to be processed domestically at crushing facilities that turn beans into oil and meal. There are nearly 70 soybean processors in the U.S. and that number is growing but the domestic processors can’t compensate for the loss of sales to China. Economist Tanner Ehmke of the agricultural lender CoBank said, “China buys, traditionally, about half the soybeans we export, and we can't replace that amount with domestic usage. It's impossible." Ehmke added that many soybean growers in the Midwest are opting to store their crop until the markets improve.
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Emporia State Updates Corky the Hornet Mascot
EMPORIA, Kan. (KSNT) — Emporia State University has updated the school mascot. No, Corky the Hornet isn’t going anywhere but he’s been given a facelift of sorts. The new mascot debuted over the weekend at Emporia State’s homecoming game. The school’s athletic director Steve Rodecap told KSNT the new Corky is bolder, faster, and stronger than the old one. Corky the Hornet has been Emporia State’s mascot since 1933.
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KU Men's Basketball Season Opener Set for Tipoff at 7 Monday Night
UNDATED (KPR) — The college basketball season opens Monday night, with the 19th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks taking on Green Bay at Allen Fieldhouse. KU basketball fans may be more familiar with Green Bay’s head coach, Doug Gottlieb, than some of the eight newcomers on the 2025-26 Jayhawks squad. Gottlieb has been in the spotlight more in the last decade for his radio and TV commentary about college basketball than for coaching the game. As for KU fans, they’ll be focused on Darryn Peterson, the No. 1 recruit in the nation. The Jayhawks are hoping to build toward a better finish in the Big 12 this season, after ending up sixth last year. KU and Green Bay have never met on the hardcourt. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
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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).