Kansans Go To Polls To Elect Local Officeholders
UNDATED (KPR) — Tuesday is Election Day in Kansas. Nearly 2,000 positions are up for grabs in local races, including mayors, city councils, and school boards. Mayors will be elected in Kansas City, Kansas, and Topeka. City commission and school board seats are on the ballot in Lawrence. Turnout for off-year elections like this is typically only 20% to 30%. The polls close at seven p.m. Click here to find your polling place.
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Kansas Still Waiting for SNAP Funds
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — Kansas officials say they’re still waiting to learn when and how much the federal government plans to send the state for food assistance this month. On Monday, the USDA said it plans to send out partial SNAP benefits. The payments will come from the SNAP contingency fund. In a statement, the Kansas Department for Children and Families says it will notify SNAP recipients as soon as funds are available.
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Lawrence School District Launches Food Drive for Needy Students
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — With federal food benefits uncertain, Lawrence schools have launched a food drive for students and their families who need assistance. Superintendent Jeanice Swift says more than 1,100 students and their families rely on SNAP benefits. The Lawrence Journal-World reports anyone can donate to the drive. Canned goods can be dropped off at any Lawrence school or at the district office.
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Shawnee Heights Substitute Arrested on Child Abuse Charges
TECUMSEH, Kan. (WIBW-TV) — A substitute teaching assistant in the Shawnee Heights school district has been arrested for aggravated indecent liberties with a child. WIBW-TV reports James Lee Hankensiefken was booked into the Shawnee County Jail early Saturday. The district says he has been removed from its paraprofessional substitute list. The district says Hankensiefken substituted for 18 days this school year. His final day working as a substitute was October 15. The investigation is ongoing.
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October Tax Collections Surpass Estimate in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — Kansas tax revenue was 7.2% above projections in October. Overall the state collected $695.6 million in taxes last month. Most of that came from individual income tax collections. However, corporate tax income was lower than expected, which Democratic governor Laura Kelly says is “concerning.”
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Invasive Pest Detected in Another Kansas County
UNDATED (KPR) — An invasive insect has appeared in another Kansas county. The Kansas Forest Service and the Kansas Department of Agriculture confirm that emerald ash borer beetles have been detected in Marshall County. It’s the fourth Kansas county in which the destructive beetle has been detected this year. Officials say the emerald ash borer is an exotic, invasive beetle from eastern Russia and northeastern Asia that likely came to the U.S. in infested packing material. The beetle threatens urban and rural forests by killing North American ash trees. State ecologists are asking Kansans to avoid bringing firewood from another state or county where the beetle has been detected.
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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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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 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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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).