Kansas-Based Potawatomi Tribe Seeks to Cancel Detention Center Contract
MAYETTE, Kan. (KPR) — The head of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation says the tribe is going to do everything it can to get out of a contract its subsidiary signed to build a federal immigrant detention center. The subsidiary, Prairie Band LLC, signed the $30 million contact with the Department of Homeland Security in November. Once the contract was made public, the tribe fired several of the LLC’s leaders.
In a video released Saturday, Potawatomi tribal chairman Joseph Rupnick, said the tribe is “working on canceling this contract and fully disassociating [itself] from it.” Rupnick said the Prairie Band will not compromise its values, even at the risk of losing future government contracts.
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Johnson County Hopes to Attract New Nuclear Power Plant
OLATHE, Kan. (KNS/Johnson County Post) — Johnson County and DeSoto are interested in attracting a new type of nuclear power plant. It's designed by TerraPower, a company co-founded by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates. In September, TerraPower signed a memorandum of understanding with utility company Evergy to explore building a nuclear plant in Kansas. The Johnson County Post reports that county commissioners passed a resolution to encourage TerraPower to consider Johnson County. The resolution is not a binding agreement to accept the reactor. The Post reports that other cities and counties have also thrown their hats in the ring, including Coffey and Lyon counties, Emporia, and Hutchinson. The potential TerraPower plant is different from the one-mile deep nuclear reactor that a California startup plans to install in Parsons, Kansas.
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34 KU Faculty Members Accept Early-Retirement Offer
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) — Thirty-four University of Kansas faculty members have accepted the school’s early retirement offer. The offer is open to tenured faculty members who are at least 62 years old and have worked at KU or a state agency for at least ten years. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the early-retirement offer is part of a university-wide reorganization that seeks to cut costs. In August, KU announced it was looking to reduce spending by more than $30 million.
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Manhattan Chipotle Is Chain’s 4,000th Restaurant
MANHATTAN, Kan. (GlobalData) — A new Chipotle restaurant has opened in Manhattan, Kansas. Normally that wouldn’t be news. But the opening is a landmark for the fast-casual chain. The new Chipotle in Manhattan is the chain’s 4,000th restaurant. The company’s chief development officer says the 4,000th restaurant in Manhattan is both “a milestone for our growth and a celebration of the guests who have asked us to bring Chipotle to their communities.” The business news service GlobalData reports Chipotle expects to open more than 300 additional locations next year.
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Suspect Arrested in Shooting of Two Women in Pittsburg
PITTSBURG, Kan. (KWCH) — Police have arrested a man in connection with a shooting that wounded two women in Pittsburg, Kansas, early Sunday. Investigators say the shooting occurred in an alley in the 300 block of West 20th Street in north Pittsburg. KWCH reports the two victims, both in their 20s, were flown to Kansas City for treatment. They are reported to be in stable condition. Arrested was 23-year-old Walter Herrera Alvarez, who faces two counts of aggravated battery and is being held without bond.
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Kansas County Sues State for $2 Million in Misdirected Funds
ELKHART, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) — A small county in southwestern Kansas plans to sue the state for more than $2 million it says it is owed to support a local hospital. Voters in Morton County approved a countywide sales tax in 2015 to support the Morton County Hospital. The county is in the southwest corner of the state, bordering Oklahoma and Colorado. Its population is less than 3,000. County officials say the state collected the sales tax money but through an administrative error sent it back to the county’s cities, not the county itself. The county says the mistaken payments were made for nine years. The Kansas Reflector reports state revenue department officials declined to comment on the pending suit.
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U.S. Senators from Kansas Vote Against Democratic Plan to Extend ACA Subsidies
UNDATED (KNS) — Kansas Republican Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran voted along party lines on two proposals to address the extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies Thursday. The current subsidies make health insurance plans on the government marketplace more affordable. Marshall and Moran both voted against a Democratic plan to extend subsidies. Marshall wants to get rid of them altogether and invest in private health savings accounts. Some experts say health savings accounts won’t address rising health insurance costs. Marshall also says he opposed the extension of tax credits offered by Democrats because it would not address fraud. “Regardless of whether we extend these subsidies or not, the cost of health insurance for everybody is going to go up 25% this year,” Marshall said. “All the Democrats want to do is just have the federal government pay a bigger share.” Health experts disagree over the scale of fraud actually taking place. Four Republican Senators voted with Democrats, including Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who voted for both the Democratic and Republican plans.
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Emporia State Names New President
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — The Kansas Board of Regents has announced a new president for Emporia State University. In a unanimous vote Thursday, the Regents named Matthew Baker as Emporia State’s next president. He is currently vice president of student affairs at Northwest Missouri State University. Baker will take over from Emporia State President Ken Hush, who is retiring. Baker says he wants to cultivate a culture of trust and belonging at Emporia State. Baker told a group at ESU that higher education is changing, and that Emporia State will have to adjust to new demands. “Demographic shifts, technological disruptions and evolving workforce needs require regional universities to adapt with agility,” Baker said. “ESU will not sit on the sidelines of that change.” Hush has served as president of Emporia State since 2022, when the university fired 30 tenured or tenure-track professors to cut costs. Eleven of those professors are suing the university in federal court.
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Kansan Wins World Title in Rodeo
LAS VEGAS, Kan. (Montgomery County Chronicle) — Jake Long of Coffeyville was crowned champion in the team roping event at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas on Saturday. He joined roping teammate Andrew Ward in securing the coveted gold buckle, as well as about $370,000 in prize earnings. The Montgomery County Chronicle reports Long, 41, had made 14 previous appearances in the National Finals Rodeo before finally landing atop the trophy podium this year.
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