Kansas City Chiefs Moving to Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR/KNS) — The Kansas City Chiefs are moving to the Sunflower State. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly announced the news Monday afternoon. “We are announcing an agreement to bring our beloved Kansas City Chiefs right here to Kansas," she said. State leaders voted unanimously Monday to use more than a billion dollars in taxpayer funding to help construct a new, domed stadium, training facility and entertainment district.
The stadium project could cost $3.3 billion, but Kelly says the state-financed portion of the project will come from revenue generated by the stadium, entertainment venues, STAR bonds and lottery funds - not with new taxes. “It will be a world-class facility, the envy of professional sports. It will be surrounded by an entertainment district to beat all entertainment districts. Hotels and restaurants and bars and more," Kelly said.
The new stadium and entertainment district will be located near the Legends shopping area in Wyandotte County and a new Chiefs headquarters and training facility will be located in Olathe. The stadium is expected to open in the fall of 2031.
The Kansas tax incentive mechanism known as STAR Bonds will help the NFL team build a new domed stadium and the state will cover 60% of the cost. The project also includes plans for new team headquarters and training facilities in Olathe - for a total project cost of $4 billion.
Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt says the location of Chiefs games will change, but the heart of the team will remain the same. “Our games will still be the best place in the world to tailgate, and our players and coaches will be ready to compete for championships," he said. State officials stressed the cost will be covered by sales tax revenue generated by the stadium.
The deal announced Monday does not include incentives for the Kansas City Royals. The baseball team’s leaders are also considering a move to Kansas and those discussions continue. (Read more.)
Click here for specific details from the Kansas Department of Commerce.
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Could Chiefs' Summer Training Camp Move to Topeka?
TOPEKA, Kan. (TCJ) — Since 2010, the Chiefs' summer training camp has been held in St. Joseph, Missouri, but with the team moving to Kansas... there's renewed speculation that the Chiefs training camp could move to the campus of Washburn University. The idea has been considered before. The Topeka Capital Journal reports that in 2024, the Legislature and the governor even earmarked money for the idea, but nothing came of it. So far, the Washburn athletic department has declined to comment on the possibility. At the same time, Washburn is preparing to spend up to $10 million to upgrade its football facilities.
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Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Responds to Chiefs Move
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) - The mayor of Kansas City, Missouri - Quinton Lucas - says the Chiefs’ move to Kansas is a loss for his town. His city and Jackson County, Missouri, put together a competing offer to try and keep the team in Missouri, but it could not match the Kansas offer. Lucas is expressing a sliver of hope that Missouri could still be a backup choice. "We remain committed to ensuring Arrowhead Stadium, Missouri, Jackson County and Kansas City remain an option should the deal not conclude," Lucas said. Lucas says he's working with state and county leaders to ensure that the Kansas City Royals do not follow the Chiefs over the state line.
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Kansas Legislative Leadership Still Waiting on Proposal from Royals
UNDATED (KCUR) — Now that Kansas has lured the Chiefs to Wyandotte County, the question is: what about the Royals? KCUR reports that Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins from Wichita says the state is still waiting to hear a proposal from the Royals. He says the same sales tax bonds the Chiefs are using to build in western KCK are available for a baseball park. But Hawkins says time is running out. “We still got a December 31 deadline. If they put something together that we can work with we’ll meet on December 31 of this year,” Hawkins explained. He insists that end of the year deadline will not be extended. If the Royals decide they want to move to Kansas, all indications point to the old Sprint campus at 119th and Nall in Overland Park.
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President Trump Approves Disaster Declaration for Kansas
UNDATED (KPR) - President Donald Trump has granted Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s request for a major presidential disaster declaration. The declaration is related to damage caused to public infrastructure by severe storms, straight-line winds and flooding that took place in July.
The declaration allows state and local levels of government, as well as certain private nonprofit organizations that provide vital and essential services, such as rural electric cooperatives, to apply for Public Assistance funds for emergency and permanent work for the repair or replacement of infrastructure damaged by the disaster.
Twelve counties are included in the disaster declaration: Barton, Comanche, Edwards, Hodgeman, Logan, Morris, Ottawa, Rawlins, Saline, Stevens, Sumner, and Wyandotte.
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Another Prison Inmate Seeks Release Due to Alleged Golubski Malfeasance
UNDATED (KCUR) — Another Kansas City, Kansas man serving a long prison sentence is seeking his release, saying he was set up by disgraced Police Detective Roger Golubski. KCUR reports 46-year-old Ahmon Mann filed his motion in Wyandotte County Court Tuesday. Mann’s case is much like that of Lamonte McIntyre, a young Kansas City, Kansas, Black man who was railroaded by Golubski then was exonerated in 2017 for a double homicide. Mann was convicted of murder in the year 2000 on the testimony of just one witness who has since recanted. Mann's case is another of what is expected to be several more wrongful convictions based on police work by Golubski. The white police officer killed himself a year ago just as he was set to go on trial for federal civil rights violations. (Read more.)
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Farmers Facing Trade Uncertainty in 2026
UNDATED (HPM) - Producers had good crop harvests in 2025 across the region, but because of the ongoing trade war, the U.S. is short on international buyers. Harvest Public Media reports that trade uncertainty remains a challenge as farmers are making decisions for the next planting season. For Luis Ribera, economic professor at Texas A&M University, trade in 2026 is hard to predict because it’s heavily political. He says markets don't know how to react to tariff unpredictability. “In my world, that's the big question - is this the new normal? Is the tariff going to be a tool to negotiate with other countries? And looks like that's the way it's going to be," he said. Ribera is hopeful for more trade agreements to come out of the tariffs, but so far that’s still up in the air. He says the U.S. is not the only player vying for other countries to buy agricultural products, and producers know once a market share is gone, it’s hard to gain it back.
Many farmers are entering 2026 in a tight spot. Producers across the Great Plains and Midwest are seeing record-high prices for beef while facing dismal crop prices. Cortney Cowley, with the Kansas City Federal Reserve, says the challenges for crops and livestock are opposites. “Like on the livestock side, we don't have the supply to meet the demand, which is why we have such high prices," she said. "But on the crop side, we have too much supply and not enough demand where those markets become a lot more important.” Farmers are also paying more for inputs like fertilizer and machinery, which is cutting into their bottom lines.
A September outlook from the University of Missouri found farm income could fall by about $30 billion dollars in 2026 because of lower crop prices and a decline in government payments. (Read more.)
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Warm Autumn in Kansas and Missouri
UNDATED (HPM) - This fall was the seventh-warmest on record in Kansas and the fourth-warmest on record in Missouri. That’s according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Information and it’s based on 131 years of data. Matthew Sittel is the assistant state climatologist for Kansas. “The fall of 2025 continues a trend that we've seen here in the last few years," he said. "It turns out that when we look at the 10 warmest falls on record, five of them have occurred since 2015, within the last 11 years.” For September, October and November, the seasonal average temperature in Kansas and Missouri was nearly 4 degrees above normal.
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Strain of Bird Flu Killing Off Birds in KC Metro
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KC Star) — Birds have been getting sick and dying in the Kansas City metro. According to biologists and veterinarians, the culprit is a rapidly-spreading strain of avian influenza. The Kansas City Star reports that the highly pathogenic Eurasian H5N1 strain of bird flu began causing problems for North American poultry and wild birds in 2022. According to experts, the outbreak continues to have an impact on local animals, particularly water fowl.
Operation Wildlife, a wildlife vet and rehabilitation clinic based in Linwood, has responded to a surge of calls for birds showing symptoms. Executive director Diane Johnson says her organization is fielding 15 or more calls per day from people reporting birds that show symptoms.
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Kansas Stem Cell Donor Seeks to Raise Donation Awareness
UNDATED (KNS) — A Kansas woman donated stem cells that helped save a stranger’s life.
Pauline Oropesa of McPherson, Kansas, says she registered to donate blood stem cells through DKMS, a nonprofit focused on fighting blood cancer. The Kansas News Service reports that she took the step in 2021 on a whim after hearing about the program on the radio. Earlier this year, when she learned she was a match for someone in need, the decision to donate was easy. Just months earlier, she’d lost her mom to bone cancer. She says stem cell and bone marrow donations can help people fighting blood and bone cancers. “Not only are you helping the people who are receiving this, but every single person in their life who is worried and praying for them,” she added. Oropesa says she would absolutely donate again and she encourages others to register to see if they are a match.
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