KPR Offers Listeners A Very Merry Prairie Journal
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — Have you heard this year's KPR holiday variety show? Every year, KPR's Kaye McIntyre, the host of Prairie Journal (formerly KPR Presents), produces a holiday version of her weekly public affairs show. It's basically a KPR talent show featuring music, poetry and short holiday stories. Many of the staffers at the radio station play musical instruments - indeed, some are professional musicians - and they put that talent to good use during this yuletide tradition. Check it out.
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Taiwanese Energy Company Will Build First American Plant in Kansas
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A Taiwan-based energy technology company is opening a manufacturing plant in Kansas. On Wednesday, Apogee Power selected Liberal as the location for its U.S. manufacturing and assembly facility. KSNW TV reports that it will be Apogee’s first facility in North America. The facility will manufacture batteries for commercial, industrial and grid-scale uses.
The company’s 20,000-square-foot facility will be located at 1600 W. Pancake Blvd. in Liberal’s industrial corridor. Once opened in summer 2026, the facility is initially scheduled to employ 30 people, with an additional 40 positions added once manufacturing ramps up. According to a company news release, Liberal was chosen in part because of its central location in the U.S. and its proximity to major highways and railroads.
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Several Injured in Multi-Vehicle Crash Along Kansas Turnpike in Osage County
OSAGE COUNTY, Kan. (KAKE) — Several people were injured in a multi-vehicle crash along the Kansas Turnpike between Emporia and Topeka. State troopers say dense fog and speed likely contributed to Wednesday morning's collision in Osage County. KAKE TV reports that one incident involved at least five vehicles. More than a dozen other vehicles veered off the roadway to avoid the crash. Northbound lanes on the turnpike were closed for nearly five hours following collisions along I-335, about 30 miles northeast of Emporia.
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KC Firefighters Rescue Man Stuck in the Water and Mud Christmas Eve
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — Kansas City firefighters rescued a man who became stuck in the water and mud late Christmas Eve. WDAF TV reports that first responders were called to a pond in north Kansas City (North Overland Court near Northwest Barry Road) just before midnight Wednesday after receiving a call for a water rescue. Arriving crews found a man in waist-deep water who had become stuck in the mud. Firefighters say the man has become lodged in the mud about 30 to 40 yards from the bank. Crews threw a rope bag to the victim, who was able to grab on as he was pulled to shore within about 20 minutes.
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BCBS, KU Health System-St. Francis Reach Agreement
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — The State of Kansas Employee Health Plan announced Wednesday that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas and the University of Kansas Health System-St. Francis campus have reached a contract agreement. This means that TUKHS – St. Francis campus will continue as a BCBS Network provider for plan year 2026. The two parties had been in negotiations to renew reimbursement rates before their current agreement expired on December 31. Patients at TUKHS-St. Francis had been at risk of no longer receiving in-network services at the St. Francis facilities in Topeka if a new deal wasn’t reached by the new year.
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Slot Machine Player Wins Half-a-Million at Kansas Casino
MAYETTA, Kan. (KSNT) — A slot machine player is celebrating Christmas this year with an extra half a million dollars thanks to a recent lucky streak at a northeast Kansas casino. KSNT reports that the anonymous winner claimed a jackpot prize of just over $537,000 at the Prairie Band Casino & Resort in Jackson County. The casino posted the news to social media on December 23rd. Prairie Band is one of four tribal casinos in the state and is operated by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
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Deadline Approaches for Royals Proposal
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — Now that we know the Chiefs are headed to Kansas, the deadline is approaching for the Royals to make a similar decision. The same sales tax bonds the Chiefs will use to build a $3 billion stadium in Wyandotte County are also available to the Royals. Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins says time is running out for the Kansas City baseball team. “Right now, we have not heard what they have anything put together, so... we’re just going to have to wait," he said. Hawkins added that there's no chance the deadline will be extended. Indications are if the Royals jump the state line, the team wants to build on the old Sprint Campus at 119th and Nall in Overland Park.
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Man Charged in Death of 13-Year-Old Kansas Boy
LINN COUNTY, Kan. (KMBC/KSHB) — A teenage boy who was reported missing from Linn County, Kansas, has been found dead in the woods in Missouri. And a suspect in the case is now in custody. KMBC TV reports that 13-year-old Airen Andula was reported missing Sunday evening. His body was recovered two days later about 30 miles from his home.
According to court documents, a man from Pleasanton - identified as Damon Leonard - led authorities to a wooded area in Bates County, Missouri, where the child's body was found. Leonard allegedly admitted to transporting the boy's body from Kansas to Missouri. The boy's parents say Leonard is a neighbor who lives up the street.
KSHB TV reports that an autopsy has been scheduled to determine the boy's exact cause and manner of death.
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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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Another Prison Inmate Seeks Release Due to Alleged Golubski Malfeasance
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCUR) — Another Kansas City, Kansas man serving a long prison sentence is seeking his release, saying he was set up by disgraced KCK police detective Roger Golubski. The inmate, 46-year-old Ahmon Mann, filed his motion in Wyandotte County Court Tuesday. Mann’s case is similar to that of Lamonte McIntyre, a young Kansas City, Kansas, Black man who was railroaded by Golubski and then later exonerated for a double homicide. Mann was convicted of murder in the year 2000 on the testimony of just one witness who has since recanted. His case is another in 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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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).