Machinists Union in Wichita Votes on New Contract from Spirit Aerosystems
WICHITA, Kan. - A second contract vote will determine the fate of an ongoing strike at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita. Workers in the Machinists Union will vote today (THUR) on Spirit’s second contract offer. It makes all weekend overtime voluntary, and makes no changes to existing health care plans. Picketing workers have had mixed reactions to the latest proposal. Chris Gresham is one of them. “It kind of makes me feel a little bit disrespected that our second contract wasn’t our first offer, when we deserve more than our second contract," he said. Union leadership is endorsing the deal. If workers reject the offer, they'll continue striking - creating ripple effects through the aircraft industry. The results of the vote are expected later tonight (THUR).
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UPDATE: Governor Says Transgender Kansas Residents Can Keep Updating Their Documents Despite New Law
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Democratic governor in Kansas declared Thursday that the state will keep allowing transgender residents to alter their driver's licenses and birth certificates, despite a new law aimed at preventing it. Governor Laura Kelly issued a directive that allows agencies under her control to defy a legal opinion issued earlier this week by Republican state Attorney General Kris Kobach, telling them to follow their lawyers’ narrower view of the law. The attorney general called the Kelly administration's legal analysis “nonsense” and promised, "We will see her in court."
“She is violating her oath of office to uphold Kansas law,” Kobach said a statement.
The new law is set to take effect Saturday and legally defines a person's sex as male or female based on their “biological reproductive system” at birth, a standard that would apply to “any” law or state regulation. Kansas driver's licenses and birth certificates list a person's sex, and Kobach said they can't contradict what doctors assigned at birth. He also said the state must undo changes in its records — more than 1,200 in the past four years. Lawyers in Kelly's administration rejected that idea, saying the law is not retroactive, according to a background memo from the governor's office.
“Beyond that, it would potentially be impossible for the agencies to comply with the Attorney General’s Opinion due to a lack of complete data,” the memo said.
Kelly, a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, took office in 2019 after defeating Kobach, then the Kansas secretary of state, for her first term. Kobach narrowly won the attorney general's race last year. An attorney general's legal opinions are not binding on state agencies, and the new law does not specifically mention driver's licenses or birth certificates. Also, in 2019, a federal judge ordered the state to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates to settle a lawsuit over a Republican governor's no-changes policy, and that order remains in effect. Kelly said in a statement that lawyers for state agencies disagree with the attorney general about the law's "impacts on their operations and will instead keep in place their policies regarding gender markers on birth certificates and driver’s licenses.”
Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, suggested that Kelly was showing her loyalty to “the radical ideology of the extreme left.” But only a few U.S. states don't allow transgender people to change their birth certificates. Oklahoma and Tennessee policies were upheld earlier this month by federal judges, and a Montana rule is expected to face a legal challenge in that state's courts. The Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature enacted the new law over Kelly's veto. It also includes provisions to restrict transgender people's use of restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities. At least nine other states have bathroom laws.
Kobach said in his statement: “The Governor doesn't get to veto a bill and then ignore the legislature's override.”
The memo from the governor's office portrayed the new law as toothless because it contains no enforcement mechanism, such as criminal penalties for transgender people who use restrooms associated with their gender identities. It also said administration attorneys don't believe its driver's license policy conflicts with the new law — contradicting what LGBTQ+ rights advocates said throughout the debate. LGBTQ+ rights advocates said the Kansas law would legally erase transgender people's gender identities, and Kobach's opinion confirmed that it would if the law is enforced as intended. Supporters also acknowledged during a Statehouse news conference this week that they don't see transgender women and girls as women and girls. The law says “important governmental objectives” of protecting people’s health, safety and privacy justify sex-segregated spaces. It applies to public schools, jails, prisons, rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters. State Senator Beverly Gossage, a Kansas City-area Republican who chairs a committee that handled the measure, said the goal wasn’t to punish people but for women to feel protected in bathrooms and other spaces.
“It’s women feeling safe,” she said.
Kobach also argued that the state law supersedes the 2019 federal judge's order on birth certificates, something strongly disputed by LGBTQ+ rights advocates. Kobach has asked the judge to formally rescind it.
The memo from the governor's office said the new law doesn't affect the judge's order or the policy it created. The attorney general suggested that keeping transgender people from having state documents or records reflect their gender identities would have little practical effect for them. He said they still could present themselves publicly — and get photographed for driver's licenses — in line with their identities.
But Jenna Bellemere, a 20-year-old transgender University of Kansas student, called such statements “condescending.” She said having an ID that conflicts with her identity has complicated getting through airport security or even using a credit card.
“I’ve had experiences where checking my ID is like, ‘Oh, this doesn’t look right,'” said Bellemere, who changed her birth certificate and driver’s license last year. “I had to stop and be like, ‘No, it’s just a very long story.’”
With the legal climate uncertain, state data shows that four times as many people made changes this year than from 2019 through 2022. The monthly average this year is 58 birth certificates and 27 driver's licenses. LGBTQ+ rights advocates encouraged people to change their documents before Saturday and held seminars to help them.
Adam Kellogg, another 20-year-old transgender University of Kansas student, said Kobach's legal opinion calls for a change in his Kansas driver's license, but his birth certificate from Illinois wouldn't change.
“It’s going to be hard to determine what you should put on my driver’s license because according to my birth certificate, I am male,” he said. “What, are they going to take me in for genetic testing?”
(Additional reporting...)
Number of Kansans Officially Changing Genders Quadruples Ahead of New Law
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP/KPR) - Four times as many Kansans changed their gender on birth certificates and driver’s licenses this year ahead of a new state law that prevents residents from identifying themselves as a sex other than the one assigned at birth. State health department figures show an average of 58 people a month have changed their birth certificates this year. That's compared to an average of 13 a month for the past few years. The state also reported an average of 27 people a month changing their driver's licenses this year, compared to an average of 5 1/2 a month for the past few years.
Number of Kansas Residents Officially Changing Genders Quadruples Ahead of New Law
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Four times as many Kansans changed their gender on birth certificates and driver's licenses this year ahead of a new state law that prevents residents from identifying themselves differently than the sex assigned them at birth. The legislation is part of a raft of measures lawmakers across the U.S. have passed to roll back transgender rights. It has provisions meant to restrict transgender people’s use of restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities and applies to a person's identity listed on state documents. The Kansas law takes effect Saturday, but it’s not yet clear how it will play out in the daily lives of transgender people. The new legislation conflicts with a 2019 federal court order directing the state to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates.
An average of 58 Kansas residents a month have changed their birth certificates so far this year, compared to an average of 13 from July 2019 through 2022, according to state health department figures released this week. The state motor vehicle department reported this week that 161 people have changed their gender identity on their driver's licenses so far this year, an average of 27 a month. That's compared to an average of 5 1/2 per month from July 2019 through 2022.
Jenna Bellemere, a transgender University of Kansas student, said she changed her birth certificate and driver's license last year, believing “this anti-trans stuff” was building. “I didn’t really want to go throughout my life carrying around a document that really was inaccurate and an ID with a name that no one calls me anymore,” she said.
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Kansas School District Considers Suing Social Media Companies
JOHNSON COUNTY (SMP) - A suburban Johnson County school district could be the latest district in the U.S. to take legal action against social media companies for their allegedly harmful and addictive apps. The Shawnee Mission school district will begin exploring potential litigation against several social media giants. A district resolution approved by the school board names TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, as targets of a prospective lawsuit. The district argues that the companies have engaged in deceptive practices, marketing their apps in ways that addict students and divert school resources. The Shawnee Mission Post reports that dozens of other school districts across the U.S. have already brought similar lawsuits, though it remains to be seen if social media companies can legally be held liable.
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Toddler in Critical Condition After Being Left in Hot Car in Lenexa
LENEXA, Kan. (KCTV) - A 22-month-old left inside a hot car for hours has been hospitalized in critical condition. Police in Lenexa say the toddler was left inside a hot vehicle at a church parking lot Monday. KCTV reports the car was not running and the windows were rolled up. Police say someone called Monday to report that the toddler had been left alone inside a hot vehicle. That person removed the child and took him inside while waiting for paramedics. Police think the child was left alone in the car for more than two hours but at this point, investigators don't think the toddler was left inside the car intentionally. The child's parents are cooperating with the investigation.
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Inmate Dies at El Dorado State Prison
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - An inmate has died at the state prison in El Dorado. The Kansas Department of Corrections says 41-year-old Binh Ly was found unresponsive in his cell Wednesday morning. Ly had been serving time for murder and other crimes in Sedgwick County. Per protocol, the KBI is investigating the death.
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Resident Sues City of Ottawa over Beekeeping Rules
OTTAWA, Kan. (KNS) - A Kansas town is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit over its rules that hamstring beekeepers. Ottawa doesn’t let backyard beekeepers sell honey. So, a resident hoping to do so sued. Her attorney, Sam MacRoberts, is with the Kansas Justice Institute, which tackles examples of what the group calls government overreach. “Can cities regulate out of existence, home-based businesses for no good reason? And from our perspective, the Kansas Constitution says that cities cannot do that," he said. The group has successfully challenged laws restricting raw milk farmers and other small businesses. Ottawa says the resident should pursue city code changes out of court.
The lawsuit, filed by Ellen Finnerty, says Ottawa is overstepping its authority by not letting backyard beekeepers sell their honey. Finnerty took beekeeping classes to supplement the income she earns working long shifts in a warehouse. “Let me tell you - when you work, clocking in at 5am, and then you’re willing to take a night class - there’s a lot of dedication and expense moving towards that," she said.
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USGA's Adaptive Open Event Coming to Newton in 2024
UNDATED (KPR) - The U.S. Golf Association has announced that a national championship will be held in Kansas next year. The Adaptive Open tournament will take place in Newton. The Adaptive Open is for professional and amateur golfers - men and women - who are physically impaired. Not just any physically-impaired golfer can play. They must qualify through the USGA’s rules that follow the same criteria as the Paralympics. They must also be active enough in the game to maintain a handicap that’s close to playing at a championship level. The tournament will be played in July 2024 at the Sand Creek Station course in Newton. This year’s U.S. Adaptive Open takes place next month in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
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Kansas Attorney General: Mysterious Powder in Letters Contained Rat Poison
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - That white powdery substance sent to 100 Republican officials earlier this month is a mixture of rat poison and another powder. That's according to Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who was targeted by one of the letters himself. The FBI has taken over the investigation because similar letters have also appeared in Montana and Tennessee. Speaking with News Nation, Kobach said, "It’s interesting looking at Kansas, Montana and Tennessee being the three states targeted. A common thread between those states is that all three either passed legislation dealing with the trans issue or are in litigation dealing with that issue, but that’s just a theory.” Investigators have not made any arrests or released a motive but officials say the letters were a targeted attack against Republican lawmakers and GOP state officials.
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KU Cancer Center Gets $100 Million Gift
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (LJW) - A $100 million gift will help the University of Kansas Cancer Center build a new, state-of-the-art cancer center building on the KU Med Center campus in Kansas City, Kansas. The $100 million gift - the largest gift in school history - comes from the Sunderland Foundation, based in Kansas City. KU Chancellor Doug Girod and state officials announced the news Tuesday. This gift comes on the heels of $43 million in federal funding. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Kansas Senator Jerry Moran secured the federal funding earlier this year. Last year, the KU Med Center was designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute.
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Kansas Launches Teacher Apprenticeships
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS/KMUW) - A new program in Kansas is aimed at making it easier and less costly for people to become teachers. This fall, the state Department of Education will launch a teacher apprentice pilot project. Ten candidates will work in schools and be mentored by experienced teachers while they pursue their teaching degrees, and the state will pick up some of their college costs. Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson says apprenticeships could be one solution to the worsening teacher shortage. “This has the potential to really bring in young people that could not afford to go to college, must go to work after high school, that would be a teacher but can’t leave their community or can’t leave their family," he said. Teacher apprentices would have to meet the same licensing requirements as traditional teacher candidates.
Kansas is facing its worst-ever teacher shortage. State Board of Education member Jim Porter says they need to find more ways to help people become teachers. “The crisis is now," he said. "The crisis needs to be addressed now. This is a way to address part of it. I fully support this, because we need people.” State officials plan to partner with the U.S. Department of Labor to expand the program next year.
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Central US Now Getting Worst of the Drought: Corn Crops Stressed, Rivers Running Low
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mike Shane’s Illinois farm got a nice soaking on May 8, shortly after he planted his corn crop. Since then, rain has been hard to come by. Plenty of storms have ventured close only to fizzle out before making it to Shane’s 200-acre spread near Peoria.
“It comes across the Mississippi River and then just disappears,” Shane, 47, said. “My corn looks absolutely terrible right now.” Without substantial rain soon, “I just don’t see any hope for it,” he said.
Heavy rain over the winter eased the drought in the West, but now the middle of the country is extraordinarily dry. Crops are stressed, rivers are running low, and cities and towns are anxiously hoping for a break in the weather. Experts say the drought in the central U.S. is the worst since at least 2012, and in some areas, is drawing comparisons to the 1988 drought that devastated corn, wheat and soybean crops. This year, although temperatures have been generally mild through the spring and early days of summer, rainfall has been sorely lacking. The U.S. Drought Monitor, operated by the federal government and the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, reports that nearly half of Kansas is in either extreme or exceptional drought condition — the highest drought designation. More than a quarter of Nebraska is in extreme drought, and 13% is in exceptional drought. Arid conditions permeate Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky. The frequency and intensity of droughts and rainfall are increasing due to burning fossil fuels and other human activity that releases greenhouse gases, according to data from a pair of satellites used to measure changes in Earth’s water storage. The study was published in March in the journal Nature Water. Adam Hartman, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, said some parts of the central U.S. have been experiencing extreme drought since the winter. In other states, “flash droughts” have popped up over the past 2-3 months.
“As a result you’ve see drastic losses in topsoil, subsoil moisture,” Hartman said. “We’ve seen ground water levels start to lower as well. We’ve seen stream flows start to decline.”
Crops are feeling the impact. The U.S. Department of Agriculture now rates only half of the U.S. corn crop as good or excellent — the lowest percentage since 1988. Nearly two-thirds of the nation’s corn-growing areas are in drought.
“That gives us some indicator that we’re seeing widespread stress on those crops throughout the Corn Belt,” said Krista Swanson, an economist for the National Corn Growers Association.
If rains don't arrive soon, Swanson believes total yield could be down about 1 billion bushels from the original projection of 16.7 billion bushels. That won’t necessarily mean higher costs for consumers because much of the corn is used for feed, ethanol or is exported, Swanson said. The real impact is on the farmers.
“Their cost-per-acre is the same regardless of what they produce,” Swanson said. “In these years where we have lower production, on the farmer side that’s a challenge.”
Water levels are dipping in rivers. The Mississippi River — especially from southern Illinois to the south — is extremely low in many spots. It was just last fall that the river reached or neared record low-water marks in several places, only to bounce back to flood levels in the spring, before the latest drought-fueled decline. Lynn Muench, a senior vice president for the American Waterways Operators, which advocates for the tugboat, towboat and barge industry, said barge capacity is being voluntarily reduced on parts of the Mississippi River. Losing capacity is a financial setback but operators are taking it in stride, Muench said.
“We’re a flexible and resilient industry so we’ll keep going,” he said.
Colin Wellenkamp, executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, said many communities are on edge. The drought last fall cost river communities billions of dollars in losses due to increased energy and water purification costs, lost tourism revenue, commodity losses and other hits.
“Now we’re right back into drought again,” Wellenkamp said. So far, impact has been minimal, “but if we don’t get relief in July, that’s all going to change,” he said.
On Shane's 200-acre farm, corn should be standing 10 feet tall by now. It's barely to his waist. The leaves are yellowed and Shane isn't certain the ears of corn are even developing.
“If that's the case, it's worthless,” he said.
But farmers aren't giving up hope. Swanson said the El Nino weather pattern that has taken hold typically means more rain and better growing conditions in the central U.S.
“We could see more favorable weather over the next two months, which could have a positive impact,” she said.
But even with El Nino, Hartman noted that the seasonal outlook for the summer months projects below-normal rainfall.
“This drought could stick around for a little bit,” Hartman said.
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Royals Owner John Sherman Envisions New Stadium by 2027 or 2028 Season
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals hope to settle on the location for a new ballpark by the end of the summer, and owner John Sherman said Thursday that he envisions the club playing in a new stadium by the 2027 or 2028 season. The long-preferred site is near downtown Kansas City, where the park would be the centerpiece of a redevelopment project that links the eastern part of the metro to the vibrant area near T-Mobile Center. The location would keep the club in Jackson County, though far from the current Kauffman Stadium, and continue a trend of using sports to spearhead urban renewal. But complicating matters has been a competing bid from Clay County, which sits across the Missouri River from downtown Kansas City. There is more space available for a ballpark village, much like the entertainment district that has sprung up around Truist Park in Atlanta, and that could help the small-market organization generate much-needed long-term revenue.
“We've always said ‘downtown or near downtown,'” said Sherman, who purchased the club in November 2019 from the late David Glass. “It's a highly motivated and creative bunch (in Clay County), but we've been partners with Jackson County and in Kansas City for 52 years. We value that relationship. We want them to give us their best shot, and we're going to give them our best shot to do it there. But I think we should be clear that there is certainly an alternative to that area.”
The decision, like most when it comes to building stadiums, could come down to finances. The Royals have shared the Truman Sports Complex with the Kansas City Chiefs dating to the construction of both Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium. Part of the current lease agreement calls for a 3/8-cent sales tax that goes toward the upkeep of both facilities, and that in turn has allowed each to far outlive other stadiums built during the same era. Sherman said the Royals want that sales tax to continue — it would likely be on the ballot in the spring — with the roughly $350 million that it produces in public funding shifted toward the construction of a new stadium.
“Ownership will take the rest,” Sherman said. “It's a $2 billion project, probably more when you think of infrastructure.”
The Royals also have been in constant communication with the Chiefs, who are going through their own rounds of feasibility studies for Arrowhead Stadium. Like the Royals, their lease expires in 2030-31, and the Chiefs are trying to decide whether the stadium can undergo additional renovations or whether an entirely new stadium should be built. The Royals quickly dismissed more renovations to Kauffman Stadium, where the concrete is beginning to show irreparable. It remains widely regarded as one of the most picturesque in baseball, but it also has grown antiquated when it comes to premium offerings that generate the sort of revenue that is necessary for teams to compete these days.
“We knew when we bought this team we were approaching the end of a lease with Jackson County. We knew we were in an aging building,” Sherman said. “This is the most important thing we'll have the opportunity to do while we have the privilege of being stewards of this franchise. This will be the largest private-public partnership in the history of Kansas City. It has a massive and immediate community impact, and economic impact. That's why we have a great sense of urgency of getting on with it.”
Sherman did acknowledge the awkward timing of the project. The Royals are languishing in last place in the AL Central, and are having one of the worst seasons in franchise history, which makes asking for public money a difficult proposition. But he also doesn't want the Royals to follow in the footsteps of the Athletics, who called Kansas City home before their move to Oakland. The A's tried for decades to get a new ballpark built in the Bay Area, but they are now going through the relocation application process with MLB that could result in the team building a new ballpark in Las Vegas.
“I have about 30 letters on my desk asking to vote ‘no’ on the transfer of the A's to Las Vegas. That's a process that drug on a long time, and people waited,” Sherman said. “We're at warp speed compared to how long these complicated projects usually take. We are down to two sites. We're going to be ready to have that down to one by the end of the summer.”
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This summary of area news is curated by KPR news staffers, including J. Schafer, Laura Lorson, Tom Parkinson and Kaye McIntyre. Our headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays and updated throughout the day. These ad-free headlines are made possible by KPR members. Become one today. And follow KPR News on Twitter.