BREAKING: KBI: Items Seized by Police in Raid Will Be Returned to Newspaper
MARION, Kan. (KPR) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) says the items seized by the Marion Police Department during a raid of the Marion County Record will be returned to the town's newspaper, without review or examination. In a statement released today (WED), the KBI said the investigation remains open and will proceed independently. The KBI says it will work with the newspaper to coordinate "the prompt return of all seized items." The Marion County Attorney also issued a statement essentially saying that there was insufficient evidence for police to raid the newspaper.
(–Additional Reporting–)
Kansas Prosecutor Says "Insufficient Evidence" to Support Police Raid
MARION, Kansas (AP) — A police raid that drew national attention to a small Kansas newspaper over threats to press freedoms wasn’t supported by evidence, a prosecutor said Wednesday, as the paper’s staff scrambled to print its first edition since their cellphones and computers were seized.
Forced to rewrite wholescale stories and ads from scratch, the four-person newsroom toiled overnight to print Wednesday's edition, with a defiant front-page headline that read: “SEIZED … but not silenced.” Under the 2-inch-tall typeface, they published stories on the raid and the influx of support the weekly newspaper has since received.
On Wednesday, Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said his review of police seizures from the Marion County Record offices found “insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized."
“As a result, I have submitted a proposed order asking the court to release the evidence seized. I have asked local law enforcement to return the material seized to the owners of the property,” Ensey said in a news release.
Last week, a police raid of the newspaper’s offices, and the home of its editor and publisher, foisted the town into the center of a national debate about press freedom, with watchdog groups condemning the department's actions. Eric Meyer, the publisher, believes the raid was carried out because the newspaper was investigating why the police chief left his previous post as an officer in Kansas City, Missouri.
Police Chief Gideon Cody left the Missouri department earlier this year and began the job in Marion in June. He has not responded to interview requests.
Asked if the newspaper’s investigation of Cody may have had anything to do with the decision to raid it, Bernie Rhodes, the newspaper's attorney, responded: “I think it is a remarkable coincidence if it didn’t.”
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said Monday it was leading the investigation into the raid and what allegedly prompted it. The sheriff released the seized items Wednesday afternoon to a forensic auditor hired by the newspaper’s attorney to determine whether information on computers, cellphones and other equipment was copied.
TV and print reporters joined the conversation Wednesday in what is normally a quiet community of about 1,900 residents.
Even the White House weighed in. “This administration has been vocal about the importance of the freedom of press, here and around the globe,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at her daily briefing on Wednesday. “That is the core value when you think about our democracy, when you think about the cornerstone of our democracy, the freedom of press is right there.”
She said the raid raises “a lot of concerns and a lot of questions for us.”
The newspaper's publisher said all of the returned equipment will be forensically audited to make sure that nothing is missing or was tampered with.
“You cannot let bullies win,” Meyer said. “And eventually, a bully will cross a line to the point that it becomes so egregious that other people come around and support you.”
He added, “We have a staff that’s very experienced, including myself, and we’re not going to take crap."
Meyer has said that the stress from the raid of his home caused the death Saturday of his 98-year-old mother, Joan, the paper’s co-owner.
To put out the Wednesday edition of the paper, journalists and those involved in the business side of the newspaper used a couple of old computers that police didn’t confiscate, taking turns to get stories to the printer, to assemble ads and to check email. Because electronics were so scarce, it took the newsroom until 5 a.m. to finish the paper, said Emily Bradbury, the Kansas Press Association's executive director. Bradbury chipped in herself by answering phones and ordering meals for staffers.
“There were literally index cards going back and forth,” said Rhodes, who was also in the office. “They had all the classified ads, all the legal notices that they had to recreate. All of those were on the computers.”
The newspaper’s press run is normally 4,000 papers but since the raids they have received more than 2,000 new subscriptions, Meyer said.
At one point, a couple visiting from Arizona stopped at the front desk to buy a subscription, just to show their support, Bradbury said. Many others from around the country have purchased subscriptions since the raids. An office manager told Bradbury that she’s having a hard time keeping up with demand.
The raids exposed a divide over local politics and how the Record covers Marion, which sits about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City.
A warrant signed by a magistrate about two hours before Friday's raid said that local police sought to gather evidence of potential identity theft and other computer crimes stemming from a conflict between the newspaper and a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell.
Newell accused the newspaper of violating her privacy and said she believes the newspaper broke the law to get her personal information. The newspaper countered that it received that information unsolicited, then verified it through public online records.
Meyer said the newspaper ultimately decided not to write a story about Newell, but later reported about a city council meeting, in which Newell confirmed she’d had a DUI conviction and drove after her license was suspended.
Still, Meyer said police seized a computer tower and cellphone belonging to a reporter who wasn’t part of the effort to check on the business owner’s background.
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KU Announces Sweeping Renovations to Memorial Stadium and Football Complex
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP/KNS/KPR) — The University of Kansas will begin sweeping renovations to Memorial Stadium and the Anderson Family Football Complex at the end of the football season, representing the first steps toward a new multi-use district on the edge of campus.
The school said Tuesday that it has set an initial fundraising goal of $300 million for the football changes and upgrades to Allen Fieldhouse, the historic home of the Jayhawks' basketball programs, which have already begun. The school said private funds will cover most of the project, and it already has secured about $165 million in gifts and commitments.
The school also received $35 million in ARPA funds appropriated by the Kansas legislature and will receive up to $50 million through the Kansas Department of Commerce’s University Challenge Grant program.
"The Gateway District is a once-in-a-generation project to transform our campus and drive economic development throughout the region,” said Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod, who was joined by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, Jayhawks athletic director Travis Goff and football coach Lance Leipold for a news conference unveiling the latest plans for the project.
“It’s a great day for the university but really the community, our region and our state,” Girod said. “This is a project we have talked about for quite some time but really have moved toward reality in the last year or so.”
The first phase will include additional renovations to the Anderson Family Football Complex, which just weeks ago unveiled new locker rooms and training spaces, and construction on the southwest, west and north sides of the football stadium that includes a new conference center. The work will begin after the upcoming season and be completed by the start of the 2025 season.
The school has been trying for more than a decade to overhaul its football stadium, which is far below the standards of rival schools in the Big 12. But changes in the athletic administration, coupled with overwhelming fan apathy for a perennially poor football program at the basketball-mad school, had made it difficult to build support.
That changed with the arrival of forward-thinking Goff, who along with pushing the project forward also hired Leipold, who last year led the Jayhawks to a .500 regular-season record and their first bowl game since the 2008 season.
“We have a proud history,” Goff said, “but this unprecedented investment makes a powerful statement about an even brighter future and provides far-reaching impact for our university community, fans and football program.”
Goff said that seating in the bowl area would be about 100 feet closer to the field — a significant gap has existed ever since the school removed the old running track — and about 70% of the stadium will be replaced. The construction will force Kansas to play with a dramatically reduced capacity next season, but games will still be played at Memorial Stadium.
“We will have in essence a new football stadium,” Goff said.
The construction is about more than just the football program, though.
Future phases will overhaul the south and east portions of the stadium but also develop multi-use spaces that include a mix of amenities — such as retail spaces, entertainment venues, office spaces and lodging — that can drive year-round revenue.
“This project will help us continue to meet all our missions and grow in every single way,” Girod said. “As I told someone earlier, every project has its time. And this is a project that we've been talking about — we had a big announcement two weeks before I took this job, and that was seven years ago. We needed the right time and the right leaders, and we have that.”
“It's really excited to be at this point,” Girod said. “We know this is going to be game-changing for us.” (Read more.)
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Audits: Kansas Needs to Do Better with Foster Care System
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) —Two separate audits of the Kansas foster care system say the state needs to do more to help foster children. The audits found that foster kids are being moved around too much, struggle to get mental health care and that more kids are sleeping in offices this year. One report is part of a lawsuit settlement that said the state needs to meet certain goals to avoid future court action. So far, the state is not doing that. Rachel Marsh is the CEO of the Children’s Alliance of Kansas. She says these issues have plagued the foster care system for years. “There are steps that Kansas is making today that they've been working on improving, but we still have a ways to go," she said. Marsh is especially concerned about poor tracking of data. That makes it harder to truly measure if programs are working.
(Additional reporting...)
Report: Kansas Needs to Improve Foster Care System
TOPEKA, Kan. (TCJ) — The state's child welfare system has continued to lag in a number of key areas over the past year, despite a lawsuit settlement promising greater improvement. That's according to a report released Monday. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that there has been a rise in the number of children sleeping in offices, a practice long condemned by state officials and one which the state pledged to halt. The new report reveals a 54% rise in the number of children sleeping in offices from 2021 to 2022. While most of the 85 children spent only one night in an office, nine did so for more than five days and six children slept in offices on separate occasions. (Read more.)
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Kansas Sets Record for Ag Exports in 2022
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced record-setting agriculture exports of nearly $5.5 billion. KSNT TV reports that agricultural exports in 2022 reached the highest export total in decades. The top ag export for Kansas was beef, which made up more than $2 billion of the agricultural exports. The second most exported product was cereals and grain, including corn, wheat, and sorghum. Third was oil seed, primarily from soybeans. The governor noted Mexico was the state's largest importer of Kansas goods at $2 billion in 2022. Japan was the second largest importer with more than $780 million and Canada was third with $594 million. Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Mike Beam met Tuesday with ag officials from Mexico and Canada as part of the annual Tri-National Accord in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
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Judge Approves Settlement in Kansas Football Injury Case
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCUR) — A federal judge has approved a settlement in the case of a college football player at Fort Scott Community College who died from heat-related injuries in 2021. The settlement hearing in Kansas City, Kansas, federal court came almost two years to the day 19-year-old Tirrell Williams collapsed during football practice at Fort Scott Community College. On that day, players allege they were denied water and forced to run sprints and perform other strenuous activities as punishment after head coach Carson Hunter found trash on the practice field. The teen’s mother, Natasha Washington, came from suburban New Orleans to attend the hearing where a judge approved the settlement. The amount was undisclosed but Kansas law generally caps damages for public institutions at five-hundred thousand dollars. (Read more.)
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Clay County, Missouri Jury Finds Former Police Chief Guilty of Felony Assault
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBC) — A jury in Clay County, Missouri, has found the former Chief of Police in Greenwood, 53-year-old Greg Hallgrimson, guilty in the 2020 felony domestic assault of his ex-wife. The jury returned the verdict after deliberating less than two hours. Hallgrimson was given until September 11 to appeal the verdict and file a motion for a new trial. A sentencing hearing was set for October 22 in the Clay County Courthouse. KMBC TV reports that Hallgrimson will remain in custody on a $1.5 million bond. Greenwood straddles Clay and Jackson Counties just southeast of Kansas City.
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Topeka Approves Pay Raises for Street Maintenance Workers
TOPEKA (KSNT) — Some Topeka city workers will soon see a pay raise. At its meeting Tuesday, the city council unanimously agreed to increase pay for its street maintenance workers. KSNT TV reports that the decision comes after the Teamsters Union approached the city to discuss better wages for employees of the Public Works Department. Administrators say that 16 out of 40 positions are vacant in the street maintenance division and, they say, this pay boost will make Topeka more competitive when working to fill those open positions.
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KC Tops List of Top U.S. Cities for Increasing Rents
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KC Star) — It's getting more expensive to rent in Kansas City. According to one nationwide study, rent got even more expensive over the past year. In fact, Kansas City showed the biggest increase in rents among 50 of the biggest cities in the U.S. The Kansas City Star reports that rent shot up 16% year over year, with a median monthly rent of nearly $1,700. The study was carried out by online apartment marketplace Rent.com. (Find the full report here.)
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Kansas City Hosts International Convention of Fire Chiefs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KSHB) — Expect to see lots of firefighters in Kansas City this week. The city is hosting the International Association of Fire Chiefs International Conference. KSHB TV reports it's the organization’s 150th anniversary and is expected to attract about 10,000 fire chiefs from around the world. The group says the exchange of information and sessions on the latest firefighting research helps fire chiefs learn new techniques.
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KBI Takes Lead in Criminal Investigation of Newspaper that Police Raided
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has taken over as the lead agency in the criminal investigation that led to the raid of a small town newspaper in Marion. The move comes after backlash against the police chief whose department conducted the raid. The KBI has taken over as the lead law enforcement agency in the wake of the criticism of Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody. His officers executed a search warrant on the office of the Marion County Record as well as the homes of its publisher and a city councilwoman, a move that has drawn widespread condemnation. According to the Kansas City Star, a KBI spokesperson says the agency will review steps already taken by local police and then proceed with the investigation into possible distribution of confidential criminal justice records.
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EXPLAINER: Why Is a Police Raid on a Newspaper in Kansas So Unusual?
NEW YORK (AP/KPR) — Tensions between public officials and the press are hardly unusual. To a large extent, it's baked into their respective roles. What's rare in a democratic society is a police raid on a news organization's office or the home of its owner. So, when that happened late last week, it attracted the sort of national attention that the town of Marion, Kansas, is hardly used to.
The Marion Police Department took computers and cellphones from the office of the Marion County Record newspaper on Friday, and also entered the home of Eric Meyer, publisher and editor. The weekly newspaper serves a town of 1,900 people that is about 150 miles southwest of Kansas City, Missouri.
Within two days, the raid drew the attention of some of the nation's largest media organizations, including The Associated Press, The New York Times, CNN, CBS News, the New Yorker and the Gannett newspaper chain.
WHAT PROMPTED THIS ACTION?
Police said they had probable cause to believe there were violations of Kansas law, including one pertaining to identity theft, involving a woman named Kari Newell, according to a search warrant signed by Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar. Newell is a local restaurant owner — and no big fan of the newspaper — who had Meyer and one of his reporters thrown out of an event being held there for a local congressman. Newell said she believed the newspaper, acting on a tip, violated the law to get her personal information to check the status of her driver's license following a 2008 conviction for drunk driving. Meyer said the Record decided not to write about it, but when Newell revealed at a subsequent city council meeting that she had driven while her license was suspended, that was reported. Meyer also believes the newspaper's aggressive coverage of local issues, including the background of Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, played a part in the raid.
HOW UNUSUAL IS THIS?
It's exceedingly rare. In 2019, San Francisco police raided the home of Bryan Carmody, an independent journalist, seeking to find his source for a story about a police investigation into the sudden death of a local public official, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. San Francisco paid a settlement to Carmody as a result of the raid.
Police have confiscated material at newspapers, but usually because they are seeking evidence to help investigate someone else's crime, not a crime the journalists were allegedly involved in, said Clay Calvert, an expert on First Amendment law at the American Enterprise Institute. For example, when police raided the offices of James Madison University's student newspaper in 2010, they seized photos as part of a probe into a riot. The Marion raid "appears to have violated federal law, the First Amendment, and basic human decency," said Seth Stern, advocacy director for the Freedom of the Press Foundation. "Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves."
COULD THIS BE LEGAL?
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution asserts that Congress shall make no law "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." Things get murkier when you get into specifics. Journalists gathering material for use in possible stories are protected by the federal Privacy Protection Act of 1980. For one thing, police need a subpoena — not just a search warrant — to conduct such a raid, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Cody acknowledged this, in an email to The Associated Press, but he said there is an exception "when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing." Gabe Rottman, lawyer for the Reporters Committee, said he's not sure Cody's reason for believing the so-called suspect exception applies here. In general, it does not apply to material used in the course of reporting, like draft stories or public documents that are being used to check on a news tip. The search warrant in this case was "significantly overbroad, improperly intrusive and possibly in violation of federal law," the Reporters Committee said in a letter to Cody that was signed by dozens of news organizations.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER SO MUCH TO JOURNALISTS?
It's important to speak out in this case "because we're just seeing in way too many countries around the world that democracy is being eroded bit by bit," said Kathy Kiely, Lee Hills chair of Free Press Studies at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Anger toward the press in the United States, often fueled by politicians, has grown in recent years, leading to concern about actions being taken to thwart news coverage. In April, an Oklahoma sheriff was among several county officials caught on tape discussing killing journalists and lynching Black people. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond later said there was no legal grounds to remove McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy. In June, two reporters for the Asheville Blade newspaper in North Carolina were found guilty of misdemeanor trespassing. The Freedom of Press Foundation said the reporters were arrested while covering a police sweep of a homeless encampment and arrested for being in the park after its 10 pm closing.
WHAT SUPPORT IS THERE FOR THE POLICE ACTION?
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation issued a statement Sunday stating that Director Tony Mattivi "believes very strongly that freedom of the press is a vanguard of American democracy." But the statement added that search warrants are common at places like law enforcement offices and city, county and state offices. "No one is above the law, whether a public official or a representative of the media," the statement read. Meyer said the agency has not contacted him or anyone at the newspaper. "I don't know what they've been told, but they haven't talked to us," he said. "They've heard one side of the story and haven't heard the other one."
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Millions of Kids Are Missing Weeks of School as Attendance Tanks Across America
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Nationwide, students have been absent at record rates since schools reopened after COVID-forced closures. More than a quarter of students missed at least 10% of the 2021-22 school year. Before the pandemic, only 15% of students missed that much school. All told, an estimated 6.5 million additional students were chronically absent. That's according to data compiled by Stanford University education professor Thomas Dee in partnership with The Associated Press. The analysis is based on the most recent data available, from 40 states and Washington, D.C. It provides the most comprehensive accounting of absenteeism nationwide. The absences come on top of time missed during school closures. They cost crucial time in classrooms as schools work to recover from massive learning setbacks.
Absences were more prevalent among Latino, Black and low-income students, according to Dee's analysis. Absent students miss out not only on instruction but also on all the other things schools provide — meals, counseling, socialization. In the end, students who are chronically absent — missing 18 or more days a year, in most places — are at higher risk of not learning to read and eventually dropping out. "The long-term consequences of disengaging from school are devastating. And the pandemic has absolutely made things worse and for more students," said Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit addressing chronic absenteeism.
Kids are staying home for myriad reasons — finances, housing instability, illness, transportation issues, school staffing shortages, anxiety, depression, bullying and generally feeling unwelcome at school. And the effects of online learning linger: School relationships have frayed, and after months at home, many parents and students don't see the point of regular attendance.
Alaska led in absenteeism, with 48.6% of students missing significant amounts of school. Alaska Native students' rate was higher, 56.5%. Those students face poverty and a lack of mental health services, as well as a school calendar that isn't aligned to traditional hunting and fishing activities, said Heather Powell, a teacher and Alaska Native. Many students are raised by grandparents who remember the government forcing Native children into boarding schools.
"Our families aren't valuing education because it isn't something that's ever valued us," Powell said.
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2 Missouri Moms Charged for Children's School Absences Lose Their Court Battle
LEBANON, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a state law criminalizing parents whose children miss school, ruling against two mothers charged in their young children's tardiness. Prosecutors charged two moms from Lebanon, Missouri, with misdemeanors and the mothers then went to the state Supreme Court to challenge the law's constitutionality. One mother was sentenced to a week in county jail for her first-grade daughter's nine unexcused absences in the 2021 school year. Another was sentenced to two years of probation for her kindergartener's seven unexcused absences that year. Missouri law requires K-12 students to attend school "on a regular basis." A public defender for the mothers argued the law is unconstitutionally vague. Supreme Court judges disagreed, ruling that regular attendance means going to school when it is in session. Judges wrote that school officials can excuse an absence for mental or physical illness and opt not to report parents to prosecutors. Prosecutors, judges wrote, can choose not to charge parents in cases of "minor noncompliance." The mothers' public defender did not immediately return an Associated Press phone call Tuesday.
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Biden Administration Urges Colleges to Pursue Racial Diversity Without Affirmative Action
UNDATED (AP) — New guidance from the Biden administration urges colleges to use a range of strategies to promote racial diversity on their campuses after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in admissions. Colleges are safe to focus their recruiting in high minority areas, for example, and take steps to retain students of color who are already on campus, including by offering affinity clubs geared toward students of a certain race. The guidance says colleges can also consider how an applicant's race has shaped their personal experience It also encourages them to consider ending policies known to stint racial diversity, including preferences for legacy students and the children of donors.
The guidance, from the Justice and Education departments, arrives as colleges across the nation attempt to navigate a new era of admissions without the use of affirmative action. Schools are working to promote racial diversity without provoking legal action from affirmative action opponents.
Students for Fair Admission, the group that brought the issue to the Supreme Court through lawsuits against Harvard and the University of North Carolina, sent a letter to 150 universities in July saying they must "take immediate steps to eliminate the use of race as a factor in admissions."
In its guidance, the Biden administration offers a range of policies colleges can use "to achieve a student body that is diverse across a range of factors, including race and ethnicity." It also offers clarity on how colleges can consider race in the context of an applicant's individual experience. The court's decision bars colleges from considering race as a factor in and of itself, but nothing prohibits colleges from considering "an applicant's discussion of how race affected the applicant's life," the court wrote. How to approach that line without crossing it has been a challenge for colleges as they rework admissions systems before a new wave of applications begin arriving in the fall. The guidance offers examples of how colleges can "provide opportunities to assess how applicants' individual backgrounds and attributes — including those related to their race."
"A university could consider an applicant's explanation about what it means to him to be the first Black violinist in his city's youth orchestra or an applicant's account of overcoming prejudice when she transferred to a rural high school where she was the only student of South Asian descent," according to the guidance. Schools can also consider a letter of recommendation describing how a student "conquered her feelings of isolation as a Latina student at an overwhelmingly white high school to join the debate team," it says.
Countering a directive from Students for Fair Admissions, the new guidance says colleges can legally collect data about the race of students and applicants, as long as it doesn't influence admissions decisions.
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More States Expect Schools to Keep Trans Girls Off Girls Teams as K-12 Classes Resume
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP/KPR) — Children are heading back to classes and fall sports practices, and four more states are expecting their K-12 schools to keep transgender girls off their girls sports teams. Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming had new laws restricting transgender athletes in place before classes resumed, and a Missouri law takes effect at the end of this month. That brings the number of states with restrictions to 23. The restrictions have been imposed since 2020, and most are aimed at transgender girls. Almost all say other students and their parents can sue schools that don't enforce the restrictions. Principals and schools are expected to be the enforcers.
This year's new restrictions are part of a larger wave of legislation across the U.S. against transgender rights. Republican legislators in some states have banned gender-affirming care for minors, restricted transgender people's use of school and public restrooms, limited what public schools can teach about gender and sexuality and barred schools from requiring the use of a transgender student's preferred pronouns.
The sports laws have been imposed since 2020, and most are aimed at transgender girls. A majority cover less formal intramural contests organized within a single school's student body as well as contests among different schools, and some restrict transgender boys as well. Almost all say other students and their parents can sue schools that don't enforce the restrictions. Lawmakers expect a child's earliest birth certificate to determine which sports teams they can join. Principals and coaches are expected to be the enforcers.
In Oklahoma, where a law has been in place since 2022, athletes or their parents must file an annual affidavit "acknowledging the biological sex of the student at birth." Kansas and other states expect school officials to review a child's earliest birth certificate if questions arise about an athlete's eligibility.
Bill Faflick, executive director of the Kansas State High School Activities Association, said his state's law has been greeted by a "matter of fact" acceptance in rules seminars for administrators and coaches. "It has not been met with any resistance and has not been met with any outpouring of support or opposition, one way or the other," Faflick said.
Even before the laws against transgender girls on girls teams passed, some states largely blocked the practice by handling questions or concerns on a case-by-case level at the school or state athletic association level.
Supporters of the restrictions argue that they're protecting fair competition and scholarship opportunities for young women that took decades to win. They say that well before puberty, boys have physical advantages over girls in speed, strength and lung capacity. "It's a puzzlement to me that more people aren't feeling sympathy for the girls whose sports careers are ruined," said Tom Horne, the elected Republican state school superintendent in Arizona, who is defending his state's law in federal court.
In Kansas, the State High School Activities Association recorded 11 transgender athletes during the 2022-23 school year, and three were trans girls.
Becky Pepper-Jackson appeared to be the only transgender girl seeking to play girls' sports in West Virginia in 2021 when the then-11-year-old and her mother, Heather Jackson, sued the state over its law. Because of their lawsuit, the West Virginia law is on hold, and Becky, now a 13-year-old entering eighth grade, threw the discus and the shot put in seven track meets this spring. The state is trying to persuade a federal appeals court to let it enforce its law, and in a filing last month, it cited the longer distances Becky threw this year as a reason. The state said any time another girl finished behind Becky in either event — more than 180 times — the other athlete had been unfairly "displaced."
Parents, doctors and LGBTQ+ rights advocates say restrictions on transgender athletes are less about sports and more about trying to make transgender kids disappear from society.
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MLB Commissioner Throws Support Behind New Stadium for the Kansas City Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred threw his support behind a new stadium for the Royals on Wednesday, calling both of their potential sites near downtown Kansas City “unbelievably high quality” for the type of revenue-producing, multi-use districts that are necessary for small-market clubs to compete.
Manfred spoke for an hour at the Urban Youth Academy, which is designed to encourage inner-city youth in baseball, alongside Royals chairman John Sherman and Bob Kendrick, the president of the nearby Negro Leagues Baseball Museum — which itself is in the midst of a $25 million fundraising effort for a new home.
The Royals plan to announce in September whether they will build a replacement for Kauffman Stadium in the East Village, an area near the T-Mobile Center and the existing Power & Light District, or across the Missouri River in Clay County, where there is more land available for a potentially larger baseball village.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for this community — forget the Royals,” Manfred said. "Either of these sites are outstanding sites for a new ballpark. Either present the opportunity for entertainment district development around the ballpark.
“I think in our economic system,” Manfred said, “new facilities provide a ballclub with an opportunity for revenue generation that simply doesn't exist in older footprints. At some point — great ballpark here, but having said that, it is an older ballpark that does not have the kind of premier revenue-generating opportunities that you get in a new facility for a market this size.”
The Royals have said the new ballpark project will cost about $2 billion. Most will be privately funded, but a portion of the money is expected to come from the renewal of a 3/8-cent sales tax that has been used the upkeep of Kauffman Stadium.
However, the sales tax was passed by voters in Jackson County, which is where the downtown ballpark location sits; if that location is chosen, the vote for it would likely occur in April. But the site across the river sits in Clay County, and that would potentially require a different funding structure than what has long been envisioned.
Another factor is that the Royals have shared that tax revenue with the Chiefs, because Kauffman Stadium shares the Truman Sports Complex with Arrowhead Stadium. But the NFL franchise prefers Arrowhead Stadium rather than build anew, and how those two franchises can continue to co-exist in different locations is not entirely clear.
Regardless of the choice of location, Sherman has said the new Royals stadium will take about three years to complete, which would mean opening day for the 2027 or 2028 season. He also said in a recent letter to fans that the project would create about 20,000 jobs, produce roughly $1.4 billion in labor income and $2.8 billion in total economic output, while its inaugural season would “generate some $185 million more in regional economic output than The K does today.”
Much of that money would come from premier seating and club spaces that are not possible at Kauffman Stadium, which has long been one of the jewels of Major League Baseball, but is currently the sixth-oldest park still in operation.
“Our region is at a critical juncture, and I say that in a positive way,” Sherman said. “We have a new airport. The World Cup is coming (in 2026). We just hosted the NFL Draft. We have a women's soccer stadium coming out of the ground on the riverfront, the only one of its kind, and the Chiefs and Royals are talking about doing some really special things for this community.”
Manfred pointed to the way new stadiums for the Nationals and Braves have driven revitalization and revenue.
In the case of the Nationals, their new ballpark has sped up development of what was once a largely industrial neighborhood known as Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. In the case of the Braves, the glittering new Truist Park serves as the fulcrum of The Battery Atlanta, where restaurants and high-end residential areas have sprung from the ground.
“I lived in the District, worked in the District for 15 years. The Navy Yard, where Nationals Park sits, the time I lived there you wouldn't go there. Nobody went there,” Manfred said. “If you go there now, you have the ballpark, all this development, high-class housing, mixed-use development. ... (In Atlanta), they built a city where there was none. It has become one of the prime entertainment centers in the metropolitan area where there was nothing."
Both of the Kansas City sites are optimal for development in that they are riddled with old, vacant buildings and empty lots. But both also would require substantial investment in parking, ingress and egress, and other infrastructure.
“This process that we're in the middle of right now — evaluating — it's imperative we do this right now to find a new home, a new stadium, a new ballpark,” Sherman said, “but as importantly a new location where we can bring vibrancy and energy around the ballpark and do great things for this city.”
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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. You can also follow KPR News on Twitter.