It was on this date - January 29th, 1861 - that Kansas was admitted to the Union as the 34th state. Three months later, the nation was embroiled in the American Civil War. But let's not think about that. Instead, let's celebrate the state's people, culture and history. Happy Kansas Day!

A new documentary profiles the ranchers of Greenwood County, Kansas. In this excerpt, we learn about the Perrier family and their operation: Dalebanks Angus near Eureka, Kansas.

Another University of Kansas alum has flown into space. Dr. Laura Stiles is part of Blue Origin's latest suborbital mission. She's the fifth Jayhawk to travel to space.

These are the closures for Monday, January 26, 2026 as reported to KPR. Want to share your event closures? Contact the KPR News Director.

Kansas lawmakers are back in session in Topeka. The governor wants them to address the state's ongoing water problems. But will they? Commentator Rex Buchanan has more on the state's long-running water problems - problems that many are now calling a crisis.

Here's the list of weather-related cancellations and closures throughout the region that have been reported to KPR.

It almost sounds like a bad sit-com: A French aristocrat moves to rural Kansas to start a silk-making commune. But it really happened, more than 150 years ago, and although—spoiler alert—the commune failed, it can still tell us much about what life in the United States was like back then—and what it’s like today.

On Thursday morning, officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement toured a warehouse in south Kansas City with aims to hold detainees there. By the afternoon, city lawmakers put in place a measure to stop such detention centers from being approved.

One legend of the Old West involves a Mexican-American lawman who grew up in Topeka. The lawman once fought off dozens of gunfighters in New Mexico in a battle that lasted more than 30 hours. After 4,000 rounds were fired, the lawman emerged unscathed. Commentator Katie Keckeisen has more on the legend of Elfego Baca and his connection to Kansas.

Lawrence police used genetic genealogy to help solve a 25-year-old pair of child sex crime cases.