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Former Rep. Esau seeks end of Kansas’ 3-day grace period for accepting mailed advance ballots
A former state rep. said it was a mistake for the 2017 Kansas Legislature to create a 3-day grace period for acceptance of mail-in advance ballots postmarked before polls closed on Election Day.
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Pipeline spills oil into Kansas creek near Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
Time will tell whether an oil spill upstream on Rattlesnake Creek will harm the birds that flock to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, a migratory bird stop in Stafford County.

Voting rights advocates pan Kansas Republican’s ‘invite-only stage for election conspiracies’
Republican Sen. Mike Thompson orchestrated a two-day debauchery of fearmongering about advance ballots, drop boxes, and voter registration efforts. No local election official was invited to participate.

Think tank demands release of ‘secret’ Kansas voter registration deal. It was readily available.
Florida think tank lobbyists pressured Kansas legislators to investigate Gov. Laura Kelly for negotiating a “secret” agreement requiring distribution of voter registration information to recipients of government safety-net assistance.

Biden vetoes bill that would remove lesser prairie chicken protections
U.S. President Joe Biden vetoed legislation meant to undermine federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a previously ubiquitous bird that is now endangered in several states.

Estimated 12,000 Kansans mistakenly kicked off Medicaid due to eligibility processing glitch
Kansas administrators of the Medicaid program estimate 12,000 adults or children eligible for the health coverage program were stripped of benefits due to problems with processing renewals.

Mental health advocates ask for legislative policy that treats unhoused Kansans with respect
Mental health advocates are once again brainstorming ways to approach the Kansas Legislature about the state’s growing homelessness problem.

Kansas counties eager for lawmakers to resurrect property tax relief fund
The Legislature’s perennial failure to invest in lowering local property taxes left Miami County with a budget dilemma this year. The Local Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund has been dormant for 20 years.

Kansas special committee leans harder toward raising legislators’ annual base salary to $45,000
A bipartisan committee built momentum for the idea of raising the annual base salary of legislators to $45,000 and delivering substantial compensation premiums for eight lawmakers in leadership positions.

Top Kansas Republicans push flat tax proposal, pan Medicaid expansion
After declaring themselves a united family, “like brothers and sisters,” the top Republicans in the Legislature announced they will work together to resurrect and pass a massive flat tax plan in the first weeks of the upcoming legislative session.

‘A nice, regular fall’: Kansas doctors call for more vaccinations to dampen COVID-19 cases
Doctors warn that colder months have already brought an uptick in COVID-19 cases, especially in the urban parts of the state, though numbers are still significantly lower than they were during the height of the pandemic.