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Kansas students can’t have their cell phones during the school day starting this fall
Starting this fall, Kansas will join at least 20 other states that ban student cell phones in K-12 classrooms statewide.
Kansas students can’t have their cell phones during the school day starting this fall
Starting this fall, Kansas will join at least 20 other states that ban student cell phones in K-12 classrooms statewide.
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Civil rights • Voter rights • Anti-trans legislation • Abortion • Immigration • Municipalities’ local control • Kansas State Board of Education
MORe KANSAS NEWS
‘Mothers, sisters and daughters’: After years of rehabilitation, four Kansas women seek clemency
As the state approaches the two-year mark of the pandemic, the ACLU is renewing calls to examine applications for release, this time highlighting women in Kansas prison custody.
White House imposes travel restrictions for Africa amid new COVID-19 variant
The White House is set to announce travel restrictions to eight countries in Southern Africa on Monday because of the discovery of a new coronavirus variant, according to senior administration officials.
Special session offers hint of what awaits Kansas lawmakers in 2022 legislative session
Expect the Legislature to grapple with an assortment of coronavirus bills, including one taking away authority of private businesses to mandate employees get a COVID-19 vaccination. Another proposal would add COVID-19 vaccination status to the list of prohibited forms of employment discrimination along with race, religion, color, sex, disability, ancestry, national origin and age.
Consumer advocates fear hedge funds’ influence could mean more spending, rate hikes at Evergy
Four of the five members on Evergy’s finance committee, tasked with recommending management and investment decisions to the board of directors, were selected by activist hedge funds that critics worry are asserting undue influence over the electric utility.
Kansas governor plans to combat 24/7 facility staffing shortages with pay initiative
Kansas state employees at several 24/7 state facilities are the beneficiaries of a new pay initiative aimed at reducing staffing shortages, Gov. Laura Kelly announced.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signs special session bill allowing unvaccinated workers to keep jobs
Gov. Laura Kelly has signed legislation passed during a special session Monday, clearing the way for unvaccinated workers to keep their jobs in the face of federal mandates.
Redistricting committees urged to avoid temptation of drawing convoluted maps
The Republican-controlled Legislature is expected to lean toward adoption of boundaries in the four congressional districts favorable to winning each of the partisan elections.
David Condos / Kansas News Service
Even in the most Hispanic cities in Kansas, getting elected as a Latina is an uphill battle
In a pair of predominantly Hispanic southwest Kansas communities, two women try to become the first Latinas voted into local office. Elections earlier this month show both how far Latina candidates have come and how many barriers they still face.
Kansas Legislature adopts bill with expanded vaccine exemptions, unemployment benefits
The Kansas Legislature completed a 14-hour special session Monday night by sending Gov. Laura Kelly a bill packed with generous medical, religious and philosophical exemptions to federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates and the potential of state unemployment benefits to people fired for refusing to be inoculated.
Kansas House passes bill allowing moral, medical, religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccines
Anti-vaxxers packed the gallery overlooking the House chamber for this historic special session debate, and were repeatedly admonished for jeering, applauding or coughing on the lawmakers below.
Kansas Senate surges ahead with vaccination exemptions, unemployment aid bill
The Kansas Senate struggled with a series of amendments Monday before passing a bill defining wide religious and medical exemptions to federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates and extending state unemployment assistance to people fired for refusing inoculations.
Kansas’ proposed vaccination freedom reform attracts heavy dose of skepticism
On the to-do list for the Kansas Legislature’s special session will be laws making it easier for a person to claim a religious exemption to vaccination mandates, and they’ll likely consider granting unemployment benefits to anyone fired for refusing to be vaccinated or to undergo regular testing.
Lee Norman steps down as Kansas health secretary, months after internal dispute
Lee Norman stepped down Thursday from his high-profile cabinet post as the chief medical officer in Kansas, where he managed the state’s response to COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.
Norman retreated from public view in June following a tense exchange with the governor’s chief of staff, who wanted Norman to stay in his lane and avoid sensitive political issues when speaking to news reporters.
Health agency urges Kansans to take COVID-19 precautions for holiday season
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is advising Kansans to follow the pillars of infection control and take steps to keep themselves and family safe from COVID-19 during the holiday season.
Carlos Moreno / KCUR 89.3
A private company asked Kansas to hide public information, so the state obliged
Emails between an auditing firm and Kansas show how quickly the state bent to the company’s wishes to keep information out of public view. Experts say this reflects a disturbing national trend.
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