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Kansas tribe fires business leaders for accepting $30 million ICE detention center contract
The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has fired senior leaders of its tribally owned business for accepting a nearly $30 million deal to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Civil rights • Voter rights • Anti-trans legislation • Abortion • Immigration • Municipalities’ local control • Kansas State Board of Education
MORe KANSAS NEWS
Kansas judicial branch withholds $2M in payments owed to IT company
The Kansas judicial branch confirmed Wednesday withholding of $2 million from a Texas contractor as leverage to speed correction of lingering information technology problems with the new centralized case management system being implemented by courts in all 105 counties.
Tessa Weinberg/Missouri Independent
Biden mandates nursing homes require COVID vaccine or lose Medicare, Medicaid funds; facilities concerned about losing staff
Nursing homes will be required to ensure their staffers are vaccinated against COVID-19, or risk losing federal Medicare and Medicaid dollars, the Biden administration announced Wednesday in a major move on vaccinations as the Delta variant sweeps many states.
Kansas health officials report 62 deaths from COVID-19 since Monday
Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the KU Health System, says the low rate of vaccination from COVID-19 and a lack of social distancing or wearing a face covering has allowed the delta variant to bring “so much of this country to its knees.” And it’s only the beginning.
Documentary places risky, complex political career of Kathleen Sebelius in focus
Kathleen Sebelius, who was elected governor and later served in the Cabinet of President Barack Obama, is the subject of a new documentary, “Red State/Blue Governor: Kansas’ Kathleen Sebelius.”
Tessa Weinberg/Missouri Independent
AARP calls for vaccine mandates as COVID reenters Kansas, Missouri nursing homes
With cases on the rise among both residents and staff, the nation’s leading advocacy group for the retirees is calling on nursing homes to mandate COVID-19 vaccines.
ONE Gas
As economic impact of winter storm nears $1B, some large Kansas customers want to investigate
Some groups representing large-scale customers say the state has more work to do investigating the cause of huge natural gas price spikes during February’s winter storm.
Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service
Kansas investigates obscure but powerful part of the drug supply chain: Pharmacy middlemen
Kansas is investigating the pharmacy middlemen industry, which claims to drive down drug costs but profits as prices escalate.
Brian Grimmett / KMUW
Wary Kansas Democrats tell Republicans to ‘keep it transparent’ as they draw new political maps
Republicans will control the redistricting process in Kansas next year. Right now, they face an uphill battle to convince residents in the suburbs of Kansas City that they won’t gerrymander the maps to supercharge Republican power.
Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector
COVID-19 is killing more Kansans now than a year ago
More Kansans are dying from COVID-19 now than they were a year ago, as new cases continue to escalate and the vaccine rate remains flat.
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
Release of U.S. Census population data amplifies political anxiety about redistricting
Kansans marked the U.S. Census Bureau’s release of population data integral to the redistricting process Thursday by pummeling state legislators on a listening tour with demands that new political boundary maps that emphasize community interests rather than partisan aspirations.
Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector
Kansas hospitals hesitate to require COVID-19 vaccine for staff before FDA approval
Kansas health care providers aren’t ready to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for employees, despite rising COVID-19 case numbers and a desire to promote the efficacy of vaccines.
Audit reveals KDHE mistakenly paid $1.3 million to Medicaid contractors for care of dead people
An expansive audit of Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s payments to companies contracted to deliver services under the state’s Medicaid program found $1.3 million in inappropriate compensation for care of people who had actually died.
Tessa Weinberg/Missouri Independent
As threat of delta variant looms, 44% of Kansas nursing home staff are unvaccinated
In Kansas, just more than 56% of nursing home workers are vaccinated. The state ranks 35th.
Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector
Kansas housing advocates warn of looming eviction crisis beyond CDC reprieve
A new eviction moratorium issued by the CDC should cover most Kansas renters, but stakeholders and advocates agree it is only a temporary solution demanding further action.
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
Former D.A. faces ethics complaint for failing to stop misconduct in Topeka murder trial
Former Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor faces an ethics complaint for prosecutorial misconduct by his assistant during the 2012 murder trial of Dana Chandler.
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