State news
Latest
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Bobby-Love-white-nationalist-3-2048x1536-1.jpg?fit=669%2C438&ssl=1)
Kansas, Missouri clergy argue rise of white Christian nationalism poses threat to democracy
A campaign aims to awaken Kansans to the threat of white Christian nationalism and press for wider appreciation of how democracy could be damaged by a movement intent on undermining inclusive communities.
Want more state news? You can read Associated Press coverage of Kansas stories and more online for free here.
We post many, but not all, stories from the Kansas Reflector. Read more of their coverage here.
We also frequently post stories from the Kansas News Service. Read more of their coverage here.
MORe KANSAS NEWS
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Samsel_new-2048x1366-1.jpg?resize=670%2C446&ssl=1)
Kansas House member takes plea deal in Wellsville school case
State Rep. Mark Samsel negotiated a deal with Franklin County prosecutors resulting in probation for guilty pleas to three counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct emerging from strange physical and verbal encounters with students at Wellsville High School.
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JReitz-1-scaled-e1631227588475.jpg?resize=670%2C446&ssl=1)
Homeless advocate: COVID-19 relief insufficient, eviction surge puts families in peril
Joe Reitz, who helped start Family Promise of Lawrence, said the organization was providing emergency shelter and services to nearly two dozen families prior to the coronavirus outbreak. More recently, he said, the nonprofit was struggling to care for more than 85 families.
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Kobach3b.jpg?resize=670%2C446&ssl=1)
Kansas agrees to $1.9M settlement for defending Kobach’s baseless voter fraud claims
The Kansas Attorney General’s Office has agreed to pay the American Civil Liberties Union and other attorneys $1.9 million in fees and expenses for a five-year legal battle over an unconstitutional restriction on voter registrations.
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/graph-1-1024x576-1.png?resize=670%2C446&ssl=1)
Inside Mission Control: Hospital capacity in Kansas at its worst with latest COVID-19 surge
Richard Watson says the latest surge in COVID-19 infections has stressed Kansas hospital capacity to new extremes, nearing the point where doctors have “brutal conversations” about which patients they take care of.
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1.jpg?resize=670%2C446&ssl=1)
Groups worry Kansas criminalized voter drives, but Republicans say they’ll prove otherwise
Voter registration drives in Kansas have slowed to a trickle while a new election law is challenged in court, but Republicans are undeterred.
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/P8020336-1024x614-1.jpg?resize=670%2C446&ssl=1)
Kansas AG aides attended ‘war games’ summit where group planned response to Biden win
Two top aides in Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office traveled last year to a summit where staffers of conservative attorneys general participated in “war games” to plan how they might respond to the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/empty-classroom.jpg?resize=670%2C446&ssl=1)
Kansas data doesn’t reflect reality as COVID-19 rips through schools
School districts across the state independently reported hundreds of infections of COVID-19 among students and staff in the first two weeks of school, while the state’s official ledger showed just two small outbreaks.
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG-6911-1.jpg?resize=670%2C446&ssl=1)
Thousands of Kansans face threat of eviction as pandemic exposes housing crisis
Estimates from the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation indicate more than 27,000 Kansas are currently behind on their rent. Federal and state moratoriums have provided temporary relief for those who can prove they are unable to pay rent because of COVID-19 related circumstances, but the narrow scope has left many without protection.
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/watson.jpg?resize=670%2C446&ssl=1)
Kansas education officials celebrate graduation rates but say work is far from over
Kansas education commissioner Randy Watson says graduation rates are at an all time high, including gains in every category of at-risk students, but there is still room for improvement.
![](https://i0.wp.com/lawrencekstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Core-Civic-min.png?resize=670%2C446&ssl=1)
ACLU, public defenders urge White House to shut down violent private corrections facility in Kansas
The violence and neglect suffered by inmates at a pre-trial detention facility in Leavenworth has become so severe the facility should be shut down, a group of civil rights leaders and public defenders wrote in a letter to officials in Kansas and Washington, D.C.