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Legislators override veto to create 25-foot ‘safe zone’ around police, emergency personnel
Republican legislators overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto to create a buffer around law enforcement and emergency personnel, making it a misdemeanor to go within 25 feet of a first responder while they are working.
Legislators override veto to create 25-foot ‘safe zone’ around police, emergency personnel
Republican legislators overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto to create a buffer around law enforcement and emergency personnel, making it a misdemeanor to go within 25 feet of a first responder while they are working.
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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 mental health ranking improves, but numbers for young people worsen
Kansas ranked worst in the nation for mental illness prevalence and mental health care access in a 2023 report, but new data shows the state’s ranking significantly improved this year.
Forget the stereotypes. Many homeless Kansans have jobs but can’t afford a place to live
Advocates say homelessness in Kansas is mainly caused by a lack of affordable housing, not issues like mental health. Efforts to increase housing stock have built thousands of new units, but it’s not enough, and some communities oppose new developments.
Kansas Supreme Court affirms police conduct allegedly ‘akin to a psychological rubber hose’
The Kansas Supreme Court reversed a judge’s decision to suppress a confession despite detectives’ claims that a computer voice stress test was 100% accurate and proved a defendant lied about his innocence in an alleged sexual abuse case.
As Kansas farms grow bigger, more people leave and rural life gets lonelier
Kansas farms have expanded their operations and are now bigger than ever, which has led to an economic boom. But that also means fewer farmers, and that has contributed to depopulation in rural parts of the state that were socially isolated to begin with.
Aetna awaits court decisions on lost Medicaid contract, destroyed documents
Before Kansas officials revealed they had ousted Aetna Better Health as one of the providers for the state’s $4 billion Medicaid program, they destroyed documents that Aetna believes would have helped the company appeal the decision.
Kansas uninsured rate remains worse than national average; 240K without health coverage
Kansans are uninsured at a rate higher than the rest of the country for a third straight year, but the effects of Medicaid “unwinding” have yet to be seen, recent U.S. Census Bureau data shows.
Kansas City man asks appeals court to overturn conviction connected to disgraced detective
A Kansas Court of Appeals panel heard arguments Tuesday at KU about whether a disgraced KCK police detective’s involvement in a 1997 murder case should result in an overturned conviction.
Kansas foster care report brings ‘grim picture’ of minimal progress into focus
An annual, independent review of Kansas’ foster care system shows it fell short for the third year in a row of improvements to housing instability and mental health care delays.
Kansas audit examines impact of restricting access to cash assistance for low-income families
Spending on Kansas’ cash assistance program for low-income families has dwindled by nearly 40% in the past 14 years while lawmakers limited eligibility and inflation surged, according to a new audit.
Kansas election official says nearly 1,000 primary ballots tossed due to mail processing issues
The Kansas secretary of state said approximately 1,000 August primary voters were disenfranchised because ballots mailed before Election Day arrived in county offices more than three days after the deadline or without an essential postmark.
Trade, taxes and visas: Derek Schmidt and Nancy Boyda pitch to voters in Kansas’ 2nd District
Candidates running for U.S. Congress in Kansas offered their views on some of the country’s greatest ongoing debates on Wednesday at a forum hosted by the Kansas Chamber in Topeka.
Judge diverts from plea deal for rural Kansas prosecutor, sentences him to jail time
A rural Kansas prosecutor apologized for his shortcomings and committing misdemeanor crimes before being escorted to jail Wednesday after years of investigation into allegations of more serious misconduct.
Kansas COVID-19 spike coincides with unexplained tuberculosis infections
As the Kansas and Missouri medical communities prepare for respiratory illness season, health officials grapple with an early COVID-19 infection spike and higher-than-normal tuberculosis infections in Wyandotte County.
Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Kansas Supreme Court closes valve in protracted dispute on illegal hog-effluent pipeline
A Kansas hog farmer’s campaign to convince the courts he had a right to install a livestock sewage pipeline along a public road in the right-of-way on neighbors’ property without permission has come to an end in state courts.
114k Kansans lost Medicaid coverage in post-pandemic ‘unwinding’ review
More than 100,000 Kansans have lost health care coverage through the state’s Medicaid program since April 2023 after the rocky “unwinding” of pandemic-era protections, but the agency in charge of the review has seen progress recently based on incremental changes.
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