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Kansas regulators opt against subpoena in investigation of natural gas price spikes
Kansas energy regulators will not issue a subpoena in what attorneys representing large-scale natural gas customers hoped would be an investigation into potential price-gouging during a devastating February storm. The Kansas Corporation Commission decided unanimously on Thursday not to subpoena S&P Global Platts Gas Daily, denying a motion from industrial groups alleging “overwhelming circumstantial evidence […]
Kansas AG aides attended ‘war games’ summit where group planned response to Biden win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — 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. Records obtained by Kansas Reflector show the two aides — Clint […]
ACLU, public defenders urge White House to shut down violent private corrections facility in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — 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. The letter, dated Thursday, said leaders at […]
Judge tosses lawsuit backed by Kansas AG challenging Biden’s ‘social cost of carbon’ calculation
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge found a group of Republican attorneys general lacked the standing to sue President Joe Biden’s administration for taking steps to consider the “social cost of carbon” in federal regulations. The suit, supported by officials in 13 states, was led by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who is running […]
Kansas City suffers from severe urban heat. Research now underway might help leaders address it.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The strain excessive heat was putting on the streets of Kansas City was obvious during a streak of days earlier this month when peak temperatures stayed above 90 degrees for days in a row. In and around downtown, volunteers with the Salvation Army handed out water bottles just after noon, hoping […]
Evergy’s Kansas customers with solar panels will get refund for unconstitutional fees
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Evergy customers with solar panels on their homes will get refunds in the coming weeks for the unconstitutional charges the electric utility required them to pay. The Kansas Corporation Commission earlier this week approved an order modifying rates for Evergy’s customers on the Kansas side of the Kansas City metro, meant […]
Biden mandates nursing homes require COVID vaccine or lose Medicare, Medicaid funds
WASHINGTON — 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. Under the new nursing home policy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services […]
‘We’re in unprecedented times’: Kansas university looks to new curriculum for climate change era
In light of the catastrophic climate change that has produced devastating wildfires, rising oceans and sweltering summer heat, education that is siloed by students’ chosen fields is no longer workable, says a Kansas professor. “We’re in unprecedented times, so in that context, we cannot have an education like we used to have because the same […]
Kansas, Missouri lost thousands of clean energy jobs last year, report says
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After several years of continual gains, Kansas and Missouri lost more than 7,200 combined clean energy jobs last year — primarily because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A report published last week by E2 and the Clean Energy Trust found that the Midwest, home to nearly one-quarter of the nation’s clean energy […]
AARP calls for vaccine mandates as COVID reenters Kansas, Missouri nursing homes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — 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. The number of COVID-19 cases reported each week in Kansas and Missouri nursing homes is rising again for the first time in months. Missouri, […]
As economic impact of winter storm nears $1B, some large Kansas customers want to investigate
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The total cost from a more than week-long cold snap that brought the Midwest power supply to the brink of collapse is nearly $1 billion — and growing. The greatest breakdown during the storm, which forced controlled electrical blackouts in Kansas and Missouri, industry groups have said, was natural gas, which […]
Wildlife officials say Topeka shiner is no longer endangered, suggest listing as threatened
Federal wildlife officials are recommending the Topeka shiner be removed from the list of endangered species after successful conservation projects gave the fish a “brighter and more sustainable future,” they announced Thursday. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released findings from a five-year review and recommended the fish be listed as threatened rather than endangered. […]