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Severe drought triggers assistance in nearly all of Kansas, half of Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Almost all of Kansas and nearly half of Missouri are in severe enough drought to activate a federal program meant to help ranchers who have lost grazing acres for their herds, triggering millions of dollars in assistance. Eighty-five of Kansas’ 105 counties have been eligible for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s […]
Schmidt objects to federal energy proposal. But Kansas doesn’t have its own plan.
A stalled federal proposal meant to speed up efforts to site transmission and energy projects amounted to a takeover of grid planning, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and other Republican attorneys general wrote to U.S. Senate leaders last week. But Kansas has no statewide energy plan. It’s one of just seven states without one, according […]
Environmental group gives Kansas, Missouri utilities low marks for clean energy transition
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas and Missouri’s largest utilities earned nearly failing grades for their progress transitioning to renewable sources of energy, according to a new report from a national environmental group. The Sierra Club’s “Dirty Truth About Utility Climate Pledges” report gave Evergy an 18% for its investments in clean energy and moves to […]
Kansas and Missouri women politicians celebrate history ahead of tough election
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sipping “pink pussyhat punch” and “empowerment” cocktails, women leaders from Kansas and Missouri gathered Thursday in downtown Kansas City vowing to “smash the patriarchy” by encouraging more women to run for office. Hundreds of politicians and activists turned out for the 50th anniversary of the Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus, where […]
Kansas regulators order Evergy to explain ‘highly concerning’ jump in planned capital spending
The Kansas Corporation Commission wants Evergy to explain a more than 20% jump in the cost of its capital improvement plan. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Kansas gets ‘once in a lifetime’ funds to plug thousands of abandoned gas wells
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A “once in a lifetime” federal investment will clean up more than 2,300 abandoned gas wells — some of which may be leaking super-polluting methane — in Kansas. But that’s only a fraction of the state’s approximately 11,000 abandoned wells. And data about old wells can be flawed. “Even if we have records, […]
Evergy, regulators clash over costs of Kansas energy efficiency program
Evergy could soon receive approval for more than $96 million in energy efficiency programs in Kansas meant to lower carbon emissions — and customers’ bills. But the proposal is in a precarious position. “I want to be excited, but I also know there’s a big a piece missing still, and it could easily all fall apart,” […]
Kansas Congresswoman Sharice Davids touts federal funds for lead pipe replacement
OLATHE — The locations of lead service lines seem like the sort of thing someone would know, Congresswoman Sharice Davids said Thursday. But as cities and counties across the U.S. grew, water utilities didn’t keep track of them all. Now, they’re finally required to find them. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s updated lead and copper […]
Evergy pays $500K to settle consumer protection investigation into worthless warranties
Kansas’ largest electric utility, Evergy, must pay $500,000 for allegedly violating consumer protection laws by sponsoring home electrical warranties that provided no benefit. Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office announced the agreement between prosecutors and Evergy in a news release Wednesday. Evergy was not ordered to pay restitution. Asked how many customers were affected, Schmidt’s spokesman, […]
Anti-abortion groups make dubious claims as Kansas amendment vote nears
Claims made by campaigns for and against a constitutional amendment undoing Kansans’ right to an abortion look like descriptions of two different realities. The Value Them Both amendment, according to proponents, reverses the state’s “nearly unlimited ‘right’ to abortion.” The campaign’s website says “every reasonable regulation of abortion in Kansas may soon be struck down.” […]
Missouri doctors fear vague emergency exception to abortion ban puts patients at risk
Some Missouri medical providers are fearful that patients with high-risk pregnancies will face delayed care in life-threatening situations because doctors fear prosecution under Missouri’s newly enacted abortion ban. “I’m following the rules that are made by people that have no understanding of medicine and science, and that’s extremely, extremely dangerous,” said Iman Alsaden, a doctor […]
‘Time bomb’ lead pipes set to be removed. But first water utilities have to find them
TRENTON, Mo. — It took three years for officials to notice lead was seeping into the city’s drinking water. Missouri regulators had given the green light in 2014 for Trenton to start adding monochloramine to its drinking water to disinfect it without the harmful byproducts of chlorine. But by 2017, the city noticed something alarming. […]