Author

Tim Carpenter

Tim Carpenter

Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International. He has been recognized for investigative reporting on Kansas government and politics. He won the Kansas Press Association's Victor Murdock Award six times. The William Allen White Foundation honored him four times with its Burton Marvin News Enterprise Award. The Kansas City Press Club twice presented him its Journalist of the Year Award and more recently its Lifetime Achievement Award. He earned an agriculture degree at Kansas State University and grew up on a small dairy and beef cattle farm in Missouri. He is an amateur woodworker and drives Studebaker cars.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, and Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, have been working the food sales tax issue to establish political distinctions between their 2022 campaigns for governor. This photo was taken in January. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Schmidt, Kelly ring up intriguing campaign narratives about Kansas’ sales tax rate
By: - May 14, 2022

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt, candidates for governor, offer dueling narratives about the state's sales tax.

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed three bills on Friday, including measures on public health response to infectious disease, creation of a no-bid Medicaid contract and a measure limiting the executive branch's ability to enforce election law. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Kelly uses veto authority to reject infectious disease, Medicaid and election bills
By: and - May 13, 2022

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed three bills passed by the GOP-led Legislature on response to infectious disease, no-bid Medicaid contracts and election law.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran as well as U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, both of Kansas, offered testimony Thursday to a federal House-Senate conference committee working on legislation to expand domestic manufacturing and address supply-chain issues. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from U.S. Senate YouTube channel)

Davids, Moran taking part in U.S. supply-chain, domestic manufacturing reform negotiations
By: - May 13, 2022

GOP Sen. Jerry Moran and Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, of Kansas, are negotiators on federal bill addressing manufacturing, supply-chain issues.

Gov. Laura Kelly toured a Flint Hills grassland cattle ranch operated by Jan Lyons and her family near Manhattan to sign a proclamation designating May as Kansas beef month. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Gov. Laura Kelly tips hat at influence of Flint Hills grassland on Kansas beef industry
By: - May 12, 2022

The beef industry is the largest sector of the Kansas agricultural economy, and Gov. Laura Kelly moved her office outdoors to experience that reality.

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican and physician, voted with U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran against a bill that would have placed in federal law the right to abortion. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from U.S. Senate channel)

Moran, Marshall vote against Senate abortion bill they view as immoral, horrific
By: - May 12, 2022

Kansas' two Republican U.S. senators, Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran, vote against advancing a bill creating a right to abortion in federal law.

Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, signed a bill Wednesday that would initiate a three-year phase out of the state's 6.5% sales tax on groceries. Kelly prefers the tax on food be eliminated on July 1. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Kelly goes shopping for sweet food sales tax repeal, settles for gradual reduction
By: - May 11, 2022

OLATHE — Gov. Laura Kelly took a trip to a Hy-Vee store to sign a bipartisan bill Wednesday phasing out over three years the state’s 6.5% sales tax on groceries, but would prefer the Legislature reconsider her proposal to promptly wipe out the state tax on groceries. The Republican-led Legislature is sitting on a large […]

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican and physician, said he supported listing fentanyl analogs as Schedule I drugs on part with cocaine and heroin given the high number of overdose deaths. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Marshall supports permanent Schedule I listing of fentanyl-related substances
By: - May 11, 2022

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall endorses permanently listing fentanyl and fentanyl analogs as Schedule I drugs on par with cocaine, LSD and meth.

Kobach seeks injunction for U.S. airmen with religious objections to COVID-19 vaccination
By: - May 10, 2022

GOP attorney general candidate Kris Kobach represents three dozen U.S. military personnel who object on religious grounds to COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

Sen. Tom Holland, a Democrat from Baldwin City, disappointed with the redistricting process submitted a brief that included a photograph from an Overland Park public hearing on the maps that shows three GOP senators engaged with their cellphones rather than being attentive. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from brief filed with Kansas Supreme Court)

Kansas legislative leaders argue district court erred by ruling congressional map unconstitutional
By: - May 10, 2022

GOP members of Legislative Coordinating Council urge Kansas Supreme Court to reverse lower court finding new congressional maps are unconstitutional.

A Kansas State University research project is looking at the effects virtual cattle fencing has on grassland birds and the areas along waterways on the tallgrass prairie and a cattle ranch. GPS devices emitting sound or a light charge may direct cattle away from designated areas. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from KSU photograph)

KSU researching ‘virtual’ fencing’s influence on grassland conservation, cattle business
By: - May 9, 2022

Kansas State University researchers are part of a study of electronic collars on cattle to steer them from fragile water resources, protect nesting birds.

Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Republican-turned-Democrat, lower left in the photo, was sworn into office as governor in 2009, but declined to seek election to the post in 2010. His career is documented in a lengthy article in the journal Kansas History. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Former Kansas Gov. Parkinson claims to have ‘Forrest Gumped’ his way to state’s top political job
By: - May 9, 2022

Former Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson outlines his political career in a Kansas history journal, including his brief, productive stint as Democratic governor.

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., joined four other GOP senators calling for new parental warnings on television shows to pinpoint content raising issues of gender dysphoria. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from U.S. Senate YouTube channel)

Marshall demands special parental warnings on television shows exploring gender issues
By: - May 7, 2022

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas, along with four Senate GOP peers, seek overhaul of TV parental guidelines to pinpoint content on gender dysphoria.

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