Author

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.

The Kansas Supreme Court dealt with a decision by the Kansas Court of Appeals by focusing on jurisdictional issues without defining boundaries of the Kansas Open Records Act as it pertained to public access to audio records of district court proceedings. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas Supreme Court dissent in open records case mimics Lucy pulling ball from Charlie Brown

By: Tim Carpenter - July 2, 2021

Kansas Supreme Court majority dodges questions on boundary of Kansas Open Records Act, inspires Lucy-yanks-football-again minority opinion.

Laura Howard, secretary for the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said a child-care assistance program aiding families of first responders in the COVID-19 pandemic would be expanded to include more Kansas households. (Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas extending reach of COVID-19 child care, food assistance

By: Tim Carpenter - July 1, 2021

Kansas broadens eligibility for child care and food assistance benefits tied to COVID-19 pandemic.

A Republican-led Senate committee voted Wednesday for confirmation of Cynthia Lane, a former superintendent of Kansas City, Kan., public schools, to the Kansas Board of Regents. (Screen capture/Kansas Reflector)

Senate panel votes to support confirmation of three nominees to Board of Regents

By: Tim Carpenter - June 30, 2021

Kansas Senate committee endorses three nominees for Kansas Board of Regents amid questions about teaching critical race theory.

Black kids overrepresented among children ordered into Kansas foster care

By: Tim Carpenter - June 30, 2021

Blacks are disproportionate number of Kansas children in foster care; Blacks and Native Americans less likely than whites to reunify with parents.

Morgan Davis, who left the Kansas National Guard as a Chief Warrant Officer 3 in 2020, says her persistence in reporting alleged misconduct in the Kansas Guard brought her military career to a premature end and contributed to development of her post-traumatic stress disorder. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)

Kansas Guard veteran worn down from years battling leadership over misconduct, retaliation

By: Tim Carpenter - June 29, 2021

TOPEKA — Insomnia compelled Morgan Davis to seek refuge on a small backyard patio offering sanctuary from the downward spiral of her career in the Kansas Army National Guard. On that November evening, the outdoor cocoon proved insufficient. Davis drove to a convenience store in Topeka where the mission was to slip in and out […]

Rep. Barbara Ballard, a Lawrence Democrat, was elected in 1992 and is the longest-serving member of the Kansas House. The state's senior senator is Democrat David Haley of Kansas City, Kansas, who was elected in 1994. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

No need for term limits: Legislature’s turnover rate tops 80% in past decade

By: Tim Carpenter - June 28, 2021

Less than 20% of Kansas legislators holding office in 2010 remain in those jobs today — and it has nothing to do with term limits.

New research: Kansas counties with mask mandates avoided 500 COVID-19 deaths

By: Tim Carpenter - June 24, 2021

University of Kansas researchers report in JAMA that COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and fatalities cut by mask orders.

The Kansas Board of Regents, which has policy oversight of public higher education, may raise from 60 to 75 the number of course credits that can be transferred from a Kansas community college to a state university. (Screen capture/Kansas Reflector)

Board of Regents may raise community college-to-university credit transfer cap

By: Tim Carpenter - June 23, 2021

TOPEKA — The Kansas Board of Regents may raise to 75 the number of credit hours that could be transferred from a community college to a state university following success of a two-year pilot involving Johnson County Community College and the nearby Edwards campus of the University of Kansas. The state higher education governance board […]