Briefs

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill Friday that would have established a new three-person board to control distribution of about $500 million in federal COVID-19 aid to Kansas businesses claiming damages from temporary closures or other pandemic restrictions. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas executive order extends option to renew driver’s licenses online

BY: - July 29, 2020

Gov. Laura Kelly renews executive order allowing people under 65 to apply for driver's license renewals online.

The Kansas Department of Corrections led by secretary Jeff Zmuda says a fifth inmate who contracted COVID-19 has died. (Submitted/Kansas Reflector)

Employee at Topeka women’s prison dies from COVID-19

BY: - July 28, 2020

A facility maintenance supervisor for the state-run women’s prison in Topeka has died after being infected with COVID-19. The Kansas Department of Corrections said Richard Rose, 74, died on Saturday. He was a 17-year employee at the agency. Rose is the third staff member and the first at Topeka Correctional Facility to die after being […]

The Kansas driver's test tool is the first of its kind to offer English and Spanish options. (Kansas Department of Revenue)

New tool makes driver’s test prep accessible for Spanish-speaking Kansans

BY: - July 28, 2020

Spanish-speaking Kansans can practice for their driver’s test in their first language by using a newly developed Alexa skill. The tool, released by the Kansas Department of Revenue in partnership with the Information Network of Kansas, is the first driver’s license practice test in the nation to accommodate both English and Spanish speakers. According to […]

Gov. Laura Kelly says passage by Missouri voters of Medicaid expansion leaves Kansas in a five-state group with Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma still resisting a federal program extending health care to low- and moderate-income people. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Gov. Laura Kelly urges railroads in Kansas to maintain two-person crews

BY: - July 27, 2020

The Kansas Department of Transportation, with Gov. Laura Kelly's blessing, calls for maintaining two-person crews in railroad locomotive engines.

A radiologist guides a male patient through an integrated PET-CT scanner. KanCare patients who are high risk for lung cancer can not get free or low-cost screenings. (American Lung Association)

New Kansas policy makes lung cancer screening free for at-risk patients

BY: - July 27, 2020

A new Kansas Department of Health and Environment policy makes lung cancer screenings available at little to no cost for Medicaid recipients at high risk of the disease. The policy, which went into effect July 1, adds low-dose CT scans to KanCare coverage for people between the ages of 55 and 77 who currently smoke […]

House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, center, R-Wichita, challenged the legality of Gov. Laura Kelly's opinion that county commissions couldn't reject her executive order mandating that all students, employees and visitors to public and private schools wear a mask to reduce potential of spreading COVID-19. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Conflict persists about Gov. Laura Kelly’s power to impose school health orders

BY: - July 24, 2020

House Minority Leader Dan Hawkins says Gov. Laura Kelly is wrong to believe county commissions can't block her order for all in K-12 schools wear a mask.

The Kansas Department of Corrections led by secretary Jeff Zmuda says a fifth inmate who contracted COVID-19 has died. (Submitted/Kansas Reflector)

Norton inmate tests positive for COVID-19

BY: - July 23, 2020

Kansas Department of Corrections secretary Jeff Zmuda on Thursday said an inmate at the state-run prison in Norton had tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total of corrections facilities with known infections to eight. The infected man was among 96 residents in the minimum security unit at the Norton Correctional Facility. All of the unit’s […]

Officials at University of Kansas, which fell silent this spring due to COVID-19, reported losses of $35 million in the last fiscal year and Thursday projected a revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year of $120 million with an additional $30 million spent on health and safety programs. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

KU anticipates $120M revenue shortfall, $30M in direct COVID-19 expenses

BY: - July 23, 2020

University of Kansas says COVID-19 will cause a $120 million revenue shortfall this fiscal year and trigger $30 million in health and safety expenditures.

Belinda Sturm, a University of Kansas engineering professor, says a research project involving KU and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment shows testing of wastewater can offer a one-week advance warning of COVID-19 community surges or declines. (Submitted/Kansas Reflector)

Wastewater testing by KU, KDHE offers advance warning of COVID-19 surge

BY: - July 22, 2020

A project involving KU and KDHE shows promise in tracking genetic evidence of COVID-19 in wastewater and offer an early warning to a community.

U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall, who represents the 1st District in Kansas, is competing against former Secretary of State Kris Kobach and a handful of other candidates in the August Republican primary. (Submitted)

U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts endorses Roger Marshall in GOP primary

BY: - July 21, 2020

U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., endorses Congressman Roger Marshall in the GOP primary. Roberts' retirement set off a scramble for the seat.

Kansas Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran released a statement to constituents saying President Donald Trump has the right to wage a legal fight for a fair counting of votes in the presidential election, but should offer presumed Democrat Joe Biden the national security briefings and other support common to transition to a new president. (Submitted)

Kansas attorney general outlines COVID-19 scams for U.S. Senate panel

BY: - July 21, 2020

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., chaired a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday on COVID-19 scams. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt shared testimony.

Delayed U.S. 50 project breaks ground with promise of jobs

BY: - July 21, 2020

Gov. Laura Kelly and Kansas Department of Transportation secretary Julie Lorenz broke ground Monday on a long-delayed project to widen a one-mile area of U.S. Highway 50 to four lanes. The expansion, which will cover an area with heavy truck traffic near Emporia in Lyon County, was one of the delayed T-WORKS projects selected for […]