News

Former Sen. Jim Denning spoke with interviewer Alan Conroy about Medicaid legislation of 2019 and 2020.(Kansas Oral History Project)

Former Kansas Senate majority leader blames failure to expand Medicaid on Catholic Church

BY: - June 2, 2023

TOPEKA — A former Senate majority leader blamed the state’s failure to expand Medicaid in 2020 on religious anti-abortion lobbyists, with the pivotal bill “single-handedly torpedoed” by a Kansas City archbishop. Jim Denning, in an interview for the Kansas Oral History Project, said Archbishop Joseph Naumann “basically stopped Medicaid expansion.” “So if you were an […]

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, said opening of a new laboratory and office building in the Innovation Park at University of Kansas will deliver return on public and private investment. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Marshall, Moran outline clash of perspective on federal debt-limit bill

BY: - June 2, 2023

Kansas' Republican U.S. senators split on the federal debt-ceiling bill with Jerry Moran backing the bipartisan legislation and Roger Marshall opposed.

Gov. Laura Kelly and U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, both Democrats, urged Kansans enrolled in Medicaid to take part in a renewal application process launched with lifting of a three-year pause in state eligibility assessments. Potentially 120,000 Kansans could lose KanCare coverage. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Kelly, Davids urge 120,000 Kansans to take part in post-coronavirus Medicaid renewal process

BY: - June 2, 2023

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, Gov. Laura Kelly ask Kansas Medicaid participants to take part in renewal process with end of 3-year pause in eligibility reviews.

Two loons swim with their chick on Clear Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Decarbonization ambitions ignite debate over mining, permitting

BY: - June 2, 2023

The decarbonized, electrified future envisioned by the Biden administration, state governments, automakers, utility companies and corporate sustainability goals depends to a huge degree on minerals and metals. Lots more lithium will be needed for car and truck batteries, as well as the big banks of batteries that are increasingly popping onto the electric grid to […]

The U.S. Capitol Building on June 01, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Senate sends Biden debt limit legislation ahead of Monday default deadline

BY: - June 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — The bipartisan debt limit bill is on its way to President Joe Biden after the U.S. Senate voted Thursday to clear the measure for his signature. The 63-36 vote followed several amendment votes, all of which were rejected. Biden is expected to quickly sign the package, preventing a default on the debt that […]

People demonstrate with signs in front of white house

U.S. Senate votes to block student loan relief, White House will veto

BY: - June 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to overturn the Biden administration’s one-time student debt relief plan that is on hold due to a pending Supreme Court decision. President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the resolution, but the 52-46 vote forced vulnerable Senate Democrats up for reelection in 2024 to take a public […]

Davids, Estes and LaTurner help carry debt ceiling bill, leave Mann alone in opposition

BY: - June 1, 2023

Three of four U.S. House members from Kansas endorsed the bipartisan compromise debt-ceiling bill sent the U.S. Senate — only Rep. Tracey Mann voted "no."

Paige Olson, southeast Kansas advocate for Kansas Appleseed, opens the Topeka Hunger Action Summit with an introduction about food insecurities in Kansas on Wednesday at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library

Kansas Appleseed highlights food insecurities at Topeka summit

BY: - June 1, 2023

TOPEKA — When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, Paige Olson was struggling to provide for her Iola family of five, unsure when their next meal would come. Olson talked about her struggles as part of a Kansas Appleseed summit Wednesday at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. Olson, southeast Kansas advocate for Kansas […]

US capitol building at night

U.S. House approves debt limit package, sending it to Senate days before default deadline

BY: - May 31, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House took a broadly bipartisan vote Wednesday night on the debt limit package, sending it to the U.S. Senate where lawmakers are expected to vote quickly to clear the measure. The bill would suspend the nation’s borrowing limit through Jan. 1, 2025 and set caps on discretionary spending for two years. […]

Idea of lifting Brown v. Board of Education name from landmark 1954 case stirs Kansas dissent

BY: - May 31, 2023

A Kansan who lived school segregation in Topeka doesn't support a plan to replace the Brown v. Board of Education label of landmark U.S. Supreme Court case.

Kansas Republicans admonish Black lawmaker. His response: ‘not my job to protect your feelings’

BY: - May 31, 2023

TOPEKA — Republican legislative leaders warned a Black Democrat against indecorous behavior weeks after he made a speech that called out vote trading, while couching his argument in slavery terms. In response, the Democrat said his job was to advocate for Black Kansans, not protect his colleagues’ feelings. Rep. Ford Carr, a Wichita Democrat, delivered […]

A U.S. District Court grand jury indicted a 30-year-old Wichita man for threatening to injure or kill three Black people and to harm a white woman in 2022. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Wichita courthouse from U.S. Department of Justice)

Kansas grand jury indicts Wichita man for alleged hate crimes against Black people

BY: - May 31, 2023

A U.S. District Court grand jury indicted a 30-year-old Wichita man for threatening to injure or kill three Black people and a white woman in 2022.