News

Books featured in past Kansas Notable Book lists are displayed in the State Library of Kansas at the Statehouse in Topeka

State Library of Kansas announces 2023 notable books list

BY: - May 30, 2023

TOPEKA — A serial killing family, a child trying to survive WWII-era Ukraine, the 50-year history of an acoustic music festival, a plot to save a family farm: These topics are among those featured in the 2023 Kansas Notable Books list, announced Tuesday by the State Library of Kansas. The list features 15 books published […]

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters

New work requirements for some SNAP recipients included in debt limit deal

BY: - May 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — The holiday weekend debt ceiling deal struck by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy preserves in part new work requirements for some food stamp recipients but now with exceptions for certain populations, including veterans. The agreement released late Saturday night showed concessions from both sides — from GOP members, who wanted […]

Debt limit deal hits turbulence in Congress as leaders prep for vote

BY: and - May 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress began moving the bipartisan debt limit package forward Tuesday, though frustrations with provisions in the bill could make for narrow passage in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats both aired their disappointment with the agreement forged over the weekend, but only GOP lawmakers are looking to possibly […]

The decision of Michelle Dombrosky, an Olathe Republican on the Kansas State Board of Education, to abstain on major policy issues prompted the state board's attorney to urge policy revisions to affirm abstentions should be reserved for members with conflicts of interest rather than used as an alternative to registering dissent. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas education board’s attorney says abstention as substitute for ‘no’ vote an abdication of duty

BY: - May 30, 2023

Attorney for Kansas State Board of Education warns GOP members about abuse of abstention as alternative to "no" vote to register opposition to policy.

States see record low unemployment across the U.S.

BY: - May 29, 2023

Across much of the country, the jobs market is as strong as it’s ever been, and Black women, young people and people with disabilities are among the workers benefiting, recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Twenty states reported an unemployment rate under 3% in April, while 15 states saw record lows, led by […]

YWCA of Northeast Kansas invites people to dedicate June to Racial Justice Challenge

BY: - May 29, 2023

WYCA of Northeast Kansas is presenting a monthlong exploration of racism as a crisis through lens of mental health, music, housing and housing issues.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to stay focused on funding broadband service improves in Kansas, which ranked 51st nationally in terms of average download speed. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

U.S. Sen. Moran upset with Kansas’ last place score for internet download speed

BY: - May 28, 2023

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran putting heat on U.S. commerce secretary to direct federal broadband funding to Kansas, which ranks 51st in average download speeds.

Biden, McCarthy say they have brokered a debt limit deal to avert U.S. default

BY: and - May 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a deal in principle Saturday night that would stave off a first-ever default on the nation’s debt as long as it can clear both chambers of Congress before June 5. The agreement would address the nation’s debt limit and include a “historic” reduction in spending, McCarthy said, though […]

Deb Haaland

Western lands fight erupts over Bureau of Land Management’s conservation proposal

BY: - May 27, 2023

One thing opponents and proponents of a recently proposed U.S. Bureau of Land Management rule agree on: It would be a major shift in how the agency manages nearly 250 million acres of federal lands. The rule would allow for conservation leases, similar to how the agency auctions off parcels of land for mining, livestock […]

Artist Stan Herd is working on a earthwork portrait of the late Bob Dole for the 20th anniversary of the Dole Institute of Politics on July 22 in Lawrence. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Installation artist Stan Herd bringing to life image of the late Bob Dole on Lawrence hillside

BY: - May 27, 2023

Kansas artist Stan Herd is creating an earthwork portrait of the late Bob Dole to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Dole Institute in Lawrence.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Gives Economic Address At Ford's Rouge Electric Vehicle Center

Treasury secretary pinpoints June 5 as earliest date for U.S. debt default

BY: - May 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress and the Biden administration have until at least June 5 to broker and enact a debt limit bill under new estimates from the Treasury Department, giving negotiators a few more days before the country would default. “Based on the most recent available data, we now estimate that Treasury will have […]

As EPA readies to limit ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water, Kansas has done little testing

BY: - May 26, 2023

Most of the sample results were normal. But one stood out.  Drinking water in rural Barber County contained levels of perfluorooctanoic acid — or PFOA — at more than 30 times a limit under consideration by the Environmental Protection Agency. It was the only substance the lab detected when Barber County Rural Water District #2 had its […]