Latest Kansas Headlines
All the headlines from our Kansas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Kansas Woman Sentenced to Probation for Insurance Fraud
Sep 4 2024 // Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt announced an Arkansas City woman has been sentenced to 18 months of probation for insurance fraud. Misty Jane Dial, age 33, pleaded guilty in the District Court of...
Kansas Man Sentenced for Securities Fraud
Aug 27 2024 // Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt announced that a Wichita man has been sentenced to prison for securities fraud. Jesse Wayne Harris, age 36, was sentenced in Sedgwick County District Court on August 20 to 30...
Kansas to Pay $50K Settlement Over a Transgender Highway Patrol Employee’s Firing
Aug 20 2024 // TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will pay $50,000 to settle a federal anti-discrimination lawsuit filed by a former state Highway Patrol employee who claimed to have been fired for coming out as transgender. Democratic Gov....
Lawsuit: Student with Down Syndrome Subjected to Abuse in Kansas School
Aug 19 2024 // An employee of a rural Kansas school district repeatedly shoved a teenager with Down syndrome into a utility closet, hit the boy and once photographed him locked in a cage used to store athletic equipment, a lawsuit...
Kansas Commissioner: Add Insurance to Back-to-School Checklist
Aug 12 2024 // As students across Kansas prepare to return to the classroom, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt reminds students and parents to add insurance to their back-to-school checklist. “Many insurance companies...
Former Kansas Newspaper Reporter Settles Lawsuit Over Police Raid for $235K
Jul 8 2024 // TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former reporter for a weekly Kansas newspaper has agreed to accept $235,000 to settle part of her federal lawsuit over a police raid on the paper that made a small community the focus of a national...
Kansas School District Was Discriminatory in Discipline: DOJ
Jul 5 2024 // TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Educators in Kansas’ largest public school district discriminated against Black and disabled students when disciplining them, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, which announced an...
Kansas Department of Insurance Distributes Over $18M to Firefighters
Jun 27 2024 // Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt announced, that the Kansas Department of Insurance has made its annual distribution to local Firefighter Relief Associations (FRAs). Pursuant to the Kansas Firefighters Relief...
Bird Flu Hits Texas, Kansas Milk in First Sign of Impact
Jun 21 2024 // US milk production is starting to get hit by the bird flu virus, which first made the jump to cows earlier this year. Output in Texas and Kansas — the first states where highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected in...
Kansas Man Sentenced to Probation for Auto Insurance Fraud
Jun 5 2024 // Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt announced that a Kansas man has been sentenced to six months of probation for insurance fraud. Robert Heidbreder, age 30, pleaded guilty in the District Court of Sedgwick County...
Kansas Workers’ Comp Bill Increases Some Benefits, Streamlines Processes
Jun 3 2024 // Kansas Governor Laura Kelly last week signed Senate Bill 430, bipartisan legislation making comprehensive reforms to the state’s workers compensation system. The bill, a result of collaboration between business and...
Kansas Storm Claims Total $442 Million for 2023
Jun 3 2024 // Kansas storm claims totaled nearly half a billion dollars in 2023. According to numbers shared by the state’s department of insurance, 147,710 claims totaling $442.8 million were paid last year. The Kansas Department...
Missouri Senators to Pay Potential Damages in Chiefs Rally Shooting Defamation Case
May 22 2024 // COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers will have to pay out of their own pockets if they lose defamation cases filed against them for falsely accusing a Kansas man of being one of the Kansas City Chiefs parade shooters...
Kansas Governor Cites Competition Concerns While Vetoing Bill for School Gun-Detection Technology
May 17 2024 // Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a measure Wednesday that could have earmarked up to $5 million for gun-detection systems in schools while expressing concern that it could have benefitted only one particular...
Kansas Schools Turn to AI to Spot Guns
May 14 2024 // TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas could soon offer up to $5 million in grants for schools to outfit surveillance cameras with artificial intelligence systems that can spot people carrying guns. But the governor needs to approve...
Kansas City Women’s Soccer Plans $800 Million Stadium District
May 3 2024 // After a failed vote to build a downtown Kansas City Royals stadium, another of the city’s professional sports teams is planning to expand with a mixed-used entertainment district. The Kansas City Current, the...
Missouri Supreme Court Strikes Down 2022 Vote on KC Police Funding
May 2 2024 // The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday took the unusual step of striking down a 2022 voter-approved constitutional amendment that required Kansas City to spend a larger percentage of its money on the police department, and...
1 Person Killed, Homes Destroyed After Tornado Rips NE Kansas
May 2 2024 // WESTMORELAND, Kan. (AP) — One person died Tuesday when a tornado ripped through the small city of Westmoreland in northeastern Kansas, destroying houses, RVs and outbuildings, authorities said. Pottawatomie County...
Kansas Won’t Legalize Medical Marijuana for at Least a Year
May 1 2024 // TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will remain among the handful of states that haven’t legalized the medical use of marijuana or expanded their Medicaid programs for at least another year. Republican state senators on...
Severe Storms Cause Damage in Middle U.S.
Apr 19 2024 // ST. LOUIS (AP) — Strong storms caused damage in parts of the middle U.S. this week and spawned tornadoes in Kansas and Iowa, including one that left two people hurt. An EF-1 tornado touched down shortly after 6 a.m....
