Articles by John Hanna and Heather Hollingsworth

Kansas Sausage Making Plant with COVID-19 Cases Shuts Down

A Kansas plant that makes sausage shut down on May 13 after employees tested positive for the coronavirus, and an outbreak that has infected hundreds at the state’s largest prison claimed the life of another worker. The shutdown at the …

Kansas GOP Lawmakers Want to Limit Coronavirus Lawsuits

Republican legislators in Kansas are joining a broader effort to shield doctors, hospitals and businesses from lawsuits stemming from the coronavirus, with business and medical groups pushing them to act quickly. The effort faces strong opposition from labor unions, trial …

Kansas Lawmakers OK Bill Allowing Farm Bureau Non-ACA Compliant Health Plan

Republican lawmakers in Kansas pressed ahead with allowing the state Farm Bureau to offer health coverage to members that doesn’t satisfy the Affordable Care Act, a state-level effort to circumvent an Obama-era law that President Donald Trump wants to replace. …

Farm Bureau Health Coverage Plan Favored by Rural Kansas Lawmakers

Rural state lawmakers are pushing a plan to allow the Kansas Farm Bureau to offer health insurance coverage to members without having to comply with federal Affordable Care Act mandates in hopes that the influential agriculture group can offer a …

Firms Sued Over Missouri Duck Boat Sinking Seek Mediation, Cite 1851 Law

Two companies facing multiple lawsuits over a summer tourist boat accident in Missouri that killed 17 people have invoked an 1851 law that allows vessel owners to try to avoid or limit legal damages as they also seek settlement negotiations …

Kansas Lawmakers’ Proposed Ban on State-Paid Harassment Claims Advances

Kansas legislators are moving to ban taxpayer-funded settlements of sexual harassment claims against state officials and block non-disclosure agreements in harassment cases. House and Senate negotiators have agreed to include a provision in budget legislation that would prohibit any state …

Schlitterbahn Co-Owner Arrested, Added to Kansas Waterslide Death Indictment

A water park company’s co-owner was being held in a Texas jail on murder and other charges on March 27 in connection to a Kansas criminal case in the death of a 10-year-old boy on what was promoted as the …

Trial Over Bias Claim Against Kansas Secretary of State Kobach’s Office Begins

A former employee in Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office alleges in a lawsuit headed to trial on Aug. 21 that she was fired because she didn’t go to church enough. Kobach — who until the middle of 2016 …

State Regulation Limited for Kansas Water Park

The huge Kansas City, Kan., waterslide on which a 10-year-old boy died was built in a state known for its light regulation of amusement park rides, and the company lobbied legislators to help ensure that it remained responsible for its …

Kansas Revenues in March Boosted by Insurance Premium Tax

Kansas came close last month to hitting its target for tax collections, and the shortfall of less than $2 million reported represented relatively good news after a winter of gloomy budget developments. Sales tax collections — disappointing for months — …