Kansas Reflector Podcast: Recent Episodes
Reflector Podcast
The Kansas Reflector Podcast, hosted by senior reporter Tim Carpenter, presents voices from the people and politics of Kansas.
Bob Beatty, a Washburn University professor and Kansas political watcher, predicts the U.S. Senate race in Kansas will be the No. 1 Senate race in the country come November. In conversation with Kansas Reflector senior reporter Tim Carpenter the day after the Aug. 4 primary, he explains how candidates won their races and what they need to do to secure November victories.New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of state politics and current events.This episode was hosted by Tim Carpenter and produced by Anna Kaminski.
The Kansas Reflector staff discuss what to watch out for on primary day in Kansas, previewing key elections such as the Republican gubernatorial race and Democratic U.S. Senate race. New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of state politics and current events. This episode was hosted by Clay Wirestone and produced by Anna Kaminski.Cover photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight.
That small-town postcard mural isn’t just a tourist attraction. Topeka artist Sarah Fizell discusses with Kansas Reflector senior reporter Morgan Chilson the public health benefits of art that is accessible to everyone.New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of state politics and current events.This episode was hosted by Morgan Chilson and produced by Anna Kaminski.
New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of state politics and current events.This episode was hosted and produced by Anna Kaminski.
Colin McRoberts is determined to build a better Kansas Democratic base as he runs for U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann's seat in the big 1st Congressional District. He discusses with senior reporter Tim Carpenter his specialty in negotiations, his favorite conspiracy theory and how he sees Trump administration policies on research funding and international aid hurting Kansans.New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of state politics and current events.Get the latest news from Kansas Reflector by signing up for our free newsletters at kansasreflector.com/subscribe.This episode was hosted by Tim Carpenter and produced by Anna Kaminski.
In conversation with Kansas Reflector's editor-in-chief, Sherman Smith, Skoog criticizes Republican frontrunner Ty Masterson, advocates for Medicaid expansion and property tax relief and details his path to public service.New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of state politics and current events.Get the latest news from Kansas Reflector by signing up for our free newsletters at kansasreflector.com/subscribe.This episode was hosted by Sherman Smith and produced by Anna Kaminski.
With roughly six months left as governor, Laura Kelly reflects on how she entered the governor's office and speaks on how she hopes to leave it in an interview with senior reporter Tim Carpenter.She highlights what she views as major accomplishments, recounts how she beat tough gubernatorial opponents (twice), and articulates why she wanted to change to economic and social perception of Kansas.New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of state politics and current events.Get the latest news from Kansas Reflector by signing up for our free newsletters at kansasreflector.com/subscribe.This episode was hosted by Tim Carpenter and produced by Anna Kaminski.
Cole Epley is one of four Democrats challenging U.S. Rep. Ron Estes in August, but Epley has differentiated himself from his fellow Democratic candidates by leaning into Democratic socialism and unapologetically progressive ideals. Kansas Reflector's editor-in-chief Sherman Smith speaks with Epley about his political origins, his approach to fundraising outside the bounds of the traditional party and his views on key issues such as immigration and abortion.New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of Kansas politics and current events.Get the latest news from Kansas Reflector by signing up for our free newsletters at kansasreflector.com/subscribe.
Residents in Galena, Kansas, are worried that noxious smells and a smoldering fire at the town's landfill are polluting the air and affecting their health. They are pushing for more testing to ensure the environment in their southeast Kansas town is safe.
Kevin Latz is one of 11 Kansas Democrats running to replace U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, and he said he is differentiating himself from the rest with his experience as a surgeon, physician and father. He said scientists are underrepresented in Congress, and his work making difficult decisions, operating under pressure and treating everyone as a patient mirrors that of a lawmaker's. His policy priorities span generations, but he is particularly passionate about gun safety policy and ensuring kids are protected from social media.New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of Kansas politics and current events.Get the latest news from Kansas Reflector by signing up for our free newsletters at kansasreflector.com/subscribe.
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone and managing editor Sherman Smith break down the latest news in Kansas politics as election season heats up. They discuss the latest candidates, which races they're paying attention to and what Kansas Reflector has been covering in the lead-up to the Aug. 4 primary election.New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of Kansas politics and current events.Get the latest news from Kansas Reflector by signing up for our free newsletters at kansasreflector.com/subscribe.
Why was Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach’s name repeated four times in a ad from an outside group?Why did a Democratic candidate for Kansas governor begin her TV ad in a grocery store, and why did her primary opponent film his from his kitchen?Can a pastor translate his lifetime of public speaking experience to voters as he runs for U.S. Senate?Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University, gives a play-by-play of Kansas politicians’ choices in their early campaign ads. He answers these questions and more with senior reporter Tim Carpenter in an interview woven with clips from a dozen campaign ads running ahead of the 2026 primary election.New episodes of the Kansas Reflector Podcast drop on Mondays. Kansas Reflector staff interview elected officials, politicians, researchers, experts and everyday Kansans who are in the thick of Kansas politics and current events.Get the latest news from Kansas Reflector by signing up for our free newsletters at kansasreflector.com/subscribe.
Chris Carmichael is one of four Democratic candidates for Kansas' 4th congressional district.
Sandy Brown, president of the Kansas Abortion Fund, talks about her organization's evolving work. The small, all-volunteer, Lawrence-based nonprofit now pays for one-fourth of the abortions received by Kansas women and serves as a voice for women's reproductive rights.Despite the 2022 vote in Kansas to preserve the right to terminate a pregnancy, the Legislature continues to pass new restrictions, and another constitutional amendment vote this August could further jeopardize reproductive rights.
State Sen. Patrick Schmidt is running for the U.S. Senate seat from Kansas. But he has to make it through the Democratic primary field to face Sen. Roger Marshall, the incumbent Republican and Trump ally.
Sandy Spidel Neumann retired after a 40-year career in financial services, then moved to fulfill a lifelong dream of being a U.S. Senator. As a Democratic candidate trying to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, she is pushing for strategic solutions that focus on data and gathering diverse opinions.
Leah Fliter with the Kansas Association of School Boards discusses how a federal scholarship program will affect public schools.
Kansas Reflector editor in chief Sherman Smith and opinion editor Clay Wirestone sum up the Legislature's two-day veto session and preview a new series.
The Kansas Legislature wrapped up its main session the early morning hours of Saturday, March 28. Opinion editor Clay Wirestone leads a conversation with Kansas Reflector reporters to recap what happened.
Katy Tyndell is among Democrats hoping for the chance to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, who has held the 4th District since 2017. She talks about her background as an attorney in Washington, D.C., her work with Leading Kansas, a civic engagement nonprofit she cofounded last year, and her views on various issues facing Congress.
Jason Hart is one of eight Democratic candidates lining up to take a shot at unseating Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall. He talks about being a political novice, his experience as a prosecutor of child sex crimes, views on federal policy, how being a straight, white, Christian man gives him bipartisan appeal, and his failed attempt to ward off a competitor.
Erik Murray is a Kansas City, Kansas-based entrepreneur who is trying to beat out a crowded field of Democrats running for U.S. Senate with a solutions-oriented campaign and a 105-county tour, which he announced on the Kansas Reflector podcast.
Former Kansas Rep. Jim Karleskint, a Vietnam War veteran who now lobbies for Veterans of Foreign Wars, says lobbying by for-profit claim consultants paved the way for legislation that would allow them to charge a fee for helping veterans, a service others provide for free.
Clinician and trauma therapist Tara Wallace talks about practices by Medicaid managed care organizations that harm mental health professionals, their clients and the already fragile Kansas network.
Former Gov. Jeff Colyer says experience in legislative and executive branch affairs and a lifetime as surgeon prepares him to return to the Capitol as governor in January 2027.
Justice K.J. Wall talks solutions to the declining numbers of attorneys in roughly half of the state of Kansas.
Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson talks about hiring a new program manager for Kansas 529 educational savings plans and updating investment options and tools parents can use to figure out the cost of post-secondary education.
Cynthia Lane, director of the state's Blueprint for Literacy program, says Kansas is improving literacy instruction from preschool to college levels. She says the next step is to blend Blueprint for Literacy with the Kansas State Board of Education's literacy program known as Every Child Can Read.
Kansas Reflector editor in chief Sherman Smith leads a discussion with reporters Tim Carpenter, Anna Kaminski and Morgan Chilson to recap the busy first week of the 2026 session of the Kansas Legislature, from the governor's State of the State speech and GOP response to hearings, debates, rallies, a high-profile court case and vaccines.
Kansas Reflector senior reporter Tim Carpenter and editor in chief Sherman Smith provide a rundown of state and political news from 2025 and insights into what to look for in 2026.
Rep. Allen Reavis, an Atchison Republican, Rep. Lon Pishny, a Garden City Republican, and Nathan Eberline, executive director of the League of Kansas Municipalities, talk about their plans for the newly formed Local Government Caucus.
Tina Thompson returned to the Catholic Church after decades away as a priest, becoming the first Kansas member of the Roman Catholic Women Priests.
The Alliance of Former Chief Justices is dedicated to preserving judicial independence and the rule of law. Former Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss talks about the new alliance, the threats he faced while serving on the court, and an upcoming vote on how justices are selected in Kansas.
Mark McCormick has written for Kansas Reflector since the summer of 2021, The distinguished journalist has a long career, with stents at the Wichita Eagle, the Kansas African American Museum and the ACLU of Kansas. He also co wrote a book with his lifelong friend, Barry Sanders. McCormick was inducted into the Kansas Press Association's Hall of Fame in November, and he came to the podcast to talk about his life and work.
Gary LaGrange, CEO of Valor Honey, and Brian McCornack, Kansas State University entomologist and head of the newly formed American Honey Institute, talk about challenges in the honey industry. Imported honey may contain cheap sweeteners, for instance, and the institute will focus on advocating for proper labeling and growing the industry.
Linda Heitzman-Powell, a researcher and professor in pediatrics, helped create a program that gives parents, organizations and service providers across the world the tools they need to help children with autism thrive.
Jennifer Ifft, Kansas State University extension specialist in agriculture policy, talks about what is included in the net farm income measurement, which shows Kansans will see an increase of 88% this year. She shares policy impacts on the industry and why it's important that the federal government support farmers.
For the Kansas Reflector podcast, former Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple speaks publicly for the first time about a Republican donor who tipped him off to a covert operation against his 2020 campaign. He later lost a bid for re-election.
The Kansas Museum of History has been closed for three years while getting a dramatic makeover, but it's about to reopen with a day of fun and activities planned for Nov. 22. Museum director Sarah Bell talks about the reimagined gallery space at the museum.
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone leads senior reporters Tim Carpenter and Morgan Chilson through a discussion of the annual Kansas Speaks opinion survey from the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University. Plus, they all discuss Halloween costumes!
will be wide reaching for Kansans. A recent multi-city tour by several state nonprofit groups focused on informing residents about the threat. April Holman of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, Haley Kottler of Kansas Appleseed and Adrienne Olejnick of Kansas Appleseed joined the podcast to tell us more.
It explores the pandemic from perspectives of family, friends and others who grappled with AIDS far from population epicenters for the disease in San Francisco or New York City.
Republican leaders of the Kansas Legislature are working to cobble together the necessary two-thirds majority of the House and Senate to call a special session in November.The original purpose was to redraw the four Kansas congressional districts to make it easy to defeat U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat. But there are maybe a dozen or so House GOP members not thrilled about redistricting in 2025 when it wasn't scheduled to be done again until 2032.Republican leaders want to appeal to dissenters by trying to pass a bill during the special session to prevent individuals from changing their gender marker on Kansas driver's licenses.With this proposed special session about three weeks away, Kansas Reflector senior reporter Tim Carpenter and editor Sherman Smith take stock of the drama.
In her biggest electoral test, Johnson County Sen. Cindy Holscher is asking red-state Kansas to make her the Democratic Party's nominee for governor so she can attempt to follow in footsteps of Gov. Laura Kelly.
University Press of Kansas editor Alec Loganbill explains his goals with Plainspoken Books, a new publishing imprint with a regional reach.
University of Kansas international law professor John Head talks about the need for long-term planning and other steps to address critical agricultural and environmental crises.
Researchers at the University of Kansas take an intense look at the substance use disorder system in Kansas, exploring tactics and strategies that can support the one in five Kansans who abuse drugs and alcohol. Lead researchers Janine Hron and Silke von Esenwein share what they learned about the gaps and strengths in the state's system.
Mike Perry at PerryUndem and David Jordan at United Methodist Health Ministry Fund talk about new research that suggests how residents in Kansas and across the U.S. feel about the current economic situation and what they think should be done about it.
Kansas state Sen. Ethan Corson, a Fairway Democrat seeking the party's nomination for governor in 2026, says the state benefits from centrist, moderate leadership in the governor's office.
An Overland Park immigration attorney says she wants to use her professional expertise to fix what's broken on the federal level and adequately represent Kansans' interests.
Christy Davis, one of three candidates seeking the Kansas Democratic Party's nomination for U.S. Senate, is eager to challenge in 2026 incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican loyal to President Donald Trump.
It's been two years since police staged a chilling raid on the Marion County Record, seizing computers and phones — but not silencing the hard-hitting newspaper.The situation spawned one state and five federal lawsuits, as well as a criminal charge against former police chief Gideon Cody.Eric Meyer, the owner, publisher and editor of the Marion County Record, talks about how his life has changed over the past two years, the status of his lawsuit over the raid, and the need for powerful journalism.
Kansas Reflector reporter Morgan Chilson talks about the stories of perseverance and resilience and the challenges remaining for the Grinnell, Kansas, community. Grinnell was hit by an EF-3 tornado on May 18, 2025, and lost a large residential neighborhood and sustained damage to schools, a church and businesses.
Dorothy Barnett, executive director of Climate + Energy Project, talks about federal green energy policy, new natural gas plants planned by Evergy and costs of energy for Kansans.
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, a Topeka Republican who worked for 40 years as a pharmacist, says she is seeking the GOP nomination for governor to fully represent the interests of Kansans following the second term of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
Ellis County artist Amy Warfield talks about her artwork, her motivation for submitting a suggestion to the Kansas Senate Committee on Government Efficiency, or COGE, and a disconnect between the Legislature's priorities and what people need.
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone leads a discussion with editor Sherman Smith and senior reporter Morgan Chilson on federal immigration enforcement efforts and CoreCivic's lucrative, secret, no-bid contract to house detainees in Leavenworth.
Heather Cessna talks about why she is resigning as executive director of the Kansas State Board of Indigents' Defense Services, and the constitutional crisis created by decades of underfunding public defense work.
Community development financial institutions support “underserved” small businesses and entrepreneurs who may have challenges accessing capital through traditional means, a CDFI leader says.Ruben Alonso, CEO of AltCap, a nonprofit CDFI based in Kansas City, Missouri, talks about the importance of access to capital for Kansas small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Johnny Szlauderbach, director of communications and strategic projects for Freedom's Frontier, talks about the National Heritage Area's rich history, efforts to partner with "passion projects" in "very rural areas," and how a proposal before Congress to defund the program would cause it to "cease to exist."
Kathryn Boyd, CEO and president of the Wichita-based abortion clinic Trust Women, talks about the impacts on Kansas clinics after a total ban on abortion was enacted in Missouri.
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab knocks down election conspiracy theories and talks about his campaign for the state's top office. He also gives an update about his health.
Alan Featherstone, of Kansas State University's Agricultural Economics department, and Hal Luthi, of the Kansas Cattlemen's Association and a third-generation farmer, talk trade, the farm bill and hopes for the future.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, is in the midst of her second and final term. As she considers how to use her remaining political capital, she reflects on the accomplishments and pitfalls of the 2025 legislative session, which was dominated by Republican supermajorities.
Immigration attorney Rekha Sharma-Crawford filed a federal lawsuit against the sudden termination of five international students status terminations — and has successfully temporarily blocked the terminations. She argues that the terminations were cruel, opaque, and have significantly harmed the students’ wellbeing.
Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, says public comments to the Senate Committee on Government Efficiency, or COGE, show how out of step the Legislature is with Kansans.
Former state health secretary Lee Norman looks back five years to contemplate what was learned and lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kansas state education commissioner Randy Watson's main focus is not on the politics of the Kansas State Board of Education. Instead, it's on improving the lives of young people, he said.
The Kansas legislature wrapped up a two-day veto session Friday, combing through a pile of bills rejected by Gov. Laura Kelly and forcing a fair number of those into law. Meanwhile, lawmakers finished up an array of other business for the year. Senior reporters Tim Carpenter and Morgan Chilson help us make sense of this whirlwind of activity.
Reagan Herrman, a 15-year-old Emporia resident, survived an episode of cardiac arrest during a 2023 basketball game when trained personnel made use of an automated external defibrillator that restarted her heart. She advocates for cardiac emergency planning in public schools and funding for districts to acquire AED equipment and training.
Lawmakers in Kansas, which has some of the most relaxed gun laws in the country, debated firearm legislation this year that revolved around law enforcement. Shannon Little with Moms Demand Action is hopeful that future legislative sessions could include gun violence prevention laws.
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone, reporter Anna Kaminski and editor in chief Sherman Smith talk about three recent examples where lawmakers have hidden their work from public scrutiny or directed animus toward journalists.
Rep. Alexis Simmons, a Topeka Democrat, joins former Kansas Republican Party executive director Kris Van Meteren to outline their reservations about a bill that would simultaneously double campaign contribution limits for Kansas Legislature and statewide office positions while also removing caps on donations to county, district or state party committees.
Chris Koliba, a public administration professor at the University of Kansas, is concerned academic standards don't forcefully answer growing threats to core democratic ideals.
Freshman Sen. Patrick Schmidt, a Topeka Democrat, talks about property tax relief, gerrymandering, misplaced priorities, conflicts of interest, and this year's condensed session schedule.
At the end of six weeks worth of session, the Kansas Legislature is barreling ahead at high speed with each chamber passing a bevy of bills. Kansas Reflector staff take stock of where legislators have ended up with a compressed schedule and tensions flaring.
The State of Kansas requires local counties to provide an array of services, from health and safety to road maintenance and administering elections. But lawmakers at the Statehouse are applying scrutiny to counties for the property taxes that largely pay for those services.Bruce Chladny, executive director of the Kansas Association of Counties, and Jay Hall, the association's deputy director and general counsel, talk about the tension between state and local governments.
Author Katherine Rose-Mockry talks about the example set by University of Kansas students in the 1970s who founded the Kansas Gay Liberation Front. She writes about them in her new book, "Liberating Lawrence."
Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the state Board of Regents talks cyberattacks on campuses, employee salary increases and need-based student aid.
Joan Alker, executive director and co-founder of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, and Benjamin Anderson, president and CEO of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System, talk about a new report detailing how the Medicaid program supports rural residents.
Four Kansans ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day reflect upon what it means to embody the civil rights figure's legacy and how to approach a politically uncertain future.
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone leads a discussion with editor in chief Sherman Smith, senior reporter Tim Carpenter and reporter Anna Kaminski on what to expect in the annual legislative session that begins Jan. 13.
The Kansas legislative session begins Jan. 13 with a slate of newly elected officials — including more Republicans in both the House and Senate.Two Republican senators-elect, Brad Starnes of Manhattan and Jeff Klemp of Leavenworth County, talk about why voters favored them over Democratic incumbents in the election and their plans for the upcoming legislative session.
Democratic Rep. Brandon Woodard of Lenexa is beginning his fourth term in the Kansas House with a new job title: minority leader.Woodard talks about his past, his plans, and what Democrats expect in the new legislative session.
U.S. Rep.-elect Derek Schmidt, a Republican headed to Washington to represent the 2nd District of Kansas, speaks about federal immigration, inflation and regulation reform.
Tim Clark was banned from his son's football games in 2022 after a Facebook post caught the attention of officials in the small Kansas city of Quinter. Clark and attorney Max Kautsch talk about Clark's experience, and a $75,000 settlement with the city.
Washburn University political science professor Bob Beatty joins the podcast to analyze notable political spots from the 2024 election and what they mean going foward.
Peggy Lowe, the reporter and voice behind “Overlooked,” KCUR’s investigative podcast into disgraced Kansas City, Kansas, police detective Roger Golubski, appears on the Kansas Reflector podcast to talk about Golubski’s past, upcoming trial, and the second season of “Overlooked.”
Haley Kottler appears on Kansas Reflector podcast to talk about a new report from Kansas Appleseed that examines the benefit of providing universal free meals in public schools, and how schools and lawmakers could unlock more resources to combat child hunger.
A university and two colleges in central and western Kansas teamed up to confront the area's workforce challenges head on through career development and accessible education initiatives.
Kansas Reflector staff sort through the ruby red results in this year's election, and what they mean for the Legislature, State Board of Education, and national politics.
Wayne Walker, owner of Common Ground Capital and CEO of LPC Conservation, and Mike Smith, who works with LPC Conservation projects in five states, talk about the vulnerability of the lesser prairie chicken.
Michael Smith and Ed Flentje, two of the four authors of "Reform and Reaction: The Arc of Kansas Politics," talk about their book, which identifies Gov. Sam Brownback as an outlier among more policy-driven governors who served the state since 1975.
Gov. Laura Kelly predicts voters in the Nov. 5 election will enable Democrats to claim at least two more seats in the Kansas House and three more seats in the Kansas Senate to eliminate the two-thirds supermajority held by Republicans at the Statehouse.
Reporter Anna Kaminski examines a recent state audit and legislators' questions about the effectiveness of tax increment financing districts — also known as TIF districts — in the state's largest cities.
Richard Muma earned his doctorate 20 years ago before climbing the ranks at Wichita State University, becoming president in 2020.Now, an investigation by Kansas Reflector senior reporter Tim Carpenter has found dozens of instances where Muma copied someone else's work into his doctoral dissertation without adequate attribution.Carpenter joins editor in chief Sherman Smith to talk about the story and how he reported it.Correction: Kansas Reflector exchanged emails and/or phone calls with Wichita State University spokeswoman Lainie Mazzullo-Hart on Sept. 10, Sept. 30, Oct. 1 and Oct. 4. An earlier version of this recording incorrectly stated the number of times Kansas Reflector asked for an interview.
Robert Rowland, a University of Kansas professor of communication studies, says the vice presidential debate between Republican J.D. Vance and Democrat Tim Walz carries elevated importance given the extremely close presidential campaign between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Abortion access in Kansas remains at the forefront of state politics, with the 2024 election a little more than a month away. Kansas Women Attorneys for Freedom are at the forefront of this issue. Two members of the group, Adina Morse and Nicole Revenaugh join the Kansas Reflector podcast to talk about their priorities.
For years, the Kansas Legislature has grappled with the best way to help Kansans in need, including children in foster care. Lawmakers in two interim committees recently met to hear about progress, or the lack of it, in these areas. Opinion editor Clay Wirestone talks with reporter Anna Kaminski about the state's efforts to improve the child welfare system.
Wichita police for decades discriminated against Black and Latino residents by placing them on a "gang list" for dubious reasons, subjecting them to enhanced scrutiny and harassment.But earlier this year, the city agreed to settle a federal lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Kansas Appleseed, on behalf of the youth advocacy group Progeny, to alter the way police weaponize the "gang list" against minority community members.Two attorneys who worked on the case — Kunyu Ching with the ACLU and Teresa Woody with Kansas Appleseed — talk about the settlement agreement and the long-term impact of the gang list.
Iian Ellis, a University of Kansas lecturer who grew up near London during formative years of punk music, says in a new book the attitude, symbols and sounds of punk rockers changed his life by encouraging him to question authority.
Kansas is being left behind by neighboring states in terms of recreational and medicinal sales of marijuana, which is illegal in Kansas.Inga Selders, a Prairie Village City Council member and founder of the Cannabis Justice Coalition, dives into this issue with Barry Grissom, a former U.S. attorney for Kansas who serves on the coalition's board.
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone hosts a conversation with editor in chief Sherman Smith, senior reporter Tim Carpenter and intern Grace Hills on the multitude of stories that emerged from the primary election — from the 2nd District congressional races to incumbents losing Statehouse races and implications for November.
Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector editor in chief, and Marisa Kabas, founder of The Handbasket, talk about changes in Marion one year after police raided the newspaper office, and how the raid impacts journalism.
Matt Kleinmann grew up in Overland Park and played basketball at the University of Kansas. He faces former U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda in the Aug. 6 Democratic primary in the 2nd District.
Former U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, a Democratic candidate who seeks to reclaim the 2nd District seat in Congress, sees herself as “a strong, independent, moderate woman” appealing to Kansas voters who want difficult challenges resolved in Washington, D.C.
Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University, says former Attorney General Derek Schmidt had taken control of the Republican primary in the 2nd congressional district and that large numbers of potential voters remain disappointed with the presidential options of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.
One-fourth of Kansas long-term nursing homes rank at the lowest level in terms of resident care, with for-profit facilities faring worse, in federal ratings.Dan Goodman, executive director of Kansas Advocates for Better Care, and Libby Hastings, the organization's communications coordinator, say federal lawmakers should intervene.
Michael Ogle, a Kansas National Guard veteran from Topeka, attempts to persuade Republican primary voters to support his campaign for the U.S. House.
Kansas legislators returned to Topeka for a special session originally meant just to tackle a tax cut plan. But an incentive package for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals ended up getting more attention.Kansas Reflector reporters Tim Carpenter and Alison Kite break down the one-day special session, and the build up to it, in a conversation with opinion editor Clay Wirestone.
Kansas Action for Children vice president Adrienne Olejnik and data and policy analyst Ryan Reza talk about the 2024 Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which shows Kansas slipping in the overall ranking.
Cindy Lane, the new director of the Kansas Blueprint for Literacy, and Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, speak about the imperative that Kansas better equip current and future educators to teaching reading instruction to students.
Braided Haven board member Darin Stephens and executive director Kathleen Marker discuss the need for an LGBTQ+-specific shelter and the inspiration for the project. After years of work, the organization is planning to open both a drop-in center and a shelter.
Advocates of clemency for Sarah Gonzales-McLinn are taking the next step in their efforts. Gonzales-McLinn is serving at least 25 years in prison for murder, but her advocates want the public to understand that she was the victim of sex trafficking to learn more. Journalist Dave Ranney and advocate Michelle McCormick talk about the case.
Kansas businesses have more jobs than workers, and state universities are exporting 57% of graduates. A workforce pathway system could serve both students and businesses, says Torree Pederson, president and CEO of the Kansas City-based nonprofit Aligned.
National Park Service rangers Lawson Nwakudo and Jeff Tully discuss celebrations May 17 and May 18 of the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that "separate but equal" public schools were a violation of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone talks with editor in chief Sherman Smith about an overstuffed veto session yielding drama aplenty — not that any of the drama was required — and the prospects of Gov. Laura Kelly calling lawmakers back for a special session to address tax cuts.
Jack Curtis, founding chairman of the United Kansas Party, says many right- and left-leaning independent voters in Kansas feel the Republican and Democratic parties don’t represent their interest. The United Kansas Party would seek to initiate a process of cross-party nominations.
The Community Voice editor and publisher Bonita Gooch and Wichita State University professor Michael Birzer discuss discrimination in traffic policing
LaTonya Boyd, along with Courtland Davis, director of operations at the YWCA Northeast Kansas, and LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, a civil rights advocate and attorney, discussed the nuances of Kansas gun violence. In an average year, 456 people die and 655 are wounded by guns in Kansas, according to Everytown statistics. Approximately 135 people in the state die by gun homicides and 271 are wounded by gun assaults annually, with 311 estimated firearm-related suicides.
YWCA Northeast Kansas CEO Kathleen Marker and Fatima Perez-Luthi, the founder and CEO of The Grind Coaching and Consulting and manager of a local financial literacy program, talk about financial empowerment for women, looking at workplace trends and gender-based discrimination.
Sharla Smith, the founder of the Kansas Birth Equity Network, Sapphire Garcia-Lies, the founder and executive director of Kansas Birth Justice Society, and Abriona Markham, executive director of Topeka Doula Project, discuss the need to improve health outcomes for mothers of color, along with their view on maternity bills under debate in the Legislature.
Phil Journey, a two-term national board member of the National Rifle Association, offers an insider perspective of financial misconduct threatening the future of the prominent gun-rights lobbying and educational organization.
A task force appointed by Gov. Laura Kelly last year recommended consolidating services for early childhood development into a single office, and there's a new piece of legislation that would do just that. Children's advocates Monica Murnan and David Jordan explain the proposal and how it could help.
The Kansas Legislature has renewed its attack on transgender rights with a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for those who are younger than 18.A committee led by Rep. Brenda Landwher, a Wichita Republican, has advanced the bill — after debate on the issue was compromised by preferential treatment of out-of-state interests, transparency concerns, and misinformation from a pair of Republican lawmakers who are also physicians.On this podcast episode, we are elevating the voices of Kansans who have been stifled along the way. They are:Anthony Alvarez, a Loud Light fellowD.C. Hiegert, Legal Fellow for the ACLU of KansasIridescent Riffel, a co-chiar of Equality Kansas, and sometimes opinion contributor to Kansas Reflector
Sierra Club lobbyist Zack Pistora condemns legislation that would ban plastic bag bans, and gives an overview of other environmental measures up for debate under the dome.
Sean Miller, a Statehouse lobbyist working with the diverse Kansans for Conservation, says the coalition proposes the state — without raising taxes — dedicate about $50 million annually to voluntary conservation programs to protect and upgrade water and land resources.
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone chats with Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, and Max Kautsch, a media lawyer based in Lawrence, about the landscape for journalism and free expression in the Sunflower State.
Davis Hammet, president of the voter advocacy group Loud Light and Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas warn of creeping attempts to restrict Kansas voters during a Kansas Reflector podcast, referencing multiple election bills heard in recent weeks.
Kansas Sen. Cindy Holscher and Kansas Library Association president Sean Bird talk about challenges to books in public and school collections. Holscher has introduced a bill establishing statewide requirements for consideration of requests to prohibit, ban or restrict access to library books and other media.
Kansas Appleseed Welfare Advocate Adina Morse and John Wilson, president and CEO of Kansas Action for Children talked legislative priorities for the state’s child welfare system, including the ripple effect of the state’s scarce mental health resources combined with the lack of cohesive alternatives for children who are experiencing behavioral problems.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, agonizes over the demise of Roe v. Wade and attempts by politicians to interfere with health care decisions of women.
Republican Rep. Stephen Howe of Salina marked the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol with a forceful opinion column condemning political violence and supporting the peaceful transition of power. The column was thoughtful, thorough and unexpected in today's divided political climate. Howe talks about his thoughts on the topic, as well as the new session of the Kansas Legislature.
Alan Cobb, president and CEO of the Kansas Chamber, along with Eric Stafford, the organization’s vice president of government affairs, join the Kansas Reflector Podcast to discuss legislative policy priorities.The organization supports a single rate state income tax and proposals to invest state tax dollars in private K-12 education.
Aa tumultuous legislative session. A police raid on a small-town newspaper. Pitched political battles over Medicaid expansion, and so much more.The year of 2023 may not have seen a major election, but that was about the only news that didn't happen this past year in Kansas politics. This retrospective edition of the Kansas Reflector podcast looks back at the year's top stories with opinion editor Clay Wirestone, editor Sherman Smith and reporter Tim Carpenter.
Rural, urban housing advocates are hopeful the 2022 Kansas Legislature's $62 million investment will make a difference for people and communities.
Rocky Nichols, executive director of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, and Sara Hart Weir, executive director of the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities, talk about the state's history with Medicaid-funded disability support services. The two have both spent years advocating for increased support and funding for Kansans with disabilities, but have seen little government action on the issue.
Gov. Laura Kelly has conducted a whistlestop tour of the state to examine the advantages of Medicaid expansion. She talks about what she learned on the road, and how her tour might serve to jumpstart debate at the Statehouse during the 2024 legislative session.
Washburn University professor Bob Beatty shares what he learned by following GOP presidential candidates taking part in Iowa's Jan. 15 caucus.
Kansas Rural Center policy analyst Paul Johnson and Kansas Farmers Union executive director Nick Levendofsky want 2024 debate on the federal farm bill to emphasize crop subsidies, food nutrition and environmental conservation.
Gov. Laura Kelly hired Vijay Ramasamy as a special adviser on water to assist with the Ogallala Aquifer and other issues. Ramasamy says his job "is to make water central to a lot of our conversations."
Fort Hays State University, North Central Kansas Technical College and Northwest Kansas Technical College have decided to face the challenges of declining rural population and businesses struggling to find workers — all at the same time. The regional university and two tech colleges have joined forces with a strategic affiliation initiative that aims to not only strengthen the institutions, but revitalize whole regions of the state.
It's been nearly three months since the law enforcement raid on the Marion County Record newspaper. Since then, the town's police chief has resigned, and reporters have kept digging into the situation.Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone leads a conversation with Marion County Record editor and publisher Eric Meyer, and Kansas Reflector editor in chief Sherman Smith.
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone joins senior reporter Tim Carpenter in talking about Fort Hays State University's annual Kansas Speaks poll. The new results show how Kansans are feeling about Medicaid expansion, marijuana, abortion, climate change and guns, among other issues.
In the upcoming legislative session, Kansas child advocates want lawmakers to pass a new option for youths who are about to age out of the system. Under the SOUL initiative, youths could choose their own community of supporting adults.
Outgoing state Rep. Fred Patton spent years serving at the Statehouse and on a school board. Years juggling complex issues of deep public interest left him a changed person. Not the kind of overwhelming personal transformation associated with huge egos and bright lights of the nation's political epicenter in Washington, D.C. No, Patton's realm was the Seaman school district north of Topeka and the domed Capitol in downtown Topeka.
Over the past few years, moderate Republicans have seen their numbers dwindle at the Kansas statehouse, as increasingly ideological lawmakers took charge. A new organization, with former Senate President Steve Morris as a founding board member, hopes to change that equation.
GOP strategist and ad maker Rick Wilson was one of the first prominent Republican voices to oppose Donald Trump, all the way back in 2015. He's now part of the Lincoln Project, a right-leaning pro-democracy group. Wilson is raising the alarm about the stakes of the 2024 presidential election, when Trump and current President Joe Biden will likely be on the ballot once again.
Bruce Chladny, executive director of the Kansas Association of Counties, and Miami County Commissioner Rob Roberts say the Local Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund would reduce residential property tax bills. But the Legislature hasn't funded the program since 2003, and Republican leaders have no interest in reviving it now.
Shannon Little, the chapter co-lead for Kansas Moms Demand Action, and organization volunteer Ann Williamson outline their ideas for more gun safety measures.
During a Kansas Reflector podcast, Mark McCormick, deputy executive director of strategic initiatives at the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, discussed racism in the state as seen through the lens of his recent report on Quindaro, “Same Water Comin’ Round: Quindaro as a Vision for Kansas.”
Jade Piros de Carvalho, director of the Kansas Office of Broadband Development, discusses the state's five-year action plan to expand internet services in rural areas.
Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, says providing reproductive health care in the state has been complicated by the loss of federal abortion rights and decades-old state restrictions. Her organization has been flooded with an influx of out-of-state visitors seeking care denied to them in their own states.
Judith Deedy, from Game On for Kansas Schools, and Lauren Tice Miller, a Shawnee Heights school board member, discuss this year's election cycle for public school board races. The two say they are concerned about a wave of misinformation being promoted by outsider groups, such as Moms for Liberty.
Eli Woody, a former educator and political newcomer, is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner for a shot at the 2nd District seat. Woody, a Democrat, discussed his campaign goals of focusing on education, reproduction rights and gun reform with Kansas Reflector senior reporter Tim Carpenter.
The Democratic governor talks about her Middle of the Road political action committee, the youth vote, economic development, new agency leadership, attacks on LGBTQ equality and Medicaid unwinding.
Kerrice Mapes, owner and founder of 785 Magazine, talks about independent journalism, a worsening crisis with Topeka's unsheltered population, and the mysterious unraveling of Stephen Wade's reign as city manager.
Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Shawnee Democrat, discusses model legislation, including anti-LGBTQ bills, passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature.
Marty Hillard — an advocate against police brutality, a musician, and director of community engagement at Kansas Children's Discovery Center — is "resolute in finding joy, in as many experiences as possible for all of the years that I was sort of lost in my indignation."
Todd Thornburg, deputy chief counsel for the Kansas Department of Labor, has Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. As a five-time finalist for a judicial seat in Shawnee County, he says he will never give up on his dream of becoming a judge. But as his peers continue to make him a finalist, the governor keeps picking other candidates.
Kelly Rippel, cofounder of Kansans for Hemp and a member of the Kansas Department of Agriculture's hemp advisory panel, says changes in state and federal policies could help build a more vibrant market for growing hemp in Kansas for industrial purposes.
Mike Foreman, who was sexually assaulted at age 11 by a priest from Queen of the Holy Rosary Parish in Overland Park, talks about the Catholic Church's lack of empathy in rejecting his appeal for justice.
Pam Cornwell, trauma services clinical director for Saint Francis Ministries, and Matt Arnet, KVC Health Systems director of outpatient mental and behavioral health services, discuss mental health challenges of foster kids.
Steven Johnson, who took office as state treasurer in January, talks about environmental, social, and corporate governance, administering an anti-abortion program, private school scholarships, unclaimed property, short-term investments and legislative experience.
Opinion editor Clay Wirestone leads editor Sherman Smith and reporter Rachel Mipro in a discussion of Kansas Reflector's six-part church and state series, which examined the influence of religious views on state government.
YWCA of Northeast Kansas' monthlong exploration of social justice anticipates some people might feel uncomfortable before talking more comfortably about the issue in terms of disability rights, housing, music and mental health. Allison Marker and Romae Isom of the YWCA talked about their effort on the Kansas Reflector podcast.
Wendy Doyle, president and CEO of United WE, a nonpartisan nonprofit that advocates for women in business and civic leadership, said her women’s bill of rights would include family leave, lowering barriers for women to open businesses and ensuring affordable child care. Doyle and Jen Earle, CEO of the National Association of Women Business Owners, sat down for the latest installment of Kansas Reflector's podcast.
Kansas Action for Children's Heather Braum, Daniel Klaassen and Erin Melton delve into legislation impacting the welfare, education and health of Kansas families.
Wulf James on the Kansas State Library, which offers a journey into state government's obscure past and access to modern library tools.
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab talks about the integrity of state elections, the new presidential primary, advanced voting, and administrative cleanup.
Four members of Progeny, a Wichita-based youth advocacy group, talk about the groundbreaking 2016 juvenile justice reform bill, what still needs to be done to help at-risk youths, and how Kansas lawmakers approach the issue.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who took office in January, talks about mass shootings, abortion, election rules, drugs, retail crime, transparency, transgender athletes and endangered birds.
Kansas Reflector staff talk about taxes, LGBTQ attacks, abortion, public education and other prominent topics from this legislative session.
A Leavenworth county landfill has, in the words of a county commissioner, threatened an "unfolding environmental disaster" for Kansas. Neighbors, the landfill's owner and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment have become entangled in a fiery dispute that has a times involves real flames.Opinion editor Clay Wirestone talks to reporter Allison Kite about her in-depth story on the dispute.
Chloe Chaffin, program lead for Loud Light and the chapter president of Washburn Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, and Leslie Butsh, field director with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, discuss the state of reproductive rights this legislative session.
Brian Jordan, of the Kansas Association of School boards, joins Brenden Wirth and Joel Leftwich, both of the Kansas Farm Bureau, to talk about Engaged Kansas — a new effort to encourage civic-minded folks to enter public life through service on the 6,000 positions on city councils, county commissions and school boards.The nonpartisan, nonpolicy coalition involved also includes the Kansas Association of Counties, League of Kansas Municipalities, Kansas Chamber and Kansas Leadership Center.
Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, and George Hanna, co-director of the Kansas National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana, express frustration with hurdles to legalizing medical marijuana in Kansas — but still hold hope that the Legislature can pass a bill.
Kansas State University president Richard Linton, a true believer in the land-grant mission of U.S. universities, says a cluster of new campus academic and research buildings should serve to improve the quality of life for Kansans across the state.
Jae Moyer, of Mainstream Coalition, and Melissa Stiehler, of Loud Light, discuss the state's political climate toward the LGBTQ community.
Mark Horst, owner of King Solar in Yoder, Michelle Milburn, of Stanion Wholesale Electric, and Jessica Lucas, lobbyist for the Clean Energy Business Council, say Kansas should end the utility monopoly on power purchase agreements with businesses, churches, schools and others who want electricity from solar systems on their property but lack investment capital to build. Opening the market, they say, would allow developers to construct facilities and deliver power at lower rates.
Marcus Baltzell, spokesman for the Kansas National Education Association, and Leah Fliter, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards, talk about legislative attempts to undermine K-12 education.
Sedgwick County District Judge Phil Journey's ideas for cutting domestic violence in the state include informing victims about protection orders and temporary housing assistance, preparing officers to determine the most-likely aggressor in a case, and staggered sentencing.
The jury that convicted Sarah Gonzales-McLinn of first-degree murder in 2015 didn't know about the months of abuse that preceded her grisly crime.She received a Hard 50 sentence, but later accepted a plea deal to reduce her incarceration to a minimum of 25 years in exchange for giving up the right to appeal.Now, her advocates hope to get her out of prison by convincing the governor to grant her clemency — a longshot attempt to correct what they view as injustice.In her first interview with a reporter, Gonzales-McLinn called Kansas Reflector editor in chief Sherman Smith from prison to talk about her experience with Hal Sasko, the man who held her bondage and raped her a hundred times in 10 months.
Sen. David Haley and Rep. Barbara Ballard — the Kansas Legislature's longest serving current senator and representative — talk about career, race and partisan politics.
Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, outlines key pieces of the organization's 2023 agenda as the session gets underway.
Kansas Chamber president Alan Cobb and lobbyist Eric Stafford outline key pieces of the business organization's 2023 agenda ahead of the new session.
Last year was one like few others in Kansas politics. Journalists at the Kansas reflector began by covering a breakneck legislative session. Toward the end of the year, we followed a bitter midterm election contest. And in the middle of it all August, we saw a landmark vote on abortion rights. Our staffers make sense of these stories and others that defined a remarkable year.
For generations, the aquifer that supplies western Kansas with water has been in decline, largely due to over pumping for crop irrigation. Parts of the state have just 10 or 20 years of water left. Rep. Lindsey Vaughn, who served as the ranking Democrat on the Kansas House Water Committee, joins the Kansas Reflector podcast to talk about it.
The iconic high rise Docking State Office Building, which now sits largely unoccupied, could soon be demolished. Work to take the building to the ground could begin as early as January 2023. On the other hand, a preservation group called Plains Modern has gone to court to halt full-scale demolition.
Libraries hold a conflicted place our collective imagination. To many of us, they're magical. We were first exposed to worlds of imagination and ideas on the shelves of our local libraries. To others, these buildings serve as indispensable community gathering spots, places to learn and meet and share. But to a small and vocal group, school and town libraries threaten social order.This week, Kansas Reflector opinion columnists read books challenged by parents and residents and give their thoughts. In this podcast, opinion editor Clay Wirestone speaks with Lori Brack, Iridescent Riffel and Mark McCormick about their responses.
Spencer Duncan, director of government affairs at the Kansas League of Municipalities, talks about the league's policy agenda for the upcoming legislative session.
Leah Fliter and Scott Rothschild of the Kansas Association of School Boards dive into K-12 education issues likely to be on the agenda during the 2023 legislative session.
A joint committee of the Kansas House and Senate convened for two days to explore concerns about the state’s foster care system.During 15 hours of testimony and questioning, a diverse collection of foster parents, academics, lawyers, contractors, state officials and others delved into their experiences with a system responsible for 7,000 children in need of care.The responsibility is immense, the challenges complex, and solutions seemingly beyond the grasp.This episode takes you into the Capitol to hear from a sampling of people who live and work in foster care. It concludes with a rundown of reform ideas lawmakers expect to offer in the 2023 legislative session.
Senior reporter Tim Carpenter leads a discussion with editor in chief Sherman Smith, opinion editor Clay Wirestone and reporter Rachel Mipro about campaigns for governor, Congress, attorney general, and the Statehouse, as well as votes on constitutional amendments and judicial retention.
In February 2021, it got really cold in Kansas. It was about 15 degrees below zero for more than a week.Natural gas prices shot up, in terms of BTUs, from $2.54 on Feb. 1 to $622 by Feb. 17. Then, as if the market had been manipulated again, it dropped back to $2.46 by the end of the month.The bills for all that are coming due. The Kansas Corporation Commission has decided the extraordinary costs paid by public utility companies for natural gas during that period will be largely covered by residential retail customers — about $622 million spread over 2-10 years.The KCC action raises many questions. Where are the investigations into price gouging? Was there a missed opportunity to negotiate a better solution on behalf of consumers? What prevents this from happening again in February of 2023James Zakoura, an energy and public utility attorney with a keen interest in the work of the KCC, joins the Kansas Reflector podcast to delve into these issues.
The new Kansas Speaks survey of public opinion generated by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs is out. It checks the pulse of Kansans on dozens of issues — a list that ranges from views on public officials, the economy, abortion, election security, housing, marijuana to health care.Here to mine some of the numerical nuggets from the statewide survey are Brett Zollinger, director of the Docking Institute at Fort Hays State University, his colleague at the institute, Jian Sun, Michael Smith of Emporia State University, Alexandra Middlewood of Wichita State University, and Patrick Miller of the University of Kansas.
Democrat Lynn Rogers says the Kansas State Treasurer's Office has the ability to help Kansans in their day-to-day lives by providing economic recovery loans, administering the college savings plans, and returning unclaimed property.He hopes to hang onto the job of treasurer by defeating Republican state Rep. Steven Johnson, a farmer from Assaria, in the November election.
Tiffany Muller returned to Kansas, where she made history in 2004 by becoming the first openly LGBTQ public official in Kansas, to campaign on behalf of Democrats.Muller — now president of End Citizens United, an organization that wants to get big money out of politics — says Republican candidates Kris Kobach and Derek Schmidt pose a fundamental threat to Democracy in the state.
Kansas is known for sunflowers, bison, farms and rural communities. But as our country and state grow ever more closely connected and urbanized, what does that mean for small towns and communities across the Sunflower State? Christy Davis, the Kansas director for USDA Rural Development, helps us answer that question.
Matt Lindsey, president of the Kansas Independent College Association, and Heather Morgan, executive director of the Kansas Community College Association, talk about a new transfer agreement among 39 colleges in those organizations. The agreement guarantees students earning a two-year degree at a community college the opportunity to enroll at one of the independent colleges as juniors, transfer 60 credit hours of courses, and not be required to take more general education classes.
Republican Derek Schmidt's gubernatorial campaign has embraced anti-transgender hate speech, and the Gardner Edgerton School District has entertained a discriminatory policy.D.C. Hiegert, an American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas legal fellow focusing on LGBTQ issues, and Brenan Riffel, a Kansas Reflector columnist and University of Kansas graduate student, talk with opinion editor Clay Wirestone and reporter Rachel Mipro about the harm this is causing to transgender kids.
Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran says he has grown more knowledgeable during his quarter-century of service in the nation's capital — while his disdain for the game of politics has deepened. He faces a challenge from Democrat Mark Holland in November.Moran talks about expanding health care benefits for military veterans suffering from toxic exposure, the 988 suicide and crisis prevention hotline, promoting Kansas, a new farm bill, and his reaction to the Aug. 2 primary vote on a constitutional amendment on abortion.
Stephen Durrell, executive director of the Kansas Lottery, discusses the introduction of legal sports gambling in Kansas. Online and in-person sports wagering is available at casinos in Mulvane and Kansas City, Kansas, while online bets through apps are being handled at Pittsburg and Dodge City casinos.
Chris Mann, the Democratic nominee for Kansas attorney general, talks about his background as a police officer, crime victim, prosecutor and defense lawyer. He is running against Republican Kris Kobach.
Joe Spease, chief executive officer of WindSoHy in Overland Park, outlines the potential for using "green hydrogen" to fuel vehicles and generate electricity, significantly reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mark Holland wants to change arc of Kansas political history with straight talk on health care, election fraud and abortion.
The former mayor of the Unified Government of Kansas City, Kansas, faces incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran in November.
The Aug. 2 election was a political earthquake in Kansas. The headline was a 59-41% vote against a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the Legislature to ban abortion. But there were a host of other high-profile races as well. Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone leads a discussion with editor in chief Sherman Smith and senior reporter Tim Carpenter.
It's primary time again in Kansas and the television ads are assaulting viewers with images, ideas and ideology of candidates.
Bob Beatty, political science professor at Washburn University and the state's foremost chronicler of Kansas political ads, joins Tim Carpenter on the Kansas Reflector this week. With Bob's help, the Reflector marches through some of the seasons campaign ads.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is seeking a second term as the state's chief executive. The former state senator from Topeka is traveling the state to make her case for reelection.
She joins Tim Carpenter on the Kansas Reflector podcast to discuss her work as governor the past four years and her approach to the fall campaign.
Kansas voters are already casting advanced ballots on a constitutional amendment that would remove the right to abortion access in Kansas. The Aug. 2 election will be the first time voters in any state make their voices heard on reproductive rights following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Kansas Reflector editor in chief Sherman Smith is joined by Kelly Sommers, director of the Kansas State Nurses Association, to talk about abortion in Kansas and the role of nurses in reproductive health care.
Now is the summer of our discontent. The end of Roe vs. Wade has shaken the nation. Kansas has been gripped by an amendment vote on just that subject scheduled for next month. Political candidates circle one another like irritable peacocks, knowing that weeks or months of conflict await. Nationally, inflation has stressed households and scared investors. While the White House searches for fixes. Gas prices have shot up. And the new Thor movie isn't even that great.
With all that in mind, opinion editor Clay Wirestone runs down the issues with editor in chief Sherman Smith.
The 2022 election cycle for the Kansas House is unique in the sense that 55 of the 125 seats are already decided. That is because only one candidate filed to run for election to the state Legislature in those districts.
Three young Kansas House Democrats — Christina Haswood, Brandon Woodard and Rui Xu — who are running unopposed in the 2022 election join Kansas Reflector intern Lily O'Shea Becker to talk about what it's like being a young Democrat representative in Kansas, what they expect of their next terms and their opinions on a few prevalent issues in Kansas.
Read more: https://kansasreflector.com/2022/07/04/kansas-house-democrats-regressive-politics-drive-young-people-to-leave-the-state/
You may have noticed two new names making regular appearances on Kansas Reflector story bylines recently — Margaret Mellott and Lily O'Shea Becker. They joined the Reflector this summer as interns and are tackling topics ranging from gun laws to teachers leaving the field to youth civic engagement.
They join the podcast to discuss how they got started in journalism and some of the what they have been working on since they came on board.
Health care is often a difficult system to navigate, with concerns of costs, access or finding the right fit to address your intimate needs. The challenges are amplified for uninsured patients or those who don't speak English as a primary language, but a new Kansas certification will establish the widespread practice of community health workers, which advocates say will help patients navigate these complicated health systems a little bit easier.
These health workers make the system work better for patients and providers by offering culturally competent care and reducing reliance on emergency systems. David Jordan, president of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, Treva Smith, a prenatal care coordinator at KC Care Health Center, and Ton Miras Neira, COPE community health worker project manager at KU Medical Center, join the Kansas Reflector Podcast to discuss how the certification benefits the state.
The U.S. Senate Republican and Democratic primaries are less than two months away and the eight candidates in the running must bear down to lock away votes in those competitive primaries. The incumbent, Kansas Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, is a known commodity, but the six Democrats in the contest are still introducing themselves to the electorate.
Among those individuals is Paul Buskirk, a University of Kansas academic administrator in the university's athletics program. Buskirk is making his first dive into electoral politics and joins Tim Carpenter to talk about himself, his candidacy and what he'd like to do for Kansas.
Kansas voters head to the polls Aug. 2 to nominate Republicans and Democrats for all sorts of political offices in preparation for the November general election. The campaign ads have already started flowing and one issue on the August ballot is a proposed amendment to the Kansas constitution.
The amendment embraced by a conservative state legislators and lobbyists would essentially reject a 2019 decision by the Kansas Supreme Court. That decision found the Kansas Constitution's bill of rights protected a woman's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, including decisions about whether to continue a pregnancy.
The Rev. Jay McKell and Ashley All, of Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, join Tim Carpenter on the Reflector podcast to discuss why they oppose the amendment.
The U.S. Senate Republican and Democratic primaries are less than two months away and the eight candidates in the running must bear down to lock away votes in those competitive primaries. The incumbent, Kansas Republican U.S. Senator Jerry Moran is a known commodity, but the six Democrats in the contest are still introducing themselves to the electorate.
Among those individuals is Paul Buskirk, a University of Kansas academic administrator in the university's athletic program. Buskirk is making his first dive into electoral politics and joined Tim Carpenter to talk about himself, his candidacy and what he'd like to do for Kansas.
Kids can make the most hardened person smile. In the Statehouse in Topeka, there is a lot of debate about policy and funding aimed at Kansas children.
Influencers in this process include Kansas Action for Children, a nonprofit that works to improve the health, education and welfare of the state's vulnerable youths. Jessica Herrera Russell and Adrienne Olejnik of Kansas Action for Children discuss child centric action during the just completed 2022 legislative session.
Scott Schwab has served as the Kansas Secretary of State since 2019. Before election to be the state's top elections official, the Republican served in the Kansas house for 15 years, representing part of Johnson County.
Schwab joins reporter Tim Carpenter for the Kansas Reflector podcast to break down recent election law, the safety of Kansas elections, upcoming amendments and more.
Parts of western Kansas have just a decade or two of water left. One city's drinking water was contaminated with uranium. For years the state hasn't been paying its bills to the federal government to store drinking water in dams in eastern Kansas but last year a state House committee started studying the water situation.
They proposed a huge reform package to restructure and streamline agencies, create an independent water engineer and add oversight to groundwater management districts but the bill died before ever receiving a House vote. Reporter Allison Kite speaks with Rep. Ron Highland, R-Wamego, who spearheaded the effort to do something about the near crisis state of Kansas water.
As a politically active college student in Wichita, Mark Parkinson audaciously ran for a seat in the Kansas House at age 20. He didn't win, but he learned the value of sweating through a door-to-door campaign. He went on to serve in the Kansas House and Senate, lead the Kansas Republican Party and made friends across the political landscape as a moderate Republican.
It was a shock to some that he switched his party affiliation in 2006 to the Democratic Party and became a candidate for lieutenant governor on a ticket with incumbent Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. They won that race. He then became governor when Sebelius resigned to work for President Barack Obama. His reward was to govern during a brutal recession, work on developing a new state highway plan, initiate a statewide indoor smoking ban, deal with a tortured debate on energy policy, and, of course, raise taxes.
Parkinson says there's no political legacy of him as governor, but an article just published by Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains offers a counterpoint to that claim. Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washington University was part of the interviews and editing of the article and joins Tim Carpenter on this episode of the Reflector Podcast.
The birth of a child is a blend of anxiety and joy, but it can also give rise to a feeling of malaise in mothers that often dissipates in a couple of weeks. A longer-lasting form of this condition is referred to as postpartum depression.
Prompt treatment can help moms manage symptoms and bond with a baby, but what if you’re a low-income mother in Kansas without access to counseling and health care? The consequences – hypertension, cardiovascular disease, overdose, suicide – can be extreme.
The Kansas Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly have taken a step to alleviate the suffering through legislation extending the state’s Medicaid postpartum coverage from two months to 12. Salym Soderholm, a mother of two who experienced postpartum depression; Sapphire Garcia-Lies of the Wichita Birth Justice Society; and Kari Rinker of the American Heart Association join the Reflector Podcast to explain postpartum illness and the benefits of program changes for mothers, babies and families.
Few in the Kansas Legislative or investment world understood what a TEFFI was when lawmakers approved a bill last year allowing the launch of a so-called technology-enabled fiduciary financial institution. Founder Brad Heppner's vision includes investments in rural Kansas and attracted support from local and state officials.
But a three-month Kansas Reflector investigation spearheaded by editor Sherman Smith raises an array of questions from the company's business model to the likelihood of any small towns benefiting at all. Opinion editor Clay Wirestone leads a discussion of the in-depth report with Smith and columnist Max McCoy, who also wrote about Heppner and his company, Beneficient.
The legislative process in Kansas is an interesting numbers game that often boils own to a the numbers 63, 21 and one. These figures represent the narrowest margin a bill can clear the House and Senate respectively, and the one reflects the governor's power to veto a bill.
Legislators have recourse when the governor rejects a measure. Through a two-thirds majority in both chambers, the veto can be overridden. Senior reporter Tim Carpenter breaks down which vetoes legislators may seek to overturn Monday.
The Kansas Legislature is in the middle of a three week break with senators and representatives having wrapped up a whirlwind regular session on Friday, April 1. What bills made it through? What bills did not?
To break it all down on the Reflector Podcast is editor-in-chief Sherman Smith, senior reporter Tim Carpenter and reporter Noah Taborda. The conversation is moderated by opinion editor Clay Wirestone.
In the closing hours of the Kansas legislative session, a familiar proposal resurfaced that would ban transgender athletes from participating in school sports.
After two years of debate, battle lines are clearly drawn on the issue. Republicans who support the bill say it will protect girls and women from having to compete with boys and men who are faster and stronger.
But four members of the LGBTQ community who serve in the House delivered speeches undermining those arguments and shaming their colleagues for bullying transgender children.
This is model legislation crafted by national faith-based groups and promoted in Kansas by organizations with a history of advocating for LGBTQ discrimination. Courts have repeatedly struck down the law in other states where it has passed.
The Legislature adopted the law a year ago, but didn't have the votes to override Gov. Laura Kelly's veto. The vote counts from Friday night, when the Legislature again sent the bill to the governor's desk, suggest a similar outcome could happen this year.
This episode includes remarks by Rep. Barbara Wasinger, a Republican from Hays, outlining her perspective early in the debate, followed by the perspectives of LGBTQ members of the House.
There is never never a shortage of issues to talk about in Washington D.C.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat from Kansas City, Kansas, joins Tim Carpenter on the Reflector Podcast to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine, national and state infrastructure, redistricting and more.
Rep. Steven Johnson, an Assaria Republican, talks about his campaign for the Republican nomination for state treasurer and his pitch to the state GOP convention.
On Thursday, the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee held a hearing on Senate Bill 501, a measure that would restrict access to an array of public assistance programs, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The bill’s main advocate wasn’t a Kansas legislator: It was the Florida-based Opportunity Solutions Project, the lobbying branch of Koch-linked Foundation for Government Accountability. And the cost of a bill meant to restrict access to lifesaving programs for families? Some $27 million for administration.
Opinion editor Clay Wirestone is joined by Kansas Appleseed’s anti-hunger campaign director, Haley Kottler, to talk about the bill, its potential effects and what went down during the hearing.
There's a push in the Kansas Legislature to require state courts and law enforcement agencies to temporarily take custody of firearms from people convicted of domestic battery. A bill in the Senate would close a loophole in a 2018 law banning convicted domestic abusers from buying firearms in Kansas, which mirrors federal standards, but that law didn't contain provisions for relinquishment of guns from people found to have engaged in domestic violence.
Sitting with Tim Carpenter on this Reflector Podcast is Rep. Jo Ella Hoye, D-Lenexa, who endorsed the pending Senate bill and has argued for comparable reforms in the past.
The daily duties of a first responder leaves many scars, physical and even more so mental. The trauma from these sights and experiences last a lifetime and require years of healing.
An effort is ongoing in Kansas to help destigmatize first responder wellness and guarantee workers compensation for those with diagnosed post traumatic stress disorder. To discuss this are Ed Klumpp, with the Kansas Peace Officers’ Association, Douglas County Sheriff Jay Armbrister and J.D. Smith, a Butler County paramedic.
There is a newfound emphasis by legislators on education policy. There is a sense looking at the list of education bills that some state lawmakers feel they need to micromanage classrooms, from preschool through high school.
To help with insights into this legislative evolution are Lauren Tice Miller, a Shawnee Heights School Board member and a lobbyist with the Kansas National Education Association, Michael Rebne, a teacher in the Kansas City, Kansas, public school district and a Roland Park City Council member, and Kathy Harrell, a Tonganoxie Middle School teacher.
The Kansas legal system is in a bind financially and ethically. While 85% of adult criminal cases in Kansas require appointed counsel, there's a real lack of state funding, there's a massive caseload and there's high defense attorney turnover.
It all calls into question whether the state is meeting its constitutional requirement to provide for the defense of the poor. Heather Cessna, executive director of the Kansas State Board of Indigent Defense, joins the Kansas Reflector podcast to explain why we all should care about the predicament.
One year ago, the day after Valentine's Day, Travis Zirkle lost his husband Jeff Wallace to COVID-19. Travis believes he brought the virus home from school where he's a special education teacher.
In the year since, Zirkle, a Barnard resident, has grappled with grief, while also becoming an outspoken advocate for vaccination. In this Kansas Reflector podcast, opinion editor Clay Wirestone sat down with Zirkle.
Plastic bags used to haul away purchases from groceries and other retail stores have a 15 second lifespan in terms of how typical customers make use of them. Multiply that usage by 1 million bags a minute worldwide and the plastic starts to pile up. Consider these easy come easy go bags take 10 or 20 years to decompose in a landfill and many of course get jettisoned into the environment where they blow around the landscape or float away in streams, rivers and oceans.
Lori Lawrence, of Bag Free Wichita, and Sheila Regehr, of Dillons Food Stores based in Hutchinson, outlined on the Kansas Reflector podcast strategies aimed at taking a bite out of demand and supply of plastic bags.
The DC-based Millennial Action Project is working to engage young policymakers across the country — including members of the bipartisan Future Caucus in the Kansas Legislature. The organization recently gathered Kansas lawmakers, along with young entrepreneurs in the state, for a discussion at Iron Rail Brewery in Topeka.
The voices in this week's Reflector Podcast include Rep. Tory Arnberger-Blew, a Republican from Great Bend, Rep. Rui Xu, a Democrat from Westwood, Del-Metrius Herron, a realtor from Topeka, and Rebecca Appelgren, who runs a cosmetics company in Olathe. Former state Rep. Patty Markley leads the conversation.
One of the loudest lobbying voices in the Capitol is the Kansas Chamber. The statewide business organization strives to influence public policy, and its political action committee works to influence outcome of elections.
The state chamber of commerce annually issues a legislative agenda that touches on taxation, health care, workforce development, the legal system, government spending, and much more. Alan Cobb, president and CEO of the Kansas Chamber, and Eric Stafford, the principal Statehouse lobbyist for the Kansas Chamber, join the Kansas Reflector podcast to discuss the 2022 agenda.
The Kansas Legislature returns Monday to the statehouse for the start of a new session where lawmakers will entertain a variety of policy ideas and the weeks and months ahead. Kansas Interfaith action, a multifaith advocacy organization, is among the groups hoping to influence those debates.
On the Kansas Reflector podcast, editor in chief Sherman Smith sits down with pastor Robert Johnson, the lead servant of Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Wichita and a Kansas Interfaith Action board member, and Rabbi Moti Rieber, who serves as executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action.
Kansas Reflector editor in chief Sherman Smith, senior reporter Tim Carpenter and opinion editor Clay Wirestone talk about six topics — taxes, COVID-19, abortion, foster care, marijuana and critical race theory — that dominated the news in 2021 and implications for 2022.
Gov. Laura Kelly is entering the fourth year of her governorship of Kansas, and faces a reelection challenge in 2022. The Democrat vowed, when sworn into office after the 2018 election, to stabilize the state government's budget, bring coherence to K-12 public school funding, restore credibility to the state's transportation program after years of broken promises and to get a grip on the troubled foster care system.
Since early 2020 she's been absorbed by the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed 6,900 Kansans, with more than 4,000 of those fatalities occurring in 2021.
On this Reflector Podcast episode, Tim Carpenter sits down with Kelly in her office at the Capitol to talk about her work as the state's chief executive and her thoughts entering the 2022 legislative session.
For transgender Kansans, changing their names and identity documents to reflect their true selves can be an arduous and expensive process. A new program from Kansas Legal Services aims to change that for moderate and low income Kansans.
Tori Gleason, a healthcare provider in Western Kansas and Ellen Bertels, founder of the Kansas Name Change Project at Kansas Legal Services detail the effort and its importance on this episode of the Reflector Podcast.
Lee Norman was prepared for the possibility that a new and deadly virus could induce a global pandemic long before many people were familiar with the threat that became known as COVID-19. But he was caught off-guard by the governor's decision to fire him as secretary of the Kansas Department for Health and Environment after managing the state's response to the pandemic for nearly two years.
Editor in chief Sherman Smith sat down with Norman in his Kansas City, Missouri, loft to talk about his leadership of the health agency, attacks on science, his departure from state government, and what he plans to do next.
There's a messy debate raging in Washington, D.C., around the Build Back Better bill, which is President Joe Biden's economic growth package. It's a profound investment in America's future, Democrats argue. Republicans, on the other hand, generally view it as a budgetary albatross.
On this Kansas Reflector Podcast, David Jordan, president of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, Suzanne Wikle, senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy, and Kelly Davydov, executive director of Child Care Aware of Kansas, share why they support this legislation.
The Kansas special legislative session last week only lasted one day but still elicited many strong responses and wild speeches. The new law provides moral, religious and medical exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine requirements and ensure unemployment compensation for anyone who is fired because of their vaccine status.
Any business that refuses to accept an exemption faces up to $50,000 in fines.
Considerations of such action were criticized by Democratic legislators who called the legislation a waste of taxpayer money, instead pointing to issues they said are in need of more immediate attention, like the food sales tax and the criminal justice system.
On this week’s Reflector podcast we hear some of the speeches that defined the special session, followed by a short conversation with Tom Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas, to debrief on the events.
People living in the Kansas City area in the summer of 1981 can recall the harrowing collapse of two overhead walkways inside the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Those platforms were full of partygoers attending an evening dance in the lobby below.
The tragedy killed 114 people and injured more than 200. On the 40th anniversary of the collapse, Rick Serrano, who shares a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the disaster, chronicles in a new book the suffering of people touched by the event and brings new focus to what went wrong, how it could have been avoided, and what lessons carry forward.
If you go to the grocery store in Kansas, you will see the total cost of your shopping being a little larger than in many other states. That’s because Kansas is one of seven states with a full tax on groceries and at a rate of 6.5%, has the second highest tax in the nation.
But in recent days, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced a plan to introduce legislation in January to exempt food from the state sales tax, joining Attorney General Derek Schmidt in urging GOP leaders to take action on the issue. On the Reflector Podcast to discuss this proposal and the implications the exemption could have is Karen Siebert, the public policy and advocacy advisor for Harvesters.
According to Kansas Appleseed, one in six residents of southeast Kansas is food insecure and a stunning one in four children in the region is food insecure. That's the topic of the advocacy groups new report, "Hunger in Southeast Kansas."
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone is joined by two members of the Kansas Appleseed team — Hailey Kottler, thriving campaign director, and Caleb Smith, inclusive campaign director — to discuss the new report.
Sedgwick County Commissioner Lacey Cruz lives in the poorest zip code in the state of Kansas. Immense challenges of homelessness as well as mental illness and substance abuse are visible from her front porch.
Cruse joins host Tim Carpenter to discuss how she believes Sedgwick County and the city of Wichita can do a better job marshaling resources to take on these complex problems, especially with the availability of federal COVID-19 recovery funding.
Students at Seaman High School just north of Topeka ignited intense community conversation last year when their research revealed the school districts namesake had been an exalted cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan. Now, animosity over critical race theory has inflamed debate about whether to change the district's name.
Joining host Sherman Smith on the Kansas Reflector podcasts to talk about the school name and community response are Seaman High School seniors Kevinh Nguyen and Emma Simpson.
Leading a public university during a devastating pandemic and demographic shifts slashing the number of college aged people is a mind boggling challenge. In addition to the evolving economy, emerging technology and politicization of government spending on higher education, the challenges are great. One of the six people entrusted to manage a state university in the Kansas Board of Regents is Tisa Mason, president of Fort Hays State University.
Mason has a grip on all these challenges and joins senior reporter Tim Carpenter to discuss the business of operating Fort Hays and broader questions facing colleges and universities nationwide.
The difference between the haves and have nots in the world of broadband services — think of it as a digital divide and high speed internet — can be felt in business education, health care and at home. Without it of course you might have difficulty listening to this podcast.
Joining senior reporter Tim Carpenter to connect Kansas reflector listeners to challenges and opportunities of spreading the broadband wealth are Stanley Adams of the Kansas Department of Commerce and Daniel Friesen of IdeaTek, a company in Buehler, Kansas working to extend fiber in across the state.
When entrepreneurs wanted to convince politicians to be more pro-business, they formed a chamber of commerce to champion their ideas. Now, advocates of the nation's growing marijuana industry have done the same. Heather Steppe, is president of the new Kansas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, talks with Kansas Reflector senior reporter Tim Carpenter about efforts to reform government policy on marijuana.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Kansas Department of Labor has been overwhelmed by unemployment claims, both real and fraudulent. The beleaguered unemployment insurance computer system and the record volume of activity created drastic delays and invited criminal actors to submit false claims.
A recent audit estimated the state paid out $700 million dollars in fraudulent benefits, about half from federal and half from state funds.
This episode of the Kansas Reflector Podcast examines an early September meeting of the Kansas Unemployment Compensation, Modernization and Improvement Council to see where progress is being made and what questions are still being asked.
In February the Midwest was gripped by a deep freeze from winter storm Yuri, resulting in electrical outages for many. The cost of the storm are still being sorted out.
On this episode of the Kansas Reflector podcast, Allison Kite looks into the economic fallout from this winter's deep freeze for Kansas residents who could be paying for just a few days of natural gas usage for years to come. Jim Zakoura, an attorney representing wholesale customers to talk about proceedings at the Kansas Corporation Commission.
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked economic upheaval that places more Americans at risk of being homeless, exacerbating the issue existing long before the current health crisis. A surge in evictions during 2020 prompted a federal order to temporarily halt such ousters, enabling many Americans to stay in their home, but the pandemic created poignant challenges for those already without a fixed residence.
Resources for the homeless were strained as that population expanded, some shelters had to close, and basic housing costs soared. On this week’s Kansas Reflector podcast, Tim Carpenter is joined by Joseph Reitz, who helped start Family Promise of Lawrence more than a decade ago to help families with kids with shelter, food and counseling with the goal of getting those people permanently housed with jobs.
Lack of affordable or permanent housing is not a new issue to Kansas, but amid the pandemic thousands of Kansas have come face to face with the threat of eviction. Estimates indicate 27,000 Kansas renters are currently behind on their rent and about 14,600 renters are at risk of eviction.
COVID-19-related moratoriums and relief programs have provided temporary relief for some, housing advocates warn a crisis could be bubbling without adequate policies. On this episode of the Kansas Reflector podcast, freelance reporter Shelton Brown shares the voices of those impacted.
When extreme heat descends on the Kansas City metro, you can feel it radiate off of buildings and dark pavement. Built-up areas, like downtown, become nearly unbearable — superheating well beyond the outlying areas. It’s called the urban heat island effect, and Kansas City, dominated by highways and parking lots, gets hit hard.
On this week’s Kansas Reflector podcast, reporter Allison Kite dives into extreme heat in Kansas City, which can be devastating for the city’s most vulnerable residents and is expected to become more frequent over the coming decades.
Tony Mattivi, a retired assistant U.S. attorney, is the latest entrant in the quest to find a replacement for Attorney General Derek Schmidt. He joins a GOP field that already includes Kris Kobach, the former secretary of state, and Sen. Kellie Warren, of Leawood.
Mattivi sits down with Tim Carpenter to discuss how his experience led him to run for attorney general of Kansas and what makes him qualified for the job.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is working hard to return to an office in the Capitol where he previously served as a state senator. Now he is campaigning for the Republican Party's nomination for governor in 2022.
Schmidt joins senior reporter Tim Carpenter on the Reflector podcast to discuss the campaign and a potential shot at challenging incumbent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
The Kansas foster care system has been the subject of numerous heartbreaking stories as a surge in the number of children entering foster care strained the capabilities of the system and placed children's safety in jeopardy. While progress has been made in recent years, a lot of work remains.
Laura Howard, secretary of the Department for Children and Families and the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, is focused on improving outcomes for children in state custody. She joins Sherman Smith to discuss her work monitoring approximately 6,800 kids in the Kansas foster care system, as well as support programs for parents and families.
Selma, Memphis, Little Rock, Montgomery and Topeka: The city names alone are a roadmap of the nation's struggle for equality in terms of voting rights, educational opportunity, and jobs. These landmark cities are also on the U.S. civil rights trail.
Joining Tim Carpenter on the Kansas Reflector podcast is Lee Sentel, Alabama's tourism director and the man behind a 128-page guide to more than 120 historic sites across 14 states, including the Brown v Board of Education and National Historic Site and Sumner Elementary School in Topeka.
In June of 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and outcry for social and racial progress, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly established the Commission on Racial Equity and Justice. The first year of work was spent focusing on law enforcement and policing with more than 60 recommendations for different levels of government submitted in a final report.
Now, the commission has released an interim report on a bevy of new subjects. The co-chairwomen of the commission, Tiffany Anderson, superintendent of Topeka Public Schools, and Shannon Portillo, a Douglas County commissioner, discuss the interim report.
Since July 5, more than 500 workers on strike have been posted across from a Frito-Lay plant in Topeka demanding higher wages and more limited hours.
Union members rejected a contract offer from Frito-Lay with an annual 2% wage increase because for many workers that would be less than 50 cents per hour. Additionally, many employees are subjected to forced overtime and work up to 84-hour weeks because of worker shortages.
We visit the picket line on this Kansas Reflector podcast to speak with the workers before planned negotiations on July 19.
In 2018, Republican Jeff Colyer fell 172 votes short of beating Kris Kobach in the closest statewide GOP primary election in Kansas history. He is confident he would have beaten Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat seeking re-election in 2022.
Now Colyer is competing against Attorney General Derek Schmidt in the Republican gubernatorial primary for the opportunity to finally go toe-to-toe with her. He sits down with Tim Carpenter on this week's Reflector Podcast.
The Kansas River, or the Kaw, as some say, is a little-known treasure to most Kansans. Riverkeeper Dawn Buehler — advocate, scientist, educator and investigator — speaks to the environmental importance and recreational opportunities offered by this waterway.
In 2010, the Capitol in Topeka was abuzz with 125 representatives and 40 senators eager to take on the state's political challenges. This 165-person group included Sen. Laura Kelly, now the governor, and Sen. Jeff Colyer, who made it to the governor's office a step ahead of her.
Another half-dozen or so individuals moved on by climbing the political ladder, but they were the tip of the iceberg in terms of the decade of legislative exodus. Ten years later, only eight senators and 14 representatives still hold those elected positions.
Political scientists Bob Beatty, of Washburn University, and Michael Smith, of Emporia State University, examine legislative turnover in Kansas and weigh in on a few other political issues — including critical race theory.
Advocates worry a decade of progress improving the lives of Kansas children could be undermined by COVID-19 if policymakers can't sustain recovery from the pandemic. Even before COVID-19 infected the world, Kansas trailed more than 20 states in terms of child well-being based on a series of metrics tracked annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The newly released 2021 Kids Count report by the foundation of the 50 states ranks Kansas 18th in the nation, so there's some good news. John Wilson, president of the nonprofit nonpartisan Kansas Action for Children, joins host Tim Carpenter to help us get a handle on the report.
A new report by the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice is re-examining barriers to food access faced by many southwest Kansans. For example, SNAP food assistance participation has decreased even though the need has increased in Stevens, Seward, Grant, Ford and Finney counties.
Jami Reever, executive director of the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and Martha Terhaar, Thriving Campaign Advocate, analyze what the report means and pointed to some barriers and solutions to those issues.
Most years, the Kansas Capitol would attract more than 6,500 visitors to see the state history contained there. But with a pandemic raging last year, activity grinded to a halt. Now, the Kansas Historical Society plans to reopen the Statehouse for tours on June 14.
Joe Brentano, the Capitol Visitor’s Center coordinator, has given these tours for the past 14 years. He provides a tour for Kansas Reflector and shares a deep knowledge of state history.
Scattered across Kansas are an assortment of private colleges ranging in size from 300 to 3,600 students. That list includes Baker and Friends universities, Benedictine and Bethany colleges, MidAmerica Nazarene, McPherson College, University of St. Mary and others.
What do they all have in common? They're part of the Kansas Independent College Association. Joining the Kansas Reflector podcast and host Tim Carpenter is Matt Lindsey, president of the association.
Kansas voters thought they gained some distance between politicians and all those ads, mailers and speeches during the 2020 election cycle. Not so fast! The 2022 campaign season upon us and fans of the electoral process can expect competitive races for governor, attorney general, the U.S. House and state treasurer.
Senior reporter Tim Carpenter is joined on this week's Kansas reflector podcast by state representative Steven Johnson, an Assaria Republican. He is running for the office now held by democratic treasurer Lynn Rogers.
On Saturday, March 7, 2020, at the Capitol, Lee Norman confirmed the unsettling but inevitable news that Kansas had its first case of the novel coronavirus. Since then, more than 311,000 Kansans have been infected. Overall, more than 5000 infected Kansans have died.
Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, has been at the center of this public health storm. He sat down with senior reporter Tim Carpenter to discuss the state of Kansas health during a visit to the Kansas Reflector.
After four months of the legislative session, the Kansas Legislature reached bedrock and key areas of public policy. The evidence emerges in the most simplistic forms in the snappy yes or no votes of bills and amendment resolutions, and also in poignant and sometimes lengthy speeches on the House and Senate floors.
Senior reporter Tim Carpenter is joined by opinion editor C.J. Janovy, editor in chief Sherman Smith, and reporter Noah Taborda on the Kansas Reflector podcast to sort through gems of oratory, touching on the GOP power to override vetoes by the governor, the revisionist history applied to COVID-19, the related financial intervention by the government during the pandemic, and consideration of a medical marijuana law.
The Republican-dominated Kansas Legislature covered Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's desk with a pile of bills that turned out to include an unusual amount of veto bait. In all, she vetoed eight bills and line-item vetoed more than a dozen provisions of a massive budget bill.
House and Senate Republicans are licking their chops. They say they can't wait to return to Topeka on Monday for the traditional veto session, which hasn't offered Republicans a target-rich environment like this in more than 15 years.
The House and Senate frequently begin their work on behalf of Kansans standing side-by-side with heads bowed in prayer. In these moments, religious leaders and sometimes legislators urge all 165 members to follow the Good Word and to go about their political objectives as instruments of peace. The elected are directed repeatedly to sow love where there is hatred, pardon those who injure others, bring hope to despair, and deliver light where there is darkness.
On this Kansas Reflector podcast, we're taking a look at the 2021 Legislature's collection of prayers. Members of the Senate and House were recipients of sustained pleas for goodness, tolerance and honesty.
A bill overwhelmingly passed by the Kansas Legislature and signed by Gov. Laura Kelly allows investor-owned utility companies to issue ratepayer-backed bonds to retire expensive power plants and transition to alternatives, such as wind or solar power. The bonds also enable utility companies to deal with price shocks on natural gas from February's cold snap.
Paul Johnson, a public interest advocate who has followed energy policy at the Capitol for years, and Zach Pistora of the Kansas Sierra Club, dive into securitization — a subject that affects everyone's wallet and Kansas energy and environmental policy — with senior reporter Tim Carpenter.
A seemingly innocuous bill approving a series of new distinctive license plates sparked debate last week in the Kansas Legislature. That’s because one plate included would be based on the Gadsden flag — a design critics say has ties to slavery.
Cristopher Gadsden designed the yellow Revolutionary War symbol bearing a hissing snake and the words “Don’t Tread on Me.” He was a merchant and slave owner in South Carolina who had a wharf built bearing his name in Charleston, where an estimated 100,000 enslaved Africans landed in the United States.
The bill passed the House and Senate and is now headed to Gov. Laura Kelly for review.
Political scientists Bob Beatty, of Washburn University, and Michael Smith, of Emporia State University, consider the work of the House and Senate this legislative session, as well as the performance of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Republicans who want to take her job in 2022.
It has been about four months since Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab expressed confidence in state elections. Still, some legislators are considering significant changes to the election system.
Voting rights activists say these measures under review by Republican-led committees could cut thousands of ballots in future elections or make access to voting harder. Republican legislators argue reform is necessary to increase an all-time low public confidence in elections.
On this episode of the Kansas Reflector Podcast, reporter Noah Taborda takes a look back at a week full of election conversation and controversy in the Kansas Legislature.
Republican governors Sam Brownback and Jeff Colyer praised it. Democratic governors Kathleen Sebelius, Mark Parkinson and now Laura Kelly concurred. What were they excited about? They were pointing to wind farm development in Kansas. The state is a hotspot for wind power. On highways through blustery hills and flatlands of Kansas, you can't miss these turbines. So far, around 14 billion has been invested in Kansas wind projects and more than 40% of Kansas energy comes from wind.
At the Capitol, a Senate bill would inject an unprecedented level of government regulation into the industry in Kansas. On this week’s podcast, senior reporter Tom Carpenter examines the legislation with Kimberly Svaty, of the Advanced Power Alliance, and Alan Anderson, an attorney who works with companies interested in being part of the wind farm projects.
Kansas voters overhauled the Kansas Senate in 2020, filling more than 1/3 of the 40 seats with newcomers. The chamber has 15 new members, a dozen Republicans and three Democrats.
One of those freshman senators is Ethan Corson, D-Prairie Village, who had never before held elective office, but was no stranger to politics. Host Tim Carpenter sits down with Corson to discuss his impressions of his first session in the Legislature.
In response to the pandemic and other policy desires, the 2021 Kansas legislative session has been packed with action on several fronts. It’s a long process and the Legislature has weeks left to discuss and amend favored bills, but some measures have already been approved.
On this episode of the Kansas Reflector podcast, editor in chief Sherman Smith, senior reporter Tim Carpenter, reporter Noah Taborda and opinion editor C.J. Janovy discuss major movement at the statehouse thus far.
Last week, the Kansas Senate Education Committee held a hearing on a bill forbidding any team designated for females to be open to students of the “male sex.”
Champions of Senate Bill 208 said it would preserve hard-fought opportunities won by feminists for equal participation in athletics and guarantee a level playing field for girls and women.
Opponents of the bill said it would provide legal authority to further marginalize people faced with discrimination and would obviously be challenged in court as unconstitutional.
No Kansas legislative session is without a debate about the academics, leadership and financing of Kansas public education. This session is no exception. The conversations are made more compelling by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is interrupted in-class teaching, much to the dismay of lawmakers who questioned the wisdom of teaching the state's 400,000 or so public school students through online alternatives.
Mark Desetti, of the Kansas National Education Association, and Mark Tallman, of the Kansas Association of School Boards, join the Kansas Reflector Podcast to dive into the nuts and bolts of the legislative intrigue.
In December 2020, Gov. Laura Kelly appointed then-Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers to fill the vacancy of state treasurer left by U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner. Unlike his predecessors, Rogers does not see his new role as a stepping stone for future political positions.
Rogers joins Tim Carpenter to discuss his first month in the role of state treasurer and what the future may hold.
For years, Kansas declined to include children with brain injuries and some adults with comparable problems in the state's Medicaid program. Finally, in 2019, the federal government prodded the state into expanding coverage to these vulnerable populations.
Here's the problem: The governor's budget didn't include the 8 million needed to finance the brain injury program as intended. A state agency appears willing to create a waiting list for additional people to move to this service.
Janet Williams, founder of Minds Matter, the state's largest provider of services to people with brain injuries, joins the Kansas Reflector podcast to discuss why this is happening.
As of Jan. 7, 2021, there are over 696 missing American Indian or Alaskan Native, including three in Kansas, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. A 2020 report using data from the Sovereign Bodies Institute, a nonprofit, Indigenous-led research organization, shows 2,306 Native American women and girls in the U.S are missing within the past 40 years, with 58% resulting in homicide.
It’s an issue that has always been front and center in the minds of Kansas’s Native American legislators and now they are working to give it the government attention a situation of this urgency requires.
"I know that this is a problem. I've always known that," said Ponka -We Victors, D-Wichita. "Every time I travel on the highway by myself back to Wichita, I know I could be another statistic of not making it home."
League of Kansas Municipalities representatives have reserved seats to observe how more than 600 cities in Kansas have interacted with other levels of the government hierarchy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On this episode of the Kansas Reflector Podcasts, senior reporter Tim Carpenter sits down with Trey Cocking and Erik Sartorius of the League of Municipalities to address the good and the bad of the pandemic response.
Gianfranco Pezzino served as Shawnee County's health officer for 13 years before stepping down abruptly from the position in December. In the middle of the battle against COVID-19, Pezzino found politics overruling science.
On this episode of the Kansas Reflector podcast, senior reporter Tim Carpenter sits down with Pezzino to discuss what he learned during the pandemic, why he stepped away, and Kansas response to the health crisis.
Aaron Coleman defeated an entrenched incumbent for a seat in the Kansas House. He did it, extraordinarily, at age 20 while championing a Green New Deal reform agenda.
But that accomplishment is overshadowed by controversy. On this episode of the Kansas Reflector podcast, Coleman joins senior reporter Tim Carpenter to respond to calls for his resignation and discuss policy goals.
Gov. Laura Kelly announced in December she would pursue a second term in 2022. Amid the pandemic and with several policy goals yet to be achieved, the Kansas governor said running for re-election was a no-brainer.
In this episode of the Kansas Reflector podcast, senior reporter Tim Carpenter — with help from editor-in-chief Sherman Smith — sits down with Kelly to discuss pandemic response, budgeting issues and, of course, her reelection efforts.
After 44 years at the state Capitol, 2020 will be the last for Sen. Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat. The longest-tenured legislator, who took office in 1977, has worked with 10 different governors and around 150 different state senators.
On the Kansas Reflector podcast, senior reporter Tim Carpenter sits down with Hensely to reflect on his career — highlights, lowlights and everything in between.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, now in his third term, makes his presence felt. He'll be relied upon during the upcoming legislative session, but beyond that, he has weighed in on several notable legal issues, like the election and Kansas proof of citizenship laws.
On this edition of the Kansas Reflector podcast, senior reporter Tim Carpenter sits down with Schmidt to discuss criminal justice reform, a Texas-born election lawsuit contesting the 2020 general election and a possible run for governor.
After nearly 40 years as a congressman, U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts announced early last year he would not pursue reelection in 2020. Capping off the longest tenure of any Kansan in the nation’s capital Sen. Pat Roberts delivered a final speech on the Senate floor Thursday.
In what he dubbed his “adios amigos” speech, Roberts reflected on his path to politics, time spent as chair of the agriculture committee in both the House and Senate and the value of bipartisan efforts in passing meaningful legislation.
Kansas law allows capital punishment, but no one has been put to death in the state since 1965. At El Dorado Correctional Facility, 10 men are currently on death row, set to die by lethal injection. The majority are white and all are convicted killers.
On this Kansas Reflector podcast, Cheryl Pilate, a criminal defense lawyer, Beatrice Swoopes, a retired public policy lobbyist for Catholic causes, and Mark Mark McCormick, director of strategic communications with the ACLU of Kansas, share strong feelings in opposition to capital punishment.
According to a report from the US Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly 8% of inmates serving time in state and federal prisons and local jails are veterans. Despite making up a sizeable portion of the criminal justice system, diversion options specific to veterans are few and far between.
In 2008, Judge Robert Russell, the presiding judge of the Buffalo Drug and Mental health Courts, established the nation’s first Veterans Treatment Court intended to provide structure and rehabilitation for military men and women. In 2016, Johnson County followed suit and established the first and only Veteran’s Treatment Court in Kansas.
Now, with eyes on criminal justice reform across the country, several legal leaders in Kansas are encouraging more of these treatment courts be adopted across the state.
The COVID-19 pandemic has left Kansas embroiled in economic chaos. Tens of thousands out of work, severely delayed payment of unemployment claims, and a wave of fraudulent jobless claims are among the turmoil the state has suffered over the past nine months.
This past week a joint House and Senate committee charged with working on how best to move Kansas forward from this disaster met in Topeka. Legislators provided a fiery tit-for-tat debate on several of these issues. In this edition of the Kansas Reflector podcast, host Tim Carpenter guides us through the proceedings.
Bob Beatty and Amber Dickinson, political science faculty members at Washburn University in Topeka, say President Donald Trump easily won confidence of Kansas voters, no amount of money would have altered the outcome for Senate candidate Barbara Bollier, and rural backing carried state Treasurer Jake LaTurner.
Election Day 2020 has come and gone, but many races are still too close to call across the country, including here in Kansas. A week removed, counties now must canvass election results and cure provisional ballots in order to certify results.
Davis Hammet, president of Loud Light, a youth-focused organization fostering increased civic engagement in Kansas, joins this week's host Noah Taborda to discuss Election Day and what's to come over the next few weeks of election certification.
The Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University recently released its annual survey report on how Kansans view significant issues facing the state and nation. The report provides insight on issues like taxes, funding priorities, quality of life in the state and public policy issues.
Brett Zollinger, director of the Docking Institute joins the Kansas Reflector Podcast this week to discuss findings in the report. Public policy issues covered in this year’s report include COVID-19, mail-in voting and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The KC Freedom Project is a ministry fighting to exonerate individuals who are wrongfully convicted or accused. The organization is also actively involved in calling out corruption within the Kansas City community, be it in the police department or the prosecutor’s office.
Latahra Smith founded KC Freedom Project using skills she acquired investigating and clearing her son of a 2008 capital murder case in Texas. Her work on her son’s case brought her to her calling investigating similar situations across Kansas and Missouri.
After the Great Recession in 2008, community colleges nationwide saw an influx of nontraditional students and an increase in overall enrollment. Amid COVID-19, the opposite has occurred, and Kansas community colleges are facing a 14.1% decline in enrollment since last fall.
Carter File, Hutchinson Community College President, has seen a 3.6% decrease in overall enrollment this fall, on the high end for enrollment this year. Brian Inbody, Neosho Community College President, said his college is facing enrollment losses across the board, from technical education programs to concurrent high school programs.
Despite these losses, Heather Morgan, executive director of the Kansas Association of Community College Trustees, said Kansas community colleges are well-positioned to rebound when the pandemic subsides.
Kansas writer Sarah Smarsh's 2018 book, "Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth," was a New York Times best-seller and a finalist for the National Book Award. It earned her high-profile invitations, such as introducing civil rights icon Dolores Huerta at the 2019 Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago.
"It's been very humbling to know that folks who kind of have their hands on the levers of power saw something worth reading in the book," Smarsh said.
Her new book is about a very different but perhaps more powerful figure: "She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived her Songs," is out this week from Simon & Schuster.
"I was raised by women who didn't go to college, they never studied feminist theory, but they embodied feminism's tenets, even if they were averse to the term because it had been somehow weaponized by, you know, political forces," Smarsh said. "And it struck me that Dolly Parton was a was a perfect model to explain that."
President Donald Trump, former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and race-baiting think tanks like the Heritage Foundation use the myth of voter fraud to justify laws and tactics that make it more difficult to vote. Research and court records show voter fraud is extraordinarily rare, but Kobach and Trump have influenced public opinion by frequently repeating debunked claims.
Scott Moore, of Mission Hills, sued Kobach over his quest to find voter fraud, which led to a privacy breach of personal information for Moore and 944 other Kansas voters. Sean Morales-Doyle, deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Voting Rights and Elections program, is working to knock down false claims in an unusual election year.
Read more: https://kansasreflector.com/2020/10/06/voter-fraud-myth-persists-despite-constant-failure-to-prove-claims/
Four of five COVID-19 fatalities in Kansas were people at least 65 years of age, but that group is a mere 11% of the population. Vulnerability of medically challenged people in large residential facilities makes public disclosure of outbreaks a "life or death" public service.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment offers a weekly summary of COVID-19 clusters.
Advocates for the elderly and disabled appreciate KDHE's site-specific list, but suggest broadening information shared on long-term care facilities.
Rep. Gail Finney and Sen. David Haley are optimistic the 2021 Legislature can advance a bill legalizing medical marijuana, something they have advocated for more than a decade.
Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla, the Democratic nominee for the 2nd District seat in Congress, says the police department is full of heroes, "but for us to say with a straight face that there is no room for improvement is crazy." Her campaign is focused on expanding access to preventive health care, and she criticizes President Donald Trump for favoring politics over science in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts shares personal insights into his 40-year career as an elected official in Washington, D.C., which was preceded by service in the U.S. Marine Corps and work as a journalist and congressional aide.
Dorothy Hines, assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas, says K-12 students can explore COVID-19's impact on their lives through social media, and children need to know they are part of a family of teachers, administrators, counselors and others who value their well-being.
John Wilson, president of Kansas Action for Children, and Melissa Rooker, executive director of the Kansas Children's Cabinet and Trust Fund, outline concerns for more than 100,000 children living in poverty in Kansas.
Patrick Miller, of the University of Kansas, Bob Beatty, of Washburn University, and Michael Smith, of Emporia State University, say U.S. Senate candidate Barbara Bollier needs to clearly define herself or risk Kris Kobach's fate.
Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said he was distressed only 15 of the state's 105 counties embraced Gov. Laura Kelly's recommendation of a mask mandate. The public health value of requiring people to cover their mouth and nose when in public has been undermined by government officials who discounted potential of the virus or viewed government edicts as infringement of individual liberties.
Senate President Susan Wagle, a Republican with 30 years of experience in the Kansas Legislature, has never been mistaken for a shrinking violent. She took on an otherwise all-male Republican field to make the case she was best suited to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, the dean of Kansas politics. As the primary campaign season was about to catch fire in March, COVID-19 began consuming the nation's political oxygen. Then, one of her children, 38-year-old Julia Scott passed away.
Kris Kobach warns GOP voters not to be fooled by general election oddsmakers by Reflector Podcast
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, commerce secretary David Tolland plan recovery from COVID-19 by Reflector Podcast