WRITER: Josie Heimsoth

Level Up Robots middle school teams advance to VEX World Championship after state victory

In this studio in a Lawrence strip mall, when it's class time, the students are buzzing, whirring and humming with excitement. On a typical day, one of them might be learning how to tell whether something is red or blue. Another might be practicing how to thread rings onto a stake or climb a ladder. The students are robots, and their teachers — a group of Lawrence middle schoolers at the Level Up Robots ...

Kansas Public Radio warns of significant impacts as Trump orders federal cuts to NPR and PBS funding

After President Donald Trump directed federal funding cuts to more than 1,000 public media outlets nationwide, Kansas Public Radio is sounding the alarm. On Thursday evening, Trump signed an executive order aiming to eliminate federal funding for PBS and NPR, accusing the networks of biased reporting and spreading “left-wing propaganda.” The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or CPB, ...

Hundreds line Massachusetts Street for May Day protest, singing, chanting and advocating against Trump's policies

Cars honked their horns and hundreds of protesters lined Lawrence's Massachusetts Street singing "This Land is Your Land" on Thursday as a nationwide — and worldwide — day of anti-Trump and pro-labor protests kicked off. More than 400 people gathered downtown to protest a long list of moves by the Trump administration — such as the elimination of thousands of federal jobs, aggressive immigration raids and ...

Douglas County Historical Society launches fundraiser after federal grant terminated by executive order; museums like Watkins fear future funding cuts

Following the loss of federal funding for an educational program for local teachers, the Douglas County Historical Society has launched a fundraising campaign to help offset the financial shortfall, and museum directors fear how future funding cuts will affect their programs. The Douglas County Historical Society was informed on April 8 that an already approved grant from the federal Institute of Museum and ...

Advocates fear potential Medicaid cuts could strip coverage from thousands of Kansans, threatening hospitals and health care access

As members of Congress are being asked to find $880 billion in cuts to health spending, Medicaid advocates are warning of tough choices ahead for states like Kansas — choices that could cost them billions of dollars or cause thousands of people to lose their health coverage. In February, House Republicans passed a budget resolution that instructs the committee that handles health care spending to identify at ...

Lawrence school district unveils additional priorities for next school year, highlighting parent communication hub

Lawrence school board members heard about additional priorities in the next school year – like streamlining parent communication, AVID rollout and MacBooks at the high school level. Based on community input, Superintendent Jeanice Swift on Monday presented plans to create more opportunities for students and to improve services for families. She presented three new “enhancements” or strategies to create ...