TOPEKA — Kansas’ new chief justice plans to push for changes aimed at helping veterans and the mentally ill, and expects to press for a big budget increase from a Republican-controlled Legislature that’s likely to remain sharply critical of the state Supreme Court. Chief Justice Marla ...
Lawrence-area Sen. Tom Holland pre-filed a bipartisan bill last week that would make mental health care coverage more accessible. Holland, a Democrat from Baldwin City, co-sponsored the bill with five other senators, including Republican Sen. Molly Baumgardner, of Louisburg. Holland and ...
Providing state funding for a planned behavioral health crisis center is the top issue the Douglas County Commission wants lawmakers to consider when they return to Topeka next month. In its recently approved Legislative Priority Statement for the 2020 session, the commission said its No. 1 ...
Sen. Marci Francisco knows gardening is a lot of work — her front yard is an organized chaos of dozens of fruits and vegetables. But there are some plants that are easy to handle, Francisco explained. Take garlic, for example. “Get some dirt, get some garlic, stick it in the hole, and ...
TOPEKA — Six trial-court judges in Kansas filed a lawsuit Friday against the state Legislature in hopes of forcing it to increase funding for the court system in a move certain to intensify majority Republicans’ ongoing frustrations with the judiciary. The judges filed their lawsuit ...
OSAWATOMIE — One of Kansas' two state mental hospitals is again at risk of losing Medicare funds. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that patient care problems at Adair Acute Care — located inside Osawatomie State Hospital — "substantially limit the hospital's ...
TOPEKA — Kris Kobach's successor as Kansas secretary of state says his staff found an unsecured gun in a file cabinet after taking over the office. The discovery of the .45-caliber pistol in January was mentioned in a timeline that Secretary of State Scott Schwab's aides produced as they ...
WICHITA — Kansas may have to help pay workers at a company that makes fuselages for the grounded Boeing 737 Max if the planes don't return to the sky soon, Gov. Laura Kelly said. Kelly said she talked with Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems CEO Tom Gentile on Tuesday, one day after Boeing ...
Story updated at 11:53 a.m. Monday TOPEKA — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday named a veteran trial-court judge opposed by the state's most influential anti-abortion group to the Kansas Supreme Court, an appointment that's likely to intensify a backlash against the court from ...
Rep. Barbara Ballard’s hero, or “shero,” as she specified, is Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress. The late Chisholm, elected in 1968 to represent New York's 12th Congressional District, was known for calling service “the rent we pay for the privilege of living ...
TOPEKA - A freshman Kansas congressman might have to correct his voter registration a second time after changing it earlier this month while local authorities investigated him for previously listing a UPS Inc. store as his home. The Kansas City Star reports that Republican Rep. Steve Watkins ...
TOPEKA — Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran said Friday that he hasn't decided how he would vote on removing President Donald Trump from office but followed those comments up by criticizing the Democratic-led House's impeachment process. Moran's statement declared that he does not support ...
Two recently released reports have some Kansas policymakers on edge about the health of Kansans and adamant that expanding Medicaid coverage will help. One report showed that, since 1990, Kansas’ health ranking has fallen more than that of any other state. The other showed that, in a ...
A popular downtown Lawrence restaurant was temporarily forced to close earlier this week for a cockroach infestation. The Mad Greek, 907 Massachusetts St., closed Monday after a state health code inspector found 30 live roaches in various locations between the restaurant’s basement and ...
TOPEKA — Of the 36 states that have expanded Medicaid coverage, most have seen favorable economic effects, according to a health policy expert. Diane Rowland, executive vice president emerita of the Kaiser Family Foundation, gave a brief presentation Thursday at the third meeting of the ...
TOPEKA — The only Kansas Democrat in Congress announced Tuesday that she will vote to impeach President Donald Trump. Freshman Rep. Sharice Davids said she supports both articles of impeachment drafted by fellow Democrats over Trump's effort to get Ukraine to investigate Democratic political ...
TOPEKA — The Kansas State Board of Education has voted to encourage school districts to pass strict vaping bans. The policy approved unanimously Tuesday calls for prohibiting students and staff from using, possessing or promoting any tobacco products, including vape pens, while they’re on ...
Story updated at 4:37 p.m. Tuesday WICHITA — A much-criticized database that checks whether voters are registered in multiple states has been suspended “for the foreseeable future” until security safeguards are put in place as part of a settlement of a federal lawsuit, a civil rights ...
In response to high suicide rates among America’s farmers, a new website developed by the Kansas Department of Agriculture provides resources and support to those dealing with stress. Kelsey Olson, KDA’s assistant secretary of agriculture, led the effort in creating the website: ...
TOPEKA — A Kansas congressman who is being investigated by local authorities for listing a UPS Inc. store as his residence in registering to vote has changed his registration to name a Topeka apartment complex as his home. Republican Rep. Steve Watkins is still listing the UPS store in ...