Neodesha, Kan., is offering a variety of incentives, including student loan repayment, tax breaks and housing development plans to encourage people to move to the small town and combat rural population decline.
At the height of the pandemic, the CDC reported that almost 30 percent of weekly deaths across the nation could be attributed to COVID-19. Now, it’s culpable for just 1.5 percent of deaths. But as free vaccines go away, experts worry the numbers will rise.
Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long had been the favorite to win the Delaware governor's race but violated campaign finance law. In two other states, primaries on Tuesday probably determined who will be the new governors.
Kansas and Missouri are spending millions of dollars in a bidding war to win over major sports teams. The fallout could be detrimental for the losing metro area.
No rainmaker, aqueduct or prayer can save the Ogallala Aquifer from depletion. The battle over its decline pits good policy against powerful agricultural and political interests.
The program offered financial incentives to those who were willing to move to the state’s rural areas, places with less than 50,000 residents, in hopes of boosting local economies and combating population decline.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and GOP legislators have agreed to reduce the state’s top income tax bracket, starting at $30,000, from 5.7 percent to 5.5 percent. The proposal would cost $1.4 billion over the next three years.
The state will launch an alternative system where drivers are charged for each mile they drive. That might replace the gas tax, which hasn’t been updated since 2003. As of 2022, just 0.13 percent of the state’s vehicles were hybrid or electric.
State Attorney General Kris Kobach wants to amend state law so that death warrants may be obtained by district judges, instead of the Kansas Supreme Court, and wants the state to allow executions by hypoxia.
The Ogallala Aquifer, which spans eight states along the Great Plains, is the only reliable water source for parts of its region. Farmers have pumped its groundwater for decades and, as it dwindles, rural towns need to preserve their sole water source.
Gov. Laura Kelly has proposed a new minimum wage, bringing 969 employees in the executive branch up to $15 hourly pay and giving all state workers an additional 5 percent raise. The minimum for non-state workers’ pay would remain at $7.25 an hour.
Legislation draws objections from abortion rights proponents and opponents.
Local jails struggling to provide adequate mental health treatment to inmates could benefit from the expansion.
Law enforcement across the state have violated Fourth Amendment rights numerous times over the last decade. That has called into question the training and experience requirements for officers.
Kansas’ safeguards for identifying and weeding out problematic officers are incomplete or not enforced. The lack of thorough background checks allows officers to keep troubling details hidden.
The advocacy group for press freedom has called for a “thorough investigation” into the Marion, Kan., Police Department after its raid at a local newspaper, which many claim was a violation of state and federal laws.
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