By John Hanna/AP TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators have approved major tax cuts and ended a political stalemate with Gov. Laura Kelly. Yet some of them sounded frustrated as they were doing it. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved a bill Tuesday to cut income and property taxes by a total of $1.23 billion over the next three years. The measure contains the exact terms of a compromise reached by the Democratic governor and the GOP leaders of the House and Senate, and Kelly promised to sign it. But many lawmakers, particularly Republicans, said they’d wanted more for taxpayers, and legislators…
Author: AP News
By John Hanna/AP TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 170-year-old rivalry is flaring up as Kansas lawmakers try to snatch the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs away from Missouri even though economists long ago concluded subsidizing pro sports isn’t worth the cost. The Kansas Legislature’s top leaders endorsed helping the Chiefs and professional baseball’s Kansas City Royals finance new stadiums in Kansas ahead of a special session set to convene Tuesday. The plan would authorize state bonds for stadium construction and pay them off with revenues from sports betting, the Kansas Lottery and additional tax dollars generated in and around the new venues. The states’…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Republican Kansas lawmaker who already dropped his re-election campaign last month after he was arrested in a traffic stop has now been barred from practicing law for at least a year for mishandling conflicts of interest in a murder case. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that state Rep. Carl Maughan of Colwich violated professional standards while representing 57-year-old Bret Blevins in a 2016 crash that killed two men, according to the Kansas City Star. Maughan did not respond immediately to an email from The Associated Press on Sunday nor did he answer a phone call from…
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jose Trevino capped a six-run first inning with a three-run homer, Gleyber Torres added a three-run drive in the seventh and the New York Yankees romped over the Kansas City Royals 11-5 Wednesday night for their third straight win in the four-game series. Giancarlo Stanton hit a 449-foot, two-run homer into shrubbery next to a waterfall beyond left-center, a night after hitting a 446-foot home run over three fences beyond center field. Stanton has five home runs at Kauffman, two to left field and two to center. “We got to get right field now, so…
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 25th home run with a 436-foot, two-run drive into the fountain behind the center-field seats, and the New York Yankees routed the Kansas City Royals 10-1 on Tuesday night for their 11th win in 14 games. Giancarlo Stanton followed Judge in the seventh with a 446-foot shot to center against reliever Nick Anderson for his 16th home run of the season. Austin Wells hit a three-run homer in a four-run fourth off starter Brady Singer. Back in the lineup after his first game off this season, Judge hit his…
BY DAVE SKRETTA Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who signed a new two-year deal in April, said Tuesday that he wants to keep playing football “until the wheels come off” after the first day of the team’s mandatory three-day minicamp. The 34-year-old Kelce signed a four-year, $57.25 million extension with Kansas City in 2020, which followed a $46 million, five-year deal that he signed in 2016. The latest $34.25 million pact ties Kelce to the team through the 2025 season. “Kansas City has been home for me for the past 11 years. I’m reminded that every time I come…
BY DAVE SKRETTA KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs backup B.J. Thompson was taken to a hospital in stable condition Thursday after the defensive lineman experienced a cardiac event during a team meeting, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the event, said team trainers and medical staff were able to react quickly and treat Thompson until paramedics arrived. The Chiefs planned to wrap up their voluntary offseason workouts on Thursday, but a team spokesman said the practice…
BY JOHN HANNA TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Kansas legislators have intensified efforts to woo the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs by offering to let the professional football franchise shape a plan for using state bonds to finance a new stadium in Kansas. Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson said in a statement Tuesday that the Legislature would consider the proposal during a special session set to convene June 18. They invited the Chiefs “to weigh in on” the plan in a letter May 23 to Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, with the leaders released Tuesday. Their…
BY MARGERY A. BECK (AP) The Kansas Supreme Court offered a mixed bag in a ruling Friday that combined several challenges to a 2021 election law, siding with state officials on one provision, reviving challenges to others and offering the possibility that at least one will be halted before this year’s general election. But it was the ballot signature verification measure’s majority opinion — which stated there is no right to vote enshrined in the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights — that drew fiery dissent from three of the court’s seven justices. The measure requires election officials to match the…
BY HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH AND THOMAS PEIPERT LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) — As he coats a mold of Jackie Robinson with wax, metalsmith Alex Haines reflected on the extra importance of a project that will soon give the city of Wichita, Kansas, a replacement bronze statue of the baseball icon after thieves brazenly destroyed the original. “Many sculptures come through here,” said Haines at the Art Castings studio in Loveland, Colorado, where the original statue was cast. “Some are a little bit more important than others. And this is definitely one of them.” It all started in January, when thieves cut the original…