Kansas baker resolves simmering complaint about Marshall’s nonpayment of bill By Tim Carpenter TOPEKA — Former U.S. Sen. and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback endorsed the reelection of Republican Roger Marshall in the toss-up U.S. Senate campaign with Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton. Brownback, with a 30-year record as a Kansas conservative, said he was puzzled people approached him to inquire about who he intended to vote for in the Nov. 3 showdown. He took to social media to share unequivocal support for Marshall. In doing so, Brownback exhibited no fondness for U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat, and aligned…
Author: Kansas Reflector
By Alex Brown In the course of a single election cycle, the backlash against data centers has grown from an issue at local planning commission and city council meetings to become a flashpoint in state and federal races across the country. Candidates who once touted data centers as an economic boon have backtracked, and voters in at least three dozen cities, counties and townships will consider ballot measures in November that could ban data centers in their communities. Analysts say the opposition to data centers has come from Republican and Democratic voters alike. “The people are speaking, and they’re speaking in one…
Farm Bureau backs GOP’s Masterson and Teamsters align with Democrat Holscher By Tim Carpenter TOPEKA — The Kansas gubernatorial campaigns of Republican Ty Masterson and Democrat Cindy Holscher landed endorsements that echo the political alliances they developed while serving in the Kansas Legislature. Masterson pocketed support from the Kansas Farm Bureau PAC, while Holscher bolstered her resume with backing from the Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska Conference of Teamsters. Glenn Brunkow, president of Kansas Farm Bureau, said the PAC’s preference was tied to Masterson’s relationship with agriculture interests during his 20-year career in the Kansas Legislature. Currently, the Andover Republican is president of the…
By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — Kansas weather lived up to its tempestuous reputation Wednesday as the dregs of Hurricane Polo launched more than a dozen tornadoes throughout the state. “Kansas dished out tornadoes like Santa handing out candy canes,” wrote one storm chaser who posts online as Kansas Twisters. “No idea how many there were, but I was blessed to see 10-15 today.” Accuweather reported that about 12 tornadoes touched down, but the severe weather created dozens of additional funnels. On Thursday, heavy rains resulted in flood watches. Recent weather has been unusual, with an “incredible run” of above normal…
By Ana Kaminski TOPEKA — Lawyers for a Kansas Republican U.S. senator running for reelection sent his opponent a cease-and-desist letter demanding the Democrat stop airing an ad featuring one of the senator’s former patients. The lawyers for U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, said in a Monday letter that the Rev. Adam Hamilton’s campaign had published and distributed ads about Marshall’s medical debt collection practices that were “defamatory.” The ad begins with Meischa Zimmerman, who said she was arrested while eight months pregnant for missing a $50 payment to Marshall. She was paying roughly $50 a month to account for…
By Anna Kaminski TOPEKA — Kansas politicians urged federal immigration enforcement officials to coordinate with local law enforcement following reports of indiscriminate stops on southwest Kansas streets, causing business delays and warnings from schools. Republican U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall said Wednesday they both were in contact with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin after southwest Kansas law enforcement agencies said they didn’t know about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and residents reported people being stopped at random. “When ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement,” Marshall said in a post…
TOPEKA — Former Ness County school superintendent Jeff Jones has been charged with 19 felonies and misdemeanors, including multiple financial crimes and two felonies involving a minor. Jones, superintendent of USD 106 in south-central Kansas, was arrested in August. Official charges filed Friday range from theft valued between $25,000 and $100,000 to misuse of public funds and making or participating in prohibited contracts. The two charges involving a minor are aggravated intimidation of a witness or victim and contributing to a child’s misconduct or deprivation. The second charge means to “unlawfully, feloniously, and knowingly” encourage a child to commit an…
By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — The company building a nuclear reactor one mile underground in Parsons made its federally approved safety report available to the public Monday. The U.S. Department of Energy approved Deep Fission Inc.’s safety design for its Gravity nuclear reactor in July. The company publicly shared the report, with only a few small redactions that relate to security, a news release said. “We’re publishing our full (Nuclear Safety Design Agreement) because we think the public deserves to see the actual safety case behind this reactor, not just our word that DOE reviewed one,” said Liz Muller, CEO…
By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — State health authorities warned Kansans to be aware of an increase in encounters with animals that carry rabies, primarily bats. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued an advisory Tuesday urging health care providers to be aware of the importance of administering a rabies risk assessment because of increases in rabid animals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a similar advisory last week because many areas nationwide are reporting increased exposures to rabid or possibly rabid animals. “Several high-profile rabies outbreaks and mass rabies exposure events have highlighted the importance of performing careful rabies…
By Morgan Chilson HUTCHINSON — Rep. Brooklynne Mosley stepped into the Prairie Pavilion arena at the Kansas State Fair Saturday, leading a heifer around the ring while smiling broadly Mosley, a Lawrence Democrat, had never spent time with cattle until she began working with two 4-H participants, Genayla Warnken of Manhattan and Makenzie Fishburn of Lawrence to learn about how to show a halter-broken heifer. Mosley and four other Kansas legislators were participants in the annual Legislative Showmanship competition. “This is the closest I’ve ever been to cattle in my whole life,” Mosley said. “I was really looking forward to…