Anna Kaminski, Kansas Reflector

Marion County agrees to pay out $3M for newspaper raid, expresses regret

by Anna Kaminski, Kansas Reflector
November 11, 2025

TOPEKA — The county involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor....

Southeast Kansas farmer challenges Republican incumbent for 2nd District congressional seat

by Anna Kaminski, Kansas Reflector
September 9, 2025

TOPEKA — A southeast Kansas farmer, veterinarian and veteran is running for Congress because he is “increasingly alarmed at the direction this administration is heading.”...

TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly joined 22 other states and Washington, D.C., in suing the Trump administration for terminating federal funding, which she said has led to cuts to state agriculture, health and safety programs “on a whim.”

The federal lawsuit, initially filed in June in Massachusetts, targets decisions from President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency that are rooted in a regulation allowing the administration to eliminate funding if it “no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.”

Kelly said in a news release that the decisions have made “no sense.”...

TOPEKA — State troopers are on standby in Kansas as demonstrations against federal immigration raids crop up around the country following an increased military presence in response to protests in Los Angeles.

The Kansas Highway Patrol is aware of Kansas City-area protests this week, said April McCollum, a spokeswoman for the agency.

Protests in LA began Friday, mostly in downtown and central parts of the city, in opposition to targeted, sweeping raids from federal immigration officials that result in the arrest and detention of immigrants lacking permanent legal status. The demonstrations escalated once President Donald Trump ordered thousands of members of the California National Guard to the city’s streets, against the wishes of state leaders. Protesters in dozens of other cities joined their LA counterparts Tuesday....

by Anna Kaminski, Kansas Reflector

February 19, 2025

TOPEKA — The Kansas Senate gave preliminary approval Wednesday to legislation that would ban school district employees from using names or pronouns other than a minor student’s corresponding biological sex or birth certificate without parental permission, received preliminary approval Wednesday from the Kansas Senate. ...