Below average rainfall and a bone-dry riverbed of dead brush fueled a 1,500-acre wildfire in Central KS, but the KS Fire Marshal’s Office deemed the cause “undetermined,” even though it sparked one day after a controlled burn was performed on an adjacent ranch. kansasreflector.com/2026/05/07/a...

It's here! @statesnewsroom.com's new a.m. newsletter, Daybreak, is a 50-state snapshot to start your day off informed. @maddyfitz.bsky.social will bring bite-size news to perk you up at 8 a.m. Eastern each weekday. Subscribe (and read the first edition): www.newsfromthestates.com/newsletter/d...

En Español: Un pastor del área de Kansas City se postulará para el Senado de los Estados Unidos como “un demócrata de mentalidad independiente.” #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/04/30/k...

A Kansas City-area pastor will run for U.S. Senate as “an independent-minded Democrat,” putting to bed months of speculation that he would challenge U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall as an independent. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/04/30/k...

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids celebrates end of GOP bid to gerrymander Kansas congressional districts | #ksleg via @kansascarpenter.bsky.social kansasreflector.com/2026/04/22/u...

In rush to finish early, Kansas lawmakers jettison public input and risk poorly crafted bills | via @crazeywriter.bsky.social, @journalist-sherman.bsky.social, @kansascarpenter.bsky.social and @gracefromkansas.bsky.social #ksleg

A U.S. Department of Education official said Kansas City, Kansas Public School District, Olathe Public Schools, Shawnee Mission School District and Topeka Public Schools “have allowed ‘gender ideology’ to run amok in their schools.” #ksleg kansasreflector.com/briefs/four-...

Justice Sonia Sotomayor apologized after insinuating fellow Justice Brett Kavanaugh didn’t know working class people and, therefore, couldn’t understand the ramifications of his decision in a pivotal immigration case. kansasreflector.com/2026/04/16/j...

Kansas legislators aren’t supposed to attack each others’ motives during debate, but a niche procedural rule has become a tool for the Republican supermajority. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/04/14/k...

JUST IN from @ashleymurray.bsky.social Attorney General Pam Bondi is leaving the Department of Justice and will be replaced for now by President Donald Trump’s former personal defense lawyer, the president announced Thursday. www.newsfromthestates.com/article/pam-...

One Kansas legislator said the deal will live in infamy and become a euphemism for disagreeable legislation of the future. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/04/01/k...

UPDATE: Hours after Kansas governor rejects pregnancy center protections, Legislature overrides her veto #ksleg kansasreflector.com/briefs/hours...

Gov. Kelly said Kansans have been clear. They don’t want the government involved in private medical decisions, she said in a Friday announcement. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansa...

“Newsflash, that’s against the law.” #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/03/27/k...

The Legislature overrode the governor's veto on health care sharing ministries plans, so people enrolled in these nonprofit plans to share medical costs will get a tax deduction. Thanks to @anna-writes.bsky.social for updating this story! kansasreflector.com/2026/03/27/k...

“Their goal is to replace you as a preeminent power in the world,” said Ambassador Alexander Tah-ray Yui, speculating on China's global ambitions during a speech in Kansas. kansasreflector.com/2026/03/26/t...

Fierce blowback to parole decision in 1978 murder case could uproot Kansas’ system | via @anna-writes.bsky.social #ksleg

The Kansas Legislature passed a bill allowing certain no-bid county construction projects #ksleg kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansa...

“People frequently say to the board, ‘I would hate to be the ones having to make these decisions.’ ‘I would hate to be in your shoes.’ Because with every decision comes criticism and dissatisfaction from someone.” #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/03/23/f...

A bill that mandates teaching Kansas students about the dangers of communism, socialism and fascism, also requires high school freshmen to take a 100-question civics test inspired by the one taken during the American citizenship process in order to graduate. kansasreflector.com/2026/03/18/k...

Students are standing up for their First Amendment rights. kansasreflector.com/2026/03/16/s...

The Kansas House and Senate went tit-for-tat last week, rebuffing each other’s property tax relief proposals #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/03/17/k...

Erik Murray on the KR pod: “We are often divided between urban and rural, between rich and poor, between black and white. There are so many different ways that people try to divide us, but our core values, as Kansans, I believe, are largely aligned.” #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/03/16/k...

Sen. Mike Murphy said Kansas property taxes are like the sinking Titanic. “We can rearrange the deck chairs. We can ask the band director to play a little bit peppier song, but I don’t think it’s going to — we’re not going to be able to fix it,” he said. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/03/11/k...

A former Native American boarding school historical site represents "painful memories" as a tribe attempts to obtain ownership from the state of Kansas. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/03/09/k...

Kansas ‘lemonade stand law’ could boost kid businesses with tax breaks and licensing exemptions #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/03/06/k...

Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert saw the court through a pandemic, technology woes and a cyber attack, and her court issued landmark decisions on education funding, voting rights, abortion and the death penalty. She will retire this month. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/briefs/forme...

Social connection, phone addiction and parental choice came into play in an hours-long debate Monday that saw Republicans and Democrats crossing the aisle to ultimately support a bill that would apply to public and private schools. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/02/17/k...

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly plans to attend a business meeting at the White House next week, which comes after President Donald Trump flip-flopped on invitations and Democrats promised to boycott. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/02/13/k...

One Kansas Republican said during a debate Wednesday that his colleagues were overreaching in their attempt to make schools ask for legislative approval to participate in a federal free meal program. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/02/12/k...

Trump confirms in a social media post Wednesday that he personally excluded Gov. Polis of Colorado and one other Dem governor from White House events around an upcoming National Governors Association meeting in DC. He ties the snub to Tina Peters' incarceration.

Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, inserted Malcolm X into a Charlie Kirk remembrance resolution, but Rs voted against it. “I think that vote clearly represents the driving force behind this, and it has absolutely nothing to do with freedom of speech," he said. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/02/09/k...

Access to justice is a larger issue, said Kansas Supreme Court Justice K.J. Wall, because even if attorney numbers improve in rural Kansas, not everyone can afford them. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/02/09/k...

Republican legislators don’t want men in women’s bathrooms and women in men’s bathrooms, said Jaelynn Abegg, a trans woman who organized what some called a "pee-in" at the Kansas Statehouse. “So we’re going to give it to them,” she said. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/02/06/t...

Federal judge says Kansas officials provided “neither good reason nor any reason at all” for ask to dismiss lawsuit challenging foreign funding law. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/02/06/f...

The latest on the water transfer dispute between Hays, Russell and Edwards County brought up questions about who truly owns water in Kansas and how much authority local governments can exercise. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/02/04/k...

Kansas House committee dives into public university curriculum to block DEI. kansasreflector.com/2026/02/04/k... @kansascarpenter.bsky.social

“It would turn the focus of our office into an auditing firm rather than feeding children,” said Vicki Schumacher, a supervisor for Wichita Public Schools’ nutrition services. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/01/30/k...

Kansas leaders use annual rally to cast courts as major hurdle in anti-abortion fight | via @anna-writes.bsky.social #ksleg

Federal public defenders' funding became an urgent priority for the judiciary after missed payments to attorneys and court services last year. It is now linked to U.S. Senate Democrats' protest against ICE agent violence, as they threaten stalling appropriations. kansasreflector.com/2026/01/28/f...

“Eventually, kids who were adjudicated of things like disorderly conduct were pushed deeper into the system because of some of the statutes that we had.” #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/01/26/k...

Kansas lawmakers are having the same conversation about systemic problems with foster children's court-appointed advocates as they did 25 years ago. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/01/21/k...

KBI director: “I believe the public would be stunned to know how many people may come in contact with their child...during a school day who have not been subject to mandatory fingerprint-based criminal history and background checks.” #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/01/21/k...

“We need to stand up,” said Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Shawnee Democrat. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/01/15/k...

Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins underscored the force of the Republican supermajority and its 2025 policy wins in his rebuttal to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's State of the State speech. #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/01/13/k...

Kansas Supreme Court chief justice pleads for investments in specialty courts, rural attorneys | via @kansascarpenter.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas Legislature jolts to life with newcomers and generation of new policy agendas #ksleg kansasreflector.com/2026/01/12/k...

Decades of research has found stadium subsidies are a poor use of public dollars, but officials continue to send more and more taxpayer funds to billionaire team owners. https://stateline.org/2026/01/12/sports-stadium-deals-hand-ever-more-taxpayer-money-to-billionaires/

Kansas wild turkeys, plagued by years of population decline, subject of conservation funding kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansa...

Kansas Senate minority leader challenges GOP House speaker for state insurance commissioner #ksleg kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansa...