Category: News
KDHE quietly reduced cycle threshold on COVID tests
Earlier this month — and without fanfare — the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Health and Environmental Laboratories reduced…
Damaging COVID response, taxes top concerns of Kansas businesses
Kansas business owners believe the state’s COVID response damaged the economy more than necessary, according to an annual poll commissioned…
Legislature debates extending COVID emergency declaration
UPDATE: The Governor signed SB 14 into law today, Jan. 25, extending the state of emergency declaration through March 31.…
Stanford study: no evidence that lockdowns slow COVID
A study conducted by researchers at Stanford University finds “no clear, significant beneficial effect of mrNPIs (more restrictive non-pharmaceutical interventions)…
Senate advances property tax transparency legislation
A property tax transparency bill is headed to the Kansas House of Representatives for consideration. The legislation, Senate Bill 13,…
Kelly admin pays Accenture $48 per hour for call center employees
With tens of thousands of Kansans out of work and waiting for unemployment pay, a Sentinel Open Records investigation shows…
Legislators signal they’ll reject Kelly’s tax-and-spend budget proposal
Gov. Laura Kelly’s FY 2022 budget proposal appears to be dead on arrival at the Kansas Legislature. Her record-setting $8…
David Toland draws two salaries as Lt. Gov. and Commerce Sec.
Recently-sworn-in Lt. Governor David Toland will be continuing to serve as Secretary of Commerce during his tenure — and will…
De Soto students headed back to in-person learning Feb. 1
Middle and high school students in the De Soto School District return to full-time, in-person learning on Feb. 1. That…
Trustees: Butler County Community College fails transparency test
ELDORADO — Two Butler County Community College trustees say they routinely have trouble getting information to which they are entitled.…
Lawmakers fast-track SB 13 Truth in Taxation property tax bill
The Truth in Taxation transparency measure vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly last year is back as SB 13, which requires…
K-State gets only FIRE green light free speech rating in KS
Kansas State University ranks among the top colleges for free speech, according to an annual survey by the Foundation for…
KDHE rejects request for COVID death certificate info
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment last week rejected a Kansas Open Records Act request submitted by the Kansas…
United Van Lines: Kansas is the 6th most departed state
According to a study by United Van Lines, in 2020, Kansas ranked sixth among the 50 states in the percentage…
COVID survival rate holding at 99.8% for adults 18-64
Data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment shows the COVID survival rate for all ages in Kansas is…
2020 ACT score falls again, Kansas now below national average
The average 2020 ACT score in Kansas declined for the fourth consecutive year, to 20.4, and the decline in college-readiness…
Osage, Coffey Counties missing vaccine, despite KDHE claims
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says all 105 Kansas counties received doses of COVID-19 vaccines, but that’s not…
Misleading ‘highest COVID death rate’ claim is just KDHE reporting issue
Today’s Wichita Eagle story about Kansas having the highest COVID death rate in the nation last week is just another…
Microschools could offer solutions to frustrated parents
Parents frustrated by COVID school closures may soon be able to enroll students in neighborhood microschools in Kansas, according to…
School districts lose 12,000 students but add 46 managers
(Editor’s note – this article has been updated with a revised calculation of virtual enrollment; the original article showed a…
Wichita gym owner’s COVID lawsuit on hold, pending legislative solution
A lawsuit by a Wichita gym owner asking for payment from the State of Kansas for his lost revenue because…
Kansas vaccine distribution progress is the lowest in nation
Kansas ranks dead last among states and U.S. provinces in COVID vaccine distribution, according to a running tally collected by…
KMBC repeats false CNN claim on December COVID deaths
Updates of deaths attributed to COVID are based on when deaths are reported by health departments with considerable time lag…
Kelly administration contradicts media reports of post-Thanksgiving surge
Even though there wasn’t a Thanksgiving surge, Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas Secretary of Health and Environment, warned Kansans to avoid…