The Kansas Republican Party’s new chairman wants to eliminate nonpartisan elections for cities, counties and school boards, throwing his weight behind the concept after the GOP-controlled state Senate earlier this year rejected a similar idea.…

TOPEKA — One year after federal abortion protections were removed, the reproductive rights debate in Kansas remains contentious.  On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health…

JOPLIN — Trials are in the works for a pair of defendants charged with separate incidents of trafficking stolen identities.  Both waived preliminary hearings Thursday, the Joplin Globe reported. Frederick E. Phillips, 36, will stand…

EMPORIA — Longtime Newman Regional Health CEO Bob Wright will retire this fall, after 10 years with the hospital. Wright submitted a letter of resignation to the Newman Regional Health Board of Trustees citing Oct.…

HUTCHINSON — Hutchinson residents can bring more chickens home to roost. The Hutchinson City Council voted Tuesday to increase the number of chickens a resident can own, changing it from three to eight chickens on…

LAWRENCE — Key details are beginning to emerge on the $4 billion Panasonic battery plant set to open in De Soto in 2025, in particular, how communities such as Lawrence will be affected. The Lawrence…

PITTSBURG — Pittsburg State University biology students are working alongside an associate professor this summer to research tick-borne diseases — the leading vector-borne diseases and among the most pressing public health issues in the nation…

CHENEY — A local fisherman helped resolve a 33-year-old mystery recently. The Wichita Eagle reported John Mounce of Wichita was fishing in Cheney Reservoir May 29 when a sonar device tipped him off that a…

PARSONS — A school building that has been shuttered since 1999 will be demolished. Parson USD 503 members voted, 5-2, Tuesday to have the old Washington School torn down. The building had been used as…

TOPEKA — A new Medicaid report finds more than $1.3 million may have been overpaid to managed care organizations due to slow information provision, causing Kansas Medicaid programs to pay members after they left the…