A group of transgender men traveling across Kansas to bring attention to new state law
The SB 244 Compliance Crew is traveling from town to town to highlight problems with the state's transgender bathroom law.
In an act of malicious compliance, the group visited public facilities in Emporia and western Kansas, where the transgender men followed the law by using women's restrooms and locker rooms.
Group member Ray Vieux says he does not want to make anyone uncomfortable, but believes the law forces uncomfortable moments.
"I personally don't want to walk into a women's room and make women feel unsafe, but that's what the law has required me to do," Vieux says.
Vieux says he’s been using men’s restrooms for years without any complaints from other men.
The group says it plans to continue demonstrations throughout the state.
Another Kansas football player died during practic
The 17-year-old student died on the first day of practice at Pawnee Heights High School in western Kansas. He is the fifth football player to die in Kansas since 2018.
An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday to determine how a high school football player from a tiny school in western Kansas died on the first day of practice.
The teen died around 9 p.m. Tuesday, according to Pawnee County Attorney Doug McNett.
In a phone interview, McNett identified the student as 17-year-old Rylan Reece, a junior. McNett said Rylan’s mother volunteers in the school district and his father is a former Pawnee County undersheriff.
At the time of Rylan’s death, it was 90 degrees with 58% humidity in Great Bend, according to the National Weather Service. It is unclear whether the weather played a role in the teen’s death.
An autopsy was originally scheduled in Garden City but was moved to Wichita. McNett said he ordered the autopsy after Rylan’s family agreed.
The high school is in Rozel, Kansas, about 40 miles southwest of Great Bend.
The Pawnee Heights School District has two schools and about 140 students. The high school plays six-man football and last year had 17 players on its roster.
Kansas Disability rights advocates hope to restart the Money Follows the Person Program
The program helps people with disabilities pay for home accessibility modifications, rent, and utilities.
After being phased out, the program was supposed to restart this summer but was pulled back in fear of future federal funding.
Advocates protested outside on the South Lawn of the Kansas capitol Yesterday.
Rocky Nichols with the Disability Rights Center of Kansas was at the protest, “Because if we don't, this is, I mean, it's going to be a huge blow to people with disabilities and taxpayers.”
Nichols and other advocates have until September 30th for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to restart the program.
The Wichita City Council and Sedgwick County Commission will hold their final hearings on their 2027 budgets
Wichita city leaders will take public feedback on the proposed $800 million budget on Tuesday night.
The budget includes increases for library staffing, new police dashcams and one-time funding for the Second Light homeless shelter and service center. A hearing on the city budget is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
The following day the county commission will have its final hearing on its budget at 9 a.m. in the Ruffin building. The county is considering an almost $660 million budget.
Wichita Affiliated Tribes looking for volunteers to help build a traditional grass house
The tribe is harvesting switchgrass at the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge near Hartford through the end of the month. The grass will be used by tribe member Derek Ross to build a grass house at the Etzanoa Conservancy in Ark City.
The conservancy tells the story of the ancient settlement which once hosted thousands of ancestors of the Wichita Tribe.
More information about the volunteer opportunity is on the Facebook page of the Kansas Land Trust.
State officials worry that some nursing homes are dismissing certain residents to save money
The practice is called unsafe involuntary discharge. It is when an adult care home discharges a low-income or uninsured person without a safe transition to another facility.
There is a steep penalty for this practice at federally licensed nursing home facilities called immediate jeopardy, where a facility has less than a month to fix a problem or risk losing Medicare or Medicaid certification.
Despite this, Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services Ombudsman Haely Ordoyne says state officials have never cited a state licensed facility for immediate jeopardy.
She says it can cause some harrowing situations for people in need of care, “I've got a 93-year-old calling me from a parking lot on their cell phone in a wheelchair who needs oxygen. Tell me how that's safe.”
Kansas lawmakers say they will consider increasing penalties to discourage nursing homes from unsafe involuntary discharges.
Wichita officials today broke ground for the city’s first new fire station in 17 years
Fire Station 23 will be at Pawnee and Maize in southwest Wichita and is expected to open next year.
Jose Ocadiz is a Wichita Fire battalion chief. He says the new station will help improve fire response times in the area, “The city has grown, and I think just adding this fire station is just going to be the first step to adding more protection that is needed throughout the city.”
Ocadiz says the station design also supports firefighters’ health and wellness. The more than $5 million station will include a separate decontamination area and a new alarm system that progressively increases in volume and brightness of lights, also known as a cardiac-friendly warning system.
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