Data center demand, severe weather and the aging grid are forcing utilities to drive up electricity rates. While the Midwest has historically had the cheapest energy in the nation, forces are undermining that trend.

Immigration enforcement targeted western Kansas with sweeping actions over the last week, leaving people with and without legal status reeling. The beef industry that employs thousands in the area is working to get back on track.

After the USDA admitted in 1997 that its programs had routinely discriminated against Black farmers, tens of thousands of them sued the federal government. A judge ultimately ruled in their favor, and farmers were promised nearly $2.2 billion in compensation. But all of these years later, some victims — including in the historic town of Nicodemus, Kansas — still haven’t received anything.

Some Wichita City Council members said they want to prohibit local police from partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In an announcement late Monday, Fort Hays State University President Tisa Mason said the Sternberg will close Dec. 18.

Lawmakers are divided over whether Topeka and Shawnee County should contribute money or resources to a proposed $80 million Kansas Bureau of Investigation headquarters, with one suggesting they consider other cities.

The arrests of plant workers and others around southwest Kansas began Tuesday, causing alarm and confusion across the region, where immigrants make up a large portion of the agriculture workforce.

A recent poll shows Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton leading in his race, but the Democratic candidate for governor, Cindy Holscher, is behind.

After federal immigration enforcement action in western Kansas, a meatpacking plant delayed some shifts Wednesday and a school district warned that students may have had family members detained.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints temple, located in northwest Wichita, is the first built in the state. It will give the state’s more than 45,000 church members a closer place to perform sacred worship.