Gov. Sam Brownback made it official: Lawmakers will reconvene at the Statehouse on June 23 for a special session to address school funding. That, and other stories you may have missed because you were at Riverfest.
Hoping to unseat Senate majority leaders, Reno County Democrats become Republicans
As part of a statewide public media partnership covering this year's elections, reporter Elle Moxley spoke to some left-leaning Kansans who, come this fall, will vote Republican.
“I’m a Republican right now,” says 91-year-old party-switcher Francis Burnett. “There’s no way in this state to change anything by being a Democrat.”
Governor Brownback calls special session to work on Kansas school funding issues
After both Democrat and Republican legislative leaders pushed for a special session, Gov. Brownback officially called for lawmakers to return to the Statehouse on June 23, giving them a week to come up with a funding fix that complies with the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling. Our statehouse reporter, Stephen Koranda, is already having flashbacks to last year’s record-setting 114-day session.
Kansas African-American Museum receives grant to commemorate Dockum sit-in
The Kansas Health Institute gave the Kansas African-American Museum $50,000 to commemorate the historic 1958 sit-in at the Dockum Drug Store, which led to the integration of the chain of Rexall Drug Stores. Two sit-in participants received a standing ovation when the announcement was made at a symposium in Wichita on Thursday.
Says Joan Williams, who was a teenager when she participated in the sit-in: “We did not really have a clue of how huge this would be in everyone’s life, especially today.”
Study: States that don't expand Medicaid are hurting themselves
A new survey by Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute shows stark differences between states that have expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, and those—like Kansas and Missouri—that haven’t.