Kansas
Free advice for Kansas politicians as the 2024 session begins: Follow your own laws for a change – Kansas Reflector
The Kansas Legislature gathers today in Topeka, 125 representatives and 40 senators representing 2.9 million people, wielding the mighty power of state law to reward the righteous and punish the wicked.
Unless, of course, that law applies to politicians.
State statute requires that the government reimburse 92% of school districts’ extra special education costs. That statute hails from the same Legislature that steadfastly refuses to legalize cannabis and targets transgender kids.
We’re expected to follow those laws. They represent officials’ priorities, skewed though they may be. But representatives and senators have decided to ignore the special education one.
They only pay 69%.
You can dig into the statute here. While the language explaining how to calculate costs might be complicated, this part isn’t: “The computed amount is the amount of state aid for the provision of special education and related services aid a school district is entitled to receive for the ensuing school year.”
As Kansas Reflector’s Tim Carpenter and Rachel Mipro made clear last week, however, legislative bigwigs have little interest in that text. Rep. Kristey Williams and Sen. Renee Erickson both panned the idea of convening a task force to look at special ed funding. They suggested, in the reporters’ words, that the “remedy suggested by education advocacy groups was too simplistic.”
“We do not need a special education task force meeting to consider their position,” said Erickson, a Wichita Republican. “We have their input, which is just more money. We don’t need a task force to convene to discuss that part.”
Williams, an Augusta Republican, panned the idea of a task force and called its Friday meeting only after other members pushed her to do so. (The task force, perhaps unsurprisingly, called for full funding.) She wants lawmakers to rewrite the special education rules altogether.
Rather than follow a law that helps Kansas kids, those in power would rather change it.
Let’s all sit with that thought for a minute.
This might be a good place to note that the Legislature didn’t fully fund K-12 schools in Kansas until judges forced the issue. That is, until judges forced them to follow the state constitution.
Ballot destruction law
State statute also requires that ballots from state and national elections be destroyed after 22 months.
It’s right there, in statute: “The county election officer shall preserve all county, city, school district and township ballots for six months and all state and national ballots for 22 months. At the expiration of such time, the county election officer shall destroy them without previously opening any of the envelopes, in the presence of two electors of approved integrity and good repute, members of the two leading political parties.”
Yet Attorney General Kris Kobach, he of continuing legal education classes, has asked Johnson County to retain its ballots as Sheriff Calvin Hayden conducts a bogus investigation into nonexistent election fraud. That’s according to reporting from the Kansas City Star’s Katie Bernard.
Yes, the law makes an allowance ballot preservation in case an election is being contested, but more than three years have passed since the 2020 election. As folks repeatedly try to tell a certain ex-president, the 2020 election is over. Secretary of State Scott Schwab certainly thinks so; he’s told county it has a legal duty to destroy the ballots.
Does Kobach think the law only applies when it helps rather than hinders his pet political projects?
I might also note this Reflector headline from Dec. 31, 2022: “Kobach’s U.S. Senate campaign, We Build the Wall hit by $30,000 fine for campaign law violations.” I’m not sure what made me think of it in this context.
Listen: Lawmakers pass laws. It’s right there in their name. The state attorney general is our chief law enforcement official.
I don’t think it’s too much to ask that if you pass and enforce laws, you do your very best to follow them. Otherwise, you send the message that government’s power exists only to further your own personal agenda and lust for power, not the good of those people you represent.
Kids receiving special education services at school don’t travel to the majestic Statehouse in Topeka to cast votes. Senators and representatives do. These kids deserve legislators who care about their futures. For that matter, Kansans bamboozled by election deniers deserve straight talk and strict adherence to the law, not politicians feeding them a line.
If you’re a Kansan caught with marijuana or a transgender high schooler who wants to play sports, you will face consequences.
If you’re a lawmaker neglecting special ed? Eh.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Colorado-based chicken restaurant Birdcall is expanding into Kansas.
The company announced Friday its plans to expand into Kansas and five other Midwestern states over the next five years. Birdcall plans to add six to eight fast-casual restaurants in Wichita and Topeka.
“The Midwest represents a tremendous opportunity for Birdcall,” CEO Mark Lohmann said. “From our award-winning chicken sandwiches and other handcrafted menu offerings to our commitment to innovation and community, we believe Birdcall offers an experience that resonates with today’s guests and is a natural fit for the region.”
Other locations announced are:
- Indiana – 10 to 15 restaurants across Indianapolis, Bloomington, Evansville and Fort Wayne
- Missouri – Up to 18 restaurants across St. Louis, Columbia, and Kansas City
- Nebraska – Seven to 10 restaurants across Omaha and Lincoln
- Ohio – Up to 20 restaurants across Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo
- Wisconsin – 10 to 15 restaurants across Milwaukee, Madison and Appleton
Birdcall’s menu features a variety of chicken sandwiches, chicken fingers and nuggets, salads, tater tots, fries, and more. The restaurant also makes its own in-house sauces and serves up draft beer and house-made margaritas, with happy hour specials.
The company said each restaurant will use self-service kiosks and occupy about 2,300 square feet, with indoor and outdoor seating that can serve up to 150 people.
Birdcall currently operates 17 restaurants across Colorado, Arizona and Texas.
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KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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A video shared by a viewer, shows a resident speaking at the Osawatomie, Kansas City Council meeting being escorted out by police on Thursday evening.
The video shows a man holding a “Hell No Alcove” sign, while commenting about a blighted property, which according to public records is owned by Pacific Apartments, LLC, operating out of the same address as Alcove Development in Lawrence, Kansas.
KSHB 41
Alcove Development is behind the effort to build a $1 billion, 283-acre data center development in Osawatomie’s northland property.
The video, shared by a viewer, goes on the show two law enforcement officers approaching the individual, who is Lee Brewer, at the podium, after he begins to yell, while the crowd joins in behind him. Lee Brewer reached out to KSHB 41 late Thursday night, identifying himself as the person who was escorted out.
Osawatomie, Kansas Police Chief Dave Stutteville is seen in the video also approaching the man.
Fabian Rosales/KSHB
KSHB 41 Miami County Reporter Ryan Gamboa reached out to the Police Chief, City Manager, and Mayor Nick Hampson for comment late on Thursday night and is waiting on a response.
Residents in contact with Gamboa attending the meeting shared the meeting was still in session after 9:30 p.m.
Thursday night’s meeting was the city and Alcove Development’s attempt at sharing potential benefits of a data center for the community.
Gamboa has long covered the data center project in Osawatomie, Kansas — and neighbors to the project have voiced their opposition to the proposed development.
Brian Luton/KSHB
This is the first time Alcove Development has approached the public, but not the first time it has worked with the city of Osawatomie.
In late 2025, Alcove Development approached the city with the project and weeks later, a pre-development agreement was signed giving Alcove exclusive rights to the development for three years.
But city council meeting records from 2023 show, the city of Osawatomie entered into a pre-development agreement with Alcove Development to redevelop a property known as Old Swenson School.
Alcove Development had six months to asses the condition of the property and determine a course of action for redevelopment, and the overall agreement would last 18 months, according to public records.
Will Shaw/KSHB
The pre-development agreements states, Alcove would consider asking for tax breaks on the project, including utilizing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.
At the time, the property had sat in disrepair since 2016, according to the records, and was frequently found in violation of city code.
If the re-development were to fall through, the city would be on the hook to purchase the property from the developer for $25,000, with unclear total costs for infrastructure improvements.
KSHB 41
KSHB 41 will follow up on the status on this project at a later date.
Earlier this week, Miami County Reporter Ryan Gamboa, sat down with Donna Ingram who doesn’t live far from the data center site.
Ingram expressed her concerns about the amount of infrastructure that would be built to operate a data center, and how it might overtake the land around her home.
Ryan Gamboa/KSHB
She expressed concerns because the City of Osawtomie changed the public comment guidelines of a promise town hall with the developer.
“Watching this process play out is disheartening,” Ingram said in an interview on Monday. “A town hall was promised that didn’t come to fruition… I don’t believe it’s the definition. This is a city council meeting. We’re the ones that are gonna live next to it. We’re the ones that live in the path of the infrastructure.”
The city told KSHB 41 on Monday in a statement, they changed the format to prioritize the voices of city taxpayers, as county taxpayers have dominated the public comment periods over the past couple of months.
Brian Luton/KSHB
Mayor Nick Hampson also told Gamboa in an earlier interview he was hoping to have a productive “town hall” — instead, the first meeting with the public and the developer of the project was during a formal and regularly scheduled city council meeting.
The city also required residents to submit questions ahead of time, and the city would filter questions to the developer, while limiting public comment to three minutes.
“We have been and will continue to hear from the residents that are in the county and closest to this project,” Hampson told KSHB 41 in an email on Monday.
Miami County, Kansas
Residents shared a record to KSHB 41, submitted to the city for a formal investigation into 1009 Pacific Avenue in Osawatomie, which is owned by a company operating out of Alcove Development’s address.
The dilapidated property is the a former school house, that sits with broken windows, and other parts of the building breaking down.
The Miami County Republic reporting on Thursday, the city launched an investigation into the building.
Ryan Gamboa/KSHB
Residents cite the buildings deteriorating condition and potential danger to the public, and lack of property maintenance.
Lee Brewer issued a comment regarding the incident at Thursday night’s meeting, stating he was escorted out after the Mayor closed public comment, and he was not on the list.
Brewer told KSHB 41, he has a time -stamped email of pre-submitted questions ahead of the meeting. KSHB 41 asked Brewer to review the email, and is waiting for an answer.
I am severely disappointed in our Mayor and the city council. They told us we were required to send in an email with our questions and our address to prove we were citizens of the town by Wednesday the 24th at noon. I have my email which is timestamped at 10:26 a.m. Wednesday the 24th. They shut me down and first told me I didn’t put the email in and then once I was kicked out of there I was told by people coming out that they were told I turned in my email too late. I’m not a math teacher but last time I looked at my clock 10:26 a.m. falls just over an hour and a half before noon. I mean correct me if I’m wrong. I thought because the mayor and I were having decent conversations on Facebook Messenger, whereas I would ask him questions and he would answer to the best of his ability. And I would thank him I thought we were pretty cordial. So to basically call me a liar in front of the entire town on video recording, take away my freedom of speech My first amendment right, and have me removed from a public building was completely wrong I am very disappointed in our city council and mayor. When I approached the podium all I was trying to do was point out that resolution number 1169 in Osawatomie Kansas refers to Alcove development LLC being the owner of the old Swenson School at 1009 Pacific. As I pointed out in these earlier messages to you Alcove has left this building dilapidated in ruins and a danger to our community. Our great city council and mayor seem to have other plans for me being able to speak though.
Lee Brew, via Facebook to KSHB 41 News
KSHB 41 reached out to Alcove Development late on Thursday night, and is waiting on a response.
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Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify information about cleanup information.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A tanker transporting 8,000 gallons of ethanol crashed in El Dorado on Thursday.
It happened at the intersection of Kansas Avenue and South Main Street.
According to dispatch, the vehicle overturned, causing the fluid to leak out and spill into the storm sewer system.
City Manager David Dillner said traffic is being diverted in the area while crews work to clean up the ethanol.
Nearby residents have been evacuated to the El Dorado Civic Center due to the pungent smell of the fuel, Dillner said.
No injuries have been reported.
This is a developing story.
For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. To watch our shows live on our website, click here.
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