Kansas

Engaging with Kansas politics might be complicated. But it's easier than this board game. • Kansas Reflector

Published

2 years ago

May 15, 2024

Engaging with Kansas politics might be complicated. But it's easier than this board game. • Kansas Reflector

With election season bearing down on us like an overzealous predator animal, I’d like to take a quick moment to focus on responsibility.

The chattering class, of which I’m a longtime member, likes to chatter about the responsibility of both politicians and the news media. Lawmakers and journalists should tell us the truth, but they owe us more than mere facts. They should, commenters emphasize, dedicate themselves to principles of representative democracy and civic virtue.

The ultimate responsibility, though, rests on the shoulders of a far larger group. I’m talking about voters. That’s right, the millions of men and women, young and old, Black and white and every color in between, who cast their ballots in primary and general elections. You all have a job to do as well.

A fair number of you have been falling short.

I know you all assume I’m writing about a certain New York real estate developer-turned-politician. He shadows a lot of these conversations. But let’s set him and his strongman act aside. Here in Kansas, voters have enabled a system that stymies exactly the policies that they tell pollsters they want.

They want an expanded Medicaid program. They want recreational marijuana — not even medical marijuana — legalized. They want schools fully funded and a sensible tax structure. Their responses remain consistent over the years, at least according to Fort Hays State University’s Kansas Speaks Poll. Yet these same voters have continued to elect supermajorities of hardcore conservative Republicans to the House and Senate who stand squarely against all of these proposals.

Voters have chosen this course.

Washburn University professor Bob Beatty appears for a Nov. 30, 2023, recording of the Kansas Reflector podcast to share what he learned by following GOP presidential candidates taking part in Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucus. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

What’s the matter?

None of this should come as a surprise. We’ve been doing this in Kansas for decades, and a particularly well-known book lays it all out. Yes, Thomas Frank’s “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” captured hearts and minds and attention two decades ago. Yet the elections keep coming, and the choices keep being made.

Washburn University political science professor Bob Beatty pointed to Frank’s work in trying to explain why voters choose politicians who pursue policies contrary to their interests.

“A political party can be effective in making certain issues that might not affect a lot of people be prioritized over issues that these people might support and also may influence them directly,” Beatty wrote me in an email.

In other words, GOP candidates weaponize issues such as immigration, election security, crime and “critical race theory” — all non-factors in Kansas — to advance other goals.

But perhaps there’s a simpler explanation, according to the professor.

“Party identification is the greatest indicator of vote choice, still, in American elections, according to all data,” Beatty wrote. “Primaries in Kansas feature very low turnout, especially for legislative races, and the people who do turn out tend to be more conservative (sometimes much more conservative) than the general population. So, if a conservative Republican wins a primary, even if they’ve got a more moderate district overall, then party ID will kick in.”

Analysis from KFF shows that only 59% of eligible voters in Kansas actually cast ballots in the 2022 elections. That means 41% of those older than 18 who could potentially cast a ballot chose not to do so when Election Day rolled around.

Crunching data from the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office and the Census Bureau shows that a substantial number of Kansans don’t even register. Roughly 2.25 million people in the state were above the age of 18 as of July 1, 2023. Only 1.95 million had registered to vote. That works out to about 300,000 going unregistered.

You can’t have a say if you don’t raise your voice.

Voters cast ballots in election office — Kansas voters cast their early ballots Oct. 25, 2022, at the Shawnee County Election Office in Topeka. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Our priorities

Over the weekend, several friends and I played a gigantic strategic board game called Twilight Imperium.

In the game, you play one of several alien races battling for power and influence in the galaxy. Playing requires not only understanding two books’ worth of rules, but navigating plastic spaceships across a map assembled from hexagonal tiles. As gameplay progresses, you also draw dozens of cards with potential actions and ways to score points, both publicly and secretly.

Playing a full game of Twilight Imperium can take seven to eight hours, although that’s a best-case scenario if all players know the game well and can leap into action. Our particular game took 10 hours, spread across a Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

Believe me, this does have to do with voting. Please bear with me.

Intensely complicated strategy board games may not be your idea of a good time. But many people become intensely involved in various hobbies. Folks of all ages play complex and absorbing video games, which transport them to other worlds while including dense screens full of statistics. A different group of enthusiasts play fantasy sports, in which building and adjusting your own team throughout a season can involve detailed research and even spreadsheets.

We don’t play Twilight Imperium or video games or fantasy football because these pursuits earn us a salary. We enjoy them. We blow off steam and spend time with friends. Yet you cannot ignore that doing so involves learning and manipulating reams of intricate data that have nothing to do with our day-to-day lives.

So why can’t we take a fraction of that absorption and critical thought and put it toward our shared civic conversation?

Why don’t voters step up to participating in their state and nation’s government with the same enthusiasm as they do toward drafting their fantasy team?

Once upon a time, perhaps when “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” came out, a certain ignorance of the internet or 24/7 news cycle could be excused. The world had changed quickly. Yet we’ve now lived more than three decades with the web, two decades with social media and 17 years with the iPhone. If you don’t understand the technology by now, that’s on you.

Multiple resources online separate fact from fiction. Reporters and news sources across the country, including Kansas Reflector, tackle this work every day. If you want to separate legitimate news from misinformation and disinformation, you can.

Each one of us has a responsibility to our state, country and shared future. Each one of us — including voters — should take that seriously.

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.

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Kansas

Patrick Mahomes undergoes surgery to repair ACL day after injury

Published

9 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Patrick Mahomes undergoes surgery to repair ACL day after injury

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes underwent surgery to repair a torn left ACL.
The injury occurred during a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, which eliminated the Chiefs from playoff contention.
Dr. Dan Cooper, a Dallas-based orthopedic surgeon, performed the procedure.
Mahomes is expected to begin rehabilitation immediately and has about nine months to recover for the start of the 2026 season.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes underwent surgery to repair his torn left ACL on Dec. 15 in Dallas, Texas, the team said.

Dr. Dan Cooper, an orthopedic surgeon based in Dallas, performed the surgery. Cooper specializes in knee and shoulder injuries for the Carrell Clinic, based in Texas.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said earlier Dec. 15 that Mahomes was seeking a second opinion in the Dallas area. The Chiefs said Mahomes will begin his rehab immediately. The three-time Super Bowl winner will have roughly nine months to prepare for Week 1 of the 2026 season.

ESPN reported that Cooper also repaired Mahomes’ torn lateral collateral ligament (LCL).

Mahomes suffered the injury on Dec. 14 as the Chiefs lost to the Los Angeles Chargers at home, which knocked them out of playoff contention. The two-time MVP was tackled from behind by Chargers defensive end Da’Shawn Hand. Mahomes immediately reached for his left knee after being rolled up from behind as Kansas City’s medical staff immediately tended to him.

He eventually walked off under his own power but Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters that the initial prognosis did not “look good.”

Gardner Minshew replaced Mahomes and purports to be Kansas City’s starter for the final three games of the season.

Contributing: Jacob Camenker

All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY’s 4th and Monday newsletter. Check out the latest edition: Recapping the carnage of Week 15.

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Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City Chiefs facing rebuild after missing NFL playoffs for first time since 2014

Published

21 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City Chiefs facing rebuild after missing NFL playoffs for first time since 2014

The NFL playoffs and the road to the Super Bowl will not feature the Kansas City Chiefs for the first time since 2014 this season. Does it mark the end of an era for one of the league’s great modern dynasty teams?

Andy Reid’s side were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday following a 16-13 defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers, coupled with deciding victories for the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans.

A miserable season was punctuated by a late injury to star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was later ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with a torn ACL that will now disrupt preparations heading into next season.

Having reached five of the last six Super Bowls, the Chiefs face uncharted territory in the offseason.

“You look over the years, there’s a multitude of things (contributing to their downfall),” says Sky Sports NFL’s Phoebe Schecter. “They’ve had longer seasons than any other team and X amount of games every single year, emotionally, mentally, physically it’s taxing on a player.

“The Chiefs have never fully invested back into who they are drafting, free agency, they don’t have a ton of star receivers, you’re relying on people like Travis Kelce.

“There’s a lot of rebuilding that has to happen.

“It’s hard when you compare to a team like the Eagles, who are constantly staying ahead of it and building depth – I don’t think they’ve had a star receiver since Tyreek Hill.”

The Chiefs had entered the campaign on the back of reaching three straight Super Bowls, winning two in a row before being dismantled by the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans last February.

A shortage of star quality or reinvestment in as much was evident that day at the Superdome, and has emerged as a prevalent talking point in the decline of a team and, in particular, an offense that once looked untouchable.

“This is maybe the end of the first iteration of the Chiefs that we’ve seen,” said Sky Sports NFL’s Neil Reynolds. “This happened to Brady and the Patriots. They had a 10-year gap. Brady won three, ironically, his knee ligaments went, 10 years later they then won another three with New England.

“So this feels like the end of something with Kelce. Have the Chiefs in recent years failed Patrick Mahomes? Because I don’t know if they’ve got a number one wide receiver. They don’t have a star running back.

“I don’t want to play fantasy football, but that offense with George Pickens or Breece Hall in the backfield, I just wonder whether they have assumed Patrick Mahomes will bail them out, as he has done many times, and continue to do so, and it feels like they’ve run out of it this year.”

Mahomes endured, statistically, one of the worst seasons of his career on the way to the Super Bowl last year as the Chiefs largely leaned on Steve Spagnuolo’s defense to carry them through a series of one-score games.

The production has been marginally improved in 2025 but no less erratic or inconsistent, Mahomes constantly relied upon to create magic in the face of limited options.

“I think that’s true,” said Sky Sports NFL’s Jeff Reinebold. “I think that they have confidence in his ability to elevate everybody at the critical moments.

“I have such an appreciation for excellence. And sustained excellence is even held in a higher esteem to me because you know think about this, 2014 is a long time ago and it’s been that long that they’ve been in the playoffs every year and have been the team that you had to beat, so to have sustained excellence in a league that makes it just about as difficult as you can make it, maybe more difficult than any pro sports league, that is a credit to the Chiefs organisation, to Andy Reid, to Brett Veach.

“However, the reality is eventually it just runs out, you just run out of steam. You look at Kelce, he’s not the player that he once was, I thought he was really good today and competed his tail off but you know there are now guys that can match and make it really difficult.

“I agree about the receivers they’ve got, some guys with unique skill sets but I don’t know if they’ve got a true number one receiver.”

As defensive lineman Chris Jones took to the podium post-game, he had to ask reporters if the Chiefs were out of the playoffs. He didn’t know. Until it hit him.

The silence was deafening and a reflection of the unknown. This was a day that was always coming, and the reality of a major offseason shake-up hit.

“It’s hard to rebuild when you’ve been winning, it’s ‘what are we going to change?’,” said Sky Sports NFL’s Jason Bell.

“You have to get to the point where it falls apart and doesn’t work, but you never want to see Mahomes get hurt like that, it’s the worst-case scenario.”

After 10 straight playoff appearances, nine straight division titles and seven consecutive trips to the AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs’ dominance is no more.

Watch the 2025 NFL season live on Sky Sports, including every minute of the playoffs and Super Bowl LX; Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.

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Kansas Lottery Pick 3, 2 By 2 winning numbers for Dec. 14, 2025

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

The Kansas Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 14, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Pick 3 numbers from Dec. 14 drawing

Midday: 9-9-6

Evening: 1-5-6

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning 2 By 2 numbers from Dec. 14 drawing

Red Balls: 15-24, White Balls: 02-16

Check 2 By 2 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Dec. 14 drawing

08-23-32-33-34, Lucky Ball: 15

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

All Kansas Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $599. For prizes over $599, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at select Kansas Lottery offices.

By mail, send a winner claim form and your signed lottery ticket to:

Kansas Lottery Headquarters

128 N Kansas Avenue

Topeka, KS 66603-3638

(785) 296-5700

To submit in person, sign the back of your ticket, fill out a claim form, and deliver the form along with your signed lottery ticket to Kansas Lottery headquarters. 128 N Kansas Avenue, Topeka, KS 66603-3638, (785) 296-5700. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.

Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Kansas Lottery.

When are the Kansas Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
Pick 3 Midday/Evening: 1:10 p.m. and 9:10 p.m. CT daily.
2 By 2: 9:30 p.m. CT daily.
Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Super Kansas Cash: 9:10 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Kansas editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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