Kansas

Kansas high school forfeits its entire 2024 varsity football season

Published

2 years ago

September 2, 2024

Kansas high school forfeits its entire 2024 varsity football season

Osawatomie High, a Kansas school located just south of metropolitan Kansas City, Missouri, has made the difficult decision to forfeit its entire 2024 varsity football season, the school announced via a message on Facebook late last week.

The school determined it did not have enough players to field both a varsity and junior varsity team and since it lacked upperclassmen, it decided it was best to forfeit the varsity season. After ongoing consultation with district officials, the school decided it would play only a JV/C schedule. The Trojans were scheduled to play their first varsity game this coming Friday a Prairie View.

“Our players’ and students’ safety is our priority over everything else. Due to our numbers, we had to forfeit a Varsity or JV schedule. We could not do both,” wrote Osawatomie Superintendent Greg Clark in the post.

Clark said the school will look at alternative ways to continue long-standing traditions, such as homecoming, without putting young players at risk by forcing them to play against athletes who are older, bigger and stronger.

“We received multiple emails and phone calls from parents sharing the same concern, which helped lead us to this decision,” added Clark. “We will take this opportunity to build these young players’ skills and focus on strength and physical safety.”

According to Clark, the Trojans currently have five JV games scheduled.

“We know that this is not a popular decision,” he concluded. “Please know that this decision was not made lightly and that hours of discussion went into it. If we had seen a greater turnout in upperclassmen, we likely would not be in this situation. However, we respect our students, and their decisions are their own.”

Osawatomie went 0-9 in each of the last two seasons and has not won a varsity football game since a 30-14 win over Baldwin on Oct. 22, 2021, a span of 19 straight games. The Trojans went 7-3 in 2015, but have gone just 8-65 since with three winless seasons.

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Kansas

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

Published

12 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

In early 2026, the Kansas state legislature passed SB 244, a law which prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity and establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for “damages” totaling $1,000.

The law also invalidates state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. In February 2026, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver’s licenses “will no longer be valid,” effective immediately. SB 244 also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas – from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver’s licenses in the future.

The same day SB 244 went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed a lawsuit challenging SB 244 in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of two transgender men who had their driver’s licenses invalidated under the law. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.

“The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”

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Kansas

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

Published

24 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.

According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.

Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.

On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

No further information has been released.

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