Kansas
Kansas food pantry monitors growing need with SNAP cuts, food insecurity rises in WyCo
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The U.S. House passed the “Big Beautiful Bill” package Thursday, which includes tax breaks, cuts to Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.
Kansas food pantry monitors growing need as food insecurity rises in WyCo
The bill, for some, means a shift in how they live.
Republicans say the bill still provides help for those who need it, but claim it also targets waste, fraud, and abuse.
Patrick Semansky/AP
Local food pantries, including Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, are bracing for what the new legislation will mean for their clients.
They serve 21 northeast Kansas counties, with two food pantry locations in Wyandotte County.
“The population in Wyandotte County is the lowest income we serve,” said Denise Ogilvi, chief mission integration officer for Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas. “About 18% of the population in Wyandotte County falls below the poverty level. The poverty level in the state of Kansas is about $32,000 (of income per year) for a family of four.”
Brian Luton/KSHB
Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas’ mission is to offer people of all faiths help, hope, and hospitality.
It’s food pantry locations are client choice, operating similar to a grocery store.
The downtown Kansas City, Kansas, location sits between what the United States Department of Agriculture classifies as a “Food Desert.”
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Earlier this week, MERC Co+Op, a grocery store in downtown KCK, announced it would suspend operations in December 2025.
“It was definitely needed. This is a food desert area,” said Paula Flattery-Aaron from the Strawberry Hill Neighborhood Association. “We have one grocery store on 18th Street, then the rest are further west.”
Al Miller/KSHB 41
According to the USDA, to be labeled a Food Desert a community must meet the low-income and low-access requirements.
Those include a poverty rate of 20% or greater, or a median family income at or below 80% of the statewide or metropolitan area median family income.
At least 500 persons and/or 33% of the population lives more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store (10 miles for rural communities).
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“You can imagine that if you can probably barely pay your rent on $32,000, you will probably need additional support to help your family,” said Ogilvi.
That’s where Catholic Charities comes in, with 150,000 visits to its food pantry locations last year.
This year, that number already jumped to nearly 175,000.
Brian Luton/KSHB
“The need is definitely great,” added Ogilvi.
The republican backed federal legislation is expected to cut $230 billion from SNAP over the next decade.
The bill would require states to pay at least 5% of the SNAP program’s costs starting in 2028.
The program is currently federally funded.
RTV6
Historically, funding comes from passing a piece of legislation known as the Farm Bill.
The Farm Bill is a multi-billion dollar omnibus package, with nearly 80% of the farm commodity bill spent on nutrition programs like SNAP.
That legislation is two years past due for passage by Congress.
Ryan Gamboa/KSHB
In addition to new funding cuts, the Big Beautiful Bill would create tighter work requirements to be eligible for aid, raising the age requirement from 54 to 64.
It would also force parents with children older than six to meet the work requirements.
Parents with dependent kids at home are exempt.
Brian Luton/KSHB
“Most people only come to our food pantry once a month. They are going to need more food than what they get at our food pantry,” Ogilvi explained. “SNAP benefits provide about nine meals for every one meal that we can provide.”
Catholic Charities is continuing to gather data across the communities it serves to better understand the need.
They will begin having conversations on whether they need to budget more money for food, expand their current locations, or open more locations.
“What we can do is try to make sure that our door is always open,” added Ogilvi. “Not for profits can’t fill the whole gap.”
For more information on how to get involved with Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, click here.
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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.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – One creator has written an anthem for Kansas City to reflect the metro’s historic summer for years to come.
An Omaha-based Afrobeat artist, Kusher Snazzy, released a World Cup song, ‘KC to the World,’ celebrating the tournament’s culture and diversity.
The song features soccer players and dancers representing multiple nations that played in the World Cup, including Germany, Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Italy. It was filmed locally in multiple locations, including a metro studio and rooftop.
READ MORE: Kansas City eyes 2031 Women’s World Cup bid after hosting FIFA tournament
Kusher Snazzy’s goal with the song was to depict the once-in-a-lifetime summer. His passion for soccer and the Midwest inspired the lyrics.
“We don’t know when FIFA is going to choose KC again,” said Kusher.
Joseph Termini is the mastermind behind the project. He took a vision and made it come to life. As a Kansas City native, he knew the importance of showcasing his city positively through a music video.
“Kansas City has been under the radar, and I feel like this is the first time we’re being put on a pedestal, and that pedestal is allowing other people to realize that this is more than just a small-town city,” said Termini.
Listeners can find the hit song on YouTube.
ALSO READ: Heart structure may stay in Kansas City after Fan Festival ends
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The pilot of a crop duster aircraft appears to have survived without serious injury after a crash on Monday in northeast Kansas.
The Jackson County, Kansas, Sheriff’s Office was called around 12:30 p.m. Monday on a crash involving a crop duster aircraft south of Kansas Highway 9 near Whiting, Kansas, or about 80 miles northwest of Kansas City.
Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse said that after the crash, the pilot was able to exit the aircraft before it caught fire. The pilot walked to a nearby farmhouse for help.
Several area fire departments responded to the location to extinguish the fire.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
TOPEKA, Kan. — A proposed legal settlement with the U.S. government would require the Keystone Pipeline system’s operator to pay a $26.9 million civil penalty over a major oil spill in Kansas in December 2022 and spend about $40 million more to prevent future accidents.
The agreement would resolve allegations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Kansas that South Bow, based in Canada, violated U.S. and state clean water laws. The rupture dumped nearly 13,000 barrels of heavy crude oil into a creek running through a rural pasture in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City.
The accident was the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in the U.S. in nine years and surpassed all 22 previous ones on the same pipeline system combined, according to a 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The total amount of oil spilled would have nearly filled an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
South Bow also would pay Kansas more than $3 million for environmental restoration projects under a proposed decree filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas. A judge would have to approve the proposal after a 30-day public comment period.
South Bow also would pay Kansas more than $3 million for environmental restoration projects under a proposed decree filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas. A judge would have to approve the proposed decree after a 30-day public comment period.
“The oil spill blanketed land and water, rendering the waterway lifeless and useless and requiring extensive cleanup and remediation,” Jeffrey Hall, the EPA’s assistant administrator for its enforcement office, said in a statement. “The substantial penalty reflects the seriousness of the environmental harm.”
South Bow officials did not respond immediately Sunday to a phone message and email seeking comment, but the company told The Canadian Press that it “proactively” began cleaning up the area before receiving directives from U.S. officials. The cleanup was completed early in 2024.
The company that built the pipeline, TC Energy, spun off South Bow as a separate firm in 2024, after the Kansas cleanup was done.
No pipeline workers or area residents were injured, and officials said public water supplies weren’t affected by the spill. However, a complaint filed Friday by the U.S. government along with the proposed settlement said more than 2,700 animals were harmed or killed. The area is home to an endangered species, the long-eared bat.
In a May 2023 report for the U.S. government, an engineering consulting firm said that a bend in the Keystone system where the spill occurred had been “overstressed” since its installation in December 2010 — likely because construction activity itself altered the land around the pipe. The complaint filed Friday in court said soil under the pipe had been “improperly compacted” and that while the company re-excavated the site in 2013, it did not replace that section of pipe.
The 2,689-mile (4,327-kilometer) Keystone system carries thick, Canadian tar sands oil to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas.
In April, President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead for South Bow and another company to build a second pipeline from Canada to Wyoming, a smaller version of a massive $8 billion pipeline project known as Keystone XL blocked by former President Joe Biden’s administration in 2021 over environmental concerns.
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