Kansas

As Kansas baseball, Dan Fitzgerald thrive, what will he think if rumors swirl about his future?

Published

1 year ago

April 30, 2025

As Kansas baseball, Dan Fitzgerald thrive, what will he think if rumors swirl about his future?

LAWRENCE — There’s a level of attention around the Kansas baseball program exceeding what many might have anticipated in 2025.

The Jayhawks (36-10, 15-6 in Big 12 Conference) are on a nine-game winning streak that includes a win Tuesday at home against rival Missouri. They are back in the top 25 of the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, at No. 25. The conversation is no longer just about KU reaching its first NCAA regional since 2014, because there is a chance the team could go so far as to host a regional, too.

But with that attention, can also come a focus on what coach Dan Fitzgerald has been able to accomplish in Lawrence the just the third year of a rebuild. Other schools in search of a lift of their own programs could come calling, searching to see if Fitzgerald is open to being pried away from Kansas. Cleary, Fitzgerald has proven he’s someone who can ensure fans don’t have to wait all that long to see success from.

Fitzgerald, though, speaking last week, outlined the possibility of his name popping up on social media as a potential candidate for another job isn’t remotely close to his radar or that of his staff’s. While he appreciates how social media can allow someone to reach to so many about a philanthropic cause they care about so quickly, the other side of that is social media can cause so much distraction and drama. Within the KU program he has a no drama policy, and he’d put any talk about another school wanting to hire him into that bucket.

“It’s been really hard, it’s been unbelievably challenging, it’s been incredibly rewarding and we’ve done it together and we’re having so much fun doing it and we came specifically to KU for all the reasons that I’ve said 100 times — to build and to do something really special and to do something sustainable,” Fitzgerald said on April 21, not far removed from sweeping rival Kansas State.

“So, if people talk about that, I promise you this man, it won’t be something that I’m even aware of or care about because I have complete and total focus on executing what we set out to do, continue on the path that we’re going on, and it’s not even a thought.”

Fitzgerald would go on to explain that there’s stuff he reads about all of the time that, once he’s read it, he moves on, and what he’s read doesn’t have an effect on his life. He mentioned looking into hummingbird migration recently as one example, because he has hummingbird feeders in his backyard. The point being, seemingly, that there’s just so much information out there now that one could soon find oneself consumed by it.

Fitzgerald understands the notion of rather having people talk positively about his program than negatively, but added that even if people were saying bad things, he would be unaware of that as well. He pointed back to last year and how he wasn’t thinking about if people thought Kansas overachieved, and instead about the guys in his dugout as they put themselves in position to make a NCAA regional — before ultimately coming up short. He’s focused on evaluating if the program is moving in the right direction.

Fitzgerald says he believes heavily in how much he considers who you work for, and where you work. He praised his relationship with Travis Goff, KU’s athletic director and vice chancellor, and Sean Lester, a deputy athletic director for administration, and how much they’ve all collaborated since he took the job ahead of the 2023 season. Fitzgerald also praised how well two coaches he’s worked for in the past, Dallas Baptist’s Dan Heefner and LSU’s Jay Johnson, have handled the drama that can come with this topic.

“One thing I’d point to is, when this job opened last time, when coach (Ritch) Price retired … as far as I know, like, I think the first time my name was associated with this job is when I took it,” Fitzgerald said. “So, I think most of the time when there’s the rumors and the gossip, it’s usually just that. Just rumors and gossip.”

When Fitzgerald talks to Lester and Goff, the latter of whom said before the Kansas State series, he and Fitzgerald are already talking about what it will take to further the momentum the program has; their conversations encompass a lot.

The landscape isn’t just different at KU compared to a few years ago, but with college athletics as a whole when it comes to name, image, and likeness (NIL), revenue sharing, and more. Fitzgerald described the adjustments as driving on the same road they have been since he arrived, and just changing lanes here and there depending on what’s come up.

Staff retention is vital in Fitzgerald’s mind, considering how collaborative the group he has is, but as he says that he also highlights that commitment to his program is as strong now as it was when he was hired. He expressed how thankful he is to have the opportunity he has. He can’t imagine having better or more immediate access to an athletic director than what he has with Goff.

“The team effort thing is real and it’s not just in talk,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s very much in action, and it is a — it’s the exact partnership that we talked about almost three years ago.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

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Kansas

Kansas court sides with Stormont Vail in Medicaid payment dispute

Published

10 hours ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Kansas court sides with Stormont Vail in Medicaid payment dispute

Stormont Vail Healthcare is in a legal battle with the state government, alleging the Medicaid program was wrong to refuse payment for the hospitalization of a pregnant patient with complications.

At issue is a disagreement between the Topeka hospital and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment over whether inpatient health care services were medically necessary for the Medicaid patient’s last two weeks of pregnancy.

The Kansas Court of Appeals did not resolve that dispute, but it did side with Stormont Vail in a May 8 decision. The unanimous three-judge panel reversed a decision by Shawnee County District Court Judge Thomas Luedke and vacated an order from KDHE’s State Appeals Committee. The matter now goes back to the appeals committee for reconsideration.

The appellate panel was comprised of Judges Jacy Hurst, Thomas Malone and Stephen Hill, which heard oral arguments on Aug. 5. Hurst wrote the court’s opinion.

The lawsuit stems from a 2018 case of a pregnant patient, who is not named in appellate court documents. She was 28 years old at the time and had an intellectual disability among other complications, including rapid weight loss caused by hyperemesis gravidarum.

The woman was originally admitted at Newman Regional Health in Emporia before she was transferred to Stormont Vail. Part of the hospitalization during her third trimester was covered.

But the final two weeks were not because Sunflower Health Plan, one of the managed care organizations in the state’s privatized Medicaid program known as KanCare, refused to reimburse for the patient’s continued hospitalization through the day the child was born via cesarean section.

“We are here because the Kansas Medicaid program has wrongfully refused to pay for some of an inpatient hospitalization while a Medicaid beneficiary was at Stormont Vail,” said Amanda Wilwert, an attorney for the hospital, during oral arguments. “Stormont believes the inpatient care was medically necessary as defined by the Kansas Medicaid regulations.”

Court records and oral arguments show the state expected Stormont Vail to look into having a home health agency care for the patient in Emporia instead of continued hospitalization — even though home health generally does not take care of pregnant patients and her doctors believed the expectant mother was not stable enough to discharge.

“The way it’s supposed to work,” said Darren Sharp, an attorney representing KDHE, “is the managed care organization, in this case Sunflower Health, on behalf of KDHE reviews the medical records, asks about the appropriate level of care and whether there’s any other interventions that would be more cost effective or appropriate depending on the level of or depending on the patient’s records and the patient’s status.”

Sharp argued medical records showed the patients was getting better because of total parenteral nutrition, or TPN.

“This is when a tube, a PICC, is inserted and your minerals and your electrolytes and all of your nutrition is then intravenously provided,” Sharp said.

He said the treatment “was eliminating her vomiting, her diarrhea, she had no fever, her glucose levels were stabilized.”

In their ruling, the judges indicated the KDHE appeals committee primarily cared about the cost saving of using home health versus hospitalization while disregarding the treating physician for insufficient reasons and ignoring evidence on potential benefits or harms to the patient.

But the judges declined to resolve the dispute. Rather, unless the decision is appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court, the matter goes back to the KDHE administrative process.

There, the agency’s appeals committee must reconsider the case consistent with the Court of Appeal’s ruling. The published decision sets new precedent interpreting state laws and regulations on the Medicaid program.

“While this court provides no opinion on whether the disputed inpatient healthcare services met the definition of medical necessity,” Hurst wrote, “the record shows that some of the (appeals committee’s) factual findings were not supported by the record as a whole and that the (appeals committee) inaccurately applied the law when it failed to consider (the patient’s) individual characteristics and assess the harms and benefits of the healthcare intervention.

“In making a medical necessity determination, the reviewing agency must make an individualized determination based on the record as a whole.”

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

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Kansas Lottery Pick 3, 2 By 2 winning numbers for May 7, 2026

Published

1 day ago

May 8, 2026

Press Room

The Kansas Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at May 7, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 7 drawing

Midday: 6-2-2

Evening: 0-5-9

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning 2 By 2 numbers from May 7 drawing

Red Balls: 07-15, White Balls: 02-16

Check 2 By 2 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 7 drawing

05-08-21-44-48, Bonus: 01

Check Millionaire 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.
Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.

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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Kansas

Kansas City, Kansas, becomes sister city to Concepción, Argentina, ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026

Published

2 days ago

May 7, 2026

Press Room

Kansas City, Kansas, becomes sister city to Concepción, Argentina, ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026

KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland, including Liberty. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.

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Kansas City, Kansas, is now a sister city to Concepción, in the Tucumán province of Argentina.

The connection that carries deep personal meaning for members of the Kansas City area’s Argentinian community, with less than six weeks until Lionel Messi and their national team play at Kansas City Stadium (GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium).

Kansas City, Kansas, becomes sister city to Concepción, Argentina, ahead of World Cup

The official Sister Cities Agreement was signed Wednesday at Sporting Park, in a ceremony that also served as the kickoff of a broader cultural and economic initiative connecting Argentina and Kansas.

Federico Carmona has lived in the United States for more than two decades. He spent Wednesday afternoon cheering and smiling.

“This is my dream,” Carmona said.

For Carmona, the moment was personal — a merging of the two places he calls home.

KSHB/ Brian Luton

“This is a blessing,” Carmona said.

He continued, “Argentina is my heart. I was born in Argentina. I have so much passion for soccer. I used to play, my kids play. We never thought that Argentina was going to be in Kansas City. So that was a big, big surprise for us.”

Claudia Luna West, chair of the Sister Cities Association and a native of Concepción, Tucumán, was one of the driving forces behind the partnership.

“It means the world to me,” Luna West said.

She described the pairing of the two cities as a natural collaboration — like the ingredients of a perfect recipe coming together.

“Everything collaborates to be this great thing,” Luna West said.

That recipe metaphor extended to food. The event featured the announcement of a partnership between Kansas BBQ Empanadas and Jack Stack BBQ — a culinary symbol of the two cultures meeting.

“Now, empanadas aren’t going to be just an ethnic food. They’re going to be a landmark of Kansas,” Luna West said.

Mayor/CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK, Christal Watson, said the designation reflects the city’s diversity and its ability to connect with the world.

“I think it’s important that we set a global stage on how diverse we are and how beautifully, wonderfully made we are with all the different cultures,” Watson said.

Watson said shared experiences — including food — are what bring communities together.

“Food is a common link. Those are the things that get us engaged… those are the things that help us grow and be a better community overall,” Watson said. “We already have a flavor going on.”

Jake Reid, president and CEO of Sporting Kansas City, said the timing of the sister city announcement — with the FIFA World Cup 2026 approaching — felt right.

Jake Reid, President and CEO of Sporting Kansas City .png

“We’ve been planning this for so long. I think to have it on the doorstep now and be probably a month out is becoming very real and exciting,” Reid said. “They’re meant to be from… kind of everything we’ve got going on right now, for sure.”

For Carmona, the day was a long time coming.

“We can’t wait for all this to happen,” Carmona said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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