Kansas
Kansas delegation in U.S. House divided on Ukraine aid, endorses package for Israel, Taiwan • Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids backed new federal spending to help Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to oppose “tyranny and terror,” but U.S. Reps. Tracey Mann and Ron Estes drew the line at the $60 billion package supporting Ukraine’s fight against a Russian invasion.
The overall $95 billion supplemental spending deal began as four separate bills, but were folded together into one bill as an alternative to a comparable measure approved two months ago by the U.S. Senate. Passage by the Senate of the House version would send it to President Joe Biden.
U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, Mann and Estes, all Kansas Republicans, and Democrat Davids voted in favor of a new round of financial support for Israel fighting militants in Gaza and for Taiwan dealing with threats from China. The delegation voted for the measure requiring divestiture or a ban on social media app TikTok, owned by a Chinese company.
Disagreement among Kansas lawmakers centered on Ukraine. Davids and LaTurner, who said he wasn’t seeking reelection in November, voted for the $60 billion aid package that passed 311-112. Mann and Estes opposed it.
“I’ve previously voted for Russian sanctions as Ukraine faces unprovoked aggression from a tyrant,” said Estes, of the 4th District centered on Wichita, “but the $60.8 billion bill that the House passed (Saturday) was too much for me to support when the United States has already spent more than $100 billion on Ukraine aid.”
Davids, who serves the 3rd District dominated by Johnson County, said the funding would protect American allies and included humanitarian aid to Gaza through the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“I voted with Republicans and Democrats to protect our allies in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in their fights against tyranny and terror and to deliver aid to innocent civilians in Gaza,” she said. “While I am frustrated that preserving our national security has been marred with partisanship in times of crisis, we must defend democracy and recognize that stability and prosperity abroad directly impact our safety and economy at home.”
LaTurner, who holds the 2nd District seat, said after a 2022 trip to Eastern Europe that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine was “unprovoked and evil” and required “unwavering support” of the United States through delivery of weapons to Ukrainian troops and humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees. His vote on the new funding bill for Ukraine held to that commitment.
Mann, of the 1st District extending from Garden City to Lawrence, said the United States shouldn’t send more assistance to Ukraine unless attached to oversight and accountability provisions.
He was among 71 House Republicans to vote for Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s failed amendment to strike all funding for Ukraine from the overall package.
“It is in America’s interest for Ukrainian forces to defeat Russia, but it is irresponsible and unsustainable to continue funding a war in Ukraine without any oversight as to how Americans’ tax dollars are spent. We do not allow our own federal agencies to spend our tax dollars that way, and we should not allow foreign governments to either,” Mann said.
Mann said he voted with the 385-34 majority for the $8.1 billion funding measure for Taiwan, the Philippines and other allies because it was important to counter China’s aggression. He said the objective of the United States was peace but “any military offense against Taiwan would have grave and severe consequences.”
The $26 billion appropriation for Israel approved 366-58 would add to aid delivered before and after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israeli territory. More than 20,000 Gaza residents have been killed in the military response by Israel.
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Tuesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.
Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.
WIBW Scoreboard
BOYS
5A East Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- KC Washington 68, Highland Park 38
- Shawnee Heights 49, De Soto 37 (will play Leavenworth Friday)
5A West Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Topeka West 55, Hutchinson 32 (will play Bishop Carroll Friday)
- Emporia 61, Great Bend 41 (will play Maize South Friday)
- Seaman 73, Valley Center 51 (will play Hays Friday)
3A West Franklin Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Burlington 60, Osage City 35 (will play Baxter Springs Friday)
3A Sabetha Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Hiawatha 73, Oskaloosa 48 (will play Heritage Christian Friday)
- Silver Lake 58, Sabetha 39 (will play Perry-Lecompton Friday 7:30 p.m.)
GIRLS
6A West Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Washburn Rural 60, Wichita South 32 (will play Derby)
- Topeka High 69, Maize 45 (will play Liberal)
- Manhattan 67, Free State 21 (will play Wichita East)
4A East Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Rock Creek 71, Parsons 23 (will play Tonganoxie)
- Wamego 54, Labette County 33 (will play Bishop Miege)
- Hayden 2, Athison 0 (will play Baldwin)
2A Eskridge/Mission Valley Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Rossville 71, KC Christian 49 (will play Maur Hill-Mount Academy)
- Lyndon 61, Jeff. Co. North 31 (will play Valley Heights)
- Valley Heights 65, Doniphan West 41 (will play Lyndon)
Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.
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.”
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.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
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