Kansas

Kansas lawmaker working to help family with oil-contaminated water after veto impacts assistance

Published

2 years ago

May 10, 2024

Kansas lawmaker working to help family with oil-contaminated water after veto impacts assistance

BUTLER COUNTY, Kan. (KWCH) – Following a FactFinder investigation we’ve carried out for months, a Kansas lawmaker hopes to make a difference for a Butler County family whose only water supply was left contaminated with seemingly no help to fix the problem.

“It is not their fault, they had no knowledge that the oil existed or would ever exist in their water system,” said Kansas Rep. Kristey Williams, R-Augusta.

Williams shared the message after losing her battle to get funds to the family that continues to fight for clean water.

Williams heard the family’s pleas for help, but bringing in rural water wasn’t an option, at least not an immediate one. Williams helped to convince state budget negotiators to direct $500,000 from a state abandoned well remediation fund to compensate Jenna Krob’s family and others in Butler County impacted by the contamination. However, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly vetoed the line item, saying it was outside the scope of the program.

Kelly said the use of the money was “squarely outside the statutory scope of the program” and that while the policy was well-intended, it needs to be carefully debated to avoid unintended financial or legal obligations for the state.

For Jenna Krob and her family, the problem came to light in September, with a small.

“Water-contaminated by oil. It almost burned your nostrils,” Krob said.

In October, the problem escalated with oil seeping up into the toilet. The oil then clogged the family’s water well pump, leaving them with nothing.

A neighboring property owner had the same issue. Testing showed that the oil was from historical drilling. So, according to the state, no company could be held responsible.

The only solution was rural water. But with a $3.5 million price tag, that was out of reach. Williams, who represents the impacted area southwest of Augusta, had another idea.

“Originally, I added a proviso into our budget bill that would allow for abandoned well money that’s used for mitigation or capping of wells to be used for demolition of these two properties,” Williams explained.

But the governor didn’t agree with how that money was going to be used.

“Ultimately, the governor vetoed it, which was devasting to the families that were counting on this, Williams said.

Williams tried with an omnibus bill to cover the cost but she said the state senate wouldn’t hear it.

“That means that right now, it’s at the end of the line for at least this legislative session,” Williams said.

Krob said losing the expected funding was “a hard blow.”

“It was hard to hear that day that it got vetoed when we had a plan and we were hoping for something to happen,” she said.

Krob said the now-vetoed plan wasn’t perfect for her family, but it would have worked.

“I’d like them to come out and live with us for a week, always conserving water, living with five people in one bathroom and only utilizing half of your home,” she said. “There’s no productive plan for what’s gonna happen now.”

But Williams isn’t giving up.

“We have got to take care of little specific instances such as the Prohaskas and the Krobs, and I want to do this, and I’m not done,” she said.

For Krob and her family, the game of waiting and hoping for whatever comes next continues.

“Going through this for six months. “I’m defiantly learning what hope is,” Krob said.

Williams said she’s looking at other ways to find funding, including working with the Kansas Corporation Commission to determine who is responsible for the water contamination.

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Kansas

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

Published

13 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

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)

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Kansas

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

Published

1 day 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

2 days 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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