Kansas
Kansas Office of Apprenticeship Celebrates 2026 Apprenticeship Award Winners
The Kansas Office of Registered Apprenticeship today announced the recipients of the 2026 Kansas Apprenticeship Awards, recognizing the outstanding leaders, organizations and programs that are driving innovation and expanding Registered Apprenticeship opportunities across the state.
“Our apprenticeship partners have played a tremendous role growing our workforce over the last several years,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “These apprenticeship awards honor what truly is possible when bold leadership and strategic collaboration align — and how, together, we can continue reimagining the Kansas workforce of the future.”
Since 2022, the Kansas apprenticeship program has experienced remarkable growth, including a 240% increase in new apprentices. This momentum reflects the strength of Kansas’ statewide apprenticeship ecosystem — and the commitment of the employers, education partners and workforce leaders to build sustainable talent pipelines.
Honorees were chosen based on innovation, measurable growth and long-term impact, with particular emphasis on forward-thinking strategies and sustained apprentice engagement.
The 2026 Kansas Apprenticeship Award recipients:
- Excellence in Kansas Apprenticeship Award – Dr. Joel Gillespie, Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE): Recognized for his visionary leadership in expanding teacher apprenticeship programs to 391 participants, helping transform educator pathways and remove barriers to the profession.
- Kansas Business of the Year – Panasonic: Committed to workforce development through the Industrial Manufacturing Technician Registered Apprenticeship. The company has grown from 96 apprentices to 125.
- Outstanding New Program of the Year – HCA Midwest Health: Launched Kansas’ first pre-licensure Registered Nurse Apprenticeship program. The program has 146 active apprentices.
- Outstanding Program of the Year – Western Missouri & Kansas Laborers District Council: Recognized as one of the most robust apprenticeship models. The Council has 445 active participants, working to support an array of backgrounds and strengthen the workforce.
- Youth Apprenticeship Development Partner of the Year – City of Winfield: Honored for its leadership in youth apprenticeship, bringing together K-12 education and higher education partners to create classroom-to-career pipelines for Kansas students.
The 2026 Kansas Apprenticeship Awards were presented during the state’s National Apprenticeship Week Celebration on April 29 in Topeka, highlighting the continued progress and future success of apprenticeship programs and opportunities in Kansas.
“Our apprenticeship partners are making a huge contribution to our state — and to our goal of connecting 10,001 apprentices by 2031,” Kansas Office of Registered Apprenticeship Director Shonda Anderson said. “Their contributions not only are changing the lives of individual Kansans but strengthening our state for generations to come.”
To view photos from the 2026 Kansas Apprenticeship Awards event, click here.
For additional information about the Kansas Office of Registered Apprenticeship, visit here.
Kansas
Newly released song depicts world visiting Kansas City for historic summer
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
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
Kansas
Pilot of crop duster plane survives crash Monday in NE Kansas
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.
Kansas
Keystone Pipeline system’s operator agrees to pay $26.9M penalty over major Kansas oil spill
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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