Tag Archives: Kansas

The Kansas City Star reports: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed a bill that would ban transgender minors from receiving gender transition surgeries and hormone therapy, setting up another veto override fight over efforts to regulate the lives of trans residents. The bill, she said, dictates to parents how to best raise and care for their children, adding that …

The Kansas City Star reports: A Kansas bill could consider a photo of a same-sex couple holding hands pornographic, some Democratic lawmakers warn. They say a bill aimed at barring children from accessing online material considered harmful to minors could carry serious unintended consequences for LGBTQ+ communities. The bill would require users to verify they are over 18 years old …

The Kansas Reflector reports: Kansas Republicans have condemned a fundraiser Friday night where attendees paid to kick and beat an effigy of President Joe Biden, distancing themselves from extremists who have seized control of the party. The Biden-bashing antics were part of a Kansas GOP event in Johnson County, where rocker Ted Nugent and disgraced former Kansas Attorney General Phill …

Topeka’s ABC affiliate reports: The Kansas Attorney General’s Office announced his office has filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, March 6 in Shawnee County District Court against social media company TikTok for misrepresenting its age-appropriateness in app stores, deceiving parents about the effectiveness of its parental tools and creating and aggressively promoting an addictive app that erodes the mental health of …

Topeka’s NBC affiliate reports: A man arrested in Florida is at the center of an election fraud case involving a newly approved political party in the state of Kansas. The office of the Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach [photo] issued a press release on Monday, Feb. 19 regarding the arrest of a 30-year-old man hailing from Dade City, Florida. This …

The Kansas Reflector reports: A Kansas lawmaker known for pushing discredited treatments for people with COVID-19 urged a bill Thursday pumped from the same vein: An attempt to strip state health officials of their authority to fight infectious diseases. Officials from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the proposed bill would pose significant health hazards. Sen. Mark Steffen, …

The Associated Press reports: Kansas’ attorney general is telling public schools they’re required to tell parents their children are transgender or non-binary even if they’re not out at home, though Kansas is not among the states with a law that explicitly says to do that. Kobach maintains that failing to disclose when a child is socially transitioning or identifying as …

From the Justice Department: William Chrestman, 51, of Olathe, Kansas, was sentenced to 55 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly. Chrestman pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding and threatening a federal officer, both felonies, on Oct. 16, 2023. According to court …

The Kansas Reflector reports: St. Marys Mayor Matthew Childs, who previously attempted to ban LGBTQ books from the city’s public library, lost on his school board bid. Tuesday’s election saw several candidates from the religion-dominated area attempt to win school board seats on the USD 321 Kaw Valley School Board. Elias Espinoza and Jodi Porter were elected to the board. …

Omaha’s NBC affiliate reports: An employee with a company that assists authorities in transporting dead bodies was arrested — and fired — after he allegedly tampered with one such scene last week. Ryan Smith, 41, was arrested Friday and is facing charges of burglary, criminal trespassing, and tampering with physical evidence. Smith had contacted the property manager saying the Sarpy …

Coffeyville’s KGGS reports: William Keith Dodd, the former pastor of Lewark Church of God, has been charged with two counts of rape of a minor. His first appearance in Montgomery County Court was Friday. Court documents say Dodd allegedly raped a 12 or 13 year old two times between January 1st and September 11th of this year. He was arrested …

The Washington Post reports: In June, two librarians put up two rainbow-colored displays near the entrance of the public library in Sterling, Kan. — their way of celebrating autism and neurodiversity, according to a recently filed lawsuit. In one, the rainbow colors formed an infinity symbol broken up only by a heart and accompanied by the words “We all think …

The Kansas Reflector reports: In an unprecedented raid Friday, local law enforcement seized computers, cellphones and reporting materials from the Marion County Record office, the newspaper’s reporters, and the publisher’s home. Eric Meyer, owner and publisher of the newspaper, said police were motivated by a confidential source who leaked sensitive documents to the newspaper, and the message was clear: “Mind …

The Kansas Reflector reports: Gerard Kleinsmith says he hates the idea of censorship. He just wants to pull the lease for the city’s public library because he doesn’t like books about transgender people. As a city commissioner, he feels it is his duty to remove transgender content — “garbage,” as he refers to it. Kleinsmith said during a city commission …

The Associated Press reports: The Republican attorney general of Kansas sued Friday to force the state to be among a few that prohibit transgender people from changing their sex on their driver’s licenses and to repudiate the Democratic governor, who continues to allow such changes despite a new anti-trans law. Attorney General Kris Kobach filed his lawsuit in state court, …

NBC News reports: Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has asked a federal judge to allow state officials to bar people from changing their birth certificates, a move aimed at enforcing a sweeping statewide anti-trans law that is due to go into effect next week. If the judge allows the request, people in Kansas would be barred from making such changes. …

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports: Kansas lawmakers enacted Thursday a sweeping anti-transgender rights bill that could require transgender individuals to use public facilities in almost every facet of society that align with their sex assigned at birth, raising the likelihood of lawsuits and questions about how the measure will be enforced. Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed Senate Bill 180 earlier this month, …

Forbes reports: The man seen in a viral video destroying cases of beer at a Walmart in Topeka, Kansas has been charged with felony battery, assault and exposing his genitals in public, according to Topeka Police. “Officers learned that an adult male, identified as Dustin D. Cain, 44, of Topeka, was in the store throwing things at people,” Topeka Police …

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports: With Republicans lawmakers divided, a sweeping rewrite of Kansas public health laws narrowly failed in the Kansas Senate early Friday morning. House Bill 2390 would have stripped state and local public health authorities of various powers, including quarantine and isolation of people with infectious disease. Vaccination laws would be weakened, banning the Kansas Department of Health …

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports: Walgreens officials are not planning to distribute the abortion drug mifepristone in Kansas, Attorney General Kris Kobach said Monday, weeks after Kobach sent a letter to the pharmacy giant blasting their move to distribute the pill in pharmacies nationally. In the original Feb. 6 letter, Kobach said he would “not hesitate” to enforce Kansas law in …