In the News
OLATHE, Kan. — Cries of laughter and joy echo within the Kjelshus household in Olathe, Kansas. Mikkel and Kayla are the proud parents of two young children. Their daughter, Charlie, is creative with a big imagination. Teddy, a toddler, is already showing interest in sports.
“The best part [of fatherhood] is when you see your kids for the first time in the day or in the afternoon after school,” Mikkel said. “It’s a lot of fun to see how excited they are to see you.”
Like many Kansans, my holiday travel last year was impacted by widespread flight delays and cancellations. And while our country’s skies are recognized as the safest globally thanks to the hard work of pilots and ground crews, we’ve seen a troubling uptick in near-collisions at airports throughout the U.S.
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas and Ho-Chunk
U.S. Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola, D-Alaska and Yup'ik
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma and Chickasaw
When the U.S. joined the war effort after the attack on Pearl Harbor, thousands of Native Americans walked into recruiting offices to serve a country that had already taken so much from them.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Kansas could get another $25 million in federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to seal off abandoned oil wells, which can pose a health risk.
Kansas received an initial $25 million in funding to plug wells last year. The Kansas Corporation Commission manages the process. More than 1,200 of the state’s remaining orphaned wells were sealed using that money, according to the KCC.
Wells that are left unplugged could contaminate the water supply and put people’s health at risk.
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Kansas will be receiving $13.3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to modernize electrical grid infrastructure in the state.
On Wednesday, Governor Laura Kelly announced the investment would be provided through the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants program. The Kansas Corporation Commission will administer the funds to strengthen the power grid against natural disasters and advance projects to attract, train and retain workers, according to a press release from the Office of the Governor.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the University of Kansas Medical Center with more than $1,350,000 to help with three research projects.
With the money, Representative Sharice Davids said the three projects being awarded will work to decrease lung disease deaths, investigate the causes of oral birth defects and uncover solutions to limit the transmission of Lyme disease.
Abandoned oil and gas wells were the focus of U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland’s visit to Olathe Monday, with Haaland, Kansas 3rd District representative Sharice Davids and Kansas Corporation Commission officials highlighting $50 million in federal funding to plug the wells.
Oil and gas wells that are in some cases over a century old, abandoned and emitting methane, are targeted for being plugged up as part of a comprehensive federal investment in infrastructure that may eventually include 378 wells in Johnson and Miami counties.
U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids toured some of those wells this week in Johnson County, as part of an effort to call attention to President Joe Biden’s economic priorities.
When it was Rep. Mark Alford’s time to speak in the House Committee on Small Business this May, the freshman Missouri Republican said there was a problem when it came to helping veterans start businesses.
“While the Small Business Administration has programs helping veterans, they’re not always utilized,” Alford said. “And we need to find out why that is and how do we change them so they are utilized.”
The Johnson County Airport Commission hosted a ribbon-cutting Friday to celebrate the reopening of Taxiway Bravo, successfully completing the $5.7 million project.
The reopening of Bravo was the third phase of improvements to the airport — previous phases included new LED lighting, concrete and additional signage. The project also included the reopening of Taxiway Alpha in 2021.