Republican-controlled State Finance Council extends state disaster declaration long enough so the Legislature can overhaul Gov. Laura Kelly’s emergency powers; Two employees and three inmates at Lansing prison have died of COVID-19; 236,000 Kansans filed initial unemployment claims in Kansas from March 15-May 9This content is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to your local newspaper.TOPEKA — Republican legislators on the State Finance Council rejected Wednesday the 30-day extension...… Republican-controlled State Finance Council extends state disaster declaration long enough so the Legislature can overhaul Gov. Laura Kelly’s emergency powers; Two employees and three inmates at Lansing prison have died of COVID-19; 236,000 Kansans filed initial unemployment claims in Kansas from March 15-May 9This content is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to your local newspaper.TOPEKA — Republican legislators on the State Finance Council rejected Wednesday the 30-day extension...WW…

Tim Carpentertcarpenter@cjonline.comView CommentsThis content is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to your local newspaper.Tracing of three isolated incidents of coronavirus infection at Stormont Vail Health in Topeka means the largest hospital in Shawnee County will be listed as a cluster site by state health officials during the pandemic, Stormont Vail officials said Tuesday.Robert Kenagy, president and CEO at Stormont Vail, said in an interview that testing identified 13 employees,...…Tim Carpentertcarpenter@cjonline.comView CommentsThis content is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to your local newspaper.Tracing of three isolated incidents of coronavirus infection at Stormont Vail Health in Topeka means the largest hospital in Shawnee County will be listed as a cluster site by state health officials during the pandemic, Stormont Vail officials said Tuesday.Robert Kenagy, president and CEO at Stormont Vail, said in an interview that testing identified 13 employees,...WW…

Sherman Smithssmith@cjonline.comView CommentsGov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday revealed her second appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court as K.J. Wall, a private practice attorney and former counsel to the court.Wall is a partner with Overland Park-based Forbes Law Group, which represents rural health care providers in Kansas. He previously worked for former Supreme Court Justice Lawton Nuss, the retired justice whom Wall is replacing.Wall said he shares a sense of duty with Nuss, .“I think it’s similar in that I have a strong belief in deciding each case on the merits, based on the facts,...…Sherman Smithssmith@cjonline.comView CommentsGov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday revealed her second appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court as K.J. Wall, a private practice attorney and former counsel to the court.Wall is a partner with Overland Park-based Forbes Law Group, which represents rural health care providers in Kansas. He previously worked for former Supreme Court Justice Lawton Nuss, the retired justice whom Wall is replacing.Wall said he shares a sense of duty with Nuss, .“I think it’s similar in that I have a strong belief in deciding each case on the merits, based on the facts,...WW…

Topeka Capital-JournalView CommentsAn advisory task force will collect community input on a potential name change for Seaman Unified School District 345 and return to the school board with a report, but not a recommendation, on such a change, the Seaman Board of Education decided on Monday evening.After an hour of split public comment, the board voted to accept superintendent Steve Noble's proposal to create that advisory task force to guide the community conversation on a potential name change.The board had not yet discussed a name change but had been under intense public...…Topeka Capital-JournalView CommentsAn advisory task force will collect community input on a potential name change for Seaman Unified School District 345 and return to the school board with a report, but not a recommendation, on such a change, the Seaman Board of Education decided on Monday evening.After an hour of split public comment, the board voted to accept superintendent Steve Noble's proposal to create that advisory task force to guide the community conversation on a potential name change.The board had not yet discussed a name change but had been under intense public...WW…

Topeka Capital-JournalView CommentsAfter failing last year, it's final. Abortion will be on the August 2022 ballot.The Kansas Legislature passed with two-thirds majorities a constitutional amendment that would overturn a Kansas Supreme Court ruling that abortion is a state constitutional right, as well as allowing the regulation of abortion.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has no power to veto this. But the Value Them Both amendment only becomes constitutional law if voters approve it. Proponents have argued for putting this issue before voters, saying that the ruling has...…Topeka Capital-JournalView CommentsAfter failing last year, it's final. Abortion will be on the August 2022 ballot.The Kansas Legislature passed with two-thirds majorities a constitutional amendment that would overturn a Kansas Supreme Court ruling that abortion is a state constitutional right, as well as allowing the regulation of abortion.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has no power to veto this. But the Value Them Both amendment only becomes constitutional law if voters approve it. Proponents have argued for putting this issue before voters, saying that the ruling has...WW…

 A 14-year-old boy refused to obey commands from a Topeka police officer Saturday before that officer used force to take the boy to the ground and handcuff him, police said.No injuries were reported to police as a result of that incident, after which the youth was cited and released to a guardian, the police department said Monday on its Facebook site.Comments left beneath that post indicated the boy has autism and asked why police didn’t mention that in their post."We do not have diagnostic information from a medical professional on the involved party in this incident," police media...… A 14-year-old boy refused to obey commands from a Topeka police officer Saturday before that officer used force to take the boy to the ground and handcuff him, police said.No injuries were reported to police as a result of that incident, after which the youth was cited and released to a guardian, the police department said Monday on its Facebook site.Comments left beneath that post indicated the boy has autism and asked why police didn’t mention that in their post."We do not have diagnostic information from a medical professional on the involved party in this incident," police media...WW…

Topeka Capital-JournalView CommentsKansas will likely be getting almost 37% fewer Pfizer vaccine doses than initially promised in its next shipment in the next week, a spokesperson from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said.Instead of the approximately 28,000 doses from Pfizer the state said it would receive, that number has dropped to 17,550 doses. The other type of vaccine, from Moderna, is still expected to arrive with 49,000 doses next week. This will be the first shipment from Moderna.The reduced number of already scarce vaccine doses is likely to further...…Topeka Capital-JournalView CommentsKansas will likely be getting almost 37% fewer Pfizer vaccine doses than initially promised in its next shipment in the next week, a spokesperson from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said.Instead of the approximately 28,000 doses from Pfizer the state said it would receive, that number has dropped to 17,550 doses. The other type of vaccine, from Moderna, is still expected to arrive with 49,000 doses next week. This will be the first shipment from Moderna.The reduced number of already scarce vaccine doses is likely to further...WW…

OPINIONTopeka Capital-JournalView CommentsDonald Trump is corrupt and morally bankrupt.To support the Trump presidency, millions of Americans had to silence that pesky, fragile creature we call a conscience.Maybe they can restore some volume to that little voice that can sometimes save us from disasters like Donald Trump.Armand Way, TopekaView Comments…OPINIONTopeka Capital-JournalView CommentsDonald Trump is corrupt and morally bankrupt.To support the Trump presidency, millions of Americans had to silence that pesky, fragile creature we call a conscience.Maybe they can restore some volume to that little voice that can sometimes save us from disasters like Donald Trump.Armand Way, TopekaView CommentsWW…

Tim Carpentertcarpenter@cjonline.comView CommentsKansas Congressman Steve Watkins, narrowly elected in 2018 with President Donald Trump’s blessing and by pledging to help “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C., responded to a Republican primary challenge with a $400,000 onslaught of taxpayer-funded communications during a six-month period, a new federal report shows.Watkins, who is running against State Treasurer Jake LaTurner in the Aug. 4 primary in the 2nd District, spent nearly twice the combined franking total of his three Kansas congressional peers. Franking expenditures are allowed to...…Tim Carpentertcarpenter@cjonline.comView CommentsKansas Congressman Steve Watkins, narrowly elected in 2018 with President Donald Trump’s blessing and by pledging to help “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C., responded to a Republican primary challenge with a $400,000 onslaught of taxpayer-funded communications during a six-month period, a new federal report shows.Watkins, who is running against State Treasurer Jake LaTurner in the Aug. 4 primary in the 2nd District, spent nearly twice the combined franking total of his three Kansas congressional peers. Franking expenditures are allowed to...WW…

Sherman Smith,Tim Carpenterssmith@cjonline.comView CommentsThis content is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to your local newspaper.TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly said Wednesday the state’s coronavirus disaster declaration would be renewed through May 14 and that a slate of executive orders tied to COVID-19 would remain in place until most decisions about stay-at-home directives and other health mandates shift May 4 to county officials.Kelly said 500,000 testing kits for COVID-19 had been...…Sherman Smith,Tim Carpenterssmith@cjonline.comView CommentsThis content is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to your local newspaper.TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly said Wednesday the state’s coronavirus disaster declaration would be renewed through May 14 and that a slate of executive orders tied to COVID-19 would remain in place until most decisions about stay-at-home directives and other health mandates shift May 4 to county officials.Kelly said 500,000 testing kits for COVID-19 had been...WW…