Kansas News

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will be featured in the upcoming issue of Vogue magazine. via KCTV Kansas City

“These new ECP funds will be used to help farmers and ranchers rehabilitate farmland damaged by extreme flooding last summer.”

Bill R. Fuller, state Executive Director of the Kansas Farm Service Agency announced that USDA is distributing allocations for $494,900 in Emergency Conservation Program funding to Allen, Chautauqua, Elk, ... via Farm & Ranch Guide

“Certainly, we could have had a full set there at 10 minutes after five.”

A Las Vegas company is asking the state to let it compete for a contract to build and manage a casino in Dodge City, even though it missed last week's deadline for filing a proposal. via Canadian Business Magazine

“It's easy to say elections are always good because the public should have a right to decide”

After successful efforts to get grand juries in Johnson County to investigate pornography and abortion providers, citizens groups are now taking aim at appointed judges. via KSHB-TV Kansas City

Who do you think is behind Benazir Bhutto's assassination Thursday? I don't think there's any doubt Al Qaeda was behind it. via WIBW-TV Topeka

“We have a steady flow of fabric, with 1,800 men here”

A handful of Hutchinson prison inmates are helping warm the homeless with old prison blues. via KansasCity.com

A winter storm moved into the Great Lakes on Friday, blanketing the region with several inches of snow and disrupting holiday travel.

More than 400 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport by midday, and delays averaged between 45 to 90 minutes. Officials urged travelers to check the status of their flights.

Delays at Midway Airport were about an hour, though it did not report any cancelations.

Meteorologists said the snow and winds would reduce visibility in some areas to just a few hundred feet. Read more

“I think their whole goal was to put small stores out of business”

A change in federal rules forced the closing of three Kansas groceries that served only participants in the Women, Infants and Children program. via KCTV5

“Phill Kline has a terrible track record”

Attorney General Paul Morrison will continue to face an investigation of his conduct in Johnson County even though he plans to resign. via KCTV5

Governor Tim Kaine is placing a friendly wager on the outcome of the 2008 Orange Bowl featuring Virginia Tech and the University of Kansas. via WTVR Richmond

“It's not the best possible bill, but it's the best bill possible under difficult circumstances.”

When Kansas lawmakers in Congress weren't seeking disaster aid for myriad weather catastrophes that hit the state in 2007, they were making progress in passing a new farm bill, boosting growth at Fort Riley and ... via Forbes

With still a year to go before the 2008 election, campaign fund raising is at a record pace. via Chanute Tribune

“I think we've got to do both and I think most Kansans feel we have to do both”

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius says she doesn't believe her administration's decision earlier this year to block new coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas results in environmentalism trumping economic ... via ParsonsSun.com

The Kansas Highway Patrol says the Ford Explorer rolled several times and came to rest in the westbound ditch about 2 miles west of Liberal shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday. via Kansas.com

KANSAS CITY | Shooting kills woman

A woman was killed in a shooting early Tuesday in Kansas City.

The woman was shot in the head about 1:15 a.m. in the 1700 block of Missouri Avenue after several men confronted her, according to police. The woman was transported to a hospital and later died of her injuries, police said. The police murder squad has identified the woman, but did not immediately release her name.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (474-8477). Read more

Police officials at Hays issued a plea Monday morning for help in locating a man who fled after an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement officers late Saturday. via Salina Journal

“It is such an honor and blessing to be with our troops in Iraq. It's an amazing experience, but like them, I miss being home.”

Rep. Nancy Boyda is spending Christmas in Iraq visiting American troops. Boyda, who represents the 2nd District of eastern Kansas, left Saturday. via The Topeka Capital-Journal

“We thought about having them fly instead, but they would have gone through Chicago and been delayed at O'Hare.”

The cell-phone call that more than four dozen Kansas families had eagerly awaited came at 1:09 p.m. Sunday.

'They just turned onto 87th Street,' shouted the family member who got the call. Three minutes later, a road salt-caked bus carrying 54 road-weary members of the Kansas National Guard home from Fort Bliss, Texas, for Christmas pulled up the front of the armory in Lenexa.

'It's a beautiful Kansas day,' Capt. Chuck Leivan said as he stepped into the cold sunshine and a 16 mph wind. 'This is the first time in a long time we'll have a white Christmas.' Read more

Some legislators already have expressed doubts that their colleagues will approve an increase in tobacco taxes, a key part of the plan. via WIBW-TV Topeka

“It is the first step for us in learning to take care of the prairie better than we have in the past”

The newest residents of Logan County are grouchy, reclusive and some of the rarest critters in North America.

Twenty-four black-footed ferrets were released at sunset Dec. 18 on private ranch land in Logan County.

Black-footed ferrets are an endangered species and have not been documented in Kansas for more than half a century.

'It was an amazing experience,' said Brenda Pace, daughter of a couple on whose land the ferrets were released. 'They are beautiful animals and have incredible markings -- black masks, black feet and a little saddle across their back.... They weren't terribly enthusiastic about getting out of their cages. They barked at our encouragement.' Read more