KS - May 16 2025
KS Maternity Care Deserts; MO Stadium Funding Session; KS Severe Storms Sunday; Prairie Chicken Protections Fight; citizen journal Expands in KS
Report Exposes "Maternity Care Deserts" Across Kansas, Leaving Many Expectant Mothers Stranded
Missouri Governor Calls Special Session for Chiefs and Royals Stadium Funding Amidst Kansas Pressure
Severe Storms Threaten Kansas Sunday: Golf Ball Hail, 70 MPH Winds, Tornadoes Possible
Future of Lesser Prairie Chicken in Doubt as Legal Battle Brews Over Endangered Species Act Protections
citizen journal is Expanding Across Kansas
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1. Report Exposes "Maternity Care Deserts" Across Kansas, Leaving Many Expectant Mothers Stranded
TOPEKA — Maternity care is becoming out of reach for many in rural Kansas counties, where birth rates are higher than in urban areas, hospitals face closure and obstetrics services are few and far between. The new report from the University of Kansas School of Nursing and Hutchinson-based United Methodist Health Ministry Fund examined Kansas’ maternity care deserts, or counties without nearby access to prenatal and obstetrics care. More than 40% of Kansas counties don’t have any maternal care services, and most Kansans live 30 miles or more from a high-risk delivery facility, the report found. Plus, most rural counties in the state do not have an obstetrician/gynecologist. In western Kansas, Grant and Wallace counties, which sit on or near the Kansas-Colorado border, have the highest birth rates in the state. Wallace County, home to roughly 1,700 people, has no hospitals, birthing centers or facilities offering prenatal services. The closest facility offering inpatient maternity care is at least 50 miles away. In Grant County, maternity care isn’t available at existing facilities, the report found, and the closest maternity care facility is at least 24 miles away. About 30% of Kansas ZIP codes are 100 miles or more from high-risk pregnancy services. Medicaid, the joint federal and state public health insurance program, pays for about 40% of all births in Kansas. After delivery, mothers are eligible for continued coverage for a year if they make an annual income less than or equal to 171% of the federal poverty level, which amounts to $47,453 or less for a family of four.
Kansas Reflector
2. Missouri Governor Calls Special Session for Chiefs and Royals Stadium Funding Amidst Kansas Pressure
Missouri lawmakers will try again to pass a funding plan for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals, as Gov. Mike Kehoe confirmed on Friday he will call a special session. The Republican governor signaled he’s open to including other issues in the session as part of a negotiation to pass the package, which could help pay for up to 50% of the costs of new or upgraded stadiums for the teams. Kehoe’s comments came after the General Assembly ended its annual session without passing the proposal, which he unveiled only on Tuesday. Kehoe didn’t say exactly when the session would begin but indicated it could occur in early June. The special session will occur as the teams weigh a generous financing plan in Kansas that could expire next month.
Kansas City Star
3. Severe Storms Threaten Kansas Sunday: Golf Ball Hail, 70 MPH Winds, Tornadoes Possible
Scattered severe storms are expected Sunday afternoon and evening. The stronger storms will be capable of golf ball size hail, 70 mph winds and a few tornadoes. Be sure to have a plan if you are outdoors Sunday and a warning is issued.
NWS Wichita; KWCH
4. Future of Lesser Prairie Chicken in Doubt as Legal Battle Brews Over Endangered Species Act Protections
TOPEKA — The Trump administration is attempting to strike protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a bird that has teetered between threatened and endangered for decades. The administration argued in a May 7 court filing that a Biden-era ruling granting protections for the lesser prairie chicken contained mistakes when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified two distinct populations of the bird. The filing alleges the USFWS improperly applied policy when determining whether the lesser prairie chicken should be listed under the Endangered Species Act, which “amounts to a serious substantive defect because it calls into question the very foundation of the listing decision.” The lesser prairie chicken forages on the grasslands and brush of southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, eastern New Mexico, western Oklahoma and the panhandle and south plains of Texas. Those lands are also viewed as prime cattle-grazing and oil and gas drilling areas.
Kansas Reflector
5. citizen journal is Expanding Across Kansas
We talk a lot today about how losing jobs has hollowed out the Heartland, and this is true. But small towns across America have lost more than just manufacturing jobs. They've lost coverage of their municipal governments, lost touch with local kids playing sports, and most importantly, they've lost a common connection to their neighbors.
citizen journal is trying to reinvent the local newspaper for the digital era. We have expanded from McPherson, where we started, to 8 cities in Kansas: Hutchinson, Salina, Lindsborg, Abilene, Junction City, Manhattan, and Hays. McPherson and Hutchinson are ‘full service’ cities, meaning we have local MWF publications there. Our reporters are moms, golf pros, and actual professional, award-winning journalists. We will add more ‘full service’ cities, and we need your help. We’re looking for part-time contributors, so if you or anyone you know wants to help reinvent local news, email me! We are both a news and technology company, and we cover our other six markets with a combination of humans and technology - the future of journalism. We will add more of these cities and will flip them into ‘full service’ markets as we recruit citizen journalists.
If you get this newsletter by email, follow these instructions to get only the emails you want. If you use our iOS or Android app, follow these instructions to subscribe to only the notifications you want. We received 46k views on our website last month and have over 3k app downloads across KS - and America. We're going to sell ads to support this venture. If you're a local business who wants to reach a local audience - in your town or across the state - please consider advertising. And if you ever have any trouble with our website or app, email me - we’re not big enough for a customer support line. -Greg
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Sources
https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/barriers-to-maternity-care-in-rural-kansas-leave-many-moms-to-be-miles-from-services/https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article306549301.html#storylink=cpyhttps://x.com/NWSWichita/status/1923318687194288427,https://www.kwch.com/2025/05/16/weather-alert-severe-storms-possible-sunday/https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/trump-administration-wants-to-remove-protections-for-threatened-kansas-bird/