Top 5 Kansas news stories
April 24 2026
Kelly Vetoes Civics Test Mandate for Kansas Schools
Kansans to Weigh Direct Election of Supreme Court Justices
KSHSAA Sanctions Girls Flag Football in 61-1 Vote
Kansas Seeks to Claw Back $67.4M in Pandemic-Era Unemployment Overpayments
Wichita Coach Slaying Remains Unsolved Six Months Later
Kelly Vetoes Civics Test Mandate for Kansas Schools
TOPEKA, Kan. — Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday vetoed House Bill 2412, rejecting a Republican-led measure that would have required all Kansas high school students to pass an American civics test before graduation. The veto renews a recurring dispute at the Statehouse, where the GOP-controlled Legislature has repeatedly sought to mandate specific school curricula — from financial literacy to gun safety to civics — while Kelly, a Democrat, has argued those decisions rest with the elected State Board of Education and local boards. In her veto message, Kelly said she supported the underlying concept but drew a firm line on separation of powers. "I concur with legislators who believe that citizen knowledge of and involvement in our democratic process at the local, state and federal level should be emphasized throughout our children's educational journey," Kelly wrote, adding that the Kansas Constitution accords the Board of Education authority to determine curricula. Kelly said any design and implementation of civics education must be directed by state and local education boards rather than mandated by statute.
Greg Loving
Kansans to Weigh Direct Election of Supreme Court Justices
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas voters will decide in the August 2026 primary whether to scrap the state's merit-based system for selecting Supreme Court justices and elect them directly, an amendment pushed onto the ballot by Republican lawmakers. The vote comes as the Supreme Court Nominating Commission begins what may be its last round of work under the current framework, reviewing seven applications to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Chief Justice Marla Luckert. The commission is composed of one lawyer and one non-lawyer from each of the state's four congressional districts, plus a statewide chairperson elected by Kansas attorneys. The applicant pool skews toward Lawrence, Wichita, and Johnson County, with no candidates from western Kansas, and most are familiar names from earlier Supreme Court vacancy processes.
CJ Online
KSHSAA Sanctions Girls Flag Football in 61-1 Vote
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas State High School Activities Association Board of Directors voted 61-1 on Thursday to sanction girls flag football as an official sport, making Kansas the 18th state to do so and clearing the way for competition to begin in the 2026-27 school year. Under the approved structure, high school teams will play six to 10 regular-season games leading to a KSHSAA state tournament, while middle school programs will be capped at six games. The proposal drew broad support from a "Let Her Play" grassroots campaign backed by the Kansas City Chiefs, which gathered more than 11,000 petition signatures and submitted a video message from chairman Clark Hunt and head coach Andy Reid ahead of the vote. The sport has operated at the club level in Kansas since 2021, and 28 high schools piloted programs last year with rosters averaging 24 athletes per team. KSHSAA Executive Director Bill Faflick credited the Chiefs and the Greater Wichita Athletic League, which formally submitted the proposal, and Assistant Executive Director Jeremy Holaday is slated to represent Kansas on the national rules writing committee after current member Mark Lentz retires July 1.
Greg Loving
Kansas Seeks to Claw Back $67.4M in Pandemic-Era Unemployment Overpayments
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Labor began mailing notices Thursday to 8,526 individuals who collectively received $67.4 million in unemployment insurance overpayments dating to the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly half owing more than $5,000 and potentially facing liens or garnished wages if they fail to respond. Deputy labor secretary Amy Selm and deputy unemployment director Nicole Struckhoff told reporters 2,700 of the cases involve suspected fraud — including unreported wages and falsified work searches — though none are tied to identity theft. The agency said its modernized unemployment system, launched in November 2024 after more than a decade of blocked modernization attempts, has allowed staff to review 1.5 million claims and identify reporting discrepancies and employer adjustments. Selm said the agency hopes the notices will lead to voluntary repayment but retains authority to seize property, assess fines, garnish wages, or intercept federal tax refunds. Many of the overpayments trace to pandemic-era programs administered on the state's legacy 1970s-era mainframe, which struggled to keep pace with claim volume during the COVID-19 emergency and complicated the discovery of erroneous payments.
Kansas Reflector
Wichita Coach Slaying Remains Unsolved Six Months Later
WICHITA, Kan. — Thursday marked six months since 32-year-old youth football coach Travon Stewart, known in the community as "Coach Factor," was fatally shot on the night of Oct. 23, 2025, at Dr. Glen Dey Park, and Wichita police have made no arrests. Investigators said 200 to 300 people had gathered nearby for a youth football game at the park in the 2800 block of Grove Street, southwest of K-96 and Hillside, when Stewart was shot while selling concessions as a fundraiser for a team unaffiliated with the Wichita Junior Football League. A GoFundMe page established for Stewart's family describes him as a beloved mentor in Wichita's youth football community; he would have turned 33 on Dec. 2. Since November, Crime Stoppers of Wichita/Sedgwick County has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. Police continue to seek tips that might advance the investigation.
KWCH
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