Canvas Hack Hits K-State, 9,000 Schools Days Before Finals

Federal Jury Convicts Beneficient Founder in $150M Fraud

Potwin Biofuel Plant to Consume Third of Kansas Soy Crop

Kansas Honors 4 Fallen Officers at Annual Valor Awards

Sunflower Summer Returns With Tighter Budget, Shorter Window

Canvas Hack Hits K-State, 9,000 Schools Days Before Finals

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Days before finals week, a cyberattack knocked the Canvas learning management system offline Thursday at Kansas State University and roughly 8,800 other higher education institutions. The cybercrime extortion group ShinyHunters allegedly breached Canvas's parent company, Instructure, with a message appearing on the platform's home page around 3:15 p.m. demanding affected schools contact the group privately to negotiate a settlement and threatening to leak data by May 12. K-State sent two alerts within an hour notifying students and faculty of the outage and confirming the breach. The Office of the Provost emailed instructors about alternative communication methods while Canvas remains down, and the university asked users to forward suspicious messages to abuse@k-state.edu. Instructure said on its status page that it is investigating the incident.

K-State Collegian

Federal Jury Convicts Beneficient Founder in $150M Fraud

NEW YORK — A federal jury found Brad Heppner, the former chairman of Beneficient and bankrupt GWG Holdings, guilty Thursday of securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and making false statements in a scheme that funneled more than $150 million to himself. Prosecutors said Heppner moved the cash through a shell company he secretly controlled while leading both companies, drawing roughly half of $300 million transferred from GWG to Beneficient between 2018 and 2021. The federal indictment alleged he spent at least $40 million on a Texas ranch and a 22,000-square-foot Dallas mansion, $20 million on taxes, and more than $500,000 on jewelry. Heppner persuaded the Kansas Legislature to grant a Beneficient subsidiary a unique state bank charter five years ago over the objections of the state banking commissioner, with the legislation championed by Senate President Ty Masterson and signed by Gov. Laura Kelly. Beneficient and its allies directed campaign contributions to Republicans and Democrats in Kansas, and Heppner pledged rural economic development including a Hesston grocery store that was never built. Before adjourning the 2026 session, the Legislature passed a bill barring any state entity from serving as receiver of a failed Beneficient operation.

Kansas Reflector

Potwin Biofuel Plant to Consume Third of Kansas Soy Crop

POTWIN, Kan. — Jump Start cut the ribbon Thursday on a new blending facility in Butler County that converts soybean oil into biodiesel and biogas. The plant will serve as the region's fuel distribution terminal, filling 25 to 100 loads daily, according to the group behind the facility. U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, said the facility will blend enough biodiesel to consume a third of the state's soybean crop, opening another market for Kansas farmers. Marshall called Potwin a fitting location, citing nearby farmland and proximity to major markets that could trim transportation costs. He also pointed to consumer benefits of biofuels, including lower prices and reduced tailpipe emissions.

KSN

Kansas Honors 4 Fallen Officers at Annual Valor Awards

MULVANE, Kan. — The Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police honored four officers killed in the line of duty in 2025 along with dozens of others at its annual Valor Awards banquet May 6, with KACP President and McPherson Police Chief Mikel Golden presiding. Chief's Awards for the supreme sacrifice went to Deputy Brandon Gaede of the Phillips County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Elijah Ming of the Wyandotte County Sheriff's Office, Officer Hunter Simoncic of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, and Sgt. Scott Heimann of the Hays Police Department, whose September death was the first in that department's history. The response to the Heimann shooting drew the night's largest cluster of Citizen Journal coverage-area honors, with 12 Hays officers receiving the Gold Award alongside a Hays firefighter and an Ellis County deputy, and the Hays Police Special Situation Response Team receiving the Unit Citation – Gold. Other coverage-area honorees included Great Bend Officer Paul Millard and Reno County Deputy Marcus Schneider with Gold Awards, and Hutchinson Officer Lane Hammond with a Silver for actions that helped save a life. The Harvey County Sheriff's Office, Hutchinson Police Department and Reno County Sheriff's Office received Bronze Unit Citations for their role in the multi-agency Property Crimes Reduction Task Force.

Kansas Honors 4 Fallen Officers, Local Heroes at 2026 Valor Awards

McPherson Police Chief Mikel Golden presides over annual ceremony as president of KACP

citizen journalGreg Loving

Sunflower Summer Returns With Tighter Budget, Shorter Window

TOPEKA — Sunflower Summer will return for a four-week window from July 9 to Aug. 2, with Kansas Tourism opening the program to pre-K through 12th-grade students and one adult guardian per family. The Kansas Legislature cut the program's budget to $2.75 million for 2026, down from $3 million last year, after the loss of federal funding that had allowed longer runs in earlier seasons. Past versions covered two parents and spanned multiple months. Despite the shorter window, Kansas Tourism Deputy Director Jordan Roemerman said participation has grown rapidly, from 25 to 50 attractions in the inaugural season to more than 230 last year. Lt. Gov. and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said the program offers Kansas families a chance to explore the state together. Kansas Tourism is accepting attraction applications now and plans to release the full list in June; participants must be Kansas residents and use the program's iOS or Android app to claim free tickets.

KSNT

Sources

1. K-State Collegian
2. Kansas Reflector
3. KSN
4. Citizen Journal
5. KSNT

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