State Plea Fails to Shield Coldwater Mayor From ICE

Drought Slashes Kansas Wheat Crop 38% From Last Year

Kansas Awards $1.3M to Revive 15 Rural Downtowns

Topeka Teen Arrested After 'Cheesing' Stunt Sparks Gun Threat

China Lets U.S. Beef Resume Ahead of Trump-Xi Talks

State Plea Fails to Shield Coldwater Mayor From ICE

WICHITA, Kan. — Jose "Joe" Ceballos, the former mayor of Coldwater, turned himself in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a Wichita office Wednesday morning, despite a state plea agreement his lawyers said they believed had closed the case. In April, Ceballos pleaded guilty to misdemeanor election charges and paid a $2,000 fine after the Kansas attorney general's office reduced felony allegations stemming from claims he voted as a non-citizen and falsely claimed U.S. citizenship on naturalization paperwork. Ceballos is a legal permanent resident, not a U.S. citizen, and began the citizenship process in February 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS also says he was convicted of battery in 1995. Immigration attorney Sarah Balderas said ICE officers told her Ceballos was arrested on an administrative warrant and that the agency considers him "removable from the United States for past conduct." Defense attorney Jess Hoeme said he believed the state agreement resolved the criminal case and would not affect his client's immigration status.

"He thought this was already taken care of via Kris Kobach. He even paid a $2,000 fine. Why is he having to be double-judged, double-punished?" protester Lori Lawrence said outside the Wichita office. More than a dozen supporters gathered in the parking lot, chanting Ceballos's name and confronting federal officers stationed behind a fence. "They thought it was all over, and I myself felt like I was misled," Ceballos said before walking inside shortly before 11 a.m. Balderas said Ceballos will likely be held in Wichita before being moved to a larger detention facility, and that a bond hearing will follow.

KAKE

Drought Slashes Kansas Wheat Crop 38% From Last Year

WICHITA, Kan. — Kansas farmers are bracing for a sharply diminished wheat harvest, with the 2026 winter wheat crop projected at 214.6 million bushels, a 38% drop from last year's 346.8 million. Drought and freeze damage have driven yields lower, and high winds combined with hot, dry conditions have left fields wilting just weeks before harvest. Aaron Harries, vice president of research and operations for the Kansas Wheat Commission, said much of the wheat will not be harvested at all because crop insurance has already zeroed out affected fields. South central and northern Kansas have been hit hardest, while high fuel and input costs give farmers little room to absorb losses. Garden Plain producer Martin Kerschen said the crop has suffered for the past two months and farmers are hoping for rain. As of May 11, the state's wheat was rated 21% very poor, 30% poor, 32% fair, 16% good and 1% excellent.

KSN

Kansas Awards $1.3M to Revive 15 Rural Downtowns

TOPEKA, Kan. — Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced Wednesday that the Kansas Department of Commerce has awarded more than $1.3 million in Historic Economic Asset Lifeline grants to support 15 building renovation projects in rural communities. Matched with nearly $3.9 million in local contributions, the latest HEAL round brings total investment to approximately $5.2 million for downtown revitalization. Recipients include Baileyville, Chapman, Cheney, Galena, Gardner, Great Bend, Jewell, Kinsley, McDonald, McPherson, Osawatomie, Potwin, Russell, Seneca and Tipton, with projects ranging from short-term rentals and event venues to a grocery and golf cart store, a 24-hour grocery, a market, an aquarium store and residential conversions. Awards range from $10,000 in Great Bend to $100,000 for most of the projects on the list. Administered by the Kansas Office of Rural Prosperity, the HEAL program has helped transform more than 100 buildings in rural Kansas since launching in 2021. A check presentation for the new awardees is scheduled for Friday, May 15.

citizen journal

Topeka Teen Arrested After 'Cheesing' Stunt Sparks Gun Threat

TOPEKA, Kan. — A viral social media trend that involves throwing cheese on cars and storefront windows has drawn a warning from Topeka police after a 16-year-old was arrested in connection with an incident this month. The TikTok account @thetopekacheeser has drawn more than 500,000 views since its first post in late April, and authorities say they have identified the teens involved with the account. Police said a "cheesing" target confronted a 16-year-old in the Target parking lot at 21st and Wanamaker on May 7, and the teen then pulled what the victim believed to be a real gun and threatened him. The department did not confirm whether the arrested teen is associated with the cheese account, and the group denied any connection in a post Wednesday evening. Detective Alexander Wall said small acts can escalate unpredictably and urged caution from young people participating in trends. Police are also monitoring "senior assassin games" in which high school seniors hunt one another with water guns that resemble real firearms, raising concerns about public safety.

WIBW

China Lets U.S. Beef Resume Ahead of Trump-Xi Talks

BEIJING — Chinese officials on Thursday granted permission for hundreds of American slaughterhouses to resume beef shipments to China, 15 months after Beijing let the facilities' export licenses expire as a signal of displeasure with President Trump's initial tariffs. The approval came before the start of talks between Mr. Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in which the president is expected to press Mr. Xi to buy more American goods and reduce a trade imbalance in which China has long sold the United States three to five times more goods than it buys. In early 2020, Beijing approved five-year export licenses allowing more than 300 American slaughterhouses to ship beef to the Chinese market, and those licenses lapsed on March 16, 2025. The timing was widely viewed as a snub, as President Trump was scheduled to send an unofficial emissary to Beijing days later — Senator Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana, the leading beef-exporting state.

The New York Times

Sources

1. KAKE
2. KSN
3. WIBW
4. The New York Times

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