Top 5 Kansas news stories
June 5 2026
Kelly Pushes Kansas Water Plan in Final Year
Bell Textron Cuts 285 Jobs in Wichita, Texas
Former Coldwater Mayor Released on Bond
KU Health Pharmacy Workers Lose Union Vote by Two
Kansas Tracks Screwworm After Texas Calf Tests Positive
Kelly Pushes Kansas Water Plan in Final Year
TOPEKA, Kan. — Gov. Laura Kelly said finalizing a long-term plan for Kansas water resources remains a top priority before she leaves office in January 2027. Kelly, speaking on KCUR's Up to Date on June 4, said securing a dedicated funding source is part of that goal. She acknowledged that a measure to fund the state's water task force died in the 2026 Legislature but vowed to keep pushing the issue. The Kansas Water Office estimates more than 100 communities are at risk of running out of water within 25 years as the Ogallala Aquifer declines.
KCUR
Bell Textron Cuts 285 Jobs in Wichita, Texas
WICHITA, Kan. — Bell Textron announced layoffs on June 4 affecting roughly 3% of its workforce, cutting 285 employees across plants in Fort Worth and Amarillo, Texas, and Wichita. The company cited current funding and budget realities tied to federal fiscal-year clarity. It said certain employees would begin a three-week furlough on June 15. The layoffs come weeks after Bell celebrated the April grand opening of its Wichita assembly center for the U.S. Army's MV-75 Cheyenne II fuselage.
KSN
Former Coldwater Mayor Released on Bond
WICHITA, Kan. — Joe Ceballos, the former Coldwater mayor who pleaded guilty to voter fraud and later turned himself in at a Wichita ICE facility, has been released from the Chase County jail. His immigration attorney, Sarah Balderas, confirmed that a $3,000 bond was approved Monday, June 1, and that Ceballos was released Thursday. Ceballos accepted a plea deal in April on three counts of disorderly election conduct. His immigration case is separate from the voter fraud case, and Balderas said they are now fighting for him to keep his green card and avoid deportation.
KWCH
KU Health Pharmacy Workers Lose Union Vote by Two
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Pharmacy technicians at the University of Kansas Health System are demanding that the Kansas Public Employee Relations Board count 37 mail-in ballots that arrived after the deadline. The workers lost their union election by a two-vote margin, the Kansas News Service reported on June 4. Thirty-one workers filed sworn affidavits saying they mailed their ballots in advance. The health system said it had asked for an in-person election, but the board ordered a mail-in process.
KCUR
Kansas Tracks Screwworm After Texas Calf Tests Positive
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Agriculture's Division of Animal Health is briefing ranchers and stakeholders after the USDA confirmed New World screwworm in a South Texas calf on June 4. The detection marks the first U.S. case in decades. At a House Agriculture Committee hearing the same day, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., pressed Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on USDA staffing cuts at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas. No screwworm cases have been confirmed in Kansas.
Kansas Reflector
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