Top 5 Kansas news stories
June 22 2026
GOP Candidates Clash at Wichita Forum
Marshall Vacancy Law Raises Election Questions
EF2 Tornado Kills One in Sedgwick County
Kansas Feedlot Inventory Rises 3%
Regents Define DEI Under State Law
GOP Candidates Clash at Wichita Forum
WICHITA, Kan. — Four Republican candidates for Kansas governor clashed during a KNSS radio forum moderated by former state Rep. John Whitmer, Kansas Reflector reported. Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Senate President Ty Masterson, businessman Philip Sarnecki and former legislator Charlotte O'Hara participated in the June 19 forum ahead of the Aug. 4 primary. O'Hara said one of her first acts as governor would be to terminate all Kansas State Department of Education staff. Masterson defended his vote for state bonds tied to a Chiefs stadium. Republicans Nick Reinecker, Stacy Rogers and Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt did not attend, and neither did the three Democratic candidates for governor.
Kansas Reflector
Marshall Vacancy Law Raises Election Questions
TOPEKA, Kan. — A 2025 Kansas law could allow a U.S. Senate appointee to serve up to two years before facing voters if Sen. Roger Marshall resigned before the 2026 election, Kansas Reflector reported. The statute says a governor's appointee would not have to stand for election until the next regularly scheduled general election cycle if a vacancy occurred after May 1 in an even-numbered year. Marshall's seat is otherwise scheduled to appear on the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot, and he has publicly said he plans to seek reelection. The report described the scenario as a possibility tied to speculation about whether Marshall could leave office for a role in the Trump administration. It did not cite any statement from Marshall's campaign indicating he plans to resign.
Kansas Reflector
EF2 Tornado Kills One in Sedgwick County
SEDGWICK, Kan. — One person was killed when an EF2 tornado struck northern Sedgwick County early Sunday, KWCH reported. The National Weather Service in Wichita said the tornado touched down about 1:14 a.m. June 21 roughly five miles east of Sedgwick near the Harvey County line. The brief tornado tracked about one-tenth of a mile, reached estimated peak winds of 135 mph and had a path width near 50 yards. It destroyed a double-wide manufactured home that had been bolted to a poured basement foundation. No active tornado warning was in effect for the area at the time of the strike.
KWCH
Kansas Feedlot Inventory Rises 3%
WASHINGTON — Kansas feedlots held about 2.42 million cattle on June 1, up 3% from a year earlier, Brownfield Ag News reported from USDA's monthly Cattle on Feed report. May placements in Kansas totaled 420,000 head, down about 10% from 2025. Kansas marketings totaled 360,000 head in May, down about 11% from a year earlier. Nationally, feedlot inventory totaled 11.7 million head, up 2% year over year, while May placements fell 10%. The figures come as the national cattle herd remains near record lows.
Brownfield Ag News
Regents Define DEI Under State Law
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Board of Regents voted June 17 to adopt formal definitions of DEI-related content and Critical Race Theory for required university courses, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. The action was designed to comply with budget provisions the Legislature attached to higher-education funding that take effect in July. The DEI definition targets content that promotes preferential treatment of groups based on race, color, gender, ethnicity or national origin. The policy also says discussions of race, racism or the history of the Civil Rights movement do not by themselves constitute DEI-related content. The definitions next go to the State Finance Council for certification.
Lawrence Journal-World
Sources
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