Former Chief Justice Campaigns Against Judicial Election Amendment

Wildfire Smoke and Building Heat Blanket Kansas

State Board Advances Student Walkout Complaint Form

Judge Restores Mail-Ballot Grace Period as State Appeals

Police Recover Ralph Terry's Stolen World Series Trophies

Former Chief Justice Campaigns Against Judicial Election Amendment

SALINA, Kan. — Former Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss traveled to Salina this week to urge a "no" vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would have voters elect the state's high court justices, warning that partisan elections would let billionaire political donors turn judges into politicians. Kansans will decide the question Aug. 4, and if approved, the amendment would abolish the nominating commission that screens applicants and sends three finalists to the governor, replacing merit selection with staggered elections beginning in 2028. The Republican-led Legislature placed the measure on the ballot, and supporters, including 58 attorneys who signed a letter backing it, argue the current process is opaque and gives lawyers too much influence. The debate comes days after Gov. Laura Kelly used the existing commission process to appoint Johnson County Judge Chris Jayaram to the court. Because the method of choosing the high court will shape rulings on abortion, school funding, taxes and elections for decades, the amendment stands as one of the most consequential questions on a Kansas ballot in a generation.

KWCH · Johnson County Post · KSN · Ballotpedia

Wildfire Smoke and Building Heat Blanket Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. — Thick smoke from wildfires burning in Canada and the northern United States drifted across Kansas this week, dimming skies and prompting warnings that outdoor air could be unhealthy to breathe, particularly for children, older adults and people with heart or lung conditions. At the same time, forecasters said a dome of heat would build into the weekend, pushing highs into the upper 90s to near 100 degrees with heat-index values around 105 in east-central Kansas. Scattered afternoon thunderstorms were possible in the northeast, though weak upper-level winds kept the risk of severe weather low. Meteorologists said a cold front early next week should bring some relief. Until then, the overlap of degraded air quality and dangerous heat poses compounding risks for outdoor workers, people without air conditioning and other vulnerable Kansans.

KSMU · WIBW

State Board Advances Student Walkout Complaint Form

TOPEKA, Kan. — At its July 14-15 meeting, the Kansas State Board of Education advanced a complaint form allowing members of the public to report student walkouts that may violate a new state law. The law requires written parental consent for students who leave school during the day and penalizes districts that fail to enforce attendance policies or whose staff encourage a protest. Districts can be fined an amount equal to the superintendent's base salary for each school day a walkout occurs, with the state board responsible for reviewing complaints. Enacted as a one-year budget proviso, the measure takes effect for the 2026-27 school year. The complaint process hands the state board a new enforcement role over student protests beginning this fall, with school districts bearing the financial risk when walkouts occur.

KSNT · Kansas Public Radio

Judge Restores Mail-Ballot Grace Period as State Appeals

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Douglas County District Judge Carl Folsom III on Thursday issued a temporary injunction blocking Senate Bill 4, a 2025 law that eliminated Kansas's three-day grace period for counting mail ballots. The grace period, in place since 2017, allows advance ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they reach county election offices within three days, while SB 4 required ballots to arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day. The Disability Rights Center of Kansas, the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, the voter-engagement group Loud Light and three individual voters brought the lawsuit, arguing the change violated the Kansas Constitution's protections for voting, equal protection and due process. Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach said they would immediately appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court, with Kobach calling the decision "poorly reasoned." The ruling restores the older deadline for the Aug. 4 primary, meaning mail ballots postmarked on time but arriving up to three days late can again be counted.

Kansas Reflector · KWCH · KCUR · WIBW

Police Recover Ralph Terry's Stolen World Series Trophies

GREAT BEND, Kan. — Police recovered several trophies belonging to the late Ralph Terry during an unrelated suspicious-activity investigation. Terry, a longtime Larned resident, was the 1962 World Series MVP for the New York Yankees and died in 2022 at age 86. He had loaned the trophies to a golf course before they went missing. Police reunited the recovered awards with his family.

KSN

Sources

1. KWCH / KWCH / Johnson County Post / KSN / Ballotpedia
2. KSMU / WIBW
3. KSNT / Kansas Public Radio
4. Kansas Reflector / KWCH / KCUR / WIBW
5. KSN

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