Top 5 Kansas news stories
July 29 2026
Special Education Gap Pressures Kansas Property Taxes
Hutchinson Sends $36 Million Bond to Voters
Grid Emergency Tests Kansas Power Supply
Kelly Votes as Kansas Primary Nears
Newton Drafts Seven-Year Shield AI Hangar Deal
Special Education Gap Pressures Kansas Property Taxes
LAWRENCE, Kan. — School boards in Lawrence, McPherson and Manhattan say Kansas' failure to meet the statutory target for special education aid is shifting costs to local budgets, prompting Lawrence board members to consider joining the Kansas Public School Funding Coalition. Lawrence USD 497 said Kansas is expected to cover 65.3% of excess costs in 2026-27, well below the 92% target in state law. The district said it must provide about $15 million locally after lawmakers approved a $6 million statewide increase. In McPherson, the superintendent said a $10 million House proposal — far short of Gov. Laura Kelly's $50.6 million request — would divert money from compensation, while Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 estimated its diversion at about $1,000 per student. The broader funding dispute echoes Gannon, the school finance case filed in 2010 that forced Kansas to increase K-12 aid and later unfolded alongside Gov. Sam Brownback's tax cuts.
Lawrence USD 497 · McPherson USD 418 · Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 · KSHB · Kansas Legislature · Kansas Supreme Court · Time
Hutchinson Sends $36 Million Bond to Voters
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson USD 308 Board of Education voted 6-1 Monday, July 27, to place a $36 million bond issue on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. The proposal would finance heating and air conditioning upgrades, roofs, security improvements, bathroom renovations and playground work across the district's aging buildings. It is substantially smaller than the roughly $109.5 million proposal that suffered a historic landslide defeat in 2025, when about 75% of voters opposed it. A district survey after that defeat led board members to conclude that the earlier price tag, rather than opposition to school improvements, drove the result. The district says the proposal would not increase its total mill levy because the new debt would replace an existing bond issue as it is paid off, though the levy would otherwise decline without a new bond.
USD 308 · KSN · Hutchinson Tribune · Ad Astra Radio
Greg Loving
Grid Emergency Tests Kansas Power Supply
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Southwest Power Pool declared an energy emergency alert for several hours Monday, July 27, as triple-digit heat narrowed the margin between electricity supply and demand across Kansas and the operator's wider region. The alert kept power plants from going offline for maintenance and allowed the operator to buy electricity from outside the region, but supplies held and no outages were ordered. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued an emergency order July 26 under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, authorizing the grid operator to dispatch specified generation units and use backup resources through Aug. 3. The operator also kept its western region, which includes western Kansas cooperatives and municipal utilities, under a conservative operations advisory because of high demand, generator outages and the potential for low wind and solar output. Heat index values reached 121.7 degrees in Topeka and 115 in Wichita during the emergency. It was the second time this summer that federal emergency authority had been used to support a major grid operator during extreme heat.
U.S. Department of Energy · WOWT
Kelly Votes as Kansas Primary Nears
TOPEKA, Kan. — Gov. Laura Kelly cast an advance ballot July 28, marking her first ballot in 22 years without her own name as Kansas voters prepared for the Aug. 4 primary. Kelly said she voted for state Sen. Ethan Corson in a Democratic gubernatorial primary that also includes state Sen. Cindy Holscher and Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog. The ballot includes a proposed constitutional amendment on whether Kansas Supreme Court justices should be elected rather than appointed, along with contested races for U.S. Senate, Congress and the Legislature. In Harvey County, an election worker now travels with the sheriff or a deputy on daily trips to retrieve ballots from a drop box at Newton Fire/EMS Station 3. The ballots are sealed in a bag signed by the officer and election worker, taken to the election office, opened and added to the daily count. County officials reported 732 early voters through Monday, about 50 fewer than at the same point in 2022, when a constitutional amendment contributed to unusually high primary turnout.
Harvey County Commission · Harvey County · Kansas Reflector · WIBW · Hays Post
Greg Loving
Newton Drafts Seven-Year Shield AI Hangar Deal
NEWTON, Kan. — Newton officials are drafting an agreement to build a 30,000-square-foot hangar at Newton City-County Airport and lease it to Shield AI for an initial seven-year term. The general-purpose hangar would be built on undeveloped land east of the runway, expanding the San Diego defense technology company's flight-test operation after it selected Newton in October 2025. Commissioners reviewed the proposal July 28 but took no formal vote, and city staff said negotiations were continuing. City meeting materials list Shield AI's current airport holdings as Hangar J and 9.85 acres under a seven-year lease. The company's October 2025 announcement projected 30 to 60 full-time jobs and nearly $1 million in infrastructure improvements if a manufacturing facility were added, but those projections were not updated at the meeting. The construction cost, funding source and rental terms were not disclosed, leaving the forthcoming agreement to determine how much financial risk the city would assume for the expansion.
Newton City Commission · City of Newton · KWCH · Hutch Post
Cronkite
Sources
- Lawrence USD 497 meeting / Kansas school board meeting / Kansas school board meeting / Kansas school board meeting / KSHB / KSNT / Johnson County Post / Kansas Public School Funding Coalition / Kansas statute / Kansas Supreme Court / Time
- USD 308 / KSN / Hutchinson Tribune / Ad Astra Radio
- U.S. Department of Energy order / U.S. Department of Energy release / WOWT
- Harvey County Commission meeting / Harvey County voting information / Kansas Reflector / WIBW / Hays Post
- Newton City Commission meeting / City of Newton agenda packet / KWCH / Hutch Post
This article was written using our proprietary AI system, Cronkite. The final decision to publish this article was made by a human. For more info, read our AI policy.
Found a mistake? Have a news tip or feedback to share? Contact our newsroom using the button below:
citizen journal offers three flagship products: a daily national news summary, a daily Kansas news summary, and local news and school board summaries from 20 cities across Kansas. Each issue contains 5 paragraph-length stories that are made to be read in 5 minutes. Use the links in the header to navigate to national, kansas, and local coverage. Subscribe to each, some, or all to get an email when new issues are published for FREE!
Brought to you by (click me!)
