Kansas Sticks With Existing Vaccine Schedule

Evergy Plans More Kansas Power Plants

Kansas Limits Active-Shooter Drills in Schools

Jail Bond Doubts Push Kansas Counties to Rent Beds

Judge Orders Kansas to Restore Transgender Woman’s License

Kansas Sticks With Existing Vaccine Schedule

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said it will keep its recommended childhood immunization schedule despite an Aug. 10 executive order from President Donald Trump revising federal vaccine policy. The order reduces the federal childhood schedule from 17 vaccines to 11, calls for separate measles, mumps and rubella shots instead of the combined MMR vaccine, and directs federal action involving state religious-exemption laws. KDHE spokeswoman Jill Bronaugh said the agency will continue following guidance from the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, citing evidence that vaccines are safe and effective. Kansas school-entry immunization requirements are set by state regulation, leaving the order’s practical and legal effects unresolved. The Kansas City, Missouri, health department also said it would retain its existing schedule. The state decision matters for the vaccines clinics stock, insurance plans cover and schools ask families to document.

Kansas Reflector · KCUR · HPPR · KAKE · Kiowa County Press

Evergy Plans More Kansas Power Plants

TOPEKA, Kan. — Evergy plans to add more than 5 gigawatts of generation through 2032, including 3.9 gigawatts of natural gas, nearly 800 megawatts of solar and 450 megawatts of battery storage as large customers, including data centers, increase demand. Executives said the utility has agreements covering 2.5 gigawatts of data-center demand and another 500 megawatts from smaller large-load customers, while its five-year capital plan totals about $21.6 billion. Evergy also has asked regulators to delay the retirement or conversion of about 2.8 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity by at least five years. Construction is underway on two 705-megawatt combined-cycle gas plants: the Viola plant in Sumner County, due in 2029, and the McNew plant in Reno County, due in 2030. Kansas regulators approved those plants in July 2025 along with an 8.6% rate increase, but not all of the additional generation now planned has been filed or approved. The coming regulatory cases will help determine how the expansion affects household rates, coal retirements and Kansas industrial growth.

Utility Dive · Natural Gas Intelligence · Latitude Media · Ranson Financial · Kansas Reflector · POWER

Kansas Limits Active-Shooter Drills in Schools

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas schools began the 2026-27 year under new statewide rules for active-shooter drills enacted through House Bill 2534. For students in kindergarten through fifth grade, the law limits active-shooter drills to tabletop exercises and identifying appropriate places to go, while students in grades six through 12 also may practice drill procedures. Drills may not include sensory elements that mimic a real shooting, and simulations are generally barred on property where students in kindergarten through eighth grade regularly attend; authorized tactical training for law enforcement and adult staff is allowed outside school hours when no students are present or expected. Schools generally must notify parents at least 24 hours before a drill or simulation, offer an opt-out without penalty and provide alternative safety education. The Kansas Department of Education must publish guidelines by Oct. 1 covering age-appropriate and trauma-informed design, accessibility, pre-drill announcements and debriefing time. The rules matter because they establish a common approach intended to preserve emergency preparation while reducing potential psychological harm.

KCTV5 · Kansas Legislature · Kansas Department of Education · Kansas Public Radio · KMUW · The Beacon

Jail Bond Doubts Push Kansas Counties to Rent Beds

MANHATTAN, Kan. — A Citizen Journal review of seven meetings indexed in its meeting database found Kansas counties are renting available jail beds from neighboring governments after local officials concluded voters would not support bonds for costly new jail construction. At a March 18 meeting, Riley County Law Board members described a multimillion-dollar local jail expansion as politically unworkable and directed the police department to pursue incremental alternatives. By July, the Riley County Commission had unanimously authorized an application for a $31.7 million U.S. Department of Justice grant to expand the jail from 129 to 179 beds without a local matching contribution, create office space for federal law enforcement partners and potentially generate revenue by housing federal detainees. The Law Board later voted 4-1 to keep pursuing the grant after residents objected to possible conditions involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the 287(g) program; Director Brian Peete said the department would not enforce immigration law, and the board retained authority to reject a final agreement. Dickinson County separately offered spare detention capacity to neighboring jurisdictions, while McPherson County pays Rice County $15,000 a month for beds and swaps inmates with Marion County as its population reached 59 inmates against a stated 54-bed capacity on Aug. 17. The financing choices matter because federal grants can carry federal conditions, while per-diem contracts shift costs and jail responsibilities among local governments.

Citizen Journal Meeting Database · Riley County Law Board · Riley County Commission · Dickinson County · McPherson County · KSNT · KMAN · NPR

Judge Orders Kansas to Restore Transgender Woman’s License

LAWRENCE, Kan. — A Douglas County judge ordered Kansas to restore transgender Lawrence resident Jamie Miller’s driver’s license after finding she is likely to prevail on a claim that the state denied her due process. Senate Bill 244 ties the sex designation on state identification documents to a person’s sex at birth. Judge James McCabria said the Kansas Department of Revenue did not give Miller meaningful notice or an opportunity to be heard before invalidating her license. His temporary order applies only to Miller, does not resolve the underlying lawsuit and may be appealed by the state. McCabria had denied a March injunction request in separate litigation over the law, where a hearing involving restroom provisions is scheduled for Sept. 29. The ruling is the first reported court order restoring a license under SB 244 and raises questions about the process used to invalidate other Kansans’ licenses.

Lawrence Journal-World · The Lawrence Times

Sources

1. Kansas Reflector / KCUR / HPPR / KAKE / KCUR / Kiowa County Press
2. Utility Dive / Utility Dive / Natural Gas Intelligence / Latitude Media / Ranson Financial / Kansas Reflector / POWER
3. KCTV5 / Kansas Legislature / Kansas Legislature / Kansas Department of Education / Kansas Public Radio / KMUW / The Beacon
4. Riley County Commission meeting / Dickinson County meeting / Riley County Law Board recordings rseyfoqv6tqjav3fcgi5 and 5n7hy5h8 / McPherson County recordings 23e33b8ab9, 8741bdcddc and c55f2371-82e1-49cd-8bd4-bcf6db3c1551 / KSNT / KMAN / NPR
5. Lawrence Journal-World / The Lawrence Times / The Lawrence Times

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!)