Hundreds Weigh Hutchinson’s Data Center Future

Former Prison Officials Urge Kelly to Commute Death Sentences

Overland Park Opens Police Drone Flights to Public Tracking

Five Kansas Health Systems Form Astra Health, Preserve Independence

KHP Reports No Fatal Crashes Over Labor Day Weekend

Hundreds Weigh Hutchinson’s Data Center Future

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Several hundred people attended a data center town hall Tuesday evening, Sept. 8, in Hutchinson, the Reno County seat of roughly 40,000 residents and home of the Kansas State Fair. Organizers moved the meeting from Hutchinson Community College’s Shears Technology Center to the Stringer Fine Arts Center auditorium, 600 E. 11th Ave., to accommodate the crowd. City Council member Stacy Goss explained planning and zoning tools; Kansas Sen. Mike Murphy discussed Senate Bill 98, which created state tax incentives for data centers; and Jason Probst outlined the Bipartisan Policy Center’s recommended practices for communities considering such projects. Live, anonymous electronic polling displayed attendees’ responses in real time as they considered facilities that house servers for cloud computing and artificial intelligence and consume substantial electricity and water. No project was proposed, approved or rejected, and the council took no vote; organizers said comments and polling results would go to the council and other policymakers. Across Kansas, McPherson County commissioners voted 3-0 Aug. 31 to ban data centers outside city limits with no expiration date; Sedgwick County has paused applications since January, and El Dorado and Emporia are sending proposed bans to voters Nov. 3.

Hutchinson Tribune · Ad Astra Radio · KSN · Citizen Journal

Former Prison Officials Urge Kelly to Commute Death Sentences

TOPEKA, Kan. — Six former Kansas corrections professionals, including a former state corrections secretary, signed a letter delivered to Gov. Laura Kelly after a Sept. 2 Statehouse gathering urging her to commute all nine death sentences to life without parole, reducing the punishments without erasing the convictions. The campaign, reported by Kansas Reflector and KSN on Sept. 8, argues that executions cause lasting harm to participating staff and risk irreversible errors. Kansas restored capital punishment in 1994 but has not executed anyone since 1965. Kelly, a Democrat whose final term ends in January 2027, supports repeal because she considers the death penalty impractical and expensive. She nevertheless denied clemency this summer to Reginald and Jonathan Carr, sentenced to death for the 2000 Wichita crime spree, and John Robinson, convicted of killing eight women. Attorney General Kris Kobach joined victims’ relatives in June to urge Kelly to reject clemency, and no commutation or response to the former officials’ letter had been announced as of Sept. 9.

Kansas Reflector · KSN · KWCH · Governor’s Office

Overland Park Opens Police Drone Flights to Public Tracking

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Overland Park police launched a public website Sept. 1 that logs every department drone flight in near-real time, according to reporting published Sept. 7. The Drone as a First Responder Transparency Page shows when and where drones take off, their flight paths and the reasons for deployment, including calls for service and routine equipment testing. The first-responder program sends drones to reported incidents ahead of officers so dispatchers can view scenes before patrol units arrive. Department officials said frequent questions from residents about drones over their neighborhoods helped prompt the tracker, which lets people check whether an aircraft belongs to police. The program is part of a broader technology expansion in Johnson County’s largest city, which serves roughly 200,000 residents and approved a $22.4 million police technology package in September 2025 covering body cameras, drones and artificial intelligence tools. Overland Park also has established a Real Time Information Center as it expands those capabilities.

KCTV5 · Johnson County Post · FOX4

Five Kansas Health Systems Form Astra Health, Preserve Independence

SALINA, Kan. — Five independent Kansas health systems announced Sept. 8 that they have formed Astra Health, a shared services organization intended to pool purchasing, data and clinical expertise while each retains its name, board and ownership. Founding members Amberwell Health, LMH Health in Lawrence, Newman Regional Health in Emporia, Salina Regional Health Center and The University of Kansas Health System say they collectively treat more than 500,000 patients annually and reach nearly every Kansas county. The systems said they will initially exchange information and resources to develop shared quality measures and care tools intended to lower costs for patients and employers. Astra Health also received a Regional Partnership award under the Kansas Rural Health Transformation Plan. Details of governance, financial terms, regulatory approvals and changes to services had not been announced as of Sept. 9. The partnership seeks the capabilities of a larger system while preserving local control amid financial pressure on rural hospitals; KWCH reported in June that Kansas led the nation with 28 rural hospitals at immediate risk of closing.

WIBW · KSNT · Lawrence Journal-World · KSAL · Salina Post · Fierce Healthcare · KWCH

KHP Reports No Fatal Crashes Over Labor Day Weekend

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Highway Patrol reported Sept. 8 that troopers investigated no fatal crashes during its Labor Day holiday reporting period, which ran from 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, through 11:59 p.m. Monday, Sept. 7. Troopers made 23 arrests on suspicion of driving under the influence, one more than during the previous year’s holiday period, and issued hundreds of citations and warnings. Nearly every reported citation and warning category increased from a year earlier, including speeding and seat belt enforcement, with teen seat belt warnings the exception. The agency had announced increased patrols ahead of the holiday. KHP investigated two fatal crashes during this year’s Memorial Day holiday period.

WIBW · KSNT · Ad Astra Radio · KHP

Sources

1. Hutchinson Tribune / Hutchinson Tribune / Ad Astra Radio / KSN / Citizen Journal
2. Kansas Reflector / KSN / KWCH / KWCH / Governor’s Office
3. KCTV5 / Johnson County Post / FOX4
4. WIBW / KSNT / Lawrence Journal-World / KSAL / Salina Post / Fierce Healthcare / KWCH
5. WIBW / KSNT / Ad Astra Radio / KHP

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