Top 5 Kansas news stories
December 30 2025
Kansas Secures $221 Million Federal Grant to Transform Rural Healthcare
Chiefs Stadium Funding Plan Shifts Costs to Kansas Consumers Through Sales Tax Increases
Record U.S. Corn Exports Drive Sharp Cut in Ending Stocks
Flint Hills Rancher Restores Imperiled Tallgrass Prairie Through Regenerative Grazing
Lawrence Woman Becomes Kansas' First Roman Catholic Woman Priest
1. Kansas Secures $221 Million Federal Grant to Transform Rural Healthcare
TOPEKA, Kan. — Governor Laura Kelly announced Tuesday that Kansas has received $221 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to fund the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program, a federal award that exceeds the base amount typically allocated to states. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment will lead the grant implementation in coordination with the Kansas Rural Health Innovation Alliance, focusing on five key initiatives: expanding prevention programs, securing local primary care access, building a sustainable rural health workforce, enabling value-based care, and harnessing data and technology.
Greg Loving
2. Chiefs Stadium Funding Plan Shifts Costs to Kansas Consumers Through Sales Tax Increases
WYANDOTTE COUNTY, Kan. — As the Kansas City Chiefs pursue plans to relocate across state lines, economists warn that Kansas consumers will bear costs under the proposed STAR bond financing structure. Under a preliminary plan released by Kansas Commerce, Wyandotte County and the City of Olathe would designate a portion of their local sales tax revenue to fund 60 percent of the stadium project, forcing businesses to raise prices to offset the tax burden. Tim Hamilton, an associate professor of economics at Johnson County Community College, said the STAR bond district boundaries remain subject to intense negotiation, with some communities—including the wealthy Johnson County city of Mission—excluded from the preliminary map. Officials have promised the project would create 20,000 construction jobs and 4,000 permanent positions, though Hamilton cautioned that job quality varies significantly. The Secretary of Commerce will make the final decision on district boundaries.
KWCH
3. Record U.S. Corn Exports Drive Sharp Cut in Ending Stocks
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture surprised grain markets in its December World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report by raising corn export projections 125 million bushels to 3.2 billion bushels, reflecting record-pace shipments that have expanded American market reach to 16 new destinations including Vietnam and Spain. The export surge—a 22 percent increase over 2023-24—cut projected corn ending stocks by the same 125 million bushels to 2 billion bushels, while the season-average price received by producers held steady at $4 per bushel.
HPJ
4. Flint Hills Rancher Restores Imperiled Tallgrass Prairie Through Regenerative Grazing
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, Kan. — Bill Sproul, a Flint Hills rancher near Sedan, has spent years transforming his 2,200-acre operation into a model of ecological stewardship by adopting regenerative grazing practices that preserve native grasslands and restore biodiversity to the imperiled tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Sproul, the first recipient of the Sand County Foundation's Kansas Leopold Conservation Award in 2015, has removed thousands of invasive woody trees and incorporated holistic practices such as patch-burn grazing, which selectively burns pasture each year and rotates cattle at rates allowing native plants to flourish. The results have validated his approach: after eight years of regenerative management, rattlesnake master—a native flowering plant that indicates healthy, high-quality prairie but disappears when overgrazed—reappeared in his pastures. Sproul's philosophy draws from conservationist Aldo Leopold, viewing the land as an interconnected system where all species, from cattle to coyotes, play essential roles.
Kansas Reflector
5. Lawrence Woman Becomes Kansas' First Roman Catholic Woman Priest
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Tina Thompson was ordained in November as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest, joining an international movement that claims apostolic succession but operates outside official Vatican recognition, making her the first woman to hold such a role in Kansas. The ordination follows a recent Vatican commission ruling, created by the late Pope Francis, that affirmed women cannot be ordained as deacons—a rank below priests—though the Roman Catholic Women Priests organization maintains its ordinations are valid and continues to welcome those who feel called to ministry.
Kansas Reflector
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