Kansas Reflector

08/22/2025

Leon Patton, a retired assistant U.S. attorney who once prosecuted immigrants for violent crimes, is tired of feeling shamed for supporting immigration enforcement efforts and referring to people as “aliens.”

Leon Patton, a retired assistant U.S. attorney who once prosecuted immigrants for violent crimes, is tired of feeling shamed for supporting immigration enforcement efforts and referring to people as "aliens."

08/21/2025

An appeals court late Wednesday said it will allow the Trump administration, for now, to move forward with ending temporary protections for 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua.

08/21/2025

Officials have already cleared dozens of homeless encampments in the District of Columbia in recent days as President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of the nation’s capital for a “crime emergency” at the same time takes aim at people without housing.

08/21/2025

Activists and community members are attempting to shield a historic Kansas City, Kansas, neighborhood from further industrialization as a recycling company, touting a new age of environmentalism, tries to wedge its way into a local warehouse.

08/21/2025

Opinion editor Clay Wirestone writes: When I talk to friends or family or acquaintances during this cursed summer of 2025, the conversation inevitably turns to the political landscape. And our exchange goes as follows.

Me: So, things seem bad, right?

Friend/family/acquaintance: Yep, they’re pretty bad. Let me give you a specific example that will make you want to flee across the border to Canada!

Me: I’d hoped to hear better news, actually!

Friend/family/acquaintance: No, I’ve received a memo at work that says everything will be worse next week.

Writing in Kansas during this challenging historical moment has revealed pitfalls and promise, according to opinion editor Clay Wirestone

08/21/2025

As the Trump administration moves to expand immigrant detention centers across the country through state partnerships, more than 60 Democratic lawmakers Wednesday pressed top immigration officials for details regarding a quickly constructed facility in the Florida Everglades, dubbed by Republicans as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

As the Trump administration moves to expand immigrant detention centers across the country through state partnerships, more than 60 Democratic lawmakers Wednesday pressed top immigration officials for details regarding a quickly constructed facility in the Florida Everglades, dubbed by Republicans a...

08/21/2025

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will no longer administer a grant program that has so far provided millions of dollars to local television and radio stations to upgrade the equipment they use to send out emergency alerts.

08/20/2025

A 74-year-old certified public accountant’s misunderstanding and subsequent call to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation sparked a police inquiry into a Lenexa City Council member’s citizenship, public records show, igniting public scrutiny and leading to records requests from local residents.

A 74-year-old certified public accountant's erroneous call to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation sparked a police inquiry into a Lenexa City Council member's citizenship, igniting public scrutiny and leading to records requests from local residents.

08/20/2025

CoreCivic and the city of Leavenworth will continue their fight over development regulations in front of a Kansas appellate court after a Leavenworth district judge decided to wait for a decision in that case.

CoreCivic and the city of Leavenworth will continue their fight over development regulations in front of a Kansas appellate court.

08/20/2025

Christine English-Baird spends at least one day a week distributing basic supplies to homeless people in Wichita, home to one of Kansas’ largest homeless populations.

“I do that because I can’t even fathom anybody else going through what I did,” English-Baird said. “Feeling invisible. Feeling alone.”

Service providers say President Donald Trump’s executive order could jeopardize their efforts to help those who are experiencing homelessness.

08/20/2025

Opinion from H. Edward Flentje: Most Republican candidates are fawning at the feet of President Donald Trump. The groveling of these sycophants may be misplaced as Kansas voters recall the toxic remains of Gov. Sam Brownback’s infamous tax experiment, initiated in 2012 and abandoned in 2017 after five years of unfair taxes, deficit spending, and record debt.

The groveling of these sycophants may be misplaced as Kansas voters recall the toxic remains of Gov. Sam Brownback’s infamous tax experiment

08/20/2025

While some states and the federal government take their time in considering how artificial intelligence can and should be used, municipalities across the U.S. have been forging their own way in making AI policies for their government employees.

Municipalities across the U.S. have been forging their own way in making AI policies for their government employees.