The Kansas Department of Transportation’s Charge Up Kansas NEVI Plan has been approved and is set to receive $39.5 million total over the next five years under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program. The plan provides KDOT federal funds to help build a high-powered EV charging network across the state.
TOPEKA, Kansas — A young state agency created to make sure the state looks after the children put in its care has 69 open investigations manned by a staff of five people. In one of the just seven cases that the Division of the Child Advocate has closed, it concluded that state officials met with a child too little and tried to move them to a new home weeks after major brain surgery.
Emotions are raw; temperatures are heated, and embattled parties are exchanging strong statements. The uproar’s cause: illegal immigrants being sent to sanctuary cities. New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. mayors Eric Adams, Lori Lightfoot and Muriel Bowser allege that Texas, Florida and Arizona governors – Greg Abbott, Ron DeSantis and Doug Ducey, respectively – are playing politics with migrants’ lives, and that racism motivates their actions.
Recently, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly affirmed a deep-rooted conviction about Kansas agriculture: “In Kansas, farming is a way of life and local Kansas farms are vital to our economy – they feed the nation and the world.”
Sure, the United States is a big country, but most Americans live in a much smaller world, and many live in tiny burrows of their own making. Education and common citizenship are supposed to draw us all together, but that isn’t happening anymore.
The Women’s Ministry Team from First Southern Baptist Church in Pratt is hosting a Priscilla Shirer simulcast, “Going Beyond the Simulcast” on October 1 at the church, 193 NE Hwy 61. Farrah Schmidt from FSBC said the day-long women’s conference will go from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., but doors will open at 8 a.m.
Since the 1990s, prescription pills have been overprescribed leading users to become addicted to opiates. People would go to pill mills to obtain large quantities of prescription opiates. After the government started cracking down on these pill mills, addicts turned to the streets to self-medicate. The danger now is Fentanyl is being pressed to look like a real prescription pill.
“I don’t want government to put food on your table. I want you to put food on your table - with meaningful work and real wages.” This was the central message that Reverend Mark Holland delivered to a group of 35 at the Democratic Candidate’s Meet-and-Greet held Saturday, September 10 in Kingman.
It was a stained-glass window in the Pratt Presbyterian Church that brought Doug McMinimy, dance photographer from San Diego, CA, to Pratt last week. McMinimy’s interest in church windows began after the memorial service for a cousin in Wichita this past Spring. He returned to the family farm in Sitka which he had visited since his childhood. His sister wanted to attend the Ashland Presbyterian Church to view the stained-glass window of Mary Magdalene facing the tomb with Jesus standing behind her. McMinimy said, “It was like a meditation on death and grief and resurrection and hope. It is a beautiful church with gorgeous woodwork that was built over a hundred years ago.” McMinimy learned from a parishioner that the membership is down to just a handful now and was told it would probably “close up shop” in a few years. Mc-Minimy said,“I was mourning [that] and thinking that I would really like to do my best to photograph it and capture something of the love and faith that has been poured into that building for over a century.” He said that often photographers go into decaying buildings and ghost towns in ruins and, “I wanted to capture it while it was still alive and vibrant and had a heartbeat. I didn’t want it to be postmortem.” He shared that it was the church his grandparents had attended and his parents were married there. He decided then to return to Kansas and do the best he could to record the church. When he made the decision to make the car trip from CA to KS, Mc-Minimy thought, “Well, if I’m coming back for that, I should look around for other churches in the area.” He started a search on websites and came across Pratt Presbyterian Church. He was especially interested in the stained-glass window of the Sower sowing seeds. He said, “It is so meaningful in farm country to have that window. That was really poignant to me. I also saw that the exterior of the church was very beautiful, so it seemed like a good candidate.” He spoke
The USD 382 Board of Education met on Monday, September 12, where they discussed several purchases, bills, and other topics concerning the district. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by President Bill Bergner.