Kansas judges in rural counties struggle to find qualified attorneys to represent defendants in cases where the right to a lawyer is guaranteed. “We are approaching a constitutional crisis,” said Kansas Supreme Court Justice Keynen “K.J.” Wall. Forty-seven rural counties are legal deserts, or areas without adequate access to legal help. One-third of rural attorneys […]
Blaise Mesa
Blaise Mesa is The Beacon’s former Kansas Statehouse reporter. He covered the Kansas Statehouse for The Beacon from 2023 to 2026 after reporting on social services for the Kansas News Service and crime and local government for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He has a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism with a concentration in radio from Columbia College Chicago.
Posted inState Government
Millions in Kansas juvenile justice dollars sit unused
Steve Stonehouse has seen it before. Children come to the Sedgwick County Department of Corrections youth intake facility, where he’s the director. They’re already kicked out of school and have nothing to do all day. So, the county corrections department started offering classes. The kids get at least four months of schooling, and they might […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas hired a felon to manage $100 million. An audit says that fits with a sloppy hiring system
The Kansas Department of Commerce doesn’t run criminal background checks on nearly any of its prospective employees. That’s one explanation of how the agency hired a felon with a history of financial crimes to handle over $100 million in American Rescue Plan Act money. Former Commerce employee Jonathan Clayton is suspected of embezzling public funds. […]
Posted inKansas
Is this bill the key to reducing gun suicides in Kansas and Missouri?
Donna Nathan loved two-stepping and The Beatles. The radio was always on at her house. That love of music easily translated to dancing in parades. Nathan and her daughter, Katrina Brees, even worked together at a studio making sculptures for Mardi Gras parades. “She was the type of person that would find some sick animal […]
Posted inState Government
Child hunger rose 6%, and it isn’t clear what Kansas lawmakers will do
From 2021 to 2022, the number of Kansas children who didn’t know where their next meal would come from grew by 37,000. The rise in food insecurity shows up at food banks across the state. Aundrea Walker, the executive director of Just Food, said 30% of the people it serves are under 18 years old. […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas lawmaker Chris Croft ‘so stinking excited about the possibility’ of dissolving school boards
The Kansas House majority leader wants to dissolve school boards. He’s been studying state law to find a way to do that. “We can dissolve the school board. You can do it by petition,” Rep. Chris Croft said in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “I am so stinking excited about the […]
Posted inKansas
Kansas Republicans gain even more control over abortion, taxes and transgender rights
Kansas Republicans have an even tighter grip on state politics after dominating in local legislative elections. Republicans expanded their supermajority in the state Legislature in Tuesday’s elections. Democrats failed to unseat Republicans in the Kansas City suburbs and lost key races in Hutchinson, Leavenworth and Manhattan. Democrats had seen this cycle as their best chance […]
Posted inEducation
Kansas Board of Education election results: Conservatives gain ground
The Kansas Board of Education will retain its Republican majority and shift more to the right. Republicans appeared headed to win two of five races on Tuesday, giving conservatives a 7-3 majority over Democrats on the board. Sally Cauble, a former board member, said the new crop of Republican winners that joined the current board […]
Posted inElections
Derek Schmidt headed to Congress, Sharice Davids reelected to U.S. House
Republican Derek Schmidt is back in public office after beating Democrat Nancy Boyda in the Kansas 2nd Congressional District race. His win means three Republicans will represent Kansas in the U.S. House — with U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids the only Democrat in the Kansas delegation. Derek Schmidt beats Nancy Boyda in 2nd District Schmidt, the […]
Posted inElections
How to find out what’s really happening with 2024 election results (spoiler alert: not social media)
The 2024 election already has viral misinformation. There was a video of someone tearing up votes for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. It was a fake. Another conspiracy said Georgia voting machines were flipping votes. Also bogus. Finding reliable information on elections isn’t always easy, and social media is often full of lies and misinformation. Here’s […]