August 09 2024

1 Marion County Record Editor Defiant After Police Raid
2 Record 171,000 Kansans Enroll in ACA Marketplace
3 Kansas AG Kris Kobach Sues to Block ACA Access for DACA Recipients
4 Farm Bill Stalled
5 Ark City Implements Voluntary Water Conservation Amid Drought
Sports

1 Marion County Record Editor Defiant After Police Raid

Eric Meyer, editor of Marion County Record, speaks out against the police raid on his newspaper, emphasizing the importance of accountability and the ongoing fight for journalistic freedom.

Marion County Record editor and publisher Eric Meyer began speaking out about the police raid of his home and office before the officers could even retreat to their celebratory pizza party. He said it never entered his mind to keep quiet. “Crap like this happens more often than we hear about,” Meyer said. “I don’t know of anybody else that’s been raided quite the way we were. But there are other similar things that have gone on, other acts of intimidation of one sort or another, that have gone on around the country. And you don’t hear about them because nobody said anything.” Meyer can afford to take risks. Unlike virtually all other news media, he doesn’t have to worry about his finances — this is a retirement project for him. Other outlets face a different reality. But he sees it as more than work. And there’s a reason he continues to go through the grueling exercise of producing a newspaper. “It’s still a calling,” he said. The attack on constitutional freedoms in Marion placed a spotlight on the inherent tension between journalists and the powerful people they hold accountable. And while the sight of American police seizing computers from a newsroom sent shockwaves around the world, and threats to reporting efforts by local officials continue, the Marion County Record and others like it remain resolute in their mission.

Article Source: KS Reflector

2 Record 171,000 Kansans Enroll in ACA Marketplace

Kansas sees a 38% increase in Affordable Care Act enrollment, with 171,000 residents signing up for subsidized health insurance, a rise attributed to enhanced financial assistance and changing workplace benefits.

A record 171,000 Kansans enrolled this year in the subsidized health insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act, an increase more than 60,000 over the past two years. The nonprofit, nonpartisan Kansas Health Institute reported Thursday that enrollment in Kansas for the 2024 plan year climbed 37.7% from the 124,000 total in 2023 and the 107,000 total in 2022. Nationally, enrollment in the ACA reached 21.5 million in 2024, a 31.1% rise from the previous year. Twenty-two of Kansas’ 105 counties had more than 7.1% of the population enrolled in health insurance through the federally assisted marketplace, 

Enhanced financial assistance through the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act was extended through the 2025 plan year, but those tax credits weren’t made permanent. Without renewal of those special subsidies, enrollment in the Kansas marketplace in 2026 could return to 2021 levels and the number of Kansans without health insurance would rise.

Ed note: important context to this story is that many new “gig-“ jobs like driving for Uber don’t include health insurance, forcing people onto ACA plans

Article Source: KS Reflector

3 Kansas AG Kris Kobach Sues to Block ACA Access for DACA Recipients

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, along with 14 other states, files a lawsuit challenging President Biden's plan to extend ACA health insurance to DACA recipients, seeking to halt the rule's implementation.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of 15 states in an attempt to stop President Joe Biden from expanding health care access to DACA recipients by making them eligible for participation in the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplace.

Kobach challenged the federal rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that would make people who arrived in the United States as children, sometimes known as Dreamers, eligible for taxpayer-subsidized health plans under the ACA. The Biden administration’s initiative would enable DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, to be part of the health insurance marketplace on Nov. 1. The lawsuit urged the federal court to postpone the effective date of the HHS rule pending completion of the case. It also sought to vacate the rule as “both contrary to law and unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious.”

Article Source: KS Reflector

4 Farm Bill Stalled

Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman Debbie Stabenow cites stalemate on climate funding, crop subsidies and SNAP cuts as reasons for the impasse in farm bill negotiations.

Republicans are unwilling to compromise on SNAP and climate funding in the new farm bill, and as a result, “we’re stuck,” said Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman Debbie Stabenow. “The only way you get that done is if it’s bipartisan.” Progress on the farm bill has been stalled for months. House and Senate Republicans want large increases in crop subsidy spending, cuts in SNAP funding, and to be able to use climate funding for soil and water projects that do not capture carbon or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Stabenow has suggested smaller increases in crop supports while opposing SNAP cuts and loosening the guardrails on climate mitigation funding.

Article Source: Progressive Farmer

5 Ark City Implements Voluntary Water Conservation Amid Drought

Arkansas City wants people to limit their water usage. The city moved into Stage 1 of its drought plan effective immediately after Tuesday’s city commissioner’s meeting. Stage 1 does not make water conservation mandatory. Instead, it’s a voluntary measure. Rod Philo, the environmental services superintendent for Arkansas City, said people need to conserve water because there has been a lack of rain and a couple of water main breaks.

Article Source: KWCH

Sports

Weekend


Royals begin series v Cardinals
Chiefs v Jaguars PRESEASON

Sources

1. https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/09/after-kansas-newspaper-raid-journalists-remain-defiant-in-battle-for-accountability/

2. https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/08/record-171000-kansans-enroll-in-the-federally-subsidized-aca-health-insurance-marketplace/

3. https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/08/kansas-14-other-state-attorneys-general-file-suit-challenging-health-insurance-for-daca-recipients/

4. https://www.agriculture.com/we-re-stuck-on-the-farm-bill-says-stabenow-8692389?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202024-08-08%20Agriculture%20Dive%20%5Bissue:64721%5D&utm_term=Agriculture%20Dive

5. https://www.kwch.com/2024/08/08/arkansas-city-wants-people-limit-water-usage/?tbref=hp