KS - February 19 2025

1. Arctic Air Mass Brings Dangerous Wind Chills to Kansas Through Thursday
2. Kansas House Approves Republican-Led Budget, Cuts $162 Million from Governor’s Plan
3. Senate Democrats Fail to Add Medicaid Expansion to Kansas Oversight Bill
4. Airbus’ New A321XLR Jet Steals Boeing Customers
5. KU routed at BYU, suffers largest margin of defeat in Bill Self era

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1. Arctic Air Mass Brings Dangerous Wind Chills to Kansas Through Thursday

Kansans are bundling up as an Arctic air mass continues to grip the state, bringing dangerously low wind chills through Thursday. The National Weather Service (NWS) offices in Dodge City, Wichita, Topeka, and KC forecast wind chills ranging from 15 to 30 degrees below zero overnight into Thursday morning, with the coldest conditions expected in the predawn hours. Patchy flurries may dust southern Kansas this afternoon, though little accumulation is anticipated. As of publication, Wichita USD 259, the state’s largest school district, has canceled classes for Thursday, joined by several Kansas City-area districts, citing the extreme cold. While the frigid weather persists through Friday morning, relief is on the horizon: a warming trend begins this weekend, with temperatures climbing into the 60s by next week.

2. Kansas House Approves Republican-Led Budget, Cuts $162 Million from Governor’s Plan

The Republican-led Kansas House approved a state budget bill Wednesday that would appropriate about $162 million less than recommended by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. The Legislature deployed a new method of developing the budget. A joint House and Senate committee began examining spending proposals in late 2024 and packaged their recommendations in a bill intorduced in mid-January. An assortment of House budget committees evaluated pieces of that bill before the full appropriations committee submitted a revised version to the full House. On Wednesday, it was approved on final action in the House with a bipartisan majority of 83-36. If the House bill became law, it would be the first time in five years the Republican-controlled Legislature reduced spending from year to year.

Article Source: KS Reflector

3. Senate Democrats Fail to Add Medicaid Expansion to Kansas Oversight Bill

Senate Democrats attempted Tuesday to insert Medicaid expansion into a bill increasing legislative oversight over public assistance programs. Sen. Renee Erickson, a Wichita Republican, brought forth Senate Bill 161, which would require legislative approval for any changes to public assistance programs in Kansas if they seek to expand eligibility, increase costs to the state, request federal waivers or modify intellectual or developmental disability services. A Democrat from Kansas City, Kansas, Sen. Pat Pettey, took the opportunity during floor debate on the bill to introduce an amendment that would adopt the Healthcare Access for Working Kansans, or HAWK, Act. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and a handful of Democrats in the House and Senate announced in early February the HAWK Act’s introduction into both chambers. It was the governor’s seventh time trying for Medicaid expansion. The proposal drew support from Democrats and health advocacy groups, but that support was tinged with criticism for a work requirement baked into the act.  It did not receive a hearing this session, Pettey pointed out Tuesday. Kansas is one of 10 holdout states that have not expanded Medicaid.

Article Source: KS Reflector

4. Airbus’ New A321XLR Jet Steals Boeing Customers

Airbus has a new jet that’s winning over some of Boeing’s best customers. It also raises the specter of more trouble ahead for the U.S. plane maker. The European company started delivering the new aircraft—the A321XLR—late last year against a backdrop of manufacturing upheaval and financial strain at its American rival. So far the XLR has racked up more than 500 orders, many from airlines looking to replace older Boeing planes. The jet’s success is one of the starkest signs yet of the diverging fortunes of the two companies, with Boeing’s troubles leading to gaps in its product lineup that are now being exploited by Airbus. It is also a warning of a bigger threat looming: While Boeing is strapped for cash, Airbus is increasingly investing in an entirely new generation of aircraft that could shape the duopoly for decades to come. American Airlines and United Airlines have both chosen Airbus’s XLR to replace old Boeing 757 fleets. Other airlines including Australia’s Qantas have also purchased the XLR—the first time that carrier has ordered one of Airbus’s smaller, narrow-body jets. Central to the XLR’s appeal is a giant fuel tank behind the wings that means the aircraft can carry up to 220 passengers on trips as long as 11 hours. That is far longer than typical narrow-body jets, allowing airlines to open up new direct routes—including across the Atlantic—without needing to sell as many tickets as they would with a bigger, wide-body plane.

Article Source: WSJ

5. KU routed at BYU, suffers largest margin of defeat in Bill Self era

Kansas’ five-day mid-February road trip to Utah started with a seven-point loss to the Utah Utes on Saturday in Salt Lake City and ended with a 34-point setback — make that a 34-point annihilation — to a second unranked team on Tuesday night in Provo. “I thought this would be a great opportunity to be a team-bonding situation, but it hasn’t been and this hasn’t been a good trip,” coach Bill Self told media members Tuesday after his soon-to-be-unranked No. 23-rated Jayhawks’ shocking 91-57 loss to the BYU Cougars.

Article Source: KC Star

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Sources

2. https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/19/kansas-house-forwards-republican-crafted-state-government-budget-bill-to-senate-colleagues/

3. https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/18/medicaid-expansion-fails-in-kansas-senate-in-takeover-attempt-by-democrats/

4. https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/airbus-new-jet-xlr-boeing-21a82d95

5. https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article300551679.html