KS - February 21 2025

1. Trump Administration Cuts Threaten Farm Funding
2. Kansas Lawmakers Push STAR Bonds for Mall Revival
3. Kansas House Gun Debate Sparks Heated Clash
4. Kansas Man Admits to $1 Billion Medicare Fraud
5. Wichita’s Century Plaza, A Building With Rich History, Lies Empty Today

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1. Trump Administration Cuts Threaten Farm Funding

The future of crop insurance subsidies, research projects and even farmland values could be at risk as agriculture economists and organizations evaluate the fallout from major funding and staff cuts which have been initiated by the Trump administration. The cuts, which have seemingly been authorized by the DOGE committee which is led by Elon Musk, have already led to staff cuts affecting National Resource Conservation Service staffing in a number of counties. In addition, “probationary” staff cuts have impacted USDA crop research programs. Nick Levendofsky, executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, has been in contact with a county FSA director in Kansas who lost two staff members, as did a neighboring county, and they were already sharing staff. He also learned of a FSA employee in Southwest Kansas who had spent most of her career with the farm agency and in the last eight months had been promoted. According to policy, when someone is promoted they are considered “probationary” in that new position.

Article Source: Scott County Record

2. Kansas Lawmakers Push STAR Bonds for Mall Revival

Kansas lawmakers are considering a bill that would extend the state's STAR bond program to finance mall redevelopments. The proposal comes as several malls across the state, including Towne West Square in Wichita and the former White Lakes Mall in Topeka, have struggled in recent years. Proponents of the bill argue that it is necessary to prevent further economic decline and blight, while opponents have raised concerns about the program's track record.               The bill passed the Senate and may be considered by the House.  

Editor note: e-commerce has killed malls. Malls aren’t coming back.

Article Source: Topeka Capitol-Journal

3. Kansas House Gun Debate Sparks Heated Clash

An intense confrontation between a Republican and Democrat on the Kansas House floor Thursday during a gun debate forced the chamber into a two-hour recess as leadership worked to deescalate tensions. Democrats accused Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican, of trying to start a fight with Rep. Ford Carr, a Wichita Democrat, by launching obscenities at Carr. The confrontation took place at Carr’s desk on the House floor. The incident happened during debate over House Bill 2104, which would require school districts to implement an NRA program known as Eddie Eagle in public elementary schools, starting in kindergarten, if the schools want to teach gun safety. It was among dozens of bills the House has debated this week ahead of a deadline to advance legislation.

Article Source: KS Reflector

4. Kansas Man Admits to $1 Billion Medicare Fraud

A Kansas man pleaded guilty in federal court to operating a more than $1 billion healthcare fraud conspiracy. The U.S. Department of Justice said 50-year-old Gregory Schreck, of Johnson County, Kansas, admitted that he and his co-conspirators targeted hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries to provide their information and accept unnecessary medical procedures, equipment and calls from offshore call centers. According to court documents, Schreck and his co-conspirators owned, controlled and operated DMERx, an internet-based platform that created false and doctors’ orders for braces, pain creams and other items for the beneficiaries. Schreck, who was a vice president of the company, admitted to offering to connect pharmacies, suppliers and marketers to help set up illegal kickbacks and bribes to get signed doctors’ orders transmitted on the DMERx platform. The Johnson County man faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.

Article Source: KWCH

5. Wichita’s Century Plaza, A Building With Rich History, Lies Empty Today

Today, the Century Plaza building at Douglas and Main in downtown Wichita is empty, and its doors are locked. Some are even boarded over. But the building — which most recently was home to Knolla’s Pizza before it relocated last year to Old Town Square — has a long and delicious history. The recent discovery of an old breakfast menu at a local antique store inspired a deep dive into the many eateries that operated in the 10-story Century Plaza building, which when it opened in 1929 — just as The Great Depression was taking hold — was the largest office building in Kansas and considered a sign of hope for downtown Wichita’s future. Though it’s empty now, the building has been home to countless office dwellers and several big-name tenants during its nearly 100 years of existence. When it first opened, it housed the Spines Clothing Store, which took up space on the main floor, in the basement and on the mezzanine level of the Central Building and was one of the largest clothing stores in the region. Other tenants in the building included Crown Jewelry and Sibyl Hat Shop in the 1930s and 1940s; Farm Credit Banks in the 1950s through the 1970s; and Dulaney, Johnson & Priest insurance agency from 1930 through 1990. Modern-day diners remember the building for housing two restaurants: Quiznos sandwich shop, which occupied the northeast corner of the building from 1996 through 2019, and Knolla’s Pizza, which operated in the former Quiznos space from 2020 until its owners moved it in August.

Article Source: Wichita Eagle

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Sources

1. https://etypeproductionstorage1.blob.core.windows.net/$web/Production_Prod/Jobs/329/2025-02-20/447323/PreProcessedPDF/sccor_443419_prep_20250220182254372.pdf

2. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/government/2025/02/20/kansas-bill-expands-star-bonds-program-to-shopping-mall-redevelopment/79234334007/

3. https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/20/everyone-needs-to-breathe-intense-confrontation-on-kansas-house-floor-forces-two-hour-recess/+

4. https://www.kwch.com/2025/02/20/kansas-man-pleads-guilty-1b-case-defrauding-medicare/

5. https://www.kansas.com/entertainment/restaurants/dining-with-denise-neil/article300268804.html