KS - January 10 2025

1. Up to 10.5 Inches of Snow Blankets Southern Kansas in Second Major Storm This Week
2. Kansas GOP Leaders Push Property Tax Relief, Setting Up Clash with Governor
3. PowerSchool Data Breach Affects Kansas Students
4. Kansas Expands Rural Vet Program Amid Shortage
5. Death Penalty Challenged In 2019 Quadruple Murder Trial

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1. Up to 10.5 Inches of Snow Blankets Southern Kansas in Second Major Storm This Week

As much as 10.5 inches of snow fell late Thursday and early Friday in Kansas, the National Weather Service said. That amount was recorded at Hardtner, one mile north of the Oklahoma border in Barber County in south-central Kansas, the weather service said. Hardtner had a 2020 population of 167, according to U.S. Census figures. Topeka recorded 2.7 inches of snowfall, said Adam Jones, meteorologist for the weather service office in the capital city. Classes were canceled for Friday in all school districts in Shawnee County. The snow came on the heels of a storm Sunday that brought as many as 18 inches of snowfall to the Sunflower State, with the 14 inches that fell at Topeka making Sunday the city's third-snowiest day on record While Sunday's snowfall took place primarily in northern Kansas, much of the snow late Thursday and early Friday fell further south.

8 inches at Medicine Lodge in Barber County.

7 inches five miles north of Hardtner.

6.5 inches five miles west of Aetna in Barber County.

6.3 inches at Maize in Sedgwick County in south-central Kansas.

6 inches at Kiowa in Barber County.

6 inches three miles south of downtown Wichita in Sedgwick County.

5.4 inches one mile west/southwest of Whitewater in Butler County in south-central Kansas.

5 inches at Arcadia in Crawford County in southeast Kansas.

4.5 inches one mile south of Haven in Reno County in south-central Kansas.

3.5 inches at Erie in Neosho County in southeast Kansas.

3 inches at Mound City in Linn County in east-central Kansas.

3 inches one mile east of Stafford in Stafford County in south-central Kansas.

2.5 inches three miles east/northeast of Topeka.

2.5 inches one and a half miles south of Basehor in Leavenworth County in northeast Kansas.

2.2 inches four miles north/northeast of Berryton in Shawnee County.

2.2 inches three miles west/northwest of Assaria in Saline County in north-central Kansas.

2 inches one mile south of Oskaloosa in Jackson County in northeast Kansas.

2 inches one mile east/southeast of Shawnee in Johnson County in northeast Kansas.

2 inches two miles northwest of Emporia in Lyon County in east-central Kansas.

1.6 inches at Olathe in Johnson County.

1 inch three miles west/northwest of Topeka.

1 inch at Eudora in Douglas County in northeast Kansas.

Article Source: Topeka Capitol-Journal

2. Kansas GOP Leaders Push Property Tax Relief, Setting Up Clash with Governor

Republicans expanded supermajorities in the House and Senate — despite Kelly’s PAC raising $2 million in service of electing Democrats — and GOP leadership is well-positioned to pursue its own priorities while exacting political revenge. Emboldened Republicans have vowed to slash property taxes, setting up a clash with the governor over whether Kansas can afford another round of cuts. “Kansans made it crystal clear in the election they want property tax relief as soon as possible, and we certainly have the revenue we need to eliminate the state’s mill levy,” said Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican. Most property taxes collected go to city and county governments and school districts, but Kansas does have a statewide levy of 20 mills dedicated to public education that generates roughly $800 million annually. “However, our primary objective is to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot so Kansans can vote to cap the unreasonable (property valuation) increases and provide certainty for Kansas homeowners and businesses in the future,” Masterson said. “There is zero reason to delay doing so.” Kelly says it’s still too early to know how last year’s special session tax cut package, which modestly lowered income taxes, will affect state coffers. She believes promising new tax relief measures in 2025 is irresponsible.

Article Source: Wichita Eagle

3. PowerSchool Data Breach Affects Kansas Students

A data breach at PowerSchool, a student information system provider, could affect millions of K-12 students and teachers nationwide, including those in Kansas. Andover Public Schools notified parents on Wednesday about the breach, stating that it happened between Dec. 19-23. PowerSchool became aware of the issue on Dec. 28 and informed the district on Tuesday. “We know the compromised data did not include any financial information, social security numbers or photographs,” the district said. “We will be working closely with our customer service manager at PowerSchool to understand exactly what personal data was obtained.”

Article Source: KWCH

4. Kansas Expands Rural Vet Program Amid Shortage

Rural America often doesn’t have enough medical professionals, and that includes veterinarians.   Dr. Brad White and Kelsey Olson, Kansas Department of Agriculture deputy secretary of agriculture, detailed what the state is doing about that at the Kansas Livestock Association convention during the animal health committee meeting in November 2024.  Kansas put together a Rural Veterinarian Task Force in 2020, and one of the drivers for this committee was questions related to providing service for rural areas.  they surveyed livestock producers, with the help of the cow population overlaid across a map of Kansas.   “We found out that about two-thirds of them felt like there was a shortage of veterinarians,” he said. “So, we took some of that information and said, ‘We need to be sure that we’re adequately producing and managing veterinarians so that they can come into practice and provide the services that are needed.’”  Prior to the creation of the task force, the Kansas legislature had authorized some funding to support veterinary students at K-State’s vet school and offset some of their costs Only about five students were being supported through the program at the vet school, but in 2022 the legislature expanded the program, Olson said.  Seven students are now taking advantage of it.  White said with the changes to the program, students get a loan of $25,000 per year as they go through veterinary school. Students get credit toward repaying the loan for every year they work as a veterinarian in Kansas after graduating. The program is modeled after medical school loan incentivization programs.

Article Source: HPJ

5. Death Penalty Challenged In 2019 Quadruple Murder Trial

A long-shot constitutional challenge to Kansas’ death penalty unfolding in preliminary court proceedings for a man charged in the death of four people at a Wyandotte County bar centers on claims the state’s process of jury selection is racially biased in favor of executions. In an unusual court proceeding that began in October, a coalition of attorneys that included counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union asserted the law should be struck down because the practice of jury selection in capital cases dictated prospective jurors had to be willing to impose the death penalty to serve. They argued the system for excluding certain potential jurors disproportionately discriminated against Black people, women and people of faith more likely to oppose capital punishment. Their objective of pre-trial wrangling is to use the 2019 murder case against Hugo Villanueva, who was charged in the shooting outside Tequila KC Bar in Kansas City, Kansas, to convince Wyandotte County District Court Judge Bill Klapper to declare application of the state’s death penalty unconstitutional.

Article Source: KS Reflector

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Sources

1. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/state/2025/01/10/kansas-saw-up-to-10-5-inches-of-snow-overnight-here-are-top-totals/77591603007/

2. https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article298306323.html

3. https://www.kwch.com/2025/01/08/kansas-schools-among-those-impacted-powerschool-data-breach/?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=organicclicks&tbref=hp

4. https://hpj.com/2025/01/10/task-force-works-to-help-alleviate-vet-shortage-in-rural-kansas/

5. https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/09/kansas-death-penalty-under-scruitiny-in-pre-trial-hearings-in-2019-homicide-case/