KS - May 9 2025
Farm Bill Delays; Liquid Meth Smuggled, Six Arrested; ICT School District Cuts Staff; Leavenworth Inmates Injured, Escape Failed; IAG Orders Boeing Jets
Davids Engages Local Farmers on Farm Bill; "Realistic Optimism" Amid Congressional Delays
Liquid Meth Smuggled to Emporia in Charter Bus Gas Tank; Six Arrested
District Cuts Staff by 10% in Administrative Centers as Part of Budget Slashing Plan
Two Inmates Injured in Failed Escape Attempt at Fort Leavenworth
British Airways Owner IAG Orders 53 Jets From Boeing and Airbus
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1. Davids Engages Local Farmers on Farm Bill; "Realistic Optimism" Amid Congressional Delays
During a visit to a fourth-generation corn operation, Democratic Representative Davids engaged with farmers Adam and Raylen Phelon about agricultural priorities, noting that farm bill progress hinges on congressional reconciliation efforts. Despite bipartisan agreement on crop insurance and other provisions, Davids expressed "realistic optimism" while acknowledging that broader legislative matters are delaying the farm bill's advancement. Adam Phelon, a Kansas Soybean Association board member, emphasized farmers' concerns extend beyond tariffs to trade, EPA regulations, energy costs, and infrastructure, but stressed that updating reference prices and maintaining a strong safety net through crop insurance—key components of the farm bill—remains paramount for agricultural stability against weather uncertainties.
Kansas Reflector
2. Liquid Meth Smuggled to Emporia in Charter Bus Gas Tank; Six Arrested
Four American citizens and two Mexican immigrants illegally in the United States smuggled liquid meth to Kansas using a charter bus, federal prosecutors allege. The six people were part of "an alleged multi-national drug smuggling operation that used a commercial charter bus to transport liquid methamphetamine from Mexico to Emporia," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Kansas said in a May 9 press release. Prosecutors said U.S. Customs and Border Protection "noted a charter bus making multiple crossings into the United States from Mexico carrying few or no passengers" in March and April. "License plate reader information showed the bus travelling to Emporia on all trips before returning to Mexico," the attorney's office said. "During one crossing, CBP officers conducted a secondary inspection and found several aftermarket anomalies, including bolts around the fuel tank that had been tampered with. Investigators learned the bus’s destination to be a rural property in the Emporia area." Then on May 4, the bus arrived again at the U.S. border, where a police dog alerted. CBP then found liquid methamphetamine in the gas tank. Law enforcement allowed the driver to proceed and followed it to the property around Emporia, where local police helped arrest the six people.
CJOnline
3. District Cuts Staff by 10% in Administrative Centers as Part of Budget Slashing Plan
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Wichita Public Schools recently laid off 16 employees, including those in administrative positions, as part of a multi-phase plan to address a budget shortfall. According to the district, layoffs started last week. This plan outlines four phases aimed at cutting $42 million in expenses. The district projects that phase four, which includes these layoffs, will save approximately $4.6 million. This phase focused on reducing the staff in administrative centers by 10% and consolidating departments.
KWCH
4. Two Inmates Injured in Failed Escape Attempt at Fort Leavenworth
A photo circulating on social media shows an inmate left dangling, tangled in razor wire atop a fence as he recently tried to escape from U.S. Disciplinary Barracks on Fort Leavenworth as two correctional specialists try to assist while apprehending him. An Army spokesman on Thursday confirmed that two inmates tried to escape late last month. “Correctional specialists at the Fort Leavenworth Army Corrections Brigade prevented an escape attempt on April 29, 2025,” said Lt. Col. Bryen Freigo, a U.S. Army Combined Arms Center spokesman at Fort Leavenworth. “Two inmates sustained injuries during the incident, were treated, and returned to custody.”
Kansas City Star
5. British Airways Owner IAG Orders 53 Jets From Boeing and Airbus
International Airlines Group, the owner of British Airways, has ordered 53 wide-bodied planes from America’s Boeing and Europe’s Airbus, but said this week’s US-UK trade deal had not influenced its decision to buy US jets. IAG, the owner of five airlines, on Friday announced the order for 32 Boeing 787-10 aircraft for British Airways and 21 Airbus A330-900neo aircraft to be flown by Aer Lingus, Iberia or Level.
Financial Times
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Sources
- https://kansasreflector.com/2025/05/09/kansas-farmers-await-farm-bill-passage-end-of-tariff-uncertainty/
- https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/crime/2025/05/09/smugglers-hid-drugs-from-mexico-in-gas-tank-driven-to-kansas-meth-lab/83535348007/
- https://www.kwch.com/2025/05/08/wichita-public-schools-lays-off-employees-part-plan-cut-budget-shortfall/?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=organicclicks&tbref=hp
- https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article306001511.html
- https://www.ft.com/content/a1bd541b-e358-40c4-9bcc-43f58da82144