KS - November 18 2024

1. Kansas City Public Schools See Enrollment Rebound, Adding 570 Students in 2024
2. Hydrogen Wildcatters Are Betting Big on Kansas
3. Robot Food Delivery Rolls Out at Washburn University
4. Fort Hays Partners with Tech Colleges to Boost Rural Workforce
5. Senate Farm Bill Divides Over Food Stamps, Farm Safety Net
6. Sports

1. Kansas City Public Schools See Enrollment Rebound, Adding 570 Students in 2024

After decades of plunging enrollment, Kansas City Public Schools is setting a new trend. The number of students is ticking upward. For the third year in a row, the district’s enrollment count in late September ran higher than the previous year. Preliminary figures show KCPS added 570 K-12 students since the official count day last year, about a 4% increase. That leaves it with more than 14,000 students for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic helped bring enrollment to a low point. Including pre-kindergarten students, it has more than 15,000.  

Article Source: KC Star

2. Hydrogen Wildcatters Are Betting Big on Kansas

A new Gold Rush is taking shape on a quiet stretch of Kansas prairie. There, a clutch of startups backed by the likes of Bill Gates are searching below the surface for naturally occurring hydrogen, a fuel that can generate power without adding to climate change. Kansas sits atop a geological quirk: The Midcontinent Rift is a subterranean scar a billion years old created when North America started to split down the middle and then stopped. Iron-rich rocks within the rift can produce hydrogen when exposed to water, pressure and heat. And records left over from several old oil exploration wells in the area decades ago show the gas is — or at least was — present.  

Article Source: Bloomberg

3. Robot Food Delivery Rolls Out at Washburn University

Robots are roaming Washburn University's campus, but they're not studying. They're delivering meals to students. Washburn students, faculty and staff can use the Starship Deliveries app to choose from a range of their favorite food or drink items and drop a pin where they want their delivery to be sent. Food can be delivered from the Union Cafe, the Market at Union, the Market at Lincoln and a ghost kitchen that offers evening delivery services. The ghost kitchen was added to provide burgers, fries and more that students can get only through the robots. Once dining staff receives and prepares an order, they scan a QR code on the bots and package the order to send it for delivery. Those who order can then watch as the robot makes its journey to them, via an interactive map. Once the robot arrives, they receive an alert, which tells them to meet and unlock the order through the app. The delivery usually takes just a matter of minutes, depending on the menu items ordered and the distance the robot must travel, the Starship Technologies website said. While the battery-powered robots travel 4 mph, they map their environment to the nearest inch with a computer vision-based navigation. The robots can cross streets, climb curbs, travel at night and operate in rain and snow.

Article Source: Topeka Capitol-Journal

4. Fort Hays Partners with Tech Colleges to Boost Rural Workforce

Three higher education institutions in central and western Kansas joined forces to address the region’s workforce shortages and education gaps. Fort Hays State University, Northwest Kansas Technical College and North Central Kansas Technical College created a new affiliation as a way to propel students into the region’s workforce and empower their communities to persist through hard times. The affiliation is different from a merger or a takeover, said Tisa Mason, president of Fort Hays State, on the Kansas Reflector podcast. The two tech colleges are now under the Fort Hays brand, complete with new logos and fresh merchandise, while remaining independently accredited institutions. They were renamed Fort Hays Tech Northwest and Fort Hays Tech North Central.

Article Source: KS Reflector

5. Senate Farm Bill Divides Over Food Stamps, Farm Safety Net

The Senate Agriculture Committee on Monday released its long-awaited farm bill draft text with a little more than a month before funding for many farm programs dries up on Dec. 31. The release of the Senate bill could ramp up action during the lame-duck session, but it remains to be seen if lawmakers can complete work on a new farm bill or opt for another extension of the existing one. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer last week urged Congress to make progress on the legislation.  But the Senate bill still differs from the House bill in ways that may be difficult to overcome in the few legislative weeks available before the 118th Congress ends. The current law expired Sept. 30, but funds many programs through the calendar year. The bills differ over the size of increases to the so-called farm safety net. Stabenow still says she opposes House Republican efforts to link food stamp benefits to inflation. Her bill also would restrict the Agriculture secretary’s use of Section 5 authority over the Commodity Credit Corporation, but for half the time House Republicans favor.  And both bills still need to be paid for. They would raise spending above the baseline and would need to find offsetting revenue or cost cuts —  or get the budget committees to override the Congressional Budget Office score.

Article Source: Roll Call

6. Sports

KU-BYU 17-13 

KSU-ASU 14-24 

Chiefs-Bills 21-30  

KU remains #1 in AP basketball poll  

KSU falls out of top 25 in AP football poll after loss  

Kansas upsets No. 6 BYU 17-13  

By Clark Goble  

Kansas football knocked off its second ranked opponent in a row, beating BYU 17-13 on Saturday night in Provo, Utah. A fourth quarter special teams mishap by BYU led to the go-ahead touchdown for the Jayhawks. BYU moved the ball into the red zone with under two minutes left in the game, but the Jayhawks defense held strong and kept the Cougars out of the end zone. The Jayhawks get another shot at a ranked opponent on Saturday when they take on Colorado at Arrowhead Stadium. The Jayhawks need to win their final two games to be bowl eligible.

Sources

1. https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/education/article295737519.html

2. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-11-16/in-kansas-hydrogen-wildcatters-are-make-big-bets-on-striking-it-rich

3. https://www.cjonline.com/story/business/2024/11/18/how-starships-robot-food-delivery-system-works-at-washburn-in-topeka/76261975007/

4. https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/18/kansas-tech-colleges-team-with-university-to-tackle-rural-economic-woes/

5. https://rollcall.com/2024/11/18/senate-farm-bill-differs-from-house-on-ccc-food-stamp-benefits/