Secular News

TOPEKA — Tom Witt said he began fielding calls about 15 minutes after Kansas Reflector published a story on Democratic Sen. Mary Ware’s retirement from the Legislature. Witt, best known as a former executive director of Equality Kansas, walked away from the Statehouse in 2022 after 18 years of fiercely guarding LGBTQ+ rights. He has […]

Kansas' individual income tax revenue is $173 million higher than at this time in 2024, but sagging retail sales and corporate income taxes are a worry.

As of late last year, more than 1,300 children torn from their parents’ arms at the U.S.–Mexico border from 2017 to 2021 had not been reunited with their parents. This figure represents nearly a third of the 4,600 children forcibly separated from their families. Human rights organizations described this as potentially a form of torture, […]

The service says calls increased by 20% in the past week, fuelled by illnesses such as the flu.

The service says calls increased by 20% in the past week, fuelled by illnesses such as the flu.

The list tips new music for the coming year, following previous winners like Adele, Haim and Chappell Roan.

TOPEKA — CoreCivic is looking at all options, including the possibility of applying for a special use permit from the city of Leavenworth, a company spokesman said Monday. After a federal judge handed the private prison company a loss in court last week, the company is reassessing its stance. “We maintain our legal position that […]

Criminals who persuade children to harm or sexually abuse animals could face up to five years in prison under a new bill filed with the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Sponsored by Democrat Sen. Kristen Arrington and Republican Rep. Linda Chaney, the identical SB 676 and HB 559 would create a third-degree felony charge for […]

Exclusive: ‘There are so many things wrong with this,’ one government-affairs watchdog told The Independent

The Florida Bar last week opened a disciplinary file on a Miami Beach City Commission candidate accused of defaming a local filmmaker who reported on her lasting affinity for her father, the serial killer inspiration for “Dexter” executed in 2012. Monique Pardo Pope, one of two candidates in the Dec. 9 run-off election for the […]

President Donald Trump’s unprecedented plan to redraw state congressional maps to preserve the GOP’s narrow majority in the House ahead of the 2026 election has hit some bumps, but Republicans appear confident they can flip several Democratic seats in Florida, where the first steps in that process will begin this week. A select House committee […]

TOPEKA — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas and Topeka’s St. Francis hospital have failed to reach a contract agreement, leaving insurance customers out of network beginning Jan. 1 for one of Topeka’s major health care systems. Officials with both organizations say discussions are ongoing. The current contract ends Dec. 31. “We’re having productive […]