Latest Kansas Headlines
All the headlines from our Kansas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Lightning Strike Damages ‘Hair Curlers’ Sculpture in Downtown Kansas City
Apr 5 2016 // Repairing a lighting-damaged sculpture that is a fixture of the downtown Kansas City skyline will cost more than $1 million, officials say. The city’s insurance is expected to cover the cost of fixing the futuristic...
Kansas Revenues in March Boosted by Insurance Premium Tax
Apr 3 2016 // Kansas came close last month to hitting its target for tax collections, and the shortfall of less than $2 million reported represented relatively good news after a winter of gloomy budget developments. Sales tax...
40-Plus Structures Burned in Kansas, Oklahoma Wildfire
Mar 31 2016 // Officials say a wildfire that burned hundreds of square miles of rural land in Oklahoma and Kansas this week destroyed at least 41 structures in both states. Oklahoma Forestry Services spokeswoman Hannah Anderson says...
Former Kansas Insurance Company Employee Sentenced for Embezzlement
Mar 31 2016 // A former Topeka insurance company employee has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for embezzlement. The U.S. attorney’s office says 47-year-old Erin Rebecca Thomas also was ordered to pay $215,000...
Officials Raise the Number of Homes Destroyed in Kansas Wildfire
Mar 30 2016 // The biggest wildfire in Kansas history has been largely contained, but authorities said more homes were damaged than originally thought. The Kansas Adjutant General’s Office said that nine Barber County homes were...
Kansas Forest Service: Giant Wildfire Mostly Contained
Mar 29 2016 // The biggest wildfire in Kansas history is largely contained, although firefighting efforts could be hindered by more gusty winds. The Kansas Forest Service says crews were patrolling areas hit by the wildfire that has...
Thousands of Acres Burn in Oklahoma, Kansas
Mar 24 2016 // Authorities say a wildfire that started in Oklahoma and spread into Kansas has burned tens of thousands of acres of rural land. The National Weather Service says the fire started Tuesday night near the Kansas border in...
Iowa Lawmakers Say No to Higher Speed Limits
Mar 21 2016 // Efforts to increase speed limits on Iowa freeways and rural roads failed in the Legislature this year amid safety concerns, but officials acknowledged such moves are popular with drivers and likely will come before...
NTSB: Feed Truck Shifted Track Before Kansas Amtrak Accident
Mar 17 2016 // A truck used to deliver feed to a business where cattle are fattened hit a train track and shifted it at least a foot before an Amtrak train derailed in southwest Kansas and injured at least 32 people, an investigator...
Investigators Looking at Rail Condition in Kansas Amtrak Derailment
Mar 16 2016 // Investigators looking into the derailment of an Amtrak passenger train in southwest Kansas will review rail conditions and other factors to determine the cause of the accident, a federal transportation official...
At Least 32 Injured in Amtrak Train Derailment in Kansas
Mar 15 2016 // An engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail and applied the emergency brakes before a passenger train derailed in western Kansas early on March 14, an official said. The Amtrak train apparently was travelling at about...
Kansas Agency Joins Combined Agents of America
Mar 7 2016 // The Texas-based agency partnership Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) announced that Kansas-based United Agency joined CAA as its 53rd member. Offering both insurance and real estate solutions to Oklahoma and Kansas...
Kansas Lawmakers Consider Increasing Speed Limit to 80 MPH
Feb 17 2016 // Legislative committees are considering bills that would allow the Kansas Department of Transportation to raise the state’s highest speed limit on separated, multiple-lane highways from 75 to 80 miles per hour. The...
Health Insurers in Kansas Support Network-Only Plan Proposal
Feb 1 2016 // Insurance providers have asked Kansas lawmakers to approve a measure that would allow them to offer health plans requiring customers to only use the insurers’ network. The plans are called Exclusive Provider...
Kansas City Woman Pleads Guilty to Arson-for-Insurance Charges
Jan 31 2016 // A Kansas City woman has admitted to helping to burn down one home and plotting to burn another for insurance money. The U.S. attorney’s office says 35-year-old Tina Shonk pleaded guilty to two federal counts. Through...
Lockton Adds Canale as Producer in Kansas City
Jan 28 2016 // Insurance broker Lockton has hired Rich Canale as a producer in its Kansas City, Mo., office. Canale specializes in employee benefits, bringing a holistic, consultative approach to clients’ programs. He comes to...
California Gas Leak Follows Years of Lax Regulation of Aging Storage Wells
Jan 25 2016 // Long before a natural gas storage well sprung a disastrous leak near Los Angeles, Calif., utilities and national industry groups were raising alarms about the danger of aging underground storage infrastructure. The leaking...
Oklahoma Officials Avoid Tough Measures Despite More, Stronger Quakes
Jan 20 2016 // In Oklahoma, now the country’s earthquake capital, people are talking nervously about the big one as man-made quakes get stronger, more frequent and closer to major population centers. Next door in Kansas,...
Preliminary Data: Kansas Saw Big Increase in Tornadoes in 2015
Jan 11 2016 // Kansas’ 124 confirmed tornadoes in 2015 were 83 more than the previous year, tying for the fourth highest number since 1990, according to the National Weather Service’s preliminary data. Eric Metzger, a...
People – West
Jan 11 2016 // H.W. Kaufman Financial Group, headquartered in Detroit/Farmington Hills, Mich., named Wayne Bates president of Atain Insurance Cos. and corporate senior vice president of Kaufman Financial Group. Bates joins Atain...
