KMUW

New research out of Stanford University shows that limiting wastewater injection is helping to prevent man-made earthquakes in Kansas and Oklahoma.

The researchers have created a new physics-based model that can better predict where man-made earthquakes will occur by looking at increases in pressure. The model shows that the number of earthquakes is driven by how much wastewater is being injected into the ground.

A new poll by Emerson College in Massachusetts finds the Kansas governor’s race is a statistical tie with five weeks to go until the general election.

The poll reports 37 percent of voters surveyed chose Republican Kris Kobach and 36 percent chose Democrat Laura Kelly if the election was held now.

Independent candidate Greg Orman received support from 9 percent of voters. About 15 percent of those surveyed are still undecided.

The poll indicates President Donald Trump is popular in Kansas with a 55 percent approval and 45 percent disapproval rating.

Starting next year, Kansas counties are required to do post-election audits. The check will make sure the voting process — from equipment to office procedures — is done correctly, and the election results are accurate.

According to legislation approved earlier this year, a county election board will review at least one contested race on federal, state and county levels.

According to legislation approved earlier this year, a county election board will review at least one contested race on federal, state and county levels.

President Donald Trump will campaign in Kansas next month.

The Kansas Republican Party said in a news release Thursday that Trump will hold a rally on Oct. 6 in Topeka for Republican gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach and for Steve Watkins, the GOP candidate in the 2nd Congressional District.

The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Topeka Expocentre. Doors to the event will open at 3:30 p.m.

A prescription drug monitoring program in Kansas will receive a federal grant worth more than $736,000 to expand.

The Kansas Board of Pharmacy oversees K-TRACS, a system for monitoring prescriptions for controlled substances.

Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day, a single day set aside for a coordinated awareness campaign to get more people registered to vote.

If you plan to travel over the holiday season, now would be a good time to start booking flights.

Dean Headley, a Wichita State University marketing professor and co-creator of the annual Airline Quality Rating survey, said he expects to see a historically busy travel season this year.

“All the information I can garner is that we’re going to see one of the heaviest travel seasons we’ve seen possibly ever,” he said.

Headley said the increase is a result of the strong national economy.

More than 100 Army Reserve soldiers, including some from Wichita, are in France this week to commemorate the closing days of World War I.

The war ended on Nov. 11, 1918. France and its allies are remembering the 100-year anniversary of the armistice with a series of events.

Prominent Kansas Republican Nancy Kassebaum has endorsed Democrat Sen. Laura Kelly for governor.

Kassebaum spent three terms in the U.S. Senate as a moderate Republican between 1978 and 1997. She was the first woman to chair a major committee. Now she’s endorsing Kelly over conservative GOP nominee Kris Kobach.

In a statement, Kassebaum praised Kelly’s “competence, understanding, and dedication.”

Former Republican Gov. Bill Graves has also endorsed Kelly.

We love our constitution—at least, what we know about it. The Constitution was ratified 231 years ago this past Monday, September 17. Each year, the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania surveys Americans on how much they know about the American system of government. Each year, the results demonstrate how little Americans know about the Constitution.

Journalist Sarah Smarsh grew up in what she calls a working-poor family in south central Kansas. Her new memoir, Heartland, is out Tuesday. It’s a look at Smarsh’s childhood through the lens of the national politics and the forces of poverty.

KMUW’s Beth Golay talked with Smarsh at our studios.

The Kansas State University Foundation had its second-best fundraising year in history.

The foundation announced Monday that it raised $174.2 million in fiscal year 2018.

The Kansas Food Bank is expanding.

Construction is set to begin this week on a 21,000-square-foot addition to the food bank’s existing warehouse near downtown.

Brian Walker, president of the food bank, said the current space doesn’t have enough room for the food bank’s nearly 5,000 yearly volunteers -- a number, he said, that continues to grow.

The $5 million expansion will include a space for the volunteers, who currently work in the main warehouse.

Kansas State University announced plans to upgrade facilities for each of its 16 sports programs.

The $230 million-plus master plan was unveiled by Athletic Director Gene Taylor on Friday. The school said the projects will be financed through private donations.

The largest of the projects is an $85 million renovation of Bramlage Coliseum, the university's 30-year-old basketball stadium. This project will include a new grand entry and ticket office, along with space for a K-State athletics hall of fame.

Finding health and human services help in Kansas is now as easy as sending a text. The United Way of the Plains launched a new texting option for its 211 information helpline.

Here is how it works: all you need to do is send a text to 898211 with your zip code. A call center operator will answer the text and get more details about the situation.

Kansas continues to face a teacher shortage, with schools reporting 440 vacancies this school year.

Those empty jobs worry educators because they force schools into workarounds, such as larger class sizes or long-term substitutes. They can also reduce class offerings and lessen support for special-education students.

Janet Waugh represents Kansas City, Kansas on the State Board of Education. She calls the situation heart breaking.

Kansas is one of several states experiencing an outbreak of bacterial infections linked to puppies sold at Petland stores. So far, five cases in Kansas have been reported.

A federal appeals court upheld a Nebraska law which requires picketers to stay 500 feet away from funerals. This is another step in the fight between the courts and the Westboro Baptist Church.

The Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church protests funerals using anti-gay slur filled signs. The church believes that the U.S. is being punished by God for supporting homosexuality.

Kansas' Attorney General has released a report boasting about funds which have been returned to consumers and taxpayers in the state. The money was recovered as the result of investigations into scams.

Nearly $17 million was saved or recovered for victims of schemes and scams in 2016.

Dereck Schmidt's office investigated consumer protection law violations. The top categories for investigation included:

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran will have his first town hall meeting Thursday since announcing his opposition to the Republican Obamacare replacement bill.

Opponents of the bill have been working to generate a big crowd for the meeting, scheduled for 11 a.m. at the McKenna Youth and Activity Center in Palco, a small town just north of Hays in northwest Kansas.

Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare. The long-awaited plan marks a big step toward achieving one of the Republican Party's major goals.

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Republican Senate President Susan Wagle says she’s considering a run for either Kansas governor or for the 4th District congressional seat in the Wichita area.

Republican Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran says he doesn’t support the health care overhaul bill in the U.S. Senate. Leaders in the Senate announced Tuesday that they are delaying a vote on the bill over concerns that it didn’t have enough support.

Moran initially was one of the undecided lawmakers. That changed when the vote on the GOP plan was delayed: Now, he says the Senate bill “missed the mark” for Kansas and he would not have supported it.

Moran says he's glad the vote was delayed and says the full legislative process should be used to develop a better proposal.

Aubri Thompson has already had her share of challenges by age 21: She left the foster care system without a designated caregiver, lived without a steady home for more than a year and became a single parent before finishing college.

Thompson lived in the Kansas foster care system from age 14, when she was reported as a runaway, until she “aged out” at 18. During that time, she moved 21 times, staying in foster homes, group homes and mental health treatment facilities.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:10 p.m. June 27.

Disability rights advocates are among the strongest opponents of the Obamacare replacement legislation that Republicans are attempting to push through Congress.

If anything resembling the bill that the U.S. House approved in May or the one the Senate is considering passes, they say it will roll back decades of progress. 

Gov. Sam Brownback denounced the level of spending in the Kansas budget, but he still chose to sign the bill into law over the weekend.