Kansas Reflector Podcast

As of Jan. 7, 2021, there are over 696 missing American Indian or Alaskan Native, including three in Kansas, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. A 2020 report using data from the Sovereign Bodies Institute, a nonprofit, Indigenous-led research organization, shows 2,306 Native American women and girls in the U.S are missing within the past 40 years, with 58% resulting...

League of Kansas Municipalities representatives have reserved seats to observe how more than 600 cities in Kansas have interacted with other levels of the government hierarchy during the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode of the Kansas Reflector Podcasts, senior reporter Tim Carpenter sits down with Trey Cocking and Erik Sartorius of the League of Municipalities to address the good and the bad of...

Gianfranco Pezzino served as Shawnee County's health officer for 13 years before stepping down abruptly from the position in December. In the middle of the battle against COVID-19, Pezzino found politics overruling science. On this episode of the Kansas Reflector podcast, senior reporter Tim Carpenter sits down with Pezzino to discuss what he learned during the pandemic, why he stepped away, and K...

Aaron Coleman defeated an entrenched incumbent for a seat in the Kansas House. He did it, extraordinarily, at age 20 while championing a Green New Deal reform agenda. But that accomplishment is overshadowed by controversy. On this episode of the Kansas Reflector podcast, Coleman joins senior reporter Tim Carpenter to respond to calls for his resignation and discuss policy goals.

Gov. Laura Kelly announced in December she would pursue a second term in 2022. Amid the pandemic and with several policy goals yet to be achieved, the Kansas governor said running for re-election was a no-brainer. In this episode of the Kansas Reflector podcast, senior reporter Tim Carpenter — with help from editor-in-chief Sherman Smith — sits down with Kelly to discuss pandemic response, budgeti...

After 44 years at the state Capitol, 2020 will be the last for Sen. Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat. The longest-tenured legislator, who took office in 1977, has worked with 10 different governors and around 150 different state senators. On the Kansas Reflector podcast, senior reporter Tim Carpenter sits down with Hensely to reflect on his career — highlights, lowlights and everything in betwee...

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, now in his third term, makes his presence felt. He'll be relied upon during the upcoming legislative session, but beyond that, he has weighed in on several notable legal issues, like the election and Kansas proof of citizenship laws. On this edition of the Kansas Reflector podcast, senior reporter Tim Carpenter sits down with Schmidt to discuss criminal justi...

After nearly 40 years as a congressman, U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts announced early last year he would not pursue reelection in 2020. Capping off the longest tenure of any Kansan in the nation’s capital Sen. Pat Roberts delivered a final speech on the Senate floor Thursday. In what he dubbed his “adios amigos” speech, Roberts reflected on his path to politics, time spent as chair of the agriculture comm...

Kansas law allows capital punishment, but no one has been put to death in the state since 1965. At El Dorado Correctional Facility, 10 men are currently on death row, set to die by lethal injection. The majority are white and all are convicted killers. On this Kansas Reflector podcast, Cheryl Pilate, a criminal defense lawyer, Beatrice Swoopes, a retired public policy lobbyist for Catholic causes,...

According to a report from the US Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly 8% of inmates serving time in state and federal prisons and local jails are veterans. Despite making up a sizeable portion of the criminal justice system, diversion options specific to veterans are few and far between. In 2008, Judge Robert Russell, the presiding judge of the Buffalo Drug and Mental health...

The COVID-19 pandemic has left Kansas embroiled in economic chaos. Tens of thousands out of work, severely delayed payment of unemployment claims, and a wave of fraudulent jobless claims are among the turmoil the state has suffered over the past nine months. This past week a joint House and Senate committee charged with working on how best to move Kansas forward from this disaster met in Topeka. L...

Bob Beatty and Amber Dickinson, political science faculty members at Washburn University in Topeka, say President Donald Trump easily won confidence of Kansas voters, no amount of money would have altered the outcome for Senate candidate Barbara Bollier, and rural backing carried state Treasurer Jake LaTurner.

Election Day 2020 has come and gone, but many races are still too close to call across the country, including here in Kansas. A week removed, counties now must canvass election results and cure provisional ballots in order to certify results. Davis Hammet, president of Loud Light, a youth-focused organization fostering increased civic engagement in Kansas, joins this week's host Noah Taborda to di...

The Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University recently released its annual survey report on how Kansans view significant issues facing the state and nation. The report provides insight on issues like taxes, funding priorities, quality of life in the state and public policy issues. Brett Zollinger, director of the Docking Institute joins the Kansas Reflector Podcast this wee...

The KC Freedom Project is a ministry fighting to exonerate individuals who are wrongfully convicted or accused. The organization is also actively involved in calling out corruption within the Kansas City community, be it in the police department or the prosecutor’s office. Latahra Smith founded KC Freedom Project using skills she acquired investigating and clearing her son of a 2008 capital murder...

After the Great Recession in 2008, community colleges nationwide saw an influx of nontraditional students and an increase in overall enrollment. Amid COVID-19, the opposite has occurred, and Kansas community colleges are facing a 14.1% decline in enrollment since last fall. Carter File, Hutchinson Community College President, has seen a 3.6% decrease in overall enrollment this fall, on the high en...

Kansas writer Sarah Smarsh's 2018 book, "Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth," was a New York Times best-seller and a finalist for the National Book Award. It earned her high-profile invitations, such as introducing civil rights icon Dolores Huerta at the 2019 Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago. "It's been very humbling to know that folks who kind of...

President Donald Trump, former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and race-baiting think tanks like the Heritage Foundation use the myth of voter fraud to justify laws and tactics that make it more difficult to vote. Research and court records show voter fraud is extraordinarily rare, but Kobach and Trump have influenced public opinion by frequently repeating debunked claims. Scott Moore, of Mi...

Four of five COVID-19 fatalities in Kansas were people at least 65 years of age, but that group is a mere 11% of the population. Vulnerability of medically challenged people in large residential facilities makes public disclosure of outbreaks a "life or death" public service. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment offers a weekly summary of COVID-19 clusters. Advocates for the elderly and...

Rep. Gail Finney and Sen. David Haley are optimistic the 2021 Legislature can advance a bill legalizing medical marijuana, something they have advocated for more than a decade.

Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla, the Democratic nominee for the 2nd District seat in Congress, says the police department is full of heroes, "but for us to say with a straight face that there is no room for improvement is crazy." Her campaign is focused on expanding access to preventive health care, and she criticizes President Donald Trump for favoring politics over science in managing the COVID...

Retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts shares personal insights into his 40-year career as an elected official in Washington, D.C., which was preceded by service in the U.S. Marine Corps and work as a journalist and congressional aide.

Dorothy Hines, assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas, says K-12 students can explore COVID-19's impact on their lives through social media, and children need to know they are part of a family of teachers, administrators, counselors and others who value their well-being.

John Wilson, president of Kansas Action for Children, and Melissa Rooker, executive director of the Kansas Children's Cabinet and Trust Fund, outline concerns for more than 100,000 children living in poverty in Kansas.

Patrick Miller, of the University of Kansas, Bob Beatty, of Washburn University, and Michael Smith, of Emporia State University, say U.S. Senate candidate Barbara Bollier needs to clearly define herself or risk Kris Kobach's fate.