The sound of a freight train's lonesome wail has pierced the Kansas night for nearly all of the state's history. Indeed, the state's rich rail legacy is apparent everywhere you look in the state, from the railroaders mascot at Newton High School to the scores of railroad-themed bars and restaurants that dot the state from Topeka to Osawatomie. But the focus of the nation has shifted to rail in a way it hasn't for some time following the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals in East Palestine Ohio, an incident that has created concern for the residents of [...]

As a Kansas municipality takes on streaming services, such as Netflix and Hulu, in court, lawmakers are considering a bill that would exempt the media giants from paying fees that cable companies are required to cough up. In Kansas, statute requires "competitive video service providers" and other utilities to pay up to 5% of their revenues in a given city to the local government. Because cable providers use infrastructure supported by local tax dollars, the logic is the payments are to help compensate local governments. Senate Bill 144 comes amid a lawsuit from Fort Scott, alleging that the now ubiquitous streaming [...]

The City of Topeka hosted its first of three meetings to discuss the possibility of increasing water utility rates. The city is considering increases to the water, wastewater, and stormwater utility rates by 2024 in an effort to keep up with rising costs and maintenance. Topeka’s City Manager Stephen Wade said the city’s utilities — like everything else — are simply growing more expensive.... “We are also looking at a couple of things targeted toward equity,” said Wade. “Specifically, we know that some of our residents have different sizes of water meters. When we look at — about 36,000 customers have [...]