The Kansas City region is one of three finalists in the search for a new home for two U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies. And this means Leavenworth County is still in the running to serve as the new headquarters for the agencies.The Leavenworth County Development Corporation has submitted two business parks in the county for consideration. Leavenworth County is being considered under the umbrella of the greater Kansas City area. (Read more: News - SJ News Online - St. John, KS)

Gov. Laura Kelly is directing state agencies to assist employees at Horton Community Hospital in the wake of the hospital’s closure. Employees there worked for weeks without pay as the hospital struggled with finances before closing Tuesday afternoon. Kelly’s office said state officials will be in Horton on Thursday to help hospital staff with filings for unemployment benefits and job applications. “I’m concerned for the community of Horton as they face the serious loss of their local hospital,” Kelly said. “This is becoming a far too frequent occurrence in our state. Local hospitals are key to the health of Kansas families [...]

Amy Brown held her two young sons to her side Tuesday as she fought back tears and lashed out at the company that plans to surround her home south of Hutchinson with massive wind turbines. She was in the Statehouse for a hearing on a bill that would impose heavy restrictions on new wind energy developments across the state. The law would require a 1.5-mile cushion between residential homes and wind turbines. Echoing the concerns of those who testified in support of the restrictions, Brown said she fears health problems linked by studies to low-frequency sounds produced by wind generators. If [...]

Master Deputy Brandon Collins was conducting a traffic stop Sept. 11, 2016, when a truck slammed into his Johnson County Sheriff’s Department patrol car and engulfed it in flames. The tragic death of Collins was drawn into the conversation Wednesday at the Capitol during a House committee’s hearing on a bill elevating prison sentences for people convicted of causing injury to employees of a law enforcement, fire protection, public works or emergency management agency. “I am as disgusted today as the day Brandon’s killer received such a light sentence,” said Sgt. Christopher Mills, of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department. “I could [...]