By Morgan Chilson | senior reporter
Good morning! Kansas Reflector’s summer intern Baya Burgess talked with Leavenworth-area advocates who fought for oversight of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. Hear their stories in one of her final articles as an intern — though we hope she’ll continue sharing her skills with you all in the future as a freelancer.
Join opinion editor Clay Wirestone at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the Round Table Bookstore in Topeka talking about his recently published book. Bring a few tough questions for him.
Baya Burgess/Kansas Reflector
Profiles in resistance: Residents of this Kansas town unite in opposition to ICE and CoreCivic
LEAVENWORTH — Amid a clash between a new immigration jail and the city that hosts it, residents from Leavenworth and nearby areas gathered last month to talk strategies for protecting people held in the facility.
For some, it was just the latest meeting in a long resistance against the jail opened by the private prison company CoreCivic.
Leavenworth, a small city in eastern Kansas, is known for embracing its multiple prisons and a military fort. But some residents refuse to accept the city’s latest installation.
Jill Hummels/Kansas Reflector
OPINION
Gargantuan feedlot telegraphs woes for cattle and the environment
By Bill Beachly
I was just reading about a feedlot in Nebraska, near where that state meets Kansas and Colorado. It is set to become the largest in the country, holding in one square mile up to 150,000 head.
After reading that I did some math. One cow slaughtered yields about 550 pounds of beef, or about a quarter of a metric ton. According to a recent social media post from President Donald Trump, he will allow 300,000 metric tons of beef imported tariff-free from countries not mentioned (mostly not even shown on the JBS website, the mega packing firm controlled by Brazilian billionaire and Trump donor Joesley Batista).
Afterward, the August Feeder Board dropped several dollars per head.
Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector
Kansas Court of Appeals pokes hole in Wichita roofing employees’ overtime ruling
TOPEKA — A three-judge panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals says the Kansas Department of Labor relied on flawed legal reasoning to decide the owner of a Wichita roofing company owed $89,000 in unpaid overtime compensation to employees.
The appellate court deduced the Department of Labor improperly blended federal and state labor laws when it determined eight employees of LJ Beck Roofing and Guttering were entitled to overtime pay for work performed during a three-year period.
US Supreme Court allows Trump to resume deportations outside immigrants’ home countries
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted, for now, the Trump administration’s request to continue rapid third-country deportation of immigrants to countries not their own.
The decision will allow the Trump administration to carry out its aggressive deportation method of quickly removing immigrants to countries — some with human rights concerns — with which it has agreements.
News orgs banned from White House accuse Trump of First Amendment violation
WASHINGTON — The three news organizations that President Donald Trump barred from entering the White House grounds earlier this month have asked a federal judge to ensure their reporters continue to have access after a temporary restraining order expires in early October.
Attorneys for CNN, MS Now and Politico filed paperwork late Monday requesting a preliminary injunction.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Kansas Reflector staff will participate in the following free public forums.
6:30 p.m. Sept. 30, Round Table Bookstore in Topeka. Opinion editor Clay Wirestone talks about his book and the latest news. Host: Round Table Bookstore.
6 p.m. Oct. 12, Riverbank Brewing in Council Grove. Opinion editor Clay Wirestone talks about his book and the latest news. Host: Flint Hills Books.
5:30 p.m. Oct. 19, Frank Carlson Library in Concordia. Host: NCK Voters.
6 p.m. Dec. 3, Prairie Star Restaurant in Manhattan. Host: League of Women Voters of Manhattan and Riley County.
If you're interested in having us talk in your town, email Sherman Smith at [email protected].
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