Closed-door meeting. Bush honeysuckle. USA 250. States' rights.

By Sherman Smith | editor-in-chief

TOPEKA — Nineteen-year-old Alexander Preston addressed members of the Kansas Legislature after lawmakers concluded five hours of closed-door meetings with administrators of the state agency responsible for the welfare of children and private contractors hired to deliver services to abused or neglected youths.

On Tuesday, Preston told House and Senate lawmakers he was dealing with wrenching frustration. He said he learned by necessity about fragility of the state’s child welfare system after the mother of his daughter vanished Sept. 5, 2025. He said he called anyone he thought might help bring about reunification with the infant, including law enforcement departments and Child Protective Services, which is part of the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

“From the very beginning of CPS’ involvement,” Preston said, “there were known concerns regarding the individuals around my daughter. There was a known narcotics investigation involving people connected to the environment where she was reportedly being cared for. Yet, despite all of that, I was later told that the environment where my daughter was staying was considered acceptable. Acceptable. That is the word I cannot forget.”

TOPEKA — Kansans must eradicate an invasive type of honeysuckle and four other plants from their land after the state Department of Agriculture added them to the noxious weed list.

It has been more than 20 years since additions were made to the list of plants considered noxious, said Jeff Vogel, the Department of Agriculture’s plant protection and weed control program manager.

Amur honeysuckle was added to the list in May, along with spotted knapweed, diffuse knapweed, common teasel and cutleaf teasel, Vogel said. Pignut was removed from the list.

By Tai Edwards

Wander through a grocery store today and you’re bound to see USA 250 branded merchandise, such as star-shaped tater tots, “together we grill” charcoal briquets (emblazoned with a bald eagle), and bags of Doritos “celebrating 250 years of America.”

Beneath this semiquincentennial commercialism, fundamental questions remain: What is the meaning of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence? How should we think about USA 250?

One answer emerges in the story of Lyda Conley, Wyandot Nation of Kansas member and lifelong Kansan.

Democrats are seizing the mantle of states’ rights to oppose the agenda of President Donald Trump, who has sought to reset Washington’s relationship with the states.

WASHINGTON — Republicans celebrated last year when they barred Medicaid payments from going to Planned Parenthood for one year, predicting the financial impact would hollow out the organization.

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