Data center fears. Earnestness and contempt. Meta settlement. Mail-in voting.

By Sherman Smith | editor-in-chief

TOPEKA — Local government officials consider hyperscale data center development with an eye toward economic benefits and property tax revenue that would allow them to meet Kansas residents’ demands to lower taxes.

But in Kansas and nationally, an outcry against data center development is rising, with a recent Gallup Poll showing that 48% of Americans “strongly oppose” building data centers in their neighborhood, while an additional 23% fall into the “somewhat oppose” category. A scant 7% “strongly favor” and 20% “somewhat favor” the idea.

Data center distrust is so strong that Kansans are putting forward petitions to stop local governments from developing the facilities. In return, at least three Kansas cities are suing constituents over those petitions — Edgerton, El Dorado and Emporia. In Tonganoxie, residents are raising money to start a legal fight over a proposed data center.

By David Norlin

Some days, living in the United State is like living in a circus. Except the clowns have weapons, some of them nuclear.

You don’t know when triggers will be pulled — and trigger-pulling is sometimes triggered by attitudes. Those attitudes and triggers are especially concerning, especially when possessed by those in charge.

Last week, a story raced round the state. A whole family slaughtered in a murder-suicide. The father-husband-shooter had a violent record. A next-door neighbor, seeing the horror (alarming enough if you’re in a different town, or even state), wrote a heartfelt plea to Kansas legislators.

TOPEKA — Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said Wednesday the state’s $134 million portion of the settlement with Meta “marks a down payment on an industry-wide transformation that will finally prioritize our children’s well-being over corporate profits.”

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, on Wednesday agreed to pay 47 states, the District of Columbia, and a handful of U.S. territories, up to $17.1 billion in penalties over claims that its social media platforms are addictive and a danger to children.

Democrat-led states and voting rights groups re-filed lawsuits Wednesday to block the Trump administration from executing a new regulation to restrict mail-in voting, while a federal judge lifted a nationwide pause on the policy in line with this week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that handed the administration a procedural win.

Reps. Brooklynne Mosley of Lawrence and Alexis Simmons of Topeka discuss the ramifications they’ve faced for clashing with data center supporters and how Kansas leaders could legislate further protections for data centers.

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