Going nuclear. Forgoing Trump's endorsement. AI standards.

By Anna Kaminski | reporter

TOPEKA — The company building a nuclear reactor one mile underground in Parsons made its federally approved safety report available to the public Monday.

The U.S. Department of Energy approved Deep Fission Inc.’s safety design for its Gravity nuclear reactor in July. The company publicly shared the report, with only a few small redactions that relate to security, a news release said.

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach doesn’t plan to request an endorsement from President Donald Trump in the November general election.

Kobach is running for reelection against Democratic nominee Chris Mann, an attorney and former police officer who lost to Kobach in 2022.

Kobach, a prominent Trump ally since endorsing his presidential campaign in 2016, said there was no doubting Trump’s backing could serve as a powerful signal to voters in Kansas.

TOPEKA — The top priority in the annual examination of the Kansas Board of Regents’ strategic plan for higher education will be development of a framework for responsible use of artificial intelligence in student teaching, academic research and administrative oversight.

Regent Neelima Parasker, president and CEO of the technology company SnapIT Solutions, was selected to chair the committee responsible for taking an exploratory dive into AI and drafting guardrail recommendations for review by the Board of Regents.

By Eric Thomas

When my son and his friend, another Kansas teen, visited Trinity University this April in San Antonio, they got a preview of today’s shifting, psychedelic world of college admissions.

Along with dozens of other parents and high school students, we sat in an auditorium to hear an admissions rep talk about standard stuff: campus life, academics and meal plans. Everyone sat up a bit straighter and listened a bit more intently when it came time to hear the admissions requirements.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it’s helping manufacturers increase the supply of estrogen-based hormonal patches and acknowledged a current nationwide shortage as more women seek hormonal therapies for symptoms related to menopause.

In a release earlier this month, the FDA said it is expediting actions to increase supply, and said all six manufacturers are working to expand capacity and prioritize production of the patches.

Voting rights groups and Democratic officials are looking to defend against what they see as possible election interference from the Trump administration ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, now that they’ve won a major battle over mail ballots.

Common Cause, a nonpartisan pro-democracy organization, announced a “voter protection” campaign Thursday that would place thousands of volunteers at polling sites in 25 states.

Thanks for reading Read & Reflect. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.