Chad Frey

In March of 2016, the Anderson Creek fire set a grim state record by burning about 280,000 acres in south-central Kansas.Just one year later, this Kansas record changed again when more than 460,000 acres burned in the Starbuck fire farther west.Large wildfires have become much more common on the Great Plains in recent decades.In Kansas, risks are particularly high on the outskirts of some cities, as well as in rural areas of the state with aggressively spreading tree and shrub species that intensify grassland blazes.But Kansans can take steps to protect themselves and their property.And now they can type their addresses into a new online tool from the Kansas Forest Service — kansaswildfirerisk.org — to better understand the danger that a wildfire could break out near their home, ranch, farm or business.The risk of that varies greatly across the state.Take the proliferation of homes with several acres of land each at the fringes of suburbia.

TOPEKA — Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody has resigned, less than two months after he instigated a widely covered raid on a local newspaper that culminated in a federal lawsuit and one woman’s death.Marion Mayor David Mayfield announced Cody’s departure during a Monday city council meeting, following the previous week’s announcement that Cody was suspended.