The Kansan Staff Railer netters 7th at state ANDOVER — The Newton High School girls’ tennis team ended the season with a seventh-place team finish at the Class 5A state tournament Friday and Saturday at the Andover District Tennis Center. Andover won the team title with 37 points, followed by crosstown rival Andover Central at 30, Salina Central at 27, Bishop Carroll at 26 and Topeka Seaman at 24.
Across the U.S., politicians are running campaigns asserting that statewide school closures in 2020 were not only unnecessary but totally useless in stemming the spread of COVID-19. Medical research based on actual records of hospitalizations and deaths in the early months of the pandemic clearly shows that substantially more deaths would have occurred if the schools would have been kept open. This was clearly documented in “Association Between Statewide School Closure and COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality in the U.S.” published in the September 1, 2020 issue of the authoritative Journal of the American Medical Association. Authors Katherine A. Auger, MD and eleven other medical researchers analyzed the extensive data that were pouring in from across the country to answer the question: “Was statewide school closure associated with decreased incidence and mortality for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?”
WICHITA — A new law requiring Kansas schools to get parental permission before surveying students’ personal attitudes or beliefs has put lessons on hold in many schools. The law doesn’t go as far as a proposed Parents’ Bill of Rights that Gov.
Editor’s Note: This story is being reprinted with new photos, the Kansan sourced an incorrect photo of Floyd Garnett. Thank you to his family for submitting new images.
TOPEKA — A court process that keeps criminal charges off someone’s record can charge hundreds of dollars for the possibility of a clean slate. Critics say some Kansas courts that charge heavily to cover the costs of diversion programs make a twotiered system of justice favoring the rich. But cities and counties that run the programs say they do what they can to make it accessible.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Almost all of Kansas and nearly half of Missouri are in severe enough drought to activate a federal program meant to help ranchers who have lost grazing acres for their herds, triggering millions of dollars in assistance.
Three gymnasts compete at meet SHAWNEE MISSION — Three members of the Newton High School gymnastics team competed Thursday at the Shawnee Mission South All-Around Invitational. No team scores were kept at the meet.
WICHITA — The Bethel College men’s basketball team was picked to finish fourth by the coaches and third by the media in the KCAC pre-season polls taken by the coaches and media at the KCAC Media Day Thursday. Defending champion Oklahoma Wesleyan was picked to repeat in both polls.
Class 3A, District 6 Hesston 43, Chapman 22 CHAPMAN – Hudson Ferralez passed for three touchdowns and Tyrone Taylor rushed for three touchdowns as the Hesston Swathers topped the Chapman Irish 43-22 Friday in district play in Chapman. Hesston led 24-14 at the half.
Key Words: gubernatorial election, parental involvement in education, transparency, parents’ rights. When asked about K12 education in the last gubernatorial debate between Democrat Governor Laura Kelly and Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt, the responses zeroed in on “parents’ rights.” Schmidt announced, if elected, he would support a parents’ rights bill. Kelly opposed, having vetoed comparable legislation. Both Schmidt and Kelly were following the lead of their national parties. Republicans made parental rights a talking point in the fall elections and introduced a Parents’ Bill of Rights in Congress. Democrats quickly voiced opposition.