In Kansas News
One of the largest Kansas farm groups is pushing back on a federal health report that criticizes herbicides. As Calen Moore of the Kansas News Service reports, it’s another instance of the Trump administration clashing with farmers.
"The report detailed factors associated with chronic disease in children, including chemicals used to grow food and ultra-processed food.But that rubbed farmers the wrong way.
The Kansas Farm Bureau and other agriculture groups say the report paints farmers in a bad light.
Greg Doering with the farm bureau says the report names chemicals needed in no-till farming to solve other environmental problems like erosion.
“It would not exist without the herbicide programs that we use today.”
Doreing says the farm bureau wants to be more involved in federal discussions about food supply safety."
Kansas lawmakers are close to banning candy and soda purchases with food stamps.Kansas is seeking a waiver from the federal government allowing the state to enact the ban.Republican state senator Renee Erickson pushed for the ban because she wants Kansans eating healthier.
“It’s a nutrition program to help folks subsidize their nutritional ability to purchase those types of food, and pop and candy do not fit in that category.”
A Stanford University study found that banning just soda and sugary drinks from food assistance reduces type-2 diabetes cases in adults by 2.3 percent.Opponents of this proposal say people will just spend money on other unhealthy items. They argue that incentivizing and educating people to eat healthier is the better path.
In Missouri news
Many small rural health clinics in Missouri say they have about a month left of funding due to federal budget cuts. As KBIA’s Claire Powell (POW-uhl) reports, if the funds don’t show up soon, healthcare for infants and women could suffer.
"In late March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services withheld Missouri’s Title X grant, which funds reproductive health care.The Missouri Family Health Council was set to receive all of thee eight-and-a-half million dollars and then distribute it to more than 50 sites in Missouri and Oklahoma. Michelle Trupiano is the MFHC’s executive director and says even after addressing the HHS’s concerns, she has heard nothing about getting funding back,"
“Every day that this funding is withheld is a step closer to clinics having to reduce or shut down services.”
Trupiano says HHS took issue with a 2023 job description including diversity, equity and inclusion.
Missouri’s teacher retention rates are rebounding after reaching historic lows… and Kansas City area schools are trying to keep up that momentum.A report from St. Louis University’s Prime Center showed the number of teachers in Missouri leaving their jobs slightly declined in the 2023-24 academic year. Dr. Amy Dillon is the Park Hill School District’s assistant superintendent of human resources. She said teachers have an increasing number of responsibilities and less flexibility to work remotely.
"You combine the challenge of the position with the rate of pay compared to other positions that are in the world, and I think that that becomes a challenging situation."
After the pandemic, Dillon said teacher retention was in the low 80s. In the 2023-24 school year, that number jumped up to 90 percent.
