WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a deadly knife attack as 23-year-old Christopher Cook of Kansas City, Kansas, according to a statement from police.

Just after 7p.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to a residence in the 6500 Block of Kansas Avenue after a report of a stabbing. 

First responders located Cook in the home suffering from apparent stab wounds.  He was pronounced deceased on scene. 

&nbsp;This incident remains under investigation by the KCKPD Major Case Unit. Anyone with information on this case is urged to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477). All tips remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward.There is nothing further to report at this time.

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a deadly knife attack as 23-year-old Christopher Cook of Kansas City, Kansas, according to a statement from police.Just after 7p.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to a residence in the 6500 Block of Kansas Avenue after a report of a stabbing. First responders located Cook in the home suffering from apparent stab wounds. He was pronounced deceased on scene. &nbsp;This incident remains under investigation by the KCKPD Major Case Unit. Anyone with information on this case is urged to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477). All tips remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward.There is nothing further to report at this time.

Police ID victim in deadly knife attack at Kansas home

By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">Jennifer Shutt</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">Shauneen Miranda</a>

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress began searching for compromise on a short-term government funding bill Wednesday, with just a few weeks left to broker a deal before a possible shutdown.

Fresh off their August recess, congressional leaders and members of the Appropriations Committee appealed for bipartisanship from the other side while admitting they are far from a final agreement.&nbsp;

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to say during a press conference whether he will negotiate a stopgap spending bill with Democrats, or use the go-at-it-alone approach that succeeded in March.&nbsp;

“Republicans are committed to keeping the government open, and unfortunately, it seems like not all Democrats agree with that, and they’re beginning to apply the government shutdown pressure,” Johnson said. “But I want you to remember one thing: All but one House Democrat voted to shut down the government in March, and we expect, sadly, that that may happen again.”

Johnson said he was open to negotiations with Democratic leaders as long as they “are willing to work with us and think responsibly about how we can spend less than we did last year.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said during an afternoon press conference that Democrats want GOP leaders to negotiate the stopgap spending bill across party lines.&nbsp;

“The bottom line is very simple: We Democrats want a bipartisan bill and we are pushing the Republicans very hard to do it,” Schumer said. “We’re on our front foot. We’re unified.”&nbsp;

Schumer, who took considerable flak&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-signs-stopgap-spending-bill-law-following-us-senate-passage" target="_blank">for helping Republicans limit debate</a>&nbsp;on a partisan stopgap bill in March, said “it’s much different than last time.”&nbsp;

Pressed by several reporters about what Democrats would help move through the Senate this time around, Schumer said: “We are willing to sit down and negotiate a bipartisan proposal with significant Democratic input. So far, they are not.”

The House and Senate are supposed to complete work on the dozen annual government funding bills by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1 but that hasn’t happened for decades, so lawmakers rely on a stopgap spending bill to keep federal departments and agencies running on autopilot for a couple months.&nbsp;

That measure, sometimes called a continuing resolution, is intended to give lawmakers a bit more time to complete bipartisan House-Senate negotiations on the full-year appropriations bills, though Congress used three CRs to fund the government this fiscal year instead of getting its work done.&nbsp;

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he expects lawmakers will need to approve a stopgap spending bill “for some time into the foreseeable future,” but that discussions are ongoing about how long it will last and what else might be added.&nbsp;

“My hope would be that whatever that CR looks like, that it is clean and that it enables us to buy some time to get a regular appropriations process done,” Thune said. “I still think the best way to fund the government is through the appropriations process.”

President Donald Trump said from the Oval Office earlier in the day that he expects Republicans will vote for a stopgap spending bill but he didn’t address how it would get through the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster, which requires bipartisanship.&nbsp;

“I think the Republicans will vote for an extension,” Trump said. “We won’t have any Democrat votes.”&nbsp;

House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters he hopes to negotiate final versions of three full-year bills with the Senate before the end of the month.

Lawmakers would then use a stopgap spending bill to keep the departments and agencies covered in the other nine bills flat funded for a couple of months until the two chambers can reach final agreement on the spending levels and policy within those measures.&nbsp;

“We’re talking about relatively modest bills and bills where there is either broad agreement, like MilCon-VA, or LegBranch and Ag,” Cole said. “We’re not talking about major bills. You can’t really do that until you have a topline and we don’t have a topline.”

The Agriculture-FDA, Legislative Branch and Military Construction-VA spending bills are generally easier to negotiate than some of the other full-year measures, like Defense, Homeland Security and Labor-Health and Human Services-Education.&nbsp;

Cole said when House and Senate leaders begin negotiating a total spending level for all of the bills, or topline, is “above my paygrade.”

“I’m ready to do it at any time if they want to empower us, otherwise the leadership on both sides and the president have to” figure that out, Cole said.

The House and Senate are supposed to start off the annual government funding process in the spring by reaching bipartisan agreement on how much in total spending to spread throughout the dozen appropriations bills.&nbsp;

Those talks haven’t even started for fiscal 2026, which is slated to begin Oct. 1.&nbsp;

Instead, the House and Senate Appropriations committees have separately decided how much to spend and written vastly different versions of the bills.&nbsp;

The 12 bills that have been released by the GOP-led House committee are partisan, while the eight bills released by the Senate panel have received broad bipartisan support in committee.&nbsp;

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she’s spoken with Cole a couple of times about the three-bills-plus-stopgap strategy and supports the concept.&nbsp;

“I have and I agree with that approach,” Collins said.

Washington state Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, said any stopgap bill “needs to be a real bipartisan compromise.”

“For the last few months we have shown a bipartisan way forward on the Appropriations Committee,” Murray said. “Democrats have shown that we are willing to work in good faith to write bipartisan funding bills that protect investments in education, life-saving research and a lot more.&nbsp;

“We’ve already passed eight out of the committee and three on the floor: MilCon-VA, Ag and LegBranch. As part of a bipartisan short-term CR, I support conferencing those three bills and passing them with the short-term CR for the remaining nine bills.”

House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro said “the best case scenario for us is to move forward.”&nbsp;

“No gimmicks, no riders, let’s clear the decks,” the Connecticut Democrat said. “Talk about how we get Republican priorities, Democratic priorities.”&nbsp;

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said “there’s a chance” to wrap up negotiations between the two chambers on final versions of some of the full-year government spending bills before the end of the month.&nbsp;

“It might not be all 12, but a few of them for sure,” Scalise said. “So let’s give the appropriators that opportunity to keep negotiating. They’ve already been having negotiations for weeks now — Tom Cole and a lot of his counterparts. I have faith they can hopefully get a lot of things done.”

Scalise, R-La., said he plans to reserve floor time later this month to&nbsp; ensure whatever spending bill gets written is “the top priority.”

Rep. Robert Aderholt, chairman of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, said he thinks most people agree there’s going to be some sort of stopgap given all 12 of the annual bills aren’t close to becoming law.

The Alabama Republican said this feat is “almost impossible” given the short number of legislative days left before the shutdown deadline.&nbsp;

“The solution, of course, obviously, or the only alternative, would be to have a CR, but I think the shorter the CR, the better,” he said, noting that the measure would have to be “long enough that you can have negotiations, but short enough that it doesn’t drag out until Christmas and that … we’re up here at Christmas doing an omnibus or something like that, which everybody wants to avoid.”&nbsp;

Congress has often bundled the final, conferenced versions of the dozen bills together into a sweeping omnibus package at the end of the year to ensure quick floor votes, though GOP leaders have tried to get away from that practice in recent years.&nbsp;

Rep. Chuck Edwards, a North Carolina Republican who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said that while he hopes a stopgap spending bill is “not necessary,” the panel is “certainly prepared to put together a short-term CR if that’s what’s required to avoid a shutdown.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757020412274.png" alt=" U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., takes questions from reporters during a press conference in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. Also pictured, from left to right, are Ohio Republican Rep. Dave Taylor; Majority Whip Tom Emmer R-Minn.; co-founders of Patriot Industries Sarah and Tom Click; Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.; and Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)" />
 <figcaption> U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., takes questions from reporters during a press conference in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. Also pictured, from left to right, are Ohio Republican Rep. Dave Taylor; Majority Whip Tom Emmer R-Minn.; co-founders of Patriot Industries Sarah and Tom Click; Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.; and Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)</figcaption>
 </figure>By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">Jennifer Shutt</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">Shauneen Miranda</a>WASHINGTON — Members of Congress began searching for compromise on a short-term government funding bill Wednesday, with just a few weeks left to broker a deal before a possible shutdown.Fresh off their August recess, congressional leaders and members of the Appropriations Committee appealed for bipartisanship from the other side while admitting they are far from a final agreement.&nbsp;Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to say during a press conference whether he will negotiate a stopgap spending bill with Democrats, or use the go-at-it-alone approach that succeeded in March.&nbsp;“Republicans are committed to keeping the government open, and unfortunately, it seems like not all Democrats agree with that, and they’re beginning to apply the government shutdown pressure,” Johnson said. “But I want you to remember one thing: All but one House Democrat voted to shut down the government in March, and we expect, sadly, that that may happen again.”Johnson said he was open to negotiations with Democratic leaders as long as they “are willing to work with us and think responsibly about how we can spend less than we did last year.”Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said during an afternoon press conference that Democrats want GOP leaders to negotiate the stopgap spending bill across party lines.&nbsp;“The bottom line is very simple: We Democrats want a bipartisan bill and we are pushing the Republicans very hard to do it,” Schumer said. “We’re on our front foot. We’re unified.”&nbsp;Schumer, who took considerable flak&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-signs-stopgap-spending-bill-law-following-us-senate-passage" target="_blank">for helping Republicans limit debate</a>&nbsp;on a partisan stopgap bill in March, said “it’s much different than last time.”&nbsp;Pressed by several reporters about what Democrats would help move through the Senate this time around, Schumer said: “We are willing to sit down and negotiate a bipartisan proposal with significant Democratic input. So far, they are not.”<h2>Spending running on autopilot</h2>The House and Senate are supposed to complete work on the dozen annual government funding bills by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1 but that hasn’t happened for decades, so lawmakers rely on a stopgap spending bill to keep federal departments and agencies running on autopilot for a couple months.&nbsp;That measure, sometimes called a continuing resolution, is intended to give lawmakers a bit more time to complete bipartisan House-Senate negotiations on the full-year appropriations bills, though Congress used three CRs to fund the government this fiscal year instead of getting its work done.&nbsp;Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he expects lawmakers will need to approve a stopgap spending bill “for some time into the foreseeable future,” but that discussions are ongoing about how long it will last and what else might be added.&nbsp;“My hope would be that whatever that CR looks like, that it is clean and that it enables us to buy some time to get a regular appropriations process done,” Thune said. “I still think the best way to fund the government is through the appropriations process.”President Donald Trump said from the Oval Office earlier in the day that he expects Republicans will vote for a stopgap spending bill but he didn’t address how it would get through the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster, which requires bipartisanship.&nbsp;“I think the Republicans will vote for an extension,” Trump said. “We won’t have any Democrat votes.”&nbsp;<h2>Three spending bills seen as possible</h2>House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters he hopes to negotiate final versions of three full-year bills with the Senate before the end of the month.Lawmakers would then use a stopgap spending bill to keep the departments and agencies covered in the other nine bills flat funded for a couple of months until the two chambers can reach final agreement on the spending levels and policy within those measures.&nbsp;“We’re talking about relatively modest bills and bills where there is either broad agreement, like MilCon-VA, or LegBranch and Ag,” Cole said. “We’re not talking about major bills. You can’t really do that until you have a topline and we don’t have a topline.”The Agriculture-FDA, Legislative Branch and Military Construction-VA spending bills are generally easier to negotiate than some of the other full-year measures, like Defense, Homeland Security and Labor-Health and Human Services-Education.&nbsp;Cole said when House and Senate leaders begin negotiating a total spending level for all of the bills, or topline, is “above my paygrade.”“I’m ready to do it at any time if they want to empower us, otherwise the leadership on both sides and the president have to” figure that out, Cole said.The House and Senate are supposed to start off the annual government funding process in the spring by reaching bipartisan agreement on how much in total spending to spread throughout the dozen appropriations bills.&nbsp;Those talks haven’t even started for fiscal 2026, which is slated to begin Oct. 1.&nbsp;Instead, the House and Senate Appropriations committees have separately decided how much to spend and written vastly different versions of the bills.&nbsp;<h2>House and Senate at odds</h2>The 12 bills that have been released by the GOP-led House committee are partisan, while the eight bills released by the Senate panel have received broad bipartisan support in committee.&nbsp;Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she’s spoken with Cole a couple of times about the three-bills-plus-stopgap strategy and supports the concept.&nbsp;“I have and I agree with that approach,” Collins said.Washington state Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, said any stopgap bill “needs to be a real bipartisan compromise.”“For the last few months we have shown a bipartisan way forward on the Appropriations Committee,” Murray said. “Democrats have shown that we are willing to work in good faith to write bipartisan funding bills that protect investments in education, life-saving research and a lot more.&nbsp;“We’ve already passed eight out of the committee and three on the floor: MilCon-VA, Ag and LegBranch. As part of a bipartisan short-term CR, I support conferencing those three bills and passing them with the short-term CR for the remaining nine bills.”House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro said “the best case scenario for us is to move forward.”&nbsp;“No gimmicks, no riders, let’s clear the decks,” the Connecticut Democrat said. “Talk about how we get Republican priorities, Democratic priorities.”&nbsp;<h2>Negotiations ‘for weeks now’</h2>House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said “there’s a chance” to wrap up negotiations between the two chambers on final versions of some of the full-year government spending bills before the end of the month.&nbsp;“It might not be all 12, but a few of them for sure,” Scalise said. “So let’s give the appropriators that opportunity to keep negotiating. They’ve already been having negotiations for weeks now — Tom Cole and a lot of his counterparts. I have faith they can hopefully get a lot of things done.”Scalise, R-La., said he plans to reserve floor time later this month to&nbsp; ensure whatever spending bill gets written is “the top priority.”Rep. Robert Aderholt, chairman of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, said he thinks most people agree there’s going to be some sort of stopgap given all 12 of the annual bills aren’t close to becoming law.The Alabama Republican said this feat is “almost impossible” given the short number of legislative days left before the shutdown deadline.&nbsp;“The solution, of course, obviously, or the only alternative, would be to have a CR, but I think the shorter the CR, the better,” he said, noting that the measure would have to be “long enough that you can have negotiations, but short enough that it doesn’t drag out until Christmas and that … we’re up here at Christmas doing an omnibus or something like that, which everybody wants to avoid.”&nbsp;Congress has often bundled the final, conferenced versions of the dozen bills together into a sweeping omnibus package at the end of the year to ensure quick floor votes, though GOP leaders have tried to get away from that practice in recent years.&nbsp;Rep. Chuck Edwards, a North Carolina Republican who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said that while he hopes a stopgap spending bill is “not necessary,” the panel is “certainly prepared to put together a short-term CR if that’s what’s required to avoid a shutdown.”

Despite shutdown deadline, little movement in Congress on spending deal

RENO COUNTY—A family pet died in a house fire in rural Reno County.

Just after noon on Friday,&nbsp;units from Reno County Fire Districts 9, 8, and Reno/Harvey Jt. 2, responded to a house fire in the 14,000 block of Bauman Road, according to&nbsp;Travis Vogt, Reno County Fire Administrator.

 A mutual aide request was made for an engine crew from Mt Hope Fire and Sedgwick County Fire District #1 for man power.

The first arriving units found smoke showing from the roof vents. An interior attack was made and the fire was contained to a single bathroom. 

The home sustained smoke and heat damage throughout. Haven EMS provided rehab for the crews. There were no firefighter or civilian injuries, however one dog was found deceased. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757114163340.png" alt="Photos Reno County Emergency Management" />
 <figcaption>Photos Reno County Emergency Management</figcaption>
 </figure>RENO COUNTY—A family pet died in a house fire in rural Reno County.Just after noon on Friday,&nbsp;units from Reno County Fire Districts 9, 8, and Reno/Harvey Jt. 2, responded to a house fire in the 14,000 block of Bauman Road, according to&nbsp;Travis Vogt, Reno County Fire Administrator. A mutual aide request was made for an engine crew from Mt Hope Fire and Sedgwick County Fire District #1 for man power.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757114112774.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The first arriving units found smoke showing from the roof vents. An interior attack was made and the fire was contained to a single bathroom. The home sustained smoke and heat damage throughout. Haven EMS provided rehab for the crews. There were no firefighter or civilian injuries, however one dog was found deceased. The cause of the fire is under investigation.&nbsp;

Family pet dies in rural Kansas house fire

WYANDOTTE COUNTY –&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) shared an update on the July 5th death of Charles Adair at the Wyandotte County Detention Center.

In the final autopsy report, the coroner ruled Adair's cause of death as complications of mechanical asphyxia. Contributory factors were noted as hypertensive cardiovascular disease and hepatic cirrhosis due to chronic alcoholism. Adair's manner of death was determined to be homicide.&nbsp;

At approximately 8:30 p.m. on July 5, Charles L. Adair, 50, of Kansas City, Kansas, received medical care in the detention center’s infirmary for a pre-existing wound on his leg.

Preliminary information indicates that when personnel attempted to transfer him back to his cell, Adair caused a disturbance by yelling, refusing to listen to commands, and physically resisting. Multiple sheriff’s deputies responded and handcuffed Adair to gain compliance. They transported him to his cell, where several deputies placed him on the lower bunk. They began attempting to remove the handcuffs, while Adair continued to resist. They gained control, removed the cuffs, and left the cell.

Immediately after, at 8:37 p.m., medical staff were called to evaluate Adair who they found&nbsp; him unresponsive. Life-saving measures were initiated. EMS responded to the facility and continued medical intervention. Despite efforts, Adair was pronounced dead at 9:19 p.m.

This week the KBI concluded its investigation and presented findings to the Wyandotte County District Attorney's Office.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/7/1751825756436.png" alt="Adair photo from an arrest in 2022 in Wyandotte County" />
 <figcaption>Adair photo from an arrest in 2022 in Wyandotte County</figcaption>
 </figure>WYANDOTTE COUNTY –&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) shared an update on the July 5th death of Charles Adair at the Wyandotte County Detention Center.In the final autopsy report, the coroner ruled Adair's cause of death as complications of mechanical asphyxia. Contributory factors were noted as hypertensive cardiovascular disease and hepatic cirrhosis due to chronic alcoholism. Adair's manner of death was determined to be homicide.&nbsp;At approximately 8:30 p.m. on July 5, Charles L. Adair, 50, of Kansas City, Kansas, received medical care in the detention center’s infirmary for a pre-existing wound on his leg.Preliminary information indicates that when personnel attempted to transfer him back to his cell, Adair caused a disturbance by yelling, refusing to listen to commands, and physically resisting. Multiple sheriff’s deputies responded and handcuffed Adair to gain compliance. They transported him to his cell, where several deputies placed him on the lower bunk. They began attempting to remove the handcuffs, while Adair continued to resist. They gained control, removed the cuffs, and left the cell.Immediately after, at 8:37 p.m., medical staff were called to evaluate Adair who they found&nbsp; him unresponsive. Life-saving measures were initiated. EMS responded to the facility and continued medical intervention. Despite efforts, Adair was pronounced dead at 9:19 p.m.This week the KBI concluded its investigation and presented findings to the Wyandotte County District Attorney's Office.&nbsp;

KBI updates cause of death of inmate after struggle with deputies

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs' red and white dominated in the stands at NeoQuimica Arena on Friday night during their season-opening game against the Los Angeles Chargers, though even some of the local supporters couldn't hide their frustration that Taylor Swift was nowhere to be seen after days of anticipation in Brazil.

Several Chiefs players talked about a growing support base for the team in Brazil, and these fans were the clear majority among the more than 47,000 in attendance. Meanwhile, the Chargers, who were the designated home team, were jeered as they came on the field.

The bigger story for some, though, was the no-show by Swift, who last week announced&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-engaged-d585627eb98b69428ce206a2c8a9cb7d">she was engaged</a>&nbsp;to Chiefs tight end and three-time Super Bowl winner Travis Kelce. There was speculation all week here that Swift might make a third visit to the South American nation, and the first to the stadium of soccer club Corinthians, whose fans see her as a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-nfl-brazil-corinthians-eb0bf3394888d4b5e1ae647ab2a5bb33">good luck charm.</a>&nbsp;Stories in the Brazilian media about a possible visit boosted online interest in the game, the NFL’s second in Brazil.

"I got to say it feels a bit less exciting now,” said 24-year-old Elena Sampaio, who was wearing a Chiefs shirt but didn't know the names of any of the players. “When I heard Taylor was coming I felt this was going to be a bigger event than I imagined. Too bad."

Instead, local fans who were still looking for Swift in the boxes had to settle for Santos and Brazil striker Neymar hugging Kelce and chatting with him before kickoff.

Fans also celebrated as Green Day drummer Tre Cool joined a group of samba drummers who played before the performances of the national anthems of Brazil and the United States.

"The atmosphere in Brazil will always be festive like this. We are loud, we want the players to hear us. We want to be part of the game,” said Manuel Andrade, 32, a school teacher who supports the New England Patriots. “I don't like the Chiefs at all, and it feels great to cheer against the majority here. I came here last year, hope to come as long as we have this."

The NFL held several events in Sao Paulo this week in the lead-up to the game. The league also sponsored murals by artists Kobra, Crica Monteiro and Leandro Nascimento, as it did last year when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers here.

The game Friday was the first of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nfl-international-facts-figures-madrid-dublin-australia-0506087f183fdd20244196a7238be38e">seven that will be played this season in international venues,</a>&nbsp;including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nfl-schedule-release-b9af9e4505a116b43a87da19db87fd59">in Berlin, Dublin and Madrid.</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757124840725.png" alt="Chiefs' Travis Kelce before the Friday night game against the Chargers in Brazil." />
 <figcaption>Chiefs' Travis Kelce before the Friday night game against the Chargers in Brazil.</figcaption>
 </figure>SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs' red and white dominated in the stands at NeoQuimica Arena on Friday night during their season-opening game against the Los Angeles Chargers, though even some of the local supporters couldn't hide their frustration that Taylor Swift was nowhere to be seen after days of anticipation in Brazil.Several Chiefs players talked about a growing support base for the team in Brazil, and these fans were the clear majority among the more than 47,000 in attendance. Meanwhile, the Chargers, who were the designated home team, were jeered as they came on the field.The bigger story for some, though, was the no-show by Swift, who last week announced&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-engaged-d585627eb98b69428ce206a2c8a9cb7d">she was engaged</a>&nbsp;to Chiefs tight end and three-time Super Bowl winner Travis Kelce. There was speculation all week here that Swift might make a third visit to the South American nation, and the first to the stadium of soccer club Corinthians, whose fans see her as a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-nfl-brazil-corinthians-eb0bf3394888d4b5e1ae647ab2a5bb33">good luck charm.</a>&nbsp;Stories in the Brazilian media about a possible visit boosted online interest in the game, the NFL’s second in Brazil."I got to say it feels a bit less exciting now,” said 24-year-old Elena Sampaio, who was wearing a Chiefs shirt but didn't know the names of any of the players. “When I heard Taylor was coming I felt this was going to be a bigger event than I imagined. Too bad."Instead, local fans who were still looking for Swift in the boxes had to settle for Santos and Brazil striker Neymar hugging Kelce and chatting with him before kickoff.Fans also celebrated as Green Day drummer Tre Cool joined a group of samba drummers who played before the performances of the national anthems of Brazil and the United States."The atmosphere in Brazil will always be festive like this. We are loud, we want the players to hear us. We want to be part of the game,” said Manuel Andrade, 32, a school teacher who supports the New England Patriots. “I don't like the Chiefs at all, and it feels great to cheer against the majority here. I came here last year, hope to come as long as we have this."The NFL held several events in Sao Paulo this week in the lead-up to the game. The league also sponsored murals by artists Kobra, Crica Monteiro and Leandro Nascimento, as it did last year when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers here.The game Friday was the first of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nfl-international-facts-figures-madrid-dublin-australia-0506087f183fdd20244196a7238be38e">seven that will be played this season in international venues,</a>&nbsp;including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nfl-schedule-release-b9af9e4505a116b43a87da19db87fd59">in Berlin, Dublin and Madrid.</a>

Chiefs draw more fans in Brazil, some disappointed Taylor Swift nowhere to be seen

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday aiming to rebrand&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-department-of-defense">the Department of Defense</a>&nbsp;as the Department of War — a long-telegraphed move aimed at projecting American military toughness around the globe.

“It’s a much more appropriate name, especially in light of where the world is right now,” Trump said. He said the previous name was “woke.”

The order comes as some of Trump’s closest supporters on Capitol Hill proposed legislation that would codify the new name into law, with Congress having the sole power to establish, shutter and rename federal departments. Absent a change in law, Trump will authorize the Pentagon to use secondary titles.

“From 1789 until the end of World War II, the United States military fought under the banner of the Department of War,” Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube, an Army veteran, said in a statement. “It is only fitting that we pay tribute to their eternal example and renowned commitment to lethality by restoring the name of the ‘Department of War’ to our Armed Forces.”

Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, are introducing companion legislation in the Senate.

The Department of War was created in 1789, then renamed and reorganized through legislation signed by President Harry Truman in 1947, two years after the end of World War II. The Department of Defense incorporated the Department of War, which oversaw the Army, plus the Department of the Navy and the newly created independent Air Force.

“We decided to go woke and change the name to Department of Defense,” he said. “So we’re going Department of War.”

Pentagon leader Pete Hegseth, who spoke alongside Trump, said, “We haven’t won a major war since” the name was changed. He said, “We’re going to go on offense, not just on defense.”

Trump has said he wants to change the name back to the Department of War because it “just sounded better,” and Hegseth recently hinted that the switch was around the corner.

Speaking to an auditorium of soldiers Thursday at Fort Benning in Georgia, he said he might have “a slightly different title tomorrow.”

In August, Trump told reporters that “everybody likes that we had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War. Then we changed it to Department of Defense.”

When confronted with the possibility that making the name change would require an act of Congress, Trump told reporters that “we’re just going to do it.”

“I’m sure Congress will go along,” he said, “if we need that.”

Trump and Hegseth have been on a name-changing spree at the Pentagon as they uproot what they describe as “woke” ideology, sometimes by sidestepping legal requirements.

For example, they wanted to restore the names of nine military bases that once honored Confederate leaders, which were changed in 2023 following a congressionally mandated review.

Because the original names were no longer allowed under law, Hegseth ordered the bases to be named after new people with similar names. For example, Fort Bragg now honors Army Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II paratrooper and Silver Star recipient from Maine, instead of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg.

In the case of Fort A.P. Hill, named for Confederate Lt. Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill, the Trump administration was forced to choose three soldiers to make the renaming work.

The base now honors Union soldiers Pvt. Bruce Anderson and 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn, who contributes the two initials, and Lt. Col. Edward Hill, whose last name completes the second half of the base name.

The move irked Republicans in Congress who, in July, moved to ban restoring any Confederate names in this year’s defense authorization bill.

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Republican who co-sponsored the earlier amendment to remove the Confederate names, said that “what this administration is doing, particularly this secretary of defense, is sticking his finger in the eye of Congress by going back and changing the names to the old names.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday aiming to rebrand&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-department-of-defense">the Department of Defense</a>&nbsp;as the Department of War — a long-telegraphed move aimed at projecting American military toughness around the globe.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Trump signs executive order renaming the Defense Department as Department of War: &quot;It has to do with winning. We should have won every war. We could have won every war. We really chose to be a very politically correct or wokey and we just fight forever.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/bluS2rZ4k2">pic.twitter.com/bluS2rZ4k2</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1964064319714300314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Back to work. <a href="https://t.co/M7wRax9gOm">pic.twitter.com/M7wRax9gOm</a>&mdash; Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth/status/1964071082710683650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">🚨 President Donald J. Trump signs an Executive Order officially restoring the name &quot;Department of War&quot; to the Department of Defense. This is the 200th Executive Order the President has signed since taking office. <a href="https://t.co/OuLfuSoRLR">pic.twitter.com/OuLfuSoRLR</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1964062437721756148?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;We won the first World War. We won the second World War. We won everything before that and in between — and then we decided to go woke and we changed the name to Department of Defense. So, we&#39;re going Department of War.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Vct6X3L9JU">pic.twitter.com/Vct6X3L9JU</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1964063136643678641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Secretary of War <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PeteHegseth</a>: &quot;This War Department, Mr. President, just like America, is BACK... We&#39;re going to set the tone for this country.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/NrVn35zz62">pic.twitter.com/NrVn35zz62</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1964062304816779733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“It’s a much more appropriate name, especially in light of where the world is right now,” Trump said. He said the previous name was “woke.”<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Workers take down &quot;Secretary of Defense&quot; signage at The Pentagon <a href="https://t.co/70lO1fSVkg">pic.twitter.com/70lO1fSVkg</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1964102398328160727?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">👀 <a href="https://t.co/FG5uBRbGrK">https://t.co/FG5uBRbGrK</a> <a href="https://t.co/xXNs8DXQ8w">pic.twitter.com/xXNs8DXQ8w</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1964070460104044925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><a href="https://t.co/NwFIdAHsxL">https://t.co/NwFIdAHsxL</a> <a href="https://t.co/Dmr6bL2t7p">pic.twitter.com/Dmr6bL2t7p</a>&mdash; DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOWResponse/status/1964075449677410603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The order comes as some of Trump’s closest supporters on Capitol Hill proposed legislation that would codify the new name into law, with Congress having the sole power to establish, shutter and rename federal departments. Absent a change in law, Trump will authorize the Pentagon to use secondary titles.“From 1789 until the end of World War II, the United States military fought under the banner of the Department of War,” Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube, an Army veteran, said in a statement. “It is only fitting that we pay tribute to their eternal example and renowned commitment to lethality by restoring the name of the ‘Department of War’ to our Armed Forces.”Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, are introducing companion legislation in the Senate.The Department of War was created in 1789, then renamed and reorganized through legislation signed by President Harry Truman in 1947, two years after the end of World War II. The Department of Defense incorporated the Department of War, which oversaw the Army, plus the Department of the Navy and the newly created independent Air Force.“We decided to go woke and change the name to Department of Defense,” he said. “So we’re going Department of War.”Pentagon leader Pete Hegseth, who spoke alongside Trump, said, “We haven’t won a major war since” the name was changed. He said, “We’re going to go on offense, not just on defense.”Trump has said he wants to change the name back to the Department of War because it “just sounded better,” and Hegseth recently hinted that the switch was around the corner.Speaking to an auditorium of soldiers Thursday at Fort Benning in Georgia, he said he might have “a slightly different title tomorrow.”In August, Trump told reporters that “everybody likes that we had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War. Then we changed it to Department of Defense.”When confronted with the possibility that making the name change would require an act of Congress, Trump told reporters that “we’re just going to do it.”“I’m sure Congress will go along,” he said, “if we need that.”Trump and Hegseth have been on a name-changing spree at the Pentagon as they uproot what they describe as “woke” ideology, sometimes by sidestepping legal requirements.For example, they wanted to restore the names of nine military bases that once honored Confederate leaders, which were changed in 2023 following a congressionally mandated review.Because the original names were no longer allowed under law, Hegseth ordered the bases to be named after new people with similar names. For example, Fort Bragg now honors Army Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II paratrooper and Silver Star recipient from Maine, instead of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg.In the case of Fort A.P. Hill, named for Confederate Lt. Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill, the Trump administration was forced to choose three soldiers to make the renaming work.The base now honors Union soldiers Pvt. Bruce Anderson and 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn, who contributes the two initials, and Lt. Col. Edward Hill, whose last name completes the second half of the base name.The move irked Republicans in Congress who, in July, moved to ban restoring any Confederate names in this year’s defense authorization bill.Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Republican who co-sponsored the earlier amendment to remove the Confederate names, said that “what this administration is doing, particularly this secretary of defense, is sticking his finger in the eye of Congress by going back and changing the names to the old names.”___

President explains why he's changing the name of the Dept. of Defense 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two teenagers were arrested Friday on murder charges in the killing of a congressional intern for Kansas 4th District Congressman Ron Estes.&nbsp; He was struck by stray bullets during a shooting in the nation's capital — a crime that President Donald Trump cited in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-increased-federal-law-enforcement-takeover-33b186a95dabf111bac61db398aa7543">announcing a law-enforcement surge</a>&nbsp;in Washington.

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts, was fatally shot on the night of June 30 near Washington’s Mount Vernon Square. Both suspects in his killing — Kelvin Thomas Jr. and Jailen Lucas —are 17-year-old juveniles but are charged as adults with first-degree murder while armed, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

Police were searching for a third suspect whose name and age weren't immediately released.

Tarpinian-Jachym was an “innocent bystander” who wasn't an intended target of the gunfire, Pirro said at a news conference where she was flanked by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the city's police chief.

“Eric didn't deserve to be gunned down, and the system failed him — the system that felt that juveniles needed to be coddled,” Pirro said. “This killing underscores why we need the authority to prosecute these younger kids, because they're not kids. They're criminals.”

Tarpinian-Jachym was a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was in Washington to work as a summer intern in the office of Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kansas.

In July, the House observed a moment of silence after Estes paid tribute to Tarpinian-Jachym, calling him “a dedicated, and thoughtful and kind person who loved our country.”

“We will never forget his presence and kindness in my office,” Estes said. “Those he met in his short term in my office will not forget him, either.”

Trump mentioned Tarpinian-Jachym's killing — but not his name — during an Aug. 11 news conference where he announced a federal intervention for a “public safety emergency” in the District of Columbia.

“Any level of gun violence in our city is unacceptable,” Bowser said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday's arrests are “a testament to President Trump’s efforts to make Washington, D.C., safe again.”

“The Department of Justice will continue our work to prevent other young people from suffering the same fate as Eric,” Bondi said in a statement. “We hope this brings some measure of solace to his family.”

The suspects, both district residents, exited a vehicle at an intersection and shot at two people riding bikes, including a 16-year-old male who was wounded, according to Metropolitan Police Department Commander Kevin Kentish.

Tarpinian-Jachym was struck by four shots. A woman who wasn't a target also was shot but survived, according to Kentish. Surveillance video helped investigators identify the three suspects, he said.

Online court records didn't immediately identify attorneys for the suspects.

MPD Chief Pamela Smith said she and Pirro spoke to Tarpinian-Jachym’s mother on Friday.

“Eric came to our city with a bright future ahead of him,” Smith said. “He deserved an opportunity to return home safely to his family, but was senselessly taken from his loved ones.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757089518113.png" alt="Eric Tarpinian-Jachym" />
 <figcaption>Eric Tarpinian-Jachym</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Two teenagers were arrested Friday on murder charges in the killing of a congressional intern for Kansas 4th District Congressman Ron Estes.&nbsp; He was struck by stray bullets during a shooting in the nation's capital — a crime that President Donald Trump cited in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-increased-federal-law-enforcement-takeover-33b186a95dabf111bac61db398aa7543">announcing a law-enforcement surge</a>&nbsp;in Washington.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">Two arrests have been made connected to the murder of my intern, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, as announced by <a href="https://twitter.com/USAttyPirro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USAttyPirro</a> today. I extend my appreciation to Attorney Pirro, her team, and <a href="https://twitter.com/DCPoliceDept?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DCPoliceDept</a> for diligently working on this case to bring those responsible to justice. <a href="https://t.co/XT81e9y7NV">https://t.co/XT81e9y7NV</a>&mdash; Rep. Ron Estes (@RepRonEstes) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepRonEstes/status/1964022335930859917?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IvX-6f7q9tQ?si=TAzqL4wNBiMZZsVV" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts, was fatally shot on the night of June 30 near Washington’s Mount Vernon Square. Both suspects in his killing — Kelvin Thomas Jr. and Jailen Lucas —are 17-year-old juveniles but are charged as adults with first-degree murder while armed, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.Police were searching for a third suspect whose name and age weren't immediately released.Tarpinian-Jachym was an “innocent bystander” who wasn't an intended target of the gunfire, Pirro said at a news conference where she was flanked by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the city's police chief.“Eric didn't deserve to be gunned down, and the system failed him — the system that felt that juveniles needed to be coddled,” Pirro said. “This killing underscores why we need the authority to prosecute these younger kids, because they're not kids. They're criminals.”Tarpinian-Jachym was a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was in Washington to work as a summer intern in the office of Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kansas.In July, the House observed a moment of silence after Estes paid tribute to Tarpinian-Jachym, calling him “a dedicated, and thoughtful and kind person who loved our country.”“We will never forget his presence and kindness in my office,” Estes said. “Those he met in his short term in my office will not forget him, either.”Trump mentioned Tarpinian-Jachym's killing — but not his name — during an Aug. 11 news conference where he announced a federal intervention for a “public safety emergency” in the District of Columbia.“Any level of gun violence in our city is unacceptable,” Bowser said.Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday's arrests are “a testament to President Trump’s efforts to make Washington, D.C., safe again.”“The Department of Justice will continue our work to prevent other young people from suffering the same fate as Eric,” Bondi said in a statement. “We hope this brings some measure of solace to his family.”The suspects, both district residents, exited a vehicle at an intersection and shot at two people riding bikes, including a 16-year-old male who was wounded, according to Metropolitan Police Department Commander Kevin Kentish.Tarpinian-Jachym was struck by four shots. A woman who wasn't a target also was shot but survived, according to Kentish. Surveillance video helped investigators identify the three suspects, he said.Online court records didn't immediately identify attorneys for the suspects.MPD Chief Pamela Smith said she and Pirro spoke to Tarpinian-Jachym’s mother on Friday.“Eric came to our city with a bright future ahead of him,” Smith said. “He deserved an opportunity to return home safely to his family, but was senselessly taken from his loved ones.”

🎥2 arrested in killing of 21-year-old intern for Kansas Congressman

FINNEY COUNTY—One person died in an accident just before 7a.m. Friday in Finney County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Dodge Caliber driven by&nbsp; Joziah Anwar&nbsp;Guerrero, 20, Garden City was westbound on U.S 50 approximately 1.2 miles east of U.S. 83.&nbsp; The vehicle struck a pedestrian identified as James Michael&nbsp;Corbett, 34, Garden City, who was northbound crossing the road.

Corbett was pronounced dead at the scene. Guerrero was properly restrained at the time of the accident and not injured, according to the KHP.

FINNEY COUNTY—One person died in an accident just before 7a.m. Friday in Finney County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Dodge Caliber driven by&nbsp; Joziah Anwar&nbsp;Guerrero, 20, Garden City was westbound on U.S 50 approximately 1.2 miles east of U.S. 83.&nbsp; The vehicle struck a pedestrian identified as James Michael&nbsp;Corbett, 34, Garden City, who was northbound crossing the road.Corbett was pronounced dead at the scene. Guerrero was properly restrained at the time of the accident and not injured, according to the KHP.

SW Kansas man dies in pedestrian accident

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. (AP) — Two people died when a small plane crashed and caught on fire near a suburban Denver airport on Friday, officials said.

The crash happened just south of Centennial Airport and was initially reported as an explosion, Deborah Takahara, a spokesperson for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, said.

Firefighters found the Beech BE35 airplane engulfed in flames, with the fire threatening to spread to a nearby building and some diesel-powered generators, Brian Willie, a spokesperson for South Metro Fire Rescue, said. Firefighters were able to put out the flames, he said.

The plane appeared to have crashed in the parking lot of an industrial office park.

Air traffic control audio posted by&nbsp;<a href="http://liveatc.net/">LiveATC.net</a>&nbsp;includes an air traffic controller clearing the plane for takeoff just before the crash.

Another pilot later reported seeing smoke.

“Tower, there’s smoke off the left side. Looks like he went down,” came the report, followed a few seconds later by: “He appears to have crashed in the parking lot about a mile southeast of the field.”

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the plane crash.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757093642230.png" alt="Photos Douglas County Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Photos Douglas County Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. (AP) — Two people died when a small plane crashed and caught on fire near a suburban Denver airport on Friday, officials said.The crash happened just south of Centennial Airport and was initially reported as an explosion, Deborah Takahara, a spokesperson for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757093624214.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Firefighters found the Beech BE35 airplane engulfed in flames, with the fire threatening to spread to a nearby building and some diesel-powered generators, Brian Willie, a spokesperson for South Metro Fire Rescue, said. Firefighters were able to put out the flames, he said.The plane appeared to have crashed in the parking lot of an industrial office park.Air traffic control audio posted by&nbsp;<a href="http://liveatc.net/">LiveATC.net</a>&nbsp;includes an air traffic controller clearing the plane for takeoff just before the crash.Another pilot later reported seeing smoke.“Tower, there’s smoke off the left side. Looks like he went down,” came the report, followed a few seconds later by: “He appears to have crashed in the parking lot about a mile southeast of the field.”The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the plane crash.

2 people die in small plane crash near Denver airport

A Missouri House committee voted Thursday to redraw the state’s congressional districts to carve up Kansas City and gain another GOP-leaning seat

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jason-hancock/">Jason Hancock</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

If a new Missouri congressional map endorsed by President Donald Trump is put into place, voters living on Kansas City’s east side will share a congressional district with people living nearly four hours away in Osage County.&nbsp;

Anyone living in downtown Kansas City would be in a district stretching south nearly to Springfield. And Kansas Citians living north of the Missouri River would be in a district running to the border of Iowa and Illinois.&nbsp;

All of those voters currently reside in the 5th Congressional and are represented by 11-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.&nbsp;

But under the proposed new map, which was approved Thursday by a Missouri House committee after more than five hours of public testimony, that district would be carved up in hopes of creating another Republican-leaning seat.

“This is a superior map than the one we have today,” said state Rep. Dirk Deaton, a Noel Republican sponsoring the redistricting legislation.&nbsp;

Missouri has eight congressional districts, with Democrats holding two.&nbsp;

Trump, facing a potentially difficult midterm election cycle next year, has instructed GOP-controlled states to&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/08/07/repub/why-congressional-redistricting-is-blowing-up-across-the-us-this-summer/">redraw maps</a>&nbsp;to add&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/08/21/missouri-gop-leader-says-lawmakers-will-start-with-a-congressional-map-drawn-in-d-c/">more Republican seats</a>.&nbsp;

Even though mid-decade redistricting in Missouri is nearly unheard of — it hasn’t happened in six decades, following a U.S. Supreme Court decision — Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers back into session this week to redraw the map so the GOP would hold seven of the state’s seats in the U.S. House.

Republicans Thursday downplayed any role Trump’s demands had on the gerrymandering push. And they insisted the map was drawn by the governor’s staff, not the White House.

Democrats didn’t buy it, denouncing the map as unconstitutional and the push to split up Kansas City for partisan gain as “morally corrupt and inexcusable.”

“Every Missourian deserves fair representation, not these political tricks,” said state Rep. Mark Sharp, a Kansas City Democrat. “My city, Kansas City, hangs in the balance right here, right now.”

The Missouri Constitution calls for the legislature to draw new congressional districts every 10 years after&nbsp;<a href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=III++++45&amp;bid=31801&amp;constit=y" target="_blank">new census numbers</a>&nbsp;are certified to the governor. That happened in 2022, and Democrats argue it&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/08/07/black-missouri-lawmakers-vow-to-block-missouri-gop-push-for-new-congressional-districts/">violates the state constitution</a>&nbsp;to draw another map before the next census is complete.&nbsp;

There are also questions about whether relying on old population data could also violate the state and federal constitution.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2025-09-04/naacp-sues-missouri-republicans-unconstitutional-gerrymander-kansas-city" target="_blank">The Missouri NAACP filed a lawsuit Wednesday</a>&nbsp;in Cole County arguing the governor’s decision to call a special session was unconstitutional. Cleaver has also promised to go to court to challenge any gerrymandered map lawmakers approve.

House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat, on Thursday demanded demographic information about the map be made available to the public before the committee took a vote.&nbsp;

“I’m asking for information for the public and for this committee,” Aune said. “We deserve to have that information, and if you are not willing to provide it, what are you hiding?&nbsp;

She also pressed Deaton whether the governor’s office actually drew the map, or whether it was crafted by the Trump administration. She noted Trump last week praised the map and instructed Missouri lawmakers to&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/J_Hancock/status/1961834031550448026" target="_blank">approve it “AS IS.”</a>

The proposed new map meets constitutional requirements of districts with equal population as precisely as possible, Deaton said, and is more compact and contiguous, and divides fewer communities, than the current map.&nbsp;

He said the governor was clear that his staff drew the proposed map.

“Gov. Kehoe has never lied to me,” Deaton said, “so I take him at his word.”

The only person to testify in favor of the proposed new map was Susan Klein, executive director of Missouri Right to Life. She said her organization is committed to helping pass anti-abortion legislation and supporting anti-abortion elected officials.&nbsp;

“We support the process that would increase those numbers,” she said.

A parade of critics testified against the map, including the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, the Missouri NAACP, the League of Women Voters and several residents of the 5th District.&nbsp;

Shannon Cooper, a lobbyist for the city of Kansas City and former Republican lawmaker, said the proposed map “chops our region into three different pieces.” The needs of downtown Kansas City, he said, are different than the needs of rural Henry County.

“I have gone through three redistricting processes in my time here, and what is sorely lacking in this is the amount of public input and the time where, in the past, the committees have traveled across the state and gone into communities and taken the local input from citizens, businesses as well as elected local officials to see what they care about and how they want to be put into those districts,” he said. “And we’re going to do this in six or eight hours and vote it out Monday and Tuesday.”

Phil Scaglia, testifying on behalf of Cleaver, who could not attend Thursday’s hearing, said the map violates the “one person, one vote” principle by relying on old census data. It’s also unconstitutional, Scaglia argued, because it “fails to be compact and divides communities of interest.”

A new map could be be drawn in a way that includes all of Kansas City south of the Missouri River in the 5th District, Scaglia said, and still give Republicans the electoral advantage they are seeking.

State Rep. Don Mayhew, a Republican from Crocker, countered that he believes Kansas City would benefit by being represented by three members of Congress.

The proposed new map leaves two districts untouched — the 7th District in southwest Missouri and 8th District in&nbsp;southeast Missouri, both represented by Republicans. It only tinkers with the 1st District, based in St. Louis and represented by Democrat Wesley Bell.&nbsp;

The 2nd District, represented by Republican Ann Wagner, moves south of the Missouri River, taking in southern St. Louis suburbs along with Gasconade,&nbsp; Crawford, Jefferson and Washington counties.&nbsp;

The 3rd District, represented by Republican Bob Onder, swaps territory with the 2nd, taking over all of St. Charles and Warren counties, adding Audrain, Lincoln, Monroe, Pike and Ralls counties as it stretches north to Hannabil and encompasses nearly all of Columbia.

The 4th and 6th Districts are where the Kansas City voters who previously all lived in the 5th will be moved.&nbsp;

The 4th District loses parts of Columbia, along with Sedalia and Warrensburg to the 5th District in order to pick up downtown Kansas City. It is represented by Republican Mark Alford.&nbsp;

The 6th District runs across the entire northern half of the state, picking up a piece of Kansas City north of the Missouri River.&nbsp;

It’s the 5th District that sees the most substantial changes. Previously encompassing nearly all of Kansas City, the district now only includes the city’s east side, then stretches east to encompass Jefferson City all the way to Phelps County. It also includes the northern portion of Boone County, but not the Democrat-leaning areas of Columbia.&nbsp;

The 5th District also picks up six counties from the 3rd District — Cole, Cooper, Howard, Maries, Moniteau and Miller counties as well as Morgan County from the 4th District.

Sharp asked Deaton Thursday whether he would be open to changing the map, even in small ways. Deaton said the map was produced and requested by the governor, and he “can’t imagine myself at this time supporting any changes.”&nbsp;

“You move one line to make one person happy,” Deaton said, “and you have to move seven other lines and you’ve got seven new enemies… this is the map I’m supporting.”&nbsp;

As the committee was preparing to vote, Sharp offered an amendment moving a small portion of south Kansas City in the Hickman Mills area — around 12,000 voters — back into the 5th District. The change would be balanced out by moving voters near Grain Valley to the 4th District.

Republicans opposed the change, and Sharp withdrew the amendment in the hope of offering it again when the full House debates the bill next week.

Aune said the entire process “reeks of an authoritarian power grab.”

State Rep. Richard West, a Wentzville Republican and chair of the committee, praised the map for moving all of St. Charles County into the same district.&nbsp;

“My county is currently split up,” he said. “This is going to make us whole.”

State Rep. Bill Hardwick, a Republican from Dixon, pushed back on the idea that what Republicans are doing by redrawing the map is out of the ordinary in American politics.

“I’m not saying we should gerrymander or we shouldn’t,” he said, adding: “I’m just saying it’s been part of the republic from the beginning.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757068209585.png" alt=" State Rep. Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel, presents legislation that would redraw Missouri’s congressional map to a House committee on Thursday (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications)." />
 <figcaption> State Rep. Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel, presents legislation that would redraw Missouri’s congressional map to a House committee on Thursday (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>A Missouri House committee voted Thursday to redraw the state’s congressional districts to carve up Kansas City and gain another GOP-leaning seat</h2>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jason-hancock/">Jason Hancock</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>If a new Missouri congressional map endorsed by President Donald Trump is put into place, voters living on Kansas City’s east side will share a congressional district with people living nearly four hours away in Osage County.&nbsp;Anyone living in downtown Kansas City would be in a district stretching south nearly to Springfield. And Kansas Citians living north of the Missouri River would be in a district running to the border of Iowa and Illinois.&nbsp;All of those voters currently reside in the 5th Congressional and are represented by 11-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.&nbsp;But under the proposed new map, which was approved Thursday by a Missouri House committee after more than five hours of public testimony, that district would be carved up in hopes of creating another Republican-leaning seat.“This is a superior map than the one we have today,” said state Rep. Dirk Deaton, a Noel Republican sponsoring the redistricting legislation.&nbsp;Missouri has eight congressional districts, with Democrats holding two.&nbsp;Trump, facing a potentially difficult midterm election cycle next year, has instructed GOP-controlled states to&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/08/07/repub/why-congressional-redistricting-is-blowing-up-across-the-us-this-summer/">redraw maps</a>&nbsp;to add&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/08/21/missouri-gop-leader-says-lawmakers-will-start-with-a-congressional-map-drawn-in-d-c/">more Republican seats</a>.&nbsp;Even though mid-decade redistricting in Missouri is nearly unheard of — it hasn’t happened in six decades, following a U.S. Supreme Court decision — Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers back into session this week to redraw the map so the GOP would hold seven of the state’s seats in the U.S. House.Republicans Thursday downplayed any role Trump’s demands had on the gerrymandering push. And they insisted the map was drawn by the governor’s staff, not the White House.Democrats didn’t buy it, denouncing the map as unconstitutional and the push to split up Kansas City for partisan gain as “morally corrupt and inexcusable.”“Every Missourian deserves fair representation, not these political tricks,” said state Rep. Mark Sharp, a Kansas City Democrat. “My city, Kansas City, hangs in the balance right here, right now.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757068164737.png" alt="State Rep. Mark Sharp, a Kansas City Democrat, speaks in opposition to a proposed congressional map during a House committee hearing on Thursday (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications)." />
 <figcaption>State Rep. Mark Sharp, a Kansas City Democrat, speaks in opposition to a proposed congressional map during a House committee hearing on Thursday (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).</figcaption>
 </figure>The Missouri Constitution calls for the legislature to draw new congressional districts every 10 years after&nbsp;<a href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=III++++45&amp;bid=31801&amp;constit=y" target="_blank">new census numbers</a>&nbsp;are certified to the governor. That happened in 2022, and Democrats argue it&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/08/07/black-missouri-lawmakers-vow-to-block-missouri-gop-push-for-new-congressional-districts/">violates the state constitution</a>&nbsp;to draw another map before the next census is complete.&nbsp;There are also questions about whether relying on old population data could also violate the state and federal constitution.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2025-09-04/naacp-sues-missouri-republicans-unconstitutional-gerrymander-kansas-city" target="_blank">The Missouri NAACP filed a lawsuit Wednesday</a>&nbsp;in Cole County arguing the governor’s decision to call a special session was unconstitutional. Cleaver has also promised to go to court to challenge any gerrymandered map lawmakers approve.House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat, on Thursday demanded demographic information about the map be made available to the public before the committee took a vote.&nbsp;“I’m asking for information for the public and for this committee,” Aune said. “We deserve to have that information, and if you are not willing to provide it, what are you hiding?&nbsp;She also pressed Deaton whether the governor’s office actually drew the map, or whether it was crafted by the Trump administration. She noted Trump last week praised the map and instructed Missouri lawmakers to&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/J_Hancock/status/1961834031550448026" target="_blank">approve it “AS IS.”</a>The proposed new map meets constitutional requirements of districts with equal population as precisely as possible, Deaton said, and is more compact and contiguous, and divides fewer communities, than the current map.&nbsp;He said the governor was clear that his staff drew the proposed map.“Gov. Kehoe has never lied to me,” Deaton said, “so I take him at his word.”The only person to testify in favor of the proposed new map was Susan Klein, executive director of Missouri Right to Life. She said her organization is committed to helping pass anti-abortion legislation and supporting anti-abortion elected officials.&nbsp;“We support the process that would increase those numbers,” she said.A parade of critics testified against the map, including the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, the Missouri NAACP, the League of Women Voters and several residents of the 5th District.&nbsp;Shannon Cooper, a lobbyist for the city of Kansas City and former Republican lawmaker, said the proposed map “chops our region into three different pieces.” The needs of downtown Kansas City, he said, are different than the needs of rural Henry County.“I have gone through three redistricting processes in my time here, and what is sorely lacking in this is the amount of public input and the time where, in the past, the committees have traveled across the state and gone into communities and taken the local input from citizens, businesses as well as elected local officials to see what they care about and how they want to be put into those districts,” he said. “And we’re going to do this in six or eight hours and vote it out Monday and Tuesday.”Phil Scaglia, testifying on behalf of Cleaver, who could not attend Thursday’s hearing, said the map violates the “one person, one vote” principle by relying on old census data. It’s also unconstitutional, Scaglia argued, because it “fails to be compact and divides communities of interest.”A new map could be be drawn in a way that includes all of Kansas City south of the Missouri River in the 5th District, Scaglia said, and still give Republicans the electoral advantage they are seeking.State Rep. Don Mayhew, a Republican from Crocker, countered that he believes Kansas City would benefit by being represented by three members of Congress.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757068115039.png" alt="Missouri Republicans are pushing to enact this map to revise congressional district lines in a special session. The GOP’s goal is to win the 5th District seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat (Screenshot from Missouri House website)." />
 <figcaption>Missouri Republicans are pushing to enact this map to revise congressional district lines in a special session. The GOP’s goal is to win the 5th District seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat (Screenshot from Missouri House website).</figcaption>
 </figure>The proposed new map leaves two districts untouched — the 7th District in southwest Missouri and 8th District in&nbsp;southeast Missouri, both represented by Republicans. It only tinkers with the 1st District, based in St. Louis and represented by Democrat Wesley Bell.&nbsp;The 2nd District, represented by Republican Ann Wagner, moves south of the Missouri River, taking in southern St. Louis suburbs along with Gasconade,&nbsp; Crawford, Jefferson and Washington counties.&nbsp;The 3rd District, represented by Republican Bob Onder, swaps territory with the 2nd, taking over all of St. Charles and Warren counties, adding Audrain, Lincoln, Monroe, Pike and Ralls counties as it stretches north to Hannabil and encompasses nearly all of Columbia.The 4th and 6th Districts are where the Kansas City voters who previously all lived in the 5th will be moved.&nbsp;The 4th District loses parts of Columbia, along with Sedalia and Warrensburg to the 5th District in order to pick up downtown Kansas City. It is represented by Republican Mark Alford.&nbsp;The 6th District runs across the entire northern half of the state, picking up a piece of Kansas City north of the Missouri River.&nbsp;It’s the 5th District that sees the most substantial changes. Previously encompassing nearly all of Kansas City, the district now only includes the city’s east side, then stretches east to encompass Jefferson City all the way to Phelps County. It also includes the northern portion of Boone County, but not the Democrat-leaning areas of Columbia.&nbsp;The 5th District also picks up six counties from the 3rd District — Cole, Cooper, Howard, Maries, Moniteau and Miller counties as well as Morgan County from the 4th District.Sharp asked Deaton Thursday whether he would be open to changing the map, even in small ways. Deaton said the map was produced and requested by the governor, and he “can’t imagine myself at this time supporting any changes.”&nbsp;“You move one line to make one person happy,” Deaton said, “and you have to move seven other lines and you’ve got seven new enemies… this is the map I’m supporting.”&nbsp;As the committee was preparing to vote, Sharp offered an amendment moving a small portion of south Kansas City in the Hickman Mills area — around 12,000 voters — back into the 5th District. The change would be balanced out by moving voters near Grain Valley to the 4th District.Republicans opposed the change, and Sharp withdrew the amendment in the hope of offering it again when the full House debates the bill next week.Aune said the entire process “reeks of an authoritarian power grab.”State Rep. Richard West, a Wentzville Republican and chair of the committee, praised the map for moving all of St. Charles County into the same district.&nbsp;“My county is currently split up,” he said. “This is going to make us whole.”State Rep. Bill Hardwick, a Republican from Dixon, pushed back on the idea that what Republicans are doing by redrawing the map is out of the ordinary in American politics.“I’m not saying we should gerrymander or we shouldn’t,” he said, adding: “I’m just saying it’s been part of the republic from the beginning.”

Push to gerrymander Missouri congressional map advances

SHAWNEE&nbsp; COUNTY—Law enforcement investigating a deadly shooting in Topeka and have made an arrest.

Just before 5p.m. Wednesday, police&nbsp;responded to a shooting in the 1000 block of NE Poplar Street in Topeka, according to Topeka Police Lt. Ronnie Connell.&nbsp; As officers arrived in the area, they located two men suffering from life-threatening injuries. While on the scene, one individual was pronounced deceased by medical personnel. The second was transported by ambulance to a local hospital.

As a result of the investigation, Dalton Wolf Thompson, 28, of Topeka, was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Murder in the 1st Degree, Attempted Murder in the 1st Degree and&nbsp;&nbsp;Aggravated Battery

This is the 17th homicide investigation of 2025 in the city of Topeka, according to Connell.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757067919776.png" alt="Thompson photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Thompson photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE&nbsp; COUNTY—Law enforcement investigating a deadly shooting in Topeka and have made an arrest.Just before 5p.m. Wednesday, police&nbsp;responded to a shooting in the 1000 block of NE Poplar Street in Topeka, according to Topeka Police Lt. Ronnie Connell.&nbsp; As officers arrived in the area, they located two men suffering from life-threatening injuries. While on the scene, one individual was pronounced deceased by medical personnel. The second was transported by ambulance to a local hospital.As a result of the investigation, Dalton Wolf Thompson, 28, of Topeka, was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Murder in the 1st Degree, Attempted Murder in the 1st Degree and&nbsp;&nbsp;Aggravated BatteryThis is the 17th homicide investigation of 2025 in the city of Topeka, according to Connell.

Police: Kansas man jailed for shooting that left 1 dead, 1 injured 

The 2025 Kansas State Fair opened its gates Friday morning under a light drizzle — a reminder, as Kansas State Fair General Manager Bryan Schulz put it, that “you just never know what you’re going to have for weather in Kansas.” While the rain dampened the sidewalks, spirits remained high as opening ceremonies celebrated the start of 10 days of agriculture, entertainment, and tradition.

The day began with a ribbon cutting at the People’s Bank &amp; Trust Arena, where a new canopy has been added to provide shade and shelter for visitors. Schulz noted that the canopy was just one of many improvements across the grounds, alongside ongoing renovations of the historic Bison Building. Exterior work is nearly complete, and interior upgrades will begin later this month.

Concertgoers can look forward to a strong lineup of entertainment, beginning tonight with Sam Barber and Avery Anna at the Nex-Tech Grandstand. Ticket sales are already running ahead of last year’s pace, according to Schulz, with strong presales and plenty of walk-up traffic expected. “Our percentage sold is way above where we had expected it to be,” he said.

Visitors will also notice new food options this year, including pulled pork corn dogs, firecracker wontons, and pineapple smoothies served right in a carved fruit shell. Fairgoers are encouraged to download the official Kansas State Fair app for the latest updates, schedules, and vendor locations.

Agriculture remains at the heart of the fair. Schulz emphasized the importance of showcasing Kansas’ farming roots, even as some state fairs around the country move away from that focus. “We want to make sure our agricultural aspects are being promoted here at the Kansas State Fair,” he said.

Beyond the midway and the rides, one of the most heartwarming events takes place Friday with the Championship Livestock Show at Prairie Pavilion, where Special Olympics athletes are paired with FFA and 4-H youth to show animals in the ring. Schulz called it one of the most rewarding parts of the fair: “For someone who has never been around livestock, to be able to walk with an animal and work with it is truly special.”

The Kansas State Fair runs through Sept. 14, featuring daily entertainment, livestock shows, exhibits, and hundreds of vendors. Tickets and event packages are available online at kansasstatefair.com or at the gate.

The 2025 Kansas State Fair opened on Friday with a special celebration honoring seniors during "Young at Heart Day". Guests 55 and older will enjoy discounted $2 gate admission as the Fair officially opens its 10-day run at the Hutchinson fairgrounds.

The day began with the Working Equitation Show at 8 a.m. in Expo II, followed by popular family attractions such as Moo-U Guided Barn Tours at the Birthing Center and Dr. Goddard’s Lab demonstrations at the Education Center. Throughout the morning, visitors can also catch Hedrick’s Pig Races, the Chainsaw Woodcarvers, and a variety of art demonstrations in the Oz Gallery.

At 11 a.m., the official Opening Ceremony takes place at the Peoples Bank and Trust Arena, followed by a ribbon-cutting at 11:15 a.m. The afternoon schedule is packed with livestock competitions including goat, swine, sheep, and beef showmanship events, along with the Draft Horse Show in Expo Center. Visitors can also enjoy special contests such as homemade ice cream judging and the “It’s All About the Bread” competition.

Entertainment highlights include the Cowboy Circus, Ron Diamond the Hypnotist, and “It’s Showtime Circus” at Gottschalk Park. Musical performances will feature Sweet Rhubarb on the Lowen Corporation Stage, Jay Jackson with Nashville’s Finest at the Peoples Bank and Trust Arena, and Wyatt Henson performing at Lake Talbott.

The day wraps up with a big night at the Nex-Tech Grandstand, where rising country artists Sam Barber and Avery Anna take the stage.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757084774653.jpeg" alt="State Fair Opening Ceremonies-Post photo" />
 <figcaption>State Fair Opening Ceremonies-Post photo</figcaption>
 </figure>The 2025 Kansas State Fair opened its gates Friday morning under a light drizzle — a reminder, as Kansas State Fair General Manager Bryan Schulz put it, that “you just never know what you’re going to have for weather in Kansas.” While the rain dampened the sidewalks, spirits remained high as opening ceremonies celebrated the start of 10 days of agriculture, entertainment, and tradition.The day began with a ribbon cutting at the People’s Bank &amp; Trust Arena, where a new canopy has been added to provide shade and shelter for visitors. Schulz noted that the canopy was just one of many improvements across the grounds, alongside ongoing renovations of the historic Bison Building. Exterior work is nearly complete, and interior upgrades will begin later this month.Concertgoers can look forward to a strong lineup of entertainment, beginning tonight with Sam Barber and Avery Anna at the Nex-Tech Grandstand. Ticket sales are already running ahead of last year’s pace, according to Schulz, with strong presales and plenty of walk-up traffic expected. “Our percentage sold is way above where we had expected it to be,” he said.Visitors will also notice new food options this year, including pulled pork corn dogs, firecracker wontons, and pineapple smoothies served right in a carved fruit shell. Fairgoers are encouraged to download the official Kansas State Fair app for the latest updates, schedules, and vendor locations.Agriculture remains at the heart of the fair. Schulz emphasized the importance of showcasing Kansas’ farming roots, even as some state fairs around the country move away from that focus. “We want to make sure our agricultural aspects are being promoted here at the Kansas State Fair,” he said.Beyond the midway and the rides, one of the most heartwarming events takes place Friday with the Championship Livestock Show at Prairie Pavilion, where Special Olympics athletes are paired with FFA and 4-H youth to show animals in the ring. Schulz called it one of the most rewarding parts of the fair: “For someone who has never been around livestock, to be able to walk with an animal and work with it is truly special.”The Kansas State Fair runs through Sept. 14, featuring daily entertainment, livestock shows, exhibits, and hundreds of vendors. Tickets and event packages are available online at kansasstatefair.com or at the gate.----------------------------The 2025 Kansas State Fair opened on Friday with a special celebration honoring seniors during "Young at Heart Day". Guests 55 and older will enjoy discounted $2 gate admission as the Fair officially opens its 10-day run at the Hutchinson fairgrounds.The day began with the Working Equitation Show at 8 a.m. in Expo II, followed by popular family attractions such as Moo-U Guided Barn Tours at the Birthing Center and Dr. Goddard’s Lab demonstrations at the Education Center. Throughout the morning, visitors can also catch Hedrick’s Pig Races, the Chainsaw Woodcarvers, and a variety of art demonstrations in the Oz Gallery.At 11 a.m., the official Opening Ceremony takes place at the Peoples Bank and Trust Arena, followed by a ribbon-cutting at 11:15 a.m. The afternoon schedule is packed with livestock competitions including goat, swine, sheep, and beef showmanship events, along with the Draft Horse Show in Expo Center. Visitors can also enjoy special contests such as homemade ice cream judging and the “It’s All About the Bread” competition.Entertainment highlights include the Cowboy Circus, Ron Diamond the Hypnotist, and “It’s Showtime Circus” at Gottschalk Park. Musical performances will feature Sweet Rhubarb on the Lowen Corporation Stage, Jay Jackson with Nashville’s Finest at the Peoples Bank and Trust Arena, and Wyatt Henson performing at Lake Talbott.The day wraps up with a big night at the Nex-Tech Grandstand, where rising country artists Sam Barber and Avery Anna take the stage.