CONWAY SPRINGS, Kan. (KAKE) – Rural Kansas residents are angered by bad cellphone connection in Conway Springs due to only one service provider working in the area. “It’s kind of a monopoly as far as the cellphone service goes,” said Clay Murphy, superintendent of Conway Springs schools. A map released by Gov. Laura Kelly showed […]

The Kansas Senate gave initial approval Tuesday to a pair of bills relating to expansion of the state’s Rural Opportunity Zone program. The program provides student loan forgiveness and income tax waivers to those who relocate to rural areas. About 80 counties already fall under the program. Proposed legislation would add eight counties to the […]

The Kansas Legislature has appointed a new, bipartisan Rural Revitalization Committee, with Rep. Don Hineman as its chairman and Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers a strong supporter. Here is a hint for them: There is only one way to bring economic growth to rural Kansas. Bring in the workers that businesses want to hire. That means […]

“What would Emporia look like without a hospital?” That’s the question Lieutenant Governor Lynn Rogers asked administrators and health care providers at Newman Regional Health during a stop on his statewide rural health care tour Friday afternoon. Three Kansas hospitals have closed in the last eight years, including the Central Kansas Medical Center in Great […]

Tim Carpenter TimVCarpenter Thursday Feb 21, 2019 at 4:47 PM Feb 21, 2019 at 7:55 PM City manager Cherise Tieben’s firm belief that housing construction was a market-driven segment of the economy didn’t survive a 2007 meeting with exasperated Dodge City bankers, developers, Realtors and employers. She learned from the group that the southwest Kansas community’s housing stock was profoundly […]

Tim Carpenter Sunday Feb 17, 2019 at 5:00 PM Feb 18, 2019 at 10:41 AM The heart of Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers’ rural development initiative is the search for a basket of remedies to quality of life challenges eroding communities outside the state’s urban centers. The administration’s new Office of Rural Prosperity intends to grapple with housing shortages, financially struggling […]

This story was updated to add the comments of Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly. Oswego Community Hospital, a 12-bed critical access hospital in southeast Kansas, abruptly closed down on Thursday, citing insufficient revenue to cover its operating expenses. The hospital’s board released a statement saying the hospital had “weathered low patient volumes; high number of uninsured […]

By T.J. RoweSpecial to The Capital-Journal Monday Feb 11, 2019 at 5:25 PM Feb 11, 2019 at 5:25 PM Rural Kansas physicians and health officials outlined Monday for a House committee devoted to rural issues the suffering of families struggling with mental illness and growing interest in Medicaid expansion to improve access to treatment. Nathan Fawson, executive director of Southeast […]

Mary Clarkin Saturday Jan 19, 2019 at 1:01 AM Only one committee in the Kansas House of Representatives has a leadership team comprised of three lawmakers living west of U.S. 81. It’s the new Rural Revitalization Committee. The problems of rural Kansas are varied and challenging, “but perhaps we can bend the curve,” said Committee […]