TOPEKA — The Wichita area reported its first case of measles on Wednesday, an announcement that moves this highly contagious disease out of rural southwest Kansas counties and into a major metropolitan area. Kansas is…

TOPEKA — Ten Kansas counties stand to receive millions in federal funds to improve the safety and efficiency of local roads. Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday announced the $6.65 million in federal funds for 10…

TOPEKA — After 10 years of operation, the Care Arc Health Clinic in Eureka will close its doors at the end of February.  The clinic’s closure follows a trend of teetering rural health services in…

PAOLA — On a Monday afternoon, Rockers Pharmacy is hopping. The pharmacy sits on the edge of a large parking lot off Baptiste Drive, the main drag in Paola, Kansas. The building used to be…

Rural Kansas communities are critical to the future of our state. We know that for our communities to thrive, rural Kansans require core services to raise a family — access to early childhood services, high…

Kansas’s rural identity is struggling. Partly this is because it’s not entirely accurate. The state’s population of 2.9 million is concentrated in the cities and suburbs of the Topeka-Lawrence-Kansas City nexus, with nearly 1.2 million…

MONTEZUMA COUNTY, Colo. — Halfway through a 20-mile ride with a friend, taking our horses down a canyon in southwest Colorado, I chose to expound confidently on a topic I thought I knew. My friend…

WASHINGTON — The 2020 census missed the most households on Native American reservations and in other rural areas, according to the latest Census Bureau report released Tuesday. The Census Bureau missed more than one in…

WICHITA, Kansas — Electric cars and trucks might prove a perfect fit for rural Kansas. “They’re better vehicles. They’re more reliable. They’re less costly. They’ll save people money,” said Peter Zalzal, an attorney with the…

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The rural economy in parts of 10 Plains and Western states continues to grow, but rural bank CEOs say their biggest fears for the 2021 economy are excessive inflation and higher…