School Lunch: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2024) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Kansas Appleseed’s report on meal debt from October 2023 was featured on the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver show! During the segment, John Oliver spoke on universal free meals and lunch shaming policies and uplifted the fact that school lunch is many children’s most reliable source of nutrition each day. Watch here
Kansas voters reject constitutional amendment on judicial selection by wide margin The Kansas Reflector | The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes and Kansas Appleseed joined forces to form Kansas United for Impartial Courts in a campaign to oppose the constitutional amendment. They warned that the amendment would allow out-of-state billionaires to buy the court. Read more
Why Kansas voters will have grace period for mail ballots this election The Topeka Capital-Journal | A lawsuit was filed in Douglas County District Court in May 2025 by the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, Loud Light and the Disability Rights Center of Kansas. Read more
Millions fewer people are receiving SNAP food aid. Is that a good thing? USA Today | “I think it’s incredibly alarming that we’re seeing so many people come off the program,” Haley Kottler, who works on hunger issues at the advocacy group Appleseed Center for Law and Justice in Kansas, told USA TODAY. “We’ve never seen this.” Read more
Thousands of Kansas children lose food aid, and school lunch could be next. See why The Kansas City Star | “These are not just abstract numbers,” said Haley Kottler, senior campaign director at Kansas Appleseed, in the release about the impact of the H.R. 1 legislation, referred to by some as “the big, beautiful bill.” “These are Kansas kids losing access to food.” Read more
Don’t give privatized Kansas foster care agencies a license to abuse kids | Opinion Special to The Wichita Eagle Opinion Editorial by Kelm Lear and Nicki Rose | “When children experience abuse, neglect, or systemic failures while in the custody of a foster care agency, their ability to seek redress through the courts is one of the few mechanisms available to ensure transparency and accountability.” Read more
Kansas bill could undo successful juvenile justice reforms | Opinion Special to The Topeka Capital-Journal Opinion Editorial by Logan Seacrest and Brenna Visocsky | During the 1990s, “three strikes” laws created automatic prison sentences for repeat adult offenders. It took decades to recognize the massive, costly failure of this inflexible approach. Yet lawmakers in Topeka are now speeding toward an even more rigid sentencing regime — this time targeting children. Read more
Announcing the 2026 Appleseed Advocate of the Year & Rising Star of the Year The Appleseed Network | Haley Kottler leads anti-hunger advocacy as the Senior Campaign Director for Kansas Appleseed. She has spent the past seven years working alongside families, advocates, and community leaders to strengthen food access across Kansas. Read more
Forty individuals, organizations object to Kansas Senate bill adding barriers to food and health aid The Manhattan Mercury | Under the Senate bill, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department for Children and Families would be required to establish data-matching systems to automatically share personal information on Kansans with other state agencies. Read more
Kansas bill eliminates mail-in ballots if court strikes down signature verification law The Kansas Reflector | “The League of Women Voters, Loud Light, Kansas Appleseed and the Lois Curtis Center challenged the signature verification law in a 2021 lawsuit that remains under litigation.” Read more
Correct number of kids in Kansas detention is always 'less' | Opinion Special to The Topeka Capital-Journal by Brenna Visocsky | “Despite the general decrease in youth crime rates, the nation has seen a disturbing resurgence of the “super predator” criminal youth talking points.” Read more
