Department of Energy

Scientists in Kansas, Missouri and other states were poised to start research to cut U.S. reliance on fertilizer imports, keep biofuel farming cost-competitive and tackle a potent greenhouse gas.

Workers who were hired in the past two years or recently got a promotion were fired for “performance reasons,” because they were listed as probationary employees. A judge ruled their firings illegal.

Thousands of probationary federal employees fired by the Trump administration must be offered job reinstatement within the next week, a judge has ruled, because they were terminated unlawfully. That likely includes many fired workers from the Kansas City region.

When an old chiller stopped working in 2016, the Parkway School district Decided to install a geothermal system that uses the Earth’s temperature to heat and cool the school. It also recently added solar panels to the building. Altogether, the district says Parkway South is saving more than $100,000 a year in energy costs.

At the same time, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson upheld a federal jury’s conviction of Feng “Franklin” Tao for making false statements to KU.

Feng "Franklin" Tao, a tenured chemistry professor at the University of Kansas, was the first defendant among about two dozen academics charged under the Justice Department's since-disbanded program.

Feng Tao, a chemistry professor, has denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.