Dodge City

Southwest Kansas has the highest concentration of Latino residents in the state. But the area also has some of the lowest rates of people registered to vote and voter turnout. Young Latinos there are going back to the basics to try to get their communities more involved in politics.

Western Kansas is projected to see large population declines in the coming years, but immigration may be the key to stemming the losses. The communities that have embraced their diversity have seen their population stabilize and the local culture shift, redefining what rural Kansas looks like.

About 65% of Dodge City’s residents are Latino. But a coalition of voting rights groups argues that an "at-large" election system allows the city’s white voting bloc to prevent the Latino population from electing candidates. No Latino candidate has been elected to the commission this century.

Don Henry was a 1930s college kid from Dodge City, Kansas, who left everything he knew to join the fight against fascism. His life moved one music professor to put the story down in song.

Police departments across Kansas are struggling to hire. In Dodge City, that means younger officers walking the beat.

In a pair of predominantly Hispanic southwest Kansas communities, two women try to become the first Latinas voted into local office. Elections earlier this month show both how far Latina candidates have come and how many barriers they still face.

COVID-19 hit Kansas meatpacking plants particularly hard during the pandemic. Now some workers are proving hesitant about getting vaccinated against the coronavirus.

A pesar de que mucho del país se anima a la posibilidad de vacunarse, grupos considerables quedan sin convencerse aún. En las comunidades de migrantes y refugiados en el suroeste de Kansas, las barreras culturales y el acceso a la vacuna podrían dejar abandonados a los más vulnerables.

The hard job of winning over people who have unfounded fears about the #COVID-19 vaccine — including your mom.

Statistics suggest Hispanic communities lag in access to the potentially life-saving coronavirus vaccines.

The meatpacking plants that drive the southwest Kansas economy were spared a coronavirus shutdown — even though they were hotspots for infection.

Even missing 1,000 people from the count can add up to millions in missed federal funding for the state and its communities each year.