Author

Sherman Smith

Sherman Smith is the editor in chief of Kansas Reflector. He writes about things that powerful people don't want you to know. A two-time Kansas Press Association journalist of the year, his award-winning reporting includes stories about education, technology, foster care, voting, COVID-19, sex abuse, and access to reproductive health care. Before founding Kansas Reflector in 2020, he spent 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal. He graduated from Emporia State University in 2004, back when the school still valued English and journalism. He was raised in the country at the end of a dead end road in Lyon County.

Kansas officials downplayed involvement in Marion raid. Here’s what they knew.

By: Sherman Smith - November 8, 2023

MARION — Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody enlisted the support of local and state law enforcement officials in the days before he led raids on the local newspaper office, the publisher’s home and the home of a city councilwoman. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Department of Revenue, Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Office […]

How a fake Keanu Reeves convinced a Kansas woman to abandon her dream of being president

By: Sherman Smith - October 6, 2023

LAWRENCE — Joan Farr knew she had been conned before Keanu Reeves brushed her off after his concert last week in Lawrence. After months of online correspondence, $9,000 in Bitcoin transfers and a confrontation with her family, she understood the individual who promised to endorse her presidential campaign and even be her date for her […]

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