By NADYA FAULX

Kansas is on its way to becoming a majority-minority state, with white residents expected to make up less than half of the population by 2066.

A new report from the Kansas Health Institute shows that the state is quickly becoming older, more urban and more diverse.

“The urban areas of our state have seen some increase in the white population,” says Steve Coen, head of the Kansas Health Foundation, which commissioned the report. “Every county in the state has seen an increase in diverse populations, people of color. Every single county.”

View the entire report here.

Kansas’ overall population was about 2.9 million in 2016; it’s expected to grow to 3.2 million by 2036, and 3.6 million by 2066. The growth is driven entirely by minority groups: The Hispanic population in Kansas is expected to more than double in the next 20 years to about 20 percent. Meanwhile, the white population is projected to shrink steadily, following a trend that goes back to 2000.

“If we did not have this growth in minority population in the state of Kansas,” Coen says, “we would not have had any growth in Kansas whatsoever in the last 16 years.”

The Wichita metro area mirrors the shift happening at the state level, with minority populations — Hispanics, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Native Americans — expected to make up more than half of the total population by 2066, if not sooner.

“I think Wichita’s going to change much quicker,” Coen says.

He says in many ways, the change is a good thing for Kansas, not just culturally, but also economically: The growth in minority populations has kept the state’s unemployment rate stable, allowing for a larger pool of labor for businesses.

“To have a lower unemployment rate, we couldn’t recruit any industries to Kansas,” Coen says. “We already have a really low unemployment rate the way it is right now.

“And we’ve heard our community leaders talk a lot about how we need to have this talent in our community in the future. We need to have this work force, and they’re struggling with how to do that.

“So let’s embrace this change, and figure out how we can use this future workforce that we have that will probably stay in our community.”

He says the changing demographic makeup will have implications, like on education. Black and Hispanic students in Kansas graduate high school at lower rates than their white peers; and while dropout rates have fallen across the board nationally, they’re highest among Hispanic students.

“I think with this change, of us becoming a majority-minority state, education becomes an even bigger factor,” Coen says. “We have to talk about how do we address that issue long-term.”

Nadya Faulx reports for KMUW and the Kansas News Service. Follow Nadya on Twitter @NadyaFaulx.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Police have released the names of two men shot and killed by officers in downtown Kansas City.

Police say 34-year-old Robert White and 33-year-old Timothy Mosley were killed in the shooting late Thursday afternoon. Police say the men were fighting over a golf cart and a gun in the middle of Barney Allis Plaza, a downtown public square.

The melee led hundreds of professors and teachers in town for an event at the nearby Kansas City Convention Center to briefly seek shelter in the basement.

Police Chief Rick Smith says the officers “did what they thought was necessary.”

The shooting happened less than an hour after city officers fatally shot a woman reportedly seen brandishing a sword, raising concerns about police tactics and how the investigations will be handled.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – A recent catch in a lake straddling the Missouri and Arkansas border is causing concern among some fisheries biologists who say they don’t want the invasive fish disrupting the food chain.

The Springfield News-Leader reports two fishermen recently caught a 45-pound (20-kilogram) bighead carp while bowfishing on the Missouri side of Bull Shoals Lake.

Nathan Recktenwald is a fisheries biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. He identified the bighead carp as a fish that the department doesn’t want to find in its reservoirs. A native of Asia, the fish competes with other larval fish that eat zooplankton, which can disrupt the food chain.

He says it unclear how the fish got into the lake. Recktenwald says there’s no evidence of spawning and it seems to be an isolated incident.

GEARY COUNTY—Tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and troops from the 1st Infantry Division safely crossed a man-made bridge of about 600 meters across a stretch of Milford Lake in the Madison Creek area Friday morning.

Lieutenant Colonel Joey Sullinger said Fort Riley partnered on this exercise with the Fifth Engineers from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, including three active component bridging companies and one from the National Guard in the bridging operation over a 600-meter stretch of the reservoir.

“That allowed an entire battalion of tanks and Bradley’s to cross it this morning. So you had dozens of armored vehicles and hundreds of U.S. Soldiers from the Big Red One crossing that bridge this morning.”

Ethan Wharton worked with the Fifth Engineer Battalion from Fort Leonard, Missouri on this bridging operation. He explained at the start of the bridge building work they did survey. “Identified the slips of the boat ramps that we’d be using. We sent our survey and design and construction crews to reinforce those slips. ” When that work was complete boats were launched into the water. “Once the boats had hit the water we began launching bridge bays. Each bay hit the water, a boat tied off to it and started navigating the water. And then bridges started being put together by the boats with a bridging crew.” They latched each bridge section together with a ramp on each end for entry and exit across the gap.

Sullinger noted this was the first time the majority of the Big Red One Soldiers had crossed a river “so they know they can do it safely, efficiently and relatively quickly when needed.”

HIGHLANDVILLE, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri man faces several charges accusing him of aiming a gun at a deputy before being caught with dozens of stolen firearms.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that 33-year-old Jason Roy Anderson of Boonville is held without bond following his arrest on Thursday in southwestern Missouri.

Christian County Deputy Lachlan Hicks was conducting traffic enforcement on Highway 65 when a pickup truck sped by and drove erratically before being stopped.

A probable cause statement says Anderson emerged from the truck and pointed a .22-caliber rifle at Hicks’ car. The weapon apparently jammed at some point. It was unclear if any shots were fired. The deputy was not hurt.

The suspect was subdued with a stun gun. Police say they found 53 firearms and 5,000 rounds of ammunition in the truck.

CASS COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 2p.m. Friday in Cass County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Peterbilt semi driven by Perry L. McCleod, 63, Aurora, was southbound on Interstate 49 at Route C.

The semi driver locked the semi’s brakes in traffic and skidded into the rear of a 2006 Toyota Tundra driven by Karl O. Blaser, 44, Butler, who had slowed to due traffic.

The Tundra traveled off the right side of the road and overturned. The semi then collided with a Dodge Caravan and a Chevy Traverse.

Blaser was pronounced dead at the scene. McCleod was not injured.

The driver of the Caravan Howard P. Resz, 62, Grandivew, and a passenger Louise E. Resz, 62, Grandivew, were transported to St. Lukes’s East.

The driver of the Traverse Emily D. Lewis, 26, Neosho, and a passenger Megan A. Sexon, 28, Goodman, were transported to Belton Regional.

All six were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the MSHP.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Lawrence police say a Missouri man has been taken to jail on suspicion of indecent exposure after allegedly “mooning” officers who pulled him over in a traffic stop.

The incident happened Thursday in Lawrence.

Lawrence Police Department spokeswoman Kim Murphree says officers initially pulled the 23-year-old Liberty resident over on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence and having an open container.

She says he walked away from the vehicle to supposedly go to a gas station to relieve himself but instead stopped on the sidewalk and started yelling at officers and exposing himself twice.

Police say alcohol is considered a contributing factor.