Garmin Announces Major Expansion at Olathe Headquarters
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Garmin International says it is planning a $200 million expansion at its headquarters in Olathe. Garmin and the city of Olathe announced yesterday (FRI) that the company will build a new manufacturing and distribution center and new road through its campus. The project is expected to take two years. The Kansas City Star reports after the expansion is completed, the company plans to renovate its existing manufacturing and warehouse space for research, development and office space. The company currently employs about 2,800 at its headquarters. The expansion will accommodate another 2,600 workers. Company spokesman Ted Gartner says officials have not decided whether about 600 Garmin workers who work elsewhere in the Kansas City area will be moved to the expanded headquarters.
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Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado Reach Republican River Agreement
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado have reached a new agreement in their longstanding conflict over water in the Republican River basin. The three states announced yesterday (FRI) that they have signed resolutions following monthly negotiations that stretched over two years. The two resolutions are intended to provide greater flexibility and certainty for all water users in the region. The states have been locked in legal battles over the water for the last 15 years. The 1943 compact entitles Nebraska to 49 percent of the river's water, while Kansas receives 40 percent and Colorado gets 11 percent. The Republican River originates in Colorado, crosses the northwestern tip of Kansas into Nebraska, then runs through Nebraska before re-entering Kansas in its northeastern corner.
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Kansas Pilot Hurt in Small Plane Crash
BUSHTON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Kansas pilot has been hurt in a small plane crash in central Kansas. A spokesman for the Kansas Highway Patrol says 51-year-old Bradley Fitchett of Ellsworth was using a small agricultural aircraft to spray pesticide on a field south of Bushton when the plane developed an engine problem Thursday. The Hays Post says Fitchett attempted to make an emergency landing when the plane flipped. The pilot was transported to Great Bend hospital and then transferred to a Wichita hospital. Jacobs says Fitchett was wearing a helmet that was crushed in two places. Jacobs says it saved Fitchett from a more serious head injury. The accident is under investigation.
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Two Missouri Men Charged in Kansas Bank Robbery
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Two Kansas City, Missouri, men have been charged with robbing a bank on the Kansas side of the metropolitan area. The U.S. Attorney's office says 57-year-old Terry Lovelady and 42-year-old Chad English were charged Thursday in federal court. Lovelady is accused in the criminal complaint of robbing a Leawood branch of the Central Bank of the Midwest on Wednesday. The complaint says English drove the getaway car during a chase that ended when the vehicle jumped a curb, rolled down a hill and came to a stop in a St. Joseph Medical Center parking lot. The men face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted. No attorney is listed for Lovelady in online court records. English's attorney didn't immediately return an email message from The Associated Press.
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Pokemon Go Player Injured in Crash at Wichita State Campus
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Pokemon Go player has crashed his car in southern Kansas while playing the mobile game. KAKE-TV reports that the crash happened Thursday morning on Wichita State University's campus in Maize. Maize police said the man has been playing Pokemon Go while driving when his car collided with a pole in a parking lot. The man in his 20s received cuts and scrapes. His car had to be towed from the lot.
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Defense Attorneys Clash with Kansas Prison over Recorded Meetings
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Defense attorneys who represent inmates at a privately run federal prison in Kansas were livid after learning that their meetings with clients had been recorded on video. The recordings that came to light this month had no audio, but the attorney complaints raise the question of whether nonverbal interactions such as body language or the exchange of legal documents are protected under attorney-client privilege. A federal judge says the videos might have violated the Sixth Amendment rights of hundreds of inmates in Leavenworth and ordered them stopped. The company that runs the prison, Corrections Corporation of America, insists that silent video recordings of inmate-attorney meetings are a standard practice throughout the country and are used solely to enhance the prison's security.
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Kansas City Groups Builds Tiny Duplexes for Homeless
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Members of a Kansas City group are building a tiny house duplex to be used as transitional housing for homeless people. The Kansas City Star reports that members of YouthBuild KCK are building the tiny house as part of the "Bring Kansas Home" Kansas Housing Conference. The tiny house duplex, which will have two separate 64-square-foot homes, will be able to provide shelter for 90 days while people look for permanent housing. The duplex will be placed in Pittsburg, Kansas. The home is expected to be mostly completed by the end of the conference. The duplex is being funded by the Kansas Housing Resources Corp. and private donors. YouthBuild KCK allows at-risk youth to complete high school while earning construction certification.
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Gas Line Leak Temporarily Shuts Down I-70 in Central Kansas
GLENDALE, Kan. (AP) — A central Kansas gas line leak has temporarily shut down Interstate 70. KWCH-TV reports that no one was hurt from the leak, which was Thursday afternoon around 20 miles west of Salina. Because the leak caused a loud noise and flying dirt, it was initially reported as a gas line explosion. KAKE-TV reports that Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Gardner says gas levels had lowered to safe readings and both directions of I-70 were reopened around 3:15 p.m. Thursday. Northern Natural Gas says there was no danger to the public.
