Kansas Union to Challenge Part of Education Law
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The largest teachers' union in Kansas says it will mount a legal challenge to parts of a new law that will end guaranteed tenure in public schools and encourage corporate funding for private school scholarships. The Kansas National Education Association announced yesterday (FRI) that it would have a news conference at 11 a.m. Monday at its Topeka headquarters. The announcement said the legal challenge would cover "aspects" of an education law approved this year by the Republican-dominated Legislature. It was not more specific, and KNEA officials wouldn't comment. The new law boosts aid to poor school districts, but starting in July, it will end guaranteed teacher tenure. It also grants up to $10 million in tax credits a year to corporations that bankroll private-school scholarships for at-risk children.
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2 Cases of Measles Confirmed in Northeast Kansas
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — State health officials have confirmed two cases of measles in northeast Kansas and say they may be connected to four cases in a nearby Missouri county. The Kansas Department of Public Health said yesterday (FRI) the two measles cases were confirmed in Johnson County. KDHE spokeswoman Aimee Rosenow told Kansas Public Radio they involve a child who was not vaccinated for measles, and an adult whose vaccination status is uncertain. She says those two people are connected. Rosenow also said the Johnson County patients may have had contact with some of the four people in Clay County, Missouri who were confirmed to have measles in mid-May. Those patients included an unvaccinated infant who was diagnosed with the contagious respiratory disease after the family returned from traveling abroad.
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Man On Witness List in Jewish Sites Deaths Charged
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal weapons charge has been filed against a witness in the case against a 73-year-old man accused of fatally shooting three people at suburban Kansas City Jewish sites. A May 7th grand jury indictment shows John Reidle is accused of lying about buying a Remington shotgun at a Walmart in southwest Missouri on April 9th. Reidle has pleaded not guilty to the charge of importing/manufacturing firearms. The Kansas City Star first reported that Reidle is among witnesses listed on the Johnson County, Kansas, complaint against Frazier Glenn Cross Junior. Cross is charged with killing three people in attacks at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas, and the nearby Village Shalom senior care facility. The indictment does not link the shotgun purchase to the April 13 shootings.