KCK Police Involved in Shooting
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City, Kansas police say a driver who accelerated a car toward officers has been wounded. Police said in a news release that the shooting happened Saturday after officers observed a vehicle driving erratically in a parking lot. When officers approached the vehicle, the driver accelerated toward the officers, trapping one of the officers against another vehicle. That's when one of the officers shot and wounded the suspect. Police said the suspect and officer were transported to an area hospital with minor injuries. An investigation is ongoing.
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Suspicious Package Reroutes Topeka Parade
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A suspicious package that turned out to be trash caused a scare at a Topeka parade. WIBW reports that the Kansas Shrine Bowl Parade was rerouted Saturday morning after a paper bag was discovered inside a bin containing rental property ads. Police Sergeant Byron Endsley says the person who found the neatly folded brown bag flagged down an officer. Authorities shut down a one-block area around the box while a bomb robot retrieved the package. Authorities suspect someone threw the trash in the rental property bin by mistake. Endsley says it's better to be safe than sorry.
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Kansas at Crossroads of Marijuana Trafficking
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a burgeoning domestic marijuana industry has transformed the potency of the drug now hitting the streets. In the past, law enforcement says they mostly seized compressed marijuana bricks. Now they are mostly intercepting medical-grade, domestic marijuana. A Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area study found busts involving Colorado weed were made last year in 23 states. Information obtained by The Associated Press through an open records request shows the Kansas Highway Patrol made 468 felony drug trafficking arrests last year. The agency arrested 187 people during the first five months this year. Most of the pot seized came from Colorado.
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Wichita Officer Rescues Toddler from Creek
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita police officer rescued a 2-year-old boy from a fast-flowing Wichita creek. Sergeant Bruce Watts says the boy was walking with his grandfather Friday when he slipped down a muddy hill and fell into Gypsum Creek. The boy then became caught on a rock, face down in the water, which was estimated to be between 2-and-a-half and 3 feet deep. With the help of people on the bank, Wichita police Officer Darren Sundquist was able to locate and pull out the submerged boy about 200 yards from where he fell in. The Wichita Eagle reports that fire department crews arrived a short time later and started doing compressions on the boy. Sundquist says the boy had "very, very good color within two minutes." The boy was rushed to a Wichita hospital in critical condition.
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Endangered Minnow Reintroduced in Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A tiny minnow is being reintroduced into northern Missouri waterways under a plan aimed at addressing its decline 15 years after the fish was first listed for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Topeka shiner, a silvery fish less than than 3 inches long, was listed as endangered in 1998 after its numbers dropped because of habitat loss, sedimentation and pollution in waterways throughout its range in several states, including Missouri. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Missouri Department of Conservation and The Nature Conservancy are reintroducing at least few hundred Topeka shiners into three Missouri creeks: Big Muddy Creek, Little Creek and Spring Creek. The reintroduction plan begins this summer and runs through October in waterways on lands owned by the state and The Nature Conservancy.
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KSU Expert: Beware of Blue-Green Algae
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Beware of the blue-green algae contaminating lakes in Kansas and across the nation. That's the message of Kansas State University toxicologist Deon van der Merwe. The associate professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology says health problems can arise when animals and people come into contact with various toxins produced by the toxic algae. The most prominent problem involves a toxin called microsystin. It affects the gastrointestinal tract and liver. When animals are exposed to this toxin, they may experience vomiting or diarrhea. If the exposure is severe, it can be lethal and cause liver failure in animals. Humans can also experience severe effects. But skin rashes, sneezing, coughing, irritated eyes, running noses and eye infections are more common.
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1 Developer Submits Proposal for Kansas Lake Resort
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Just one developer has submitted a proposal for building a resort at Clinton Lake near Lawrence. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the sole proposal submitted to the state by Friday's deadline came from Overland Park-based LodgeWell Resorts. Kansas Department of Administration director of operations Chuck Knapp says it "just takes one good proposal." Several development firms had attended a pre-proposal meeting for the project earlier this month. At the meeting, officials shared the results of a feasibility study. It found support for a 175-room hotel, about 15,000 square feet of conference space, three restaurants and an outdoor sports center that would include everything from hiking to water sports. The next step involves a project review. Knapp says officials hope to make an announcement this fall.
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All-In Already: Chiefs Gamble on Quick Turnaround
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — John Dorsey considers himself conservative by nature. He's willing to take a few calculated gambles, sure, but he doesn't like risks. He'd rather put his money on the sure thing.
It's a philosophy that served him well during his time in Green Bay, where he helped piece together draft classes that consistently kept the Packers in playoff contention. It's an approach that he intends to follow now that he's the general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, too.
After inheriting a downtrodden franchise that finished 2-14 last season, Dorsey set about orchestrating a near-unprecedented turnover in personnel. Veterans such as Eric Winston and Steve Breaston were let go, replaced through a mixture of trades, free agency and the draft.
Now, after getting a glimpse of the payoff during the Chiefs' offseason program, Dorsey is getting to see his rebuilt team for real this weekend during the start of training camp.