February Tax Collections in Kansas Fall Below Estimates
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – February marked the fifth month in a row that Kansas tax collections came in below estimates. The Kansas News Service reports that Kansas tax collections last month were 6% less than state estimates, or $33 million short, … largely due to income and sales taxes not meeting targets. Total tax revenue is also down compared to this time last year. The state has built up a revenue surplus in recent years but has fallen short of monthly estimates since October. As lawmakers work to pass tax cuts this session and return some of that surplus to taxpayers, Democratic Governor Laura Kelly says she’ll only approve cuts that keep the state’s budget balanced.
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Kansas Lawmakers Consider Offering Tax Breaks as Incentive to Draw More Electric Vehicle Manufacturers
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Kansas lawmakers are considering new tax breaks to attract electric vehicle manufacturers to the state. The Kansas News Service reports that a qualified company could receive up to $35 million in incentives, including an investment tax credit and a sales tax exemption on construction costs. Proponents say such tax breaks are an effective way to draw in new businesses and boost the economy. But critics say projects supported by incentives often don’t meet economic expectations. In 2022, the legislature passed more than $800 million in tax breaks for Panasonic to build a factory in De Soto. That factory will produce batteries for electric vehicles starting next year.
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Severe Weather Awareness Week Begins; Statewide Tornado Drill Wednesday
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - Monday marks the beginning of Severe Weather Awareness Week. The National Weather Service in Topeka says the time to prepare for summertime storms is now, and that Kansans should make a plan to get weather notifications, communicate with family members, and prepare their homes for possible tornadoes and storms. Each day this week will focus on a particular weather hazard, and the National Weather Service will hold a statewide tornado drill on Wednesday.
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Windy, Dry Weather Puts Kansas Meteorologists on High Alert for Wildfire Conditions
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) – Kansas is on high alert for wildfires as windy, dry conditions persist. The Kansas News Service reports that after two large fires scorched areas of Texas and Nebraska, Kansas State University meteorologists have become increasingly concerned about the risk for Kansas. A wet season last year has actually increased fire risks right now. Christopher Redmond, a meteorologist at K-State says the rain helped crop production, but also created more fuel that can burn in dry times. “It was really important for agriculture to have a wet year like that after so many dry years. But you always know that okay, that was the positive and the negative unfortunately, is the grass load going into fire season,” he explained. Redmond says relief may not come until late April when grasses start to green up.
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Grass Fire Forces Evacuations in Shawnee County
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - A large grass fire forced the evacuation of a number of homes in northern Shawnee County Sunday. WIBW reports that the Silver Lake Fire Department responded to reports of a grass fire around 11a-m near the Shawnee County State Lake; they were assisted by the Topeka and Soldier Township Fire Departments, the Shawnee County and Jackson County Sheriff's Offices, and Kansas Wildlife and Park officers. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but fire officials say they suspect the fire started from the exhaust of a diesel truck. Strong winds made the fire conditions more difficult to contain. Most of Kansas was under a Red Flag Warning at the time. No one was injured in Sunday's fire, and residents were allowed to return home after several hours.
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Research Shows Regional Cold Snaps Becoming Shorter in Duration
UNDATED (KNS) - People in Kansas and Missouri face shorter cold snaps than they once did. The Kansas News Service reports that Climate Central - a nonprofit group that compiles weather data - analyzed the longest cold streaks that nearly 250 cities across the country see each winter. Almost all of them are seeing shorter cold streaks than they did 50 years ago. In Topeka, winter’s longest cold streaks are two weeks shorter now than they used to be. Wichita, Kansas City, Joplin, Jefferson City have all seen their longest cold streaks get shorter, too. Climate Central says snowfall also has decreased over the past 50 years in most of the Kansas and Missouri cities it studied.
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State of Kansas Considers $40 Million Fund for Local Governments to Aid with Homeless Services
TOPEKA, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) – Kansas lawmakers are considering the creation of a $40 million fund to provide support for communities struggling to provide shelter and services for the unhoused. The Kansas Reflector reports that the House Committee on Welfare Reform heard testimony Thursday from Andy Brown, deputy secretary for programs at the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, on potential ways to reduce homelessness in the state.
“The fact that we have a high percentage of unsheltered folks means that the visibility of homelessness is high,” Brown said. “As we’re able to reduce the percentage of our homeless that are unsheltered, it will become something where it’s more difficult to see.”
During last year’s legislative session, reform committee lawmakers heard a bill criminalizing homeless people, which fizzled after public outcry. This session, committee chairman Rep. Francis Awerkamp, a St. Marys Republican, called homelessness in Kansas not “a massive issue,” but “certainly something we need to consider addressing.” House Bill 2723 would create a program that would be administered by KDADS to address homelessness on the local level. The $40 million would administered for one year, in fiscal year 2025, and would provide Kansas local governments with grants to build or improve shelters and homelessness services. The committee will hold a hearing on the bill March 5.
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KSU Chemical Engineer Receives Grant to Reduce Medical Use of Animal Testing
UNDATED (KNS) – A Kansas researcher is trying to reduce the medical industry's use of animal testing and streamline drug development. The Kansas News Service reports that Davood Pourkargar, a chemical engineer at Kansas State University, will help build a computer model that predicts how diseases progress in the human body and how drugs interact. To do so, he’ll use data from drug testing experiments that use cells from human organs, instead of animals. He says many times, things like adverse side effects aren’t caught in animal trials, explaining that “...for example a drug might work well in a mouse but not in a person because their bodies process things differently.” Pourkargar says ultimately, the study aims to speed up drug development, make clinical trials more efficient and reduce the risk of side effects. The two-year study is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.
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Environmental Group Voices Concerns over USDA Conservation Program
UNDATED (HPM) – An environmental group is accusing a US Department of Agriculture conservation program of adding unproven farming practices to a list of those eligible for compensation. Harvest Public Media reports that the USDA’s EQIP program pays farmers to use practices that promote conservation and curb climate change. But Environmental Working Group ag economist Anne Schechinger says many practices deemed eligible for Inflation Reduction Act funding are unproven. “USDA says that they have literature showing that these practices have climate benefits. But they don’t actually have any quantifiable data showing that these practices reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” she explained. In response, a USDA spokesman says they use a rigorous evaluation process to select their “climate smart” farming practices.
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Wichita School Board to Vote on School Closure Proposal
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS/KPR) - The Wichita school board will vote Monday on a plan to close six schools. The Kansas News Service reports that dozens of Wichita parents, students, and teachers urged school board members to reject the proposal, saying district leaders are rushing the plan and haven't spent enough time exploring alternatives. Ruth Lehman has a kindergartner at Cleaveland Elementary. She says students in low-income neighborhoods might have to walk more than two miles to school if their current schools close. Proponents of the plan say the proposal to close the six schools will trim about $16 million from the district's budget.
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Boeing Confirms It's in Talks to Buy Spirit AeroSystems
DALLAS (AP) — Boeing said Friday that it is in preliminary talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems, which builds fuselages for Boeing 737 Max jetliners, including the one that suffered a door-panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
Boeing used to own Spirit, and it said that bringing the supplier back into the Boeing fold would improve plane quality and safety, which has come under increasing scrutiny by regulators, Congress and airlines.
Buying Spirit back would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing key work on its passenger planes. That approach has been criticized as problems at Spirit have disrupted production and delivery of popular Boeing jetliners including 737s and 787s.
Concerns about quality came to a head after the Jan. 5 blowout of a panel on an Alaska 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet over Oregon.
Days after the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration announced increased oversight of Boeing and Spirit. This week, the FAA gave Boeing 90 days to submit a plan to improve quality and address safety concerns raised by a panel of experts who spent a year studying the company.
Boeing CEO David Calhoun has long defended the outsourcing strategy, but his tone changed after the blowout. On Jan. 31, as Boeing reported a fourth-quarter loss, Calhoun said that outsourcing probably went too far.
In a statement Friday, the company said, “We believe that the reintegration of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems’ manufacturing operations would further strengthen aviation safety, improve quality and serve the interests of our customers, employees, and shareholders."
A deal would give Boeing more control over its production chain, but fixing Spirit would present Boeing with new challenges while regulators are pressuring the company to improve its own work. And it could add to Boeing’s debt load, already at $52 billion.
Spirit AeroSystems also confirmed the talks, while cautioning that it could not make any promises about closing a deal or its terms.
Shares of Spirit rose more than 15% after media reports that the two companies were talking about a sale.
Boeing spun off Spirit in 2005. In recent years, quality problems have mounted at Spirit, including fuselage panels that didn't fit together precisely enough and holes that were improperly drilled.
Spirit — which is not related to Spirit Airlines — removed its CEO in October and replaced him with Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who served as acting defense secretary in the Trump administration.
Things seemed to be going more smoothly until the Alaska Airlines incident. Investigators said a panel used in place of an extra emergency door had been removed at a Boeing factory to let Spirit workers fix damaged rivets, and bolts that help hold the panel in place were missing after the repair job. It is not clear who removed the bolts and failed to put them back.
Two weeks later, during a tour of the Spirit factory in Wichita, Calhoun and Shanahan pledged to work together to improve manufacturing quality. “We will restore confidence," Shanahan vowed.
About 70% of Spirit AeroSystems' revenue last year came from work done for Boeing, according to Spirit's latest annual report. That is up from 60% two years earlier. Most of the company's other revenue comes from making parts for Airbus, Boeing’s European rival.
The talks between Boeing and Spirit were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which said Spirit hired bankers to consider strategic options and had held preliminary discussions about a sale to Boeing. Spirit also is looking into selling operations in Ireland that make parts for Airbus, the newspaper reported.
Spirit lost $616 million last year and hasn't turned a full-year profit since 2019. Since then, it has lost more than $2.5 billion. Boeing agreed in October to give more financial help to Spirit. Boeing said it would provide $100 million for Spirit to retool its factory and adjust prices to give the supplier another $455 million over two years.
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Two Injured in Shooting at North Kansas City High School
UNDATED (KC Star) – A shooting Saturday night outside North Kansas City High School injured two people, one of whom was a juvenile. The Kansas City Star reports that both victims were initially listed in critical condition after the shooting broke out. The incident occurred following a basketball game between North Kansas City and Staley high schools. According to Kim Nakahodo, a spokesperson for the city of North Kansas City, one of the victims was in stable condition, as of Sunday morning. That person's age was not released to the public. At that time, Nakahodo said an update on the juvenile victim wasn’t available. On Saturday night, officials said the juvenile was in serious but stable condition. Both victims are being treated in area hospitals.
Two Clay County sheriff’s deputies were working as school resource officers at the game, and heard a report that shots had been fired. North Kansas City police also responded to the scene. A victim with gunshot wounds was found at the entrance to the football field. The victim was taken to a hospital.
The Star says that witnesses told officials they saw a person running from the scene. Nakahodo said it is not known how many shooters were involved. City officials were later made aware of the juvenile victim, who was being treated at a hospital. Officials are asking anyone with information, photos or videos of the shooting to contact the anonymous TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
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Missouri Governor Shortens the DWI Prison Sentence of Former Chiefs Assistant Coach Britt Reid
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday shortened the prison sentence of former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid for a drunken driving crash that seriously injured a 5-year-old girl.
Parson's commutation converted the remainder of Reid's three-year prison sentence to house arrest, subject to several conditions. Reid had been sentenced in November 2022 after pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury. He is the son of Chiefs Coach Andy Reid.
Parson is a longtime Chiefs season ticket-holder holder who celebrated with the team at its recent Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City. A Parson spokesman said the governor considered several factors when making his commutation decision.
“Reid had completed his alcohol abuse treatment program and has served more prison time than most individuals convicted of similar offenses,” Parson spokesman Johnathan Shiflett said.
Reid's house arrest will continue until Oct. 31, 2025, with requirements for weekly meetings with a parole officer and peer support sponsor and attendance at behavioral counseling. He also will be required to work at least 30 hours a week and complete 10 hours a month of community service, among other things.
The Chiefs declined to comment about Parson’s commutation of Reid.
Prosecutors said Reid was intoxicated and driving about 84 mph (135 kph) in a 65 mph zone when his Dodge truck hit the cars on an entrance ramp to Interstate 435 near Arrowhead Stadium on Feb. 4, 2021.
A girl inside one of the cars, Ariel Young, suffered a traumatic brain injury. A total of six people, including Reid, were injured. One of the vehicles he hit had stalled because of a dead battery, and the second was owned by Ariel’s mother, who had arrived to help.
Reid had a blood-alcohol level of 0.113% two hours after the crash, police said. The legal limit is 0.08%.
The Chiefs reached a confidential agreement with Ariel’s family to pay for her ongoing medical treatment and other expenses.
An attorney who represented Ariel's family did not immediately respond to messages Friday.
Reid's sentencing reprieve was one of three commutations and 36 pardons announced Friday by Parson, who also denied 63 clemency requests.
Parson, a former sheriff, has now granted clemency to more than 760 people since 2020 — more than any Missouri governor since the 1940s. Parson has been been working to clear a backlog of nearly 3,700 clemency applications he inherited when taking over as governor in 2018, but he also has considered some new requests.
Many of those granted clemency by Parson were convicted decades ago of drug crimes, theft or burglary and had completed their prison sentences long ago.
But two notable exceptions were Mark and Patricia McCloskey. The St. Louis couple who gained national attention for waving guns at racial injustice protesters were pardoned by Parson on July 30, 2021, just six weeks after Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment.
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Grand Jury Indicts Mother in Death of 5-Year-Old Who Fell from Apartment Window
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A grand jury has indicted the mother of a 5-year-old who fell to his death from a Downtown Kansas City apartment building in November. Grayson O'Connor was found dead on November 27 near 10th Street and Grand. WDAF reports that Corrinne O’Connor was indicted with endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree, which is a Class A felony. She was formally charged in January. The indictment states that O’Connor acted in a manner that created a substantial risk to the life, body and health of a child. It also stated she failed to supervise the child while she and Grayson were together in a 17-story apartment with a fully open window that was accessible to him, which resulted in the death of the child. Conviction of a Class A felony in Missouri carries a minimum of 10 years imprisonment up to 30 years or life imprisonment.
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Grand Jury Indicts Junction City Couple for Defrauding V-A
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) – A federal grand jury in Topeka has returned an indictment that charges a Kansas couple with defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Kansas announced Monday via press release that 47-year-old James Bradford and 45-year-old Equanda Bradford of Junction City have been charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of theft of public money, property or records. James Bradford is a U.S. Army veteran. He and his wife, Equanda, are accused of providing false and fraudulent information to the VA about his caregiver needs and her caregiver work. They're accused of taking $172,426 in disability compensation to which they were not entitled. The Department of Veterans Affairs and the General Services Administration are investigating the case. An indictment is only an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament Seedings Announced
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) – The Big 12 women’s basketball regular season ended yesterday (SUN), and the final seedings for the conference tournament in Kansas City this weekend are set. As the No. 3 seed, Kansas State will get two days' rest before playing Saturday night. The No. 7 seed Kansas Jayhawks will play on Friday against BYU. The Jayhawks have underperformed this season but there are bright spots, including rising star S’mya Nichols. The freshman from Shawnee Mission West credits her teammates for much of her progress, saying "I’m allowed to make mistakes and they are definitely forgiving and accepting of me. I feel like their opinions of me are the only ones that should matter." Nichols scored a career-high 29 points in KU’s weekend win over Oklahoma...who happens to be the number 1 seed in the upcoming tournament.
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Bill Self and KU Likely Falling out of Top 10 After Consecutive Losses for 1st Time This Season
WACO, Texas (AP) — The University of Kansas is almost certain to slip out of the top 10 in The Associated Press poll for the first time in three seasons after losing consecutive games for the first time this year. The Jayhawks also can't win the Big 12 regular-season title.
Still, this is only the start of March and coach Bill Self didn't sound as down as some might have expected after the Jayhawks' 82-74 loss Saturday at 15th-ranked Baylor.
“I actually thought we did some good things,” Self said. “The thing about it with people in general, we're all guilty of this, whether it be right or wrong, you know, we only focus on the end result as opposed to the actions and everything that goes in to put yourself in position to have success with the end result.”
The Jayhawks (21-8, 9-7 Big 12), with seven conference losses for the first time in Self's 21 seasons, were really undone by only one bad stretch midway through the second half when playing the only other major conference team with six consecutive 20-win seasons. Kansas and Baylor (21-8, 10-6) are also two of only four teams that have won at least one game in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
Big 12 scoring leader Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 20 points in his return to the lineup after missing four of the previous five games with a bone bruise in his knee. Hunter Dickinson also scored 20 points as the Jayhawks shot 55% (32 of 58), a mark bolstered by 46 points in the paint.
McCullar said Self's message after the game was simple.
“It's March now, he told us, it’s going to come to a time and point now where you just win or go home,” McCullar said. “Got to learn from it, definitely got to turn the page and get ready for these next two (games). Try to handle business and then get ready for the Big 12 tournament and go from there.”
The Jayhawks play their home finale against Kansas State on Tuesday night, a week after Big 12 newcomer BYU won 76-68 at Allen Fieldhouse — their only home loss this season. They then finish the regular season at top-ranked Houston. Kansas can extend its record stretch of winning records in conference play to 35 seasons in a row by winning one of those games.
Kansas has been a top-10 team for the 55 consecutive polls since the start of the 2021-22 season, which ended with the Jayhawks as national champions. The second-longest active streak is Houston's 35 in a row.
Baylor used a 13-2 run over nearly four minutes to stretch a one-point lead to 12 midway through the second half.
“Actually thought it was a pretty well-played game,” Self said. “I didn’t think that our defense in the second half was near as good as the first half. But I’m leaving out of here, not encouraged, but less discouraged than what I’ve probably did some of our other losses.”
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Chiefs Use Franchise Tag on Cornerback L'Jarius Sneed as Work on Chris Jones Deal Continues
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs placed the franchise tag on L'Jarius Sneed on Monday, though it is uncertain whether that means one of the top cornerbacks due to hit free agency will remain with the Super Bowl champions next season.
The Chiefs entered the offseason with Sneed and All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones preparing to hit free agency, and general manager Brett Veach made it clear that he hoped to keep both of them.
But the tag number of $19.8 million for Sneed is far more palatable than the roughly $32 million that would be owed to Jones, making the choice between the players an easy one.
The deadline to use the franchise tag is Tuesday.
Now comes the hard part: Will the Chiefs be able to work out a long-term contract with Jones after failing to do so the previous two offseasons, and can they likewise sign Sneed to a lengthy deal that would lower his salary cap number?
The more likely scenario is that the Chiefs, who used the non-exclusive tag that allows Sneed to talk with other teams, would try to trade him for draft capital.
That would give the Chiefs financial flexibility to keep Jones on the team while addressing several of their more pressing concerns, including openings at left tackle and wide receiver.
“We're always looking to get better, whether it be receiver, offensive lineman, defensive backs,” Veach said last week at the NFL's scouting combine. “Any opportunity we can make our team better, we'll do that. We put a high priority on the depth of our roster, so we'll attack that much like we do all the positions and try to get the best players we can.”
The Chiefs have used the franchise tag six times over the past decade, and in three of those cases, they worked out a long-term deal. Only one time did they trade a player, and that was pass rusher Dee Ford, whom Kansas City sent to the 49ers for a second-round pick — while also landing Frank Clark, whom the Seahawks had tagged and traded.
The 27-year-old Sneed is widely considered one of the top cornerbacks potentially available.
The 2020 fourth-round pick was regularly tasked with covering the opponent's top wide receiver, regardless of where he lined up on the field. The only player to catch more than two passes in a game was Davante Adams of the Raiders, and Sneed did not allow a touchdown catch as the nearest defender until a divisional round win over the Bills in the playoffs.
Sneed has 10 interceptions in 57 regular-season games and another in 13 playoff games, which have earned him two Super Bowl rings.
The Chiefs began what could be a busy offseason last week, when they released wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling and saved about $12 million in salary cap space. They can use some of that savings, along with a cap that was higher than expected, to work out a deal with Jones, who played last season on an incentive-laden one-year deal.
Jones had skipped the entire offseason after failing to secure a long-term deal, and he held out through Week 1 before signing the contract. He wound up tying for the team lead with 10 1/2 sacks, earned his third Super Bowl ring when the Chiefs beat the 49ers in Las Vegas, then raised eyebrows afterward when he talked about helping them win a third straight title next season.
“Love Chris,” Veach said. “We tried really hard to get something done. We didn't. But we got together right after that Detroit game, we had a great talk, both parties want to be here. We'll get to work. That's certainly a guy we want back and love and we want to have finish his career in Kansas City.”
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