Hundreds Rally at Kansas Statehouse for Medicaid Expansion
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Hundreds of people rallied at the Kansas Statehouse Wednesday to demand lawmakers pass Medicaid expansion this session. The Kansas News Service reports that demonstrators held signs and chanted as they gathered on the second floor of the Capitol building. Speakers at the event, including Democratic Governor Laura Kelly, said Medicaid Expansion will help save rural hospitals and provide healthier outcomes for Kansans. Kelly has campaigned heavily this year to pressure more lawmakers to support Medicaid Expansion or face potential backlash at the polls in November. Republican leaders remain opposed to expansion because they say they don’t want to give government-run health care to able-bodied, working-age adults.
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Voters Backed Abortion Rights. Yet Kansas Could Make Doctors Ask Patients Why They Want Abortions
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas moved closer Thursday to requiring abortion providers to ask patients why they want to terminate their pregnancies and report the answers to the state. It would join other states with Republican legislatures that ban most abortions even though Kansas voters have affirmed abortion rights.
The House approved, in an 81-39 vote, a bill that would require providers to ask patients 11 questions about their reasons for terminating a pregnancy, including that they can’t afford another child, raising a child would hinder their education or careers, or a spouse or partner wanted her to have an abortion. The bill goes next to the state Senate, where it also is likely to pass.
At least seven states require similar reporting, but none have had a statewide vote on abortion rights as Kansas did in August 2022. In the first state ballot question on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, voters decisively protected abortion rights under the state constitution.
Democrats are frustrated because Republicans and anti-abortion groups have pursued new rules for abortion providers and aid to anti-abortion counseling centers despite that vote and votes affirming abortion rights in other states, including GOP-led Kentucky and Ohio.
“Quite honestly, I don’t understand it, you know, because I think Kansans made it very, very clear how they want Kansas to operate in this arena,” Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, a strong abortion rights supporter, said during a brief Associated Press interview this week. “Why would an elected official who’s facing an election in November go against the wishes of their constituents?”
Both chambers have large anti-abortion majorities and both sides believe there's a strong chance abortion opponents could override a Kelly veto of the reporting bill. Last year, Republicans overrode Kelly's vetoes of other restrictions on providers.
But Republicans are sensitive enough to criticism that their proposals go against the wishes of Kansas voters to argue that their proposals since the August 2022 ballot question have not reduced access to abortion. Kansas allows most abortion up until the 22nd week of pregnancy, and that would not change under the reporting bill.
“This bill has nothing to do with eliminating abortion in Kansas, doesn’t ban it, doesn’t touch on that whatsoever,” said House Health Committee Chair Brenda Landwehr, a Wichita Republican. “I’ve respected that vote.”
Backers of the bill argued the state needs more and better data about why women and girls have abortions so lawmakers can create programs to address their concerns.
“If we're looking to protect unborn children and it's a socio-economic reason, then maybe a state can step up," said Ingrid Duran, state legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee.
In Kansas, a doctor who provides an abortion already must report the patient’s age and ethnicity, whether the person was married and the method used to terminate a pregnancy.
States requiring doctors to report the reasons for an abortion include Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah. Minnesota’s Democratic-controlled Legislature repealed its similar reporting requirement last year.
The law in Oklahoma, where most abortions are banned, includes a list of more than 30 questions a provider must ask a patient about her motives. Potential reasons include relationship problems and not feeling mature enough to raise a child.
Isabel Guarnieri, a spokesperson for the Guttmacher Institute, which researches abortion issues and supports abortion rights, said such data can be useful in public health. But she said such mandates also should be assessed in the context of lawmakers’ long history of trying to restrict access and stigmatize abortion.
Alesha Doan, a University of Kansas dean and professor who studies policy and gender, called the bill approved by the House “an unnecessary way for the state to continue to surveil people’s health decisions.”
Democrats, particularly female lawmakers, attacked what they saw as the unfairness of requiring women to face detailed questions about their motives for seeking health care when men would not. They started with vasectomies.
Then, Kansas City-area Democratic Rep. Stephanie Sawyer Clayton suggested requiring doctors to ask male patients whether they wanted to treat erectile dysfunction because a spouse wanted that or because it caused the man stress or embarrassment.
“Because I am still fertile right now, I don’t have that right to privacy,” she said after Thursday's vote, summarizing what she sees as the bill's real message. "Why am I less of a person than a post-menopausal woman? Why am I less of a person than a man?”
But that tactic prompted an eye-roll from Landwehr during a post-vote interview. She said Democrats should favor better data collection.
“You know, it amazes me that they don’t support this,” she said.
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Lawrence Police Chief Updates Media and Community on Recent Shootings
LAWRENCE, Kan. (Lawrence Times) – Chief Rich Lockhart of the Lawrence Police Department spoke to the media Thursday to update the community on two separate shootings that occurred within 24 hours in the city. The Lawrence Times reports that Lockhart identified the man shot and killed Wednesday in downtown Lawrence as 39-year-old Vincent Lee Walker of Lawrence. Walker was a musician who performed under the name V-Dubb. Police arrested 32-year-old Nicholas Beaver Wednesday night on suspicion of second-degree murder. Lockhart said Beaver is from Topeka and had been in Lawrence for “a very short period of time.”
As regards a fatal shooting Tuesday night, Lockhart said that the Topeka Police Department arrested 21-year-old Dawson Paine on Thursday in Topeka, following a joint investigative operation. Paine is accused of shooting 18-year-old Davin Gregory Kerr. Kerr was taken to a Kansas City-area trauma center, but did not survive his injuries.
Lockhart also said during the press conference that two of the people killed in the city’s three recent homicides were experiencing homelessness, and that he thinks the community needs to push for better funding of mental health treatment programs.
(–Earlier reporting–)
Lawrence Police Investigate Two Deadly Shootings in a 24-Hour Period
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) – The Lawrence Police Department has arrested a suspect in a shooting that occurred downtown Wednesday evening and left a 39-year-old man dead. The Lawrence Journal World reports that the incident occurred just after 5:00 p.m. in the 700 block of Vermont Street, across the street from the Lawrence Public Library. Late Wednesday night, Lawrence police announced that they had taken a suspect into custody without incident. Nicolas Beaver was booked into the Douglas County Jail awaiting a court appearance. Authorities have not released the victim’s name pending notification of his next of kin. This is the second homicide in Lawrence in less than 24 hours. Police are also seeking the public’s assistance in locating 21-year-old Dawson Edward Paine. He is suspected of shooting another man on Crestline Drive in south Lawrence on Tuesday night. Officers found 18-year-old victim Davin Gregory Kerr of Lawrence suffering a gunshot wound. He was transported to a Kansas City area trauma center where he was later pronounced dead. Investigators say Paine fled before officers arrived and they are asking that anyone who may have information on the whereabouts of Dawson Paine call 911.
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Kansas Attorney General Announces Lawsuit Against TikTok
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has filed a lawsuit against the social media platform TikTok. Kobach’s office announced that it filed the suit against TikTok on Wednesday in Shawnee County District Court for allegedly misrepresenting its age-appropriateness in app stores. WIBW TV reports that Kobach also accuses the company of deceiving parents about the effectiveness of its parental tools and creating and aggressively promoting an addictive app that erodes the mental health of Kansas children. The lawsuit alleges that TikTok knew its app was not safe for children when it released it in 2017. Additionally, the attorney general’s office says, the company misleads parents by marketing its app as age appropriate for children 12 and older. Despite its assertions, the suit alleges that TikTok features significant amounts of mature and suggestive themes including profanity and crude humor, as well as alcohol, tobacco and drug use. The state is seeking civil penalties of $10,000 per violation and enhanced civil penalties of $20,000 for deceptive and unconscionable acts against protected consumers.
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State of Kansas Seeks to Reduce Time Waiting for In-Home Support Disability Services
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KC Beacon) – It takes 10 years for some Kansas families to get in-home support so their intellectually or developmentally disabled kids can go about their daily lives. The state is trying to fix that. The Kansas City Beacon reports that Governor Laura Kelly has proposed a $23 million investment to add 500 slots to two waitlists. Republicans want to double that. But some advocates say adding a few hundred spots does nothing for waitlists that are over 7,500 people long. Rocky Nichols with the Disability Rights Center of Kansas says the state has spent over $200 million on providers, which means better pay and more qualified staff. But that money is not getting families the help they need. “The state has been starving the waiting list, and that’s why it’s skyrocketing.” State lawmakers are not currently planning to spend as much as Nichols would like. But they are eyeing millions in investments to get families help.
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Kansas Bill Would Eliminate State Sales Tax on Menstrual Products and Diapers
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Kansans would no longer have to pay state sales tax on menstrual products or diapers under a bill being considered by lawmakers. The Kansas News Service reports that the bill would create a sales tax exemption for products like tampons and menstrual pads, which can cost women thousands during their lifetime. Diapers also would be exempted from sales tax. Those cost parents with one baby an average of about $70 per month. The bill is supported by Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. Republican leaders did not include the measure in their most recent tax package, which was ultimately vetoed. If approved, the bill would take effect in July and provide an estimated $8.7 million in sales tax relief next year.
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Some Native American Artifacts Removed from Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway
JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. (Johnson County Post) – A handful of Native American artifacts have been removed from one of Johnson County’s historic sites. The Johnson County Post reports that the Kansas Historical Society is removing or covering up Native American and Indigenous artifacts at its sites statewide, to comply with new federal regulations. That includes at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway. Several items there have been taken out oft their display cases, including some moccasins, a woven basket and a cane once used by a Shawnee tribal chief. Changes late last year to the Native Graves Protection and Repatriation Act require institutions to inventory items that may hold sacred value to tribes or include human remains. They must also get tribal permission to display them. The state historical society says it is working with tribes to see what, if any, items can be displayed again in Kansas.
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Kansas Bill to Fund Homeless Shelters Would Require Enforcement of Anti-Camping Laws
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW) – A bill supported by Sedgwick County and the city of Wichita is requesting $40 million dollars from the state for homeless shelters. It also requires localities to enforce camping laws. KMUW reports that the bill is born out of a months-long effort to address homelessness in Wichita. But it requires local governments that receive the dollars to enforce ordinances regarding camping and vagrancy, which has drawn some pushback. The Coalition to End Homelessness in Wichita and Sedgwick County is made up of nonprofits, local governments and faith groups. It submitted testimony on the bill, opposing the section about camping. Matt Lowe is with the United Way of the Plains, the coalition’s lead agency, and said that "the criminalization of homelessness is not the right path to take." Sponsors of the bill say that it doesn’t require communities to arrest anyone for camping, and that the language on camping improves the bill’s chances of passing.
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Groups Behind Substance Use Assessment to Tour State of Kansas
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) – Groups leading a statewide substance use needs assessment will make several stops across Kansas to generate feedback. The Kansas News Service reports that the assessment will help guide the Kansas Fights Addiction Board on where it should distribute the state’s opioid settlement funds. The money is part of national legal settlements against prescription opioid makers, distributors and pharmacies to help abate the opioid epidemic. Several in-person events will be held beginning March 19th. Stops include Garden City in western Kansas, Wichita, several stops in northeast Kansas and more. You can visit unitedtotransform.com for a complete list of meetings and to learn more about the assessment.
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Kansas Lawmakers and Education Officials Tout Literacy Blueprint Plan
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) – Kansas lawmakers and education leaders want all teachers in the state to get better at teaching children to read. The Kansas News Service reports that the proposed Kansas Blueprint for Literacy would target about $100 million over the next seven years to the science of reading. It would be a return to phonetic, sound-it-out instruction rather than older approaches that focus on context clues. The plan would establish a state director of literacy education. It would also require teachers to take classes on the science of reading to maintain their license. Pittsburg State University President Dan Shipp grew up with a reading disability and supports the statewide effort, saying “...this work, it’s inspiring, because it will make change for this state in ways that we can’t even calculate today.” A bill in the Kansas Legislature would establish the blueprint and dedicate $18 million to it next year.
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K-State to Launch Competition to Develop Sustainable Irrigation Practices
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) – One challenge facing Kansas farmers is balancing profits with water conservation, and there often is hesitancy to embrace new technology that could help. The Kansas News Service reports that a new program started by Kansas State University hopes to address that. The program will be held in Colby as an experimental competition encouraging farmers to test new technology, and find more sustainable farming practices. Daran Rudnick, director of sustainable irrigation at K-State, says this program can show farmers methods they might feel are too risky to try on their own land. “We also can simulate, we could do a competition where we restrict water use,” he explained. This year, the program is focusing on irrigated corn, a crop that threatens the Ogallala aquifer because it requires so much water. Rudnick has helped start this program in states like Nebraska and Colorado. He says it could be beneficial to western Kansas farmers looking to update their farming practices and conserve water.
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Kansas City Planet Comicon Celebrates 25th Year
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Celebrities, artists and tens of thousands of fans proud to call themselves nerds are converging in Kansas City for the Missouri city's 25th annual Planet Comicon this weekend.
Devotees ranging from “Potterheads” — lovers of the popular Harry Potter series — to “furries” — people dressed as cartoonish animals — can test niche trivia skills, compete in Pokémon battles and show off intricate, handmade outfits in homage to their fictional heroes.
Top guests include Ian McDiarmid, who event organizer Chris Phelan described as the “ultimate bad guy” in his portrayal of Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine, infamous for luring Darth Vader to the dark side.
Organizers expect record-breaking attendance this year at the three-day event, which began Friday and typically draws 50,000 to 60,000 fans, Phelan said.
Phelan said “Midwestern hospitality” contributes to the convention's welcoming nature.
“Whether you wear a costume or you don’t wear a costume, this is your place to be who you are,” Phelan said.
ORIGIN STORY
Planet Comicon Kansas City CEO and founder Chris Jackson started out buying and selling comics at the now-famous San Diego Comic Convention in the 1980s. He recreated those experiences when he moved to the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park in the 1990s, Phelan said. Roughly 12,000 people attended the first Planet Comicon in 1995, a fraction of expected attendance this year. Phelan said it's unique that Jackson continues to run Planet Comicon Kansas City compared to other large cons, which he said are typically run by corporations.
“Kansas City kept its hometown roots while still becoming one of the largest and longest-running comic book pop culture events in the entire country,” he said.
HALLOWEEN FOR ADULTS
Thousands of costumed fans typically attend the event and roam downtown Kansas City, Phelan said. He predicts lots of “Scream” lovers will wear the iconic Ghostface mask to meet the actors who played the killers in the original film, and that there may be a few attendees cosplaying as Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. This year's gathering coincides with the Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship at Kansas City's nearby T-Mobile Center. “There are people that are going to be wondering why is everybody dressed up?” Phelan said. “Because they have no clue what what might be happening just down the street.”
ICONS IRL
Attendees must pay for autographs or photographs with celebrities, although Q&A sessions with celebrities are mostly free. Marvel’s Chris Claremont — who created characters including Dark Phoenix, Rogue and Legion — is among a slate of comic writers at the fest. Actors available for meet-and-greets include Paul Bettany, who played Vision in “WandaVision” and “The Avengers: Infinity War"; “Scream” actors Matthew Lillard (who also starred in “Five Nights at Freddy’s”) and Skeet Ulrich; stars of “Boy Meets World,” including Topanga actor Danielle Fishel; Henry Winkler, who played The Fonz in the sitcom “Happy Days”; “Lord of the Rings” star John Rhys-Davies; and the voice actors behind the beloved “Avatar: The Last Airbender” characters of Toph, Prince Zuko and Uncle Iroh.
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"Choose Topeka" Cash Incentive Program Drawing Strong Response Among Latinos
UNDATED (KNS) – Latino people are strongly responding to an incentive program that offers cash for moving to the Topeka area. The Kansas News Service reports that’s led program officials to market the incentive specifically to Spanish-speaking immigrants. The Choose Topeka program offers up to $15,000 to each applicant who finds a job and moves to Shawnee County. It's an economic development effort by Go Topeka, a local public-private partnership. Program officials say interest has spiked among first-generation Latino immigrants. And now the program is working harder to persuade them to apply. Bob Ross of Go Topeka says the community has strong Spanish-speaking resources, like a school district that offers bilingual education. “If you're a first generation immigrant and you speak Spanish, Topeka can be a very welcoming community for you.” Anyone who can legally work in the U.S. is eligible for the incentive. The program awards cash to about 60 people each year.
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Businesses and Local Agencies Team Up for Free Ornamental Pear Tree Replacement Program
UNDATED (KNS) – People in northeast Kansas can get a free native tree for chopping down an invasive ornamental pear tree. The Kansas News Service reports that invasive Callery or Bradford pear trees are easy to spot right now because their white flowers began popping open this week. These trees spread aggressively and displace the food that songbirds and pollinators need to reproduce. Local agencies, like Shawnee County Parks and Recreation, have teamed up with businesses and nonprofit groups to distribute free replacement trees to people who cut down Callery pears. The replacements – like redbuds and serviceberries – support wildlife. Details are available at Deep Roots.org.
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Wichita Man Facing Life in Prison for Beating Daughters, Killing One of Them
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man with a string of prior domestic violence and child abuse cases could get life in prison for brutalizing his two young daughters, including an 8-year-old whose heart ruptured when she was viciously stomped last year, prosecutors said.
The 52-year-old Wichita man pleaded no contest Thursday to first-degree murder and eight other counts, including kidnapping, battery, child endangerment and witness intimidation, the Wichita Eagle reported. A no-contest plea is one in which the defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to get a conviction.
Authorities have said the man already had been investigated or charged in various domestic violence and child abuse cases, including some in Oklahoma and Minnesota when he became the sole caregiver of his 8- and 9-year-old daughters sometime before 2022. He is accused of keeping them hidden in his home and brutalizing them for months in 2022 and 2023.
On May 8, 2023, investigators said the man viciously stomped the younger girl, causing her death. An autopsy found that her heart had ruptured in the attack and that she had also suffered broken ribs, a broken leg, head wounds and pattern wounds indicating she had been whipped from head to toe with an object. Medical examination of the 9-year-old girl found she also had been severely beaten and that her pelvis, spine, and several ribs and teeth had been broken.
The Associated Press is not naming the man to protect the identity of his surviving daughter.
The witness intimidation charge against him stems from his threats to his surviving daughter to tell police she had caused her younger sister's injuries, or else he would beat her, police said.
The man's plea came just days before he was set to go to trial Monday. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped several other counts against him. The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said it will request a prison term of 25 years to life for the murder count and another 20 years for the other counts when the man is sentenced April 25.
An attorney for the man declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press on Friday.
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Two People Arrested in Manhattan Held in Connection with Murder
MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) - Two people who were arrested in connection with first-degree murder in Manhattan are being held on more than $1 million bond each in the Riley County Jail. WIBW TV reports that the individuals were identified as 24-year-old Matthew Paul Wesley Miller of Junction City and 26-year-old Sonya Simone Larrk Williams of Ogden. Riley County police officials say Miller was booked into jail Thursday in connection with first-degree murder; aggravated endangering a child; and distribution of illegal drugs. He remained in jail Friday in lieu of a $1,250,000 bond. Williams was arrested in connection with first-degree murder; aggravated endangering a child; and distribution of illegal drugs. She is being held in the Riley County Jail on a $1,100,000 bond.
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Kansas City-Area Man Pleads Guilty in Fatal 2021 DWI Crash
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KSHB) — An Independence, Missouri man pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor DWI in a 2021 crash that killed Kevin Daniels, a father of eight. 37-year-old Joseph Cook entered the plea in Jackson County Court in Independence. The crash happened on March 6, 2021, on U.S. 50 Highway north of Lee’s Summit. KSHB TV reports that responding officers found two pickup trucks had collided and both were on fire. Motorists who stopped to help were able to get Cook out of his truck, but the intense fire inside Daniels's pickup truck prevented access. The Lee's Summit Fire Department put out the fire in Daniels's pickup truck and he was found dead inside the truck. A toxicology report revealed Cook had a blood alcohol level over three times the legal limit less than two hours after the crash. His sentencing is scheduled for June 6.
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75-Year-Old Phoenix Man Arrested in 42-Year-Old Kansas Killing
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A Phoenix man has been brought to Kansas to face charges in a 42-year-old killing after a multistate investigation. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a news release that 75-year-old Jerry Allen was booked Wednesday into the Reno County Jail in Kansas. Agents secured a warrant for him in late January and arrested him in Phoenix in the March 1982 killing of 44-year-old Michael McKeown. He was brought to Kansas after waiving extradition.
Investigators believe McKeown was shot and killed in his car, while it was parked in the lot outside of his Hutchinson apartment. His body was found the next day, the KBI said. The KBI said agents conducted several key interviews in three states, which provided the additional evidence needed to proceed with charges in this cold case.
The KBI said Allen will be formally charged Friday when he makes his first court appearance.
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Some Fans at Frigid Chiefs Playoff Game Underwent Amputations, Hospital Confirms
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Some of the people who attended the near-record cold Kansas City Chiefs playoff game in January had to undergo amputations, a Missouri hospital said Friday.
Research Medical Center didn't provide exact numbers but said in a statement that some of the 12 people who had to undergo amputations after the cold snap had been at the game. The amputations involved mostly fingers and toes. And the hospital said more surgeries are expected over the next two to four weeks as “injuries evolve.”
The University of Kansas hospital said it also treated frostbite victims after the game but didn't report any amputations.
The temperature for the Dolphins-Chiefs wild-card playoff game was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, and wind gusts made for a wind chill of minus 27 degrees. That shattered the record for the coldest game in Arrowhead Stadium history, which had been 1 degree Fahrenheit, set in a 1983 game against Denver and matched in 2016 against Tennessee.
The wild-card game was played the same day the Buffalo Bills were supposed to host the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that game got pushed back a day because a snowstorm in New York made traveling to the game too dangerous.
The game in Kansas City went on as scheduled because the frigid weather didn’t present similar problems getting to Arrowhead Stadium.
While a blizzard dumped up to 2 feet of snow in Buffalo that weekend, the snow wasn’t the problem in Kansas City, where the big concern was what the National Weather Service called “dangerously cold” wind chills.
Frostbite can occur on exposed skin within 30 minutes, said Dr. Megan Garcia, the medical director of the Grossman Burn Center at Research, in answering one of the top questions she is asked. She said the timing can be even shorter if there is a wind chill.
Fans were allowed to bring heated blankets into the stadium and small pieces of cardboard to place under their feet on the cold concrete.
The coldest game in NFL history remains minus 13 Fahrenheit for the 1967 NFL championship, when the Packers beat the Cowboys at Lambeau Field in a game that came to be known as the Ice Bowl. The wind chill that day was 48 below zero.
The Chiefs didn’t immediately respond to email messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.
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Missouri Governor Offers 'Deepest Sympathy' After Reducing Former Chiefs Assistant's DWI Sentence
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has offered his “deepest sympathy” to the family of a 5-year-old girl who was seriously injured in a drunken driving crash, after facing criticism for releasing from prison the driver who caused the crash, former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid.
But in a statement Tuesday to The Kansas City Star, Parson stopped short of apologizing for commuting the remainder of Reid’s three-year prison sentence to house arrest, subject to conditions.
Parson's office said no one asked the governor — who is a Chiefs fan — to commute the sentence, including Reid himself, his father Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid, or anyone else associated with the team that recently won the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year.
Parson spokesman Johnathan Shiflett later provided a copy of the statement to The Associated Press. “It seems the laws don’t apply equally to the haves and have nots. The haves get favors. The have-nots serve their sentence,” the injured girl's mother, Felicia Miller said in a separate statement provided through the family’s attorney.
Prosecutors said Reid was intoxicated and driving at about 84 mph in a 65 mph zone when his Dodge truck hit two cars on an entrance ramp to Interstate 435 near Arrowhead Stadium on Feb. 4, 2021.
Six people were injured in the collision, including Reid and 5-year-old Ariel Young, who suffered a traumatic brain injury. One of the vehicles he hit had stalled because of a dead battery, and the second was owned by Felicia Miller, who had arrived to help.
Reid pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury and was sentenced to three years. Parson reduced that term and ordered his release on March 1. Reid had been expecting to be released about eight weeks later.
In his statement, Parson expressed his “deepest sympathy for any additional heartache this commutation has caused the Young Family,” saying that was not his intention.
The Republican governor, a longtime Chiefs season ticket holder who celebrated with the team at its recent Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City, has faced criticism even from within his own party.
“This is not justice,” said State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Parkville Republican who chairs the Missouri Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, in a post on X.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a statement that the original sentence was “just,” noting that the crash wasn't Britt Reid's first legal issue. He graduated from a drug treatment program in Pennsylvania in 2009 after a series of run-ins with law enforcement. His father was coach of the Philadelphia Eagles at the time.
“He," Baker said of the governor, “used his political power to free a man with status, privilege and connections.” She also criticized the governor's office for not contacting Ariel's family before freeing Reid, but Shiflett said that is not part of the clemency process.
Reid had anticipated being released April 30 due to time served and completing an intensive treatment program while in custody, Katie McClaflin, Reid’s attorney, told The Star. “Now that he is out of prison, he’ll continue focusing on maintaining sobriety and being an engaged and present father to his three children,” said McClaflin, who did not return a phone call from the AP seeking comment.
Shiflett has also mentioned the completion of the treatment program as one of the factors the governor considered when deciding to commute Reid's sentence.
Reid’s house arrest will continue until Oct. 31, 2025, with requirements that include weekly meetings with a parole officer, counseling and community service.
The Chiefs, who have declined to comment on the commutation, reached a confidential agreement with Ariel’s family to pay for her ongoing medical treatment and other expenses.
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Bill Kurtis to Deliver 2024 Dole Lecture
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) — Journalist and native Kansan Bill Kurtis will deliver the annual Dole Lecture at the KU Dole Institute of Politics on April 16. Kurtis is a KU alumnus who worked as a student announcer at KANU early in his career, and went on to establish himself as a network news anchor, producer, and narrator. and producer. Kurtis worked at WIBW television in Topeka, and went on to serve as a national co-host of CBS Morning News in the 1980s. He is the recipient of two Peabody Awards, numerous Emmy Awards, a DuPont award, and the William Allen White Citation from the University of Kansas School of Journalism.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Kurtis will also participate in an interview with Dole Institute Director Audrey Coleman, focusing on Kurtis’s Kansas roots and the various news events that “have shaped the nation over the course of his seven decades in journalism.”
Kurtis will participate in the event in person at the Dole Institute of Politics, 2350 Petefish Drive, in Lawrence. The event is free and open to the public, but also can be viewed on the Dole Institute’s YouTube channel. The institute hosts the Dole Lecture each spring to commemorate the date on which Senator Bob Dole was critically wounded in Italy while serving in World War II.
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Jackson Mahomes, Brother of KC Chiefs Quarterback, Sentenced to Probation in Assault Case
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The younger brother of Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been sentenced to six months' probation in a case alleging an assault on a woman.
Jackson Mahomes, 23, appeared Thursday for his sentencing hearing via video conference and pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of battery, according to online court records. Following his sentence, Jackson Mahomes was taken into the custody of the Johnson County Sheriff's office, which will determine whether he's eligible for work release.
The sentencing came more than two months after prosecutors dismissed three felony charges for aggravated sexual battery related to accusations that Jackson Mahomes grabbed a woman by the neck and kissed her against her will inside an Overland Park, Kansas, restaurant in February 2023. Those more serious charges were dropped due to a lack of cooperation from the woman, according to a court filing.
The remaining misdemeanor battery charge said Jackson Mahomes shoved a waiter who tried to come into a room where he was with the woman, according to investigators.
Prosecutors dropped the felony charges after the accuser, who was the owner of the restaurant, refused to testify in the case. The woman reported that she endured death threats and harassment and that her restaurant was vandalized in the wake of the charges. She closed the restaurant in August.
Jackson Mahomes is not the only relative of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes' family to face recent brushes with the law. The NFL player's father, former Major League Baseball pitcher Patrick Mahomes Sr., was arrested in Texas on Feb. 3, accused of driving while intoxicated.
A week later, Patrick Mahomes earned his third Super Bowl championship ring in February, leading the Chiefs to a 25-22 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
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Kansas City Prepares to Host Men’s and Women’s Big 12 Basketball Tournament
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KNS) - For the first time, the Big 12 men’s and women’s tournaments will be played at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, and preparations have already begun for the women’s teams before they start competition Thursday night. Some street closures in downtown Kansas City started on Monday near the T-Mobile Center and some street closures will remain until March 17. That’s the Sunday after the men’s Big 12 championship game. Josh Zabel director of events for the Kansas City Sports Commission, says hosting the tournaments begins with trust between local organizers and the Texas-based Big 12. “We feel like they know Kansas City so well that we go in with a great template to work from and try to build on that each year.” For fans heading downtown, tournament officials suggest checking in advance with the VisitKC website for specific information on road closures. The Big 12 women’s basketball regular season ended Sunday 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.
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KU Women Look to Defeat BYU as Big 12 Tournament Begins in Kansas City
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) - After a top-25 win against Big 12 Conference regular-season champions Oklahoma, seventh-seeded Kansas Jayhawks women’s basketball team will head to Kansas City Friday to open up the conference tournament against No. 10 seed BYU. The Jayhawks’ 8-1 stretch to end the year has given it momentum to carry into the league tournament, where the Kansas women are looking for their first victory in five years. The Lawrence Journal World reports that the Jayhawks finished last season on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament before losing their first game in the tournament. Team leaders say they are looking for a different outcome this year. The Jayhawks beat BYU twice in the span of five games in January and February. Kansas’ quest to end its conference-tournament losing streak will take place on Friday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City at 5:30 p.m. and will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
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