Tornadoes Touch Down in Northeast Kansas, Dropping Softball-Sized Hail
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Severe storms rolled across eastern Kansas Wednesday, spawning several tornadoes. Meteorologist Sarah Teefey says it was a busy night for the National Weather Service. "In total, we issued 32 warnings. Eight of those ended up being tornado warnings. We believe that there were probably three tornadoes that occurred. We're gonna' be doing some surveys today to confirm that," Teefey said. No injuries have been reported, but Teefey says storms damaged barns, out buildings, poles and road signs. "We did get several reports of golf ball-sized hail and then a strong thunderstorm that also, we believe, had a tornado with it near Alta Vista, that produced 4-inch hail, which is about softball size," she said.
Later in the day, the Kansas News Service reported that National Weather Service meteorologists determined that at least two tornadoes touched down in eastern Kansas Wednesday. Matt Flanagan of the National Weather Service in Topeka says they were spotted in Wabaunsee and Shawnee counties. Early reports show some structures like barns were damaged. As tornado season begins this spring, Flanagan reminds Kansas residents to have safety plans to prepare for severe weather, urging people to “...know where to go, even if that means leaving your residence, especially mobile homes, and going somewhere a little more sturdy for the day.” The storms also produced golf ball and baseball sized hail in the Kansas City area.
Meanwhile, the Wabaunsee County Sheriff's Office reports on its Facebook page that deputies and trained spotters saw a half dozen tornadoes and recorded baseball sized hail. Golf ball sized hail fell in many communities. And softball sized hail fell across Wyandotte County, bringing traffic to a halt several times along I-70 in Kansas City.
(-Related-)
Kansas Turnpike to Remove Storm Shelters
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) — Right now, storm shelters can be found at most toll plazas along the Kansas Turnpike. But those shelters will soon go away. KWCH TV reports that the shelters were mainly intended to be used by workers at the toll plazas but those workers will be going away as cashless toll booths are installed. A majority of storm shelters at toll plazas will be closed in July.
Facts About Hail, the Icy Precipitation Often Encountered in Spring and Summer
UNDATED (AP) – Intense storms swept through Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday and brought whipping winds, possible tornadoes, and what some described as “gorilla hail.”
In Kansas, hail nearly the size of a softball and measuring 4 inches was reported in the town of Wabaunsee and 3-inch hail was reported in Geary County near Junction City and Fort Riley.
Here are some facts about hail, according to the National Weather Service:
HOW IT FORMS
Hail is a type of frozen precipitation that forms during thunderstorms, typically in the spring and summer months in the U.S. Strong updrafts, which are the upward flow of air in a thunderstorm, carry up very small particles called ice nuclei that water freezes onto when it passes the freezing level in the atmosphere.
Small ice balls start forming and as they try fall towards the Earth's surface, they can get tossed back up to the top of the storm by another updraft. Each trip above and below freezing adds another layer of ice until the hail becomes heavy enough to fall down to Earth.
The size of hail varies and can be as small as a penny or larger than apples due to varying updraft strengths said Mark Fuchs, senior service hydrologist at the National Weather Service in St. Louis, Missouri.
“The stronger the updraft, the larger the hail can be...anything bigger than two inches is really big,” said Fuchs.
HAIL SIZES (by diameter)
Pea: ¼ inch
Mothball: ½ inch
Penny: ¾ inch
Nickel: 7/8 inch
Quarter: 1 inch (hail at least quarter size is considered severe)
Ping Pong ball: 1½ inch
Golf ball: 1¾ inch
Tennis ball: 2½ inches
Baseball: 2¾ inches
Large apple: 3 inches
Softball: 4 inches
Grapefruit: 4½ inches
BIGGEST EVER
The largest recorded hailstone in the U.S. was nearly as big as a volleyball and fell on July 23, 2010, in Vivian, South Dakota. It was 8 inches in diameter and weighed almost 2 pounds.
DAMAGE DONE
Hail causes about $1 billion damage to crops and property annually. A hailstorm that hit Kansas City on April 10, 2001, was the costliest ever in the U.S., causing about $2 billion damage.
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
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Kansas Close to Banning Gender-Affirming Care for Minors as GOP Leaders Seek Veto-Proof Vote Margin
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas are close to banning gender-affirming care for minors over the Democratic governor’s expected veto after winning over previously skeptical GOP colleagues, fueling fears that success will encourage further attempts to roll back transgender rights.
Supporters were confident Thursday that the Republican-controlled Senate would approve a bill that would bar health care providers from treating a child’s gender dysphoria with puberty blockers, hormone treatments and surgery and strip doctors who violate the ban of their licenses. But GOP leaders wanted to send the bill to Gov. Laura Kelly with the two-thirds majority necessary to override her veto later, and so after planning a final vote for Thursday, they canceled it in hopes of rewriting some of its language to lock in the last vote.
“It's close enough,” said Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, predicting final passage next week.
The bill already passed the GOP-controlled House on Wednesday, so the Senate’s approval would send it to Kelly.
At least 23 other states with Republican legislatures have restricted or banned gender-affirming care for minors. Kansas lawmakers attempted to pass a ban last year, but GOP supporters in the Senate failed to override Kelly’s veto of a bill last year by a single vote — and three Republicans voted “no” then.
Republicans said the issue is making sure that minors receiving hormone treatment now can phase out those treatments, rather than stopping them immediately, in part to avoid legal problems. Senators would have to get the House to vote to agree on any change.
That decision to try to lock in a two-thirds majority in the Senate before a veto after supporters had a net gain of 12 votes in favor of a ban Wednesday compared with the vote on it last year. Including supporters who were absent Wednesday, backers appeared to have a two-thirds majority in the House.
“When I was out and about last summer and last fall, and the number of emails and the number of calls that I had, I didn’t have a single one tell me to vote the same as I did last year,” state Rep. Susan Concannon, a Republican from western Kansas, said Thursday.
While supporters say they’re concerned about protecting children, the Kansas bill has stoked fears among transgender adults and LGBTQ+ advocates that GOP lawmakers will follow other GOP-led states and seek more restrictions next year.
While Ohio’s state government last month backed off limiting care for adults, a 2023 Florida law aimed at care for children also restricted care for adults — as did a short-lived Missouri rule.
“The goalposts are not firm,” said Iridescent Riffel, a 27-year-old transgender Lawrence resident and LGBTQ+ rights activist who’s worked against the bill. “They will always continue to be moved further and further right.”
Opponents of such restrictions in Kansas already have promised a legal challenge if they are enacted. Courts elsewhere have blocked enforcement of bans in Arkansas, Idaho and Montana but allowed their enforcement in Alabama and Georgia.
Laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care are out of step with the recommendations of major U.S. medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. And providers of the care say it saves lives by lessening depression and anxiety that can lead to suicide.
Young transgender adults and parents of transgender or non-binary children from Kansas further told lawmakers that gender-affirming is vital to their health, adding that providers didn’t rush their decisions and were clear about potential side effects.
Anthony Alvarez, a 20-year-old transgender University of Kansas student, said he had to wait several months after a doctor was willing to prescribe his testosterone treatments to undergo an additional evaluation to confirm he was sure about wanting them.
He had looked forward to his voice deepening and growing facial hair and hopes to have the double mastectomy known as “top surgery” in December. He said he’s much happier since his transition because the depression and anxiety that marked his life before have waned.
“Those aren’t things that are causing the gender dysphoria. They’re being caused by the gender dysphoria — the reaction to a world that is kind of hostile towards you,” he said in an interview.
Yet Republican lawmakers portray puberty blockers and hormone treatments as too risky for children. Top Republican House leaders in Kansas said in a statement Wednesday that they were preventing irreversible harm from “experimental” treatments.
The bill's backers cited a statement this week from the National Health Service in England, saying “there is not enough evidence” that puberty blockers are safe and effective to “make the treatment routinely available,” something U.S. care providers dispute. The NHS statement followed a temporary policy the NHS set last year.
In a meeting of GOP senators early Thursday, Senate Health Committee Chair Beverly Gossage, a Kansas City-area Republican, led a short briefing on the bill with, “It’s talking about children.”
(– Related –)
ACLU to Challenge Kansas Driver's License Gender Marker Policy
UNDATED (KNS) – Transgender Kansans are appealing a state judge’s ruling that indefinitely prevents them from changing the gender marker on their driver’s licenses. The Kansas News Service reports that the judge sided with Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach earlier this week when she ruled that blocking the ID changes does not violate transgender Kansans’ constitutional rights. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas is now challenging that ruling on behalf of several transgender residents. They say not having IDs that match their gender identity effectively outs them as transgender, putting them at greater risk of violence. The ACLU cites a recent human rights report that found an epidemic of violence against transgender people in the U.S. that led to at least 33 deaths in 2023.
Arkansas' Elimination of 'X' as Option for Sex on Licenses and IDs Endorsed by GOP Lawmakers
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A predominantly Republican panel on Thursday endorsed an Arkansas agency's elimination of “X” as an option alongside male and female on state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards, despite skepticism from Democratic lawmakers about the move.
The Arkansas Legislative Council's executive subcommittee approved the emergency rules for the new policy announced this week removing an option that had been used by nonbinary and intersex residents. The new policy also makes it more difficult for transgender residents to change the sex listed on their IDs and licenses.
The agency said it was rescinding a practice implemented in 2010 that officials say conflicted with state law and had not gone through proper legislative approval.
“As I reviewed it, it became pretty clear to me that, one, it was really not lawfully authorized,” Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson told the panel. “The second is it was inconsistent with statutory law and just commonsense public policy as well.”
Arkansas is the latest among Republican states to legally define sex as binary, which critics say is essentially erasing the existence of transgender and nonbinary people and creating uncertainty for intersex people — those born with physical traits that don’t fit typical definitions of male or female.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas announced Thursday that it was appealing a judge's order blocking Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration from allowing transgender people to change the sex listed on their license.
At least 22 states and the District of Columbia allow “X” as an option. Only about 500 of Arkansas' 3.1 million active state-issued driver's licenses and IDs have the “X” designation.
Democratic lawmakers questioned the need to move quickly to change the policy and also the agency's argument that it's needed for public safety.
Democratic Sen. Clarke Tucker noted that the state isn't requiring the same level of verification for other information listed on licenses, such as eye color or height.
“Why are we focused just on gender and not all of the information on driver's licenses?” Tucker said.
The new policy makes it more difficult for transgender people to change the sex listed on their licenses and IDs by requiring an amended birth certificate be submitted. Currently a court order is required for changing the sex on a birth certificate.
Under the new rules, the designated sex must match a person’s birth certificate, passport or Homeland Security document. Passports allow “X ”as an option. If a person’s passport lists “X,” the applicant must submit a form choosing male or female.
The emergency rules will be in place for 120 days as the department works on permanent ones that will go through a public comment process. They are to take effect after the full Legislative Council reviews them Friday.
Arkansas has enacted several measures in recent years targeting the rights of transgender people. Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who has called the change common sense, signed an executive order last year banning gender-neutral terms from state documents.
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Kansas Will Pay $1 Million over the Murder and Torture of KCK Boy Whose Body Was Fed to Pigs
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit over a 7-year-old boy's murder in 2015 alleging that the state's child welfare agency should have removed him from an abusive home before he was starved and tortured and his body was fed to pigs. Governor Laura Kelly and top leaders of the Kansas Legislature approved the settlement during a brief public meeting Tuesday after conferring with state Attorney General Kris Kobach's top deputy in private for 30 minutes. The lawsuit was filed in 2017 in Wyandotte County in the Kansas City area by the boy's mother, maternal grandmother and adult sister, and a district court trial was scheduled for April 2025.
The boy, Adrian Jones, was living with his father, Michael Jones, and his stepmother, Heather Jones, in Kansas City, Kansas, when he died. Both are serving 25 years-to-life prison sentences for his murder, and authorities said the boy was beaten and locked naked in a shower stall for months as a closed-circuit surveillance camera recorded his deteriorating condition.
The Kansas Department for Children and Families received reports that Adrian was being abused several years before his death, but its last physical contact with him was almost four years before his death, according to more than 2,000 pages of records released in 2017 by the agency. The records showed that the three of them moved frequently between communities in Kansas and Missouri. “This has been a long journey for Adrian's family,” said Matt Birch, an attorney representing the family members. “The most important thing for the family was to hopefully make a change and make this less likely to happen in the future.” The family members' lawsuit argued that the state and social workers could have “stepped in and rescued” Adrian “at any point during the child's lengthy, unimaginable ordeal” but “chose to act like disinterested bystanders.” The Kansas agency argued that frequent moves made it difficult to keep tabs on the boy.
Kansas Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Kansas City-area Democrat and one of the lawmakers who approved the settlement, said Wednesday that she believes the state faced “a lot of liability” legally for what happened.
But Kelly told reporters Wednesday at the Statehouse that the issue wasn't the potential damages in a lawsuit but the litigation distracting it from “the mission at hand” of improving the child welfare system. “It really had to do with wanting to get that settled and not spend time litigating in courts for what could be definitely months, maybe even years,” she said. The resolution approving the settlement, made public Wednesday, shows that the department will pay half of the settlement and the other half will come from a special state fund that covers damages in lawsuits. An attorney and its employees in the lawsuit did not immediately return a telephone message Wednesday seeking comment. Kobach's office also did not comment.
The Democratic governor and leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature approved the settlement during a public meeting, but its open portions totaled less than five minutes before and after the closed session with Chief Deputy Attorney General Dan Burrows. While Kelly read the lawsuit's title before the vote, neither she nor the lawmakers discussed details publicly Tuesday, following what has been a standard practice for years. Typically, there is no formal follow-up announcement to the public.
Told about the $1 million settlement Wednesday, state Rep. Susan Concannon, a Republican from western Kansas who chairs the Legislature's Joint Committee on Child Welfare Oversight, said: “I am a little bit surprised that it's not more than that.”
A multiyear legislative review of the child welfare system followed the boy's death. In 2021, “Adrian's Law” created the committee Concannon heads and required officers and caseworkers to visually observe children who are alleged victims of abuse or neglect. The state also has moved to improve doctors' training in recognizing abuse and to provide “wrap-around” services for troubled families.
Birch said that he and the family hope that through the lawsuit and 2021 law “there will be more eyes on these kids.”
Adrian's family members also filed a lawsuit in 2017 in Jackson County, Missouri, also in the Kansas City-area, against officials in that state. The case was settled in 2020, but the details were not immediately available, and Birch said he couldn't comment.
Adrian's remains were found in November 2015 in a pigsty on his father and stepmother's rental property after officers responded to a domestic violence call. Heather Jones accused Michael Jones of beating and choking her, according to affidavits and search warrants later released by authorities.
According to court records the Joneses used increasingly severe methods to control the boy's behavior, including strapping him to an inversion table, handcuffing him and shocking him with a device called a Zap Enforcer. He also suffered from “extreme starvation,” court records said.
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3 Men Face Firearms Charges After Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Parade Shooting
UNDATED (AP) — Three Missouri men have been charged with federal firearms counts after a shooting at last month's Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade and rally left one person dead and roughly two dozen others injured, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The charges were filed Monday and unsealed Wednesday, after the men were arrested, a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas City said.
It said those charged were 22-year-old Fedo Antonia Manning, Ronnel Dewayne Williams Jr., 21, and Chaelyn Hendrick Groves, 19, all from Kansas City. Manning is charged with one count each of conspiracy to traffic firearms and engaging in firearm sales without a license, and 10 counts of making a false statement on a federal form. Williams and Groves are charged with making false statements in the acquisition of firearms, and lying to a federal agent.
Court documents that were part of the complaint said 12 people brandished firearms and at least six people fired weapons at the Feb. 14 rally attended by an estimated 1 million people. The rally was just wrapping up when gunfire erupted and people ran for cover. The shooting happened when one group of people confronted another for staring at them, police said.
Two other men, Lyndell Mays, of Raytown, Missouri, and Dominic Miller, of Kansas City, Missouri, were earlier charged with second-degree murder and several weapons counts. Authorities also detained two juveniles on gun-related and resisting arrest charges.
Authorities have said a bullet from Miller’s gun killed Lisa Lopez-Galvan, who was in a nearby crowd of people watching the rally. She was a mother of two and the host of a local radio program called “Taste of Tejano.” The people injured range in age from 8 to 47, according to police.
According to online court records, Manning made his initial appearance Wednesday. He did not have an attorney listed, but asked that one be appointed for him. The online court record for Williams and Groves also did not list any attorneys to comment on their behalf.
A phone call to the federal public defender’s office in Kansas City on Wednesday went unanswered.
The new complaints made public Wednesday do not allege that the men were among the shooters. Instead, they are accused of involvement in straw purchases and trafficking firearms. “Stopping straw buyers and preventing illegal firearms trafficking is our first line of defense against gun violence,” U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore said in the news release. “At least two of the firearms recovered from the scene of the mass shooting at Union Station were illegally purchased or trafficked.”
Federal prosecutors said that one weapon recovered at the rally scene was an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 .223-caliber pistol, found along a wall with a backpack next to two AR-15-style firearms and a backpack. The release said the firearm was in the “fire” position with 26 rounds in a magazine capable of holding 30 rounds — meaning some rounds may have been fired from it.
The affidavit stated that Manning bought the AM-15 from a gun store in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, a Kansas City suburb, on August 7, 2022. It accuses him of illegally trafficking dozens of firearms, including many AM-15s.
Also recovered at the scene was a Stag Arms 300-caliber pistol that the complaint said was purchased by Williams during a gun show in November. Prosecutors say Williams bought the gun for Groves, who accompanied him to the show but was too young to legally purchase a gun for himself.
Prosecutors say Manning and Williams also bought firearm receivers, gun parts also known as frames that can be built into complete weapons by adding other, sometimes non-regulated components. The complaint said Manning was the straw buyer of guns later sold to a confidential informant in a separate investigation.
(– Related –)
St. Patrick's Parade Will Be Kansas City's First Big Event Since the Deadly Super Bowl Celebration
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people are expected this weekend's St. Patrick’s Day parade in Kansas City, where they should expect much tighter security measures than in past years due to last month's deadly mass shooting at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration.
The parade in Missouri's largest city on Sunday will be the first mass gathering since the Feb. 14 victory parade.
Officers will be placed strategically along the St. Patrick's Day parade route, police Sgt. Phil DiMartino said, though he declined to say how many would be deployed.
“There will also be an abundance of work conducted prior to the parade beginning to ensure it’s a safe environment for everyone,” DiMartino said in an email. “There will be many technology assets deployed and there will be officers among the crowd in plainclothes, as well.”
About 800 officers were working at the Super Bowl celebration. Gunfire erupted near the end of the event, wounding nearly two dozen people, including children, and killing a mother of two.
Two men have been charged with second-degree murder and other crimes in the victory parade shootings. According to police, they were in separate groups that became agitated because they thought the other group was staring at them. Three other people were charged this week in the shootings, accused of illegally purchasing high-powered rifles and guns with extended magazines. And two juveniles are in custody on gun-related and resisting arrest charges.
The victory parade shootings raised questions about whether such gatherings are worth the risk, especially in Kansas City, which has one of the nation’s highest homicide rates. Mayor Quinton Lucas wondered aloud if a scaled-down celebration inside metal detector-protected Arrowhead Stadium might be the best option if the Chiefs win again.
Although the mayor supported going ahead with the St. Patrick’s Day parade, he acknowledged that it might be hard for some to attend.
“I think a lot of us, particularly those of us who are thinking about bringing our children somewhere, may ask, at least for a little while, ‘Is this the sort of thing that we want to risk?’ ” Lucas, a Democrat, said. “It’s a shame that this is what we’ve come to today in America and in our city.”
Other cities planning big parades, including St. Louis across the state, are also taking a closer look at security after what happened in Kansas City last month.
Patrick J. McCarthy, a retired St. Louis police sergeant who has worked in security for 51 years, is in charge of making sure that both of the city's big St. Patrick’s Day parades are safe. Intensified discussions about security “began about an hour after we learned of the Kansas City shooting,” McCarthy said.
Both St. Louis parades — one is downtown on Saturday and the other is Sunday in the traditionally Irish area known as Dogtown — typically draw tens of thousands of people. “Why do we let a couple of people ruin what should be a celebration?" McCarthy asked. "We’re not going to stop that because some people might act a fool.”
Kansas City’s St. Patrick's Day parade is one of the nation's biggest, typically drawing up to 400,000 people. The event's organizers and people involved in other big area parades met shortly after last month's shootings to compare emergency plans and discuss best practices to deal with potential problems.
Although police wouldn't say how many more officers would work Sunday's event, Erin Gabert, a member of the parade committee, said there will be more than in past years. Organizers are also urging people to leave their guns at home. And alcohol is prohibited along the route.
Parade leaders also are urging families and groups to arrive with a plan for where to park, and where to meet if people get separated. Families are encouraged to have kids wear something that identifies them.
Perhaps most importantly, people are urged to alert an officer or parade volunteer if they see anything that worries them.
“It's way better to be safe than sorry,” Gabert said.
DiMartino declined to specify how police will try to prevent violence before it happens. McCarthy, who helped lead security when Pope John Paul II visited St. Louis in 1999, said some likely steps would be stationing officers on rooftops and among the crowds, and using mobile and security cameras to help spot potential danger.
“You’re looking for precursors to the violence, if possible," McCarthy said.
There's only so much police can do to prevent violence at parades and other large public events.
At the 2022 Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, police say the gunman climbed a fire escape to perch atop a row of specialty stores and then opened fire on the crowds below, killing seven people and wounding more than 30 others.
Last year, seven people were injured in a shooting during a parade that was part of Boston’s annual Caribbean festival. Just as in Kansas City, police blamed the shooting on an altercation between two groups.
Organizers of the Kansas City St. Patrick's Day parade are eager to show that their community can rise above the violence of a month ago.
"We are absolutely bigger and better than that horrific tragedy that happened at the Super Bowl celebration,” Gabert said. “We are not going to let that define who we are as a city.”
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Lawmakers Consider Building Nursery for State Women's Prison in Topeka
UNDATED (KNS) – Kansas lawmakers are considering a plan to build a nursery onto the state’s only prison for women in Topeka. The Kansas News Service reports that women who give birth while in prison would have the option to raise their newborn while incarcerated. The nursery would provide a special unit for the mother and child that includes a kitchenette and access to a play area. Supporters say the new facility would allow newborn children to remain with their mothers instead of being placed in foster care. Sapphire Garcia-Lies of the Kansas Birth Justice Society opposes the plan. She says a better option would be allowing imprisoned mothers to remain at home with their children and support systems. “When we deprive folks of their village, whereby they have greater support to raise these children. We do long term harm,” she said. The state estimates building the nursery would cost about $2.7 million.
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Kansas Legislature Considering Bill to Expand School Board Member Access to Buildings, Meeting Agendas
UNDATED (KNS) – Kansas lawmakers are considering a bill that would give local school board members greater access to school buildings and meeting agendas. The Kansas News Service reports that the bill proposed by the conservative Kansas Policy Institute would also require school districts to post names and email addresses of board members, and allow members to engage with speakers during board meetings. Lansing school board member Vanessa Reid says the bill would allow for more interaction between board members and the public. “We’re not allowed to engage at all, which I just find impersonal, and I think that it’s an unhealthy culture. And I actually think it’s disrespectful to the people who take their time to come and speak to us,” Reid explained.
Opponents say the measure would impose more requirements on local school boards than other public bodies. They also say current rules are meant to keep board meetings from taking too much time. Leah Fliter with the Kansas Association of School Boards opposes the bill because of its potential for overreach. She says she’s heard of board members trying to tell custodians how to polish floors. “We’re not there to tell them how to run the polisher, you know? That’s the maintenance director’s job, underneath the oversight of the superintendent,” she explained. Supporters say changes are needed because some superintendents lock board members out of school board business.
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FBI Director Christopher Wray To Speak at KU Cybersecurity Conference April 4
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — FBI Director Christopher Wray will deliver a keynote address at a cybersecurity conference at the University of Kansas next month. The FBI & KU Cybersecurity Conference is scheduled for April 4 at the Kansas Union. Experts in the field from industry and research are expected to attend. The event costs $25 and is open to the public, but registration is required. Director Wray will be the first keynote speaker at 8:35 am. Click here for more information.
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Leavenworth Police Officers Ruled to Be Justified in Lethal Shooting
UNDATED (KNS) – A prosecutor has determined that Leavenworth police officers were justified when they shot and killed a 25-year-old man who was running from an alleged rape scene last summer. The Kansas News Service reports that Johnathan Heath-Taylor of Leavenworth died after being shot on Highway 92 in Platte County, Missouri, last August. Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said in a statement Wednesday that Heath-Taylor “repeatedly refused officers’ commands” and pulled out what they believed was a gun. Zahnd said officers fired to protect themselves and other motorists. Zahnd said he will not consider taking any action against the officers involved.
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Kansas Lawmakers Consider Education Tax Credits
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Kansas lawmakers have advanced a bill that would give families a tax break for sending their child to a private school or home school. The Kansas News Service reports that supporters say the bill would give more families an alternative to public schools by letting them recoup some costs with tax credits. Opponents say it would divert money away from public schools. The credits could cost the state up to $75 million the first year. James Franco with the conservative Kansas Policy Institute says parents should decide what school is right for their child. “Whether that is in a high-performing public school, whether it is a private school, a micro school, a home school, whatever it is, this bill ultimately is about whether or not we trust parents to act in their kids’ best interests,” he explained. Kansas lawmakers passed a similar measure last year but failed to override a veto by Democratic Governor Laura Kelly.
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Kansas City Woman Accused of Decapitating Son and Dog Found Competent to Stand Trial
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A mother accused of killing her 6-year-old son has been determined to be competent, some two years after she was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial. She will appear in court later this month. KCTV reports that in February of 2022, police received a call from a woman “saying she was concerned someone was trying to harm her. The woman told police she believed the devil was trying to attack her. She denied having any mental illness and hung up the phone, officials said.” When officers went to the woman's residence and found blood leading up to the front door and could hear the woman singing. An officer reportedly looked inside the house and saw the child’s decapitated head. Officers then forced their way into the home, finding the decapitated child inside. They later found a decapitated dog in the basement.
Tasha Haefs, who was 35 years old at the time, was found with blood on her legs and feet. Haefs admitted that the child, 6-year-old Karvel Stevens, was biologically hers and that she had killed him. The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office charged Haefs with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, but in June 2022 she was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial. She was placed in the custody of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, but reportedly refused to take her medications or cooperate with her treatment plan.
In August 2023, she was removed from court after creating a disturbance, calling the judge and other people in the courtroom “demented monsters.” Earlier this month, a motion was filed, ruling Haefs as competent to stand trial nearly two years after she was first placed in the state’s custody. Her first court date is scheduled for March 29.
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AP Source: Chiefs Restructure Mahomes Contract for Salary Cap Relief
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have restructured quarterback Patrick Mahomes's contract, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday, giving the Super Bowl champions some much-needed salary cap space. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the financial details were not public.
By restructuring the contract, which would have counted more than $58 million against the cap for the upcoming season, the Chiefs created more than $21 million to use elsewhere. That could include a much-publicized pursuit of help at wide receiver, their need for a new left tackle to protect Mahomes' blind side, or in re-signing their own free agents. Mahomes also adjusted his 10-year, $450 million contract in 2021 to help the Chiefs with their financial situation.
The Chiefs already signed All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones to a five-year, $158.75 million contract, which included $95 million guaranteed over the first three years. But that deal was structured so that it only cost $7.35 million against the cap this year.
Backup linebacker Drue Tranquill also signed a three-year, $19 million deal to return before Wednesday's official start to free agency, and defensive tackle Mike Pennel returned to the Chiefs on a one-year deal after playing well in their Super Bowl win.
The creation of some additional salary cap space also could mean that L'Jarius Sneed, who quietly emerged as one of the NFL's best cornerbacks last season, could remain in Kansas City. The Chiefs used the franchise tag on him, which would equate to a one-year, $19.8 million deal, but many expected them to ultimately trade Sneed for draft compensation and salary cap relief.
Now, the Chiefs could keep him at the tag number or use their newfound wiggle room to sign him to a long-term deal. “There isn't much of a recruiting pitch that needs to be made with Kansas City,” Tranquill said Wednesday. “You have incredible leadership, top to bottom. You have a culture that's a winning culture, that is not about egos or self or guys getting paid; we all want our guys to get paid, but everything at the Chiefs and in our organization is about winning, and it's about hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season.”
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Big 12 Men's and Women's Tournaments to Remain in Kansas City Through 2031
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Big 12 men's and women's basketball tournaments will remain at T-Mobile Center through 2031, commissioner Brett Yormark said. He made the announcement shortly before Texas and Iowa State played for the women's championship there for the first time Tuesday night. The women had long played down the street at smaller, antiquated Municipal Auditorium. Yormark also said that the women's Big 12 soccer championship would be played at CPKC Stadium. The home of National Women's Soccer League club Kansas City Current is scheduled to open Saturday with a game against Portland.
One of Yormark's priorities after taking over leadership of the Big 12 was to raise the profile of the women's tournament, and that meant moving it to the T-Mobile Center. That also required moving the dates of the championship, with early-round games occurring last week and the title game Tuesday night following the first two games of the men's tournament. "I think I said to many last year, when I came here the first time to the community, met with many of the leaders, it was a real easy decision when I went back to Dallas that we needed to double down on this community," Yormark said. "It feels like a Super Bowl each time we're here. The fan support is tremendous. The community is tremendous."
The men's and women's tournaments were scheduled to be played in Kansas City through 2027, so the extension amounts to four years. But it also comes as the league expands its footprint west with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah replacing Oklahoma and Texas in the league, and that gave the Big 12 other hosting options such as Las Vegas and Phoenix.
In fact, the Big 12 will be holding its football media days in Las Vegas later this year. "We are a national conference now. We're in 10 states, four time zones," Yormark said. "When it comes to men's and women's basketball, and women's soccer, this needed to be our home. We're going to football media day in Vegas, which we are excited about, and there will be other opportunities to move closer to that footprint, but we needed to be in Kansas City."
Along with the basketball tournaments, Yormark announced that the Big 12 women's soccer championship was moving to CPKC Stadium. The first stadium facility built for a women's professional soccer club in the U.S. — in this case, the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League — is scheduled to open Saturday when the Current plays Portland. "It's an amazing time to be in Kansas City, and it's an amazing time to invest in Kansas City," said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who has been supportive of an April ballot issue to renew a sales tax that would help fund renovations to Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Super Bowl champion Chiefs, along with a new downtown ballpark for the Royals. "The Big 12 Conference is part of Kansas City's DNA. We all have stories about the Big 12, or if we're old enough, the Big Eight here in Kansas City," Lucas said. "We're excited to continue to share the story in Kansas City."
In other news, Yormark said the lame-duck status of Oklahoma and Texas, which are departing for the SEC after this season, has not created any challenges even as the Big 12 looks toward the future as a revamped 16-team league. "Texas and Oklahoma, great contributors to the conference. Been here since Day 1," Yormark said. "They're finishing strong, obviously, and when the time comes, we'll wish them well. But there's never been a better time to be part of this conference."
Yormark also indicated that he would be in favor of expanding the NCAA Tournament. "I read what you read, and from what I've been told, and what I'm reading, there could be modest expansion. I think 76 is the number that has been out there," he said. "The data shows if you expand to 76, the power-four conferences will benefit mostly, and that includes the Big 12. I'm all about access. We have the deepest conference in America."
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Royals Working on Agreements with Community Organizations Prior to Upcoming Tax Vote
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) – The Kansas City Royals are finalizing agreements with community organizations before the April 2nd vote on a sales tax that would allow the Royals to build a new downtown stadium. The Sports Authority, Jackson County in Missouri, Kansas City Public Schools, and the Crossroads Neighborhood Association want guarantees around safety, education, unions, and housing. Royals owner John Sherman told KCUR that he believes – but can’t promise – the agreement will be done before the vote, saying "...I think everybody's working hard to get these things done as soon as possible. But if they're not finalized, we will communicate openly about it.” Sherman says he estimates the entire project will cost nearly two and a half billion dollars.
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