Two EF-2 Tornadoes Touched Down Wednesday in Wabaunsee and Shawnee Counties
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - Two strong tornadoes touched down in northeast Kansas Wednesday night. Meteorologist John Woynick, with the National Weather Service, says one of the tornadoes formed just northeast of Alta Vista. "Unfortunately, it did do some EF-2 damage," he said. "The peak winds for that particular tornado were 115 miles-an-hour and its path length was just short of nine miles, and it got as wide as 400 yards. It was on the ground for 30 minutes."
Woynick says another EF-2 tornado touched down in northwest Shawnee County, near the town of Rossville. "That was another EF-2 with a little bit stronger winds at 120 miles-an-hour and it did some damage to a home, destroying part of the roof." There were no reports of injuries. Wednesday's severe storms also dropped large hail across parts of Wabaunsee, Geary and Wyandotte counties. Some hail was nearly the size of a softball.
Hail causes about $1 billion damage to crops and property in the U.S. every year. A hailstorm that hit Kansas City on April 10, 2001, was the costliest ever in the nation - causing about $2 billion damage.
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Kansas Legislature Revisits Republican Flat Tax Rate Proposal
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Kansas Republicans are trying to pass a new flat tax bill after failing to override the governor’s veto of a similar plan. The Kansas News Service reports that the new bill would establish a single income tax rate of 5.7 percent, which would drop to 5.45 percent over five years. Kansas currently has three income tax brackets. Democratic Governor Laura Kelly says she won’t sign a flat tax bill because she believes it would mostly benefit the wealthy. But Republicans say the new bill includes measures that benefit all Kansans, like state property tax relief. The bill passed the Senate with a veto-proof majority. House lawmakers will now consider it.
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Kansas Lawmakers Consider Bill to Create Nursery for 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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Medicaid Expansion in Kansas Is About to Get Its First Public Hearings in Four Years
TOPEKA, Kan. (TCJ) - The Kansas Legislature is gearing up for the first public committee hearings on Medicaid expansion in four years. Next Wednesday is the day when both the House and Senate will have hearings. They will be the first since 2020, when the Legislature scuttled a bipartisan plan by Democratic Governor Laura Kelly and Republican Jim Denning, who at the time was the Senate majority leader.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Medicaid expansion is Democratic Governor Laura Kelly's top legislative priority. "I'm urging the Legislature to get the proposal to the floor for debate on the bill as soon as possible so that we don't waste any more time," Kelly said. "Because when it comes to Medicaid expansion, time is money, literally."
The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee is scheduled to have a joint meeting with the Senate Ways and Means Committee at 10:30 am Wednesday for an information hearing on Medicaid expansion. The House Health and Human Services Committee is scheduled to have a hearing on House Bill 2556 at 1 pm Wednesday.
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Kansas Close to Banning Puberty Blockers, Other Gender-Affirming Care for Children
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.
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.
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.
(– 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.
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Kansas Considers 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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Kansas Supreme Court Overturns Part of Wichita "Noisy Conduct" Ordinance
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) – The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that Wichita’s noisy conduct ordinance is unconstitutional. The Kansas News Service reports that the case stems from a 20-20 protest led by Gabrielle Griffie over the death of George Floyd. Griffie was arrested after police watched social media videos from the protest. The city cited its ordinance that criminalizes noisy behavior that can reasonably arouse alarm, anger or resentment towards others. The court ruled that the ordinance was overbroad because it could prohibit some activities protected by the First Amendment. The city says it will review its ordinance to comply with the court's opinion.
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Small Earthquake Rattles Kansas City Area
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) — A small earthquake rattled the Kansas City area this (FRI) afternoon. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that a preliminary magnitude 3.5 earthquake was registered around 1:45 pm, just north of Kansas City International airport. The small quake was centered near Ferrelview in Platte County, Missouri. People can sometimes feel a 3.5 magnitude, but it rarely causes damage.
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Kansas City Man's Body Found in Missouri River
ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. (KMBC) — The body of a Kansas City man has been found in the Missouri River near St. Louis. KMBC TV reports that the body of 29-year-old Alexander Stark was discovered Tuesday in St. Charles County on Tuesday and identified on Thursday. The Missouri Highway Patrol reports that Stark had previously been reported missing on the Missouri River in February. An investigation is underway.
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KBI: Two Additional Arrests Made in Connection with Independence Homicide
ST. LOUIS (KPR) – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the police department in Independence, Kansas, have announced that two more people have been arrested in connection with a murder and robbery in Independence, Kansas. The U.S. Marshals Service helped take two men into custody in St. Louis - 21-year-old Joshua B. Denton and 18-year-old Kayvion D. Williams. In late February, three other men were also arrested in St. Louis. All five men are suspected in the October 2023 shooting death of Jason York in Independence. The three men previously arrested are still being held in the St. Louis County Jail. All five suspects are expected to be extradited to Montgomery County, Kansas.
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Topeka and Lawrence Prepare for St. Patrick's Day Celebrations This Weekend
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - The 2024 St. Patrick's Day Parade & Irishfest Celebration in Topeka gets underway Saturday at 10 am at the Evergy Plaza in downtown Topeka.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) - The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in Lawrence begins at 1 pm Sunday. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the parade will begin at 11th and Massachusetts streets and head north over the Kansas River bridge. Sunday's weather should be cool, with temperatures in the mid 50s. The Lawrence parade has been an annual tradition since 1988.
(-Related-)
St. Patrick's Day Parade Will Be KC'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 on Sunday will be the first mass gathering since the February 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.
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.
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. 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.
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Positive Signs Reported in 2023 Ogallala Aquifer Survey
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) – After a wetter than normal year in western Kansas, geologists find the Ogallala aquifer declined significantly less in 2023 than in previous years. The Kansas News Service reports that results from the study of 1,400 wells across western Kansas indicate a step in the right direction for the aquifer that provides drinking water for people and crops alike. After years of substantial decline– almost two feet in 2022 and one foot in 2021– the aquifer averaged only two inches of decline last year. But Brownie Wilson of the Kansas Geological Survey says relying on heavy precipitation alone hasn’t been enough to stop the decline. “People are cutting back their usage intentionally to save that water and to try to mediate those declines a little bit,” he explained. Areas in northwest Kansas that have established water management plans actually saw an increase in water levels compared with districts without similar plans.
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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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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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Kansas City Hosts NWSL Season Opener
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) – Kansas City will be the focal point for the National Women’s Soccer League season opener Saturday at noon. It will be the first match played at CPKC Stadium, the first stadium purposely built for a women’s professional sports team. Former U.S. Women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski, who makes his home in Kansas City, is coaching the Kansas City Current for the 2024 season. He says he's looking forward to the game, and the upcoming season, adding that "...we’re all excited about the new stadium. We’re all excited about this historic moment. We’re proud that we’re part of this." The Current will open against the Portland Thorns, who finished second in the NWSL standings last year.
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Kansas City Metro Area Officials Considering Boost to Regional Public Transit for 2026 World Cup
JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. (Johnson County Post) – The Kansas City metro is expected to see an unprecedented influx of visitors for the 2026 World Cup, and officials are considering how to beef up the region’s transportation system. That includes direct buses to the airport. The Johnson County Post reports that a recent study put out in part by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority recommends creating express shuttles that would go back and forth between the airport and downtown Kansas City, as well as to suburban Johnson County. FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, estimates some six million visitors will come to Kansas City for the World Cup. Johnson County transit officials admit that getting a shuttle route operational by that deadline will be a challenge. Doing so will require purchasing buses and possibly securing federal grant funding. The KCATA study estimates operating the shuttles could cost up to $80 million over ten years.
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