Parts of Central U.S. Hit by Severe Storms, While Tornadoes Strike in Kansas and Iowa
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Strong storms caused damage in parts of the middle U.S. Tuesday and spawned tornadoes in Kansas and Iowa, including one that left two people hurt.
An EF-1 tornado touched down shortly after 6 a.m. near the northeastern Kansas town of Richland, the National Weather Service said. The twister reached speeds of up to 100 mph (161 kph) and was on the ground for about 20 minutes, the service said.
Two people were injured when their RV flipped over during the tornado. Details about the injuries were not immediately available. Buildings and trees also were damaged in the neighboring town of Overbrook.
In central Iowa, a barn was demolished and other buildings were damaged after a tornado touched down in a rural area of Dallas County. The weather service also reported ping pong ball-sized hail in Bloomfield, just north of the Missouri line. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The weather service said the central U.S. was under threat of severe weather through Tuesday. Thunderstorms were expected in parts of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and northwestern Illinois, potentially with large hail and damaging winds. Some isolated storms were also possible in the mid-South, the service said.
In Missouri, Chicago-bound American Eagle Flight 3661 returned to Kansas City International Airport just before 6 a.m., soon after it took off, due to a possible lightning strike, American Airlines spokesperson Gianna Urgo said in an email. Maintenance workers were inspecting the aircraft to see if it was damaged. Passengers were later put on other flights, Urgo said.
A camper was blown over and the roof was ripped off a building when a strong storm hit the area around Smithville Lake in western Missouri, the Clay County Sheriff's Department said. Downed trees and power lines were reported in several communities near Kansas City.
(–Related–)
At Least 1 Tornado Confirmed in Tuesday Morning Severe Weather Outbreak
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW/KSNT) – The National Weather Service in Topeka says it has confirmed at least one tornado touched down during Tuesday morning's severe weather. The weather office says an EF1 tornado with winds up to 100 mph touched down four miles west-southwest of Overbrook in Osage County, just after 6 a.m. It traveled north-northeast and struck the Shawnee County town of Richland. Two people were injured when a recreational vehicle flipped over. KSNW reports that the weather service will also be checking Greenwood County, where a tornado was reported just southeast of Eureka. Another twister was reported in Smith County, where emergency management said minor wind damage to trees occurred.
Evergy reports power outages affected approximately 21,600 customers statewide. The senior communications director for Evergy told KNST that the number of outages actually increased through the day after the storms had passed, due to the high winds moving through the area, but he predicted that power would be restored to most customers by late Tuesday evening.
(–Earlier reporting–)
Stormy Weather, Tornadoes Invade Eastern Kansas
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — It's been a stormy morning across eastern Kansas. A confirmed tornado touched down in Greenwood County just before 5 am. The tornado was spotted on the ground by law enforcement officers. Greenwood County Sheriff Heath Samuels said the tornado touched down south of Eureka and caused damage to an old barn. No other property damage has been reported at this time.
A number of tornado warnings were issued across eastern Kansas Tuesday morning, including warnings for Douglas, Shawnee and Osage counties but all were later cancelled or allowed to expire before any confirmed tornadoes touched down.
Get the latest information from the National Weather Service in Topeka.
Plane Hit by Lightning, Forced to Make Emergency Landing at KCI
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBC) — A passenger jet plane departing from Kansas City had to return to KCI to make an emergency landing after it was hit by lightning early this (TUE) morning. KMBC TV reports that the American Airlines flight took off from KCI at 5:35 am en route to Chicago. While in the air, the plane was struck by lightning. Pilots turned the plane back to Kansas City, where it made a safe emergency landing. Officials say 42 people were on board the flight but no injuries were reported. It does not appear that the plane was damaged by the lightning strike.
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Former Kansas Prosecutor Surrenders Law License
UNDATED (KCUR) – A Kansas prosecutor accused of several ethical breaches has surrendered her law license and will be disbarred. KCUR reports that Terra Morehead has agreed to turn over her law license as part of an agreement with a Kansas disciplinary board. Court filings say she will soon be disbarred by the Kansas Supreme Court. In the 1990s, Morehead was the Wyandotte County prosecutor who helped former Kansas City, Kansas Police Detective Roger Golubski frame Lamonte McIntyre, an innocent man who spent 23 years in prison. While in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas, she was accused of threatening witnesses and concealing evidence. Morehead retired from the U.S. Attorney’s office last August.
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Kansas Board of Education Restores Accreditation to KCK Public School District
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) — Kansas education leaders have restored full accreditation to the public school district in Kansas City, Kansas. The Kansas News Service reports that the Kansas State Board of Education voted last year to put the KCK district on conditional accreditation because of concerns over student test scores and a lower-than-average graduation rate. In 2020, the district’s graduation rate fell below 69%, compared to the state average of 89%. After a review of the district’s improvement plan, the state board voted last week to grant full accreditation. Kansas City Kansas is the largest school district in Wyandotte County. On May 7, voters will decide on a $420 million bond issue to build and renovate schools.
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Kansas Governor Signs New Foster Care Option into Law
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — Kansas teens in foster care will now have the option to choose relatives or close friends as their custodial parents. The Kansas News Service reports that Governor Laura Kelly signed the new permanent-home option into state law on Monday. The new law allows Kansas teens in foster care to choose one or multiple adults to serve as their custodian. Older foster children can be adopted or placed with foster parents. But many children end up bouncing around homes and aging out of care without being adopted. The governor called the new law “transformational” for Kansas children. State officials believe Kansas is the first state to legalize the new option.
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Kansas Primary Care Providers May Be Eligible for More Loan Forgiveness
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — Primary care providers working in areas like rural Kansas may be eligible for an extra $25,000 in student loan forgiveness. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently bumped federal loan forgiveness from $50,000 up to a total $75,000 for health care providers who commit to working for two years in underserved areas. Chessa Quenzer works in recruiting for the Community Care Network of Kansas, a nonprofit that runs health clinics across the state. She says the increase is necessary because tuition for medical school has increased dramatically. “And if you think about it, $75,000 for two years of service, that’s just much more enticing than $50,000 to live in a rural area," she said. Quenzer says an additional $5,000 in loan forgiveness is available to fluent Spanish speakers.
Alice Weingartner, the chief strategy officer for the Community Care Network of Kansas, a nonprofit that runs health clinics across the state, says any bit of financial relief helps retain providers in rural areas. “If we can help to support those providers financially, to be able to do that, then we can ensure quality providers who are dedicated to serving in those communities where they live," she said. Nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, OB-GYNs and other providers are eligible for loan forgiveness if they commit to working two full-time years in an underserved area. The deadline to apply is May 9.
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Judge Orders Kansas Highway Patrol to Pay $2.3 Million in "Two-Step" Case
UNDATED (KNS) — A federal judge has ordered the Kansas Highway Patrol to pay more than $2.3 million in attorney fees to plaintiffs in the “Kansas Two-Step” case. The Kansas News Service reports that the financial judgment comes after the court ruled the agency’s policy for detaining out-of-state drivers was unconstitutional. The “Kansas two-step” is a maneuver where troopers turn routine traffic stops into drug searches. The highway patrol argued the drivers and troopers were having voluntary conversations. But siding with the plaintiffs, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, the judge ruled the searches lacked reasonable suspicion and targeted out-of-state drivers coming from states with legal marijuana. The judge ordered a permanent injunction against the practice. The highway patrol is appealing the injunction.
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Hundreds Request Polling Site at Fort Hays State University
UNDATED (KNS) – Hundreds of residents of Ellis County, Kansas, are asking officials to open a polling place at Fort Hays State University to help boost voter turnout. The Kansas News Service reports that on Tuesday, supporters hand-delivered a petition to County Clerk Bobbi Dreiling asking for the change. Fort Hays State student Madison Albers says Dreiling recently moved the nearest polling location farther from campus and consolidated two voting districts into one. Albers says that makes it even harder for many students to vote, explaining that “...college students, it may be their first year voting. It's so discouraging to quite a few students who are already on the fence of whether or not they feel they can vote.” She says Fort Hays State students are less likely to vote than students at other Kansas universities with on-campus locations. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas says more polling locations in a county correlates with higher voter turnout. Dreiling declined to comment on the petition.
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Printing Press in Southwest Kansas Keeps Local Newspapers Humming
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) — More than half of the counties in Kansas have either just one newspaper or none at all, but a southwest Kansas printing press is helping keep local news alive in small towns across four states. As newspapers around the country close or consolidate, a printing press in Liberal, Kansas, is a lifeline for local media in the region. Print media is struggling in many areas, but it survives in 15 towns thanks to a printing press still churning out newspapers in Liberal. The light blue machine takes up most of a warehouse, about the size of a school bus, with newspapers flying through different pulleys as ink is applied. At medium speed, it can spit out 500 papers per minute.
Danny Morua, the pressman for almost 20 years, makes a small adjustment, and within seconds is pushing a new roll of paper that weighs 700 pounds back onto the mechanism. What used to be a community staple is now almost obsolete. But here in Liberal, Morua and his small crew are printing weekly papers for small towns across four states. It’s helping keep those other community papers alive and slowing the growth of news deserts where people can’t find local news. “I love turning something that comes out looking basic and adding so much color to it, and knowing that I printed that,” Morua said. (Read more.)
The U.S. has lost more than 2,800 newspapers since 2005, many of them in rural areas. Now, some journalists are redoubling their efforts to provide local news and trying new models in a difficult industry. See this related story: Newspapers in rural areas are folding, leaving vast news deserts. But there are bright spots.
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Regional Summit to Fight Antisemitism Featured Douglas Emhoff, National Researchers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) – The husband of Vice President Kamala Harris was at a regional summit to combat antisemitism Tuesday. KCUR reports it was organized by Kansas City Jewish community groups. Hundreds of people gathered at Rockhurst University to hear second gentleman Doug Emhoff and national researchers discuss the rise of antisemitism in the Midwest and across the country. The Anti-Defamation League’s Jyot Singh says identity-based harassment of Jews online has been growing since before the current Israel-Hamas war. “This is before October 7th," Singh explained. "This is before most of the things that we've seen this year. And we're seeing thousands of incidents across the country pretty much everywhere there are a large community of Jews.” Singh says hate speech aimed at all minority groups is on the upswing. It also comes from across the political spectrum.
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Lansing Prison Inmate Dies
LANSING, Kan. (KPR) – An inmate at the Lansing Correctional Facility has died. Prison officials say 44-year-old Robert Edwin Blanchette died Monday. He was found unresponsive in his cell. His cause of death will be determined by an independent autopsy. Blanchette was serving a life sentence for convictions of first-degree murder and kidnapping in Reno County. Per protocol, when a resident dies in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections, the death is reviewed by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
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How Kansas Women's Disappearance on a Drive to Pick Up Kids Led to 4 Arrests in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A two-week search for two missing Kansas women came to a fatal end last weekend when Oklahoma authorities confirmed the two were dead and announced the arrests of four people who allegedly belonged to an anti-government group that called themselves “God's Misfits.”
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, disappeared on March 30 while driving to pick up Butler's two children for a birthday party. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed on Tuesday that the bodies found in Texas County were those of the two women.
One of the suspects charged in the case is the children's grandmother, who authorities say was in a bitter custody dispute with Butler. The four face charges including murder and are expected to make their first court appearance Wednesday in Guymon, in the rural Oklahoma panhandle.
Here are some things to know about the case.
WHAT DO AUTHORITIES SAY HAPPENED?
Investigators have been tight-lipped about the case since the car Kelley and Butler were riding in was found in a rural area of Texas County, which is along the border with Kansas. But arrest affidavits unsealed Monday painted a gruesome picture of the scene.
According to court records, blood was left on the road and Butler’s glasses were found near a broken hammer. A magazine for a pistol was inside Kelley’s purse but authorities disclosed they did not find any firearm.
Evidence suggests the killings were planned, according to the arrest affidavit, which states that Tifany Adams, the grandmother of Butler's children, had bought pre-paid “burner” cellphones and five stun guns. Her internet searches included inquiring about pain levels using the weapons, according to the affidavits.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced over the weekend that they had found two bodies, more than two weeks after the women disappeared. The state medical examiner's office has not yet released a report revealing how they were killed.
WHO WERE THE VICTIMS?
Investigators say Butler was involved in a custody fight with Adams and her son and was only allowed supervised visits with the children on Saturday. Kelley was authorized to supervise the visits, according to the affidavits. Kelley was a pastor’s wife and mother of four. Her husband, Heath Kelley, was the pastor of First Christian Church in Hugoton. In recent months, he had accepted a new job with Willow Christian Church in Indianola, Nebraska, but hadn’t started there yet. At Willow’s sister congregation, McCook Christian Church, Sunday’s service opened with news of the killings. “We had longed for a different outcome,” a pastor told the congregation during the service, which was posted on Facebook. Messages left with several members of Butler’s family have not been returned.
WHO ARE THE SUSPECTS?
All four suspects are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder. They are being held without bond at the Texas County Jail in Guymon. In addition to Adams, 54, the others charged are Tad Cullum, 43; Cora Twombly, 44; and her husband Cole Twombly, 50, both of Texhoma, Oklahoma. Court records on Tuesday did not indicate if any had attorneys who could speak on their behalf. Relatives of Tad Cullum and the Twomblys have not returned phone messages seeking comment. Tifany Adams’s stepmother, Elise Adams, said she had no information on the case. According to a witness who spoke to OSBI investigators, all four suspects were part of “an anti-government group that had a religious affiliation,” according to the affidavit. OSBI investigators learned the group called themselves “God's Misfits” and held regular meetings at the home of the Twomblys and another couple. Tifany Adams, who was involved in the custody dispute with Butler, is the current chair of the Cimarron County Republican Party, according to Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Nathan Dahm. Cimarron County is the westernmost county at the tip of the Oklahoma Panhandle with a population of fewer than 2,300 people. Dahm said officials at the state party did not know Adams. He said given how rural the county is, “it could have been three people who showed up at the county convention and elected her.”
WHAT'S NEXT?
All four suspects were scheduled for an initial appearance Wednesday in Texas County District Court. During an initial appearance in Oklahoma, a judge will typically review the formal charges and enter a not guilty plea on behalf of the defendant. The judge also will determine if the defendants have hired an attorney or will have a state-appointed attorney represent them and will schedule another court date for the defendants to appear.
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KU Marks 70th Anniversary of Brown v Board Ruling with Two-Day Conference
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — The University of Kansas is marking the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education case with a two-day conference this week (April 18th and 19th). The KU School of Education and Human Sciences is partnering with the Brown v. Board National Historic site in Topeka for "Brown v. Board at 70: Looking Back and Striving Forward." Dr. Jim Williams, the superintendent of the Brown v. Board National Historic Park, recently spoke to KPR's Kaye McIntyre about the lessons learned from Brown, 70 years later.
Learn more about "Brown v. Board at 70" by visiting soehs.ku.edu.
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"Stories for All" Festival Comes to Lawrence
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — Storytellers of all kinds - writers, artists and filmmakers - will gather in Lawrence this week. The "Stories for All" festival highlights the work of DIGITAL storytellers. Dr. Giselle Anatol is the director of KU's Hall Center for the Humanities, a lead sponsor of the festival. She tells KPR's Kaye McIntyre that more that 40 partners are involved in Stories for All, which takes place Thursday, Friday and Saturday (April 18th, 19th, and 20th).
Learn more at StoriesForAll.org.
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2019 Flooding in Kansas Set Stage for Current Fire Risk
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KNS) — Recent wildfires at Tuttle Creek are connected to the heavy rains that set records in the spring of 2019. In 2019, the Tuttle Creek dam held back massive amounts of water - to protect people downstream on the Kansas River. As the reservoir valley filled with all that water, it killed thousands of trees there that ended up inundated. It’s very hard to deal with so many dead trees. Years later, the Kansas Forest Service says all those trees are still there, long dried out. And this month, they caught fire. Thousands of acres burned in Riley, Pottawatomie, and Marshall counties. Many more dead trees remain standing, meaning they could fuel future wildfires.
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Hall of Fame Baseball Manager Whitey Herzog Dies at Age 92
NEW YORK (AP) — Whitey Herzog, the gruff and ingenious Hall of Fame manager who guided the St. Louis Cardinals to three pennants and a World Series title in the 1980s and perfected an intricate, nail-biting strategy known as "Whiteyball," has died. He was 92.
Cardinals spokesman Brian Bartow said Tuesday the team had been informed of his death by Herzog's family. The team did not immediately have additional details about Herzog, who had been at Busch Stadium on April 4 for the Cardinals' home opener.
“Whitey Herzog devoted his lifetime to the game he loved, excelling as a leader on and off the field,” Jane Forbes Clark, chair of the Hall of Fame's board of directors, said in a statement. “Whitey always brought the best out of every player he managed with a forthright style that won him respect throughout the game.”
A crew-cut, pot-bellied tobacco chewer who had no patience for the "buddy-buddy" school of management, Herzog joined the Cardinals in 1980 and helped end the team's decade-plus pennant drought by adapting it to the artificial surface and distant fences of Busch Memorial Stadium. A typical Cardinals victory under Herzog was a low-scoring, 1-run game, sealed in the final innings by a “bullpen by committee,” relievers who might be replaced after a single pitch, or temporarily shifted to the outfield, then brought back to the mound.
The Cardinals had power hitters in George Hendrick and Jack Clark, but they mostly relied on the speed and resourcefulness of switch-hitters Vince Coleman and Willie McGee, the acrobatic fielding of shortstop and future Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith and the effective pitching of starters such as John Tudor and Danny Cox and relievers Todd Worrell, Ken Dayley and Jeff Lahti. For the '82 champions, Herzog didn't bother rotating relievers, but simply brought in future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter to finish the job.
"They (the media) seemed to think there was something wrong with the way we played baseball, with speed and defense and line-drive hitters," Herzog wrote in his memoir "White Rat: A Life in Baseball," published in 1987. "They called it 'Whiteyball' and said it couldn't last."
Under Herzog, the Cards won pennants in 1982, 1985 and 1987, and the World Series in 1982, when they edged the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games. Herzog managed the Kansas City Royals to division titles in 1976-78, but they lost each time in the league championship to the New York Yankees.
Overall, Herzog was a manager for 18 seasons, compiling a record of 1,281 wins and 1,125 losses. He was named Manager of the Year in 1985 and voted into the Hall by the Veterans Committee in 2010, his plaque noting his "stern, yet good-natured style," and his emphasis on speed, pitching and defense. Just before he formally entered the Hall, the Cardinals retired his uniform number, 24.
When asked about the secrets of managing, he would reply a sense of humor and a good bullpen.
Herzog is survived by his wife of 71 years, Mary Lou Herzog; their three children, Debra, David and Jim, and their spouses; nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog was born in New Athens, Illinois, a blue-collar community that would shape him long after he left. He excelled in baseball and basketball and was open to skipping the occasional class to take in a Cardinals game. Signed up by the Yankees, he was a center fielder who discovered that he had competition from a prospect born just weeks before him, Mickey Mantle.
Herzog never played for the Yankees, but he did get to know manager Casey Stengel, another master shuffler of players who became a key influence. The light-haired Herzog was named "The White Rat" because of his resemblance to Yankees pitcher Bob "The White Rat" Kuzava.
Like so many successful managers, Herzog was a mediocre player, batting just .257 over eight seasons and playing several positions. His best year was with Baltimore in 1961, when he hit .291. He also played for the Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics and Detroit Tigers, with whom he ended his playing career, in 1963.
"Baseball has been good to me since I quit trying to play it," he liked to say.
After working as a scout and coach, Herzog was hired in 1967 by the New York Mets as director of player development, with Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan among the future stars he helped bring along. The Mets liked him well enough to designate him the successor to Gil Hodges, but when the manager died suddenly in 1972 the job went to Yogi Berra. Herzog instead debuted with the Texas Rangers the following season, finishing just 47-91 before being replaced by Billy Martin. He managed the Angels for a few games in 1974 and joined the Royals the following season, his time with Kansas City peaking in 1977 when the team finished 102-60.
Many players spoke warmly of Herzog, but he didn’t hesitate to rid his teams of those he no longer wanted, dumping such Cardinals stars as outfielder Lonnie Smith and starting pitcher Joaquin Andujar. One trade worked out brilliantly: Before the 1982 season, he exchanged .300 hitting shortstop Garry Templeton, whom Herzog had chastised for not hustling, for the Padres' light-hitting Ozzie Smith, now widely regarded as the best defensive shortstop in history. Another deal was less far successful: Gold Glove first baseman Keith Hernandez, with whom Herzog had feuded, to the Mets in the middle of 1983 for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. Hernandez led New York to the World Series title in 1986, while Allen and Ownbey were soon forgotten.
Herzog was just as tough on himself, resigning in the middle of 1990 because he was “embarrassed” by the team’s 33-47 record. He served as a consultant and general manager for the Angels in the early '90s and briefly considered managing the Red Sox before the 1997 season.
If the '82 championship was the highlight of his career, his greatest blow was the '85 series. The Cardinals were up 3 games to 2 against his former team, the Royals, and in Game 6 led 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, with Worrell brought in to finish the job.
Jorge Orta led off and grounded a 0-2 pitch between the mound and first base. In one of the most famous blown calls in baseball history, he was ruled safe by umpire Don Denkinger, even though replays showed first baseman Jack Clark's toss to Worrell was in time. The Cardinals never recovered. Kansas City rallied for two runs to tie the series and crushed the Cards 11-0 in Game 7.
"No, I'm not bitter at Denkinger," Herzog told the AP years later. "He's a good guy, he knows he made a mistake, and he's a human being. It happened at an inopportune time but I do think they ought to have instant replay in the playoffs and World Series."
As if testing Herzog's humor, the Hall inducted him alongside an umpire, Doug Harvey.
"I don't know why he should get in," Herzog joked at the time. “Doug kicked me out of more games than any other umpire.”
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The Chiefs' Rashee Rice, Facing Charges from Texas Car Crash, Will Participate in Offseason Work
UNDATED (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Monday that wide receiver Rashee Rice, who is facing charges that include aggravated assault as a result of a sports car crash in Texas, would participate in the team's voluntary offseason program beginning this week.
Dallas police allege that Rice, the Chiefs' top wide receiver last season, and a friend, Theodore Knox, were driving at high speed in the far left lane of a freeway when they lost control. The Lamborghini that Rice has admitted to driving hit the center median, causing a chain reaction that involved six vehicles and resulted in injures to multiple people.
Rice turned himself in last Thursday after police issued warrants for one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injury. He was released on bond. Rice is being represented by Texas state Sen. Royce West, who said in an emailed statement the wide receiver “acknowledges his actions and feels deeply for those injured as a result of this accident,” and that he would continue to cooperate with police. "I’m leaving that like we’ve done most of these: just for the law enforcement part of it to take place,” Reid said during a Zoom meeting with local reporters Monday. “We will go from there with that. So you can hold your (questions). I have had an opportunity to talk to Rashee. I’m not going to obviously get into that, but that part has been gone through.”
In recent years, the Chiefs have adopted virtual meetings during the early part of their offseason program because they have played into February for the Super Bowl. There is no on-field work allowed during the first two weeks. After that, teams are allowed to do in-person, on-field work, and Reid would not say whether Rice would participate. “We’ll just see how it goes there,” Reid said. “I want to keep gathering the information from the law enforcement people. We’ll just see where everything goes from there. Let the process take place.”
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes also said Monday on Zoom that he has worked with Rice throughout the offseason. “I’m sure we’ll continue that work as the legal process plays out,” he said.
Rice grew up in the Fort Worth suburb of North Richland Hills and played college football at nearby SMU, where Knox was still playing until he was suspended following the crash. Knox is facing the same charges as Rice.
The Chiefs selected Rice in the second round of last year's draft, and he quickly emerged as their top wide receiver, especially as others struggled with dropped passes and mental mistakes. He finished second on the team to Travis Kelce with 79 receptions for 938 yards while leading the Chiefs with seven touchdown receptions.
Rice may have been even better in the playoffs. He had 26 catches for 262 yards and a touchdown, including six catches for 39 yards against San Francisco in the Super Bowl, helping the Chiefs win their third Lombardi Trophy in five years.
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