Heavy Rains Cause Flash Flooding in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KC Star / WIBW) - Storms brought heavy rains to Kansas City, leading to flash flooding in several parts of the metro. The Kansas City Star reports that nearly seven inches of rain fell over the course of just six hours Monday. The southern half of Kansas City got the heaviest rainfall. The fast rising water caught many motorists by surprise and some drivers had to be rescued.
Meanwhile, WIBW TV reports that flood waters closed part of U.S. Highway 56 in Osage County on Monday. Anywhere from four to seven inches of rain fell, leading to flooding in several eastern Kansas communities, including Osage City, Burlington, Carbondale, Overbrook, Scranton, Admire and Allen... just to name a few.
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Kansas Governor Laura Kelly States Support for President Joe Biden
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has reiterated her support for President Biden before he meets with Democratic governors Wednesday. The Kansas News Service reports that ever since Biden’s presidential debate performance last week, some political figures from both parties have said he should pass the nomination off to a younger candidate. But Democratic Governor Laura Kelly has spoken out in support of the president. In a statement she said Biden boasts a bipartisan record and a good character. Nancy Boyda, a Democratic candidate for the state’s Second Congressional District, said Biden should suspend his campaign.
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Liberty Hospital Joins University of Kansas Health System
UNDATED (KCUR) – Liberty Hospital in Missouri officially joined the University of Kansas Health System Monday, despite backlash on both sides of the state line. KCUR reports that Liberty Hospital sought a merger to keep up with industry changes and meet growing demand in Platte and Clay counties. The merger faced criticism from lawmakers who didn’t like the idea of an out-of-state hospital running one in Missouri. But Tammy Peterman, president of KU Health’s Kansas City Division, says about 35% of the health system’s patients are already from Missouri. “We knew eventually we would need a way to care for more patients in Missouri and the Northland to keep care close to home," she explains. Peterman adds they’ll focus on ways Liberty Hospital can best be integrated into the health system in the coming months. KU Health System president Bob Page says this route allows Liberty to continue serving future generations. “It is incredibly difficult in health care today to remain a completely independent hospital," he said. "By becoming part of this health system, they will be able to offer some of the most advanced treatments and expertise anywhere in the country.”
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Department of Justice Reaches Settlement with Wichita Public Schools Following Federal Investigation into Punishment Trends
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW) – The Department of Justice and Wichita Public Schools have reached a settlement after a federal investigation found that Black students were punished more often and more severely than other students. In a report released Tuesday, the department also found that students with disabilities made up 98 percent of seclusion and restraint incidents from 2020 to 2023. KMUW reports that the district says it will unveil a new student code of conduct in January. It also will revise several policies that deal with restraining students, dress codes and behavior interventions. It also will eliminate the use of seclusion on students.
(–Additional Reporting–)
U.S. Justice Department Says Discipline Used in Wichita School District Was Discriminatory
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Educators in Kansas’s largest public school district discriminated against Black and disabled students when disciplining them, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, which announced an agreement Tuesday that will have the district revising its policies.
Changes the Wichita district has agreed to include restraining unruly students less often and ending the practice of putting misbehaving students alone in rooms by Jan. 1, 2025, the DOJ said.
The district also agreed to offer counseling or tutoring to every student who was confined alone in a room during the past three schools years, with the number of hours matching those for which the student was secluded. The department said the district already is writing a new code of conduct for students and has scheduled crisis-prevention training for staff.
The agreement comes amid an ongoing national debate about classroom discipline and whether punishments for minority and disabled students are disproportionately harsh. The Justice Department has previously reached similar agreements with other school districts in the U.S.
The settlement “sends a powerful message to Kansas schools and schools across the nation to ensure that they must no longer alienate or target Black students or students with disabilities,” said Rocky Nichols, executive director of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas.
The Department of Justice said in a letter to the Wichita district's attorney that it investigated disciplinary practices for the past three school years and visited the district in March 2023. It concluded that the district disciplined Black students more often and more severely than white students.
The DOJ also said that in the more than 3,000 times over three years that the district restrained or secluded students, 98% of those students were disabled. And it noted that hundreds of the cases involved students in kindergarten, first or second grade. More than 40 students were restrained or secluded more than 20 times each, the DOJ said.
“We substantiated allegations that the District discriminated against Black students in its administration of school discipline and referral of student conduct to law enforcement,” the department said in its letter. "We also found evidence that the District denied students with disabilities equal opportunity to participate in or benefit from its education program.”
The Wichita district has more than 46,000 students, nearly 10% of all students in Kansas. About 64% of the students are Black, Hispanic or have multiple ethnicities, according to State Department of Education figures, and the state considers nearly 78% to be at risk of failing academically.
The DOJ said the district cooperated throughout its investigation and had “expressed a desire to make positive improvements.”
“We can and must create a more equitable school district by changing some of our practices and procedures,” Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld said in an online statement after the Wichita school board approved the agreement. “Safe learning communities — for students and staff — will always be of the utmost importance.”
Disability rights advocates in numerous states for years have criticized restraints and seclusion for disabled students, saying the punishments are overused and dangerous.
In 2022, Iowa's second-largest school district promised to end the use of seclusion rooms after the Department of Justice concluded that it had violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. In 2023, Alaska's largest district agreed to stop secluding students and to use restraints only when there is a real risk of physical harm to the student or others.
Kansas law already dictates that restraint can be used only when there is an imminent risk that students will seriously harm themselves or others, according to Nichols.
"Wichita public schools should have been following that requirement all along," he said.
In other states, pressure to do more about unruly students has led officials to go in a different direction.
Arkansas last year expanded its restraint law so that — in addition to teachers — other school staff can restrain students in some cases. Some states still allow corporal punishment: A southwestern Missouri district reinstituted student spanking in 2022 as a form of discipline, but only in cases where the parents agree.
In Wichita, the Department of Justice said, the difference in discipline for Black and white girls was “particularly pronounced.” At one middle school, Black girls faced being punished for insubordination 4.5 times as often as white girls and were cited for dress code violations 3.6 times as often, the DOJ letter said. Wichita schools restrained students 1,570 times over three years and put them in seclusion 1,450 times, the letter added.
“We concluded that most of the District's restraints and all its seclusions were improper under both District policy and generally accepted practice,” the letter said.
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Wichita City Council Approves Agreement to Purchase Shuttered Elementary School for Use as Homeless Shelter
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) – The Wichita City Council approved an agreement Tuesday to purchase the former Park Elementary School from Wichita Public Schools for a dollar. The Kansas News Service reports that earlier this summer, the city announced its intent to use the former school building near 9th and Main as a homeless shelter and resource center. With the approval, the legislature now has 45 days to decide whether it will acquire the building. The city will complete the purchase if the legislature declines. Council member Maggie Ballard represents District 6, where the building is located. “This is definitely a huge group effort, and I know this is just the very first step of a really long process.” The city must go through a rezoning case and take other steps before renovations begin. It wants to open the emergency winter shelter at the former school by the fall.
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Boeing Plans to Purchase Wichita-Based Supplier Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 Billion
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Boeing has announced plans to acquire key supplier Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion. It says the move will improve plane quality and safety. Boeing previously owned Wichita-based Spirit, and the purchase would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing key work on its passenger planes. That approach has been criticized as problems at Spirit disrupted production and delivery of popular Boeing jetliners. Concerns about safety came to a head after the January blowout of a panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet over Oregon.
(-Additional Reporting-)
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Boeing announced plans to acquire key supplier Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion, a move that it says will improve plane quality and safety amid increasing scrutiny by Congress, airlines and the Department of Justice. Boeing previously owned Spirit, and the purchase would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing key work on its passenger planes. That approach has been criticized as problems at Spirit disrupted production and delivery of popular Boeing jetliners, including 737s and 787s.
“We believe this deal is in the best interest of the flying public, our airline customers, the employees of Spirit and Boeing, our shareholders and the country more broadly,” Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said in a statement late Sunday.
Concerns about safety came to a head after the January 5 blowout of a panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet over Oregon. The Federal Aviation Administration soon after announced increased oversight of Boeing and Spirit, which supplied the fuselage for the plane.
No one was seriously injured in the Alaska Airlines door incident, which terrified passengers, but Boeing is under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department to plead guilty to criminal fraud in connection with two deadly plane crashes involving its 737 Max jetliners more than five years ago. Boeing has until the end of the week to accept or reject the offer, which includes the giant aerospace company agreeing to an independent monitor who would oversee its compliance with anti-fraud laws, according to several people who heard federal prosecutors detail a proposed offer Sunday.
The Justice Department said in a May court filing that Boeing violated terms of a 2021 settlement allowing the company to avoid prosecution for actions leading up to the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia, which killed 346 people. Those crashes were blamed on a faulty sensor in a flight-control system and the investigation is separate from the probe of the more recent Alaska Airlines blowout, which involved Spirit.
Boeing spun off Spirit, which is based in Wichita, Kansas, and not related to Spirit Airlines, in 2005. In recent years, quality problems have mounted, including fuselage panels that didn’t fit together precisely enough and holes that were improperly drilled.
Spirit removed its CEO in October and replaced him with Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who served as acting defense secretary in the Trump administration.
Things seemed to be going more smoothly until the Alaska Airlines incident. Investigators said a panel used in place of an extra emergency door had been removed at a Boeing factory to let Spirit workers fix damaged rivets, and bolts that help hold the panel in place were missing after the repair job. It is not clear who removed the bolts and failed to put them back.
Spirit said in May that it was laying off about 450 workers at its Wichita plant because of a production slowdown since the January incident. Its total workforce was just over 13,000 people. “Bringing Spirit and Boeing together will enable greater integration of both companies’ manufacturing and engineering capabilities, including safety and quality systems,” Shanahan said.
The acquisition's equity value of $4.7 billion is $37.25 per share, while the total value of the deal is around $8.3 billion, which includes Spirit’s last reported net debt, the aerospace company said.
Boeing common stock will be exchanged for Spirit shares according to a variable formula that depends on a weighted average of the share price over a 15-trading-day period ending on the second day before the deal closes, Boeing said.
The companies also announced an agreement with Airbus to negotiate the purchase of Spirit assets involved with programs operated by the European aerospace firm. The Airbus agreement is set to commence when Boeing's acquisition of Spirit is completed, the two U.S. companies said.
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Appeals Court Allows Part of Biden Student Loan Repayment Plan to Go Forward
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has allowed the U.S. Education Department to move ahead with a plan to lower monthly payments for millions of student loan borrowers, putting on hold a ruling last week by a lower court.
The ruling from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals puts back on track a central part of President Joe Biden's efforts to address student debt — a rule that lowers from 10% of discretionary income to 5% the amount that some borrowers qualifying for a repayment plan need to pay.
The reduced payment threshold was set to take effect July 1, but federal judges in Kansas and Missouri last week blocked much of the administration’s student loan repayment plan in two separate rulings. The appeals court ruling on Sunday means the department can move ahead with the reduced payments already calculated. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is suing the Biden Administration, arguing that student loans taken out voluntarily shouldn't have to be paid back by taxpayers who didn't even go to college.
The rulings have created a difficult environment for borrowers to navigate, said Persis Yu, deputy executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, which advocates for eliminating student debt. The stay granted by the 10th Circuit is temporary and subject to appeal, Yu said, leaving many borrowers in the dark about future financial obligations.
“Borrowers are having to make decisions right now about their financial lives, and they don't know the very basic information that they need in order to make informed decisions,” Yu said.
The Biden administration created the SAVE plan last year to replace other existing income-based repayment plans offered by the federal government. It allowed many to qualify for lower payments, and forgiveness was granted to borrowers who had made payments for at least 10 years and originally borrowed $12,000 or less.
The appeals court ruling does not impact the injunction issued by a federal judge in Missouri, which prevents the Education Department from forgiving loan balances going forward.
The injunctions are the result of lawsuits from Republican-led states seeking to invalidate the Biden administration's entire loan forgiveness program, which was first available to borrowers in the summer of 2023, and at least 150,000 have had their loans cancelled. The suing states argued that the administration's plan was a workaround after the Supreme Court struck down the original plan for student loan forgiveness earlier that year.
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Children's Mercy Hospital Prepares for Holiday-Related Burns and Injuries
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) – Staff at Children’s Mercy hospital are on alert to treat severe burns ahead of the Independence Day holiday. KCUR reports that last year, 50 kids went to Children's Mercy for firework related injuries in the days leading up to the 4th of July. Many cases involve sparklers, which burn at up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Another common injury comes from kids holding lit fireworks, according to Laura Kemerling of the hospital’s Center for Childhood Safety. "We see children trying to light fireworks while their holding them that creates a huge risk for not just burn but blast injuries," she said. Kemerling suggests kids wear shoes to protect their feet and goggles for eye protection, while having a parent or guardian present during fireworks use.
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Kansas Doctors Challenging New Abortion Law
UNDATED (KNS) – Kansas doctors are challenging a new law requiring them to ask patients why they’re getting an abortion. The Kansas News Service reports that doctors say the Kansas health department is not enforcing the law for now. Anti-abortion groups support the new law. But doctors say asking patients why they’re ending their pregnancies… and reporting their answers to state officials for public release… is invasive and unconstitutional. Women can technically refuse to answer the question, but lawmakers decided against informing them of their right to refuse. A Johnson County judge said doctors can add their legal challenge to the new law to an ongoing lawsuit against a handful of older abortion restrictions. Lawyers for the state sought to block that from happening. Two other new laws now in effect increase funding for anti-abortion groups and make it a felony to coerce someone to get an abortion.
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New K-State Program Focuses on Drinking Water Safety
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KNS) - A new program from Kansas State University is helping rural families check the safety of their drinking water. K-State 105 educates Kansans on testing their well water for pollution that can come from lawn and crop fertilizers and from livestock and pets. It mails information to residents and provides free testing to some. Stacie Minson, a watershed specialist at K-State, says private wells aren’t regulated. “That’s the biggest thing - it’s the responsibility of you as the well owner to know what’s in your water. And so hopefully this helps them do that.” The state environment department, state water plan and Environmental Protection Agency help K-State 105fund this work. To learn about testing well water, contact K-State extension or your county health department.
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KU Medical Center Researchers Seeking Solutions for Food Insecurity in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KNS) – With a grant from the Sunflower Foundation, researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center are working to come up with solutions to food insecurity in Kansas. The Kansas News Service reports that Kristina Bridges is one of the researchers working on the project. She says food insecurity is linked to preventable conditions like type-two diabetes and poor mental health. So they’ve partnered with health centers across Kansas in areas that are defined as food deserts, where people have little or no access to healthy food. Bridges says they’ve connected about 200 patients to healthy groceries. But Bridges says policy changes are needed to give more Kansans access to healthy food and improve health outcomes. “So the question is, could health insurance companies cover the cost of healthy food provision? Could Medicaid, Medicare cover the costs?,” she asked. Bridges says addressing food insecurity will ultimately save money on health costs.
(Editor's note: KPR receives financial support from the Sunflower Foundation.)
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KU Medical Center Researchers to Investigate Lead Exposure in Southeast Kansas
UNDATED (KNS) – Researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center are working to address lead exposure in southeast Kansas. The Kansas News Service reports that children in that region of the state are four times more likely than the national average to have elevated blood-lead levels due to environmental contamination from the mining industry. Christina Pacheco, an assistant professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center, said lead exposure “...really can impact brain and nervous system damage and development, and lead to learning behavior, hearing and speech problems.”
She says children in Kansas aren’t always tested for lead poisoning until it’s too late. That’s why she’s analyzing data from states that have reduced lead poisoning rates. The goal is to make policy recommendations for Kansas. She’s also working to address rural food deserts, which are exacerbated when residents can’t safely grow home gardens in contaminated soil.
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Judge Sides with 16 States, Puts Pause on Biden's Delay of Consideration of Gas Export Projects
LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — The Biden administration can’t delay consideration of projects aimed at exporting liquefied natural gas while a legal challenge by 16 Republican state Attorneys General plays out in federal court, a Louisiana judge said Monday.
U.S. District Judge James Cain, Jr. sided with the states, granting a preliminary injunction that puts the Biden administration’s delay on hold.
It was unlikely, however, that any of the projects would be on a fast track for consideration as the U.S. Department of Energy said late Monday that it disagreed with the court's ruling and was evaluating its next steps. The White House also voiced disappointment.
“We remain committed to informing our decisions with the best available economic and environmental analysis, underpinned by sound science,” White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said in an email to The Associated Press.
President Joe Biden in January decided his administration would delay consideration of new natural gas export terminals in the United States, even as gas shipments to Europe and Asia soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move aligned the Democrat with environmentalists who fear an increase in exports — in the form of liquefied natural gas, or LNG — is locking in potentially catastrophic planet-warming emissions.
A coalition of states including Louisiana, Alaska, Texas, Kansas, West Virginia and Wyoming sued in March, claiming that the administration was violating the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws by banning exportation of LNG to countries without a free trade agreement.
In temporarily blocking the Biden ban on new approvals, Cain said the states will likely succeed in their case. He cited evidence submitted by the plaintiffs that showed loss of revenues and deferred investments in LNG projects due to the Biden administration's actions.
The ruling comes just days after a federal commission approved what would be the nation’s largest export terminal for liquefied natural gas. Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 southwestern Louisiana project, often referred to as CP2, was approved last week with little discussion by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
That project still needs DOE approval. The agency has said the project’s application was pending.
Republican members of Congress from Louisiana to Alaska have derided the administration's pause as shortsighted and a boon to foreign adversaries that produce energy, including Iran and Russia. Other supporters have argued that projects such as CP2 will be critical to global energy security.
The environmental group Evergreen Action was among those to criticize Cain's ruling, alleging that the judge was “bending the law to hand the oil industry a win.”
“Pause or no pause, the science is clear: No sound analysis that accounts for the climate and environmental hard inflicted by LNG exports could possibly determine that these deadly facilities are in the public interest,” Craig Segall, the group's vice president, said.
According to the DOE, current authorizations for exports of LNG to non-free trade agreement countries stand at over 48 billion cubic feet per day, or more than 45% of our current domestic production of natural gas. The agency also said the U.S. will continue to be the largest exporter of LNG by a substantial margin for at least the next six years based on the current export capacity.
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Big 12 Newcomer Utah Tabbed as Favorite to Win the Expanded 16-Team Football Conference This Fall
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Big 12 newcomer Utah has been picked to finish first in the expanded 16-team football conference this fall in a preseason poll of media who cover the league.
The Utes got 20 of 61 first-place votes in the poll released Tuesday, a week before the start of the league's football media days in Las Vegas. Kansas State got 19 first-place votes and was picked second, ahead of last year's Big 12 runner-up Oklahoma State, which was first on 14 ballots. Kansas (five first-place votes) and Arizona (three) rounded out the top five.
Pac-12 teams Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah officially became Big 12 members this week, at the same time that reigning Big 12 champion Texas and Oklahoma joined the Southeastern Conference.
Colorado and coach Deion Sanders were picked 11th in the preseason poll, with Arizona State picked 16th.
The league also announced its preseason individual awards, led by NCAA rushing champion Ollie Gordon II from Oklahoma State as the offensive player of the year.
Colorado defensive back Travis Hunter, who has also played receiver for the Buffaloes, was selected as the offensive player of the year. Former Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson, now at UCF, was tabbed as newcomer of the year.
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