Body Found in Crashed Truck Confirmed as that of Man Missing from Peabody
HARVEY COUNTY, Kan. (KPR) — A dead body found inside a wrecked truck has been confirmed as that of 42-year-old Jonathan Clayton, the interim city clerk in Peabody, who's been missing since August 3rd. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says a Chevy truck registered to Clayton was discovered crashed in a field Sunday afternoon in Harvey County. Investigators believe the truck was driven off the road, where it crashed into a tree. Christopher King, Clayton's partner and a member of the Peabody City Council, told the Wichita Eagle on Monday that Clayton was identified from the contents of his wallet and items found with him. The Kansas City Star reports that it appears Clayton had crashed on the day he went missing, and had been in the truck for three weeks.
Around the time Clayton went missing, questions were being raised about the whereabouts of $750,000 in grant money. Clayton once worked for the Kansas Department of Commerce where he was in charge of millions of dollars in COVID pandemic aid. Previously, he had been convicted of forgery and fraud in Pennsylvania. The Commerce Department said it was unaware of Clayton's felony conviction before hiring him.
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Heat Advisory in Effect Until 8 PM for Eastern Kansas
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — A Heat Advisory remains in effect until 8 pm for much of eastern Kansas. The National Weather Service says the heat index could hit 110 Monday across portions of central, east-central, north-central and northeast Kansas. Residents are encouraged to wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing and to limit strenuous activities to the early morning or evening hours. If you have to be outside for extended periods of time Monday, experts advise staying hydrated and taking frequent breaks in the shade.
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Ozone Alert Issued for Kansas City Metro Area
(KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) – Monday is a doubly dangerous weather day in the Kansas City metro area. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory until 8:00 Monday night and the season’s first ozone alert has been issued. The Mid-America Regional Council has issued an orange alert for today, which means the air is unhealthy for people with respiratory diseases like asthma. MARC says people in such sensitive groups should limit prolonged outdoor activity. MARC also says this is the latest in the year it has issued an ozone alert in at least 15 years. This is very different from last year when MARC posted 16 ozone alerts, the second most in the last 20 years. The record is 29 alerts in 2012.
You can always check air quality online at AirNow.gov.
Medicine Lodge, Kansas, Hottest Spot in the Nation Saturday
MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. (KWCH) — The hottest place in the nation Saturday was in south-central Kansas. The National Weather Service says Medicine Lodge hit 115 degrees at 7 o'clock Saturday night. That high temperature made the Kansas community the hottest spot in the 48 contiguous United States. KWCH TV reports that the highest temperature ever recorded in Kansas was 121 degrees, which was recorded in 1936, during the Dust Bowl era.
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Wyandotte County TB Outbreak Confirmed
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCUR) – An outbreak of about 50 tuberculosis cases is confirmed in a Wyandotte County community. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports that’s more cases than the entire state recorded all of last year. Dr. Dana Hawkinson is the chief infectious disease expert for the University of Kansas Health System. He told KCUR that an outbreak often comes down to community dynamics. "What are the living situations in those communities? Is it multigenerational? What are they doing as a community to be close together. I think you have to understand all of those dynamics," he clarified. Hawkinson says the outbreak doesn’t represent a major risk to the general public despite the comparatively large number of cases.
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Tuberculosis Outbreak Confirmed in Kansas City Area
UNDATED (KNS) — Kansas health officials have confirmed a tuberculosis outbreak in the Kansas City metro. The Kansas News Service reports that 56 people in Wyandotte and Johnson counties are being treated for tuberculosis. That’s more cases than the whole state saw last year. Plus, another 19 people are being treated in other Kansas counties. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says the public is at very low risk of infection, but if you think you’ve been exposed, contact your county health department. TB spreads through the air, for example, when a sick person coughs. State and county health officials are working to ensure patients get appropriate treatment. Two people have died of TB this year in Kansas.
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Dodge City Secures Multi-Million Dollar Federal Grant for Water Infrastructure Update
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) – Kansans in Dodge City will soon have safer and more reliable drinking water. The Kansas News Service reports that the city has secured a $14.2 million federal grant for a major infrastructure update. The extra funding from the Build Kansas Matching Fund will help Dodge City update its water infrastructure, which can be costly. In rural parts of Kansas, many homes are stuck with old lead pipes, and outdated water treatment centers. The money will also support a project to pump recycled wastewater back into the Arkansas River, slowly recharging the underground aquifer where the water comes from. Officials say the completed project will result in 1.3 billion gallons of recycled water and higher-quality drinking water.
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International Student Drowns in Southeast Kansas
CHANUTE, Kan. (KWCH) — An international college student has drowned in southeast Kansas. Authorities say the body of a student from Fiji was recovered from the Neosho River. First responders from Chanute were called to Detner Dam, east of Chanute, Saturday night. KWCH TV reports that the body of a 21-year-old man who attends Neosho County Community College was recovered from the water. Authorities say he was swimming with friends when he jumped off the dam and became caught in the current.
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Authorities Try to ID Body Pulled from Wyandotte County Lake
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) — Investigators are still trying to identify a man whose body was pulled from Wyandotte County Lake over the weekend. KCTV reports that emergency crews were called to the lake Saturday evening. The man is described as a Hispanic man in his 60s.
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Excelsior Springs Explosion Levels Home, Leaves Two Dead
EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. (KCTV/KPR) — An apparent propane explosion in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, completely leveled a home and killed two people and their dog. Authorities are still investigating the blast but investigators do not suspect foul play. The early Friday morning explosion could be felt and seen for miles. KCTV reports that no neighbors were hurt though some reported damage to their homes.
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Crop Art Featuring Kamala Harris and Tim Walz Completed
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KCUR) – World renowned crop artist Stan Herd completed his images of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz on Sunday, on a farm near the Kansas River in north Lawrence.
A portrait of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz now covers a quarter-acre outside Lawrence. When world-renowned crop artist Stan Herd completed the Harris portrait last month he left room for her running mate in a plot of adjacent land. It turns out that Walz was a little harder than Harris. "You know, he's an old white guy and he's got white hair," Herd told KCUR. Herd said that the white hair was the biggest challenge. At first he used white sand but that didn't look right. He didn't get the color right until Sunday. "I had a bale of white wood chips that I was going to carry off the field. And at the last minute, I just busted the bale loose and spread it all over his hair," he said. "And it was perfect."
Herd says Harris was a lot easier to capture. "So doing Kamala, the lines, the highlights, the shadows, the color of the hair, everything made it more simple." he said. (Read more.)
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Conservationists Not Happy with Decision on Wildlife Refuge
STAFFORD COUNTY, Kan. (KNS) — Kansas political leaders support a federal decision not to demand water for an important wildlife refuge in south-central Kansas. But conservationists are frustrated. Under Kansas law, the wetlands at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge have a right to more water. But farmers use that water to irrigate crops. For now, the federal government won’t ask Kansas to seek irrigation cuts. Republican U.S. Senator Roger Marshall said he’s optimistic that a mandate isn’t necessary and that farmers are working on their own to use less water. But Audubon of Kansas says this voluntary approach has failed for decades. Some years, the wetlands are almost entirely dry, hurting wildlife. Hundreds of thousands of migrating birds stop there each fall and spring.
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KCK Civil Rights Activist Chester Owns Dies at Age 91
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCUR) — Civil rights activist and historian Chester Owens, a lifelong resident of Kansas City, Kansas, has died. KCUR reports that Owens will be remembered for his efforts to organize letter writing and picketing campaigns to desegregate downtown Kansas City, Kansas. He was the first Black Kansas City, Kansas, councilman and in the mid '60s co-founded the first Black bookstore in the Midwest…called The Hub...where icons of Black culture came for readings and discussion. Owens often spoke about his frustration that more people don’t protest injustice, particularly in his beloved Wyandotte County. “You have a moral obligation to say something or do something about it. There’s something going on in Wyandotte County every day,” he once said. Chester Owens died at his home in Kansas City, Kansas. He was 91.
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One-Term Kansas House Representative Marvin Robinson Dies
UNDATED (The Beacon) — The Kansas Democrat who helped ban transgender girls and women from women’s sports has died of pancreatic cancer. Marvin Robinson II was 67. The Beacon reports that Robinson served one term in the Kansas House. He was controversial for his backing of Republican-led priorities, like banning transgender women from women’s sports. But Robinson also pushed for a ban on the death penalty and freeing inmates on marijuana charges. He was a strong advocate for funding restoration of the Quindaro Ruins. That’s a stop on the underground railroad that fell into disrepair and was almost turned into a landfill. Robinson lost his primary election this month to Wanda Brownlee Paige, who will take his seat next January. On Friday, Governor Laura Kelly directed flags to be lowered to half-staff on all state buildings, grounds, and facilities, effective immediately until sundown on the day of Robinson's interment. He died Thursday.
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Medical Experts Can't Explain Why Dead Nun's Body Hasn't Decomposed Four Years After Burial
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) — A Catholic nun was buried near Kansas City in 2019 but when her body was exhumed nearly four years later, her body and clothing had not decomposed. And no one seems to know why. A medical team recently examined the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster but was unable to explain why her body had not deteriorated, especially since she was not embalmed and was laid to rest in an unsealed wooden coffin.
The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has now released the results of the examination by medical experts. In its final report, the investigative team noted that the lining of her casket had completely deteriorated, but the nun's habit and clothing showed no features of breakdown. And neither did her body, which lacked any kind of decomposition.
In a statement issued by the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Bishop James Johnston said the Catholic Church does not have an official protocol for determining if a deceased person’s body is incorrupt, and incorruptibility is not considered to be an indication of sainthood. The bishop also said there is no plan to initiate a cause for sainthood for Sister Wilhelmina.
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Talks on Ogallala Aquifer Sustainability Held in Manhattan
UNDATED (KNS) — The multibillion-dollar livestock industry in Kansas needs the Ogallala aquifer to survive. the Kansas News Service reports that discussions about the sustainability of that water source were recently held in Manhattan. Unlike most water conservation discussions in Kansas, this one aimed to get more direct input from the livestock industry, with help from the Kansas Water Institute. They targeted policies that are not beneficial to conservation, like using water on failed crops, and incentivizing water intensive feed. Susan Metzger, director of the Kansas Water Institute, says conservation will start at the local level, and slowly work toward systemic changes at the federal level. “This group really also identified sort of the short term wins that they could have, and then also the things that they have the most power to do,” she added. The livestock industry uses up to 95% of western Kansas water for beef and dairy production. Most towns are tied to the sustainability and success of the industry.
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