Kansas Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Traffic Stop Case
UNDATED (KNS) – The Kansas Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in a case focused on how long police can hold a person during a traffic stop. The Kansas News Service reports that in 2020, Wichita police pulled over Gina Wilson. The officer wrote her a ticket for driving with a suspended license, while they waited for a police dog to arrive. The dog sniffed out oxycodone tablets in her car and police arrested her. But Wilson argues that search was unconstitutional. Her attorney says she should have been free to leave once the ticket was written. Justice Melissa Standridge drilled the state’s attorney, asking how many minutes police should have to search for evidence of a crime that’s unrelated to a traffic stop, posing the question “I just wanna know, if we're gonna adopt what you say, when the next case comes, what are we supposed to do?” The Court’s decision could set a precedent for police conduct in Kansas.
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Data Shows Decline in Number of Children Entering Kansas Foster Care System
UNDATED (KNS) – Kansas officials say the state’s focus on finding alternative solutions for children facing foster care is paying off. The Kansas News Service reports that state data shows a steady decline of children entering the system in recent years. Approximately 2,500 Kansas children were placed in the state’s custody last year. That’s about a 40% decrease since 2018, when more than 4,200 children were removed from their family homes. Secretary Laura Howard of the Kansas Department for Children and Families says prevention efforts like addressing the child’s in-home danger or temporarily moving the child to a relative’s home are making a difference. “The children belong with their families, they belong in their communities, we can serve them safely,” Howard added. Kansas is still ranked in the top 10 nationally for the number of children entering foster care each year.
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Topeka Man Accused of Falsifying Court Records, Faces More than 300 Felony Counts
TOPEKA, Kan. (TCJ) — A Shawnee County man has been accused of falsifying court records. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a 333-count indictment has been returned by a grand jury against 52-year-old Andrew G. Johnson Jr. He's a former civilian employee at the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office. Johnson is accused of falsifying records related to the service of court documents. In addition to Shawnee County, prosecutors say 10 additional counties may have been affected.
Johnson, who had been on the job for about six months, was booked into jail Wednesday afternoon. The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, includes 333 criminal acts - all but three of them are felonies. The charges include perjury, making false statements, misconduct, theft and other crimes - mostly related to serving court documents.
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New Kansas Law Requires Proof that Extra Funding Helps Struggling Students
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — A new state law requires Kansas school districts to show that struggling students are improving, or they risk losing money set aside for those kids. Conservative lawmakers pushed for the law because they say some districts are misusing money set aside for at-risk students. Starting this fall, 13 districts will set goals and track test scores for certain groups of students over several years. Next year, all Kansas districts will be required to do it. Deputy Education Commissioner Ben Proctor says districts can use any of about 150 peer-reviewed programs approved by the state to help students succeed academically. “It’s all about connecting what you’re doing to success for those at-risk students.” Under the new law, districts that don’t meet test-score goals by 2030 could lose some state funding.
While education leaders will start fulfilling the new requirements this year with 13 trial districts, they already see problems with tracking progress the way lawmakers want. Deputy Education Commissioner Frank Harwood says the law requires schools to track groups of 10 or more students, which is a challenge for many rural districts. "We have several districts that don’t have 10 third-graders, let alone 10 free-lunch third-graders. Just the logistics of how some of that will work out will have to be worked out in the pilot,” he said.
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Number of Kansans Receiving TANF Assistance Drops to Nearly 15-Year Low
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — The number of Kansans receiving cash assistance from a federal program for families in need is the lowest it’s been in nearly 15 years. The Kansas News Service reports that since 2009, Kansas has seen a nearly 80% decrease in the number of households getting monthly aid through TANF, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. State auditors say stricter eligibility requirements passed under Republican former Governor Sam Brownback played a role in that decrease. Sam Dadds of the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit explained that "...the research we reviewed suggested that TANF rules, like those in Kansas, lead to mostly negative program outcomes for TANF families.” Dadds also says the federal government hasn’t adjusted the amount of money Kansas gets through TANF since the program was created more than 25 years ago.
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Kansas State Fair Releases Cause of Explosion at Concession Stand
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KWCH) — An explosion at a concession stand at the Kansas State Fair injured six people this week - and now... we know the cause. KWCH TV reports that Tuesday night's explosion took place at a concession stand called the “Fry Shack.” Investigators determined the cause to be... the overpressure of a canned food product stored near a food warmer. The canned food item got too hot and exploded. Two people suffered lacerations and four others suffered more minor injuries.
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Kansas Congressman Votes to Protect U.S. Farmland, Intellectual Property from China
WASHINGTON, DC (KPR) — Kansas Republican Congressman Tracey Mann voted to advance a bill designed to protect American farmland and U.S. intellectual property from being acquired by China. The bipartisan legislation, called "Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act," passed in the U.S. House by 120 votes (269-149). Among other things, the legislation aims to scrutinize the foreign purchase of American farmland for national security risks. The measure now goes to the U.S. Senate.
Congressman Mann said, "No other nation allows its adversaries to go unchecked in purchasing its property. Neither should America." Mann says the act will make sure America adversaries don't put America’s food or national security at risk. Some congressional estimates say China's ownership of U.S. farmland has increased more than 20-fold in the past decade.
Proponents of the act point to places like Texas, where a Chinese company - owned by a wealthy former Chinese soldier with ties to the ruling Communist Party - bought 140,000 acres. The land is located near Laughlin Air Force Base, where U.S. pilots are trained.
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Dangerous Week on Kansas Roadways: Six Killed in 5 Fatality Accidents on Wednesday Alone
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - It's been a deadly week on Kansas roadways. The Highway Patrol says six people were killed in 5 separate fatality crashes on Wednesday. WIBW TV reports that several others suffered serious injuries in those collisions.
• A 76-year-old man from Liberty, Kansas, and a 61-year-old woman from Independence, Kansas, were killed in a car-semitrailer crash Wednesday morning near Fredonia in Wilson County.
• A 23-year-old woman from Bremen, in Marshall County, was killed in a two-vehicle crash near Marysville Wednesday morning. An 89-year-old woman was transported to a hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, for treatment of serious injuries.
• A 21-year-old woman from Sedgwick was killed in a three-vehicle crash Wednesday afternoon in Wichita.
• A 68-year-old woman from Rochelle, Illinois, was killed and six people -- including three children -- suffered serious injuries in a two-vehicle crash Wednesday afternoon northwest of Oakley in Thomas County.
• A 36-year-old Pittsburg man was killed when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a pickup truck Wednesday evening in Riverton in southeast Kansas.
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Kansas Secretary of State Seeks Answers from USPS on Uncounted Mail-In Ballots
UNDATED (KNS) — The top election official in Kansas is requesting answers from the U.S. Postal Service after about 1000 mail-in ballots were not counted in the state’s primary elections. The Kansas News Service reports that Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab says the Postal Service failed to postmark ballots or delivered them too late to be counted. Davis Hammet, president of voting rights group Loud Light, says he’s worried about uncounted ballots, but also about how this public confrontation could influence voters. “My biggest concern about this is that this being such a public thing could lead to people being more hesitant to vote by mail who maybe really need to vote by mail,” Hammet explained. Schwab is seeking reassurance that the issues will be fixed by the November election.
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Missouri Ballot Measure Could Relieve Pressure on Kansas Women's Clinics
UNDATED (KNS) — Analysts say a Missouri ballot measure that could undo the state’s strict abortion ban could relieve some demand at Kansas clinics. The Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, estimates nearly 3,000 Missourians traveled to Kansas for abortions last year. State policy director Candace Gibson told the Kansas News Service that if Missouri enshrines abortion rights, it could make it easier for Kansans to get appointments locally. “It would definitely allow another access point and reduce some of the pressure that I think a lot of clinics and providers are facing right now,” Gibson explained. Kansas law allows abortion up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The Missouri measure, if passed, would allow abortions up to around 24 weeks. Abortion rights opponents are denouncing a Tuesday decision by the Missouri Supreme Court to allow voters to consider the measure in November.
(Earlier, related report...)
Missouri Supreme Court Rules Abortion Legalization Amendment Will Appear on November Ballot
UNDATED (St. Louis Public Radio) — Missourians will vote on whether to legalize abortion this November. St. Louis Public Radio reports that the Missouri Supreme Court said Amendment 3 will be on the November 5th ballot. The Missouri Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision taking Amendment 3 off the ballot, because it did not specify which laws it could repeal. It ordered that Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft certify to local election officials that the measure will be before voters on November 5. Amendment proponents raised millions of dollars and polling showed that the measure would pass — even gaining support from a significant minority of Republicans. The court also said that Ashcroft’s effort to decertify Amendment 3 on Monday “is a nullity and of no effect” since he certified the measure by an August deadline.
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Eastern Kansas County Reports Crash Involving a Truck and an... Elk?
WABAUNSEE COUNTY, Kan. (KSNT) – Lots of motorists driving through Kansas have had the unpleasant experience of hitting a deer with their vehicle. But one truck driver in eastern Kansas hit something else this week - an elk! The Wabaunsee County Sheriff’s Office has shared photos of the elk casualty on social media. KSNT reports that the elk was struck Wednesday on I-70, just southeast of Paxico. No humans were injured.
According to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP), elk were released onto the Fort Riley Military Reservation in 1986, about 35 miles west of Paxico. The herd continued to increase in size until they started causing crop damage to landowners. As a result, the state issued 200 elk hunting permits in 1999 and 2000.
In 2022 it was reported that 40 elk were harvested in Kansas. Wildlife officials say that in the last five years, elk had been harvested in about a quarter of the counties in Kansas.
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