One Suspect in Custody, One At Large After Late-Night Shooting in Lawrence
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) – One suspect is in custody and another remains at large following a late night shooting in Lawrence. Police say an 18-year-old man was apprehended but a 17-year-old boy is still being sought after a Monday night shooting that left a 26-year-old man in the hospital with serious injuries.
Police were called to a mobile home park on south Iowa Street (3323 Iowa) where they found the victim with multiple gunshot wounds to the leg. He was hospitalized and remains in stable condition. Investigators believe the shooting was the result of a drug deal that turned into a robbery. Police say 18-year-old Cameron Cooper, of Lawrence, was taken into custody, booked into jail and is now facing a variety of charges. Police are still searching for the 17-year-old suspect.
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Kansas Truck Driver Charged with Smuggling Migrants into U.S.
UNDATED (KRGV) - A Kansas truck driver has been arrested at a southern border checkpoint after agents discovered two dozen migrants inside his refrigerated trailer. Authorities say Robert Monkel has been charged with knowingly - and with reckless disregard - transporting people illegally into the United States.
The Border Patrol says 24 people - not legally authorized to be in this country - were discovered inside a 35-degree refrigerated trailer. One of them was a 4-year-old boy. KRGV TV reports that Monkel is accused of trying to smuggle people from Mexico, El Salador, Honduras, Guatemala and other countries into the U.S. He's scheduled to appear before a judge in Corpus Christi Tuesday morning.
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Five People Shot and Killed in Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (KMBC) - An investigation is underway into the fatal shooting of five people in the same area of Wichita. All five shootings appear to be related. KMBC TV reports that five people were shot and killed Sunday evening at three different locations in south Wichita.
The first victim was found dead at a residence around 5:45 pm. Police then responded to another residence and discovered three more people dead from gunshot wounds. While at the second residence, police began checking around the neighborhood and found a fifth victim - shot dead in another residence on the same street.
Investigators believe all the victims knew each other. They also believe that one of the deceased victims may have been the shooter.
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Report: Kansas Mothers Getting Inadequate Prenatal Care
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A report by the child advocacy group Kansas Action for Children finds that 1 in 6 Kansas mothers do not receive adequate prenatal care while pregnant. In recent years, the percent of women receiving adequate prenatal care in Kansas has been relatively constant at around 83%. Still, access is much lower in Southwest Kansas, where many counties are maternity care deserts. Heather Braum, a senior policy advisor with KAC, said the state "should be looking into policy solutions like providing adequate funding to recruit and train prenatal care providers.” Infant mortality in Kansas remains slightly higher than the national average, and Black infants continue to be much more likely to have low birth weights or die within their first year of life.
Learn more in the 2024 Kansas Kids Count Data Book.
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Mike Pompeo Won't Be Serving in New Trump Administration
UNDATED (KPR) - Former Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo will not be serving in the new Trump administration. President-elect Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he would not ask Pompeo to serve this time around. Pompeo served as CIA director and then Secretary of State during Trump's first term. Prior to that, Pompeo represented Kansas, serving as a congressman from the 4th District.
Pompeo has sometimes criticized Trump in recent years, but ultimately backed his reelection bid.
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Midwestern Beekeepers Struggling with Colony Collapse
UNDATED (HPM) - The USDA says the United States might have more honey bee colonies today than ever, but some beekeepers in the Midwest are struggling to keep their colonies alive. During most honey harvests, Robert Burns said he’s able to pull at least 23 gallons from the honeybee colonies he manages at Mitzvah Garden KC in Overland Park, Kansas. But these past seasons haven’t been so sweet. “This is the third year we've lost a lot of the colonies for no good reason. And it's just pretty disappointing, and it's devastating because we have to start completely over again.” Burns says thousands of their bees might have died due to nearby pesticides and unfavorable weather. Recent data shows that there are nearly 4 million honey bee colonies across the U.S. But experts say Midwestern colonies tend to die in the winter at a higher rate. Other stressors include parasites and limited flower sources. (Read more.)
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Commission Works with K-State to Spread Sorghum Information
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KNS) - Unlike a lot of other crops, sorghum can take the heat. A program from Kansas State University and the state’s sorghum commission aims to give farmers more information about the heat-tolerant crop. Sorghum is far less common than wheat, corn and soybeans. But it has a reputation for doing well in hot, dry weather. A program called Sorghum Connection will link growers to research that could help improve yields and profits with this grain. Sorghum is mostly used for livestock feed and ethanol and Kansas is the country’s top producer, but other grains are much more common here. Maddy Meier, with the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission, says this crop takes less water than corn, wheat and soybeans. “These traits really come in handy, especially as a majority of sorghum acres are grown in the western part of the state, which is an area that receives significantly less rainfall," she said.
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Investigation into Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting in Raytown
RAYTOWN, Mo. (KC Star) - An investigation is underway into an officer-involved fatal shooting in Raytown, Missouri. The Kansas City Star reports that a police officer shot and killed a man at a Raytown QuikTrip early Saturday morning. Police say the man who was shot was making threats at the convenience store and claimed to have weapons and explosives in his vehicle. As the man headed toward his vehicle, he failed to comply with police commands to stop. He was shot and died later at a hospital. The Kansas City Police Bomb Squad later recovered explosives from the man's vehicle.
Update: Police have now identified the person fatally shot as 32-year-old Kenneth R. Williams.
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$5,000 Reward Offered in Killing of Beloved Cow
ALLEN COUNTY, Kan. (KAKE) - A $5,000 reward has been posted in Allen County for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for killing a beloved heifer. The British White bred heifer named Lucille was killed during a full moon in October. KAKE TV reports that the animal was killed six miles southeast of La Harpe. The Allen County Sheriff's Office says the death was not due to another animal or natural causes.
Anyone with information us asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
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KU Women's Soccer Set to Play in NCAA Tourney
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - The University of Kansas women’s soccer team will play its first NCAA tournament match at St. Louis University this Friday at 7 pm. After winning the Big 12 tournament on Saturday and an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament, there was a chance KU would be hosting this weekend. That didn’t happen. Even so, first-year coach Nate Lie says he’ll make sure the team is ready to go. "You’re excited to play. I gave them my 2-cent rundown on SLU. The first thing is they’re pretty darn good and they’ve won a whole, whole lot," Lie said. The St, Louis Billikins are 14-1-6 and captured the Atlantic 10 conference tournament title. KU, at 13-5-4, has been on a roll of its own - winning its last eight matches. I
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Kansas Men's Basketball Still No.1 in AP Top 25
UNDATED (KPR) - Kansas remains atop the first Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll of the regular season. Despite blowing a 20-point lead against North Carolina Friday night, the Jayhawks held on for a 92-89 victory and received more first place votes than any other team. Alabama, UConn, Gonzaga and Auburn round out the top five teams.
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This summary of area news is curated by KPR news staffers. Our headlines are generally published by 10 am weekdays and are updated through 7 pm. This ad-free news summary is made possible by KPR members. Become one today. And follow KPR News on X (formerly Twitter).