High Winds Knock Out Power in Topeka, Kansas City
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Hundreds of people remained without power Tuesday morning - mostly in the Kansas City and Topeka areas. Strong winds up to 60 miles-per-hour moved through the area Monday night, snapping tree limbs and knocking out power. At one point Monday night, as many as 13,000 Evergy customers in Kansas and Missouri were without power. Check out Evergy's outage map to get the latest number of power outages.
The National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning Monday night for northeast Kansas, where 50 to 60 mile-per-hour winds were recorded.
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State of Kansas Participates in CDC Initiative on Antibiotic Use
UNDATED (KNS) – This week is “Use Antibiotics Wisely Week” in Kansas, part of a national initiative to fight antibiotic resistance. The Kansas News Service reports that health experts say if the medications are wrongly prescribed, they can cause bacteria to mutate and become resistant to antibiotics. Kellie Wark with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment says doctors need to be more selective when prescribing antibiotics and patients should ask if they’re needed. She says people should also ask their veterinarians if an antibiotic is necessary when one is prescribed to their pets. “There’s a lot of inappropriate prescribing that’s not just happening in humans but also in animals as well,” she cautioned. Wark says antibiotic resistance can lead to dangerous infections that are hard to treat.
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Johnson County Works to Spend Leftover COVID Relief Funds Prior to Deadline
UNDATED (KCUR) – Local governments are in a time crunch to spend any remaining COVID relief funds. KCUR reports that Kansas Senator Roger Marshall pushed to tighten that deadline. Originally, local lawmakers had until 2026 to spend money allocated under the American Rescue Plan Act. But a resolution from Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt and Kansas Senator Roger Marshall changed that to the end of 2024. Schmitt said he wanted to prevent wasteful spending. Johnson County still has $6 million remaining, and Commission Chair Mike Kelly said they want to use it to address housing insecurity. "We wanted to work quickly with trusted partners to make sure that we can maximize the benefits that were possible for Johnson County right now," Kelly explained. The county previously planned to convert a hotel into a low-barrier homeless shelter, but the Lenexa City Council rejected the permit.
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GM Announces Layoffs at Fairfax Assembly Plant in KCK
UNDATED (KCUR) – One of the biggest factories in the Kansas City area is laying off more than a thousand workers. KCUR reports that the General Motors Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, is about to go through a major retooling. Workers at the Fairfax plant build Chevy Malibus and small Cadillac SUVs. But by this time next year, the plant is scheduled to be making an entirely different car, the next generation Chevy Bolt EV. In between, the assembly line will mostly shut down for a $391 million retrofit. The company’s going to lay off more than 1,400 workers in two stages, one just after Thanksgiving, the other just after New Year’s. They’ll continue to make about 75% of their current earnings, and keep health insurance. All 250 temp workers at the plant will lose their jobs. In fall of next year, GM plans to roll out a new version of its compact electric car, the Bolt, which it hopes to build for years in KCK.
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KC Police Arrest 33 in Sweep of Suspected Gang Members
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBC) - Police in Kansas City say they're disrupted a violent criminal gang. According to the Jackson County, Missouri, prosecutor's office, a police sweep last week involved the arrest of 33 members of a gang called "256 356." KMBC TV reports that the 33 suspected gang members were arrested on outstanding warrants. At least one of those arrested is suspected of taking part in a shooting outside a North Kansas City High School basketball game in March. Two people were injured in that shooting.
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Roc Nation Sues KCK Police Department over Alleged Open Records Act Violations
UNDATED (KCUR) – Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation has sued the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, claiming it has violated the state’s open records act. KCUR reports that Roc Nation claims the documents it seeks would shed light on decades of abuse by KCK cops. The lawsuit, filed in Wyandotte County court, says for decades minority and immigrant communities have been “subjected to an alarming pattern of abuse,” by KCK police. Roc Nation and the Midwest Innocence Project last November filed a Kansas Open Records Request seeking, among other things, complaints and investigations against current and former officers, documents relating to the investigation of KCKPD by the FBI and training manuals. The lawsuit says so far the department has produced mostly training materials and also alleges the department has charged an unreasonable fee for those documents. The KCK Police Department and the Unified Government said they do not comment on litigation.
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Report: Children's Vaccination Rates Declining in Kansas and Nationwide
UNDATED (KNS) – New data shows that children’s vaccination rates are declining nationally and in Kansas. The Kansas News Service reports that the portion of Kansas kindergartners receiving vaccine exemptions has risen from 2% in 2020 to over 3% in 2024. Dr. Brandan Kennedy is a pediatrician with the Immunize Kansas Coalition. He says Kansas is already seeing consequences of lower vaccination rates, including a steady rise in whooping cough cases. “We’re going to see higher numbers of children getting serious bacterial and and viral infections, and those higher rates are going to result in an increase in serious morbidity or serious illness and death of children,” he added. Kennedy says it’s unclear whether federal vaccine programs will be impacted when the Trump administration takes power next year.
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Free Flu Shots Offered for Farm Workers
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) - Rural Kansans are less likely to get vaccinated against the flu than those living near urban areas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is trying to change that by offering free flu shots. On the heels of a global outbreak of H5N1 bird flu among livestock, the CDC is worried about straining rural health care systems this season. Officials say getting farm workers vaccinated for seasonal flu can reduce that burden and decrease hospitalizations in rural areas. Dr. Lisette Durand with the CDC says a lack of information about vaccines may contribute to lower vaccination rates in rural areas. “This program hopes to target that notion to get out into the community to ensure that they have the information that they need to get the flu vaccine," she said. The campaign will target eight rural Kansas counties where less than 25% of the population was vaccinated against the flu last year. (Read more.)
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Teacher Sues Kansas School District over DEI Policies
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (Johnson County Post) – A teacher is suing the Shawnee Mission School District, saying that its policies on diversity and inclusion have violated her personal beliefs and free speech rights. The Johnson County Post reports that Jennifer Caedran Sullivan is an English teacher at Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park. She’s been an outspoken critic of the district’s “gender ideology,” and its diversity training for teachers, which she called “anti-white.” In an October lawsuit, she contends that administrators retaliated against her for not using transgender students’ preferred pronouns at school, among other things. She also took issue with district guidance that gives students the right to be addressed by the name and pronouns that match their gender identity, without needing to notify parents. Shawnee Mission declined to comment on the lawsuit. A spokesperson said the district is “strongly committed to maintaining an educational environment and workplace that is free from discrimination and harassment.” More than 50 students at Shawnee Mission North walked out last year in protest against an op-ed that Sullivan wrote for a right-wing publication.
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ACLU Reaches Settlement with State over Waitlist at Larned State Hospital
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KNS) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas says it has reached a settlement with the state over a long waitlist for Larned State Hospital. The Kansas News Service reports that the hospital is the only place in Kansas where inmates with a mental illness can receive treatment to stand trial. The ACLU of Kansas filed the 2022 case against the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, which oversees the hospital. The lawsuit argued the waitlist was unconstitutional. The ACLU says inmates awaiting trial who need mental health services can end up waiting years before treatment, and that is sometimes longer than any sentence they would serve. In the settlement, the state agreed to add 30 treatment beds at the hospital by January. The state also aims to add another 50 beds by 2027.
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Triple-A Travel: Holiday Travel Numbers Expected to Increase this Thanksgiving
WICHITA, Kan. (KPR) - Nearly 80 million Americans are expected to travel this Thanksgiving holiday. That's according to Triple-A, which says 79.9 million travelers nationwide will head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period. For the first time, AAA’s forecast includes the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the Monday after Thanksgiving Day to better capture the flow of holiday travelers. This year’s forecast is an increase of 1.7 million people compared to last year. Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel in the U.S.
There may be more drivers on the road this holiday season but at least gas prices should be cheaper, with a national average below $3 a gallon. Gas prices are lower this Thanksgiving season compared to last year. The national average last Thanksgiving was $3.26. This year, the national average should be below $3 a gallon. Drivers east of the Rockies will find gas between $2.25 to $2.50 a gallon in more than a dozen states.
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Dozens of Plow Drivers Needed in KC Before Snow Starts to Fly
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBZ) – The Kansas City area is in need of more snow plow drivers. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says it has 200 slots to fill across the state, including 80 in the Kansas City area. KMBZ Radio reports that qualified applicants will receive extensive training so they can perform routine, entry-level duties related to snow removal. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and have a valid Class A or B Commercial Driver’s License. The pay ranges from about $23 to $28 per hour, depending on experience.
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Washburn Fires Longtime Football Coach
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - Washburn University has fired its longtime football coach. Craig Schurig, the school's all-time winningest coach, was dismissed Monday. Schurig had 142 wins over 22 seasons, but this year, the Ichabods finished with a 3-8 record.
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Washburn Women's Soccer Team Selected for NCAA Tourney
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - The Washburn women's soccer team has received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II tournament and will play its first-round match Friday against Central Oklahoma, a conference opponent. Last year, Washburn reached the Division II championship match before losing to Point Loma of California.
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Kansas Still Ranked #1 in AP Poll
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Kansas remains No. 1 in the latest AP men's college basketball poll. The Jayhawks picked up five first-place votes in the AP's latest poll, released Monday morning. Rounding out the top five teams are UConn, Gonzaga, Auburn and Iowa State.
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