Kansas Senator, Congressman Push to Reform Governance of Haskell University
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KPR) – Kansas Senator Jerry Moran and Congressman Tracey Mann are pushing legislation that would change the governance of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence. The change would transfer governance from the Bureau of Indian Education to the Haskell Board of Regents, while maintaining federal funding.
Moran says Haskell has been neglected and mismanaged by the Bureau of Indian Education. In a news release, the Republican Senator said the bureau has failed to protect students, respond to congressional inquiries or meet the basic infrastructure needs of the school.
Haskell, the only four-year, postsecondary institution under the governance of the Department of Interior, has faced a number of problems in recent years, including allegations of sexual harassment, high dropout rates and a shortage of resources.
Moran says the the best path forward is for the university to be led by an independent Board of Regents nominated by the Tribal community. Joseph Rupnick, Chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, has voiced his support for the legislation. “I look forward to discussions in the new year with Tribal leaders and Haskell alums, faculty and students so that this bill can safeguard Haskell’s future and its funding," he said.
Senator Moran and Rep. Mann are currently seeking feedback from the Native American, Lawrence and higher education communities on the proposed legislation to ensure the bill effectively addresses key issues at Haskell.
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Report: Rural Attorney Shortage in Kansas Now at Crisis Levels
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) - Rural Kansas is not only facing a shortage of dentists, doctors and other healthcare providers, it's facing a shortage of lawyers. In fact, a task force says the shortage of attorneys practicing in rural areas of the state has become a crisis. “Our district court judges are having significant challenges finding attorneys to represent folks, criminal defendants, child in need of care cases," said Kansas Supreme Court Justice K. J. Wall, a member of the Rural Justice Initiative Committee. The group formed two years ago to examine unmet legal needs and has now released its final report and recommendations.
The committee found that if attorneys close to retirement were removed, 87 Kansas counties would have one or fewer attorneys for every 1,000 residents. Nine counties would have no attorneys at all.
The committee recommends regional law offices and strengthening rural attorney networks to try to reduce the shortage. The report found almost 80% of practicing attorneys in Kansas are in only five urban counties. Justice Wall says one barrier for rural attorneys is the fear of isolation. “Am I going to be kind of out on an island on my own? So, that's sort of the biggest professional barrier," he said. The committee saw potential in a network that could support rural attorneys and give them a sense of community within their profession.
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Kansas Reporting Rise in Flu and COVID-19 Cases
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) – Holiday travel has brought a rise in flu and COVID-19 cases to Kansas. The Kansas News Service reports that experts say people should get vaccinated and take other precautions. Emergency department visits related to flu and COVID-19 are rising in Kansas. Topeka family physician Dr. Courtney Huhn says one of the best ways to protect yourself and others is to get vaccinated. “The other things that people can do to prevent transmission is the things you always hear us health professionals talking about. Washing your hands, wearing masks if you feel sick... you know, maybe don't go,” she added. Huhn says masking is especially important if you’re spending time with people who are immunocompromised. More tips are at vaccine.gov.
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Avian Influenza Found in Game Birds in 2 Kansas Counties
UNDATED (KNS) – Kansas officials say they’ve found new cases of avian influenza in commercial game bird operations in two counties. Other than a few cases recorded in backyard poultry flocks and wild birds this fall, the bird flu hadn’t hit commercial flocks in Kansas since early spring. But the Kansas News Service reports that the Kansas Department of Agriculture now says it identified the bird flu in two commercial game bird operations in Doniphan and Rooks counties. The news comes as human cases of the bird flu tick up. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 60 human cases have been recorded this year, including the country’s first severe case announced last week in Louisiana. Health officials still say the risk to the general public remains low.
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Ascension Health Care Data Breach Affected Millions
UNDATED (KNS) – New estimates from health care provider Ascension indicate around 5.6 million Americans had personal information compromised in the organization’s May data breach. The Kansas News Service reports that it’s unclear how many Kansans were affected. Ascension operates several hospitals and outpatient clinics in the state. The compromised data includes medical procedure codes and types of lab tests, as well as social security numbers and credit card information. Kaustubh Medhe of the cyber intelligence firm Cyble, says cyber criminals often try to use that information to extract money from victims. “When data breaches this scale occur, most of the attacks revolve around using this information for launching very convincing phishing attacks,” he explained. Ascension says it will notify people whose information was breached by mail in the next two to three weeks. It’s offering victims two years of free credit monitoring.
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Trial Could Determine Release of Joplin Police Sniper's Identity
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) – A trial early next year could determine whether the city of Joplin, Missouri, must release the identity of a police sniper who mistakenly killed a Kansas toddler during a standoff. KCUR reports that the SWAT officer was part of a massive police response to Baxter Springs, Kansas, in 2022, where Clesslynn Crawford was taken hostage by her father. In a Kansas Bureau of Investigation report, Sniper 1 said he thought he was shooting the father in the chest. Instead, he shot two-year-old Clesslynn in the head. Sniper 1 sued Joplin to redact his name from the report. KCUR and the Midwest Newsroom counter-sued, arguing that revealing the sniper’s name was in the public interest. In a ruling late Friday, a Jasper County Circuit Court judge denied the motion, setting up the trial.
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Family of 4 Loses Home in Kansas City Fire Just Before Christmas
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A Kansas City family of four has lost their home to a weekend fire, just days before Christmas. KCTV reports that the fire broke out Sunday afternoon (in the area of 59th and Walrond Avenue) and consumed the home. Kansas City firefighters attacked the blaze as they searched the building to find everyone had safely evacuated. The American Red Cross was called to help the two adults and two children who lived there. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
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Experts: Space Heaters, Heating Pads, Electric Blankets Cause Thousands of Fires Annually
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) - Kansans using space heaters to keep warm this year need to be cautious. Space heaters and other heating devices are responsible for thousands of fires every winter. Courtney Lewis, a spokesperson for the utility company Evergy, says it's essential that those appliances are off when you aren’t using them. “Don’t use them while sleeping," she said. "If you can use a space heater with a timer. Heat your room in advance and then shut it off when you go to bed. When space heaters are going and they're unattended, that's when that risk of fire has really increased.” According to the Electrical Safety Foundation, heating equipment such as space heaters cause more than 65,000 fires each year.
Heating pads and electric blankets are popular items when temperatures begin to drop. But these devices that make wintertime more comfortable can also be a fire risk. Both contribute to some 500 house fires each year, according to the Electrical Safety Foundation. Evergy spokesperson Courtney Lewis said you should warm your bed with an electric blanket - but unplug it before you go to sleep. “If you have an electric blanket you really shouldn’t be laying on (top of) it because that can cause a fire," she said. Lewis said it is also important to check blankets for charred spots, which could be a sign of wiring problems.
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Holiday Resources Available in KC Area for At-Risk School Children
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCUR) - For vulnerable children, the holiday break can cut off access to food and other resources that they usually get at school. KCUR Radio reports that some area schools are prepared to fill that gap. Jessica Smith is the homelessness liaison for Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools. During the holiday season, she said she focuses on students living without a parent or guardian. Ahead of the two-week break, her team ensures each student is in a safe place and has Christmas gifts, hygiene items and snacks. "It's about the students feeling special, the students feeling love, the students feeling important, and getting some of their basic needs met," she said.
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Auditors: Kansas Department of Commerce Should Add Background Checks to Hiring Process
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Auditors say the Kansas commerce department should add criminal background checks to its hiring process after a former employee was accused of mismanaging grant funds. The Kansas News Service reports that Jonathan Clayton went missing this summer after his time at the commerce department came under scrutiny. He was later found dead in a one-car crash. Before leaving in 2023, he reportedly awarded more than $400,000 to an organization he helped manage. Clayton previously pleaded guilty to theft and forgery in Pennsylvania, but commerce officials say they didn’t know at the time. They say an executive order bars them from doing background checks. Lawmakers like Republican Senator Caryn Tyson disagree. “You hired a felon to manage millions of dollars in grant money. And you’re looking for a scapegoat,” Tyson said. The order says state agencies can’t ask about criminal history early in the hiring process, but can perform background checks.
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Audit Shows Gaps in Kansas Commerce Department Economic Development Database
TOPEKA, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) – The Kansas Legislature's auditing agency says the Kansas Department of Commerce has not been fully maintaining a public database tracking economic development incentives. The Kansas Reflector reports that a state statute authorizes the department to manage an accessible, searchable, and printable database of economic incentive awards of more than $50,000 per year. The audit indicated that the database did not include all required economic development programs. It also found shortcomings in the data due to missing information and unreported details on some incentive recipients. Commerce Department staffers told auditors that the STAR bond program in particular was difficult to standardize into the required format for the database. Senator Mike Thompson of Johnson County said legislators should put together a bill making the requirements of the database explicit. Senator Caryn Tyson, chair of the Legislature's audit committee, said it would be necessary for lawmakers to acquire some of the missing information, such as the estimated return-on-investment of individual projects.
The director of legislative affairs for the Commerce Department, Rachel Willis, responded by saying that the statute on transparency is extremely broad, and difficult to customize to a wide variety of economic incentive programs. She also said the audit didn't show the scope of efforts to comply with the current transparency law, and that the Legislature provided only partial funding of a budget request for the database.
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KC Federal Reserve Bank Predicts Uptick in Manufacturing for 2025
UNDATED (KNS) – Manufacturing activity continues to decline in the central U.S., but a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City shows businesses are predicting an uptick in 2025. The Kansas News Service reports that the region’s manufacturing activity has been trending downward for more than two years. But KC Fed survey manager Megan Williams says companies expect to see that turn around in the new year. “They’re expecting positive new orders, shipments, even capital expenditures they’re expecting to at least be somewhat positive. So really across the board, positive news for all aspects,” Williams explained. The survey also asked how reliant firms are on immigrant workers, ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has warned of deportations. 28% of respondents said they’re at least slightly reliant on immigrant workers.
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Sedgwick County Homeless Death Toll Increased in 2024
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW) – The Sedgwick County coroner found at least 63 people died while experiencing homelessness this year, a sharp uptick from 2023. KMUW reports that the number of deaths grew by about 20 this year, in part because the county started formally tracking them. But the coroner said its list is somewhat subjective because the definition of homelessness can vary. Local advocates and service providers added several names to the list. Renita Belveal knew two unhoused people who died this year: a childhood friend and her daughter's ex-boyfriend. "I currently still have a daughter, my sister, and a niece that are still in the homeless community out there, and I ...worry when the cops gonna show up and let me know that my daughter's passed away," she added. Over the weekend, mourners gathered to remember those who died.
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Kansas City VA Hospital Employee Indicted for Child Pornography
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — An employee at the Kansas City Veterans Affairs hospital is facing child pornography charges. A federal grand jury has charged 56-year-old Paul Robert Wyatt, a VA nurse, with possessing child porn in 2023. WDAF TV reports that the images involved a child under the age of 12. Wyatt was originally charged under a sealed indictment earlier this month. The charges were unsealed and made public Monday. Wyatt was a nurse at the VA Medical Center on Linwood Boulevard.
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FBI Searching for Two Jewelry Store Robbers in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR/KSHB) - The FBI is searching for two fugitives wanted in connection with multiple jewelry thefts in Kansas. KSHB TV reports that arrest warrants have been issued for Vasile Sava and Onita Rostas. The pair of Romanians have been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection to two jewelry store burglaries in 2022, one at Marks Jewelers in Lawrence and another at Calhoun's Jewelers in Topeka. Authorities say the pair stole nearly $60,000 worth of jewelry from those two stores. A court document alleges the pair were part of a large Romanian-based conspiracy in which other suspects are alleged to have stolen more than $37,000 from jewelry stores last year in McPherson and Manhattan. During these robberies, groups of two or more people distracted jewelry store employees, while the other thieves would remove and conceal items that were on display.
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Local Wind Power Regulations Now the Focus of KU Research
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - University of Kansas researchers have pieced together all the local rules that promote or limit wind power across the state. The Kansas Energy Transition Atlas is an online tool that lets policymakers and communities easily check how local rules steer the placement of wind farms across an entire state. The federal government currently has targets for cutting emissions. But master’s student Ian Njuguna, who helped create the atlas, says hitting those targets will be difficult without this kind of transparency. “Actually the planning regulations and the grid network are the biggest barriers," he said. "But then when you ask the policymakers, ‘OK, how is the local landscape in the regulations?’ most of them don’t know what’s happening down there.” The online atlas will soon show local solar regulations too.
More populated areas - like Shawnee, Douglas and Johnson counties and parts of south-central Kansas like Wichita - are more likely to limit or ban wind farms. KU Professor Ward Lyles says midsize counties tend to be more amenable, maybe for economic reasons. "It’s really - maybe not life and death for the economy but - a huge boon to the economy to get wind farms in, that can allow farmers to still either graze or plow around that and keep a farm in the family or otherwise continue to not have to sell your land," he said. A landowner can earn thousands of dollars annually per turbine.
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Missouri Governor Commutes Sentence for Former Kansas City Police Detective
UNDATED (KC Star) – Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced Friday afternoon that he had commuted the prison sentence of Eric DeValkenaere, the former Kansas City police detective convicted of second-degree involuntary manslaughter for killing Cameron Lamb in 2019. The case was racially charged because De Valkenaere is white and Lamb was Black. The Kansas City Star reports that DeValkenaere was the first Kansas City officer ever convicted of killing a Black man.
DeValkenaere was sentenced to six years in prison but remained free on bond during the appeals process. He surrendered to authorities in 2023 when the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld his conviction. The Missouri Supreme Court later declined to hear the case. DeValkenaere, 46, had been serving his sentence outside the state of Missouri, but authorities didn’t identify where he was incarcerated. It wasn’t immediately clear whether DeValkenaere was still in prison or when he would be freed.
The governor's commutation of DeValkenaere's sentence is not a full pardon; it places him on parole, “subject to the conditions imposed by the Parole Board.” Furthermore, the commutation does not spell the end of DeValkenaere's legal problems. He still faces a federal lawsuit brought by Lamb’s family alleging a violation of the Fourth Amendment and claims of use of excessive force. The family is seeking more than $10 million in damages. Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled DeValkenaere isn’t entitled to qualified immunity because he violated Lamb’s constitutional rights.
Kansas City, Missouri does not exercise legal control over its police department, making it one of the few state-run forces in the country. The Missouri Constitution gives governors the power to delay, reduce or eliminate the punishment of state-level crimes.
The Kansas City Law Enforcement Accountability Project, or KCLEAP, in a statement said it was “saddened but not surprised” by the commutation.
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President Biden Commutes Sentence of Kansas Man Jailed After LSD Bust at Missile Silo
UNDATED (TCJ) - President Joe Biden has commuted the sentence of one of the men involved in the operation of an LSD laboratory at a decommissioned nuclear missile silo near Wamego, Kansas, 24 years ago. The Topeka Capital Journal reports that 69-year-old Clyde Apperson will be released Sunday from a federal prison in Seattle, Washington.
Apperson was part of a drug arrest in November, 2000 that was described by authorities as the single largest seizure of an LSD lab in the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration. DEA agents testified that the defendants were responsible for the manufacture of the majority of the LSD sold in the country. Apperson was found guilty of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute LSD and sentenced to 30 years behind bars. He was one of 1,499 people whose sentences were commuted by President Biden last week in what was the largest act of clemency in a single day in presidential history.
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Former County Attorney Facing 6 Felony Charges of Perjury and Witness Intimidation
TOPEKA, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) – Former Neosho County Attorney Linus Thuston is now facing six felony charges. This comes after Thuston was jailed earlier this year for misdemeanor convictions on charges of misusing a county credit card and falsifying the purchase price of a vehicle in order to avoid paying sales tax. The Kansas Reflector reports that the current charges were filed last week by a special prosecutor, and accuse Thuston of lying during testimony in July while appearing as a witness in an opioid drug case. The special prosecutor's case is separate from investigations conducted by the Kansas Attorney General's Office that led to the misdemeanor convictions. The attorney general's office agreed not to pursue more serious charges for other crimes it had investigated in the course of its inquiry into the misdemeanors, in exchange for Thuston stepping down from his position and pleading guilty.
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AAA Predicts More Than One Million Kansans Will Travel During the Holidays
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - More than one million Kansans are expected to travel 50 or more miles from their homes over the holidays. AAA Kansas is projecting at least 1.2 million Kansas residents will travel during the year-end holidays. AAA says the vast majority will be driving to their destination, and the auto club reminds motorists to have their vehicle inspected and serviced to make sure it’s road-ready for their holiday trip. WIBW TV reports that the travel projection, which was released Tuesday morning, fits with AAA’s earlier forecast of record-setting travel volume across the United States during the upcoming year-end holiday period which runs from December 21 through January 1.
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Kansas Geological Survey to Measure Western Kansas Groundwater Levels in January
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) – Crews from the Kansas Geological Survey will work across western Kansas in January 2025 to measure the state’s groundwater resources. The Kansas News Service reports that water levels are measured each winter at about 1,400 wells that tap into the High Plains aquifer. This massive network of underground rocks is the main source of water in western Kansas. Brownie Wilson, water-data manager for the Kansas Geological Survey, says dry conditions last summer likely meant more irrigation and a decline in water levels. “That, then, will probably dictate that we had a little more stress on the aquifer. We’ll probably see declines are a little bit more, a little more greater than we’ve seen in maybe the last couple of years.” Kansas groundwater levels have been declining for the past 50 years. Annual measurements for each well are available on the Kansas Geological Survey website.
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Governor Laura Kelly Says She Hopes to Focus on Water Resource Issues in Final Years of Term
UNDATED (KNS) – In her last two years as Kansas governor, Democrat Laura Kelly says she wants to focus on water sustainability. Usually, politicians on their way out of office hold less sway over what gets done. But Kelly told the Kansas News Service that not running for reelection has its perks. For example, she says she can focus on projects that are less attention-grabbing, but still important. That's the case with the issues of preserving the Ogallala aquifer in western Kansas. It’s a huge underground reservoir that props up the state’s agriculture and economy — and without a solid conservation plan, it could dry up in a matter of decades. “I mean, we've had lots of water plans before that were great but they were never funded and never prioritized and it's gotten us into a world of hurt,” Kelly said. She added that it’s up to lawmakers and industry leaders to help set up a long-term investment.
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Economists Warn of Possible Retaliation Against Tariffs
UNDATED (HPM) – President-elect Donald Trump has pledged new tariffs on imports from some of America’s biggest trading partners. While the scope and scale of his plan are in flux, Harvest Public Media reports that U.S. agriculture is often vulnerable to retaliatory tariffs. U.S. agricultural exports last year exceeded $170 billion. Glynn Tonsor, an ag economist at Kansas State University, says products go where they’re most valuable. A lot of bacon stays in the U.S. while a lot of ham goes to Mexico. But during a trade war, retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products can dampen demand abroad. The American Farm Bureau is urging Trump to be cautious with tariffs. (Read more.)
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Ruling Issued in Legal Battle over Thomas Hart Benton Works
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) – A five-year legal battle between the heirs of Missouri painter Thomas Hart Benton and the Kansas City bank that handled his trust has ended. KCUR reports that Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Mark Styles Jr. concluded after a five-month trial that UMB Bank did not breach its duty to the Thomas Hart Benton trust. The artist’s heirs first sued the bank in 2019, seeking $85 million. They claimed it lost more than 100 pieces of Benton’s art, engaged in self-dealing and sold pieces for less than their market value. The judge ruled there were only five works UMB could not account for, and awarded the heirs $35,000. The family’s lawyers are considering an appeal.
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KC Chiefs Move Closer to Clinching Top Seed in Playoffs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR/GE) - The Kansas City Chiefs have moved another step closer to clinching the top seed in the AFC playoffs with a weekend victory over the Houston Texans. The Chiefs finished 8-and-0 at home this season, and tied the franchise record of 14 regular season wins with two games left before the playoffs.
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