KC Community Mourns Loss of Firefighter Stabbed by Patient
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Kansas City is mourning the loss of a firefighter who was allegedly stabbed while trying to help a patient. Authorities say the woman accused of stabbing the paramedic has now been charged with murder. The prosecutor's office in Clay County, Missouri, announced Sunday evening that 38-year-old Shanetta Bossell, of Kansas City, has been charged with murder in the first degree. KCTV reports that emergency crews were called to an area along 152 Highway and North Oak Trafficway early Sunday morning on reports of a woman walking along the highway. Responding officers requested an ambulance for further treatment. While the woman was being transported to Saint Luke's Hospital, officials say, she stabbed 29-year-old Graham Hoffman, a KC firefighter and paramedic. Hoffman was stabbed in the heart and later died. Bossell is now being held on $1 million bond. Bossell was arrested last week for allegedly biting a police officer during a separate arrest.
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KU Researcher May Have Reached Breast Cancer Breakthrough
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KNS) - Preliminary research by a University of Kansas Medical Center professor has found a new indicator that may lead to treatment for an aggressive type of breast cancer. The research identified a protein that is overexpressed in Black women with triple negative breast cancer. That could unlock new ways to treat that type of cancer.
Dr. Joan Lewis-Wambi says researchers do not fully understand the biology of triple negative breast cancer tumors. And treatment options are limited. “Understanding if there are differences between different groups, I think that can help us in terms of designing novel treatments.” Lewis-Wambi says Black women are two times more likely than women of other races to develop triple negative breast cancer. She says she wants to continue researching to know why.
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Two Teenagers Shot and Killed in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBC) - Authorities have now identified two teenagers who were found shot to death inside a vehicle in Kansas City over the weekend. The bodies were discovered Saturday afternoon on the city's east side (at 12th and Belmont). On Sunday, police ID'd the victims as 19-year-old Matthew Suri and 16-year-old Maximiliano Ruiz. KMBC TV reports that one person was taken into custody for further investigation.
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KU Doctor Trains Healthcare Workers on How to Test for and Treat Measles
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) - Kansas doctors are preparing to test and treat more measles patients as a result of the outbreak in southwest and south-central Kansas. Dr. Rick Kellerman, with University of Kansas Medicine-Wichita, is working to educate health care providers about how to treat people who are infected without exposing others. He says measles is extremely contagious and can linger in the air for hours. “Even if you bring people in through the back door of your office and just see them in a particular room, it can be transmitted through the ventilation system clear to the other side of the office," he said. Dr. Kellerman recommends doctors go out to patients’ cars or make home visits. He's hosting a virtual training for health care providers on Wednesday about clinical strategies for managing a measles outbreak. He says the best way for people to protect themselves is to get vaccinated as soon as possible. (Read more.)
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187,000 Kansas Children Miss Out on Free Summer Meals Despite Eligibility
TOPEKA, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) — An estimated 187,000 school-age children in Kansas could have received free summer meals last year — their families just didn’t submit the application. The Kansas Reflector reports that only 5,600 families applied for the SUN Bucks program. That's just 3% of those who were eligible. The Kansas Department for Children and Families says the SUN Bucks program, also known as the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program, gives families a $120 summer grocery card per eligible child.
While most eligible children did not receive the SUN Bucks, more than 59,000 families automatically received them. Children in a household that had already submitted paperwork to receive free or reduced-price school lunches or applied for monthly food assistance programs, for example, were auto-enrolled. The majority of states that offer SUN Bucks auto-enroll children in Medicaid. Kansas does not.
This year, families have until August 29th to apply for the program.
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Kansas Ranchers, Conservationists Aim to Preserve Grasslands
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) - Kansas ranchers and conservationists are moving forward to preserve remaining grasslands in the state. Both groups have common goals. Ranchers want to find sustainable ways to raise healthy cattle, and conservationists want to preserve the grassland habitat for endangered species like the lesser prairie chicken. Landowners in southwest Kansas formed an alliance to show other ranchers the benefits of protecting their land and livelihoods.
Ted Koch, executive director of the North American Grouse Partnership, says ranchers are “conservationist heroes.” “Ninety percent of lesser prairie chicken habitat is privately owned, I want to save chickens and ranching," he said. "We quickly realized our interests overlap and we chose to band together.” Ranchers are paid by the group Common Ground Capitol for conservation efforts like removing invasive trees.
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Funds Secured for Wichita Contamination Cleanup
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW/KNS) - Officials have secured $3.5 million dollars to cover health tests for residents living near a groundwater contamination site in north Wichita. Donations from several nonprofits and businesses closed a $250,000 dollar gap in the funding package for health testing for the 29th and Grove chemical spill. There’s now $3.5 million dollars available for grants to allow health clinics to build out their testing capacity. The spill site is in Sedgwick County Commission Chair Ryan Baty’s district. He says the goal is to establish a permanent testing network. “The idea here is to build a system that can outlive dollars and make sure that we’re serving those that are in the most desperate need," he said. Starting June 1st, clinics can apply to the Kansas Health Foundation for grants. KMUW Radio reports that the funds will be dispersed in late October.
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Climate Change Bringing Heavier Rains to Midwestern States
UNDATED (KNS) - Rainfall is becoming more intense in the Midwest. Scientists are blaming climate change. The Kansas News Service reports that many Midwest and Great Plains cities get heavier rains than they did half a century ago. Hourly rainfall rates are up one-tenth in Topeka, for example, and one-third in Wichita. That’s according to Climate Central, a nonprofit that analyzes weather patterns. It says warmer air can hold more moisture, which can translate to heavier precipitation. And that can hurt crops and flood neighborhoods. Climate change is also bringing more dry periods to parts of the Midwest as rainfall becomes more erratic.
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More Snapping Turtles Coming to Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) - Kansas wildlife specialists are getting ready to reintroduce even more alligator snapping turtles into Kansas waterways. KSNT reports that the retiles disappeared from the Sunflower State in the early 1990s. But that changed last year, when the department of wildlife and parks dropped off 40 of them in the Neosho River as part of an effort to bring the species back. Now, state officials say they'll drop off another batch of alligator snapping turtles - about 60 of them - on May 7th or 8th. They'll be released in the Neosho River between St. Paul and Parsons. Wildlife officials say the turtles are part of the ecology and natural heritage of Kansas. Biologists say the imperiled species is an important component of the environment that plays many roles - scavenger, predator, prey and seed disperser.
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Wichita Zoo Helping Bring Back Rare Bird
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW/KNS) - The Sedgwick County Zoo is helping restore a bird species that went extinct in the wild 40 years ago. Sihek kingfishers were killed by snakes that reached Guam - probably as stowaways on ships. Zoos kept the species alive. Last year, the Sedgwick County Zoo hatched nine of them to release on Palmyra, a Pacific island with habitat similar to Guam. Now, three pairs have laid eggs. Jennica King is director of marketing at the zoo. "It's just this heartwarming, kind of full circle, validating sort of experience that we get to have," she said. "It energizes our keepers, reminds them why it is that they chose this to do as a career.” The public can view sihek kingfishers at the Sedgwick County Zoo’s tropics habitat.
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Army Corps of Engineers Reducing Service at Some Kansas Lakes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (TCJ/KPR) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says they are temporarily cutting back services at a Kansas park and two Kansas information centers. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Minooka Park on Wilson Lake in western Kansas will not offer overnight stays in 2025, and information centers at Hillsdale Lake and Kanopolis Lake will be closed to the public. Services will also be reduced at 15 other lakes in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers district, which includes Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa. Officials say the moves are in response to staffing shortages and limited resources, not recent initiatives by DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. The reductions will take effect starting May 15th.
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Kansas Lottery: Check Your Tickets for Unclaimed Prize Money
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - The Kansas Lottery is asking everyone who purchased a Holiday Millionaire Raffle ticket to check those tickets at a lottery ticket machine. Two big prizes remain unclaimed and time is running out. One Holiday Millionaire Raffle ticket is worth $100,000. The other is worth $1 million. The million-dollar winning ticket was sold in south-central Kansas. The $100,000 ticket was sold in southeast Kansas. All lottery tickets expire one year after a prize is won.
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Four Athletes from Kansas Taken in the NFL Draft
UNDATED (KPR) - On the final day of the NFL Draft, there were four players selected from Kansas and Kansas State -- two from each school in the fifth and sixth rounds. Devin Neal, the all-time leading rusher at KU, was taken by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round. The Lawrence native says he was watching the draft from his house when he got the call from New Orleans. Jayhawk teammate Bryce Cabledue, an offensive lineman, was also picked in the sixth round. He'll report to the Seattle Seahawks.
From K-State, D-J Giddens, a running back from Junction City, went in the fifth round to the Indianapolis Colts. Wildcat teammate Marques Sigle, a safety, was also a fifth-round pick and chosen by the San Francisco 49ers.
Following the draft, Emporia State wide receiver Tyler Kahmann signed a free-agent deal with the Indianapolis Colts.
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