KCK Police Officer Killed During Car Chase; Suspect in Custody
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KPR) – A Kansas City, Kansas, police officer has been killed after he was hit by a car during a police chase. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) says the pursuit took place early Tuesday morning.
Authorities say it was around 12:30 am that KCK officers were dispatched to a scene (near the 7700 block of Everett Ave) regarding shots being fired. About 10 minutes later, officers located an unconscious man in the driver’s seat of a truck. As officers approached the driver, he woke up and fled the scene. The driver, later identified as 31-year-old Dennis Mitchell III, of Kansas City, was pursued by police. He abandoned the truck, entered another vehicle, and continued fleeing from officers. During the pursuit, two KCK officers exited their vehicle to lay down stop sticks (in the 7200 block of State Avenue). Police say Mitchell then drove toward an officer, striking him before continuing to flee the area. The officer, identified as 26-year-old Hunter Simoncic, was struck and later died the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Mitchell later wrecked the truck (near the 6400 block of Kaw Drive). He was taken into custody and was taken to the hospital where he was treated, released and transported to the Wyandotte County Jail. It was later determined that both trucks had been reported stolen.
Mitchell was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder, vehicular homicide, fleeing the scene and attempting to elude a police officer. He's also charged with theft, criminal possession of a firearm and other crimes.
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Man Who Shot Kansas Cop Sentenced to Life
LYONS, Kan. (KSN) — A man found guilty of shooting and wounding a central Kansas police officer is going to prison for life. Adam Hrabik was sentenced on Monday. KSN reports Hrabik was convicted of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in June. In October 2020, Lyons police officer Cory Ryan responded to a call from a man who said he was being threatened with a gun. When he responded, Ryan was shot six times. The caller was also shot. Both survived. Hrabik was arrested after a three-hour standoff.
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Kansas Senator Denigrates Dems’ Call for ICE Oversight
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KPR) — Kansas Senator Roger Marshall says Kansas lawmakers calling for congressional oversight of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are "America Last Kansas Democrats." A group of Democratic state lawmakers sent the Republican senator a letter earlier this month calling attention to immigration raids in Johnson and Wyandotte counties. The letter said ICE agents were unprofessional and disregarded fundamental rights. In a press release Monday, Marshall called the accusations “unfounded and false,” and accused the Democrats of opposing efforts to “keep communities safe from illegal and dangerous criminals.”
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K-State Hit With “Swatting” Hoax
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KAKE) — Kansas State University was the target of a swatting attack on Monday. University officials say Riley County police received a call saying a violent incident was underway at Hale Library. Officers immediately responded and determined the call was a hoax and there was no threat or danger. Swatting is when a caller falsely claims a violent act is underway at a specific location. The goal is to provoke a heavy police response, such as a SWAT team. Monday was the first day of classes for the fall semester at K-State. KAKE reports similar swatting incidents have taken place at universities across the country recently.
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Lawrence School Board Hits Pause on E-Sports Proposal
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) — The Lawrence school board is putting plans to offer e-sports as an extracurricular activity on hold. The Kansas State High School Activities Association voted last spring to sanction competitive video gaming as an interscholastic activity. But at Monday night’s meeting, Lawrence school board members expressed concerns about the cost of allowing the district’s middle and high schools to establish their own e-sports teams. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the board tabled the measure.
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Salina OKs Open Containers Downtown
SALINA, Kan. (KSN) — You’ll soon be able to walk around downtown Salina with a beer in your hand. The city is establishing a “common consumption area” beginning September 1. Adults 21 and over will be able to openly carry and consume alcoholic beverages within that area. City officials hope it encourages people to spend more time downtown. KSN reports the common consumption area will be in effect from 9 a.m. to midnight. The city is installing signs to indicate the boundaries of the area.
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Johnson County Election Commissioner Says Push to End Mail-In Voting Could Delay Ballot Results
UNDATED (KCUR) — Johnson County’s election commissioner says a new push from President Donald Trump to end mail-in voting would not result in more accurate elections. The president has long claimed without evidence that voting by mail and voting machines contribute to fraud and inaccurate ballot counts. But Fred Sherman, who oversees elections in Kansas’s most populous county, told KCUR that the move would affect how quickly Kansas can release election results. “It would probably slow things down. We’d probably have a little longer wait line aspect of it, voters having to basically bubble-in a full-sized paper ballot,” he explained.
Sherman says turnout would also likely drop without mail-in voting. About 14% of voters in Johnson County cast their ballots by mail last November. Trump announced his new priority on social media last week.
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Federal Student Aid Application Appears to Be on Schedule for First Time in Years
UNDATED (KNS) — The application for federal student aid appears to be on schedule for the first time in three years. The Kansas News Service reports that the U.S. Department of Education says it plans to release the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, by October 1st. The form allows college students to access federal aid and scholarships each year. The agency is beta testing the form through September. Students can request to join the beta test now on the FAFSA website. Rachel Schmeidler is a college and career counselor at Wichita's North High School. She says students can contact their counseling office for help. "This office is setting them up for success and giving them their options because a lot of them, since they are first-gen, don't know what those options are at this point," Schmeidler explained. This year’s beta testing comes after a series of glitches and delays derailed the FAFSA process last year.
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Executive Order on Homelessness Funding Raises Concern Among Kansas Advocates
UNDATED (KNS) — President Donald Trump wants to end federal support for housing-first programs to address homelessness. The Kansas News Service reports that Kansas advocates say that could make homelessness worse. Trump recently issued an executive order that withholds federal funding to programs that provide shelter to homeless people before addressing behavioral health issues like substance use. Trump instead wants to support housing that requires participants to already be receiving treatment. But Molly Mendenhall of the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition says the policy change will not help because it does not increase access to those treatment programs. “The wait lists are just going to get longer and people are going to wait longer and longer to get, you know, the support that they need,” she added. Mendenhall says housing-first programs work because people need the safety of shelter before they can fight off problems like drug addiction.
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Smithsonian Exhibition Opens Kansas Tour in Lawrence
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — A new traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian kicked off its tour of Kansas at the Watkins Museum of History in Lawrence on Saturday. "Americans" examines how Native Americans have been portrayed in popular culture. “Native American people are a part of American culture,” explains Watkins director Steve Nowak, “and they are intertwined in the lives we live everyday.”
"Americans" will be on display at the Watkins Museum through October 5. It then continues its Kansas tour with stops in Highland, Wichita, Mayetta, Salina, Liberal, and Bonner Springs.
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Drones Now Aid Farmers with Monitoring Corn Crop
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) — Drones flying over corn fields are helping older Kansas farmers keep a closer eye on the health of their crops. The Kansas News Service reports that the average age of farmers in Kansas is almost 60, and the average farm is 800 acres. It can be hard for aging farmers to keep up with the workload. The drones can help monitor the health of their crops through thermal or infrared imagery. Deepak Joshi has studied this as the Precision Ag Specialist for K-State Research and Extension, and says drone use “...can help ease of the grower to do any task very quickly, so it will be less time consuming. Like we don't need to go walk into the field.” Around this time of year, farmers can use drones to check cornfields for pests, weeds or water stress.
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Pittsburg State University to Host Dyslexia Conference
PITTSBURG, Kan. (KRPS) — The Learning Disabilities Association of America says one in five school children nationally has a learning disability like dyslexia. KRPS reports that conference coming to Pittsburg, Kansas, is focused on the learning disability. Pittsburg State University is hosting the Missouri-Kansas branch of the International Dyslexia Association Conference in September. The two-day event will bring together families, educators and school leaders to explore structured literacy and dyslexia awareness. Jane Hayes, Vice President of the International Dyslexia Association, says the learning disability is genetic. "If it is dyslexia, then we also know that we probably have a brother, a sister, an aunt and uncle, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, somebody else in that child's history...may or may not have been diagnosed with dyslexia," she noted. September’s conference will be at the Bicknell Center for Performing Arts and will include researchers and experts on the learning disability.
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