Marion County to Pay $3 Million for Its Role in Police Raid on Local Newspaper
TOPEKA, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) — Marion County will pay a total of $3 million to three journalists and a city council member connected to a 2023 law enforcement raid on the local newspaper - the Marion County Record. The Marion County Sheriff's Office also issued a statement admitting "regret" for its handling of search warrants connected to raids on homes and the offices of the newspaper.
Marion County's board of commissioners approved agreements this week with Eric Meyer, the owner and editor of the newspaper, Marion city council member Ruth Herbel, and journalists Deb Gruver and Phyllis Zorn. The Kansas Reflector reports that the agreements could have an impact in the paper's ongoing cases against the city. The county agreed to pay editor Eric Meyer $1.5 million. Insurance will cover most of that but the county itself must pay Meyer $50,000.
An additional lawsuit against the former Marion police chief, Gideon Cody, was settled earlier this year for $235,000.
(–Additional reporting–)
Marion County to Pay Millions to Settle Lawsuit
UNDATED (KCUR) — Rural Marion County, Kansas, will pay a total of 3 million dollars to settle a lawsuit over its role in a small-town newspaper raid that made national news. KCUR reports that the newspaper, the Marion County Record, is still pressing a lawsuit against the city of Marion. On a Friday morning in the summer of 2023, Marion, Kansas’s entire 5-member police force and two sheriff’s deputies stormed the town’s newspaper office, and the publisher’s home, confronting the publisher’s 98-year-old mother, who had a heart attack and died the next day. The officers seized computers and cell phones looking for evidence that the paper had improperly obtained confirmation of a local business owner’s drunken driving conviction. An investigation later found no evidence of criminal conduct by the paper. This week, the county apologized. It will split the $3 million payment among the publisher, two reporters, and the town’s former vice mayor, whose home was also raided. The agreement doesn’t clear the police chief of criminal charges, or the city’s liability in approving the raids.
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Fatal Crash Kills Family of Three in Southeast Kansas
WILSON COUNTY, Kan. (KWCH) — A family of three has been killed in an automobile crash in southeast Kansas. KWCH TV reports that a young couple - Adam and Kylie Brooks - and their 2-year-old son Kohen - were killed Monday morning in a crash with a semi just west of Neodesha, on U.S. Highway 400. A preliminary investigation by the Kansas Highway Patrol indicates that the driver of the car may have failed to yield at a stop sign when it was struck by the semi. None of the victims in the car - all from Neodesha - were wearing seatbelts.
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Sixth Small Earthquake in Recent Weeks Rattles Northwest Kansas
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Another small earthquake has rattled northwest Kansas, but hardly anyone noticed. KSNW TV reports that the quake happened around 6 pm Monday in Ellsworth County, about halfway between the city of Wilson and Wilson Lake. This was the sixth small earthquake near Wilson in the last two weeks.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake had a magnitude of 2.8 and occurred at a depth of roughly six miles. Quakes below 3.0 in magnitude typically go unnoticed by the public.
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Governor Says Kansas Won't Try to Claw Back Food Assistance Payments
UNDATED (KNS) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s administration said Monday that it would not attempt to undo food assistance payments sent out Friday. The Kansas News Service reports that the Trump Administration had ordered states to undo the payments or face penalties. On Friday, Kansas recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, received full payments that had been stalled by the government shutdown. The total was almost $32 million. But the national legal fight is dragging on. A spokesperson for the governor said Kansas is under no legal obligation to take any action on November payments. Haley Kottler with advocacy group Kansas Appleseed says the back-and-forth is causing a lot of confusion. “It’s kind of a merry-go-round right now and we don’t know where … things are going to land. And it’s really putting folks in a bind,” Kottler added. Partial payments could go out in Missouri this week.
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Legislation Aims to Reduce Some Kansas Prison Sentences
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — A bill in the Kansas Legislature would give some inmates in prison a chance to shorten their sentences. The inmates must have been in prison for at least 10 years and meet other criteria like finishing rehabilitation programs. They could then petition the court for a resentencing hearing. Danita Long has a son who was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for crimes he committed when he was 23. She told lawmakers that her son has matured while in prison and the bill would allow a court to consider that and reduce his sentence. “That's not leniency, it's fairness,” Long said. “That's accountability with compassion. That's what justice should look like.” However, the Kansas News Service reports some Republican lawmakers are skeptical of the bill for bypassing the state’s established sentencing guidelines. State officials estimate thousands of current inmates would be eligible to file a petition.
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Northern Lights Could Be Visible in Kansas and Missouri Wednesday Night
UNDATED (KPR/KSNT) — The Northern Lights could be visible in parts of Kansas and Missouri Wednesday night if conditions remain favorable. KSNT reports that Americans over much of the northern half of the country, and perhaps as far south as Alabama, could see the lights, also known as the aurora borealis.
The Space Weather Prediction Center says a geomagnetic storm above Earth produces the northern lights – and the stronger the storm, the farther south the lights may appear.
For the best chance of seeing the aurora, head to a dark location with clear skies and look to the northern horizon.
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Kansas Regulators Approve Higher Rates for Businesses with High Power Demands
TOPEKA, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) — Kansas regulators have approved new, higher electric rates for businesses with high power demands, including data centers. The Kansas Corporation Commission approved the “large-load tariff” on Thursday. The Kansas Reflector reports it allows power companies to charge higher rates to new businesses that use more than 75 megawatts of peak load energy per month. Regulators hope that will mitigate the effect data centers and other businesses that use a lot of electricity will have on residential customers’ bills.
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Lawsuit Could Delay Proposed Data Center in Wyandotte County
WYANDOTTE COUNTY, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) — A lawsuit could stall a potential data center in western Wyandotte County. Red Wolf DCD Properties wants to develop 1.8 million square feet into data center buildings, the Kansas Reflector reports. But the project concerns some residents and one of them sued in state court, arguing Red Wolf’s applications didn’t follow city code, and the city planning commission hasn’t done its due diligence on the potential impacts of the data centers. The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, asked the court to dismiss the case but the Reflector reports that the judge has denied the request.
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Fundraising Lags for Topeka Law Enforcement Memorial
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) — Officials in Topeka are struggling to raise enough money to build a new memorial dedicated to law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. The fundraising campaign was launched in June. The goal is $1 million. The city had hoped to raise that money by the end of October, but a city spokesperson confirms the campaign is ongoing. KSNT reports the new memorial would replace one that was damaged in 2022. Officials hope to have the memorial completed in time for Law Enforcement Memorial Week next May.
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