Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility Confirms COVID-19 Outbreak
TOPEKA, Kan,. (KPR) - The Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) has confirmed an outbreak of COVID-19 cases at Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility in central Kansas. Secretary Jeff Zmuda announced today (THUR that 43 residents have tested positive for the virus. The first staff member at the facility tested positive on August 8 and more than 250 residents were tested as a result of contact tracing that followed. The infected residents are all male adults, but no other information will be released due to privacy concerns. A mandatory mask protocol has been in effect at the facility since July 7 for both staff and residents. All 43 men have been moved to the Lansing Correctional Facility's COVID-19 unit. ( Click here for more information on KDOC’s response to COVID-19.)
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Kansas Prison Locked Down Due to 2nd COVID-19 Outbreak
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prison has been locked down after dozens of inmates and staff were infected with the coronavirus. Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Jeff Zmuda said Wednesday that 84 inmates and 10 staff members tested positive this week at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility. None of them are showing symptoms. Fifteen inmates and seven staff members previously tested positive at the prison, which houses about 1,880 men. Some inmates will remain locked in their cells because of the outbreak. Others will be relocated to the prison in Lansing, where a medical unit has been set up to handle COVID-19 cases.
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Kansas Records Nearly 34,000 Coronavirus Cases, Over 400 Deaths
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State health officials reported Friday that more than 33,800 coronavirus cases and over 400 COVID-19-related deaths have been identified in Kansas since the pandemic began. Officially, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment recorded 33,885 coronavirus cases, along with 402 deaths caused by the virus. An updated list of cases will be released online Monday.
- KPR's Coronavirus Information and Resources Guide
- Updated Regularly: What Kansans Need to Know About the Coronavirus
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Kansas City Extends COVID-19 Restrictions to Mid-January
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City is extending restrictions meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus until at least January 16. Mayor Quinton Lucas announced Thursday that he is extending a state of emergency that was scheduled to expire Saturday. The order requires people to wear masks in all indoor public spaces where social distancing is not possible. Restaurants and bars will continue to be limited to 50% capacity. Masks are also required at salons and gyms, where social distancing may not be possible. The order comes as COVID-19 cases continue to increase in the Kansas City region, which has averaged at least 100 confirmed cases every day for weeks.
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After 5-Month Break, Classes Resume in Some Kansas Schools
MISSION, Kan. (AP) — A handful of Kansas students have returned to the classroom this week with masks and temperature checks, while several dozen more mostly rural districts geared up for classes to begin next week. Columbus school district Superintendent Brian Smith has spent the week hauling furniture out of classrooms to make more space for students to socially distance. He said, “It is almost like you are preparing for war." Gov. Laura Kelly sought to delay the reopening of the state’s K-12 schools for nearly a month until after Labor Day because of a resurgence in reported coronavirus cases. But the Republican-controlled State Board of Education blocked the plan last month.
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Kansas City Man Charged with Killing 4-Year-Old LeGend Taliferro, Namesake of "Operation Legend"
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) - A 22-year-old man has been charged with killing 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, whose June death in Kansas City, Missouri, sparked local outrage and inspired the creation of the Trump administration’s national law enforcement endeavor, named "Operation Legend." Jean Peters Baker, the prosecutor in Jackson County, Missouri, announced the charges against Ryson Ellis during a news conference Thursday. Ellis was arrested earlier in the day and booked into the county jail. He faces felony charges of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapons and other charges. Taliferro was fatally shot while asleep in his father’s Kansas City residence on June 29. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. At the time, the metro was already grappling with protests due to the death of George Floyd. The slaying of the 4-year-old boy led to even more unrest. President Trump introduced Operation Legend on July 22, stating hundreds of federal law enforcement agents would be sent to Kansas City and other American cities where violent crime had risen. “Today’s arrest of LeGend Taliferro’s suspected murderer marks a significant step forward in his case and illustrates the potential of Operation Legend more broadly,” Attorney General Bill Barr wrote in a statement, saying the success in Kansas City could be used as a “model” for other locations: “Although LeGend’s suspected murderer has been arrested, Operation Legend will go on,” Barr said. The operation has resulted in more than 150 arrests so far in Kansas City. Federal law enforcement agents have also been sent to assist homicide and violent crime investigations in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Memphis and St. Louis.
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Schwan’s Expanding Pizza Plant in Central Kansas; Adding 225 New Jobs
SALINA, Kan. (KPR) - Schwan’s Company, a leading food producer in the United States, has announced plans to build a new 400,000-square-foot expansion at its pizza-manufacturing facility in Salina. The announcement comes as the company celebrates the 50th year of operating a pizza production facility in Salina. Company leaders joined state and local government and civic officials Thursday at the Tony’s Pizza and Events Center to share details of the expansion. The company says the new facility will add up to 225 new, full-time jobs in Salina by 2023. The company already employs 1,125 people at its current production facility and distribution center in Salina. Schwan’s first began operating a pizza plant in Salina in April 1970, when it acquired the Tony’s pizza brand and plant from a Salina businessman. Employees at the facility continue to produce Tony’s and Red Baron pizza for grocery stores nationwide, as well as pizzas for food-service venues such as schools. “Schwan’s has been an important economic partner for Salina and our state for half a century now,” Governor Laura Kelly said. Based in Minnesota, Schwan’s Company is a leading U.S.-based manufacturer and marketer of foods offered through retail-grocery and other food-service channels.
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Ag Equipment Maker Plans Salina Facility with 120 New Jobs
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — An agricultural equipment manufacturer plans to invest $43 million to put in a facility in Salina that will create 120 new jobs. Governor Laura Kelly's office said in a news release Thursday that Great Plains Manufacturing plans to acquire an existing building in Salina to renovate for the new facility. The Salina-based agricultural equipment manufacturer has been in Kansas since 1976 and has several plants in north-central Kansas. It was acquired by Kubota Corporation of Japan in 2016.
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19-Year-Old Leading in Kansas House Race Admits Blackmail, Revenge Porn
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democrats are scrambling to deal with the strong possibility that a 19-year-old candidate for a Kansas House seat in Kansas City will unseat a veteran lawmaker despite making incendiary comments on social media and acknowledging abusive behavior online toward girls in middle school. Dishwasher and student Aaron Coleman holds a five-vote lead over 69-year-old state Rep. Stan Frownfelter. Officials in their home of Wyandotte County are set to finish vote counting Monday. Coleman garnered headlines for social media posts on abortion and the coronavirus and for acknowledging online bullying, blackmail and revenge porn. He apologized for the comments and said his past actions were those of "a sick and troubled” 14-year-old.
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KC Youth Soccer Club Founder Pleads Guilty to Sex Crime
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The founder of a Kansas City-area youth soccer club has pleaded guilty to a sex crime involving a teen player and will be sentenced next month. The Kansas City Star reports that 37-year-old Jason Cummins pleaded guilty last month to attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child between the ages of 14 and 16. He has also registered as a sex offender. Investigators say Cummins targeted a girl he had coached since she was 9. Police say he inappropriately touched her, forced her to sit on his lap and sent her inappropriate texts. Cummins founded the soccer club Arson FC in 2014. Since his guilty plea, he's turned operation of the club over to his wife.
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Defense Filing: University of Kansas Professor's Prosecution Criminalizes Job Disputes
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — Attorneys for a Kansas researcher ensnared in a U.S. government crackdown on Chinese economic espionage and trade secret theft have filed a motion seeking to throw out the charges. The defense calls the indictment a "breathtaking example of prosecutorial overreach" and says it opens the door to criminalizing disputes better resolved by the workplace. Feng "Franklin" Tao, of Lawrence, was indicted last year for not disclosing on conflict-of-interest forms the work he was allegedly doing for China while employed at the University of Kansas. The defense motion filed Friday takes aim at the broader China Initiative announced by the Justice Department in 2018.
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Defense Seeks Leniency for "Satanist" Soldier in Bomb Plot
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — A former U.S. Army infantry soldier described by prosecutors as a Satanist who hoped to overthrow the federal government, faces sentencing next week. His defense attorney argued in a court filing Thursday for a more lenient punishment of 15 months for Jarrett William Smith. He says Smith endured a lifetime of victimization, isolation and trauma that led him to become involved with online extremist groups. Smith was a private first class stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. The 24-year-old soldier was discharged from the military after admitting earlier this year that he provided information about explosives to an FBI undercover agent.
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KC Man Faces Weapons Charge After Accidental Fatal Shooting at Kansas City Zoo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 27-year-old Kansas City man is facing a felony weapons charge after an accidental shooting at the Kansas City Zoo that left a man dead. Federal prosecutors say Anthony Meneses was arrested Thursday after being charged earlier this week with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Kansas City police found 19-year-old Jason Smith suffering from a gunshot wound inside a car in the zoo's parking lot on Sunday. Prosecutors say Meneses was sitting behind Smith in the car when he reached for a gun in a back pocket of the driver's seat. The gun went off, and the bullet went through the seat and hit Smith.
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Police ID Man Shot to Death in Grassy Lot in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police have identified a man who was found shot to death in a grassy lot in Kansas City. Police way 58-year-old Montez Blake died in the shooting. Police were called to the area of Independence Avenue and the Paseo around 1:15 a.m. Thursday for reports of a shooting, and arriving officers found Blake's body in the lot. Police interviewed witnesses, but no arrests have been reported. The death marked the 123rd homicide in Kansas City so far this year, compared with 90 homicides for the same period in 2019.
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Federal Agents Watched as 5 Pounds of Heroin Exchanged Hands Near Topeka Rest Area
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) – A Kansas man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for trafficking heroin. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said 42-year-old Terrance Wills, of Kansas City, Kansas, received the sentence Wednesday. According to a news release from McAllister's office, Wills pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin. In his plea, Wills admitted he met two other men, who had transported the heroin from Texas, at a rest area near Topeka. Investigators had been following the load – almost five pounds of heroin -- since the couriers were stopped on Highway 54 near Meade, in western Kansas. McAllister commended the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Hunting for their work on the case.
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KBI Received 205 Reports of Abuse by Priests; Opened 120 Cases
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says it has received 205 reports of abuse by Catholic priests and has opened 120 cases. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt asked the KBI nearly two years ago to investigate Catholic clergy sex abuse. A task force of six agents is investigating abuse reports received from the public and reviewing church documents. The investigation involves the state's four Catholic dioceses and the Society of St. Pius X, a breakaway Catholic group with a large branch in St. Marys. KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood said the agency is continuing its investigation and it's unclear when it will be completed.
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Wichita Musician Sues City over Injuries from Police Chase
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita musician Jenny Wood is suing the city over a police chase last year that killed two of her family members and left Wood with permanent injuries. The car being pursued by a Wichita police officer in May 2019 hit the Wood family's car, killing her mother and niece. Wood has permanent disabilities because of the crash. The lawsuit contends the officer who started the chase was not properly trained. The chase ran through downtown Wichita at speeds up to 75 mph before the collision with the Woods' car. City spokesman Jim Jonas declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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Federal Judge Rules Against Insurers in COVID-19 Lawsuit
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge has denied an insurance company's motion to throw out a lawsuit filed by four Missouri businesses saying the insurer wrongly denied their coronavirus-related claims. A law professor in Pennsylvania says the ruling Wednesday by U.S. Judge Stephen Bough in Missouri could be a boon for hundreds of businesses nationwide. Three Kansas City restaurants and a company that operates hair salons in Springfield sued Cincinnati Insurance Company after it denied their claims. Bough said the businesses' claims were plausible enough to continue the lawsuit.
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Kansas Public Radio Earns KAB's Station of the Year Award for Record 19th Time
LAWRENCE, Kan (KPR) - Kansas Public Radio, based at the University of Kansas, has earned the Station of the Year award for a record 19th time from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters (KAB). The KAB announced the award August 12. The Station of the Year title first presented in 1996. KPR won the prize that first year and has since earned the KAB's highest honor 19 times, more than any other radio or TV station in the state. In addition to the coveted top prize, the public radio station received eight individual accolades, including three First Place awards, four Second Place awards and one Honorable Mention. The individual honors were earned in several categories including news and sports features, public affairs, newscast and editorial / commentary. ( Click here to see KPR's individual award winners.) In years past, the KAB awards would be distributed to winners at the KAB's annual convention in October. Due to COVID-19, this year’s convention will be held virtually, and the awards will be mailed out to their recipients prior to the event.
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Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame Inducts 3 New Members
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two newspaper publishers and an Associated Press political reporter are being inducted into the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame. This year's inductees are Linda Denning, editor and publisher of the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter; John Hanna of the AP; and Gary Mehl, retired editor and publisher of the McPherson Sentinel. Denning worked many years at The Salina Journal before becoming editor and publisher of the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter in 2001. Hanna has worked in the AP's Topeka bureau for 33 years. Mehl worked at the McPherson Sentinel for 45 years, the last 13 as editor and publisher, before retiring in 2010.
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