Woman Killed in Crash Near Lone Star Lake; 3 Others Injured, Infant Unharmed
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - A woman was killed in a two-vehicle crash south of Lone Star Lake Thursday night, according to a crash report from the Kansas Highway Patrol. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that two of the woman's passengers suffered injuries but an infant was uninjured. In the second vehicle, a male driver appeared to be seriously injured. According to the KHP, 25-year-old Sara Shamblin, of Scranton, was reportedly driving southbound on East 550 Road around 9:22 pm Thursday. She ran a stop sign at the intersection with U.S. Highway 56 and tried to swerve to avoid a vehicle heading westbound on U.S. 56 and driven by 36-year-old Timothy W. Cambron, of Scranton. Two passengers in Shamblin's vehicle, 19-year-old Dakota L. Comstock and 17-year-old Autumn Comstock, both of Scranton, suffered suspected minor injuries. Seven-week-old Morgan Comstock was restrained in an infant seat and was not injured. m Cambron had no passengers.
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Got Blood? Community Blood Center of Kansas City Needs Your Donation
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR ) — Blood supplies are running low in eastern Kansas and western Missouri. Officials with the Community Blood Center (CBC) are calling on community members to make appointments to visit donor centers. Officials say COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the process of donating blood. Before the pandemic, mobile blood drives hosted by high schools, colleges, businesses and other organizations made up about 70% of the region’s incoming blood supply, but the number of mobile drives has dropped by two-thirds this year as these groups can no longer host them. CBC officials say the start of a new school year presents new and unprecedented challenges. Blood donations typically drop off during the summer and the return to school usually helps make up the difference and stabilize the blood supply. In the past, school and college drives have collected 4,000 blood donations during each school year. “We’ve always relied on the fall to provide a boost in blood donations from high school and college blood drives that are large and well-attended, but we know that’s not happening this time,” said Kim Peck, Senior Executive Director of Community Blood Center. Peck says blood from volunteer donors is needed every two seconds to help meet the daily transfusion needs of cancer and surgery patients, accident and burn victims, newborns and mothers delivering babies, AIDS and sickle cell anemia patients, and many more. CBC is also seeking more partners to host blood drives in large venues. If you have a space available and would like to host a blood drive, contact Kay Reeves at (816) 213-2728. The Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City serves hospitals in the Kansas City metropolitan area, as well as eastern Kansas and western Missouri. To make an appointment to donate blood, click here.
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Kansas Offers Counties Drop-off Boxes for Mail-in Ballots
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Secretary of State’s office has offered each of the state’s 105 counties up to two ballot drop-off boxes for the November general election amid a pandemic that has upended how people cast their votes. It will not be until early next week before state officials have a final count of how many boxes it will need to purchase. Responses to the offer so far have been varied. Some counties have said they already have enough drop-off boxes and didn’t need any more, while others wanted one or two drop boxes. The state is using federal CARES Act funding to pay for them.
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Judge Rejects Kansas Rep. Watkins's Request to Remove DA
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state court judge has rejected a freshman Kansas congressman’s request to remove the Topeka area’s prosecutor from a criminal election fraud case against the Republican lawmaker. Shawnee County District Judge David Debenham said in a ruling this week that attorneys for Rep. Steve Watkins failed to show that District Attorney Mike Kagay had “an axe to grind” in filing three felony charges against Watkins. Both Watkins and Kagay are Republicans, but Watkins argued that Kagay was colluding with Watkins’s main primary opponent because they shared a campaign consultant. Watkins lost his GOP primary race to State Treasurer Jake LaTurner.
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KBI Investigates Officer-Involved Shooting Near Mayetta
MAYETTA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says it's investigating an officer-involved shooting of a man accused of wielding a knife in a confrontation with officers. A KBI news release says a deputy from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office saw a vehicle with a stolen tag, occupied by a male driver and female passenger, in the Prairie Band Casino and Resort parking lot. The driver, later identified as 41-year-old Shanon Wren, of Topeka, fled in his vehicle when the deputy attempted to make contact. The ensuing pursuit ended when Wren crashed his car southeast of Mayetta. Preliminary information indicates that KHP was asked to assist when Wren and his female passenger fled on foot into a wooded area. Deputies, troopers and a K-9 searched for them and later located the couple a half mile south of the vehicle they abandoned. Shortly after 5 pm Wednesday, troopers and deputies approached Wren and the female. Wren was armed with a knife, and during the confrontation, a trooper shot Wren. EMS responded to the scene and Wren was flown to Topeka's Stormont Vail hospital in critical condition. He was later flown to the University of Kansas Medical Center where he remains in critical condition. The female subject was taken to a Topeka hospital and then released.
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Lawyers: Autopsy Suggests Purkey Suffered During Execution
CHICAGO (AP) — Lawyers trying to halt next week's federal execution of their client say an autopsy on an inmate put to death by a lethal injection last month shows he suffered “extreme pain” before he died. The claim in recent filings that Wesley Purkey may have felt a sensation akin to drowning while immobilized but conscious is disputed by Department of Justice attorneys. They say Purkey's and two other federal executions last month in Terre Haute, Indiana, were carried out without a hitch. A Michigan-based pathologist carried out the Purkey autopsy at his family's request.
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California Authorities Travel to Kansas to Arrest Man for Child Sex Crimes
BRENTWOOD, Calif. (KPR) - Authorities in northern California traveled to Kansas to apprehend a 30-year-old suspect who is charged with child sex crimes in the bay area. Police from Brentwood, California, recently traveled to Kansas to arrest and extradite Gonzalo Regalado-Mandujano Jr. The East Bay Times reports that detectives have been working since 2019 to investigate and locate the suspect. Police say they took the alleged perpetrator into custody on August 10. Brentwood police credit the Hutchinson and Garden City, Kansas, police departments for help in coordinating the arrest. The suspect was taken back to California and booked into jail on charges of oral copulation with a victim under the age of 10, lewd acts with a child under the age of 14 and other child sex crimes. Police say all of Regaldo-Mandujano’s crimes were committed in Brentwood several years ago with one victim who was a minor at the time. Police say the suspect left the California area about eight years ago and eventually went to Kansas where he lived with family.
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Kansas Reports Nearly 37,000 COVID-19 Cases, 419 Deaths
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP/KPR) _ State health officials say 36,856 coronavirus cases, including 419 deaths, have been identified in Kansas since the pandemic began. The latest numbers from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment were released today (FRI). Johnson County, in suburban Kansas City, and Sedgwick County, surrounding Wichita, have the most cases. An updated list of coronavirus cases in Kansas will be released online Monday.
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Fraternities, Sororities Linked to KU Coronavirus Cases
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas says early testing of students and staff who have returned to campus has turned up 89 coronavirus cases, with a large majority involving fraternities and sororities. KU reports 87 students and two faculty or staff members tested positive. Entry testing upon return to campus before the beginning of activities and classes showed a positivity rate of 1.25% for the 7,088 tests conducted so far. Testing is mandatory for students, faculty, and staff who plan to be on the university's campuses in Lawrence or Overland Park before September 7. The university plans to do targeted testing and random sampling later.
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Kansas Athletics Seeking $20 Million Emergency Line of Credit
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod is seeking permission to obtain a $20 million, short-term line of credit in case the coronavirus pandemic significantly modifies the 2020 football and basketball seasons. In an email calling an emergency meeting of the governing board that oversees Kansas Athletics. Girod said the line of credit is just to provide “emergency liquidity.” The chancellor said the credit would also allow Kansas Athletics to continue its operations in such a scenario without having to ask the university for financial assistance. The university is facing a budgeting shortfall of at least $120 million on its own during the current fiscal year.
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Some Kansas Schools Move Online; Topeka Reduces Crowd Limits
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two large Kansas school districts moved classes online for middle and high-schoolers while public health officials in Topeka imposed stricter crowd size limits to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The Wichita school district, the state’s biggest with more than 50,000 students, will give the parents of elementary students the option of taking classes in person or online. And Blue Valley, with 22,000 students, announced Friday that elementary students can return to class in a hybrid model in which they will attend classes part of the week and learn from home the rest. But older students in both districts will begin the year with online instruction only. Meanwhile, Shawnee County plans to decrease the limit on indoor gatherings where social distancing is not possible to 25 people, down from the current limit of 45.
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Coronavirus Cases in Missouri Prisons Spike 50% this Month
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Confirmed coronavirus cases are spiking in Missouri prisons. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that there have been 333 new cases among prisoners and Department of Corrections staff so far this month. Previously, the prison had reported 661 cases cumulatively. Cases have increased the most at the prisons in Bonne Terre and Pacific, Missouri. A Corrections Department spokeswoman says the spike in confirmed cases is largely because of increased testing at prisons. Spokeswoman Karen Pojmann says all staff and prisoners in Missouri have been tested at least once. She says many patients have been asymptomatic, and mass testing identified most cases.
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U.S. Attorney General Touts Operation LeGend in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — U.S. Attorney General William Barr says a federal task force working with local and state law enforcement officials to combat violent crime has been making a difference since it was launched last month. Barr stopped in Kansas City Wednesday to tout Operation LeGend, an anti-crime task force named after a 4-year-old Kansas City boy who was fatally shot June 29 while he slept. The program has since expanded to eight other cities, including St. Louis. Officials say the operation in the Kansas City area has already resulted in the arrest of 18 homicide suspects and the seizure of more than 70 firearms. In St. Louis, 25 defendants have been charged with federal crimes under the program. Barr said more than 1,500 arrests have been made nationwide. The operation has also allocated $78.5 million in grants to fund more police officers and, in some cities, more prosecutors. Federal money has also been used to improve crime-fighting technology, particularly in firearms crimes. Some civil rights organizations in the Kansas City area have criticized the effort, saying the focus should be on the root causes of violent crime, with funds moved from law enforcement to social programs and education. Barr went on to say the work on Operation LeGend in Kansas City is just getting started. While September was a projected end date for the program, KMBC TV reports that Barr said federal resources will not be pulling out of Kansas City in September and federal authorities will continue to have a strong presence in the area.Kansas City police and federal agents involved in Operation LeGend arrested a suspect in LeGend Taliferro's death on August 13. Ryson Ellis, 22, of Kansas City, has been charged with second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action. LeGend's parents have been staunch supporters of Operation LeGend, and his mother, Charron Powell, said at Wednesday's news conference that she appreciated law enforcement's efforts to make an arrest. She urged community members to help law enforcement solve other murders.
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KC Area School District Settles Lawsuits Accusing Ex-Leader of Sexual Misconduct
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two lawsuits accusing a former superintendent at a suburban Kansas City school district of sexually preying on female high school students have been settled for a total of $475,000. The lawsuits were filed in federal court earlier this year and named the Lone Jack School District, about 30 miles southeast of Kansas City, and Matthew Tarwater as defendants. Tarwater resigned as superintendent last year. No criminal charges have been filed against against him. KCUR Radio reports that attorney Tom Buchanan said one suit was filed for $250,000 and the other for $225,000.
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Lawrence Police Arrest Man on Suspicion of Kidnapping
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Lawrence police have arrested a man suspected of kidnapping an acquaintance. Just before 9 am today (THUR), officers responded to a disturbance call in the 2500 block of West 6th Street. While responding to the scene, police received information that a female individual was being held against her will by an armed man. The victim, who was known to the suspect, was located unharmed at the scene. Police arrested the suspect, 36-year-old Michael James Edwards, on suspicion of kidnapping. He also faces weapons charges. An affidavit is being prepared for the Douglas County District Attorney.
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Man Jailed in Theft Case Served Warrant in Homicide
MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. (AP) — A man jailed in a theft case has been served with a warrant in the killing of a woman in south-central Kansas. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said agents served 34-year-old Clinton Rogers with the first-degree murder warrant Thursday in the Kingman County Jail. The charge stems from the death last month of 61-year-old Joyce Foulkrod in the small Barber County town of Medicine Lodge. Authorities have not given details on how Foulkrod may have died. A family member found her body. The KBI believes Rogers stole a car in Kingman County on August 2 on his way to Montana. Deputies in Montana arrested him last week.
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Suspicious Death Investigation Underway in Greenwood County
GREENWOOD COUNTY, Kan. (KPR) – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the death of a Eureka man who was found dead in his home Wednesday night. Around 10:15 p.m., the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office was called to conduct a welfare check at the home. When deputies arrived, they discovered the body of 78-year-old Danny Shue inside. The KBI was asked to assist in the case and is now providing special agents and a Crime Scene Response Team. Anyone with information related to this case is asked to call the KBI at 1-800-KSCRIME.
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Police Open Homicide Case in Death of Man Found in the Street
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police investigators have opened a homicide investigation into what police originally thought was a hit-and-run death after finding a man in the street covered in blood. Police say officers were called to the area of Linwood and Elmwood Avenues around 3 am Thursday and found the man badly injured. He was rushed to a hospital, where he later died. At the hospital, it was determined the man's injuries were not from a hit-and-run crash, and police declared his death a homicide. Police have not released the victim's name. Officials are offering a $25,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest.
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Second Teen Dead After Kansas Rollover Crash
HAVENSVILLE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a second teenager has died after a weekend rollover crash in Kansas. The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s said in a Facebook post that 18-year-old Keaton Blaske died Tuesday. Blaske and 19-year-old Quinton Norris, of Onaga, were ejected when the vehicle in which they were riding went off the side of Kansas 63 early Sunday in rural Havensville. Norris died Sunday at a hospital. It was unclear who was driving. The accident is under investigation.
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Kansas State University Seeks to Improve Wheat Through Gene Editing Technology
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KPR) — Kansas State University and the University of Saskatchewan are teaming up to improve wheat using genome editing technology. World-Grain.com reportsthat the two schools will cooperate using a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. KSU’s work on the project will be led by Eduard Akhunov, a wheat geneticist. He will work with Harold Trick, a professor in KSU’s Department of Plant Pathology, and his research team. Both will join researchers at the University of Saskatchewan in using genome editing technology to improve productivity and nutrition in the world’s wheat lines. Akhunov said the genome editing is based on technology called CRISPR, which stands for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.” The goal of the partnership is to use CRISPR technology to introduce domesticated traits into wild wheat relatives.
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Kansas Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Completion of I-70
KANORADO, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials and a granddaughter of President Dwight Eisenhower are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the completion of Interstate 70 across the state. Mary Eisenhower joined state Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz and other dignitaries Thursday in unveiling a new highway sign for east-bound I-70 as it leaves Colorado during an event near the border. The sign welcomes motorists to Kansas, notes that it was President Eisenhower’s home and commemorates the June 17, 1970 completion of I-70. President Eisenhower pushed for construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s. The first stretch of I-70 just west of Topeka was finished in 1956.
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Kansas City Chiefs to Prohibit Native American Imagery at Arrowhead Stadium
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs will prohibit the wearing of Native American headdresses, face paint and clothing at Arrowhead Stadium and are discussing the future of the iconic tomahawk chop as they address what many consider racist imagery associated with their franchise. The announcement Thursday comes on the heels of the NFL team in Washington choosing to drop Redskins as its nickname after a long and often contentious dialogue with fans and the public.
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Royals' Salvador Perez Goes on IL with Lingering Vision Problem
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals placed catcher Salvador Perez on the injured list with lingering vision problems and recalled Randy Rosario to add a left-handed arm in the bullpen ahead of their three-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. Perez woke up with vision problems Sunday and called Royals trainer Nick Kenney. He wound up at a specialist on Monday and was good enough to return to the lineup, but he’s been out with continued blurriness the rest of the week.
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KPR's daily headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays and updated throughout the day. KPR's weekend summary is usually published by 1 pm Saturdays and Sundays.