Kansas Lawmakers Leave Pot, Tax, Budget Issues to 2nd Half of Session
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are leaving their first big votes on the state's next annual budget, cutting income taxes and the medical use of marijuana to the second half of their annual session. The Senate hit the Legislature's annual "turnaround" deadline Thursday with a debate on 20 bills touching on a wide range of topics. The House completed its first-half work Wednesday. Most bills had to clear their chamber of origin Thursday to be considered further. But some big proposals didn't face the turnaround deadline, including tax cuts and legalizing medical marijuana and sports betting. Budget legislation also is exempt from the deadline.
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Panel Seeks Censure, Coaching for Foul-Mouthed Kansas Judge
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A judicial disciplinary panel has recommended that a foul-mouthed Kansas judge should be publicly censured and receive professional coaching, but not kicked off the bench. The Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct unanimously concluded Friday that Montgomery County Judge F. William Cullins violated central judicial canons of independence, integrity and impartiality. Its recommendations will be sent to the Kansas Supreme Court, which will ultimately decide his fate. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.
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Police Investigate Deadly Shooting in Central Topeka
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police say a 19-year-old man died in a shooting in central Topeka. Police said Ja'Sean Alston of Topeka was killed early Friday. WIBW reports arriving officers found Alston suffering from life-threatening injuries inside a car. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. Police did not provide any further information.
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Kansas Highway Patrol: Man Dies in Collision with Freight Train
DURHAM, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say the driver of a pickup truck has died in a collision with a freight train in central Kansas. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the crash happened around 9 pm Thursday at a railroad crossing in the Marion County town of Durham. The patrol says 50-year-old Ronald Myhre, of Gypsum, died at the scene. The patrol says it is unclear why Myhre didn't stop before hitting the Union Pacific train.
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Used to Having More Influence, Kansas Abortion Foes Now Have Less
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Abortion opponents for years have told the Republican-controlled Legislature what restrictions to pursue and watched as lawmakers passed their language and echoed their talking points. But now, they're stymied when they face compromising to get a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution on the ballot. They fell short in a House vote three weeks ago and have pressured a dozen members who voted no with emails and mail into their districts. Abortion opponents also are blocking a bipartisan plan to expand the state's Medicaid program. But those tactics aren't working yet: The targeted lawmakers appeared as dug in as ever.
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Kansas Struggles with Details of Legalizing Sports Betting
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers who want to legalize betting on sports events and allow online sales of lottery tickets are struggling to agree on the details. They also face criticism that they're too generous to companies already managing casinos for the state. The state Senate gave first-round approval Wednesday to a sports betting bill less than month after the Kansas City Chiefs' victory in professional football's Super Bowl highlighted how many Kansas fans placed wagers on the team out of state or illegally. Senators hoped to take a final vote on the measure later Wednesday to determine whether it passes and goes to the House.
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Man Shot by FBI Agent in Kansas City Has Died
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The FBI says a man who was shot by an agent in Kansas City has died. The agency said 35-year-old David William Irving was shot Wednesday afternoon at an apartment complex. Spokesman Dixon Land announced Thursday that Irving had died, but he did not say if he died at the scene or later. Land says the shooting occurred as a task force was serving an arrest warrant. He did not provide any other details. No law enforcement officers or bystanders were injured. The FBI's inspection division is investigating the shooting.
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Couple in their 80s Killed in Crash Southwest of Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a husband and wife have been killed in a crash southwest of Wichita. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the crash happened Thursday morning when 85-year-old Ira Bonebright, of Conway Springs, failed to yield while turning left on Kansas 42 in Sedgwick County. The driver of a pickup truck was unable to stop and crashed into the passenger side of the car. Bonebright was taken to a hospital where he died. His wife, 86-year-old Betty Bonebright, died at the scene. The driver of the truck wasn't seriously hurt.
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Man Who Fatally Shot Cousin While Showing Off Guns Sentenced
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man who accidentally shot and killed his cousin while showing off guns has been sentenced to three years in prison. Martin David Ruiz Jr. was sentenced Wednesday in the death of 24-year-old Anthony Martinez. He pleaded guilty in December to involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors said several people were drinking alcohol in the backyard of a home on June 30, 2018, when Ruiz took a gun out of a bag of weapons and it went off when he pulled back the slide,, hitting Martinez. Prosecutors argued Ruiz was acting recklessly when he mixed alcohol with firearms.
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Man Pleads Guilty to Attacking Leavenworth Police Officer
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A 36-year-old man has admitted to attacking a Leavenworth police officer. Anthony Dunkle pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony battery of a law enforcement officer, making a criminal threat and interference with a law enforcement officer. Prosecutors said Dunkle approached an officer who was sitting in a police car with the window down last April and began punching him. Dunkle apparently was angry with the officer over an earlier incident that led to his arrest. The officer had a cut on his face and scrapes on his hand after the confrontation.
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Kansas Man Charged in Missouri Man's Death
SEDALIA, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas man is charged with second-degree murder in a shooting death during the weekend in Sedalia. Daniel Fernandez, of Kansas City, Kansas, is accused of killing Robert Fox Jr. on Saturday. Sedalia police say detectives established Fox owed money to someone in Kansas City, Kansas, stemming from illegal activity. On Saturday, Fox and others were inside a car when an altercation occurred and he was shot in the chest. He got out of the vehicle before it drove off and was found dead on the street. Fernandez also is charged with armed criminal action, second-degree kidnapping and unlawful use of a weapon.
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Court Sides with Family of Man Shot by Police in Kansas
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that jurors should be allowed to decide whether a white police officer in Kansas used excessive force nearly eight years ago when he fatally shot a black man as he was lying face down in a parking lot. The Wichita Eagle reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit in Denver found Wednesday that a reasonable jury could conclude that by the time then-Wichita Officer Aaron Chaffee fired his final shots, Marquez Smart was on the ground with his arms stretched out. The decision reversed a 2018 ruling dismissing the suit.
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Hearing Rescheduled for Suspect in Kansas College Football Player's Death
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The suspect in the fatal shooting of a Kansas college football player and the wounding of current New York Giants cornerback Corey Ballentine will get a new competency hearing. A hearing to determine if Francisco Alejandro Mendez is competent to stand trial on first-degree murder charges was delayed Thursday after a doctor said Mendez had not been truthful or cooperated with his evaluation. After Mendez said he would cooperate, a new hearing was scheduled for March 9. Mendez faces 12 charges after the shooting last year that killed Dwane (Dwon) Simmons and wounded Corey Ballentine, just hours after Ballentine was drafted by the Giants.
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So Far, No One in Missouri or Kansas Has Tested Positive for New Virus
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri health officials are keeping tabs on several dozen people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus or traveled to places that put them at risk of exposure. But so far, no one in Missouri has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. State health officials sent several potential cases to the federal Centers for Disease Control for testing. On Thursday, the state health department said it received federal approval to run such tests its own health lab, which should speed up the results. State Health Director Randall Williams says the department's incident management team has been holding daily meetings about the virus. Currently in Kansas, there are also no confirmed cases of COVID-19.
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Kansas Senate Approves Bill to Allow On-Farm Raw Milk Sales
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate has approved a bill that would allow on-the-farm sales of raw milk so long as farmers have a label on their containers stating that the product is unpasteurized. The vote Wednesday was 37-3 and sent the measure to the House. Kansas has allowed the sale of raw milk for decades, but a 1967 law prohibited farmers from advertising its sale outside their farms. A dairy farm successfully challenged the ban in court, and that led legislators initially to review a proposal to ban raw milks sales. The state Department of Agriculture instead favored a labeling requirement.
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Lawsuit: 4,600 on Missouri Public Defender "Wait Lists"
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Civil rights advocates have sued to end Missouri's use of public defender “wait lists,” a practice they contend deprives thousands of people of their right to court-appointed counsel. A petition filed Wednesday in the Circuit Court of Cole County seeks a court order forcing Missouri to immediately stop the practice by either appointing counsel or dropping charges against criminal defendants who have not been provided a defense attorney. It alleges that more than 4,600 individuals were on growing waiting lists for a defense attorney in Missouri, and about 600 of those are being held in pretrial detention without legal representation.
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Lawsuit Filed in Kansas City Against Boy Scouts of America Moves to Federal Level
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A lawsuit that a sexual assault survivor and his mother filed against the Boy Scouts of America was moved to federal court last week amid the organization filing for bankruptcy. The Kansas City Star reports that the move comes after the family sued last year in Jackson County Circuit Court. It will now be in the U. S. District Court for Western Missouri. The lawsuit is one of many across the country against the organization alleging it had mishandled sexual abuse allegations over multiple decades. It was also filed against the Kansas-based Heart of America Council based and former assistant scoutmaster Terry A. Wright.
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Former Joplin Officer Sentenced in Child Porn Case
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A former southwest Missouri police officer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison without parole for receiving and distributing child pornography. Forty-four-year-old Gary McKinney also was ordered to be on supervised release for the rest of his life and he will be subject to sex offender registration after he leaves prison. McKinney pleaded guilty in August. He was a Joplin police officer for seven years until May 2006 and also worked in the Webb City and Duquesne police departments. Investigators found 506 images and 148 videos deemed child pornography on his phone.
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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.
