Debates over Requiring Masks, Vaccinations Heat Up in Kansas
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Debates about mask mandates and vaccine requirements are intensifying in Kansas as the delta variant sends cases soaring. In the Topeka area, board members for the Auburn-Washburn district voted 6-0 Sunday to approve a mask mandate, effective immediately, for all students, staff and visitors inside district facilities. Meanwhile, Sedgwick County Commissioners on Friday voted down a mandate along party lines after a heated debate in which an anti-mask activist said that he and other opponents would show up outside commissioners’ homes with megaphones if they passed the measure. More companies, universities and local governments are expected to require vaccinations now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
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Kansas Governor Urges School Districts to Require Masks
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is calling for school districts to require masks as hospitals buckle under the strain of increasingly young COVID-19 patients. Kelly has called the situation an "emergency" and urged people to get vaccinated. She said that more COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals in the state last Wednesday than any other single day since the pandemic began. And she said intensive care units are at 100% capacity at six of the state's largest hospitals amid a surge fueled by the delta variant and low vaccination rates. Schools have been hit hard, with 154 clusters and 1,889 cases.
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Mask, Vaccine Conflicts Sometimes Descend into Violence and Harassment
PHOENIX (AP) — Across the country, more anti-vaccine and anti-mask demonstrations are taking scary and violent turns. People have been stabbed, punched or harassed at their homes for being in favor of vaccine and mask mandates. Often the assailants are parents. Educators, medical professionals and public figures have been stunned at the level at which they have been vilified. But with just over half the U.S. population vaccinated and the surging delta variant, harassment and outright assaults over efforts to curb the virus' spread are looking to become their own epidemic. There is worry this kind of conduct will be tolerated as a new normal.
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Parents Get Coached on How to Escape Mask and Vaccine Rules
ALSEA, Ore. (AP) — Across the U.S., some public officials and other community leaders are trying to help people come up with ways to get exempted from having to wear masks or get vaccinated against COVID-19. They're offering exemption letters and other strategies for skirting such requirements. An Oregon school superintendent, for example, is telling parents they can get their children out of wearing masks by citing federal disability law. Some experts and political leaders say these attempted workarounds are dishonest and irresponsible and could undermine efforts to beat back the highly contagious delta variant.
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Most of Kansas' Top 10 Cities Grew in Population over Past Decade
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Eight of the 10 largest cities in Kansas grew in population over the past decade and now are home to nearly half of the state's residents. New census figures show that 1.34 million of the state's 2.9 million residents live in the 10 largest cities, or nearly 46%. That's up about 87,000 people or 7% from the 2010 population of 1.25 million. The two large cities that didn't grow were Topeka and Salina. Topeka lost 0.7% of its residents, down to about 126,600, and Salina's dropped 1.7% to about 46,900. The state's largest city of Wichita grew 4% to about 397,500 residents.
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Legislative Districts Overpopulated in 4 Kansas Urban Areas
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — New figures from the Kansas Legislature's research staff show that shifts in population left legislators in four urban areas with too many people in their districts and lawmakers from most rural areas with too few. The numbers released this week showed that 22 of 40 Senate districts and 78 of 125 House districts have too little population after the past 10 years. Districts in the Kansas City, Wichita, Lawrence and Manhattan areas have too many people. Current boundaries were drawn in 2012, and the Republican-controlled Legislature must redraw them next year so that districts are as equal in population as possible.
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Heat Wave Brings Scorching Temperatures to a Dozen States
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Cooling centers have opened in Mississippi's capital city as a heat wave scorches temperatures in several states in the South and Midwest. The National Weather Service says heat advisories Monday cover parts of 10 states, including Kansas, Missouri and Illinois in the Midwest. In the South, parts of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi were under heat advisories, as were slivers of Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky. Forecasters said that in parts of Mississippi, the heat index could reach 115 degrees. The heat index is generally what the temperature will feel like to people.
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Police Officer Shoots and Kills Man Who Pointed Gun in Southeast Kansas Town
CHANUTE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities said a police officer shot and killed a man who pointed a gun at the officer in a small southeast Kansas town. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said the shooting happened around 7:30 pm Friday in Chanute. KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood said the man who was shot, 28-year-old Brandon Lee Schlichting of Chanute, died Sunday at a hospital in Kansas City, Kansas. Underwood said Schlichting pulled a gun from a holster and pointed it at the officer after the officer tried to make contact with him. The officer shot Schlichting in the head.
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Johnson County Considers Fines for Reckless Shooting
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Johnson County Commissioners are considering a measure that would impose up to a $1,000 fine for firing bullets onto or over property without permission. KCUR-FM reports that Sheriff Calvin Hayden told commissioners Thursday that the measure is meant to enforce safety measures that have not always been used by target shooters in the unincorporated area of the county. Some 22 complaints were filed from August 2019 through early June of this year. Commissioners will vote on the proposal next week.
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Evel Knievel Museum to Repay Incentives if It Moves to Vegas
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — If the Evel Knievel museum does move from Topeka to Las Vegas, the owner of the museum dedicated to the daredevil has pledged to repay $117,000 it has received from the city since it opened in 2017. It was reported earlier this month that the museum dedicated to the career of Robert Craig Knievel, who became known for his death-defying stunts and tricks on motorbikes, may move to the Las Vegas Arts District. The museum’s owner Mike Patterson told city officials in a meeting last week he believes it is appropriate to repay the city even though it might not be required in the incentive contract the museum signed.
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Kansas City Police: Two Homicides Reported Saturday
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police are investigating two separate homicides that were reported Saturday night. Police department spokesman Sgt. Jake Becchina said officers found a 15-year-old boy with gunshot wounds on the front porch of a home around 7:45 pm Saturday. Police believe the shooting took place in front of the home. No arrests were reported immediately. In the second incident, officers found a man with stab wounds who was unresponsive after a disturbance was reported around 11:15 pm Saturday. He died later at a hospital. Detectives spoke with witnesses and detained a person of interest afterward.
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Kansas Man Dies After Motorcycle Collision on Saturday
BOURBON COUNTY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man died after his motorcycle collided with another vehicle Saturday. The Kansas Highway Patrol said the crash happened shortly before 8 am Saturday on U.S. Highway 69 in Bourbon County in southeast Kansas. Authorities said the 2002 Harley Davidson that Ira Parnell Toshavik was driving crossed into oncoming traffic while going around a right-hand curve and collided with another vehicle. Toshavik, of Gardner, was thrown off the motorcycle because of the impact. Toshavik was taken to a hospital in Fort Scott where he died. The 38-year-old Fort Scott woman who was driving the other vehicle reported minor injuries after the crash.
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Kansas: More People Seek Jobs as Unemployment Rises to 3.8%
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas unemployment rate rose slightly in July to 3.8%, and state labor officials said that the increase was tied to more people seeking work. The state Department of Labor reports that Kansas had about 5,900 more people working in private-sector, nonfarm jobs in July than in June. It was the second consecutive month that unemployment rose; it was 3.7% in June and 3.5% in May. The labor force grew by about 2,400 people in July from June, while an additional 1,700 were unable to find jobs. About 1.51 million people were in the labor force in July, and almost 58,000 were unemployed.
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U.S. Boarding School Review Prompts Calls for Trauma Support
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Some members of Congress want protections put in place to address ongoing intergenerational trauma as more information comes to light about the troubled history of Indigenous boarding schools in the United States. A group of 21 Democrats sent a letter last week to the Indian Health Service. They're asking that culturally appropriate support services be put in place, such as a special hotline and mental and spiritual programs. The federal agency said Monday it's reviewing the request and discussing what steps to take next. Advocacy groups say additional trauma resources for Indigenous communities are more urgent than ever.
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Teenager Drowns After Driving into Pond in Butler County
TOWANDA, Kan. (AP) — Butler County authorities say a teenager drowned over the weekend after he drove his pickup truck into a pond. The Butler County sheriff's office says the truck went into a pond north of Towanda late Friday or early Saturday. Another juvenile in the car was able to escape. The boy's body was recovered on Sunday. No names or other information has been released.
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Police: Roommate in Western Kansas Accidentally Shot, Killed
HAYS, Kan. (AP) — Police in western Kansas say a man is dead after he was accidentally shot over the weekend by a roommate. Police say the shooting happened late Friday night in Hays, when first responders were called to home for a shooting. Arriving Hays police officers and Ellis County Sheriff's deputies found a man with a gunshot wound to his head. The man was rushed to a Hays hospital, where he later died. Investigators say one of the man's roommates was trying to repair a gun when it unexpectedly fired, shooting the victim in the head. Investigators have ruled the shooting accidental. The victim's name was not immediately released.
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Missouri Teacher Charged in Capitol Riot
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri teacher has been charged for her alleged role in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Federal prosecutors have charged Kelsey Leigh Ann Wilson with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building. The 29-year-old Springfield resident was arrested Wednesday but released without bail on the condition that she promise to show up for future court hearings. The Kansas City Star reports she's a new teacher at Dayspring Christian School in Springfield but expected to be fired following her arrest. Her federal public defender declined to comment Saturday to The Associated Press.
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Kansas Man Wounded in Police Shooting Released from Hospital
AUGUSTA, Kan. (AP) — A man wounded in a police shooting near Wichita has been booked into jail on probation violations. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a news release that 49-year-old Barrye Lightner, of Augusta, was taken Sunday night from Wesley Medical Center to the Sedgwick County jail. He was shot Friday night after Augusta police received a strange 911 call in which no one said anything but didn’t hang up. Police tracked the call to a convenience store, where the caller said there was a man inside with felony warrants for his arrest. The officer entered the store and attempted to make contact with Lightner, who pulled out a knife. The KBI said Lightner ignored the officer’s commands and then stepped toward the officers. That’s when the officer fired, striking Lightner in his hands.
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These area headlines are curated by KPR news staffers, including J. Schafer, Laura Lorson, Kaye McIntyre and Tom Parkinson. Our headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays. This news summary is made possible by KPR listener-members. Become one today!