Dole Honored in Kansas as Tough but Compassionate Statesman
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP/KPR) — Former U.S. Senator Bob Dole was honored this weekend at memorial services in his hometown of Russell, Kansas, and in the state capitol. The Kansas City Star reports that hundreds turned out for the memorial service in Russell, where Governor Laura Kelly called Dole "the greatest of the Greatest Generation." Former and current senators Pat Roberts, Jerry Moran, and Roger Marshall also spoke at the service. Dole's body was transported from Russell to Topeka, where hundreds filled the Capitol. This was Dole's final trip to his home state of Kansas. His body is returning to Washington D.C. to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Dole died last Sunday at the age of 98 after serving nearly 36 years in Congress and running as the GOP nominee for president in 1996.
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Some Kansans Fear Federal Conservation Program is a "Land Grab"
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - Kansas lawmakers are concerned about a federal initiative aimed at conserving 30% of the nation’s land and water by 2030. Members of a special Kansas legislative committee are under pressure to oppose the Biden administration conservation plan. The pressure is coming from farmers and ranchers who fear the plan is a government land grab and from Kansans who see the plan as more federal overreach. Republican Representative Ken Rahjes is the chair of the committee. He says those concerns stem from a lack of information about how the plan will work. Supporters of the initiative say fears of a land grab are misplaced. They say the plan hinges on voluntary cooperation from landowners. Lawmakers have asked officials in Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s administration to help them get answers.
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Damaging Winds Expected Wednesday over Kansas, Other Plains States
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The National Weather Service is warning of potentially damaging winds in parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri this week on the heels of devastating tornadoes that wreaked havoc in the Midwest. The weather service has issued a high wind watch starting Wednesday morning for most of Kansas and Nebraska and the northwest corner of Missouri. Central Iowa is under the same watch starting Wednesday afternoon into that night. Forecasters say strong sustained winds between 25 mph and 40 mph are expected in the region, with gusts of more than 65 mph at times. The weather service says damaging winds are likely to bring down some trees and power lines and make driving difficult.
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Missouri AG Threatens Legal Action Against Health Departments for COVID Action
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Several local health departments in Missouri are stopping COVID-19 services after Attorney General Eric Schmitt threatened to take legal action. Since Thursday, more than a half-dozen mostly rural departments have said they will stop such services as investigating virus cases or issuing quarantine orders. This, as the COVID-19 rate is surging across Missouri, prompting renewed concerns about overcrowding at hospitals and long waits for emergency services. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Star reports that Schmitt is threatening to sue Jackson County for a second time if it reimposes a mask mandate next week.
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Parsons Police Officer's Puppy Beheaded in 'Targeted' Attack
PARSONS, Kan. (AP) — Parsons police say someone beheaded a puppy belonging to one of their officers in what they termed a “targeted attack.” Police said the officer found the 3-month-old puppy, named Ranger, dead in her yard earlier this (DEC) month. Investigators determined the dog had been taken to another location, killed, and then returned to the officer's home. Parsons Police Chief Robert Spinks said investigators believe the puppy's death was a targeted attack against the officer. The police department is offering a $1,000 reward for information in the case. The suspect or suspects could face felony animal cruelty and trespassing charges.
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Lawsuit: Kansas Deputies Fired Rubber Bullets on Inmate
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) —A former inmate at a Kansas jail alleges in a federal lawsuit that deputies fired a flash grenade and nonlethal bullets at her while she was having a panic attack inside an isolation cell in 2019. The lawsuit was filed last month by an attorney for 25-year-old Realiti Courson. It also alleges that deputies targeted her because she is Black. And it alleges that the Reno County sheriff’s department persuaded the local prosecutor to charge Courson with three felonies after her attorney contacted the department about the incident. The defendants are former Sheriff Randy Henderson; Shawn McClay, a captain at the jail; jail deputies Jake Harrison, Cody Blake and Kaitlynn Hazell; and the Reno County Commission.
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1 Shot, 1 Injured in Manhattan Entertainment District
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Riley County police are investigating after a shooting that left two people injured in a popular Manhattan bar and entertainment district. The Manhattan Mercury reports that police responded to a report of gunshots shortly before 1:30 a.m. Sunday in Aggieville. Officers found a 24-year-old man with a gunshot wound and another 24-year-old with a head injury. Kansas State University on Sunday said the man shot was a student.
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2 Die in Semitrailer Collision East of Dodge City
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Ford County Sheriff’s Office says two people have been killed in a collision of two semitrailers east of Dodge City. KSNW reports that the crash happened at U.S. 50 and U.S. 283 about 4:50 a.m. Monday. Both semitrailers caught fire. The victims' names haven’t been released.
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Southeast Kansas Voters Approve Recall of County Commissioner
LABETTE COUNTY, Kan. (AP) - Voters in southeast Kansas managed to do something state law makes difficult when they voted earlier this month to recall a county commissioner. Labette County Commissioner Brian Kinzie has conceded that he lost the race. The campaign against Kinzie was based on the fact that he violated Kansas's open meetings act when he had a phone conversation with another member of the three-person county commission. The Kansas Attorney General's office investigated that. And recall petition organizers also raised concerns about whether Kinzie's family would benefit financially from a proposed wind farm.
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Pilot Walks Away from Crash of Ultralight Plane in Kansas
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in south-central Kansas say the pilot of an ultralight plane that crashed near Hutchinson walked away from the wreckage with no serious injuries. Officials say the crash happened late Thursday afternoon southwest of Hutchinson in Reno County along West Morgan Avenue. The Kansas Highway Patrol says a 40-year-old man flying the aircraft was trying to land on the road when he hit power lines. The crash cut power lines, but officials say the pilot suffered only minor injuries and refused medical treatment at the scene.
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Magnitude 3.8 Earthquake Reported in North-Central Kansas
GYPSUM, Kan. (AP) — Two more earthquakes rattled residents in north-central Kansas Saturday evening. The U.S. Geological Survey said nearly 100 people reported feeling the earthquake that struck four miles southwest of Gypsum shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday. The magnitude 3.8 earthquake came several days after a magnitude 4.3 earthquake was reported near the same area on Wednesday. Officials another milder earthquake of magnitude 2.5 was also reported in the area earlier on Saturday evening. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from Saturday’s quakes.
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Denver Sees First Snowfall After Breaking 87-Year-Old Record
DENVER, Colo. (AP) - Denver finally saw its first snowfall of the season on Friday, shattering an 87-year-old record for the latest first snow. It wasn't much: The official measurement at Denver International Airport was just three-tenths of an inch. Jim Kalina is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder. He says the Denver metro region is experiencing an extended La Nina weather pattern, which tends to produce drier weather conditions. Those conditions also come as much of Western U.S. is experiencing a megadrought that studies link to human-caused climate change. Before Friday, the Mile High City's latest measurable snowfall was on November 21, 1934.
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Blue Cross of Kansas Changes Policy on Transgender Surgery
UNDATED (AP) — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas says it is changing a policy that denied sex reassignment surgery to customers who did not legally change their names. The change announced Thursday comes after advocacy from the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. They said Charley Osman, a transgender man, sought pre-authorization for two surgeries in June but was denied because he had not changed his name from the one he was given at birth. The advocacy groups argued the name change policy was discriminatory and had nothing to do with medical necessity.
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Private Prison in Leavenworth About to Become Empty
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (Midwest Newsroom) - A private prison in Leavenworth is about to empty out as its contract with the government to hold federal prisoners who await trial ends this month. But questions still swirl about what will happen to the private prison in the future. CoreCivic has operated the facility in Leavenworth under a government contract to lock up federal defendants awaiting trial or sentencing. But that contract expires this month after President Biden issued an executive order telling the Justice Department to stop doing business with private prisons. The Leavenworth facility has a reputation for poor and unsafe conditions. Prisoners there will now move to the government-run prison in Leavenworth. Federal immigration officials declined to say whether the emptied prison will be used to house immigration detainees, a rumor that cropped up earlier this year. But two lawyers familiar with the situation say it appears unlikely the Leavenworth prison will end up holding immigration detainees. ( Read more.)
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Decision on Trial in Duck Boat Tragedy Delayed Until 2022
GALENA, Mo. (AP) — A judge says he will decide next year whether three men charged after a tourist boat sank in Missouri in 2018 will go to trial. The three men, Kenneth McKee, Curtis Lanham and Charles Baltzell, were charged after a vessel known as a duck boat sank on Table Rock Lake near Branson on July 19, 2018, killing 17 people. After a two-day preliminary hearing, Associate Circuit Judge Alan Mark Blankenship on Thursday gave prosecutors until the end of the year to respond to defense attorneys' request that the case be dismissed. The judge said he will set a court date next year to announce his decision.
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Company Fined After Exposing Montana Workers to Arsenic; Kansas Plant to Receive More Oversight
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — A company that turned mining waste into roofing materials in Montana was fined and ordered to conduct medical monitoring after pleading guilty to exposing its employees to arsenic. Tinley Park, Illinois-based U.S. Minerals was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay a $393,200 fine during a Friday hearing before U.S. Judge Dana Christensen in Butte. The company pleaded guilty to negligent endangerment, a misdemeanor violation of the federal Clean Air Act. Prosecutors say U.S. Minerals poisoned its workers by exposing them to arsenic despite repeated warnings from regulators. Plants in Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, Texas and Louisiana will be under increased federal oversight under a plea deal.
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Toys for Tots in Need of 20,000 More Toys this Holiday Season
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KPR) - Toy drive organizers in Overland Park are in need of 20,000 more toys this holiday season. The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation and Overland Park Convention Center are requesting community assistance to address the local toy shortage. Organizers say they are trying to provide toys to more than 56,000 area children who are in need this holiday season. To donate, guests are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy for donation and drop it off at the Overland Park Convention Center through December 16. “Based off our numbers, it looks like we’ll be falling short by about 20,000 toys this year — that’s 20,000 kids who won’t get a Christmas if we’re not able to produce,” said SSgt. Warren Ory, Marine and local Toys for Tots campaign coordinator. “We are looking to the community for help. If you could find it in your hearts to donate, we are really in need for ages 0-2 and 11 plus.” Last year, the local Toys for Tots served more than 34,000 children in the greater Kansas City area. The Overland Park Convention Center will once again serve as the largest donation site for the area Toys for Tots drive.
Toys for Tots assists children up to age 16. Items to consider for pre-teens and teens include, but are not limited to, sporting equipment, bags, balls, books, backpacks, cosmetics, purses, watch/wallet gift sets, bath gift sets, board games, radio control cars and trucks, hand-held electronics, skateboards/helmets, curling irons, hair straighteners, and hair dryers.
The Overland Park Convention Center will be open for public donations Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. Due to COVID-19, guests are asked to drop items off at the security entrance located on the east side of the convention center off Woodson Rd. (Directional signage is provided.)
Learn more at opconventioncenter.com/toys-for-tots or by calling 913.339.3000.
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Washburn Women's Volleyball Team Ends Season as Runner-Up to NCAA Champions
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - The Washburn University women's volleyball team ended its historic season Saturday in Topeka. The University of Tampa Spartans beat the Ichabods in the NCAA Division II nationa championship, sweeping Washburn in three sets on the Spartans' home court, 25-21, 26-24, 25-21. This marks the fourth national championship for Tampa. The Ichabods close the year with a record of 31-6.
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KC Chiefs Cornerback’s Brother Fatally Stabbed in Louisiana
MINDEN, La. (AP) - Police say the oldest brother of Kansas City Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed has been killed by a woman in northern Louisiana. KTBS-TV reports T’Qarontarion “TQ” Harrison was stabbed Friday night in Minden. The 32-year-old tried to drive himself to a local hospital but died following emergency surgery. Angela Washington was charged with second-degree homicide. A large kitchen knife was recovered but authorities didn’t offer a motive. Sneed had earlier this year told The Kansas City Star that he credits Harrison for raising him while his parents were in prison. Harrison had described his relationship with Sneed as extremely close due to the difficult circumstances of their upbringing.
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Kansas City Chiefs Trounce Raiders After Perceived Insult
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KNS) -After what was an ill-advised move by the Las Vegas Raiders before kickoff, the Kansas City Chiefs made them pay by routing them, 48-to-9 in Kansas City on Sunday afternoon. The Raiders decided to have a pre-kickoff meeting on the Chiefs Arrowhead logo at the 50-yard line, which fired up the fans. With that in mind, quarterback Patrick Mahomes says he was glad to see the one-sided outcome. "You definitely don’t want people to come into your stadium and disrespect things that you’ve built. And so, for us, just gave us a little bit more motivation to go out there and win." Mahomes led the Chiefs' offense through seven straight scoring drives racking up 258 yards passing, with two touchdowns and no turnovers. The Chiefs extended their winning streak to six games with little time to rest. They play at Los Angeles this Thursday night against the Chargers.
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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!