Kansas City Chiefs End 50-Year Super Bowl Drought, San Fran 49ers Crush GB Packers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — QB Patrick Mahomes threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns as the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Tennessee Titans, 35-24 to win the AFC title game and earn their first Super Bowl berth in 50 years. Mahomes put the Chiefs ahead with an acrobatic 27-yard touchdown run with 11 seconds left in the first half. He also hit Sammy Watkins for a 60-yard TD midway through the fourth quarter to clinch the victory. The Chiefs will face the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, after the Niners earned a 37-20 victory over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship game. ( Read more here.)
(-Related-)
After Cashing in on QB Gambles, Chiefs, Niners Advance to Super Bowl 54
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - In 2017, a pair of teams gambled on quarterbacks who had big-time potential. Both teams guessed right. The Kansas City Chiefs set up a date with the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on February second in Miami. The Chiefs are led by third-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The quarterback for the Niners is Jimmy Garoppolo. The Chiefs took a chance in the 2017 draft and traded away a first-round pick to move up and nab Mahomes. The Niners traded for Garappolo and gave him a big contract after he'd made only seven NFL starts. Now, both are taking their team to the Super Bowl.
====================
Police: 2 Dead, 15 Reportedly Injured in Kansas City Shooting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police in Kansas City, Missouri, say at least two people are dead and upwards of a dozen people may have been injured in a shooting outside a bar. Police say the shooting took place just before midnight, when someone opened fire on a line of people waiting outside. A man and a woman were found dead at the scene. Police believe the man was the shooter, who was shot by an armed security guard. At least 15 people arrived at local hospitals with injuries and three are in critical condition. The bar appeared to be celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs' advancement to the Super Bowl.
====================
University of Kansas to Close its Languages School, Though Curriculum Won't Change
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas will close its Languages, Literatures and Cultures schools but departments within the school will continue to operate. John Columbo, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said in an email that budget cuts forced a change in the administrative structure of the school. He says the changes will not affect degree offerings or curriculum and students will not be impacted. The school has administrative oversight for six departments. The closing at the end of the academic year means one staff position will be cut but the director and co-director of the school will return to their respective positions in their academic units.
====================
4.5 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Southern Kansas
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A small earthquake has been reported in southern Kansas. The U.S. Geological Survey said a magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck near Hutchinson shortly after 1 pm Sunday. No damage was immediately reported. The Hutchinson News reports that the earthquake happened near where several others have happened in Reno County. Kansas began seeing a spike in earthquakes in 2014 that were blamed on wastewater injection wells from oil and gas production. The number of quakes began tapering off after oil prices dropped and regulations were enacted.
====================
2 People Shot, Injured While Traveling Along Kansas Interstate
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police in Kansas City, Kansas, are looking for a shooter who injured two people on Interstate 35. The Kansas City Star reports that the shooting happened just after 1 pm Friday. The victims told police that a vehicle traveling northeast on the interstate pulled up to their car, then someone inside it began shooting. Police spokesman, Officer Jonathan Westbrook, says the victims were the driver and passenger in the car that was targeted. Westbrook says their injuries appeared not to be life-threatening. Police have not announced any arrests or suspects, nor given a suspected motive for the shooting.
====================
1 Person Dead, 2 Escape Fire at Wichita Home
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita fire officials say one person died after being trapped in a house fire. Fire Division Chief Darrel Kohls say the person, who was elderly, was found dead in the fire Monday morning at a south Wichita home. Kohls says the body was found in the rear of the home near where the fire apparently started. Two other people were able to escape the home. Kohls says they are family members. Neither was hospitalized. No firefighters were injured. The cause of the fire and a damage estimate has not been determined.
====================
Wichita Police Investigate Death of 7-Day-Old Boy
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police are investigating the death of a 7-day-old boy. Police spokesman Kevin Wheeler says officers were called to a home in Wichita late Saturday. He says the child's father had just dropped they boy off at his mother's home. Police were called when the child would not take a bottle and then stopped breathing. The boy died at a hospital. Wheeler says investigators are awaiting a final autopsy but there doesn't appear to be evidence of child abuse at this time. The investigation is continuing.
====================
Kansas City Police: Pedestrian Killed Trying to Cross U.S. Highway 71
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a pedestrian was killed trying to cross U.S. Highway 71 in south-central Kansas City. The man was struck by a northbound vehicle a little before 11 pm Sunday, a few blocks east of Forest Hill & Calvary Cemetery. Police say he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police haven't released the man's name nor that of the driver.
====================
2nd Mistrial in Manhattan in Case of Man Accused of Killing Infant
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A mistrial has been declared in the second trial of a Manhattan man accused of killing a 2 1/2-month-old boy. The first trial of D'Khari Lyons ended in September with a hung jury. Lyons was charged after Michael Calvert Jr. died in November 2018 while Lyons was watching him for his mother. Authorities ruled that the infant died from blunt force or abusive head trauma. Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson told The Mercury on Friday that the judge granted the prosecutor's motion Thursday. Wilkerson says the prosecutor thought questions asked by the defense were inadmissible and and highly prejudicial.
====================
Nebraska Man Arrested After Officer-Involved Shooting in Larned
LARNED, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says a Nebraska man involved in a fight with a sheriff's deputy who fired shots at him has been arrested. Authorities say the shooting happened early Saturday following a traffic stop near the west-central Kansas town of Larned. A KBI news release says a Pawnee County sheriff's deputy shot at a passenger in the vehicle following an altercation. The passenger then fled on foot. The KBI says the passenger, identified as 21-year-old Alejandro Alvarado, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was later found at Pawnee Rock, Kansas, and arrested. He had not been shot.
====================
Kansas City Fire Officials: Homeless Woman Killed in Vacant House Fire
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City fire officials say a homeless woman was killed in a fire at a vacant home on the northeastern side of the city. The Kansas City Star reports that the fire was reported early Friday. When firefighters arrived, the home was fully engulfed in flames. Kansas City Fire Deputy Chief Jimmy Walker says because of that and the collapse of the home, firefighters were unable to enter to save the woman. A witness told firefighters the house was vacant, but that he and his girlfriend had been squatting there. Officials have not released the woman's name.
====================
Task Force Recommends Changes for KU Greek System
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A task force that examined Greek life at the University of Kansas is recommending a return to Friday morning classes and a stronger effort to connect fraternities and sororities with the community. The university formed the task force in November 2018 to improve safety and efficiency in the Greek community. The task force said the Greek community must eliminate hazing. Its recommendations for achieving that goal includes forming a group to identify and address hazing and address the root causes. Chancellor Douglas Girod said the task force strongly supports fraternities and sororities despite national concerns about hazing and substance abuse.
====================
Kansas Rising Electric Rate-Making Process Favors Utilities
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An independent review of Kansas' rising electricity prices shows the process that determines rates favors utilities over consumers and could be improved. According to the Kansas News Service, lawmakers concerned that electricity prices were no longer competitive with neighboring states requested the study by London Economics in a bill passed during the 2019 legislative session. The report concludes there is no single, easy fix, but offers three main suggestions. Legislators in the House and Senate Utilities Committees are expected to be briefed on the report's findings when the session begins next week.
====================
Marijuana Advocates Have High Hopes as Kansas Heads for Debate over Pot
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers expect this year to have their most serious debate so far on medical marijuana. They're fueling high hopes for advocates who've been stymied by state's prohibitionist roots and a Republican-controlled Legislature. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has said she would sign a bill. A House committee has committed itself to reviewing the issue, and its members had a brief, informal debate in the year's first meeting earlier this week. Legislators in both parties concede that they're being forced to consider the issue more seriously because conservative neighbors Missouri and Oklahoma legalized the medical use of marijuana through ballot initiatives.
====================
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.
