UPDATE: Chief Says Shooting of 3 Kansas Police Officers Was Not a Trap
LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — Law enforcement officials say it appears a shooting that injured three Wichita police officers over the weekend was not a premeditated trap. Wichita Chief Gordon Ramsay said Monday that a shotgun without a target guard was left in the pocket of a recliner with several other items. Some type of bump caused the gun to go off, hitting three officers in the legs while they were searching the house on Saturday. Officers arrested 46-year-old James Hathorn and 43-year-old Tiffany Vulgamore, both of Wichita, who were staying in the house. Two officers have been treated and released and the third is expected to be released Monday.
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3 Kansas Police Officers Injured by Shotgun in Vacant Home
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say three police officers were injured by a shotgun blast when they checked out a vacant home in Wichita, Kansas. Wichita Police said Sunday that a modified, loaded shotgun discharged as the officers entered the home around 4 pm Saturday. Investigators determined that no one was in the home at the time, but the homeowners had called police suspecting someone was inside after noticing that some windows were open. Police said two officers remained hospitalized Sunday with injuries that weren't considered life threatening. Police spokesman Trevor Macy told The Wichita Eagle that investigators are trying to determine whether the shotgun had been rigged to fire when the door opened.
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Kansas City Police Investigate 3 Separate Homicides Sunday
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Three separate homicides were reported in Kansas City Sunday morning. Kansas City Police Department spokesman Capt. Dave Jackson said the homicides don't appear to be related. The third homicide was discovered around 10 am when officers responded to a shooting at an apartment building near Gillham Road and Armour Boulevard. About five hours earlier, a cutting was reported at a different apartment complex near the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport. Jackson said that victim was taken to a hospital where that person died. Around 4 am, one person was shot and killed and another person was wounded in a shooting in downtown Kansas City.
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Police Say 1 Dead in 2-Vehicle Crash in North Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police say one person has died and three others were injured in a two-vehicle crash in northeastern Wichita that shut down a stretch of Interstate 135 for several hours. Television station KSNW reports that the crash happened around 2:30 am Monday at I-135 and 13th Street. Investigators determined that one car rear-ended another, sending that car over a guardrail of the elevated interstate to the ground below. Police say a person in the car that remained on the interstate died and two others were injured. Police said the driver of that vehicle sent over the side of the interstate is being treated at a hospital.
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Kansas Reports More than 294,000 COVID-19 Cases, Including 4,743 Deaths, Since Start of Pandemic
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment(KDHE) reports there have been 294,302 cases of COVID-19, including 4,743 deaths, since the start of the pandemic. That's an increase of 639 cases and 8 deaths since Friday. Johnson County has the highest number of recorded cases, with more than 54,300. KDHE will provide another update Wednesday.
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States Easing Virus Restrictions Despite Experts' Warnings
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — With the U.S. vaccination drive picking up speed and a third formula on the way, states eager to reopen for business are easing coronavirus restrictions despite warnings from health experts that the outbreak is far from over and that moving too quickly could prolong the misery. The push to reopen comes as nearly 20% of the nation’s adults have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 10% have been fully inoculated. The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urgently warning state officials and ordinary Americans not to let their guard down.
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Kansas Ponders Open Churches, Abortion Limits in Pandemics
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservative legislators are pushing to prevent the state from limiting religious gatherings or keeping abortion providers open during emergencies that prompt restrictions on businesses. GOP lawmakers still smarted Monday over actions Democratic Governor Laura Kelly took early in the coronavirus pandemic, but they were split over how far they want to limit the power of state and local officials during future pandemics. The Senate was set to debate a bill that includes the language on church gatherings and abortion providers. The House Judiciary Committee excluded those provisions from its narrower bill. Both measures rewrite the state's emergency management laws.
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Thousands of Meatpacking Workers to Be Vaccinated This Week
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Meatpacking workers across the country have started receiving coronavirus vaccines and thousands more will have a chance to get their shots this week, offering some peace of mind in an industry that was ravaged by COVID-19 a year ago. Officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers union say interest in the vaccine is high among workers after the industry took a heavy toll from the virus. The major meatpacking companies — JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods — say a number of states plan to begin vaccinating meat plant workers this week, including in Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas.
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Kansas Plan Puts $450 Million in COVID Funds in Unemployment System
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kansas have advanced a new proposal to put $450 million in COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government into the state's unemployment program to help cover losses from fraudulent claims. GOP members of the House commerce committee included the measure Friday in a bill aimed at overhauling the unemployment system. The committee approved the bill on a voice vote, sending it to the full House for debate, possibly as early as next week. GOP lawmakers are worried that employers, which pay taxes to finance unemployment benefits, will be on the hook to cover fraudulent claims. Some Democrats were wary of the proposal to set aside federal dollars.
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Kansas House Gives First Approval to College Athlete Bill
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas House members have given first-round approval to a bill that would allow college athletes to profit from their name, image, or likeness. The legislation given initial approval by the House Monday is backed by both University of Kansas and Kansas State University athletic directors who say passing it will ensure the state's universities won’t be at a recruiting disadvantage with institutions in states that have similar laws, such as California and Florida. The bill would allow college athletes to make money from endorsement deals and allow them to hire licensed agents and attorneys.
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Salina Man Arrested After Father Dies from Being Battered
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A 48-year-old Salina man is jailed pending charges in the death of his father. Police said officers went to a Salina home on Saturday after receiving a report of domestic violence. They found 79-year-old Carlton Jones and his 78-year-old wife injured. Police said information at the scene indicated their son, Chad Eric Jones, battered the couple before leaving. Chad Jones was arrested nearby. Carlton Jones died from his injuries on Sunday. Chad Jones was booked into the Saline County Jail, where he faces possible charges of first-degree murder, mistreatment of a dependent adult and domestic battery.
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Police ID Three People Who Died After Wichita Car Crash
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have identified the three people who died after a car crash in southwest Wichita. Wichita Police said Sunday that 70-year-old Cheryl Sigle, 72-year-old Dennis Sigle and 25-year-old Isaiah Ragazzone all died after the Friday afternoon crash that happened in the intersection of Interstate 235 and Meridian Avenue. Police spokesman Officer Trevor Macy said Ragazzone's Chevrolet Impala smashed into the Sigles' Buick as they were trying to turn left onto the interstate. The force of the impact caused the Buick's engine to be ejected, and that hit a third vehicle. The occupants of the third vehicle were not hurt.
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1 Arrested, Another Suspect Still Sought in Salina Homicide
UNDATED (AP) — Salina police have arrested a 34-year-old man who they say helped a suspect in a fatal homicide but the suspected shooter is still being sought. Police said Monday that Clarence Darryl Brown was arrested after an investigation indicated he helped 35-year-old Nelson Gerrod Hull III, who is accused of killing 36-year-old Courtney Ann Hoffman of Salina. She was found shot to death inside a car last Tuesday. An arrest warrant for first-degree murder has been issued for Hull. Brown is facing possible charges of aiding and abetting first-degree murder, criminal solicitation and interference with law enforcement.
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Crash Kills 3 People, Injures 2 Children in Kansas
HILLSBORO, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Highway Patrol has released the names of the people involved in a two-vehicle wreck that killed three people and injured two children. Three dogs also died. The Wichita Eagle reports the crash was reported at around 12:10 pm Friday on U.S. 56 near Hillsboro in Marion County. A 5-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy were taken to Wesley Medical Center. The children were riding in car seats in a Dodge Grand Caravan driven by 30-year-old Nathan D. Puett of Salina, who died in the wreck. The crash log says Puett was driving eastbound and crossed over the center line, hitting a Ford F150 head on. James and Jody Potter of Emporia were both killed. They were pulling a trailer with greyhound dogs.
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Woman Struck, Killed as She Was Crossing Roadway in Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police say a vehicle struck and killed a woman as she was crossing the roadway in Kansas City, Missouri. The accident happened at U.S. 71 Highway and Gregory Boulevard shortly after midnight Saturday. Police Capt. David Jackson said in a news release that the woman was walking across the northbound lanes of the roadway when she was struck by a vehicle which then left northbound. She died at the scene. The vehicle has not been located.
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Kansas Man Charged After Driving into Lone Star Lake with Mother
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 21-year-old Kansas man has been charged after allegedly driving a vehicle into Lone Star Lake with his mother inside. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Jeremy S. Williams of Lawrence made his first court appearance Friday where he was formally charged with second-degree attempted murder. Deputies responded to a call Thursday about a vehicle appearing to have driven into the lake. The caller reported that a woman was a passenger and appeared unable get out of the vehicle because of a broken leg. The caller had helped the 54-year-old woman from the vehicle by the time authorities arrived. She was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and cold exposure.
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Missouri State Expects Fall Semester to be "Close to Normal"
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Missouri State University President Clif Smart says he anticipates an August start to the new school year that will be as close to normal. He says the university has learned a lot of lessons from the pandemic and created changes that will remain. The Springfield News-Leader reports that Smart said at a Board of Governors meeting that some institutions assume they are going to still be in the middle of a pandemic and intend to have a transition or hybrid approach. Others assume they will be mostly through the pandemic and back to a more normal distribution of classes, fewer capacity restrictions and more events. Smart said he’s squarely in the second camp.
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Investigators: Kansas Man Fatally Shot While Securing Gun
HAYS, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in western Kansas say a man died in an accidental shooting. Wichita television station KAKE reports that the shooting happened Friday afternoon near Hays. The Ellis County Sheriff's Office says deputies responded to a 911 call placed a few miles west of Hays in a rural area. Responding deputies found 72-year-old Raymond Nieman, of Hays, next to a vehicle with a single gunshot wound to his chest. Nieman was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators say Nieman had been a passenger in the vehicle and was apparently shot as he was trying to secure the shotgun in the back of the vehicle. Officials have ruled his death as accidental.
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Judge: Autistic Man Must Stay in Missouri Welfare Custody
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A judge says a young man with severe autism must stay in the custody of Missouri’s child welfare agency, despite soon turning 21. The Kansas City Star reports that Jackson County Judge Kea Bird-Riley also ordered Friday he remain in his current placement in a group home with the services he now receives. The young man turns 21 on Sunday and can’t feed or care for himself. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri says in a lawsuit that he was in imminent danger and could die if he were released from care and ended up on the streets.
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Kansas Bill to Lower Concealed Carry Age Won't Get Committee Vote
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill to lower the legal age to carry concealed firearms in Kansas from 21 to 18 has stalled in a House committee, but a supporter plans to offer the proposal for consideration on the House floor. The bill would require permit holders to complete a background check and undergo gun safety training. Supporters say 18-year-old Kansans can already carry firearms in the open. Opponents say those under 21 are less mature and more prone to risk-taking. Bills that don't get committee approval typically fail. But Hesston Republican Rep. Stephen Owens said he'd bring it up as an amendment to another gun bill that will get a floor debate.
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Survey: Economy Grows, but Inflation, Shipping Worries Loom
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new monthly survey shows continued economic improvement in nine Midwest and Plains states, but business leaders expressed concerns about rising inflation and bottlenecks in the supply chain causing delays. The Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions for February released Monday came in at a strong 69.6 from January's 67.3. Any score above 50 on the survey's indexes suggests growth, while a score below 50 suggests recession. But Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey, said more than eight out of 10 supply managers reported supply bottlenecks and delays of up to five months. The monthly survey covers Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
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Underground Water Supply Dwindling in Central and Western Kansas
JOHNSON CITY,, Kan. (KNS) — The amount of water beneath central and western Kansas decreased in the last year after three years of slight gain. Average groundwater levels in western and central Kansas are down by nearly a foot compared to last year. That means water is being used more quickly than it’s being replenished. Rain and snow totals were 25% to 50% below average last year in parts of western Kansas, and when there’s little precipitation, farmers pump more water from the ground to irrigate crops. The Kansas Geological Survey combines measurements from 14 hundred wells to create a database that informs the state’s water management decisions. Since the program began 25 years ago, average water levels have dropped about 12 feet.
About 90% of the monitored wells are drilled into the High Plains aquifer. The High Plains aquifer is a network of water-bearing rock that extends into eight states. In Kansas, the aquifer comprises three components - the Ogallala aquifer, the Great Bend Prairie aquifer, and the Equus Beds. Of these, the Ogallala aquifer underlies most of western Kansas and consists mainly of the Ogallala Formation, a geologic unit that formed from sediment eroded off the uplifting Rocky Mountains.
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Kansas Supreme Court Suspends Foul-Mouthed Judge from Bench
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — A foul-mouthed Kansas judge accused of bigotry who cursed at courthouse employees so often that a trial clerk kept a "swear journal" documenting his obscene outbursts has been suspended from the bench for one year. The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday called Montgomery County Judge F. William Cullins' behavior "quite troubling" while meting out a harsher punishment than was recommended by a disciplinary panel. The court says Cullins shows bias and the appearance of bias in his remarks and that his coarse language sullies the judiciary. The ruling is effective immediately, but the court said it would consider waiving the remaining suspension after 60 days if he enters into an approved plan for training and counseling.
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Tribes in Legal Limbo over Federal Virus Relief Funding
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Nearly a year after Congress passed a coronavirus relief bill, some Native American tribes are still in legal limbo over what's been distributed. The issue didn't become any more clear this week for three tribes who argued in a federal court hearing that they should get quick relief because they were shortchanged by the use of federal population data. The Treasury Department has doled out all but about $530 million from the $8 billion set aside for tribes in the CARES Act. Where it goes depends on the outcome of two cases in a federal district court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
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