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Headlines for Monday, May 11, 2020

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Kansas Reports Over 7,000 Cases of COVID-19, Including 158 Deaths

TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — As of Monday morning, state health officials reported 7,116 cases of COVID-19, including 158 deaths.  Cases have now been reported in 83 of the state's 105 counties.  Four of the 10 hardest-hit Kansas counties (Ford, Finney, Seward and Lyon) have large meatpacking plants, and together account for over 3000 cases of COVID-19.  ( Get the latest COVID-19 numbers in Kansas here.)  

Top 10 Kansas Counties with Most Cases of COVID-19

**Ford County (Dodge City) 1135
  Wyandotte County (Kansas City, Kansas) 1095
  Leavenworth County (Leavenworth, Lansing) 939
**Finney County (Garden City) 905
**Seward County (Liberal) 693
  Johnson County (Overland Park) 611
  Sedgwick County (Wichita) 451
**Lyon County (Emporia) 334
  Shawnee County (Topeka) 165
  Riley County (Manhattan) 58

**Counties with large meatpacking plants. 

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State, Local Coronavirus Orders Face Challenges in Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State and local orders aimed at checking the spread of the novel coronavirus in Kansas are facing challenges from the state’s attorney general and business owners. Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Monday that he is reviewing whether it’s constitutional for people who violate Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s orders restricting business activities to face criminal charges. Kelly saw the challenges as partly coming from "coronavirus fatigue." Schmidt's announcement came a day after two business owners in Linn County in eastern Kansas filed a federal lawsuit over an order requiring them to track who enters their premises. County officials did not immediately respond. 

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Charges Dropped Against Kansas Barber Who Opened Shop

MCPHERSON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have dropped charges against a central Kansas barber who opened his business in defiance of an order from Gov. Laura Kelly. Luke Aichele opened his shop in McPherson last week, despite Kelly's order that such businesses stay closed until May 18. McPherson County Attorney Gregory Benefiel said Monday that charges were dropped after Aichele agreed during the weekend to stay closed until May 18. Aichele received support Saturday from two U.S. Senate candidates from Kansas. U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall and Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle both said threatening someone with arrest who wanted to go back to work was wrong. 

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Harvesters Struggle to Recruit Foreign Crews During Pandemic

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — With the start of the winter wheat harvest just weeks away, U.S. harvesters are struggling to get the foreign workers they usually rely on to run their combines. Embassies have been shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic and governments have closed their borders. Overseas workers who already have visas cannot get on a flight, and those who can travel would be quarantined on arrival. Harvesters are trying to hire American workers to fill the gap, but many lack the skills or desire to work in agriculture. Up to half of the workers who harvest U.S. grain crops usually are seasonal foreign workers.

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Procession Begins Days of Mourning for Slain Kansas Officer

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Hundreds of people in a Kansas City suburb gathered to honor a police officer who died in a shootout. Spectators stood and watched Sunday night as dozens of police vehicles drove through Overland Park to remember Officer Mike Mosher, who was killed May 3. The “Salute to Blue” driving vigil was the first of three days of events that will honor Mosher. A drive-by visitation is planned for Tuesday, with a private funeral and public funeral procession Wednesday. Mosher died after he tried to stop 38-year-old Phillip Carney after a possible hit-and-run. Carney tried to flee and shot at Mosher. Carney also died in the gun battle.  

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Haskell Foundation Starts Fundraiser to Replace Burned Tipi

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A fundraiser is underway to replace a tipi that burned over the weekend on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus in Lawrence. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that fire had almost completely consumed the tipi's sheathing when fire crews responded around 4:30 am Saturday. Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Division Chief Dan Fagan said the cause of the fire is still unknown, but arson is a possibility. Haskell Foundation executive director Aaron Hove said the tipi will cost $2,500 to $3,000 to replace. It was erected to honor Haskell's 2020 graduating seniors.

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Authorities Identify Man Involved in Junction City Standoff

JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have identified a man who fatally shot himself after a standoff in Junction City over the weekend. The man, 39-year-old Damien St. Julien, of Junction City, died after barricading himself in a house Saturday afternoon. Junction City police Capt. Trish Giordano says when police tried to stop Julien's car to arrest him for a warrant out of Douglas County, he refused to get out of his car, brandished a weapon and drove to a home, where he barricaded himself. She says Julien fired at officers. After several hours, officers entered the home and found Julien dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

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Kansas Inmate's Family Sues over Failure to Stop Her Suicide

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — The family of a Kansas inmate who killed herself at a rural county jail has sued law enforcement officials alleging incompetence. No one was monitoring the video surveillance station which recorded minute-by-minute inmate Olivia Rennaker’s repeated efforts in April 2018 to hang herself in her cell at the Barber County Jail. It was more than an hour later before her body was finally discovered hanging from the bars.

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Police: 1 Dead, 1 Wounded in Kansas City Shooting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a shooting in Kansas City has left one person dead and another wounded.  Officers were dispatched at 11 pm Saturday to the scene. One person was found dead and the other was transported to a hospital in critical condition. Their names weren’t immediately released. No one was immediately taken into custody, and police say it’s not clear what led up to the shooting.

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Man Arrested in Attempted Kidnapping of Girl, 12, in Wichita

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a man on suspicion of attempting to kidnap a 12-year-old girl in Wichita. Police say the girl was walking alone Saturday afternoon when a man approached her and said she was coming with him. The girl screamed, pulled away and ran to her grandmother's home.  Police identified the man as 28-year-old Victor Lara-Aguilera, of Wichita. He is jailed on $75,000 bond on suspicion of attempted kidnapping and possession of methamphetamine. Police say the investigation is ongoing, and the case will be presented to prosecutors.

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College Class of 2020 Will Graduate into Wobbly Economy

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — With graduation looming, the future is looking a lot less bright than it did just a few months ago for college seniors. They are entering a job market flooded with tens of millions of workers who have lost their jobs amid the coronavirus,  The Kansas City Star reports. Margaret Simms, a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute, described the situation facing graduates as “dire,” saying experienced workers will be the first to return to work as businesses reopen and move beyond skeleton staffing. Johns Hopkins University reported 494 deaths and 9,900 cases in the state as of Sunday.  

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Kansas Colleges Make Plans to Reopen Amid Coronavirus

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Universities across Kansas are making plans to reopen their campuses, although expect classes to look a little bit different. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, universities in Kansas and across the county closed their campuses in March and moved classes online. The Wichita Eagle reports that state officials have now tasked the schools with setting their own reopening standards. Wichita State University says it will offer in-person classes in the fall. The University of Kansas announced last week that its campus would be opening in the fall, and Kansas State University has proposed a phased approach that depends on specific criteria before it will reopen.

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Two Kansas GOP Lawmakers Tweet Support for Barber Who Operated Amid Virus

MCPHERSON, Kan. (AP) — Two Republican U.S. Senate candidates are tweeting their support for a Kansas barber who ran afoul of the law for operating his shop during the pandemic. Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle and Kansas Congressman Roger Marshall weighed in after Luke Aichele, a barber at Luke's Barber Shop in McPherson, wrote about his troubles Friday on Facebook. Wagle wrote that an arrest warrant was issued for Aichele; Marshall wrote the barber was threatened with one. The Wichita Eagle reported that police could not be immediately reached for comment on the discrepancy.

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Kansas Lawmakers Set to Meet Online to Prep for Session During Pandemic

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are turning to virtual meetings to prepare for an upcoming session aimed at dealing with the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a Kansas City-area Republican, has announced that the virtual meetings, which will be broadcast live on the Legislature's YouTube channel, can begin before the Legislature reconvenes on May 21. Among the issues committees are discussing are the allocation of federal relief funding and the Kansas Department of Labor's dated information technology infrastructure. The agency has been overwhelmed by the surge in unemployment claims.

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Kansas GOP Leader Pushing Medicaid Plan Not Running Again

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A top Republican legislator who worked with Democratic Governor Laura Kelly on a plan for expanding Medicaid in Kansas is not seeking re-election. Kansas Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning says it's time for him to focus again on his wife and business. The Overland Park Republican is the retired CEO of an eye care and optical surgery company and was expected to have a tough re-election race this year. Denning has been majority leader since 2016. He helped block Medicaid expansion in 2019 but drafted his own plan in October and worked with Kelly on a bipartisan proposal that stalled.

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Man Who Sought Trial by Combat Now Wants Ex-Wife Evaluated

HARLAN, Iowa (AP) — A psychological evaluation of a Kansas man who sought legal permission in Iowa to engage in a sword fight with his ex-wife has concluded that he's not insane but merely angry over their child custody arrangement. David Ostrom asked a court in January to give him permission to fight Bridgette Ostrom and her attorney, Matthew Hudson. The Ostroms are embroiled in disputes over custody and visitation, and property tax payments. A judge suspended Ostrom's visitation with his children and ordered a mental evaluation. The Des Moines Register reports that David Ostrom has asked the court to order psychological evaluations of his ex-wife and Hudson.

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Police Investigate Death at Wichita Home as Suspicious

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a woman's death in a Wichita home as suspicious. KSNW-TV reports that police Sgt. Dan Binkley says officers found the woman unresponsive while conducting a welfare check at the home Sunday morning. She had experienced some type of trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene. No one was in the home when officer arrived. The woman was believed to be in her 30s. Her name wasn't immediately released. Binkley said police were speaking with neighbors and the original calling party, as well as looking for anyone with information about the residence and its occupants.

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Kansas Official Pushes Sterilization of N95 Masks for Reuse

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The top public health official in Kansas is encouraging medical personnel to sterilize N95 masks for reuse to preserve their supplies.  Kansas health director, Dr. Lee Norman, has been pushing the idea of making sterilization equipment available to hospitals to help healthcare workers.  Norman said the health department is borrowing massive sterilization equipment for six months from an Ohio-based research company. The equipment is in a state warehouse south of Topeka and can process 10,000 masks a day.  On Friday, Norman said the state was preparing to update the public less often about the spread of the virus.  He announced his department would update case numbers only Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

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Kansas State Parks See "Significant" Uptick in Visits During Month of April

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas state parks saw a "significant" increase in visits last month, especially with new users. State Parks Director Linda Lanterman says the increase in the last weeks of April offset the revenue state parks lost in March, when Kansas issued its stay-at-home order. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the number of visits is up about 200,000 from last April.

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Not Giving It Up Cold Turkey: Bird Hunters Just Winging It

FALMOUTH, Maine (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has canceled dozens of spring traditions, but turkey hunting is going on largely unfettered. Forty-nine states host a spring turkey hunt every year. The birds, whose domesticated cousins grace Thanksgiving tables from Hawaii to Maine, are among America's greatest conservation success stories. The hunt is taking on a new look in some parts of the country this year due to social distancing laws. Many states, including Maine, are requiring out-of-state residents to self quarantine for two weeks when they enter the state. Other states, including Kansas, have suspended the sale of turkey permits to non-residents to reduce spread of the coronavirus.

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8-Year-Old Kansas Boy Dies When ATV Rolls in Kansas Field

DEERFIELD, Kan. (AP) — An 8-year-old Garden City boy died when an ATV he was riding on rolled over. Kearny County authorities say the crash occurred around noon Sunday about 7 miles northeast of Deerfield. Twenty-year-old Daniel Rodriguez and 8-year-old Aiden Hernandez were riding on the ATV in a field next to a house when it rolled at least once. The Kearny County Sheriff's Office says Rodriguez and Aiden were both thrown from the vehicle. They were not wearing helmets. Aiden died at a hospital. Rodriguez was not injured. 

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KC Chiefs Get Ready to Defend Championship and Chase Another Superbowl Victory

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — There will be plenty of chances for NFL fans to catch the Kansas City Chiefs as they chase a second consecutive Super Bowl championship. The Chiefs open the season against Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans, and a high-profile showdown with the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson awaits in Week 3. Late in the season, the Chiefs have trips to Tampa Bay to face Tom Brady and the Buccaneers and one to New Orleans, where Patrick Mahomes and the Saints' Drew Brees will square off for the first time.

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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.