Kansas Representative Davids Contracts COVID-19 Despite Vaccination
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Representative Sharice Davids has tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated against it. Davids said yesterday (FRI) in a statement that she has had only mild symptoms from her breakthrough case and is currently in isolation. She said she was tested after undergoing outpatient surgery involving the parathyroid glands in the neck that regulate calcium levels in the blood. The two-term Democratic congresswoman for the state’s portion of the Kansas City metropolitan area said she’s been following precautions recommended by health officials, including wearing masks indoors. She said she’s grateful for COVID-19 vaccines and urged people to get inoculated. Her statement did not say how she contracted COVID-19.
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Man Jailed for Attacking WIBW Employees Convicted in Jail Assault
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 57-year-old Topeka man who was in jail for attacking WIBW-TV employees in 2012 has been convicted of assaulting a corrections officer. Ray Miles was convicted yesterday (FRI) of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery and battery against a corrections officer. Prosecutors said Miles tried to stab Shawnee County corrections officer Kourtney Flynn several times in July 2019 before other workers restrained him. Miles was in the jail to serve the remaining year of his sentences for attacking several WIBW-TV employees in 2012, stabbing two of them.
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KC Sees Surge in COVID-19 Cases
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) - The number of COVID-19 cases in Kansas City is surging. The Kansas City Star reports that the KC metro area added nearly 750 cases and six deaths yesterday (FRI). Over the past week, the metro area added about 5,000 new coronavirus cases, up dramatically from the week before. Meanwhile, Missouri Governor Mike Parson has deployed more "ambulance strike teams" and health care workers to Kansas City and four other regions across the state. Parson says 30 ambulances and more than 60 medical personnel help transport COVID-19 patients from hospitals that are already too full.
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More Kansas Places Requiring Masks to Control Delta Variant
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A small but growing number of places in Kansas are requiring people to wear masks indoors. The spread of the more contagious delta variant across the state prompted the University of Kansas to reverse course and impose a mask mandate on its main campus in Lawrence and a satellite campus in Johnson County in the Kansas City area. The mandate takes effect Monday and applies whether someone is vaccinated or not. Washburn University in Topeka also announced an indoor mask mandate, and Wyandotte County has one in place for most residents. Meanwhile, Governor Laura Kelly released a new public-service announcement urging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
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Kansas Court Rejects Woman's Appeal in Ex-boyfriend's Murder
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state Supreme Court has upheld the convictions of a northeast Kansas woman serving a “Hard 50” prison sentence for shooting the father of her child six times and setting his body on fire in his mother’s home. The court yesterday (FRI) unanimously rejected arguments from Tria Evans’ attorney that a Douglas County judge shouldn’t have allowed testimony that 34-year-old Joel Wales told others he feared Evans would kill him. The now 42-year-old Evans was convicted of first-degree murder and arson over Wales’ death in November 2017. She was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 50 years.
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KBI: Record Number of Kansas Murders Last Year
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says more people were murdered in Kansas last year than any year since the inception of national crime statistics. The bureau says in a news release yesterday (FRI) that the number of murders committed in Kansas last year hit a record at 193. That surpasses any year since 1959, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation first began publishing national crime statistics. The KBI released its annual Kansas Crime Index Report yesterday (FRI), which compiles crime statistics reported to the bureau by state and local law enforcement agencies across the state. The report shows that violent crime in Kansas increased by 9.5% from 2019.
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Kansas City, Kansas, Police Say Man Found Shot to Death
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police are investigating after an officer found a man shot to death behind a convenience store in Kansas City, Kansas. Police say the discovery was made after officers were called just after 7 p.m. Thursday to an area along Kaw Drive for a report of a shooting. Arriving officers searched the area and found the man with gunshot wounds. He died at the scene. Police did not immediately release the man's name, and no arrests have been reported.
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Kansas City Zoo to Vaccinate Some Animals against COVID-19
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials with the Kansas City Zoo say they plan to begin vaccinating some animals housed at the attraction against COVID-19. Among those slated to be vaccinated are the zoo's great apes, including chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas, and its big cats, including lions, tigers, cheetahs and leopards. Zoo officials say those species are the most susceptible to the virus. The animals will receive the Zoetis vaccine, which was developed specifically for animals and won’t affect the supply of vaccines for humans. More than 11,000 doses of that vaccine have been distributed across 70 zoos in 27 states.
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Ex-KU Forward de Sousa Acquited of Battery
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A jury has found former Kansas forward Silvio de Sousa not guilty of aggravated battery for hitting a man in the face during a New Year's Day bar fight. The Kansas City Star reports de Sousa hugged his lawyer and praised God following the jury's Thursday decision. Douglas County prosecutors alleged that de Sousa hit 32-year-old Shawnee native Grant Davis so hard during the January 1st, 2020, bar fight in Lawrence that it blinded him in one eye. De Sousa says he hit Davis with an open palm but didn't touch his eye.
