Kansas GOP Rivals Vie for Women Voters
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Three Republicans running in a suburban Kansas congressional district argued Friday over what personal qualities would bring women voters back to the GOP after Democrats flipped the Kansas City-area seat in 2018. Candidates Amanda Adkins, Adrienne Vallejo Foster and Sara Hart Weir had a debate Friday at a statewide GOP convention in Olathe. Adkins cited her experiences as an executive and founder of a charity. Weir said she's shown she can work across party lines as a former CEO of an advocacy group for the disabled. Foster suggested she could win over Democrats and pointed to her Mexican heritage.
====================
Kansas Democrat Outraises Top of GOP Field in Senate Race
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Campaign finance reports show that the leading Democratic candidate forthe Senate in Kansas raised twice as much money in contributions during the last three months of 2019 as the top four Republicans combined. But state Senator Barbara Bollier's nearly $1.1 million in contributions couldn't overcome Republican Rep. Roger Marshall's advantage in cash on hand at year's end because of funds the western Kansas congressman brought over from his House campaign account. Marshall ended 2019 with $1.9 million, despite collecting less than $218,000 in contributions. Bollier is a retired Kansas City-area anesthesiologist who ended 2019 with about $810,000 in cash.
====================
Kansas Company Pleads Guilty in Chemical Cloud Incident
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas company has pleaded guilty to violating a federal clean air law in relation to a toxic chlorine gas cloud that hit a northeast Kansas town in 2016. Federal prosecutors say Hacros Chemicals Inc., of Kansas City, Kansas, is expected to pay a fine of up to $1 million after pleading guilty Friday to negligently violating the federal Clean Air Act. Another company, MGP Ingredients, of Atchison, pleaded guilty in November to the same charge and is also expected to pay a $1 million fine. In October 2016, a chlorine gas cloud formed at MGP's Atchison plant, causing more than 140 people to seek medical help.
====================
Driver Pleads No Contest in Kansas Crash that Killed 5
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 59-year-old truck driver from Colorado has pleaded no contest to five counts of vehicular homicide for causing a wreck on the Kansas Turnpike that killed five people. Kenny Ford, of Greeley, Colorado, pleaded Friday to the misdemeanor charges without an agreement on his potential sentences. Investigators say Ford failed to stop at a traffic backup on Interstate 70 on July 11th, 2017, and hit three vehicles. The drivers and passengers in those vehicles were killed. Two were from Illinois and three were from Kansas. Ford will be sentenced March 20th.
====================
Kansas to Offer Public Access to Earthquake Investigations
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Corporation Commission will offer public access to documents and data related to investigations of earthquake activity in Reno and Rooks counties. The commission voted Friday to open general investigation dockets, which will become available on the commission's website next week. The website will include all information gathered during investigations of seismic activity in the counties. They also will be a place where the commission can issue orders related to the investigations. Commission spokeswoman Linda Berry says there is a lot of concern about earthquakes in the two counties, and the dockets will let the public see that their concerns are being taken seriously.
====================
KU Student Senate Want Classes Cancelled after Super Bowl
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — University of Kansas students are urging administrators to call off classes on the day after the Super Bowl and to provide vomit bags on campus if they don't. The Student Senate made the request in a resolution passed Thursday as the Kansas City Chiefs prepared to play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in the team's first trip to the Super Bowl since 1970. It said that the chancellor should consider the “health implications of students attending classes and attempting course work less than 12 hours after the culmination of the Super Bowl and any celebrations that follow the game."
====================
Woman Arrested after Body Found in Wichita Burning Car
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say a woman has been arrested after a body was found in a burning vehicle earlier this week. KAKE-TV reports 30-year-old Laura Branning was booked Thursday evening on possible charges of arson and criminal desecration of dead body. The body was found Wednesday morning inside a burning SUV near an apartment complex in southeast Wichita. Officer Charley Davidson says investigators determined Branning was involved in the fire but further details were not released. Investigators are trying to identify the victim and the cause of death. in Chase County. The KBI says the pursuit ended when tire-puncturing stop sticks were placed in his path.
