Kansas Sees Surge in COVID-19 Delta Variant
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has reported its biggest surge in COVID-19 cases in more than three months with the faster-spreading delta variant becoming a growing public health issue. Some of the biggest numbers of new cases per capita over the previous two weeks were in counties bordering Missouri. That state has had new cases spike recently because of the delta variant. Both Kansas and Missouri also have seen vaccinations slow amid some residents’ resistance to getting vaccinated. Kansas health department data showed that the state had an average of 275 new COVID-19 cases a day for the seven days ending yesterday (FRI). That was the highest seven-day average since March 26th.
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Missouri Officials: Rely on Local Leaders, not Feds, to Encourage Vaccinations
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Three of Missouri's top health officials say local leaders are the primary influencers in the state's efforts to fight off a surge in COVID-19 cases. State officials said during a virtual news conference yesterday (FRI) that they have a strong working relationship with federal agencies helping to respond to increasing cases caused largely by the delta variant. But they said trusted officials and community leaders are the best people to persuade residents to get vaccinated against the virus. Those comments come after Missouri Governor Mike Parson said he doesn't support a federal plan to send people door-to-door to encourage vaccinations.
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Court: Man Can't Withdraw Guilty Pleas in Topeka Double Homicide
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has blocked a man’s attempt to withdraw his guilty pleas after he was sentenced to serve at least 50 years in prison over the July 2018 murders of a woman and her cousin. The high court yesterday (FRI) rejected Matthew Douglas Hutto’s claim that his court-appointed attorney's advice to plead guilty to two premeditated first-degree murder charges meant that the lawyer did not adequately represent him. Hutto was part of a group living with Brad Sportsman in the town of Greenleaf that traveled to Topeka to kill Sportsman’s estranged wife. A 17-year-old cousin was staying with her; they were both beaten and stabbed to death.
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Man Charged with Murder in Death of Pregnant Wichita Woman
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 37-year-old Wichita man is charged with first-degree murder and several other counts after a crash that killed a pregnant woman while he allegedly was fleeing from police. KAKE-TV reports Javan Jermaine Ervin made his first court appearance yesterday (FRI). He is charged in the death of by 22-year-old Samantha Russell. Investigators say Ervin was fleeing from police after a suspected robbery Tuesday. Police ended the chase shortly after it started but prosecutors say Ervin was still speeding when he ran a red light and crashed into three vehicles, including Russell's. She was 33 weeks pregnant. Russell died but doctors were able to deliver her son, Mac.
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Former Nebraska Deputy Found Dead before Fraud Sentencing
FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A former Nebraska sheriff's deputy was found dead the day before he was scheduled to be sentenced in a nearly $11 million fraud scheme. 50-year-old Craig Harbaugh was found dead in his Fremont apartment on Thursday. A deputy county attorney said a preliminary investigation found no indication of suicide or foul play. Harbaugh operated “Tactical Solutions Gear,” a federal firearms licensee formerly located in Fremont. Harbaugh pleaded guilty in February to defrauding a bank and several individuals out of nearly $11 million by using false purchase orders and service contracts. He falsely claimed to have orders for firearms and tactical gear from law enforcement agencies in Kansas City, Kansas, Nebraska, and Illinois.
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Activists Call on Feds to Investigate KCK Police
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Activists and faith leaders are demanding a federal investigation into Kansas City, Kansas, police. The Kansas City Star reports that Lora McDonald, executive director of MORE2, the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity, said Friday during a news conference that the group plans to file a request with the U.S. Department of Justice to review the police department. The department came under scrutiny in 2017 when Lamonte McIntyre was exonerated after spending 23 years in prison for a double murder he did not commit. A lawsuit filed by McIntyre claims officers manipulated eyewitnesses and wrote police reports with fabricated information.
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Kansas Man gets Life Sentence for Colorado Assaults, Carjacking
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — A Kansas man convicted of sexual assault in the rape of a woman in suburban Denver and of assaulting and carjacking another woman has been sentenced to life in Colorado state prison. The Aurora Sentinel reports that 26-year-old Tre Carrasco was sentenced yesterday (FRI) by Arapahoe County District Judge Ben Leutwyler to a total of 136 years in prison. Carrasco was convicted in May of nearly a dozen charges, including felony sexual assault in the rape of an au pair in Cherry Hills Village in 2019 and the attempted kidnapping of another woman whose vehicle he stole outside an Aurora gym.
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Wichita State Gets $2.1 Million Aerospace Research Grant
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A $2.1 million federal grant awarded to Wichita State University for new aerospace research facilities is expected to create nearly 500 jobs over the next 10 years. The Wichita Eagle reports that the U.S. Commerce Department announced the grant to the school's National Institute for Aviation Research on Thursday. The money will be matched with university funds generated by the institute's contracts with private industry and will go toward a new flight test research center and a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility. WSU associate vice president Tracee Friess says the 475 jobs expected to be created over the next decade “will all be engineers and technicians.”
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Topeka Woman Charged with Murder in Teen's Death
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 21-year-old Topeka woman is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a teenager. Shawnee County authorities charged Daisha Butler on Thursday in the death of 17-year-old Nevaeh Martinez. She was shot July 3rd outside a Topeka home, and died the next day after being taken off life support. Butler is being held on $1 million bond. The victim's mother, Tiana Cannon, told KSNT that her daughter didn't know Butler and was an innocent bystander in the shooting.
