Wichita Policeman Not Shielded for Injuring Bystander
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas' highest court says a state law allowing deadly force against an attacker doesn't protect people from prosecution if a bystander is injured. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday in the case of a Wichita police officer whose shots at a charging dog wounded a 9-year-old girl. The justices ordered a trial in Sedgwick County District Court for former Officer Dexter Betts on a felony reckless aggravated battery charge. The December 2017 shooting happened while Betts was inside a Wichita home on a domestic violence call when the dog charged. He fired twice but his shots hit the floor, and bullet fragments hit the girl above the eye and on a toe.
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KBI Investigating Death of Lansing Inmate
LANSING, Kan. (KPR) - The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Kansas Department of Corrections is investigating the death of a resident of the Lansing Correctional Facility. Forty-five-year-old Patrick William Unrein died Thursday after being transported to St. John's Hospital in Leavenworth, where he was pronounced dead. In a press release, the KBI reports that the cause of death is pending the results of an independent autopsy, but preliminary reports indicate that his death was not COVID-19 related. Unrein was serving a 23-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter and aggravated battery out of Sedgwick County.
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Johnson County Adds $15 Million to Panasonic Deal
KANSAS CITY (KNS) - Johnson County is adding $15 million to the record-breaking tax subsidies to Panasonic to build a battery factory in DeSoto. The county commission Thursday approved half the money for road improvements and the rest for a new fire station. The county is using leftover federal pandemic relief money. The state has promised 4,000 jobs from the $4 billion project, but there is no guarantee of that many jobs materializing.
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KC Zoo Expecting Baby Rhino
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) - The Kansas City Zoo is expecting a new baby rhinoceros. The Kansas City Star reports that Zuri and Ruka, two eastern black rhinos, are expecting their first calf this winter. The eastern black rhinoceros is found in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa, and is the rarest of the three black rhinos subspecies. Eastern black rhinos are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with only about 740 left in the world.
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Monarch Butterfly Placed on International Endangered List
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) - An international conservation group has placed the North American migrating monarch butterfly on their endangered list. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature cites habitat loss and climate change for the designation. Chip Taylor, the founder and director of the Lawrence-based nonprofit Monarch Watch, says the endangered status is cause for concern. Monarch butterflies are known to migrate through parts of Kansas in the fall to winter in Mexico. Monarchs have not yet been designated as endangered under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and thus have no federal protections.