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Headlines for Saturday, March 14, 2020

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Kansas, Missouri Governors Declare State of Emergency

Lawrence, Kan. (KPR) - Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and Missouri Governor Mike Parson have enacted statewide emergencies to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic.  Numerous schools, college, and universities across the state have closed for the next two weeks or moved their classes online.  Many church services have been cancelled for this weekend, and the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has dispensed area Catholics from attending Sunday Mass.  The Lawrence/Douglas County Health Department has ordered the closing of K-12 schools, the Lawrence public library and other libraries in the county, and banned all public gatherings of more than 250 people.  Similar actions have been taken by city and county officials in Shawnee and Riley counties.

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Kansas COVID Victim Lived in Nursing Home with Ties to Washington Epicenter

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Health officials say a nursing home resident who become Kansas' first COVID-19-related death was infected at the Life Care Center of Kansas City, which is owned by the same company that owns the facility in Washington state linked to 22 fatalities. Kansas Health Secretary Lee Norman said a focus of the investigation is whether there has been any personnel sharing between the nursing homes in Kirkland, Washington, and the one in Kansas. The state also reported its sixth COVID-19 case on Friday. Norman says no other residents at the Life Center nursing home are showing symptoms.

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Corps: Missouri River Levee System Mostly Restored

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Omaha District says it has reached its goal of having the Missouri River mainstem levee system restored to its full height following massive flooding a year ago that devastated levees in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. The Corps said in a news conference Friday that while there is still much work to be done throughout the region, crews had closed 24 breaches along the main river system, spending more than $400 million to date on the work. District commander Col. John Hudson said crews have moved 4.73 million cubic yards of sand in the effort, “equal to two Empire State Buildings.”

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KU Medical Center to Pay Settlement for Age Discrimination

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas will pay $144,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused the school's medical center of telling directors in one department to focus on hiring younger employees. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the lawsuit in 2019 on behalf of a manager who lost his job after reporting his boss at the University of Kansas Medical Center advised managers to recruit and hire younger people over older applicants. The three-year consent decree announced Friday requires the medical center and University of Kansas to pay lost wages and damages to the employee and to take steps to prevent discrimination or retaliation against management employees in the future.  

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Motorcycle Rider Dies in Wichita School Bus Crash

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say a man died after his motorcycle crashed into a school bus. Police spokesman Charley Davidson says 22-year-old Tyler Bins died Wednesday afternoon after being pinned under the bus. A 49-year-old man who was riding a different motorcycle with Bins was seriously injured. Davidson says the men collided with the bus after it entered an intersection. He says speed was believed to be a factor in the crash. One of four students on the bus for McLean Magnet Elementary school suffered minor injuries.

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Crews Search for 2-year-old Girl after Dad Drives into River

LEON, Kan. (AP) — Emergency crews are searching for the body of a 2-year-old Kansas girl who disappeared after her father drove them both into a river. Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet says the man's body was recovered from the Walnut River near Leon Wednesday night but that the girl has not been found. Herzet says the father drove into the river after Leon officers tried to take the girl from him because he was drinking. The truck went off an embankment and into the river, landing on its top. Officers began looking for the man Wednesday afternoon after the girl's mother called police.  

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Psych Evaluation Ordered for Kansan who Sought Trial by Combat

HARLAN, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa judge has ordered a psychological evaluation of a Kansas man who asked the judge to let him engage in a sword fight with his ex-wife and her attorney so that he can “rend their souls” from their bodies. David Ostrom, of Paola, Kansas, said in a Jan. 3 court filing that his former wife in Harlan, Iowa, and her attorney had destroyed him legally. She subsequently asked the judge to suspend Ostrom's visitation rights and order an evaluation. The judge granted both requests last week. Ostrom told The Des Moines Register that he has an appointment scheduled with a psychologist.

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Jury convicts Kansas man in Missouri Shooting

Platte City, MO (AP) — Prosecutors say a jury has convicted a Kansas man of murder for shooting an unarmed man in the back at a home in Missouri. The Platte County prosecutor's office said in a news release Thursday that Coty Borst, 28, of Shawnee, Kansas, was found guilty of second-degree murder and armed criminal action following a three-day trial. The charges stem from an altercation on June 21, 2018, at a Houston Lake home during which Borst fired into the back of Jacob Stowers. He fled and was found following a manhunt.

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