Missouri Resumes Use of J&J Vaccine
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri is resuming use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after federal scientific advisors decided its benefits outweigh a rare risk of blood clots. State health officials made the announcement Friday night in a tweet in response to U.S. health officials lifting an 11-day pause on the single-dose vaccine. Just over 105,000 doses of the J&J vaccine had been administered in Missouri before the pause. The state said that providers with J&J vaccine in stock can immediately begin administering it and that shipments from the federal government will resume next week.
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Earthquakes Rattle North-Central Kansas
SMITH CENTER, Kan. (AP) Several small earthquakes have rattled north-central Kansas. The largest had a magnitude of 3.5 and was reported Friday in Jewell County. Two other quakes measuring 2.3 and 2.5 on the Richter scale were recorded yesterday (SAT) in Smith County, while a third with a magnitude of 2.5 was reported in Jewell County. There are no reports of damage. The threshold for damage usually starts at magnitude 4.0.
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Wyandotte County to Resume Delinquent Tax Home Sales
UNDATED (AP) - Residents of historically Black neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas, risk losing their homes amid the pandemic as delinquent property tax sales resume. Critics decry the practice as racist, but government officials laud the practice for revitalizing communities. Even though Wyandotte County is just the state's fourth largest county, the number of delinquent tax properties put up for sale by the united Government of Wyandotte County dwarfs those of much larger Kansas counties. It typically offers about 2,200 properties annually at its three tax auctions. Most are unsold and end up in the Wyandotte County Land Bank, a unit of its economic development department.
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Wichita State Student Senator Draws Controversy for "White Lives Matter" Mask
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A man who once threatened to storm the Sedgwick County Courthouse and shoot officers is again the subject of controversy after wearing a "white lives matter" face mask when he was sworn in as a student senator at Wichita State University. The Wichita Eagle reports that 27-year-old Sam McCrory donned the mask Thursday, the day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Lloyd. McCrory, an electrical engineering major, said he wore the mask to make a political point and to push back against "the modern left" which he said "hates white people."
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Woman Sentenced in Fatal Shooting Outside KCMO School
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A woman has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for fatally shooting a 15-year-old girl outside a Kansas City high school as the teen left a basketball game. 24-year-old Jamya Norfleet was sentenced Friday for second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon in the February 2019 on An'Janique Wright. The shooting happened outside the Central Academy of Excellence after two groups of people argued at the game and were escorted out separately.
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St. Joe Man Sentenced in Shooting Death of Toddler
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) - A 21-year-old St. Joseph man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for his role in the shooting death of a 2-year-old girl. Caimon Stillman was sentenced Friday in the August 9th death of Raelynn Craig. Stillman pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder. Prosecutors say the child was sitting in a car when it was hit with shots fired from another vehicle. Two adults with her were injured. Two other men were charged with second-degree murder in the shooting. Marcain Kimbrough-Ballard was sentenced in February to 26 years in prison. Te'Avion Hawkins is set for trial starting April 27th.
