Arrest Made in KC Bystander's Shooting Death
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police have made an arrest in the death of a Kansas woman killed by a stray bullet fired during a fight at a popular monthly Kansas City arts district festival. The Kansas City Star reports that police have arrested 18-year-old Deon'te Copkney, of Kansas City. Police say he was one of three people seen running from the shooting scene Friday night and detained for questioning. Officers say they saw Copkney drop a handgun as he was running that was later determined to be the same gun that shot 25-year-old Erin Langhofer, of Overland Park, Kansas. Langhofer died following the shooting in the Crossroads District as the First Fridays event was underway. Police say she was near a food truck when she was hit and was not part of the fight. She died at a hospital. Prosecutors have charged Copkney with second-degree murder and two weapons counts. He remained jailed Saturday.
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Children's Book Museum Set to Open in KC Next Year
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An artist-driven nonprofit says it plans to open a museum that celebrates children's literature in a Kansas City warehouse early next year. Rabbit Hole co-founder Debbie Pettid tells KCUR-FM that they've chosen renowned works and sometimes-overlooked titles by authors from diverse backgrounds to fill the 165,000 square foot space just north of downtown. The nonprofit bought the warehouse last year and started on the second phase of construction in July after raising more than half of its $12 million budget. It plans to open the museum in March 2020. The space will include dozens of exhibits, including Max's room from Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are," and a "Goodnight Moon" room to host book clubs and other events.
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KU Study: Centers Turn Away Opioid Patients
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A University of Kansas study says many treatment centers for addiction in the Kansas City area will not accept or have restrictions on accepting patients who have been prescribed medications to fight their addiction. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Nancy Kepple, an assistant professor for KU's School of Social Welfare, is the lead author of the study. She says the study surveys 360 Kansas City-area treatment facilities to determine their acceptance rates of people with opioid use disorder who have been prescribed medications to treat the disorder. The study found that 40% treatment centers have a "mixed-to-negative attitude" toward treating people who take medication to treat the disorder. Kepple says some treatment centers said they resist accepting those patients because they either don't have the infrastructure or the knowledge of the medications to feel comfortable enough serving them. Others said they are treatment centers that use the traditional 12-step program, which often adheres to a full-abstinence philosophy.
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Swarms of Mayflies, Frogs Emerge along Missouri River
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Swarms of mayflies have emerged from under water along the Missouri River and are caking drivers' windshields. The Omaha World-Herald reports mayflies spend 99% of their lives in water, but they rise above when they become winged adults to take part in a mating swarm. They quickly die after that. But their mating season is a nuisance. Pam Frana, a membership specialist for the Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce Department, blames the flooding for stirring up the mayflies. Dominator Fuel in Rock Port, Missouri, sold out of windshield wiper fluid in light of the mayflies' arrival. Andrew Wagner, who works in Hamburg, Iowa, says covered windshields so much that drivers couldn't see where they were going. But he says the situation is better now that flooding has gone down.
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Kansas State gets $2.8 Million for Cyberattack Research
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State researchers have received a three-year, $2.8 million federal grant for a project to enhance utility operators' awareness of and resilience to cyberattacks. The award from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office was announced Thursday. The Manhattan Mercury reports that as more solar and other distributed energy resources are added to the electrical grid, utility operators need new tools to provide stronger protection against physical and cyber risks. This project is led by engineering professor Bala Natarajan. The project is among the largest to date in the electrical and computer engineering department at the university. It is the first project from the solar office to be awarded to a university in Kansas.
