Governor Tests Negative for COVID-19; Kansas COVID Cases Top 30,000
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has tested negative for the coronavirus. Her result yesterday (FRI) came as a Republican legislative leader faced criticism for not telling colleagues until this week that he’d been infected and hospitalized before a public meeting last month. Fellow Republican leaders defended House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., and accused the Democratic governor of politicizing his case. But Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley said he believes the House speaker “can’t be trusted. Kelly spokesman Sam Coleman said the governor took her test Friday morning and received her negative result quickly. Ryckman is the highest-ranking Kansas official infected. State health officials report that Kansas had 921 new COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths since Wednesday. That brings the state's total to 30,638 cases so far and 380 deaths.
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Colorado Trucker Sentenced in Kansas 5-Person Fatal Crash
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A truck driver from Colorado who caused a fiery crash that killed five people in Kansas has been sentenced to five years in jail. 59-year-old Kenny Ford, of Greeley, Colorado, was sentenced Friday in the July 2017 wreck on Interstate 70 near Bonner Springs, Kansas. Investigators said Ford did not heed signs warning of possible traffic backups before his semi-trailer truck hit three vehicles in stalled traffic. Ford pleaded no contest in January to five counts of vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor. Each count carried a maximum one-year prison sentence. Two of the victims were from Illinois and three were from Kansas.
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Wichita Poised to Elect Kansas' First Openly Transgender Lawmaker
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — A retired music teacher would become the first openly transgender member of the deeply conservative Kansas Legislature if she’s elected from a Democratic-leaning district she’s expected to win in November. Stephanie Byers, of Wichita, would join the ranks of other transgender people who have served in legislatures in other states, including four who currently hold such office in New Hampshire, Colorado and Virginia. Byers advanced to the general election after running unopposed in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. The 57-year-old faces Republican Cyndi Howerton for the seat being vacated by Democratic state Representative Jim Ward, who is running for state Senate. The district previously backed President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Democratic Governor Laura Kelly.
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KCK Police Investigating Shooting Death
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police in Kansas City, Kansas, are investigating after a man was found shot to death late Thursday. Police say the shooting was reported around 10 p.m. Thursday in near North 62nd Street and Nebraska Avenue, and responding officers found a man with a gunshot wound. The man was rushed to a hospital, where he later died. Police have not yet released his name. Police say one person was arrested, but it's not known whether that person has been charged in the shooting.
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Nebraska Man Killed in Head-on Crash in NE Kansas
HOLTON, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Highway Patrol says a man from Omaha, Nebraska, has died in a head-on crash involving a car and a semitrailer in northeastern Kansas. Television station KAKE reports that the crash happened early Thursday morning on U.S. 75 north of Holton. The patrol says a northbound car driven by 24-year-old Mohammad Alnosif, of Omaha, veered into the southbound lanes and hit a tractor-trailer head-on. Investigators say Alnosif was thrown from the car and died at the scene. The patrol says the 38-year-old semi driver and a 66-year-old passenger with him were hospitalized for injuries.
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Kansas Prison Operator, Phone Provider to Pay $3.7 Million in Settlement
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The operator of a privately run federal prison in Kansas and its phone provider have agreed to pay $3.7 million to settle a lawsuit filed by attorneys who alleged calls with their clients at the Leavenworth facility were illegally recorded. The Kansas City Star reports that CoreCivic, the operator of the Leavenworth Detention Center, and its phone provider Securus Technologies agreed to pay the money into a fund that will be distributed among attorneys who had in-person or phone communications intercepted. A federal judge in Missouri approved the agreement Wednesday. The settlement comes a year after the companies agreed to pay $1.6 million to detainees who had made similar claims.
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Overland Park Councilman Charged with Misdemeanor Battery
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — An Overland Park City Council member who is charged with misdemeanor domestic battery has been removed from the city's public safety committee, which oversees police procedures. Scott Hamblin was charged after police were called to his home on July 21st. No one was injured. Six fellow council members on Monday called for Hamblin to resign but he says he will not do so. Mayor Carl Gerlach said Thursday he removed Hamblin from the committee because it would be a conflict of interest to serve while being investigated by police. Hamblin's wife, Curstin, issued a statement defending her husband and accusing the council of trying to score political points from a personal matter.
