GOP Candidate to Take COVID Test, Quarantine, after Election Night Exposure
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Amanda Adkins, the new Republican nominee in Kansas 3rd District, will be tested for the coronavirus after the campaign was told a supporter at her primary night election party tested positive for COVID-19. Adkins campaign manager Matt Patterson said Friday Adkins would take the test within five days. She also will self-quarantine for 14 days and take another test at the end of her quarantine. Adkins, of Overland Park, won Tuesday's primary in a field of five candidates and will face Democratic Representative Sharice Davids in the November general election.
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Kansas Democrats Excited about Ex-GOP Lawmaker's Senate Bid
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democrats are pinning their unusually high hopes for winning a Senate seat in Kansas on a retired doctor and former lifelong moderate Republican who's vexed conservatives during a decade in the Legislature. State Sen. Barbara Bollier represents a Kansas City-area legislative district along the Missouri state line, having grown up in the same cozy suburbs. She’s pitching herself as a “voice of reason” who works with state lawmakers from both parties. Before switching to the Democratic Party late in 2018, Bollier bucked GOP leaders on health care, tax cuts and education funding. She entered the fall campaign against Republican western Kansas Representative Roger Marshall with $4.5 million in cash.
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Colorado Trucker Sentenced in Kansas Crash that Killed 5
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. 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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Kansas Poised to Elect its 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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Governor Tests Negative; Kansas COVID-19 Cases Jump Past 30,000
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has tested negative for the coronavirus. Her result Friday came as a Republican legislative leader faced criticism from some Democrats 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.
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Two Men Charged in Fatal Shooting at Warrensburg Party
WARRENSBURG, Mo (AP) — Two Warrensburg man have been charged in a shooting at a large birthday party that left one woman dead and two other people injured. 25-year-old Evan Lanigan and 28-year-old Christian Harrison were each charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and several other counts in the August 1st shooting in Warrensburg that killed 18-year-old Maliyah Lakey. Witnesses told police Lanigan pulled a gun during an argument with Harrison, leading to a large fight. Lakey's body was found in an alley near the house. A 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old female who were also shot were treated at were treated at area hospitals.
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Man Found Shot to Death in Kansas City, Kansas
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.
