Senators Moran, Marshall Vote 'Not Guilty' on Trump Impeachment
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - U.S. Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall joined with 41 other Republican senators in voting to acquit former president Donald Trump. In a statement after yesterday's (SAT) impeachment vote, Moran condemned the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying "President Trump was wrong to continue to spread allegations of widespread fraud and not immediately discourage the reprehensible and unpatriotic behavior," but said he ultimately voted not guilty because Trump is no longer in office. Marshall also released a statement saying the impeachment trial was unconstitutional from the start. The final vote in Trump's Senate impeachment trial was 57 to 43, with seven Republican senators voting "guilty." A supermajority of 67 votes was needed to convict the former president.
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Kansas Hit by Dangerously Cold Weather
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Kansas and much of the Midwest and the Plain States are experiencing dangerously cold temperatures this weekend. The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Chill Advisory for most of Kansas today (SUN), as well as parts of Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, and other states. A Wind Chill Warning will take effect this evening and run through Tuesday. With temperatures holding steady in the low single digits, wind chill readings are expected to range from 14 degrees below zero to about thirty degrees below zero through Tuesday. The National Weather Service warns that the dangerously wind chill factors can cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as ten minutes.
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Dodge City Lawmaker Estes Dies
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Ailing Republican state Senator Bud Estes has died, Senate leadership announced in a news release yesterday (SAT). He was 74 years old. Estes won re-election in November to a second term representing a southwest Kansas district that includes the Dodge City and Liberal area. He had been hospitalized in recent months and had not been in Topeka this session. Senate president Ty Masterson said in a statement that Estes had “a kind and gentle spirit and was well respected by all who served with him in the legislature.” Masterson’s spokesman, Mike Pirner, said Estes’ widow notified lawmakers of his death and approved the release.
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Bill Introduced to Limit Who Can Return Absentee Ballots
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Some Kansas Republican legislators are backing a bill that would make it a felony for anyone besides a family member or caregiver to return another person’s absentee ballot. The bill is facing pushback from Democratic lawmakers and voting rights advocates who say the legislation would make it harder for many racial minorities, older voters and people with disabilities to cast ballots. Proponents say banning so-called “ballot harvesting” would prevent political groups and candidates from unfairly influencing elections. The House Election Committee has held a hearing on the bill but has not yet voted.
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Five Frats Temporarily Banned from KU Campus
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Members of five fraternities have been banned from the University of Kansas campus for 10 days after they violated public health guidelines aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus. In a campus message Friday announcing the ban, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Tammara Durham wrote that the university was “disappointed in the poor judgement demonstrated by these individuals.” The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the ban affects members of Delta Tau Delta, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Psi, Sigma Chi and Sigma Phi Epsilon. University spokesperson Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said the members of those fraternities would be prohibited from entering any “property, buildings, or other facilities of the University of Kansas, excluding Watkins Health Center.”
