Topeka Frito-Lay Worker Tests Positive for COVID-19
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A worker at a Frito-Lay plant in Topeka has tested positive for the coronavirus. The company said Friday in a statement that it has taken steps to identify and notify employees who had direct contact with the infected worker and asked them to quarantine themselves. Frito-Lay’s Topeka facility employs about 1,000 people. According to the company, it has also implemented symptom screenings and temperature checks and provided personal protective equipment for employees at the Topeka facility.
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Kansas GOP Senate Hopefuls Meet in Manhattan Debate
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — Five Kansas Republicans vying for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Pat Roberts faced off in Manhattan yesterday (SAT). The Topeka Capital Journal reports that Congressman Roger Marshall, Senate President Susan Wagle, former Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Dave Lindstrom, and Bob Hamilton met in an empty ballroom for the event, sponsored and live-streamed by the Kansas Republican Party. The five are competing in the August 4th Republican primary. Much of yesterday's debate was focused on agricultural policy. Retiring Senator Pat Roberts serves as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
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About 1,000 Kansas City Workers Notified of Layoffs
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — About 1,000 contract employees of a federal agency have received notice that their jobs face elimination in what would be one of the largest mass layoffs of the year for the Kansas City area. The Kansas City Star reports that the employees work for the National Benefits Center, which processes paperwork for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, at offices in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and Overland Park, Kansas. The fee-funded U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has taken a financial hit amid the coronavirus pandemic and is seeking emergency funding from Congress, saying that it is going to run out of money this summer.
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Body Recovered from River in Southern Kansas
EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a body has been pulled from the Walnut River in southern Kansas. KWCH reports that Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet confirmed that the body was found by a fisherman yesterday (SAT) afternoon, near the Tunnel Mill Dam in Winfield. The victim has been identified as male, but few other details were immediately released. The Walnut River is the same river where a 19-year-old man went missing in Butler County earlier this month.
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Teen Dies in ATV Crash in Northwest Kansas
SELDEN, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 15-year-old girl has died in an all-terrain vehicle accident in northwest Kansas. The Kansas Highway Patrol says a 16-year-old girl was behind the wheel of the ATV when it overturned shortly before 8 p.m. Friday on a rural road about 4 miles south of the town of Selden. Her 15-year-old passenger, Nikki Stuckey, of Hoxie, was thrown from the ATV and died. The 16-year-old girl was taken to a hospital for treatment.