Senator Marshall Criticized for Dispensing Sketchy Medical Advice on Virus Immunity
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Roger Marshall won't let people forget he’s a doctor. That's clear because the obstetrician puts “Doc” in the letterhead of his U.S. Senate office news releases. But when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, other doctors and experts say the Kansas Republican sounds far more like a politician than a physician. Marshall says people who've had COVID-19 don't need to get vaccinated because they have natural immunity that'll be stronger than what the shots provide. But that belief defies the medical consensus and official U.S. government guidance. Marshall has company from other GOP doctors, dentists and pharmacists in Congress, but critics say such statements are dangerous and unethical.
==========
Flight Instructor, Student from Dodge City School Die in Arizona
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — Dodge City Community College said that two people killed in a fiery midair collision earlier this month in Arizona were a flight instructor and a student. Dodge City Community College identified the instructor in a news release Friday as Jessica Brandal and the student as Michael Papendick. They were in a helicopter that crashed into a single-engine plane on October 1st near the municipal airport for the Phoenix suburb of Chandler. Dodge City Community College operates its DC3 Flight Instructor Program out of the Chandler airport.Chandler police said earlier this week that Papendick was 34 and Brandal was 27 years old. The school said in the release that their families had asked for privacy.
==========
Suspect in Deadly Wichita Club Shooting Arrested
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A suspect in last month’s deadly shooting at a downtown Wichita nightclub has been arrested in Arizona. Wichita police said in a news release that 23-year-old Keshawn Maurice Dawson was taken into custody Friday in Phoenix with assistance from the United States Marshal’s Service. The Wichita Eagle reports that authorities are seeking extradition. Dawson is wanted in Kansas on murder and other charges in the September 7th shooting that killed 34-year-old Preston Spencer and wounded five women. Police said he got kicked out of the Enigma Club & Lounge after a fight. Detectives believe he then returned and opened fire.
==========
Judge Orders Two Life Sentences in Topeka Double Homicide
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 34-year-old man has been sentenced to two life prison
terms in the beating and stabbing deaths of a Topeka woman and her cousin. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Richard Showalter, of Greenleaf, won’t be eligible for release for at least 112 years and three months under the sentences imposed Friday in Shawnee County District Court. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated burglary in the July 2018 home invasion killings of 28-year-old Lisa Sportsman and her 17-year-old cousin, Jesse Polinskey. Sportsman’s estranged husband, Bradley Sportsman, and a third man, Matthew Hutto, also have been convicted in the killings.
==========
Hutchinson Police: Teen Tried to Steal Humvee from Armory
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Police say a teen attempted to steal a military Humvee worth more than $100,000 from the National Guard Armory in Hutchinson and swung a hatchet at an armory staff member who tried to stop him. The Hutchinson News reports that prosecutors charged the 16-year-old from Nickerson in Reno County District Court with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, felony theft and criminal trespass. He remains in juvenile detention. Hutchinson Police Lt. Dustin Loepp said the teen jumped a fence Wednesday at the Armory and broke into at least three Humvees. The first, he was unable to start. The second he started but couldn’t get it to move, Loepp said.
==========
Person of Interest Arrested in KCK Homicide
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a person of interest in a Kansas City, Kansas, homicide. Officer T.J. Tomasic, a police spokesman, said in a news release that officers found a female victim dead around 3 a.m. Saturday while responding to a call about suspicious activity. The release said that the person of interest was taken into custody at the scene. Police didn’t immediately release the name of the victim, how she died or a motive. Anyone with information is urged to call a tips hotline.
