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Headlines for Thursday, February 4, 2021

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COVID-19 Caseload in Kansas Pushes Past 278,000; Deaths Approach 3,900

TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) reported Wednesday that there have been 278,915 cases of COVID-19, including 3,895 deaths, since the pandemic began.  That's an increase of 2,247 cases and 86 deaths since Monday.  KDHE will provide another update on Friday. 

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Officials: Coronavirus Variant Likely Present in Many Parts of Kansas 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Officials with a major Kansas health system say a faster-spreading coronavirus variant first identified in the United Kingdom is probably more widespread in the state than a single confirmed case in northwest Kansas suggests. The first identified case of the variant came as the number of new COVID-19 cases dropped and with officials focused on distributing vaccines. The state health department announced Wednesday that it had confirmed the U.K. variant for the first time, in Ellis County. University of Kansas Health System officials said Thursday that there's a chance the variant is also in Kansas City and surrounding areas.

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KC Seeks to Boost Vaccinations for Black, Hispanic Residents

O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — A new task force in Kansas City, Missouri, will seek to ensure that Black and Hispanic residents have equal opportunities to get COVID-19 vaccinations. Mayor Quinton Lucas on Wednesday announced formation of Kansas City’s COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force. Lucas says the rate of Hispanic residents in the city dying from the coronavirus is nearly three times that of white residents. St. Louis County's health department, meanwhile, has begun an outreach campaign to push for vaccinations in north St. Louis County, the part of the county with the highest percentage of Black residents. Missouri remains among the worst states in terms of vaccination rates.

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Kansas Unveils Economic Plan as It Recovers from Pandemic

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has unveiled an economic development plan that aims to provide a blueprint for the state’s future as it looks to the new normal after the COVID-19 pandemic. Dubbed the Kansas Framework for Growth, the plan was lauded as the first of its kind in more than 30 years. It was showcased Thursday in a virtual announcement joined by two of the state’s former governors, Democrat John Carlin and Republican Mike Hayden. Work on drafting the plan began in late 2019, but the new challenges brought on by the pandemic created an urgent need to rethink an approach with the flexibility to respond to ever-changing economic conditions.

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Pandemic Relief Funding Slated for Kansas Infrastructure

NEWTON, Kan. (AP) — Kansas plans to invest the nearly $85 million the state received in the federal coronavirus relief funds for infrastructure programs and services in every county, leaving no part of the state behind. Gov. Laura Kelly said Thursday that in deciding how to best invest the money it received, the state also decided on an approach that would invest the maximum amount of dollars into the economy in the least amount of time. It also is targeting economic opportunities in communities that have been hardest hit during the pandemic.

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Wichita Police Find Body of Woman Whose Boyfriend Also Died

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police have found the body of a woman whose boyfriend was found dead earlier this week. Wichita police spokesman Charley Davidson said officers found 18-year-old Kaylah Blackmon dead inside her car today (THUR).  The car was located in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Wichita. Authorities have been searching for Blackmon since the body of her boyfriend, 17-year-old Michael Beasley, was found near an abandoned church in Wichita on Monday. Authorities have released no other details about the deaths.

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Topeka Police Officer Attacked by Man Who Grabbed for Gun

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police say a police officer responding to a call was attacked by a man riding his bike past the scene. Police Sgt. Scott Scurlock says the officer was at a boarded up home Thursday morning when the bicyclist tried to get his attention. Scurlock says when the officer asked the man to wait, the suspect charged the officer, knocked him over and punched him several times. During the tussle, the man tried unsuccessfully to grab the officer's gun. A bystander intervened and the suspect was arrested. The officer was not seriously injured. Later Thursday, 22-year-old Justin Reed was booked into the Shawnee County jail facing charges in the attack.

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GOP Lawmakers Narrow Bill for Cutting Kansas Income Taxes

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers narrowed their proposal to cut Kansas income taxes before it cleared its first legislative hurdle. A GOP leader said Wednesday that they’ll put off further action at least a short while to consider how the plan might affect the next state budget. The Republican-controlled Senate tax committee endorsed a bill reducing income taxes by about $170 million during the budget year that begins July 1. The measure would provide relief to individuals and businesses paying more in state income taxes because of changes in federal tax laws in 2017. The bill initially would have provided $329 million in relief during the next budget year.

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Kansas GOP Lawmakers Not Yet Mollified on State's COVID-19 Unemployment Scam Defenses

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas labor officials are saying that new security protocols are blocking thousands of fraudulent attempts every hour to access the Kansas unemployment benefits system. But those assurances did little Wednesday to dispel the concerns of Republican lawmakers. The state Department of Labor reported that it had blocked more than 538,000 attempts from internet bots or human scammers to log into its unemployment system during the 27 hours after a shutdown of the system ended Tuesday morning. The department shut down the system Saturday afternoon to add new security protocols after a flood of fraudulent claims for benefits. GOP lawmakers still worry that Kansas is losing millions of dollars to scammers.

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Department of Labor: Unemployment Website Back Online

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Department of Labor says it has its system for providing unemployment benefits back online after shutting it down for several days to add security protocols to combat fraudulent claims. Republicans have been concerned about the Department of Labor’s ability to get benefits to the unemployed and to thwart scammers. They worry that individuals face paying taxes on benefits they didn’t receive and employers are on the hook for covering some or all of the costs of bogus benefits until the fraud is fully detected. The unemployment system’s reboot required jobless workers to register again for benefits, and the department said more than 9,500 did so within several hours. About 1,400 failed to verify their identities and needed to try again, while fewer than 150 people “experienced an error of some sort,” Department of Labor spokesperson Jerry Grasso said in an email.

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Kansas Tightens Oversight of Troubled Foster Care Provider

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The top child welfare official in Kansas says her agency has tightened financial oversight of one of the state’s largest foster care management providers. The Kansas Department for Children and Families said in a news release Wednesday that provisions have been added to the grant agreement with Salina-based Saint Francis Ministries. Secretary Laura Howard says she remains concerned about Saint Francis Ministries' prior lack of transparency regarding their financial health. The state’s child welfare agency said in December employees of Saint Francis Ministries had falsified documents to show visits with families that never took place.

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Kansas Measure Would Criminalize Care for Transgender Youth

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislation that would make it a felony for doctors to provide medical treatments that help transgender youth transition is unlikely to get a hearing. The proposal from four conservative GOP members of the Kansas House has drawn condemnation from LGBTQ lawmakers and advocates. It is among measures in more than a dozen state legislatures targeting transgender youth in sports or medical treatments for them. Republican House health committee Chair Brenda Landwehr said Thursday that the measure probably will not have a hearing because the panel has too much other work, such as proposals for modernizing the state's mental health system.

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Overland Park Man Sentenced for Targeting Rival Missouri Store

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An Independence, Missouri, business owner who admitted he hired a man to burn down a rival business has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison. Federal prosecutors say 44-year-old William "Bill" Joseph Reneau, of Overland Park, was sentenced Tuesday to 78 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $167,085 in restitution to his victims. Reneau pleaded guilty in August to single counts of arson and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Investigators say Reneau was the owner of Gold Rush Exchange in Independence when he hired a man to destroy Bobby Jackson's Trading, a gold-buying business operated by a former employee of Reneau's.

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Kansas Mayor Accused of Perjury Gets Diversion Agreement

SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — The mayor of Shawnee, Kansas, has reached a diversion agreement with prosecutors that would resolve a perjury charge stemming from an open meetings complaint she filed using the name of another person without his permission. The Kansas City Star reports a court notation against Shawnee Mayor Michelle Distler indicates a diversion order was entered on Tuesday. The investigation was opened last year after a local government “watchdog” informed police that he had received an email from the state attorney general’s office confirming receipt of his open records complaint he had not filed.

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Kansas Lawmakers Push Civics Test for High School Graduation

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ A Kansas lawmaker and the state's Republican attorney general are pushing a bill to require high school students to pass a civics test to graduate. The goal, they say, is to increase civic engagement. The proposal is facing pushback from members of the largest teacher's union in the state, the second-largest school district and the Kansas Association of School Boards, which say that Kansas students are already getting an education in civics in government and history classes. The Kansas State Board of Education, which rejected a similar proposal about six years ago, also opposes the bill. 

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Kansas Man Dies After Falling Down Embankment into Creek

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — Barton County officials say a 20-year-old man died when he fell down an embankment into a creek. Sheriff Brian Bellendir said emergency crews were called to Wet Walnut Creek near Great Bend early Wednesday. Paramedics found Manuel Castillo in the creek and tried resuscitation  but he was pronounced dead at a hospital. An investigation determined that Castillo fell about 40 feet down an embankment into the river. He was cut and bruised during the fall by rock, metal rods and corrugated steel used to prevent the embankment from eroding. That left him incapacitated in 2 feet of water. A medical examination determined Castillo's death was caused by accidental drowning.

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Kansas Governor: Medical Pot Should Fund Medicaid Expansion

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Governor Laura Kelly is proposing that Kansas legalize marijuana for medical use to generate revenues that would finance an expansion of the state’s Medicaid health coverage for the needy.  Kelly has made expanding Medicaid for as many as 165,000 additional Kansas residents a top priority since becoming governor two years ago, but top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature have prevented its passage. Kelly also previously said she’d sign a medical marijuana bill but she hadn’t actively pushed the idea. She is wedding two ideas that are likely to face strong opposition among Republican legislative leaders and many rank-and-file GOP lawmakers.

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Police: Topeka Shooting Leaves Baby Critically Injured

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Police in Topeka are investigating an early-morning shooting that left a 1-year-old baby critically injured. Television station KSNT reports that the shooting happened around 4 a.m. Tuesday, when someone riddled a home near Eighth Street and Southeast Sherman Avenue with gunfire. Police say one of the shots hit a baby inside the home. Investigators report they found about two dozen bullet casings in the street outside the home. Officers called to the scene found a family leaving the home with the baby and rushed the child in critical condition to an area hospital. The names of the baby and family members were not immediately released, and no arrests have been announced.

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Kansas Officials ID Skeletal Remains Found Near Gardner Lake

GARDNER, Kan. (AP) _ The Johnson County Sheriff's Office has identified skeletal remains found last month near Gardner Lake in northeast Kansas. Television station WDAF reports that officials announced Tuesday that the remains are those of 48-year-old Matthew Lee Manion. Officials say the cause of death remains under investigation. Manion's remains were found January 11 near the lake located just north of Gardner and recovered by crime scene investigators and detectives the next day. No other information on Manion or the investigation was immediately released.

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Kansas Lawmaker Revises Plan on Allowing Sale of Flavored Vaping Products

TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — A Kansas lawmaker is backing off a ban on flavored vaping products.  Republican Representative John Eplee originally proposed banning the sale of all flavored vaping products. His new proposal asks that the state raise the age to buy vapes and other tobacco products. The move is mostly symbolic because federal law already sets the age at 21 but by complying, Kansas will still be eligible for certain federal grants. Eplee says flavored vapes are less of a problem now that the age to buy them is higher. “I’m not naïve. I know there will still be black market application and use of flavored vapes under 21.” Eplee said. “But at least we’ve set a standard that we won’t allow it and it’s illegal.” Some health advocates want to ban flavored vapes because they can be a gateway to young people becoming addicted to nicotine.

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Congress to Investigate Safety at U.S. Meatpacking Plants

WASHINGTON (KNS) - A congressional subcommittee has launched an investigation into worker safety violations at meatpacking plants. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis has sent letters to the three largest meatpacking plant companies: JBS, Smithfield and Tyson, as well as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which the committee alleges was too lenient in its COVID safety response. Illinois Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi is a member of the subcommittee. He says the Trump administration was too lax in its oversight of the meatpacking industry. “A lot of people unnecessarily got sick and a lot of people died.” Krishnamoorthi said.  “We cannot tolerate that any longer.”  Representatives from JBS and Smithfield say they’ve invested millions of dollars in safety measures and have implemented numerous health protections for their workers.

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UMKC Graduate to Share in Invention Profits Under Deal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri graduate who said his professor stole his invention for a drug delivery system will share in its profits under a settlement that also gives the University of Missouri System a cut of the revenue. The Kansas City Star reports that Kishore Cholkar will get at least $1.4 million under the settlement for research done while he was working toward a doctorate at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The deal announced in December ended the university's nearly two-year court battle against former professor Ashim Mitra; the drug development company, Auven Therapeutics Management; and the manufacturer that brought Cequa to market, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.

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For the First Time, Wind Provides More Power in Midwest than Coal

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNS) - For the first time, wind power was the number one source of electricity for the central U.S. in 2020.  Wind provided about 31.3% of all the electricity generated in the footprint of the Southwest Power Pool last year. That power pool coordinates electricity for all or part of 12 states in the central U.S., including Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. It’s the first time wind has been the top source of electricity for any of the country’s regional grid operators. Coal provided the second largest source of electricity in the region.

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Missouri River to Remain Low Headed into Spring Flood Season

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The amount of water being released into the Missouri River from a key dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will likely remain low this month because conditions remain dry and snowpack levels are below average throughout the region. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday that it will keep the amount of water flowing out of Gavins Point Dam at the winter release rate of 17,000 cubic feet per second. That means river levels will remain low headed into spring. Officials say it still appears that 2021 will be somewhat drier and only about 89% of the normal amount of water is expected to flow down the Missouri River.

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Missouri Bill to Limit Virus-Related Lawsuits Advances

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri senators have advanced a bill that would shield hospitals, manufacturers and other businesses from lawsuits over alleged wrongdoing during the coronavirus pandemic. Senators gave the measure initial approval Wednesday after hours of debate and negotiations. Proponents say hospitals and manufacturers that stepped up to make masks shouldn't be penalized for doing their best to help. But bipartisan critics said the measure is aimed at helping big business owners and would hinder people's access to the courts. The measure needs another vote of approval in the Senate to advance to the House.

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Missouri Bill Would Ban Enforcement of Federal Gun Laws

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers are advancing a bill to ban police from using federal laws to take away people's guns. The GOP-led House on Wednesday voted to give the bill initial approval. A previous version would have stopped officers from serving as Missouri police if they worked to enforce federal policy. House lawmakers toned down penalties in the bill Wednesday. But it still would subject police departments that employ officers who take away guns based on federal laws to lawsuits and $50,000 fines. The bill has gotten pushback from some law enforcement in the state.

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Missouri Lawmaker Asked to Resign Amid Stem Cell Fraud Case

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri state lawmaker indicted on federal fraud charges for falsely claiming a treatment she sold contained stem cells that could help with COVID-19 has been asked to resign. The Missouri House speaker on Wednesday said fellow Republican Rep. Tricia Derges should step down after a federal grand jury indicted the Nixa legislator. The 20-count indictment also accuses the 63-year-old of illegally providing prescription drugs to clients and making false statements to federal agents investigating the case. Her defense attorney says Derges “hasn’t been convicted of a thing and she is presumed innocent.”

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Police Find Man Fatally Shot Outside Kansas City Home

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police in Kansas City are investigating after officers found a man fatally shot outside of his home. Police say in a news release that the shooting happened late Wednesday night in a south Kansas City neighborhood. Officers called to the scene found the man, later identified as 34-year-old Kelly Randolph, with gunshot wounds. Randolph was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police say the shooting happened during a disturbance between Randolph and another person who did not live in the house. Police had not announced any arrests in the case by Thursday afternoon.

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Chiefs Under Pressure to Ditch "Tomahawk Chop"

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  (AP) — Pressure is mounting for the Super Bowl-bound Kansas City Chiefs to end the popular tradition of fans breaking into a “war chant” while making a chopping hand motion designed to mimic the Native American tomahawk. A coalition of Native American groups has put up billboards in Kansas City to protest the Tomahawk Chop and Chiefs’ name. It’s also planning a protest outside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, site of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Chiefs made some changes in the fall, barring headdresses and war paint and making a subtle change to the chop. But advocates say it is not enough.

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KPR's daily headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays and updated throughout the day. KPR's weekend summary is usually published by 1 pm Saturdays and Sundays.