Kansas Governor Praises Supreme Court’s DACA Decision
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is praising today's (THUR) Supreme Court decision to uphold DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Kelly said the nation's high court made the right decision to uphold protections for immigrants known as Dreamers. She said ending DACA would have cost the state more than $335 million every year. Kelly said there are more than 6,000 DACA recipients in Kansas, adding that some of the Dreamers are serving in our military and in our hospitals. "They were brought here as children," Kelley said, "this is their home, they belong here.”
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KCC Investigates Agreement Between Evergy & Investment Firm
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - Kansas regulators will investigate an agreement between Evergy and activist investment firm Elliot Management that looks to increase infrastructure spending or put the utility up for sale. The Kansas News Service reports state regulators seem skeptical of the deal. Staff at the Kansas Corporation Commission, which oversees utilities, requested the investigation because they feel some of the proposals in the agreement between Evergy and Elliot Management would benefit investors at the expense of customers. The investigation will allow regulators and other stakeholders to stay better informed of negotiations and will require Evergy to answer a long list of questions. In a statement, Evergy said it remains committed to balancing the interests of its shareholders and customers, and supports a transparent process involving state regulators.
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KU Implements Mandatory Mask Policy for All of Those on Campus - Effective Immediately
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Effective immediately, anyone on the University of Kansas campus is required to wear a mask or face covering to slow the spread of the coronavirus. KU Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer made the announcement today (THUR). KU officials are drafting new personal safety requirements for the Lawrence campus and the Edwards Campus in Overland Park. The face-covering policy will likely be in effect for the next academic year. This new requirement applies to all faculty, staff, students and visitors while they are in common areas of a building and within 6 feet of any person on campus. The provost said further public health policies are being finalized and will be released in the coming days.
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2-Day Spike in Confirmed Cases, Deaths in Missouri
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ The number of deaths from the coronavirus in Missouri rose by 37 today (THUR)-- the second straight day that Missouri reported a big increase in fatalities. Health officials reported 27 deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday. The 64 total deaths is the most over two consecutive days since the pandemic began. Overall, Missouri has recorded 946 deaths.
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Construction Underway on New Addition to Wind Farm in Southwest Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) – Governor Laura Kelly says construction has begun on a new addition to an existing wind farm in southwest Kansas. Kelly announced that Enel Green Power has started building a 199 Megawatt addition to the Cimarron Bend wind farm in Clark County. The $281 million expansion will consist of 74 wind turbines. She says it will also be responsible for creating more than 250 temporary jobs as well as five to 10 permanent positions in operations and maintenance. The expansion alone is estimated to generate an additional $49 million in lease payments to local landowners and over $18 million in new revenue to fund schools and public services over its lifetime. Kansas currently ranks No. 2 in the nation for wind energy production as a share of total electricity generation, according to the AWEA annual market report. Last year, wind energy surpassed coal for the first time as the largest energy source for generating electricity in Kansas. Wind energy provided 41% of electricity generation in Kansas, the second-largest share for any state.
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"Daily" Southwest Chief Set to Run Fewer Days This Fall
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Amtrak passenger service across Kansas will likely slow down this fall. Right now, the Southwest Chief runs daily from Chicago to Los Angeles, with stops in a half-dozen Kansas towns, including Topeka, Lawrence and Dodge City. Amtrak says it will scale back daily service in October. The Washington Post reports Amtrak will start offering service along the route just three times a week. The Kansas News Service reports Amtrak ticket sales have suffered nationally amid the pandemic.
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Governor Tours Spirit's New Ventilator-Making Plant in Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW) - Spirit AeroSystems says it's currently making about 100 ventilators per day, designed to help patients with COVID-19. On Thursday, Governor Laura Kelly toured Spirit's new facility in Wichita that makes the medical equipment. She says the company has undeniably been going through a tough time. "And they were so creative and innovative in finding ways to move forward and to keep employees on the floor, working, getting paychecks, able to feed their families," she said. Spirit recently announced furloughs for about 900 workers because of issues with the Boeing 737 Max, a plane Spirit helps manufacture. The aerospace company says making the ventilators will keep more than 1,000 workers employed before they revaluate the demand for more ventilators at the end of October.
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Two Men Who Killed Kansas Children Will Be Put to Death
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) - Two men convicted of raping and murdering Kansas children more than 20 years ago will be put to death. They are among four men scheduled to be killed in the first federal executions set to take place in 17 years. The Justice Department announced this week that Wesley Ira Purkey, who raped and murdered 16-year-old Jennifer Long in Lansing in 1998, will be executed on July 15th. And Keith Dwayne Nelson, who raped and murdered 10-year-old Pamela Butler in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1999, will be executed on August 28th. Since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988, only three federal executions have taken place. Purkey and Nelson are set be given lethal injections of the single drug pentobarbital, the same method used to execute inmates in Missouri.
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Authorities Investigate Death of Kansas Man After Fight
Authorities are investigating the death of a Kansas man following a fight. Police in Pratt say officers were responding to a disturbance Wednesday when they found 57-year-old Frank "Butch" Sturgeon lying on the floor of a garage. The man had sustained a head trauma and was unconscious. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died. Police say a preliminary investigation found that Sturgeon, who was from Pratt, fell during an altercation. No other details have been released, including whether anyone has been arrested.
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Kansas City Police Shooting Gets Renewed Attention
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Three candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate have launched ads this past week opposing transgender rights. The Kansas City Star reports former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said if elected he would offer legislation to withhold federal funds from institutions that allow transgender students in women's sports. Kansas Congressman Roger Marshall attacked businessman Bob Hamilton over his former company's support of an LGBT business group, and Hamilton himself released an ad against what he called "transgender bathrooms." The August 4 primary election will determine which Republican candidate moves on to the general election and compete for the seat being vacated by Kansas Senator Pat Roberts.
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Kansas Cases of COVID-19 Increase by 262 Since Monday; Six K-State Football Players Also Test Positive
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - Nearly 11,700 people in Kansas have tested positive for COVID-19. State health officials released the latest round of numbers Wednesday, reporting 11,681 cases statewide. That's up 262 cases since Monday. Kansas has also recorded 247 deaths caused by the coronavirus. At least six Kansas State football players have now tested positive for the virus. The Manhattan Mercury newspaper also reports that all six players contracted the virus in other states. Meanwhile, health officials are reporting 41 cases of the coronavirus and one death linked to funeral services and visitations in Shawnee County. The county's health department says the positive cases include residents from five different counties. Health officials urged families to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- and work with funeral directors and religious leaders to keep funeral services safe.
- Related -
Kansas Cases of COVID-19 Increase to Nearly 11,700, Including 247 Deaths
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — As of Wednesday, state health officials are reporting 11,681 cases of COVID-19 and 247 deaths. Cases have been reported in 91 of the state's 105 counties. The next update on Kansas coronavirus cases will be on Friday. ( Updated COVID-19 case numbers for Kansas are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons.)
- KPR's Coronavirus Information and Resources Guide
- Governor Laura Kelly's Plan to Reopen Kansas
- Live Coverage: Coronavirus in the Kansas City Area
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Kansas Needs More Contact Tracers to Track Spread of COVID-19
TOPEKA, Kan. (KCUR) - A new report shows that even as Kansas is reopening, local health departments are still short on contact tracers to help stop the spread of COVID-19. An NPR analysis shows that Kansas doesn’t have enough contact tracers, workers who contact people who may have been exposed to the virus to tell them to isolate. KCUR Radio reports local and county health departments are currently hiring for these positions, and Johnson County health department spokeswoman Barbara Mitchell says the county is currently understaffed and would be strained even further if there were a surge. A spokesperson for the state health department, however, insisted that Kansas would be able to handle surges with the help of backup tracers provided by the state. Health departments are also struggling with people who are not cooperating with contact tracers’ instructions to take steps to prevent the spread of the disease.
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Two Kansas City Area Casinos Lay Off More than 500 Workers Due to Pandemic
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCUR) - Two Kansas City area casinos on either side of the state line are laying off more than 500 employees in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, saying the lockdowns have disrupted their businesses. The Argosy Casino Hotel and Spa in Riverside, Missouri, said it would lay off 289 employees beginning August 15th. And the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, said it would lay off 215 employees, also beginning August 15th. Both casinos are owned or partially owned by Penn National Gaming Inc. of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, which said the layoffs will be permanent although the casinos will remain open. A spokesman for the company said the casinos would not be able resume normal operations for the foreseeable future because of social distancing requirements and uncertain business volume.
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St. Luke's Health System Furloughs Some Employees
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) - St. Luke’s health system, which has several branches around northeast Kansas, says it's furloughing some of its employees to mitigate financial strain. St. Luke’s says that suspending non-urgent procedures during the stay-at-home orders and stocking up on personal protective equipment have had a significant financial impact and have forced the health care system to take cost-cutting measures. It will furlough some employees for 90 days, although St. Luke’s declined to say how many workers would be affected. St. Luke’s will also make salary cuts for senior leadership and look to expand telemedicine to save costs moving forward.
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KDHE Adds States to Travel Quarantine List, Removes Others
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has added three states to the quarantine list: Alabama, Arizona and Arkansas, and removed six states from the list: Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. The list became effective June 17 and will remain in effect until further notice. The state will review and possibly update the list on July 1. A comprehensive list of those individuals in Kansas needing to quarantine for 14 days includes those who have:
Traveled to:
Maryland on or after May 12.
Alabama, Arizona and Arkansas on or after June 17.
Been on a cruise ship or river cruise on or after March 15.
International travel on or after March 15.
For more information on COVID-19, please visit the KDHE website.
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Reports: T-Mobile Will Lay Off Sprint Sales Employees
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) - T-Mobile reportedly is laying off large numbers of sales employees who came to the company in its merger with Sprint Corporation. According to the Kansas City Business Journal, T-Mobile told hundreds of affected employees that the company is doing away with Sprint’s Business Inside Sales Organization. The Journal quotes a report from TechCrunch, which said T-Mobile executives held several conference calls announcing layoffs to Sprint operations focused on both business and commercial sales. In a statement, T-Mobile declined to say how many employees are affected but the layoffs are expected to take effect in August.
Layoffs are not unusual after two large companies merge. And as the acquired party, few top Sprint executives made the transition to leadership of what has been called the New T-Mobile. However, T-Mobile and Sprint officials said the merger would result in more, not fewer, jobs as they sought approval for the deal from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. T-Mobile had said it would retain Sprint's Overland Park operations as a "second headquarters" but has never elaborated on what that means. Even the number of area Sprint employees is unclear. The company reported having 6,000 local full-time-equivalent employees in 2018, but did not respond to a KCBJ survey for 2019. A company official also did not disclose the number of area employees on April 1, when the merger was completed. ( Read more in the Kansas City Business Journal.)
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St. Louis Area Starts to Open Up, but COVID-19 Cases on the Rise in Kansas City
O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — As the St. Louis area begins to reopen more broadly after the coronavirus shutdown, new concerns are being raised about a rise in new cases in Kansas City. St. Louis city and county have been under stricter guidelines because the area has seen the worst of the impact in Missouri of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. But things are starting to ease. Gyms and several other businesses that have been closed for several months were allowed to reopen Monday. But in Kansas City, KCUR reports that the rate of new cases has increased every week since May 10.
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Foul Odor Leads Police to Body of Woman in Kansas City Home
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Police say complaints of a foul odor in a northeastern Kansas City apartment complex led officers to discover the decomposing body of a woman in one of the units. Police officers found the woman's body around 4 am Wednesday in an apartment building on the southern edge of the South Indian Mound neighborhood. Police say neighbors reported that there had been a foul odor there for several days. Police have not released the name of the woman. Her death is being treated as suspicious.
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Fatal Shooting Leaves One Man Dead in Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Police say a shooting in northeast Wichita has left one man dead. Officials say the shooting happened around 3:30 Wednesday morning at a home in the Lambsdale neighborhood. Police say officers were called to the home for a report of a disturbance with a weapon, but when they arrived, they found a man in his 50s dead at the scene with a gunshot wound. Police say several people were at the home when officers arrived, and they were taken in for questioning. Police say they are also searching for another person. The victim's name has not yet been released.
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Crews Extinguish Large Blaze at Lake of the Ozarks Condos
LAKE OZARK, Mo. (AP) - It took a half dozen fire departments to extinguish the flames at a large condominium complex at the Lake of the Ozarks. State fire officials in Missouri are investigating the cause of the blaze that engulfed the Emerald Bay Condominiums. No one was injured in Tuesday night's fire.
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Kansas Senator: Full Funding Approved for New Prison at Leavenworth
WASHINGTON - Kansas Senator Jerry Moran has announced the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth will receive $356 million to construct the new Federal Correctional Institute and a satellite Federal Prison Camp in Leavenworth. After nearly 20 years of preparation, Moran says the project is now fully-funded and ground will soon be broken. The project will replace older prison buildings at Leavenworth.
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Liquidation Sales Underway at JC Penney Stores in Kansas
EMPORIA, Kan. (KPR) - Liquidation sales have begun at more than a hundred JC Penney stores across the country, including three in Kansas. JC Penney locations in Emporia, Salina and Liberal started discounting merchandise Wednesday as they prepare to close. The long-time retail chain filed for bankruptcy protection in May. Not all JC Penney stores are closing. The company expects about 600 stores to remain open.
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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.