Kansas Mom Sentenced for Trying to Poison Her 3 Children
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) - A 39-year-old Kansas woman has been sentenced to nearly 29 years in prison for trying to poison her three children with medication after she lost custody of them to her ex-husband. Therese Irine Roever was sentenced today (TUE) in Olathe on three charges of attempted first-degree murder. Prosecutors say the woman's ex-husband called police in February 2018 to report that their three children were drugged and groggy. Roever lost custody of her kids when the couple divorced but was later given unsupervised visitation. Two of the children were 7 and one was just 5-years-old at the time of the attempted poisoning.
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UPDATE: Man Killed in Lawrence by Kansas Law Officers Was Wanted for Murder in Nebraska
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A man who was shot and killed by Kansas law enforcement officers was wanted in connection with a homicide in Nebraska. Police in Omaha said the man who was killed in Lawrence Monday afternoon is 31-year-old Nicholas Hirsh, a white man who faced a first-degree murder arrest warrant for the shooting death of 41-year-old John Miles, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. The U.S. Marshals Service said it appeared that the suspect had been in Kansas since last Friday, after presumably stealing a car in Clay Center. The Kansas Highway Patrol spotted the car near Lake Perry, in northeast Kansas, and pursued it to Lawrence. The Kansas Highway Patrol says Hirsh was fatally shot after pointing a gun at officers.
- Earlier reporting -
Kansas Highway Patrol: One Man Dead Following Shootout with Law Officers in Lawrence
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR/LJW) - Authorities say one man is dead following a shootout Monday afternoon with law enforcement officers south of downtown Lawrence. In a news release, the Kansas Highway Patrol said troopers were assisting U.S. Marshals in locating a man around the Lake Perry area. Troopers followed the suspect's vehicle into Lawrence and at some point, a high speed chase ensued. Troopers managed to disable the suspect's vehicle near the intersection of 19th and Mass. At this point, troopers say a man exited the vehicle, aimed a gun and exchanged gunfire with officers. The white male suspect was fatally shot and died at the scene. He had not been identified as of late Monday. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that witnesses say they heard multiple gunshots but it remains unclear who fired first. An investigation is underway by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office. As is standard procedure, officers involved in the incident will be placed on administrative leave while this case is reviewed.
Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office at (913) 782-0720.
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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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Data Released on COVID-19 Cases in Federal Prisons
UNDATED (KNS) - Federal prison facilities in Kansas have seen about 50 cases of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, and most of those people have recovered. The Kansas News Service reports that's a fraction of the almost 7,000 cases in federal prisons across the country. There are two active cases of COVID-19 at federal prison facilities in Kansas -- both at privately run facilities for people who are leaving prison and re-entering society. One of those programs, GEO Re-entry in Leavenworth, saw 48 cases overall, All but one have recovered. The U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth also had five positive cases of COVID among staff, but none among its 1600 inmates. That compares favorably to the 800 plus people who got the coronavirus at a state-run prison near Leavenworth. The Bureau of Prisons says it’s been expanding testing for inmates. But advocates for prisoners say they believe the government hasn’t done enough to know for sure how many positive cases there are.
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SCOTUS Rules in Favor of Job Protections for LGBTQ Workers
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - The U.S. Supreme Court says people can’t be fired for their sexual orientation or gender identity. Monday's ruling will have a significant impact in Kansas, which lacks statewide protections for LGBTQ workers. Tom Witt heads the group Equality Kansas, and he calls the ruling an important step. But, Witt says, there’s more to do in Kansas. He says LGBTQ people face discrimination in other areas, like housing, and the ruling won’t apply to many small businesses. “A lot of Kansans aren’t going go be covered by this, and we still need to pass discrimination protections at the state level.” State employees already have protections and some Kansas communities have put their own employment rules in place.
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Judge: U.S. Must Release $679 Million in Tribal Virus Relief Funds
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A federal judge says the U.S. Treasury Department must release $679 million in coronavirus relief to tribes that it intended to withhold over a court challenge. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled late Monday that the department doesn't have discretion to hold back the money. The funding is part of a federal relief package that included $8 billion for tribes and was supposed to go out by late April. Mehta ordered the Treasury Department to disburse it among tribal governments by Wednesday. He says continued delay in the face of an exceptional public health crisis no longer is acceptable.
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Highway Patrol: No Gun Found in Car of Missouri Woman Shot by Deputy
LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) - Authorities say investigators found no weapon in the car of a Missouri woman who was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy. Hannah Fizer died Saturday night after being shot by a Pettis County deputy following a traffic stop. The Missouri State Highway Patrol initially said Fizer told the deputy she had a gun and threatened to shoot him. Patrol spokesman Bill Lowe said Tuesday that investigators who searched the car did not find a weapon. He says no new information is available to explain why the confrontation escalated into a shooting. The deputy, whose name has not been released, is on paid administrative leave.
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Minnesota Truck Driver Killed in Northern Kansas Crash
BELLEVILLE, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Highway Patrol says a Minnesota truck driver has died in a crash in northern Kansas. Television station KAKE reports that the crash happened Monday morning on U.S. Highway 81 in Republic County, killing 33-year-old David Fronning, of Breckenridge, Minnesota. Investigators say Fronning was driving a semitrailer southbound on the highway when it went into a ditch, hit an embankment and went airborne before crashing into trees, coming to rest on its side in a field. Authorities say Fronning died at the scene.
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Man Shot to Death in Coffeyville; Police Hope to Question Two People
COFFEYVILLE, Kan. (AP) — Police in southeastern Kansas are investigating the shooting death of a man in Coffeyville. Wichita television station KAKE reports that the shooting happened early Sunday morning, when police were called for a report of shots fired. Arriving officers found 38-year-old Otis Horner, who had been shot. Horner was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police are searching for two local people who are wanted for questioning.
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Kansas Colleges & Universities Soon to Reopen
UNDATED (KCUR) - Kansas colleges and universities are unrolling their plans for the fall semester, which will look very different because of COVID-19. Bother the University of Kansas and Kansas State University have adjusted their academic calendars. KU students will finish the fall semester before Thanksgiving this year, and they’ll start the spring semester later and go straight through without a spring break. Meanwhile, K-State is starting the fall semester a week early to jumpstart learning... in case campus has to close again. Dorm life will look different, too. K-State is giving students in high risk categories for COVID-19 priority for single rooms. KU is staggering move-in times and asking students to sign a pledge with rules for mask wearing and social distancing.
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Kansas Cases of COVID-19 Exceed 11,400, Including 245 Deaths
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — As Monday, state health officials are reporting 11,419 cases of COVID-19 and 245 deaths from 91 of the state's 105 counties. ( Updated COVID-19 case numbers for Kansas are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons.)
- Governor Laura Kelly's Plan to Reopen Kansas
- KPR's Coronavirus Information and Resources Guide
- Live Coverage: Coronavirus in the Kansas City Area
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Person Who Attended Topeka Protest Tests Positive for Virus
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A protester who attended a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in downtown Topeka this month has tested positive for the coronavirus, health officials say. According to a news release from the Shawnee County Health Department(link is external), the person attended June 1 protests at the city’s Law Enforcement Center. The department encourages anyone who attended protests that day to monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms.
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St. Louis Area Starts to Open Up, but 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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Police Identify Body as that of Missing Wichita Woman
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have identified on Monday the body found alongside railroad tracks in a field south of Wichita as that of a 23-year-old Wichita woman who went missing two weeks ago. The Wichita Police Department said in a news release that investigators are working with the Regional Forensic Science Center to determine the circumstances of Savannah Schneider's death. Volunteers searching for Schneider found the body Saturday south of Haysville an area where her cell phone last pinged off a tower.
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Marker Noting Black Kansas City Man's 1882 Lynching Damaged
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City group says someone destroyed a marker that commemorates the lynching of a black man in 1882. Officials with the Community Remembrance Project of Missouri say the sign remembering the death of Levi Harrington was cut from its pole and thrown down a hill in western Kansas City. The damage was discovered on Sunday. Historians say Harrington was lynched and shot several times on April 3, 1882, by an angry white mob that incorrectly believed he had murdered a white police officer earlier that day. The actual killer was later arrested and tried, but despite hundreds of witnesses, no one was ever charged in Harrington's death.
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Report: Kansas Wheat Harvest Underway
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas wheat harvest in Kansas is now underway in the state's southern counties, with progress about average for this time of year. The U.S. Agriculture Department's National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that 9% of the wheat in Kansas has now been cut. Winter wheat condition is rated as 6% very poor, 15% poor, 34% fair, 40% good, and 5% excellent, the agency said. Early reports from the harvest in the state's southern counties indicate that this year's wheat quality is good, with exceptional test weights, average or better yields and protein levels slightly below average, according to an industry update issued today (MON). The industry harvest report is put out by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and the Kansas Grain and Feed Association.
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Hot, Hot, Hot... for the Month of June
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS/KPR) - Drought is beginning to expand through Kansas as parts of the state see a record hot start to the month of June. Nineteen Kansas Mesonet weather stations, mostly in the southwest part of the state, set records for average temperatures over the first two weeks of the month. The statewide average temperature to begin the month was 76.4 degrees... good enough to be the 26th warmest in 127 years of records. The hot and windy weather has quickly dried out soil and now more than 60% of the state is experiencing some drought. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center forecasts the rest of the month will likely remain hotter than normal. Some temporary relief from the heat may be in sight for some parts of Kansas. There's a slight chance of rain this (TUE) afternoon and on Thursday. By Thursday night, eastern Kansas has a 50-50 chance for showers and storms. Friday, Saturday and Sunday also include a good chance for rain in eastern Kansas.
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Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Completion of Kansas Interstate 70
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - The Kansas I-70 Association is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the completion of Kansas Interstate 70. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who grew up in Abilene, signed the legislation responsible for creating the massive interstate highway system in the U.S. Kansas I-70, which stretches 424 miles across the state, was completed in June 1970. This Interstate was called the "highway of the future" and was part of a 40,000-mile national system of Interstate and Defense Highways.
Kansas I-70 Association, Inc. is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1989 by 12 communities along Interstate 70 in Kansas. The group says: a journey across Kansas on I-70 offers travelers many unique attractions and events. The western side of Kansas offers travelers the opportunity to explore the newest state park, the Little Jerusalem Badlands, or visit longtime favorites such as Monument and Castle Rocks. Museums such as the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Fick Fossil and History Museum in Russell, the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan and Lecompton's Territorial Capitol Museum allow you to learn about Kansas and its history. The newly-renovated Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene is now open to welcome visitors. The Kansas City, Kansas area offers exciting options such as Kansas Speedway, retail shopping and Hollywood Casino. Along the way, travelers can stop to enjoy a wide variety of restaurants, locally grown food and unique shopping experiences.
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Blind Voters Fear Loss of Privacy with Shift to Mail Voting
ATLANTA (AP) — Blind voters fear a loss of control over their ability to cast a ballot as election officials across the U.S. plan a major expansion of voting by mail amid the coronavirus pandemic. They say they are being forced to choose between risking their health at a polling place or giving up their privacy by having someone else fill out an absentee ballot for them. Technology exists for them to cast their own ballots digitally, but few states choose to use that technology. Voting technology experts have raised security concerns about such Internet-based voting systems.
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Commissioner Rob Manfred Says Baseball Season in Jeopardy
NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says there might be no major league games this year after a breakdown in talks between teams and the players' union on how to split up money in a season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. The league also revealed several players have tested positive for COVID-19. Two days after union head Tony Clark declared additional negotiations futile, Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem sent a seven-page letter to players' association chief negotiator Bruce Meyer asking the union whether it will waive the threat of legal action and tell MLB to announce a spring training report date and a regular-season schedule.
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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.