Kansas Governor: County Leaders Shouldn't Feel Pressure to Ease Pandemic Restrictions
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says counties ``shouldn't feel pressure'' to loosen restrictions if they aren't seeing a decline in new coronavirus cases or new hospitalizations. Kelly made the comment Monday with cases increasing faster in the four most populous counties than the state as a whole. Kelly said she's feeling hopeful because Kansas is making enough progress in containing the novel coronavirus for most of the state's 105 counties to loosen restrictions further. Her office and the state health department are advising local officials that, as of Monday, they can allow mass gatherings of up to 45 people and they may open swimming pools.
====================
Most Populous Counties Outpace Rest of Kansas for Rise in COVID-19 Cases
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Coronavirus cases in Kansas are increasing faster in the four most populous counties than they are in the rest of the state as a whole. They also account for the majority of new cases reported since last week. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported Monday that the state has had 10,650 coronavirus cases since the pandemic first arrived in early March. That's up 257 or 2.5% since Friday. The number of COVID-19-related deaths rose by four to 236 total since early March. The number of cases is growing fastest in both Johnson and Wyandotte counties in the Kansas City area, as well as in Sedgwick and Shawnee counties.
====================
Kansas Cases of COVID-19 Exceed 10,600, Including 236 Deaths
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — As of Monday, state health officials reported 10,650 cases of COVID-19, including 236 deaths. Cases have been reported in 89 of the state's 105 counties. ( Updated COVID-19 case numbers for Kansas are released Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)
- Governor Laura Kelly's Plan to Reopen Kansas
- KPR's Coronavirus Information and Resources Guide
- Live Coverage: Coronavirus in the Kansas City Area
====================
Kansas Secretary of State Not Swayed by Democrats' Luck with Mail-In Balloting
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’s top election official argued Tuesday that going in person to the polls is “a community event” for many voters and moving solely to mail ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic would create confusion. Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab is well along in his plans to equip every polling place with two plexiglass screens for the August 4 primary election. It's been less than five weeks since Democrats had a presidential primary only by mail that went relatively smoothly. The Republican-controlled Legislature has not moved toward all-mail-ballot elections, despite Democrats' experience. Schwab plans to hand out personal protective equipment to election workers.
====================
Report: Lansing Prison Is Largest Single Source of COVID-19 Cases in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A document shows Lansing Correctional Facility is the largest single source of Kansas coronavirus cases, followed by the Tyson Foods meatpacking plant near Garden City. The Kansas City Star reports that the document contains a detailed account of every outbreak since May 19 in Kansas. The list was provided to the newspaper by Columbia University’s Brown Institute for Media Innovation from a records request. At least 846 cases and six deaths through May 19 were traced to the Lansing prison. The Tyson plant near Garden City has seen 571 cases and one death according to the document.
====================
Health Officials: No COVID-19 Cases from Missouri Salon
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Health officials say none of the people potentially exposed to the coronavirus at a Springfield hair salon contracted COVID-19. The Springfield-Greene County Health Department has announced that the incubation period for those exposed at a Great Clips salon has passed, and no clients or workers tested positive for COVID-19. Two stylists had confirmed cases in May after working at the Great Clips, potentially exposing 140 clients and six coworkers. The health department said 46 people sought testing after word of the potential exposure and none tested positive. All those potentially exposed to the virus were quarantined.
====================
University of Kansas Offers Buyouts Amid Pandemic Losses
LAWRENCE, Kan. (Lawrence Journal-World) — The University of Kansas will offer voluntary buyout packages to some faculty members as it grapples with financial losses from the coronavirus pandemic. The Lawrence Journal World reports the university faces a budget shortfall of at least $120 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1 due to virus-related shutdowns. Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer said in a Monday message to faculty and staff members that employees must be age 62 or older and meet other requirements to be eligible for the buyout. The university says between 500 and 500 faculty and staff are likely eligible for the program.
====================
Topeka Ordering Non-Union Workers to Take 5 Unpaid Days Off
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka is requiring its 285 non-union employees to take five unpaid days off to help cut the city’s costs in the wake of financial struggles tied to the coronavirus pandemic. City spokeswoman Molly Hadfield told The Topeka Capital-Journal that the employees must take the five days between June 13 and Sept. 18. City Manager Brent Trout last month eliminated the jobs held by the deputy city manager, neighborhood relations director and emergency management coordinator. Trout, the mayor and City Council members also cut their own pay 6%. The city also is considering changes in health care coverage for union employees.
====================
Kansas Governor Considers Relief for Renters, Home Owners
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly says her administration will consider using part of the state's share of federal coronavirus relief funds to help people struggling to pay their rent or mortgage because of economic problems tied to the pandemic. Kelly has defended a May 26 decision to rescind an executive order that had banned landlords from pursuing new evictions or lenders from starting to foreclose on home mortgages. She said she had to lift the order because keeping it in place would have stressed lenders and businesses that rent homes and apartments. But she said creating a new relief program would be a top priority.
====================
Ruling: Jury to Decide Case Against Kansas Police Officer
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (The Kansas City Star) — A former Leavenworth police officer who fatally shot a man in a vehicle in 2017 cannot claim legal immunity, a ruling that leaves it up to jurors to decide whether his actions were justified as self defense. Leavenworth County Judge Michael Gibbens found that the force used by Matthew Harrington was not statutorily justified as self defense, clearing the way for the involuntary manslaughter case to proceed. Harrington was indicted in August 2018 for the death of Antonio Garcia Jr., who was shot multiple times while sitting in the driver’s seat of an SUV. Harrington was fired for violating policy.
====================
Man Imprisoned for 2 Homeless Murders Now Charged in Third Death
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors say a man convicted for the murders of two men at a homeless camp in Missouri has been charged with a third similar 2004 homicide. The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office says 64-year-old Michael J. Gullett was charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of Steven Cassidy, whose remains were not identified until four years later. Gullett did not have an attorney listed Monday in court records. The Kansas City Star reports that Gullett was previously convicted in the 2012 killing of Joe Loehr and the 2004 homicide of Ryon McDonald.
=====================
Kansas Man Drowns While Swimming in Private Pond
SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 20-year-old Kansas man drowned while swimming in a pond. Shawnee County emergency personnel responded to a call Sunday afternoon about a reported drowning in a pond on private property in Shawnee. Police said in a news release that witnesses reported the man was swimming when he went under water and did not resurface. The Shawnee Fire Department and Overland Park Police Department dive team recovered the body of Treyvion Baskin of Kansas City, Kansas, from the pond Sunday evening.
====================
Kansas Officials Seek ID of Body Pulled from Ninnescah River
MULVANE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in southern Kansas are trying to learn the identity of a person whose badly decomposed body was pulled from the Ninnescah River over the weekend. Sheriff's deputies were called to an area in northeastern Sumner County, west of the Kansas Turnpike, on Sunday afternoon after someone fishing in the river spotted the body. Authorities say they are unable to speculate how the person died or whether the victim was a man or a woman because of the deteriorated condition of the remains. An autopsy has been scheduled at the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center in Wichita.
====================
Missouri Appeals Court Upholds Medicaid Ballot Initiative
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri appeals court has upheld the legality of a ballot initiative proposing to expand Medicaid health care coverage. The ruling Monday by a three-judge panel upholds a decision last week by a Cole County judge. The leaders of two conservative groups — Americans for Prosperity and United for Missouri — had claimed in lawsuits that the initiative forces the state to spend money on Medicaid expansion and thus violates the state constitution. But the court said the initiative does not at face value direct the Legislature to spend money. Opponents said they will continue to appeal the decision. The initiative is to appear on the August ballot.
====================
Kansas City, Kansas Leader Forms Task Force on Policing
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Wyandotte County's top elected official has formed a task force to guide discussions between local law enforcement and the community following George Floyd’s death. Mayor and CEO David Alvey of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, announced Monday that he will serve as co-chairman of the new task force. Alvey said he wants to improve the dialogue between law enforcement and the community, particularly black and Hispanic residents. Alvey said the goal is to build trust between the community and law enforcement by identifying issues in policing. Floyd's death May 25 in Minneapolis has inspired protests across the U.S.
====================
Watkins Spent $400,000 in Taxpayer-Funded Mailings, Messaging
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A new federal report shows Kansas Congressman Steve Watkins spent $400,000 in taxpayer-funded communications during a six-month period amid a Republican primary challenge. It's nearly twice the total spent by the state's other three representatives. Watkins is running against State Treasurer Jake LaTurner and Topeka attorney Dennis Taylor in the August 4 primary for the 2nd District seat. Watkins’ congressional office allocated at least $400,000 for printing and mailing of correspondence, as well as for online and broadcast messaging, from October 1 to March 31. Watkins spokesman Dylan Jones has said Watkins prioritized the goal of keeping constituents informed.
====================
Kansas Education Officials Prepare to Reopen Schools this Fall
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas education officials are preparing to reopen the state's schools in the fall but acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic will force widespread changes. Kansas Commissioner of Education Dr. Randy Watson says the department is "prepared to do everything within our power to keep staff, students and families safe." Watson assembled a task force in May to develop comprehensive guidance for safely reopening school buildings. One team is working working on guidance about sanitation, social distancing, busing and food served, while another is focused on instruction. The Kansas State Board of Education will consider the guidelines at its July meeting.
====================
Kansas Man Sentenced to Prison for Trafficking Runaway Girl
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Wichita man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the sex trafficking of a 15-year-old runaway girl. Twenty-seven-year-old James Sexton was convicted in February of commercial sexual exploitation of a child. The Sedgwick County district attorney’s officesays in a news release. case stems from a special assignment in 2018 by members of the Exploited and Missing Child Unit in Wichita who were targeting online escort ads in an effort to recover juvenile victims of sex trafficking.
====================
What Makes an American a Patriot? Spike Lee Has Some Answers
NEW YORK (AP) — Spike Lee's “Da 5 Bloods” is the first major film to put the experience of black Vietnam veterans front and center. Lee bookends the movie with Muhammad Ali and other black activist figures from the ’60s, framing “Da 5 Bloods” as not just a war film but an inquiry into what patriotism means for African Americans. Lee’s timing is, as ever, prescient. His movie, co-written with Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo and University of Kansas film professor Kevin Willmott, is arriving just as millions have taken to the streets to protest endemic racism and the death of George Floyd. The time couldn’t be riper for a film that considers who “true Americans” really are. “Da 5 Bloods” debuts Friday on Netflix.
====================
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.