Plan Would Boost Funding for Top Kansas Legislative Offices
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The offices of Kansas legislative leaders would see an 11% increase in their funding under a proposal that has cleared committee. Almost all of the new dollars would go to top Republicans. The House Appropriations Committee added the money Monday before approving the Republican-controlled Legislature's proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins in July. The biggest increases of nearly 58% would go to the offices with the smallest budgets. They are the Senate vice president and the House speaker pro tem. The proposal goes next to the House. Top Democrats strongly criticized the proposal and said such spending is not a priority.
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Medicaid Expansion Supporters Block Kansas Senate Entrance
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Protesters are seeking to pressure the Kansas Senate into take a vote on a bipartisan plan for expanding Medicaid. Several dozen of them chanted, lay down on the floor and blocked the Senate's main entrance Tuesday. About 50 people protested at the Statehouse for almost three hours. Capitol police removed 23 protesters from in front of the Senate chamber in an attempt to clear the area. The Kansas Highway Patrol said their cases will be forwarded to the local district attorney for potential prosecution on criminal trespassing or disturbing the peace charges. Abortion opponents are blocking the expansion plan until an anti-abortion measure passes.
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Missouri Primary Could Help Preserve Joe Biden's Recent Momentum
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri could play an important role in whether presidential candidate Joe Biden can maintain the momentum he gained after winning 10 states last week. Missouri is among the more conservative of the six states holding Democratic primaries today (TUE). That could be an advantage for the former vice president in what has become essentially a head-to-head battle with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist. Sanders lost by less than 2,000 votes to eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Missouri in 2016. Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota and Washington also will hold primaries Tuesday.
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Kansas City Mayor Runs into Problems Attempting to Vote
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The mayor of Kansas City struggled to vote Tuesday in the Missouri presidential primary after a worker mistakenly entered his name in the system. Mayor Quinton Lucas made a video about the importance of voting before he headed into his normal polling location to cast his ballot. But he said a worker couldn't find his name, even though he had cast ballots for himself at the site during 11 years of voting there. He says he was offered the chance to cast a provisional ballot but decided to try to sort out the situation. He later learned that the worker had entered his name into the system as “Lucas Quinton."
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University of Kansas Hospital Admits Patient with COVID-19
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A woman admitted to the University of Kansas Hospital with the coronavirus is the Johnson County woman who state officials previously identified as having the first case in Kansas. Hospital and state officials said Monday the woman is under 50 and is being monitored in a specially equipped area designed to prevent the spread of the virus. They said she's doing well. Kansas Health and Environment Secretary Lee Norman says the woman's family members are under voluntary quarantine and he doesn't expect to see any further consequences from her illness.
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Missouri Virus Case Shows 1 Exposure Can Mean Major Response
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A 20-something college student from suburban St. Louis has been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, and the potential exposure of hundreds of other people explains why COVID-19 is generating such fear. The woman didn’t know she had the virus as she flew home from a study abroad program in Italy, landing at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. She took a train to a St. Louis station shared by Amtrak and bus service. Her father, who was exposed to her but shows no signs of illness, went to a coffee shop and took another daughter to a father-daughter dance and a house party.
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Special Olympics Kansas Cancels State Events Due to Coronavirus Concerns
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) -- Special Olympics Kansas has canceled a number of activities due to the spread of the coronavirus. The following events are affected:
• 2020 State Basketball and Cheerleading Tournaments scheduled for
March 14-15 in Topeka and March 20-21 in Hays
• All Young Athletes Programs scheduled March 9-23
• All local team practices scheduled March 9 – 23
• KU Unified Basketball Championship game scheduled March 19
"While this news is incredibly disappointing for all of us, the health and safety of our athletes, volunteers, staff, and partners remains our top priority," said President & CEO John Lair. He said it wasn't until Saturday, March 7, when a case of coronavirus was confirmed in Kansas - and in several surrounding states - that they made this decision. Lair said the Special Olympics serve a "population where many are at a heightened risk of infection due to age and/or compromised immune systems." Lair said Special Olympics Kansas staff will re-evaluate the situation on March 23, 2020, and provide guidance and updated information regarding future events at that time.
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84-Year-Old Kansas Man Dies when Golf Cart Rolls over Him
GYPSUM, Kan. (AP) — Saline County authorities say an 84-year-old man died when his golf car rolled on top of him south of Gypsum. The Salina Post reports Frederick Meyer was using the golf cart to get his mail Monday when it went into a ditch in southeast Saline County. Sheriff's Lt. Jeremiah Hayes said Meyer was thrown from the cart, which rolled on top of him. He died at the scene. Hayes said a passer-by noticed the golf cart in the ditch and contacted Meyer's family, who found him.
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Suspect in College Football Player's Death in Topeka Ruled Competent to stand Trial
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The suspect in the shooting of a football player and the wounding of New York Giants cornerback Corey Ballentine in Kansas will go on trial July 13 after being found competent to stand trial. A judge on Monday ruled Francisco Mendez competent for trial after a court-appointed psychiatrist changed his initial finding. Psychiatrist David Blakely reversed his finding that Mendez was incompetent for trial after listening to jail recordings and videos of Mendez talking about the case to others. Mendez is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the April 2019 death of Washburn University player Dwane Simmons and the wounding of Ballentine.
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Kansas Measure Would Allow College Athletes to Hire Agents, Sign Deals
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are taking steps to allow college athletes to hire agents and sign endorsement deals. Many fear that if they don't act, then out-of-state rivals will leave the state's most storied university athletics programs in the dust by attracting the best recruits. A bill that would bar state universities from preventing their athletes from earning outside compensation easily cleared the state Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday. Athletics officials at the University of Kansas and Kansas State University back the measure and it appears to have bipartisan support, as KU's top-ranked men's basketball team prepares for March Madness.
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Kansas Men Survive Plane Crash in Florida
DESTIN, FL (KSAL Radio) -- Two Kansas men and a canine have survived a plane crash in Florida. According to the sheriff's office in Okaloosa County, Florida, a pilot and passenger aboard a Beech Bonanza aircraft went down short of the Destin Executive Airport runway Sunday morning. KSAL Radio reports that the two men are identified as a father and son: 47-year old Jason Dougherty of Garden City and 22-year old Caleb Dougherty of Salina. They were flying into the Destin, Florida, area for vacation. A Labrador retriever flying with them, also survived the crash (without a scratch) after just missing a home and landing in a tree in the area of Main Street and Planet Drive around 10 am Sunday. They say the plane began experiencing engine trouble as they were coming in to land. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the accident.
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Ex-Bank VP Sentenced to Home Confinement for Embezzlement
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former vice president of a Kansas bank has been sentenced to four months of home confinement for embezzlement. The U.S. attorney's office says 60-year-old Debra Converse, of Harveyville, also was ordered Monday to pay nearly $110,000 in restitution. After she resigned last March from the First National Bank of Harveyville, the institute's president went to the Wabaunsee County Sheriff to report embezzlement concerns. The bank also initiated an audit, focused on what Converse claimed were software glitches.
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Man Sentenced in Scheme to Turn $1 Bills into $100 Bills
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A California man has been sentenced to three years in prison for washing the ink off $1 bills in a Kansas hotel room and reprinting them to look like $100 bills. The U.S. attorney's office says 51-year-old John Sebestyen, of Mission Viejo, California, also was ordered Monday to pay nearly $20,000 in restitution. Two other co-defendants previously were sentenced in the case. They were caught after an Overland Park hotel employee reported seeing them throwing trash away in containers that weren't near their rooms. Prosecutors say the suspects were trying to dispose of evidence that they were alerting money.
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After Mistrials, Charges Dropped in Manhattan Infant's Death
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — After two mistrials, charges were dropped against a Manhattan man who was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend's infant son in 2018. Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson filed the motion on Friday to dismiss first-degree murder and child abuse charges against 25-year-old D'Khari Lyons. However, prosecutors could refile the charges. Lyons was accused of killing 2-month-old Michael Calvert Jr. in November 2018. Two mistrials had been declared earlier in the case. Prosecutors alleged the boy was hurt after his mother left him in Lyons's care. Lyons's attorneys argued he didn't know what happened to the child.
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Wichita Woman Sentenced for Stealing from Ailing Stepmother
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 53-year-old Wichita woman has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for stealing $54,000 from her stepmother, who was in a nursing home. Shelby Frias was found guilty in January of mistreatment of an elder person. Prosecutors say she took the money from her 72-year-old stepmother's account. The older woman was in a nursing home with dementia and died about five months after the theft was discovered. Frias was sentenced Friday and ordered to pay restitution. She testified at her trial that her stepmother wanted her to keep the money safe. But evidence showed Frias spent the money on shopping, trips and rental cars.
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Kansas GOP Leader's Medicaid Expansion Move Roils Statehouse
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Senate leader is drawing criticism from some fellow Republicans for working with the state's Democratic governor to win support of a Medicaid expansion plan. Just last year, Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning was blocking a different Medicaid expansion plan. His shift shows how efforts to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act can get bipartisan support even in the last red states to consider them. Denning also faces a tough reelection bid in his suburban Kansas City district. It's among many suburban areas where President Donald Trump has lost support, scrambling local political calculations.
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Medical Marijuana Roll Out Spurs Sharp Words in Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The man leading Missouri’s medical marijuana program is involved in a war of words with some lawmakers, saying their criticism is fueled by “politics and money.” Lyndall Fraker has faced scrutiny over the past month from the House government oversight committee, including accusations that the program’s implementation was bungled and that conflicts of interest may have tainted the application process. Fraker told the Kansas City Star that legislators questioning his performance are doing the bidding of campaign donors. The state recently granted licenses for everything from cultivation to retail sales. The process drew criticism from many who failed in licensing efforts.
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Construction on Lawrence Police Headquarters Hits Midpoint
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Officials say construction of a new $19.5 million police headquarters in Lawrence is now halfway complete. The Lawrence Journal-World reporte that officials celebrated the halfway mark Friday as the final piece of the structure's steel framing was placed. City staff, police and city signed the steel beam, and topped it with American flag and a small evergreen tree, intended to bring good fortune, during Friday's ceremony. The new headquarters is expected to house about 90% of sworn police staff and include spaces for investigations, administration and the crime lab.
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Kansas Inmate Who Escaped from Prison Has Been Captured
LARNED, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas inmate who escaped from a state prison has been captured. The Kansas Department of Corrections said in a news release that 52-year-old Ronald Smith was apprehended at 7:25 pm Sunday. No details were provided. He had been reported missing earlier in the day from the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility after he failed to show up to his work assignment. Smith is serving a sentence for 2018 Reno County convictions for drug possession, theft, burglary and fleeing.
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KU Remains Unanimous No. 1 in Top 25; FSU up to No. 4
The University of Kansas maintained its grip on the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll. The Jayhawks received all 65 first-place votes to remain at the top for a third straight week. The past two weeks they have been the unanimous choice ahead of Gonzaga and Dayton. Florida State climbed three spots to No. 4 after winning its first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title. This is FSU's highest ranking since sitting at No. 2 in December 1972. West Virginia and Butler were the week's new additions. Michigan and Penn State fell out of the poll.
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Big 12 Coaches: Azubuike Is Player of Year, Drew Top Coach
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Kansas center Udoka Azubuike has been selected as the Big 12 player of the year by the league's coaches. Baylor's Scott Drew was named coach of the year in the voting by his conference peers. The Big 12 awards were announced Sunday, the day after the end of the regular season. Azubuike is averaging 13.7 points and 10.5 rebounds a game. The 7-footer is also shooting an NCAA-best 74.8% from the field for the regular-season champion Jayhawks. Big 12 runner-up Baylor is 26-4 and spent five weeks as the nation's No. 1 team. The Bears also set a Big 12 record with 23 wins in a row.
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Ottawa University Heads to NAIA Div II Tournament
OTTAWA, Kan. (Lawrence Journal-World) — The Ottawa University men's basketball team is headed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the NAIA Division II national tournament. It's the team's first trip to the tournament since 2009. The Braves, with a 27 and 6 record, are seeded no. 2 in their region, and will play Concordia University at 10:15 Thursday morning. They'll have to win five games in six days to secure the national championship.
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Best Player in College Basketball? That's Still Unclear
UNDATED (AP) — The unpredictability of the college basketball season has made for a murky race for national player of the year honors. That's because there are quite a few worthy candidates. The list includes Kansas point guard Devon Dotson as the floor leader for the No. 1-ranked Jayhawks. Dayton's Obi Toppin has been dominant in the Atlantic 10. The list also includes Iowa's Luka Garza, Marquette's Markus Howard, Seton Hall's Myles Powell and Oregon's Payton Pritchard.
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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.
