UPDATE: Governor Eases Path to Unemployment Benefits
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is taking steps to address what she described as hundreds of thousands of calls to the state labor office by making it easier for Kansans to receive unemployment benefits amid the coronavirus outbreak. Kelly announced that Kansas would temporarily waive the one-week waiting period for people to receive the unemployment benefits and waive the requirement that they seek employment. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said they had confirmed 428 COVID-19 cases Tuesday, up from 369 a day earlier. Johnson County reported a third death from the virus, pushing the state's total to 10.
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Kansas Death Toll from New Coronavirus Climbs to 9
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — As a statewide stay-at-home order took effect and the Kansas coronavirus death toll grew to nine, President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration for the state. Trump's order allows for federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Also Monday, the Kansas City Star reports a nursing home in eastern Kansas has 18 confirmed cases among staff and residents. The Life Care Center in Burlington is part of a chain that includes a home in Kansas City, Kansas, where the state's first COVID-19 death was reported.
The Kansas News Service maintains this resource about the pandemic: Updated Regularly: What Kansans Need to Know About COVID-19 and Coronavirus
KPR's Coronavirus Information and Resources Guide.
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School Food Prep Worker in Tonganoxie Tests Positive for Coronavirus
TONGANOXIE, Kan. (AP) — An eastern Kansas school district is suspending its grab-and-go sack lunch program for a week after a worker with the district's drive-thu program tested positive for the coronavirus. The Tonganoxie school district said in a statement that it is placing staff members who came in contact with the fellow worker in a 14-day quarantine. The district said it also is following all infection control protocols, including thoroughly sanitizing the meal preparation area before and after meal preparations. District officials say that the person did not come in direct contact with students or families and was only involved with meal preparations.
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Missouri Reports More than 1,000 Confirmed Cases of COVID-19, Including 13 Deaths
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Missouri surpassed 1,000 and the state's death toll rose to 13. State health officials said as of Monday afternoon, 1,031 contravirus cases have been confirmed. Republican Governor Mike Parson also on Monday said his administration plans to extend a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people. The current ban is set to expire April 6. Parson says it will be extended but he's not sure for how long yet. Parson says he expects the coronavirus pandemic to continue in Missouri for at least another two to three months.
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Missouri Student and Teacher Use 3D Printer to Make Protective Face Shields
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri student and teacher are using 3D printing to supply health care facilities in the area with face shields amid the coronavirus outbreak. A.T. Still University has recruited senior Caleb Flaim and Kirksville Area Technical Center engineering instructor Rich Chapman to help keep equipment stocked at Northeast Regional Medical Center and Kirksville Family Medicine. The Kirksville Daily Express reports that the project started after university officials saw stories across the world about supply shortages due to the pandemic. Flaim and Chapman are printing face shields to be worn over the N95 masks that health care workers usually wear.
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Coronavirus Outbreak Leads to Push to Close Wichita Abortion Clinic
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An official in the Wichita area wants to temporarily close an abortion clinic during the coronavirus pandemic that has spawned another outbreak of cases at a Kansas nursing home. The Wichita Eagle reports that Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O'Donnell said Monday that he will ask the commission to shutter the Trust Women Wichita Clinic at Wednesday's meeting by stripping abortion clinics from the list of "essential" businesses that can stay open during county and statewide stay-at-home orders. Julie Burkhart, founder and CEO of the Trust Women clinic, said the proposal was "unethical" and "unconscionable." Meanwhile, nursing home operator Life Care Centers of America says 11 residents and seven workers at a home in Burlington have COVID-19.
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Death of Southeast Kansas Father, Son Investigated as Murder-Suicide
GALENA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the shooting deaths of a father and son at a southeast Kansas home as a murder-suicide. Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves says deputies were called to a rural Galena home at around 3:30 pm Sunday for a reported shooting. Deputies found two dead men inside the home. Groves said the preliminary investigation indicates that 50-year-old Danny Allen Pennock got a firearm while arguing with his dad, 77-year-old Danny Wayne Pennock, and then shot him before killing himself. Two women who live at the home weren't hurt during the shooting.
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Woman, 8-Year-Old Girl Shot, Killed in Wichita Home
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities investigating the shooting deaths of an 8-year-old girl and her mother in their Wichita home said Tuesday they looking for the woman's boyfriend. Police found the bodies of 24-year-old Mickayla Sorell and her daughter, Natalia Lopez, on Monday while responding to a welfare check. Investigators said they believe the shooting occurred Saturday evening. Police said their investigation has developed information that Sorrell's 25-year-old boyfriend, Daniel Lopez, may have been involved in the shooting.
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Those Without Broadband Struggle in a Stuck-at-Home Nation
UNDATED (AP) — The shutdowns of schools, workplaces and public institutions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating the problems of the millions of people in the U.S. who can't easily get online. While more people have been connected in recent years, tens of millions still lack access to high-speed internet because phone and cable companies hesitate to invest in far-flung rural areas. Many more Americans simply can't afford it. Teachers and students worry about how they will keep up with schoolwork without reliable home internet. Small-business owners are at a loss. Local politicians are concerned about losing touch with their constituents.
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Kansas Grants Parole to Man Who Helped Kidnap Young Girl then Watched Her Rape and Murder
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The family of a 9-year-old Wichita girl who was killed in 1990 says a man who kidnapped her and watched as she was raped and strangled has been granted parole. Her father, Bo Shoemaker, told The Wichita Eagle that the family was notified of the decision to grant parole to Donald Wacker. Wacker and Doil Lane snatched Nancy Shoemaker off a busy Wichita street on July 30, 1990 and drove her to a field in Sumner County where Lane raped and strangled her with a belt. Her body was found seven months later.
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Man's Body Found in Sedgwick County Ditch; Authorities Suspect Homicide
VALLEY CENTER, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County authorities say the death of a 26-year-old Wichita man whose body was found in a ditch is being investigated as a homicide. Zackary Tilson's body was found Friday in a ditch near Valley Center. Deputies found the body after someone reported a red pickup truck parked on a nearby road. While investigating the truck, deputies discovered Tilson's body in a nearby ditch. The sheriff's office has not said how Tilson died.
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Kansas Businessman Enters GOP Senate Primary
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas businessman Bob Hamilton is running as a Republican for the soon-to-be open U.S. Senate in Kansas. The Kansas City Star reports that Hamilton announced his candidacy Monday. Hamilton is among numerous Republicans vying for retiring four-term Senator Pat Roberts' seat. Other candidates include hardline conservative Kris Kobach, Kansas Congressman Roger Marshall, state Senate President Susan Wagle and Kansas City-area businessman Dave Lindstrom. Campaign events are now on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. Hamilton cited the economic crisis caused by the virus as a reason he decided to run for the Senate. Hamilton owns Bob Hamilton Plumbing.
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Kansas Democrats Voting by Mail Only in Presidential Primary
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Democrats have scrapped plans for polling sites for their May 2 presidential primary and are using only mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic. State Chairwoman Vicki Hiatt said Monday that polling sites are "going to be too risky" and some were at public schools and community colleges that have closed. The party on Monday began mailing ballots to almost 390,000 people registered as Democrats as of early March. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas has more than tripled in six days to 368 cases reported by the state health department. Nine COVID-19-related deaths have been reported.
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Corps: Some Levees Damaged in 2019 Still Vulnerable
O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — With flood concerns already high in the Midwest, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is warning that many levees on the Missouri and Kansas rivers that were damaged during last year’s devastating floods remain vulnerable to high water. The National Weather Service has said Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri and eastern North Dakota and South Dakota face an above-average flood risk this spring, due largely to soil saturation to the north. Record flooding in 2019 damaged several levees, many of which have yet to be repaired. The Corps says “challenging weather conditions and higher flows” continue, delaying the ability to fully assess damage.
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Ex-Kansas City Councilwoman to Run for Lieutenant Governor
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCUR-FM) — Former Kansas City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Alissia Canady is running for lieutenant governor in Missouri. Canady, who will be running as a Democrat, filed paperwork Monday. She finished third last year in the mayoral race behind then-Councilwoman Jolie Justus and now-Mayor Quinton Lucas despite racing less money than many of the other candidates in the 11-person race. Canady, 40, told KCUR last month she had been approached for statewide office and was “open to the idea.” Republican Saundra McDowell, an unsuccessful former candidate for state auditor, is running for governor. McDowell filed her paperwork on Tuesday. In Missouri, the lieutenant governor runs on a separate ticket from the governor. Tuesday marked the last day candidates could file to run in the upcoming August 4 primary. Elections for Missouri governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer and attorney general are scheduled for November 3.
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K-State Brings Back Ex-Player Southwell as Assistant Coach
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State brought back former player Shane Southwell as an assistant basketball coach. The move rounds out Bruce Weber's staff after Brad Korn left to become the head coach at Southeast Missouri. Southwell was a standout for the Wildcats from 2010-14 and helped them to a school-record 27 wins as a junior. He returned as a graduate assistant coach from 2017-19 before spending last season as an assistant at Robert Morris. He helped the Colonials to a 20-win season and earn the Northeast Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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Diarra to Transfer from K-State to Virginia Tech
MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) - Cartier Diarra has committed to Virginia Tech, the former Kansas State guard announced on his Instagram on Tuesday. Diarra joins former K-State assistant Chester Frazier, associate head coach for the Hokies, who previously spent seven seasons with the Wildcats under head coach Bruce Weber. Diarra was second on the team in points scored per game, averaging 13.3 a contest. He also led the team with 4.2 assists per game. The Wildcats ended the season 11-21. As a graduate transfer, he will be immediately eligible to play at Virginia Tech.
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