Kansas Reports Over 7,000 Cases of COVID-19, Including 158 Deaths
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — As of Monday morning*, state health officials reported 7,116 cases of COVID-19, including 158 deaths. Cases have now been reported in 83 of the state's 105 counties. Four of the 10 hardest-hit Kansas counties (Ford, Finney, Seward and Lyon) have large meatpacking plants, and together account for over 3000 cases of COVID-19. ( Get the latest COVID-19 numbers in Kansas here.)
- Governor Laura Kelly's Plan to Reopen Kansas
- KPR's Coronavirus Information and Resources Guide
- Live Coverage: Coronavirus in the Kansas City Area
*KDHE has changed its updating schedule, and until further notice will only be updating these totals on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
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Wife: Prison Guard Who Survived Leukemia Dies of COVID-19
LANSING, Kan. (AP) — A coronavirus outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people at the largest prison in Kansas has claimed the life of a prison guard, the first employee at the facility to die of the virus. Department spokeswoman Rebecca Witte says three Lansing Correctional Facility inmates already had died of the virus before the employee died Monday. Relatives identified the man as 61-year-old George “Bernie” Robare, a former Marine and longtime Corrections Department guard. The Kansas City Star reports that Susan Robare was worried her husband wouldn’t be able to defeat the virus when he tested positive last month. He was a leukemia survivor.
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Prison Employee Dies in Kansas Coronavirus Outbreak
LANSING, Kan. (AP) — A coronavirus outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people at the largest prison in Kansas has claimed the life of an employee. Kansas Corrections Department spokeswoman Rebecca Witte says the Lansing Correctional Facility employee died Monday. Three inmates have already died at the prison near Kansas City. Testing of all staff and inmates is underway. So far, 88 staff members and 694 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. Of the inmates who have the virus, 86% showed no symptoms. Six other Kansas prisons have reported outbreaks resulting in nine staff members and five inmates testing positive.
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Court Throws out Lawsuit on Inmate Safety at Kansas Prisons
Belle Plaine, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas court has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a civil rights group seeking the immediate release of prisoners who have preexisting medical conditions that make them vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Leavenworth District Judge David King dismissed the class action petition filed by The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas on behalf of seven inmates and others similarly situated at Kansas prisons. The district court found the ACLU didn't prove that jail officials either failed to meet their constitutional duty to provide adequate medical care or acted with deliberate indifference to the inmates' serious medical needs.
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Drive-Thru Wichita Testing Site Doesn't Require COVID-19 Symptoms
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW-TV) — A new drive-thru site in Wichita that tests for the new coronavirus without requiring participants to to have symptoms is drawing heavy interest. Television station KSN reports that the site drew lines of cars and dozens of people seeking testing on its first day of operation on Monday. The testing offered by HealthCore Clinic is free with no questions asked. Other Wichita testing clinics require people to have symptoms before they can be tested. Health experts have noted that many people who have tested positive for the virus showed no symptoms. The testing is available through the month of May and while testing supplies last.
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State, Local Coronavirus Orders Face Challenges in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State and local orders aimed at checking the spread of the novel coronavirus in Kansas are facing challenges from the state’s attorney general and business owners. Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Monday that he is reviewing whether it’s constitutional for people who violate Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s orders restricting business activities to face criminal charges. Kelly saw the challenges as partly coming from "coronavirus fatigue." Schmidt's announcement came a day after two business owners in Linn County, in eastern Kansas, filed a federal lawsuit over an order requiring them to track the customers who enter their premises. County officials did not immediately respond.
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Charges Dropped Against McPherson Barber Who Opened Shop Against Governor's Orders to Stay Closed
MCPHERSON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have dropped charges against a central Kansas barber who opened his business in defiance of an order from Governor Laura Kelly. Luke Aichele opened his shop in McPherson last week, despite Kelly's order that such businesses stay closed until May 18. McPherson County Attorney Gregory Benefiel said Monday that charges were dropped after Aichele agreed during the weekend to stay closed until May 18. Aichele received support Saturday from two U.S. Senate candidates from Kansas. Congressman Roger Marshall and Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle both said threatening someone with arrest who wanted to go back to work was wrong.
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Midwest Grain Harvesters Struggle to Recruit Foreign Crews During Pandemic
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — With the start of the winter wheat harvest just weeks away, U.S. harvesters are struggling to get the foreign workers they usually rely on to run their combines. Embassies have been shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic and governments have closed their borders. Overseas workers who already have visas cannot get on a flight, and those who can travel would be quarantined on arrival. Harvesters are trying to hire American workers to fill the gap, but many lack the skills or desire to work in agriculture. Up to half of the workers who harvest U.S. grain crops usually are seasonal foreign workers.
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Procession Begins Days of Mourning for Slain Overland Park Police Officer
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Hundreds of people in a Kansas City suburb gathered to honor a police officer who died in a shootout. Spectators stood and watched Sunday night as dozens of police vehicles drove through Overland Park to remember Officer Mike Mosher, who was killed May 3. The “Salute to Blue” driving vigil was the first of three days of events that will honor Mosher. A drive-by visitation is planned for today (TUE), with a private funeral and public funeral procession Wednesday. Mosher died after he tried to stop 38-year-old Phillip Carney after a possible hit-and-run. Carney tried to flee and shot at Mosher. Carney also died in the gun battle.
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Authorities Identify Man Involved in Deadly Junction City Standoff
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have identified a man who fatally shot himself after a standoff in Junction City over the weekend. The man, 39-year-old Damien St. Julien, of Junction City, died after barricading himself in a house Saturday afternoon. Junction City police Capt. Trish Giordano says when police tried to stop Julien's car to arrest him for a warrant out of Douglas County, he refused to get out of his car, brandished a weapon and drove to a home, where he barricaded himself inside. She says Julien fired at officers. After several hours, officers entered the home and found Julien dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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8-Year-Old Kansas Boy Dies When ATV Rolls in Kansas Field
DEERFIELD, Kan. (AP) — An 8-year-old Garden City boy died when an ATV he was riding on rolled over. Kearny County authorities say the crash occurred around noon Sunday about 7 miles northeast of Deerfield. Twenty-year-old Daniel Rodriguez and 8-year-old Aiden Hernandez were riding on the ATV in a field next to a house when it rolled at least once. The Kearny County Sheriff's Office says Rodriguez and Aiden were both thrown from the vehicle. They were not wearing helmets. Aiden died at a hospital. Rodriguez was not injured.
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Federal Agencies Investigate Tipi Burning at Haskell Indian Nations University
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Federal agencies are now helping with an investigation into the burning of a tipi outside Haskell Indian Nations University. The ceremonial tipi was burned early Saturday on the school's campus in Lawrence. Lawrence and Douglas County fire officials say the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have joined the investigation. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but Lawrence fire officials say arson is a possibility. The tipi was built to honor Haskell's 2020 graduating seniors. A fundraiser to replace the tipi, which cost an estimated $2,500 to $3,000, has raised more than $15,000.
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Deceased Inmate's Family Sues Barber County Jail for Failing to Stop Woman's Suicide
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — The family of a Kansas inmate who killed herself at a rural county jail has sued law enforcement officials alleging incompetence. No one was monitoring the video surveillance station which recorded minute-by-minute inmate Olivia Rennaker’s repeated efforts in April 2018 to hang herself in her cell at the Barber County Jail. It was more than an hour later before her body was finally discovered hanging from the bars.
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Kansas Lawmakers Set to Meet Online to Prep for Session During Pandemic
MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are turning to virtual meetings to prepare for an upcoming session aimed at dealing with the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a Kansas City-area Republican, has announced that the virtual meetings, which will be broadcast live on the Legislature's YouTube channel, can begin before the Legislature reconvenes on May 21. Among the issues committees are discussing are the allocation of federal relief funding and the Kansas Department of Labor's dated information technology infrastructure. The agency has been overwhelmed by the surge in unemployment claims.
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Kansas Man Who Sought Trial by Combat Now Wants Ex-Wife Evaluated
HARLAN, Iowa (AP) — A psychological evaluation of a Kansas man who sought legal permission in Iowa to engage in a sword fight with his ex-wife has concluded that he's not insane but merely angry over their child custody arrangement. David Ostrom asked a court in January to give him permission to fight Bridgette Ostrom and her attorney, Matthew Hudson. The Ostroms are embroiled in disputes over custody and visitation, and property tax payments. A judge suspended Ostrom's visitation with his children and ordered a mental evaluation. The Des Moines Register reports that David Ostrom has asked the court to order psychological evaluations of his ex-wife and Hudson.
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Missouri Trooper Hit by Vehicle; Suspect Arrested in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri State Highway Patrol says a trooper suffered minor injuries when he was hit by a vehicle trying to flee in northern Kansas City. The patrol says the incident began early Tuesday when the trooper began chasing the suspect on Interstate 29. At one point, the trooper got out of his vehicle and the suspect turned around. The patrol says the trooper was trying to get out of the way and fired at the suspect before he was hit by the vehicle. The trooper was treated at a hospital for minor injuries. The suspect, a 29-year-old Gardner man, was later arrested in Kansas.
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Suspect Arrested in Wichita Woman's Homicide
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 27-year-old Wichita man is being held in the shooting death of a woman over the weekend. Police say they found 36-year-old Sarah Phillips dead from a gunshot wound to the head on Sunday at a Wichita house. Officers arrested Isaac Pankratz later Sunday. Police spokesman Officer Charley Davidson says investigators determined that Pankratz and Phillips were at the home together when she was shot. Pankratz is being held on possible charges of first-degree murder and gun crimes.
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