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Headlines for Wednesday, August 12, 2020

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Arrest Made in Stray-Bullet Shooting Death of Topeka Woman

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Police have made an arrest in the death of a Topeka woman who was killed by a stray bullet as she stood in her front yard. The shooting happened late the night of August 5 as 62-year-old Jerrie Lyn Ross was in her yard. The Capital-Journal reports that 29-year-old Tony Reece Dante Baird was arrested late Tuesday. He faces charges of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and the reckless criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle. Police say Ross was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire of people shooting at each other. Ross's family says she was a real estate and property manager who owned and operated Homes By Ross in Topeka.

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Kansas Prison Locked Down Due to 2nd COVID-19 Outbreak

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prison has been locked down after dozens of inmates and staff were infected with the coronavirus. Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Jeff Zmuda said Wednesday that 84 inmates and 10 staff members tested positive this week at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility. None of them are showing symptoms. Fifteen inmates and seven staff members previously tested positive at the prison, which houses about 1,880 men. Some inmates will remain locked in their cells because of the outbreak. Others will be relocated to the prison in Lansing, where a medical unit has been set up to handle COVID-19 cases. 

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Interest in Homeschooling "Explodes" Amid Pandemic 

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — As parents nationwide prepare to help their children with more distance learning, a small but quickly growing number are deciding to take matters entirely into their own hands and begin homeschooling.  Some are worried their districts are unable to offer a strong virtual learning program. For others who may have been considering homeschooling, concerns for their family’s health amid the coronavirus and the on-again, off-again planning for in-person instruction are leading them to part ways with school systems.  Homeschooling applications are surging in states including Nebraska, where they are up 21%, and Vermont, where they are up 75%.  In North Carolina, a rush of parents filing notices that they planned to homeschool overwhelmed a government website last month, leaving it temporarily unable to accept applications. 

Interest in homeschooling materials also has been surging, driven in part by parents who are keeping their children enrolled in schools but looking for ways to supplement distance learning.  The National Home School Association received more than 3,400 requests for information on a single day last month, up from between five and 20 inquiries per day before the coronavirus. The group had to increase the size of its email inbox to keep up.  In Missouri, calls and emails pour into the homeschool advocacy group Families For Home Education each time a district releases its reopening plan, said Charyti Jackson, the group’s executive director. She said families are in a “panic” about virtual starts to the year and hybrid plans in which students attend classes parttime and study at home the rest.  “They are asking, ’What am I supposed to be doing with my children when I am working full time?’” she said.  ( Read more about this story.)

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Kansas Congressional Candidate Tests Negative for COVID-19

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Republican Congressional candidate Amanda Adkins and her family tested negative for COVID-19 but will remain in home quarantine until Tuesday. Adkins, her husband and their two children were tested Monday after the campaign learned a person at her victory party after the Aug. 4 primary tested positive for the virus. She is facing Democratic incumbent Rep. Sharice Davids in the Kansas 3rd District. Adkins campaign spokesman Matthew Trail announced in a news release Wednesday that Adkins and her family will follow federal guidelines and remain in quarantine until Tuesday. He said the person who tested positive is showing no signs of the infection. 

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Prosecutors Seek to Block Release of Beaten Girl's Records

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors are seeking a court order blocking the Kansas child welfare agency from releasing more information about a 3-year-old girl whose battered body was found after her father reported her missing. The move comes despite a 2018 law that aimed to make information more transparent when a child dies. The Kansas Department for Children and Families released last month a “Child Fatality Summary” pertaining to Olivia Ann Jansen. Her father and his girlfriend are charged with felony murder and other crimes. The Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office filed motions Monday seeking an injunction prohibiting further release of the records, pending a hearing or court review.

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Latest Figures Show over 32,000 Coronavirus Cases in Kansas with Nearly 400 Deaths 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas health officials reported today (WED) that over 32,500 coronavirus cases and nearly 400 COVID-19-related deaths had been identified in the state.  The Department of Health and Environment said it recorded 32,547 coronavirus virus cases since the pandemic reached Kansas in early March.  KDHE also reports there have been 395 COVID-19-related deaths in Kansas since March.  A new round of data will be released online Friday.

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Kansas Health Officials Say New COVID-19 Law Hurts Contact Tracing

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Some local health officials in Kansas are critical of a coronavirus law passed by lawmakers in June. The new law contains a “privacy act," which states that employers need to get consent from those who tested positive for COVID-19 and close contacts in order to share their information to public health agencies. The local health officials say that legislation hurts contact tracing efforts by making it easier for people infected with COVID-19 to refuse to cooperate with them. They say the law makes it difficult for public health agencies to identify people who have recently come into contact with those infected with the virus.

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Big 12 Moves Ahead with Fall Sports Beginning in September

The Big 12 Conference is moving ahead with plans to play college football and other fall sports. They will join the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences in taking the field amid the coronavirus pandemic. The move came one day after the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced they would not play this fall. In the Big 12, fall sports will begin after Sept. 1 with the football schedule beginning league play Sept. 26. Schools also can play one non-conference opponent.

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Sports on Hold in Some Kansas Communities Amid Pandemic

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Youth sports are on hold in some Kansas communities because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Kansas State High School Athletic Association has decided not to cancel fall activities. But The Kansas City Star reports the Kansas City, Kansas, school board voted Tuesday to opt out. Fall sports in Kansas include football, volleyball, cross country, girls tennis and boys soccer. The decision will let the district evaluate the status of winter sports at a later date as it continues to monitor cases of COVID-19. Meanwhile, The Wichita Eagle reports the City of Wichita decided Monday to postpone its youth football season to the spring.

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Missouri Balks at State Mandates Despite "Red Zone" Status

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s top health official insists a statewide mandate for masks and social distancing doesn't make sense, even though the federal government has designated the state a “red zone” for new coronavirus cases. Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, told KCUR-FM radio for a report published Monday that the designation is cause for concern. He says Missouri is a diverse state and that instead of a statewide mandate he favors a strategy that supports local officials. But others note the virus is spreading more freely among counties without links to crowded facilities such as nursing homes and meatpacking plants.

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KBI: Person of Interest in Kansas Homicide Case Taken into Custody in Montana
                                        
GLENDIVE, Mont. – (KPR) The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says authorities have located and taken into custody a person of interest connected to the murder of Joyce Foulkrod in Medicine Lodge.  Officials say 34-year-old Clinton W. Rogers, was located Tuesday night in Glendive, Montana.  Rogers was arrested by the Dawson County Sheriff’s Department on a warrant for theft out of Kingman County, Kansas.  He is currently being held in the Dawson County jail.  KBI agents are traveling to Montana, where they will question Rogers.  The KBI, Medicine Lodge Police Department and the Barber County Sheriff’s Office are all involved in the homicide investigation.

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Kansas Geological Survey Helps Lead Research into Underground Storage of Carbon Dioxide

LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — The Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) has spent two decades investigating the state's subsurface geology and industrial infrastructure to determine the safety and viability of injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) into underground rock formations for long-term storage and to recover hard-to-reach oil.  In an effort to share data and research into the process,  KGS is now partnering with 15 other state and federal entities from throughout the central and western United States.  The Carbon Utilization and Storage Partnership, or CUSP, is led by the Petroleum Recovery Research Center (PRRC) at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, which was awarded $6.24 million by the U.S. Department of Energy for the project.  KGS will receive about $310,000 of that amount and could get additional funding for database development and other purposes as the project moves forward through 2024.  

Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is a process being developed to reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. CO2 is a natural and essential component of the atmosphere, but it is also a greenhouse gas – a byproduct of fossil fuel emissions from vehicles and industrial plants – that is considered a  cause of climate change.  During the CCUS process, CO2 emitted by an industrial source is captured and transported through pipelines to a location where it can be used to squeeze out trapped oil unreachable by traditional recovery methods or stored long-term in deep and confined underground rock formations.  “Nationwide, CCUS is moving ahead. There are multiple large-scale commercial project announcements, and the portfolio is growing,” said Eugene Holubnyak, petroleum engineer and the project’s lead investigator at the KGS. “KGS has developed a very strong CCUS program on its own, and this time around we want to play a central and integral role in CUSP.”  Over the past 10 years, the KGS has led or played a key role in five large-scale CCUS projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.  More information about the project can be found on the  KGS’s CUSP page

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Topeka Police: 2 Killed, 1 Injured in Fatal Shooting at Mobile Home Park

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Police say two people have been killed and another person injured in a shooting at a Topeka mobile home park.  Officers were called to the mobile home park Monday night for reports of a shooting and found three people with gunshot wounds. One of the victims was declared dead at the scene. The two others were taken to a local hospital, where one of them later died. Police identified the victims as 35-year-old Angelo Epps and 19-year-old Calvin Coleman Jr.

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Body Found in 1986 in Central Kansas Creek Now Identified as a California Woman

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a beaten body found 34 years ago in a central Kansas creek has been identified as a Los Angeles woman. Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said Tuesday that the woman, long referred to as “Mrs. Molly,” was Robin Ann Green. She was last seen in December 1985 after visiting family members in Minnesota. Her body was found one month later in Mulberry Creek along Interstate 70. Her grave was exhumed last summer for DNA testing. Soldan said the case remains an open homicide investigation. Investigators don’t know how she came to Kansas.

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Skeletal Remains Found in Southeast Kansas

MCCUNE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the discovery of decomposed human remains in rural southeast Kansas. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office says someone found the remains Monday while out on a walk. The identity of the person and cause of death remain unknown. The sheriff’s office has asked the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to assist with the case.

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Man, Daughter Seen in Protest Video File Suit Against Kansas City Police Officers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man and his 15-year-old daughter whose violent handling at the hands of Kansas City police has been widely viewed online are now suing several of the officers. Tarence Maddox and his daughter were at a May 30 protest at the Country Club Plaza to protest police brutality when they say officers descended on them, dousing them with pepper spray and pulling Tarence Maddox off a sidewalk and into the street before arresting him. The lawsuit says Maddox and his daughter were deliberately harmed by the officers despite posing no threat to the officers. Maddox’s attorney, Tom Porto, says Maddox also suffered permanent injury to his knee during the arrest that required surgery.

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Kansas Governor Skeptical of Trump's Plan to Extend Unemployment Benefits

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A spokeswoman says Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s administration is reviewing President Donald Trump’s plan to extend supplemental unemployment benefits but is waiting for more details. A program providing an additional $600 a week to workers left unemployed by the coronavirus pandemic expired July 31, and Congress hasn’t agreed on a bill including an extension. Trump announced a plan this weekend to provide an additional $400 a week in benefits but said states would have to cover 25% of the cost. Kelly spokeswoman Lauren Fitzgerald called Trump’s plan only “a broad memo” and questioned whether he can provide the extra benefits through an executive order.

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Top Democrat in Kansas Senate Tests Negative for Coronavirus

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley says he has tested negative for coronavirus. The Topeka Democrat said Tuesday that he took the test Friday after learning that House Speaker and Olathe Republican Ron Ryckman Jr. tested positive and was hospitalized for about a week in July. Ryckman attended a Statehouse meeting with other legislative leaders on July 9, the day before he learned he might have the coronavirus. Ryckman also attended a Statehouse meeting with other top lawmakers and Democratic Governor Laura Kelly on July 29, after he’d left the hospital. Hensley attended both Statehouse meetings and said he was “genuinely concerned” that he might be infected.

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Kansas Congressman Roger Marshall Likely to Stress Farm Ties in Senate Race

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans are likely to stress Kansas GOP Congressman Roger Marshall’s service on the House Agriculture Committee as he runs for the U.S. Senate. He sometimes calls himself “the only candidate who can sort heifers from steers.” The two-term GOP congressman, who represents the big 1st District of central and western Kansas, is treating his agriculture background as as a major asset in his race against Democrat nominee Barbara Bollier. They’re both doctors, but she grew up in the Kansas City suburbs, while he started life on a farm outside El Dorado. Marshall and Bollier are running for the seat currently held by retiring four-term GOP Senator Pat Roberts. Roberts is Senate Agriculture Committee chairman.

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Looking for Work?  Kansas Commerce Department Launching More Virtual Job Fairs

TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) – Kansas officials are gearing up for more statewide job fairs.  As concern for the health and safety of residents remains high due to the pandemic, the Kansas Department of Commerce says it will maintain the virtual aspect of its KANSASWORKS job fairs for the remainder of this year.  Statewide job fair events will take place on the following dates:

    August 25-27
    September 22-24
    October 27-29
    December 8-9

Further information will be provided as each date approaches.  On Tuesday, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly praised the third KANSASWORKS job fair held at the end of July.  The virtual job fair, held July 28-30, involved 189 employers and 1,182 jobseekers.  “COVID-19 has presented major challenges for workforce services in our state, but we must continue to do all we can to help people find employment opportunities,” Kelly said. “These virtual fairs are a great system to connect employers and jobseekers across the state so that we can get Kansas back to work, safely.”  ( Looking for a job right now? Check here.) 

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Kansas Sues to Block Wyandotte Nation's Plans for Casino

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has filed a lawsuit against top officials at the U.S. Department of the Interior seeking to block the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma from building a casino on land it owns in Park City. It is the latest legal twist in a decades-long dispute over the tribe’s legal authority on the 10-acre parcel. The federal lawsuit filed Monday is an effort to set aside a decision issued in May by the Interior Department that cleared the way for the project. That reversed an earlier decision from 2014 that had the tribe’s request to build the casino on the parcel it purchased on 1992.

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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.