COVID-19 Caseload Continues Climb in Kansas; Deaths Top 2,500
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS/KPR) - The number of COVID-19 cases reported in Kansas is approaching 210,000. Official data released Wednesday shows Kansas has identified 209,689 cases of coronavirus and 2,507 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began. That's an increase of 5,089 cases and 59 deaths since Monday. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment regularly updates the coronavirus figures on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but will not do so this Friday because of the Christmas holiday. The next update of Kansas COVID-19 cases is expected Monday, December 28th.
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Governor: Kansas Should Drop Local Control of COVID-19 Rules
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly says Kansas should stop giving local officials the final say over the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic because experience has shown “a patchwork approach” does not work. Kelly made the comments Wednesday during an Associated Press interview a day after she and her top public health administrator argued that Kansas is now controlling the spread of COVID-19, despite high case numbers. The Republican-controlled Legislature already has committed to considering changes in emergency management laws after opening its annual 90-day session Jan. 11. Top Republican lawmakers earlier this year forced Kelly to accept local control over mask rules and restrictions on businesses.
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Vaccine Distribution Continues in Kansas as New Vaccine Expected
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) —Kansas should receive doses of a second brand of coronavirus vaccine this week The state has already received more than 20 thousand doses of Pfizer’s vaccine. All but a handful of counties have started giving shots to health care workers at risk of catching the coronavirus from patients. Governor Laura Kelly says the state is expecting nearly 50 thousand doses of another version of the coronavirus vaccine, this one from Moderna. Moderna’s vaccine can be stored in regular freezers, making distribution easier. Pfizer’s requires extra cold temperatures. Kansas residents 75 years old or older will be next in line for the vaccine but officials at the University of Kansas Health System say the state will need far more doses of vaccines than it’s set to receive in the coming days to start giving shots to all of those older residents.
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CVS Health and Walgreens to Help Vaccinate People in Kansas Long-Term Care Facilities
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — Teams from the nation's two largest pharmacy chains will begin visiting nursing homes, assisted living centers and other long-term care facilities over the next few months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has contracted with CVS and Walgreens as part of a federal program to help get the vaccinations to some of the people most at risk from COVID-19. Kansas has seen more than 500 coronavirus outbreaks in long-term care. Nearly 1,000 people have died in those outbreaks. Residents of such facilities will be among the first to get vaccinated.
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Deputy Named to Lead COVID-19-Stressed Kansas Labor Agency
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Laura Kelly has named the Kansas Department of Labor’s deputy secretary as its top administrator. Her announcement Tuesday showed she still is working to find another, permanent leader for an agency that struggled for months to process claims from workers left unemployed by the coronavirus pandemic. Acting Secretary Brett Flachsbarth is the third person to lead the Department of Labor in less than seven months. Kelly's first labor secretary was Delia Garcia, and she resigned in June amid problems with the system for distributing unemployment benefits. Her replacement was Acting Secretary Ryan Wright, and he was allowed by law to serve only six months.
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New Lawmakers, House Minority Leader Demand Resignation of Legislator-to-Be
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Seven new female Democratic Kansas House members and the party’s leader in the chamber are demanding publicly that a male representative-elect resign before taking office because of issues that include a temporary anti-stalking court order against him. The lawmakers-to-be and House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer issued statements Monday calling on Democratic Representative Aaron Coleman of Kansas City, Kansas, to step down before the Legislature opens its annual 90-day session January 11. Coleman did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. A political opponent's former campaign manager has accused Coleman of harassing her, and he's been under the restraining order since December 4.
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Douglas County Dissolves Drug Enforcement Unit
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is ending the operation of a special drug-focused unit, calling its structure outdated as the department moves away from focusing on “low-level users.” Sheriff’s office spokesman Jenn Hethcoat told the Lawrence Journal-World that the decision to dissolve the unit that works with Lawrence police was finalized in November. Hethcoat says the office will continue to operate a special investigative unit but with a focus on crimes related to drug activity, “not low-level users who would benefit more directly from behavioral health support than incarceration.” The county’s new sheriff, Jay Armbrister, takes office January 11. Hethcoat says Armbrister initiated the operational change.
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Lawrence Police Announce New Special Victims Unit
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The Lawrence Police Department plans a new special victims unit that will focus largely on cases of physical abuse. The department said Tuesday that the main focus of the new division will be crimes such as those involving children, crimes of a sexual nature and domestic violence. The Douglas County District Attorney’s office will provide dedicated prosecutors to deal with the crimes investigated by the SVU.
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No Immediate Ruling After Hearing on Fate of DACA Program
HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge didn't immediately issue a ruling following a court hearing on the fate of a U.S. program shielding immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. During a nearly 3 1/2 hour hearing on Tuesday, Texas and eight other states including Kansas asked U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which provides limited protections to about 650,000 people. The program was enacted by former President Barack Obama in 2012. Defending the program is a group of DACA recipients represented by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Suing alongside Texas are Kansas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, and West Virginia — states that all have Republican governors or state attorneys general.
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Wichita Councilman Linked to Cover-Up Plot Resigns
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita city councilman who has been under fire for his role in a plot to frame the local GOP chairman for a false ad against a mayoral candidate has resigned. James Clendenin said Tuesday in a written statement that had “become a distraction” and that his resignation was taking effect December 31. Last month, the Sedgwick County district attorney’s office filed a civil petition seeking the ouster of Clendenin. District Attorney Marc Bennett accused Clendenin of misconduct while in office, making false allegations against the chairman of the county’s Republican party and soliciting financial donations to a charity to be used in a political campaign.
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Kansas Officials Hope to Create New Courts to Help Veterans
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Officials in Kansas' judicial system want to establish more special courts aimed at keeping veterans with behavioral, mental health or substance abuse issues out of prison. But The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that they are pursing the idea amid the coronavirus pandemic and the state's own budget problems. Johnson County established the state's first veterans court in 2016, and it remains the only one in Kansas. Officials in the state's court system say there are obstacles. One ensuring access to treatment for substance abuse or mental health problems. Another is finding volunteers to help or money for staff. The state is facing its own budget shortfall.
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Changes in University of Kansas Diversity Office Draw Fire
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Faculty and staff at the University of Kansas are protesting a reorganization of its diversity office that cost two employees their jobs. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the upset faculty and staff say the changes were made without consulting the marginalized communities affected. The changes for what had been the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion were announced earlier this (DEC) month by Chancellor Douglas Girod and Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer. The vice provost for diversity and equity has been assigned to another job. Six programs reporting to her will be reassigned to other departments, and the jobs of two employees who developed and led social justice training were eliminated.
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Regulators: Oil, Gas Industry Didn't Cause Wichita Temblors
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas regulatory agency has determined that the oil and gas industry wasn’t to blame for a recent spate of Wichita earthquakes. The Wichita Eagle reports that the Kansas Corporation Commission looked at wastewater injection wells located within 6 miles of the epicenters of the 15 earthquakes that rattled Wichita in the past month and found that none had recent volume increase. The agency also found that no new wells were “recently completed within the area.” The largest in the series of earthquakes was a 3.7 magnitude on Saturday, when the KGS reported five earthquakes.
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KCC Says Recent Earthquakes Not Linked to Oil & Gas Industry
WICHITA, Kan. (Kansas News Service) – The Kansas Corporation Commission says recent earthquakes in Wichita are not related to the oil and gas industry. Wichita has had more than a dozen minor earthquakes since Thanksgiving. One last Saturday had a magnitude of 3.7, triggering a KCC investigation. The KCC says it reviewed historical records involving injection wells and drilling activity. It said it found no link to the oil and gas industry. Geologists think east Wichita sits along the edge of the Nemaha Ridge, an underground system with several faults, which may be the source of the quakes.
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Woman Killed in Accident on Interstate 235 in Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ A Wichita woman is dead after an accident on Interstate 235. The Kansas Highway Patrol reports that the accident happened Tuesday afternoon. A woman in her 30s was traveling south in an SUV when a trailer attached to a Dodge pickup became detached, crossed the median and struck her car. The woman was taken to a hospital where she later died. Her name was not released.
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Drug Dealer Gets More Than 8 Years in Deadly Wichita Crash
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 19-year-old drug dealer has been sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison for causing a deadly Wichita crash while chasing down someone who bolted with a bag of marijuana without paying. The Wichita Eagle reports that Alejandro Cruz had the victim’s father on his side. As the sentencing hearing was live-streamed on YouTube this week, Rajon Powell wrote in a chat box that he “would not like to see another life lost in all of this.” His son, 19-year-old Elias Powell, died from injuries he received in the June 27 car chase and wreck that also hurt two other men with him.
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Police: Kansas Officer Fatally Shot Suspect After Car Rammed
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say a police officer fatally shot a bank robbery suspect after the man rammed a stolen pickup truck into the officer’s police cruiser. Paul Peraza was killed Monday after allegedly robbing a credit union and leading police on a chase that ended in a crash. Police say that after striking an SUV, Peraza put the truck in reverse and struck a police cruiser, prompting the officer to fire the fatal shots. The officer is on leave pending an investigation. Police say Peraza had previous bank robbery convictions in California and Oklahoma.
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Charges Filed in Shooting of KCK Officer
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) _ A man is now charged with attempted capital murder in the shooting that injured a Kansas City, Kansas, police officer. Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe on Tuesday announced the charge against 33-year-old Jesse James Flaugher of Kansas City, Kansas. It wasn't immediately clear if Flaugher had an attorney. The charge stems from an exchange of gunfire that occurred December 15 between the suspect and the officer who had contacted him in Overland Park, Kansas. The officer was struck by gunfire in the arm and ballistic vest. He was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
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Spirit AeroSystems to Furlough Workers on Boeing 787 Program
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) _ Officials at Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita say they will institute a 21-day furlough beginning January 4th for workers on the production line for the 787 commercial jet. Spirit manufactures the fuselage and engine pylons at its facility in Wichita. Boeing has cut production rates on the 787 Dreamliner several times this year, from 10 per month to six. Reuters reports that figure will drop to 5 per month by mid-2021. Spirit did not indicate how many employees will be affected by the latest furlough. Since last January, the company has furloughed or laid off thousands of workers on 737 Max production after the jet was grounded globally last year. The Max is slowly returning to service, and Boeing says production will reach about 50% of its 2019 levels by 2022.
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Congressional Move Will Allow Conservation of Plum Island Following NBAF Move
UNDATED (AP) — Congress has repealed a mandate that would have required the government sell a mysterious piece of land in Long Island Sound that for years has housed a government animal disease research facility. The move is a victory for conservationists, who have fought to prevent development on Plum Island, an 822-acre island which is part of New York state and also is home to rare birds, sea turtles and other animals. The measure, included in Monday night’s omnibus spending bill, reverses a 2008 decision to auction the island to help fund the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas.
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K-State, 3 Other Midwestern Universities Form Alliance to Lure Space Command
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Four Midwestern universities have formed a space-oriented academic and research alliance aimed at luring the U.S. Space Command headquarters to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. The Omaha World-Herald reports that University of Nebraska President Ted Carter says the partnership with Kansas State University, the University of North Dakota, and Purdue would develop new degree programs and research initiatives. Offutt is among the six finalists to become the headquarters. Other finalists are Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama and the former Kelly Air Force Base in Texas.
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KU Jayhawks Defeat West Virginia, 79-65
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - The Jayhawks' Christian Braun hit six 3-pointers and had 22 points, Jalen Wilson made four 3s and scored 17 as No. 3 Kansas shrugged cruised past seventh-ranked West Virginia 79-65 on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. Marcus Garrett finished with 15 points, Ochai Agbaji had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and David McCormack added 10 points and 11 boards as the Jayhawks won their fifth straight against the Mountaineers. Sean McNeil led West Virginia with 24 points
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