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Headlines for Wednesday, February 5, 2020

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KC Mayor: "Joy Ride" Driver Arrested on Super Bowl Parade Route

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An apparently impaired driver taking a "joy ride" along the Chiefs' Super Bowl parade route in downtown Kansas City was put into a forced spin by law enforcement officers and arrested at gunpoint. Mayor Quinton Lucas told TV station WDAF that the Wednesday morning arrest was for an inebriated "joy ride" and wasn't terrorism-related. No one was injured in the incident, which was captured on video for fans who were gathering by the thousands along the parade route to celebrate the Chiefs' first Super Bowl win in 50 years.

Earlier reporting...

Andy Reid Tells Parade-Goers Chiefs Will Win Again Next Year

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Kansas City Chiefs fans braved sub-freezing wind chills to celebrate the team's first Super Bowl victory in 50 years. If head coach Andy Reid is to be believed, they'll be back for an encore next year. Fans lined the 2-mile parade route on Wednesday to thank their football heroes for bringing the Lombardi Trophy back to Kansas City and ending a Super Bowl drought that began after the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV in 1970. Hours before the parade, police stopped a car driven by an apparently impaired driver who drove through a barricade and along the parade route. The driver and another person were arrested.

Kansas City Celebrates Super Bowl Victory with Downtown Parade

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs returned to Kansas City as fans celebrated their comeback victory in Super Bowl LIV.  The Chiefs landed at Kansas City International Airport and drove in a bus caravan back to Arrowhead Stadium. Coach Andy Reid led the team off the plane carrying the Super Bowl trophy. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was not with the Chiefs because he flew Disney World in Orlando to lead fans in a Super Bowl celebration parade as part of his duties as MVP. The party continues today (WED) with a parade through downtown Kansas City and a rally at Union Station.  An estimated one million fans are expected to attend.

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Abortion Is Unlikely Complication in Senate Race in Kansas

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A fight in the Kansas Legislature over protecting its power to restrict abortion has become an unlikely complication in the Republican primary race for an open U.S. Senate seat even though the top GOP candidates all oppose abortion. Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle is campaigning for higher office as state lawmakers seek to put a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution on the ballot. Wagle has been pointing to her work for the amendment to boost her campaign. Meanwhile, many Republicans see the GOP race as a contest between immigration hardliner Kris Kobach and U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall of western Kansas.

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Plan for Work Requirement Is Focus of Kansas Medicaid Debate

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans expect to consider a work requirement when a Kansas legislative committee this week begins debating a bipartisan bill for expanding Medicaid, and that's despite opposition to the idea from a GOP leader. The Republican-controlled Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee is starting its debate Thursday on a bill containing an expansion plan from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, a Kansas City-area Republican. A final committee vote on the entire bill is expected next week. Denning acknowledges that work requirements are “a popular idea in Medicaid expansion," but he and Kelly are urging lawmakers to reject the idea now. 

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Winter Storm Blamed for Multi-Vehicle Pileup in Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A winter storm has caused a multi-vehicle pileup on an Interstate 70 bridge in central Missouri on but mostly missed a parade to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl win. The National Weather Service initially predicted 2 inches to 3 inches of snowfall Wednesday along the parade route. But National Weather Service meteorologist Jimmy Barham said the storm shifted slightly, sparring fans from all but a few flurries. Snowfall was heavier to the east, where several tractor-trailers and passenger vehicles collided around noon on a Rocheport bridge, shutting down westbound traffic on the interstate. 

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Suspect Arrested in Hit-and-Run Crash that Killed 2 in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a suspect has been arrested in a hit-and-run crash that killed two people. The Kansas City Star reports that the suspect was behind the wheel of a speeding sport utility vehicle that sailed through a stop sign around 9 a.m. Wednesday and struck a Chevrolet, pushing it into a third vehicle. Both people inside the Chevrolet were killed. Police Sgt. Deb Randol said a patrol sergeant was nearby and saw the suspect get out of his vehicle and take off running. The sergeant chased the suspect and took him into custody. The suspect then was moved to a hospital after complaining of injuries.

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Kansas Trooper Injured, Suspect Shot During Traffic Stop

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper was hurt and a male suspect was shot during a traffic stop Wednesday near downtown Topeka. Melissa Underwood, spokeswoman for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, says the trooper was injured during the encounter, but he was not shot. His condition is unknown. Both the trooper and the male suspect were taken to a Topeka hospital. The KBI will take the lead in investigating the officer-involved shooting that happened at around 11 a.m. near 1st and Madison streets in Topeka. No other details were immediately available.

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Kansas Woman on Trial in Beheading of Ex-Boyfriend's Mother

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman is on trial for murder in the decapitation of her ex-boyfriend's mother whose body was discovered in the suspect's garage and her head was dumped in the kitchen sink. Rachael Hilyard, of Wichita, is charged with first-degree murder in the April 2017 killing of 63-year-old Micki Davis. The trial got underway Tuesday. The Wichita Eagle reports that prosecutors said they would introduce evidence including testimony from the police officers who discovered Davis' body in Hilyard's garage, a taped law enforcement interview with Davis' 9-year-old grandson who called 911 when Hilyard attacked his grandmother, and photos of the crime scene.

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Pedestrian Killed While Walking Along Highway in Kansas

WELLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a pedestrian was struck and killed by a car while walking along a highway in Sumner County. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the accident was reported at 6:20 am Tuesday on U.S. Highway 160 Highway about 2 miles east of Wellington. The Kansas Highway Patrol says a 1993 Chevrolet Cavalier was traveling eastbound on U.S. Highway 160 when it struck 48-year-old Joseph Edward Franklin Darling. He was pronounced dead at the scene.  

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Kansas No Longer Fighting Claims of Wrongly Convicted Man

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is dropping its fight against the compensation claim from a man who spent 23 years in prison for a double homicide. A judge in 2017 vacated Lamonte McIntyre's convictions, which had been secured even though no physical evidence or motive tied him to the crimes. Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Tuesday that his office decided to drop its flight after reviewing 900 pages of documents from McIntyre's attorney that had not been provided to it previously. He also says an ongoing Kansas Bureau of Investigation review of the 1994 crimes for which McIntyre was charged turned up new information.  ( Read more about this story.)

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Rapist Who Escaped from Sexual Predator Treatment Program Captured Near Parsons

PARSONS, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a convicted rapist who escaped from a sexual predator treatment program in southeast Kansas was in the last stages of treatment before he was to be released. Labette County Sheriff Darren Eichinger said 58-year-old Randy Eugene Snodgrass escaped Monday after threatening a state employee who was driving him back to the Parsons State Hospital from a job interview. The driver was cut on the neck with a plastic knife before she let Snodgrass out of the van. The employee was treated and released at a hospital. Snodgrass was arrested early Tuesday in Neosho County but no details of his arrest were released.  

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Kansas Looks to End Spousal Exemption in Sexual Battery Law

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas law that makes it a crime to grope, rub or touch others in a sexual manner without their consent doesn't apply to spouses. State lawmakers are moving to eliminate the problem after the same fix failed last year. The House could debate a bill next week that would eliminate a provision in the law against sexual battery that says it does not apply when the victim is married to the offender. The law applies to unwanted sexual touching when no force or fear is involved and when the victim is 16 or older. The bill cleared the House Judiciary Committee last week.

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Project Preserves Historic Kansas Radio, Television Programs

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A collaborative effort is underway to preserve and make accessible historic television and radio programs produced by public media stations in Kansas. KMUW-FM and The American Archive of Public Broadcasting said in a news release Wednesday that the online collection will be digitized from deteriorating and obsolete formats. It will showcase statewide coverage of social issues, commentary, public reporting and history from more than 70 years of archival collections in the state. More than 3,000 programs are expected to be preserved during the two-year Kansas Public Media Preservation Project.

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Kansas Man Takes Deal in Nebraska Crash Deaths of 4 Iowans

OGALLALA, Neb. (AP) — A Kansas man charged with the Nebraska collision deaths of four Iowa motorcyclists has taken a plea deal. Jeser Cisneros-Hernandez, of Liberal, Kansas, pleaded no contest Tuesday in Ogallala to reckless and willful vehicular homicide. Prosecutors dropped three more counts and two other charges in return for his pleas. His sentencing is scheduled for April 3. Prosecutors have said Cisneros-Hernandez's vehicle hit two motorcycles carrying two people each on July 1, 2017, near Ogallala, Two of them were Sheila and James Matheny, from Bedford, Iowa. The other motorcyclists were Michal and Jerolyn Weese, who lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

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13-Year-Old Wichita Boy Arrested in Carjacking

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police say a 13-year-old boy has been arrested in a carjacking at a Wichita mall. Officer Charley Davidson said the boy was arrested Friday at a Wichita home. Davidson said Monday officers were led to the suspect through witnesses and people involved in a short car chase with Sedgwick County Sheriff's deputies on Wednesday. The stolen car was found after that chase. Authorities say a 57-year-old JC Penney employee told police she was leaving work Monday when two teens demanded her keys, hit her and drove off in her car. She suffered minor injuries. The second suspect hasn't been found.

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Trial Delayed Again for Man Jailed 5 Years in Lawrence Murder Case

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 23-year-old man who has been in jail for five years awaiting trial in a Lawrence murder case will wait longer, after a judge ordered more testing in the case. Rontarus Washington is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery in the November 2014 death of 19-year-old Justina Altamirano Mosso. The Lawrence Journal-World reports a trial has been delayed several times for various reasons. The first trial in September 2019 ended in a hung jury and a second trial was scheduled to begin this month. The latest delay revolves around fingernail clippings from Mosso. During a hearing Monday, defense attorneys argued for more time to have the evidence tested.

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Daughter of Boat Accident Victim Slams Missouri Bill

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A woman whose father was among the 17 people who died after a tourist duck boat sank in a Missouri lake is fighting a bill that would limit when companies can be sued over products that hurt people. Jennifer Asher told a panel of state House lawmakers Tuesday that she wants to turn her pain into a purpose. At issue is a bill that would prohibit people injured or killed by products from suing more than 15 years after the product was sold or leased, with exceptions. The Republican bill sponsor says the goal is to protect companies from “frivolous litigation.”

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Rising Kansas Revenues Fuel GOP Anger over Lack of Tax Cuts

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has collected more tax revenue than expected almost every month for more than two years. Republicans are growing increasingly angry that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly still insists the state can't afford income tax cuts favored by the GOP-controlled Legislature. The state reported Monday that tax collections in January were nearly $60 million than anticipated for a 9% surplus for the month. Tax collections have beaten expectations 31 of the past 32 months, and top Republicans believe a key reason is that some individuals and businesses are paying more in state income taxes because of federal tax changes at the end of 2017.

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Kansas Teenager Enters Plea in Failed $8 Xanax Drug Deal Killing

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City teenager has pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the shooting death of another teen during a failed $8 Xanax deal. The Kansas City Star reports that Jordan Denny, of Olathe, Kansas, originally was charged with felony murder in the March 2019 death of 17-year-old Rowan Padgett. But she instead pleaded guilty Monday to attempted possession of Xanax with intent to distribute, conspiracy to commit possession of Xanax with intent to distribute, interference and use of a telecommunication device during a drug felony. She will be sentenced February 20.

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