Kansas Secretary of State Wants to Keep In-Person Voting Intact
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The state's top election official argues that going -- in person -- to the polls is "a community event" for many voters and moving solely to mail-in ballots because of the pandemic would create confusion. Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab is well along in his plans to equip every polling place with two plexiglass screens for the August 4 primary election. It's been less than five weeks since Democrats had a presidential primary - by mail only - that went relatively smoothly. Even so, the Republican-controlled Legislature has not moved toward all mail-in ballot elections. Schwab says he plans to hand out personal protective equipment to election workers.
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CVS Pharmacy Opens COVID-19 Testing Site in Lawrence Friday
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — CVS Pharmacy officials are setting up a new COVID-19 test site at one of its two stores in Lawrence. The drive-thru testing site will open Friday at the company's Iowa Street location. CVS officials say they are opening 10 testing sites across Kansas. The company will utilize self-swab tests, which can be administered while patients remain inside their vehicles. The CVS testing sites in Kansas are among more than 1,200 company testing locations across the country. CVS hopes to process up to 1.5 million tests per month.
New CVS Testing Sites in Kansas:
- CVS Pharmacy, 950 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS
- CVS Pharmacy, 3750 State Avenue, Kansas City, KS
- CVS Pharmacy, 2300 Iowa Street, Lawrence
- CVS Pharmacy, 390 Limit Street, Leavenworth
- CVS Pharmacy, 18351 West 119th Street, Olathe
- CVS Pharmacy, 11900 West 135th Street, Overland Park
- CVS Pharmacy, 22700 West 55th Terrace, Shawnee
- CVS Pharmacy, 3901 SW 21st Street, Topeka
- CVS Pharmacy, 3149 East Harry Street, Wichita
- CVS Pharmacy, 4808 East Central Avenue, Wichita
A complete list of CVS Pharmacy drive-thru test sites can be found here.
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Kansas Cases of COVID-19 Exceed 10,800, Including 240 Deaths
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — As of Wednesday, state health officials reported 10,812 cases of COVID-19, including 240 deaths. Cases have been reported in 90 of the state's 105 counties. ( Updated COVID-19 case numbers for Kansas are released Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)
- Governor Laura Kelly's Plan to Reopen Kansas
- KPR's Coronavirus Information and Resources Guide
- Live Coverage: Coronavirus in the Kansas City Area
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Missouri Reports Another Triple-Digit Jump in COVID-19 Cases
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Health officials in Missouri have announced another triple-digit increase in confirmed coronavirus cases, with 179 new cases reported on Tuesday. The state has reported nearly 15,000 cases since the pandemic began. COVID-19 deaths jumped to 840 on Tuesday, an increase of 21 cases from the day before. And that's the highest increase in deaths since May 30. Meanwhile, a nursing home near Liberty is reporting an outbreak of 53 cases. The cases at the Pleasant Valley Manor Care Center include staff and patients and are the first outbreak at a long-term care facility in Clay County, Missouri, north of Kansas City.
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Spirit AeroSystems to Furlough About 900 Hourly Workers
WICHITA, Kan. (The Wichita Eagle) — Spirit AeroSystems says it will furlough about 900 hourly employees who work on the troubled Boeing 737 program. The Wichita Eagle reports Spirit will implement the 21-day furloughs beginning Monday through July 6. The company says the furloughs are needed because of the continued effect of COVID-19 on the airline industry and the uncertainty surrounding the return to service of the 737 Max. Spirit makes fuselages for the 737 Max, which was grounded by regulators worldwide after two crashes. Boeing is a major customer of Spirit AeroSystems.
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Kansas Man Sentenced to Prison for Trafficking Runaway Girl
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Wichita man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for sex trafficking a 15-year-old runaway girl. Twenty-seven-year-old James Sexton was convicted in February of commercial sexual exploitation of a child. The Sedgwick County district attorney’s office says the case stems from a special assignment in 2018 by members of the Exploited and Missing Child Unit in Wichita who were targeting online escort ads in an effort to recover juvenile victims of sex trafficking.
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Ruling: Jury to Decide Case Against Former Kansas Police Officer
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Leavenworth County judge has ruled that a former police officer who fatally shot a man in a vehicle in 2017 cannot claim legal immunity. That ruling leaves it up to jurors to decide whether his actions were justified as self defense. Judge Michael Gibbens found that the force used by Matthew Harrington was not statutorily justified as self defense, clearing the way for the involuntary manslaughter case to move forward. Harrington was indicted in August 2018 for the death of Antonio Garcia Jr., who was shot multiple times while sitting in the driver’s seat of an SUV. Harrington was fired for violating policy.
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Canceling Ivanka Trump's Speech Spurs Backlash for President of Wichita State University
WICHITA, Kan. (AP/KPR) — Donors are calling for Wichita State University's president to be fired after he canceled a virtual speech by Ivanka Trump for its technical school's graduation. The Wichita Eagle reports that a former member of the Kansas Board of Regents told the board that the decision by university President Jay Golden threatens a multimillion-dollar relationship with Koch Industries. The vast conglomerate is led by billionaire and conservative political donor Charles Koch. The Board of Regents has scheduled a special meeting with Golden today (WED). Golden took over as university president in January following the death of former President John Bardo. A spokesman for Koch Industries said financial commitments to the university are still being honored and, while it opposes canceling speakers, it doesn’t tie funding to university employment actions.
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Kansas City Board to Consider Renaming Iconic Fountain
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A member of the Kansas City parks board wants the city to rename an iconic fountain and street that run through the city's County Club Plaza because they are named after a man who historians say was a racist. The J.C. Nichols fountain sits in a park where protesters gathered last week to protest George Floyd's death. A parkway through the Plaza also bears Nichols's name. Nichols developed the Plaza and many affluent city and suburban neighborhoods but he barred minorities from living there. The parks board says it will hold two public hearings on the proposal before making a decision.
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Authorities Try to ID Decomposed Body Found in Ninnescah
MULVANE, Kan. (AP) - Authorities in southern Kansas are trying to learn the identity of a person whose badly decomposed body was pulled from the Ninnescah River over the weekend. Sheriff's deputies were called to an area in northeastern Sumner County, west of the Kansas Turnpike, on Sunday afternoon after someone fishing in the river spotted the body. Authorities say they are unable to speculate how the person died or whether the victim was a man or a woman because of the deteriorated condition of the remains. An autopsy has been scheduled at the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center in Wichita.
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University of Kansas Offers Buyouts Amid Pandemic Losses
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) _ The University of Kansas will offer voluntary buyout packages to some faculty members as it grapples with financial losses from the coronavirus pandemic. KU is facing a budget shortfall of at least $120 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1, due to virus-related shutdowns. Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer says faculty and staff members must be 62 or older, and meet other requirements, to be eligible for the buyout. University officials say between 500 and 600 KU employees are likely eligible for the program.
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Kansas City, Kansas Leader Forms Task Force on Policing
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Wyandotte County's top elected official has formed a task force to guide discussions between local law enforcement and the community following George Floyd’s death. Mayor and CEO David Alvey of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, announced Monday that he will serve as co-chairman of the new task force. Alvey said he wants to improve the dialogue between law enforcement and the community, particularly black and Hispanic residents. Alvey said the goal is to build trust between the community and law enforcement by identifying issues in policing. Floyd's death May 25 in Minneapolis has inspired protests across the U.S.
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Students and Alumni at Universities in Kansas Protest Racism
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) — Alumni and students at universities in Kansas are using social media to protest racism on their campuses. Protests are still happening in person, but students are also using hashtags like "black at K-State" and "black at KU" to describe racism they’ve experienced at the schools. Some say they have been called racial slurs and told they don't belong on campus. Tomeka Robinson, with Hofstra University, says social media demonstrations let alumni share their stories. "And it gives those students that are still on the grounds some bit of boost understanding that their experiences are not unique and that there is a community of people joining with them," Robinson said. K-State says the hashtag has prompted it to take further steps against racism at the school.
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What Makes an American a Patriot? Spike Lee and a KU Film Professor Have Some Answers
NEW YORK (AP) — Spike Lee's “Da 5 Bloods” is the first major film to put the experience of black Vietnam veterans front and center. Lee bookends the movie with Muhammad Ali and other black activist figures from the ’60s, framing “Da 5 Bloods” as not just a war film but an inquiry into what patriotism means for African Americans. Lee’s timing is, as ever, prescient. His movie, co-written with Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo and University of Kansas film professor Kevin Willmott, is arriving just as millions have taken to the streets to protest racism and the death of George Floyd. The time couldn’t be riper for a film that considers who “true Americans” really are. “Da 5 Bloods” debuts Friday on Netflix.
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Missouri Woman Prompts Merriam-Webster to Redefine "Racism"
UNDATED (AP) - Merriam-Webster is revising its definition of racism after a Missouri woman's emails claimed it fell short of including the systemic oppression of certain groups of people. KMOV-TV reports that Kennedy Mitchum says people would argue with her about the definition of racism and she realized the problem was in the Merriam-Webster's dictionary. Peter Sokolowski, editor at large at Merriam-Webster, says the definition also covers the sense that Mitchum was seeking, and they will make its wording even more clear in the next release. He says this is the kind of continuous revision that is part of keeping the dictionary up to date.
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Kansas Police Officer Charged with 2 Child Sex Crimes
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas City, Kansas, police officer is charged with two counts of felony aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree announced the charges Wednesday against 36-year-old Nicholas Schafer, who has been a police officer for more than a decade. Dupree said the alleged crimes did not occur while Schafer was on duty and involved one incident with a child under the age of 14. Schafer is being held in the Wyandotte County jail on $250,000. Interim Police Chief Michael York said in a statement the internal affairs division investigated the allegations as soon as officers were made aware of it.
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