Schwab Seeks Second Term as Kansas Secretary of State
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab has announced he will seek a second term, saying the state needs leaders who will defend election integrity. In a press release Wednesday announcing his candidacy in the 2022 election, the Overland Park Republican touted his efforts to implement election security, improve business services and modernize office functions. He says it is imperative the state protect its election processes and streamline business filings. He took office in 2019.
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14-Year-Old Boy Dies After Falling from Moving Vehicle
BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP) — A 14-year-old Kansas boy has died after falling from a moving vehicle driven by another juvenile. The accident happened Monday in Bonner Springs in suburban Kansas City. Police did not identify the victim. A statement from police said officers responded to a report of a medical emergency in a parking lot and determined that two juveniles were riding on a vehicle driven by another juvenile. One of them fell and was critically injured. He died at a hospital. No additional information was immediately released.
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New KCK Police Chief Wants to Establish Cold Case Division
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The new police chief in Kansas City, Kansas, wants to solve some old cases. The Kansas City Star reports that newly sworn-in chief Karl Oakman hopes to create a cold case unit sometime in 2022. Oakman said in a statement Tuesday that the new division will be established "once staffing allows." Oakman served as deputy chief in Kansas City, Missouri, before being sworn in as the new chief across the state line earlier this month. Oakman's statement came on the same day a social justice group called Justice for Wyandotte urged creation of the unit during a rally near the Wyandotte County Courthouse.
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Kansas Man Sentenced for Stealing from University of Kansas Medical Center
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 50-year-old Lenexa man has been sentenced to two years in prison after stealing more than $556,000 from the University of Kansas Medical Center. Prosecutors said Michael Tae Kim Ahlers also stole money from the KUMC Research Institute and the KU Endowment. Ahlers pleaded guilty in February to bank fraud and filing a false tax return. As part of his sentence, he was ordered to pay $680,000 in restitution. Ahlers was an administrative officer of the KUMC Occupational Therapy Education Department between 2009 and 2015. Federal prosecutors say he spent the money on gambling, vacations, golf club memberships and sports tickets.
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Wichita Police Seek Federal Partnership to Address Violence
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police are asking the City Council to approve a federal partnership in an effort to address a surge in violent crime. The Wichita Eagle reports that police want help from the U.S. Marshals Service as gun violence escalates in the city. Nine people were shot over the past weekend, including a police officer who was shot in the head and legs. The partnership with the U.S. Marshals Service would be known as Operation Triple Beam. It would be a 60-day effort starting in July with a goal of investigating and arresting people who have active state or federal arrest warrants.
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Uber Eats Tackles App Profile Issue that Outs Trans Drivers
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — Uber Eats says it has apologized and resolved issues with app profiles that outed a Kansas man as transgender. The move comes after the ACLU of Kansas warned the food delivery service that its app profiles place transgender drivers at risk of harassment and violence. ACLU released a letter Tuesday that it had sent the day earlier to the food delivery service on behalf of Laine Repic, a 41-year-old transgender man in Topeka, Kansas, who has been driving for the company since April. The ACLU of Kansas contended that Uber Eats has forced Repic to have his app profile display his legal name, which he no longer uses and which does not match his male gender presentation.
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Lawsuit Filed over Sicknesses at Wichita Wildlife Park
GODDARD, Kan. (AP) — A woman who says she and her three children became “violently ill” after visiting a splash park at a wildlife attraction in Goddard is suing the business. Public health officials have not determined what caused several people to become ill at the Tanganyika Wildlife Park. The splash park remains closed. Elena Davis alleges in the lawsuit that one of her children went to the hospital after the family became ill after visiting the splash park. Lawyers for the family allege the park didn't maintain proper sanitary conditions or warn guests about the outbreak in a timely fashion. State and Sedgwick County health officials are investigating.
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Grandmother: Boy Injured on Branson Roller Coaster Might Lose Legs
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — The grandmother of an 11-year-old boy from Tennessee who was injured on a roller coaster in Missouri says doctors are concerned they might not be able to save his legs. Shelandra Ford is with Aalondo Perry at a Missouri hospital. He was hurt in Branson on Sunday. Ford told WREG-TV in Memphis, Tennessee, that her grandson is visually impaired. She says he fell when he tried to get off The Branson Coaster and was trapped under the ride's rails for 1 1/2 hours. Ford says her grandson's legs and one arm were crushed. The Missouri Division of Fire Safety is investigating.
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Inmate Charged in Death of Prisoner at St. Joseph Prison
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — A 41-year-old inmate at a state facility in St. Joseph has been charged in the beating death of another prisoner. Court documents show Akwasi Sawyer was charged last week with involuntary manslaughter in the death of 44-year-old Christopher Balducci. The records contend Sawyer assaulted Balducci and Tyler Breslin inside their cell at the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in October 2020. Balducci died about a month later of complications from blunt force trauma he suffered in the beating. Sawyer was serving a 19-year sentence for multiple counts of resisting and interfering with a felony arrest and felony drug possession.
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Missouri Governor Calls Special Session on Missouri Medicaid Funding
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is calling lawmakers back for a special session to work out a deal on a critical piece of Medicaid funding. Parson announced Tuesday that he is calling a special session beginning noon Wednesday so lawmakers can pass a tax on medical providers that draws down a significant amount of federal Medicaid funding. At issue is an effort by some Republican lawmakers to stop Medicaid coverage for Planned Parenthood and some family planning services. Parson says time is running out for lawmakers to cut a deal and protect the funding.
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Kansas City: Lawsuit over Police Funding is 'False Flag'
LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) _ Kansas City officials say in a court filing that a lawsuit filed over a change in how a portion of the police department's budget is spent is legally and factually false. The state-controlled Board of Police Commissioners sued the city and several officials after the city council approved moving about $42 million of the police department's budget into a new fund. The board contends state law gives sole authority to the commission to determine how police funds are spent. In a response filed Tuesday, the city said that despite the rerouting of some funds, the city has met its obligation to provide one-fifth of its general revenue funds to the police department.
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Man Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison for Killing Girlfriend
WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Kansas man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing his girlfriend in Iowa in 2018. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports that 34-year-old Zackery Bassett, originally from Elwood, Kansas, must serve at least 35 years of the sentence that was handed down Monday. A jury in February convicted Bassett of second-degree murder in the death of 50-year-old Andrea Solokowski. She was killed in September 2018 in Webster City, Iowa. Prosecutors said Bassett had abused and stalked Solokowski, of Sioux City, Iowa, for more than a year before her death. An autopsy found injuries consistent with asphyxiation but Solokowski's cause of death was listed as undetermined.
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New Kansas Firefighting Team Deployed Out of State
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A brand new Kansas wildfire fighting team is on its first out-of-state assignment and officials say it's a trip that will ultimately benefit Kansans. The 10-person team of firefighters from the Kansas Forest Service is positioned in South Dakota near the Black Hills National Forest, where record-breaking temperatures and drought have created a severe fire risk. The team will help fight any fires that might pop up, but can also help protect properties and reduce excess vegetation in high risk areas. The leader of the group, Chris Hanson, says the assignment will provide much needed real-world experience. Hanson says the group can then use that experience to help fight Kansas wildfires and teach other local firefighters. The creation of the unit is among several improvements the Kansas Forest Service has made in the wake of the state’s largest wildfires that burned in south-central Kansas in 2016 and 2017. The Kansas team could be in South Dakota for the next three weeks.
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Man Sentenced to Prison for Fatal Drunken Driving Crash
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 36-year-old Wichita man with previous drunken driving convictions was sentenced to more than six years in prison for a crash that killed a woman in 2018. Monty Carpenter Jr. was sentenced Monday to 76 months in prison in the death of 56-year-old Marsha Oglesby. He pleaded guilty in April to involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence. Police say Carpenter ran a red light and hit Oglesby's car on Sept. 3, 2018. KAKE-TV reports court records show Carpenter had three previous convictions for drunk driving.
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Suspect Sought in Wichita Shooting That Left 1 Dead, 1 Hurt
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police are searching for a suspect in a shooting that killed one person and left another critically injured. Officers called to a home in northeast Wichita on Sunday found 47-year-old Deandre Freeman dead from several gunshot wounds. A 53-year-old man at the home who was also shot was hospitalized in critical condition. Police spokesman Charley Davidson said Monday investigators determined a disturbance broke out between the men and the suspect fired several shots. He said those involved knew each other and it was not a random shooting.
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Missouri Leads Nation in Highest Rate of New COVID Cases
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) _ Missouri now leads the nation with the highest rate of new COVID-19 infections as vaccinations lag. One person in every 1,349 people in the state was diagnosed with COVID-19 from June 13 to Sunday. Missouri health officials say the north-central and southwest part of the state are driving the surge. While more than 53% of the population of Americans have initiated vaccination, most southern and northern Missouri counties are well short of 40%. And a handful of southern Missouri counties have fewer than 20% of residents vaccinated.
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Survey: Kansas Doctors Reporting Pandemic Burnout
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) - New research shows the stress and exhaustion caused by the pandemic took a toll on physicians in Kansas. Just over half of family doctors in a survey showed at least one sign of professional burnout. Samuel Ofei-Dodoo, a professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita. led the study. He says severe and chronic stress can push doctors out of the profession. It can also cause depression and worse. “Fatigue, dependency on alcohol and drugs." Ofei-Dodoo said. "It can also cause marital problems and perhaps the most serious one, suicide.” Doctors who had treated COVID patients were four times as likely to report signs that they were struggling. Signs of burnout in the study included physicians feeling emotionally exhausted and like they weren’t really helping their patients.
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Two Officers Charged with Assault Involved in Earlier Shooting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Two Kansas City police officers who are facing assault charges and several lawsuits stemming from a 2019 arrest were also involved in an earlier shooting. The Kansas City Star reports that newly released records show that Officers Charles Prichard and Matthew Brummett were involved in a January 2019 shooting during an arrest in which a man was wounded after reaching for one of the officers' guns. That 2019 shooting was reviewed by an internal panel earlier this year that didn't recommend any action against the officers. Police department officials declined to comment last week on the officers' conduct.
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EXPLAINER: Why is Missouri Fighting Federal Gun Rules?
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Missouri is clashing with the Justice Department over a new law banning police from enforcing federal gun rules. The Justice Department this week warned Missouri that the law could strain relationships between federal and local law enforcement. But Missouri's Republican governor and attorney general say they'll still enforce the new law. Federal and Missouri gun laws are almost all the same. Republican state lawmakers say they passed the bill because of concerns about new gun rules under Democratic President Joe Biden. Other states passed similar legislation. But so far, the Justice Department has only sent a warning letter to Missouri.
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Kansas Public Radio Aims for More Sustaining Members
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - After getting a $216,000 budget cut from the University of Kansas, Kansas Public Radio is hoping to make up the difference by holding a special two-day, on-air fund drive later this month. KPR's goal is to increase membership by 300 new or upgrading sustainers. Sustainers are donors who sign up for automatic monthly contributions to the radio station. The recent budget cut from KU is the largest in the 69-year history of the station and represents about 70% of the station's annual funding from the university. The on-air portion of KPR's two-day fund drive begins Thursday, June 24, but fundraising is already underway. KPR supporters have pooled their money to create a $30,000 matching grant when KPR receives 300 new or upgrading sustainers during the month of June. Those wanting to become KPR listener-members can join anytime by making a pledge.
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