Topeka Hospital: Patient Does Not Have COVID-19, Test Results Pending for Two Others
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) -- Two patients at Stormont-Vail hospital in Topeka and one outpatient in Emporia have all been tested for the novel coronavirus and COVID-19. Test results for one patient in Topeka came back negative. Test results are still pending for the Emporia patient and the other patient in Topeka. The Topeka patients were placed in an isolation room. “Our health system has worked diligently to prepare for COVID-19 at Stormont Vail Health,” said Robert Kenagy, M.D., president and CEO, Stormont Vail Health. “Our team followed the training provided and performed exactly as they should. I am even more confident that when a positive case comes to Stormont Vail and Shawnee County, our teams will follow our protocols to provide high-quality care.” The symptoms of COVID-19 include cough, fever, shortness of breath and breathing problems. Concerned individuals should seek medical help right away by calling ahead to their primary care providers or before going to an emergency room.
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Kansas Governor Urges Residents to Remain Calm About Coronavirus; Promotes KDHE Website
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says Kansans are safe and the state is prepared for the coronavirus. "There is a lot of misinformation currently being spread about COVID-19," Kelly said, "so I've worked with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to create online resources to answer your questions. We must continue to take the spread and risk of the coronavirus seriously." Last weekend, Kansas confirmed its first case of coronavirus. The infected person, a women from Johnson County, has since been admitted to the University of Kansas Hospital, where doctors say she is doing well. Governor Kelly issued a statement this week saying, "I want to reiterate, there is no need to panic. The best way to protect yourself and your family is by using good hygiene practices: wash your hands, cough into your sleeve, avoid touching your face, and stay home if you aren't feeling well." She also promoted a webpage operated by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment where health and safety information - and updates about the coronavirus - can be found.
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Supporters of Medicaid Expansion Block Entrance to Kansas Senate
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Protesters are seeking to pressure the Kansas Senate into take a vote on a bipartisan plan for expanding Medicaid. Several dozen of them chanted, lay down on the floor and blocked the Senate's main entrance Tuesday. About 50 people protested at the Statehouse for almost three hours. Capitol police removed 23 protesters from in front of the Senate chamber in an attempt to clear the area. The Kansas Highway Patrol said their cases will be forwarded to the local district attorney for potential prosecution on criminal trespassing or disturbing the peace charges. Abortion opponents are blocking the expansion plan until an anti-abortion measure passes.
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Ex-Staffer Appointed as Kansas Supreme Court's New Justice
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has named an attorney who said he's similar in temperament to former Chief Justice Lawton Nuss to replace Nuss as a Kansas Supreme Court justice. Lawrence attorney K.J. Wall also formerly worked for the state's highest court overseeing special projects and research for justices in death penalty cases. The 49-year-old Wall was most recently a partner in law firm that represents rural Kansas hospitals and previously worked as an attorney for a Minnesota-based insurance company. He will join a seven-member court that has faced criticism from conservative Republican legislators over abortion, school funding and death penalty rulings.
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Topeka Man Found Dead Among Recycling Materials
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Police in Topeka say foul play is not suspected after a man was found dead among recycling materials at a landfill. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the body of 62-year-old Paul A. Vigil of Topeka was discovered by employees Monday morning inside a building at Rolling Meadows Landfill. Police did not disclose the cause of death. A police spokeswoman said the death did not occur at the landfill, but did not elaborate. The landfill is outside of Topeka city limits.
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Wichita Police Investigate Shooting Death Near Apartments
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police in Wichita are investigating the shooting death of a man in the parking lot of an apartment complex. The shooting happened around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. The victim was a man in his 20s. His name has not been released. Officers found the man with a gunshot wound to his upper body after a woman reported hearing a single gunshot and looking out her window to see a man on the ground. The victim was taken to the hospital where he died. No arrests have been made.
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After Mistrials, Charges Dropped Against Manhattan Man Accused in Infant's Death
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — After two mistrials, charges were dropped against a Manhattan man who was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend's infant son in 2018. Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson filed the motion on Friday to dismiss first-degree murder and child abuse charges against 25-year-old D'Khari Lyons. However, prosecutors could refile the charges. Lyons was accused of killing 2-month-old Michael Calvert Jr. in November 2018. Two mistrials had been declared earlier in the case. Prosecutors alleged the boy was hurt after his mother left him in Lyons' care. Lyons attorneys argued he didn't know what happened to the child.
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84-Year-Old Central Kansas Man Dies When Golf Cart Rolls over Him
GYPSUM, Kan. (AP) — Saline County authorities say an 84-year-old man died when his golf car rolled on top of him south of Gypsum. The Salina Post reports Frederick Meyer was using the golf cart to get his mail Monday when it went into a ditch in southeast Saline County. Sheriff's Lt. Jeremiah Hayes said Meyer was thrown from the cart, which rolled on top of him. He died at the scene. Hayes said a passer-by noticed the golf cart in the ditch and contacted Meyer's family, who found him.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden Wins Missouri Democratic Primary
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Joe Biden has won the Democratic primary in Missouri. On Tuesday, voters picked the former vice president as their choice to face off against Republican President Donald Trump in November. The former vice president’s win over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders highlights his strength in the Midwest and in conservative-leaning states such as Missouri. Missouri's presidential primary got off to a rough start with some equipment problems in the state's most populous county and was later marred by an unusual car crash at a polling site. But overall, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft says the state's primary went fairly well.
Biden had another big night in the Democratic presidential primary, capturing at least four more states, including Michigan, which dealt a serious blow to Sanders' campaign. In addition to Missouri and Michigan, Biden also won Mississippi and Idaho. Sanders picked up North Dakota while votes were still being tabulated in Washington state.
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Kansas City Mayor Runs into Problems Attempting to Cast Ballot
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The mayor of Kansas City struggled to vote Tuesday in the Missouri presidential primary. Mayor Quinton Lucas says a worker mistakenly transposed his first and last names while searching for him in the voter rolls. He left Tuesday morning and returned to vote successfully in the afternoon. In between, the Democratic mayor of Missouri's largest city publicly aired his frustrations. That, in turn, frustrated the state's top election official, Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. He says local poll workers could have quickly straightened out the situation, but Lucas left before they had a chance to do so.
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Hy-Vee to Close 4 Fulfillment Centers, Including 1 in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Supermarket chain Hy-Vee is closing four centers that fulfill online orders in Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska, putting several hundred people out of work. Christina Gayman, a company spokeswoman, said in a statement that fulfillment centers couldn't provide the ``full assortment of products, personalized shoppers and same-day pickup`` that customers wanted. Nearly 600 workers in Kansas City, Missouri, more than 300 in the Twin Cities suburb of Eagan, Minnesota, nearly 370 in Urbandale, Iowa, and about 300 in Omaha, Nebraska, could loose their jobs, although some might be allowed to transfer.
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Bank Robbery Suspects Arrested After 110 MPH Chase in KC
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (The Kansas City Star) — Two bank robbery suspects are in custody after leading police on a chase through parts of the Kansas City area that reached up to 110 mph. The Kansas City Star reports that the suspects robbed the First Federal Bank in Independence, Missouri, Wednesday morning and fled with an undisclosed amount of money. Police spotted the suspects' black SUV and a chase began along Interstate 435 through Kansas City, Missouri, and into Kansas, where at one point the SUV reportedly reached speeds of about 110 mph. The suspects abandoned the SUV and ran into a neighborhood before Overland Park, Kansas, officers arrested them.
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California Man Sentenced for Counterfeiting $100 Bills in Overland Park Hotel Room
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A California man has been sentenced to three years in prison for washing the ink off $1 bills in a Kansas hotel room and reprinting them to look like $100 bills. The U.S. attorney's office says 51-year-old John Sebestyen, of Mission Viejo, California, also was ordered Monday to pay nearly $20,000 in restitution. Two other co-defendants previously were sentenced in the case. They were caught after an Overland Park hotel employee reported seeing them throwing trash away in containers that weren't near their rooms. Prosecutors say the suspects were trying to dispose of evidence.
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Wichita Woman Sentenced for Stealing from Ailing Stepmother
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 53-year-old Wichita woman has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for stealing $54,000 from her stepmother, who was in a nursing home. Shelby Frias was found guilty in January of mistreatment of an elder person. Prosecutors say she took the money from her 72-year-old stepmother's account. The older woman was in a nursing home with dementia and died about five months after the theft was discovered. Frias was sentenced Friday and ordered to pay restitution. She testified at her trial that her stepmother wanted her to keep the money safe. But evidence showed Frias spent the money on shopping, trips and rental cars.
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Kansas Measure Would Allow College Athletes to Profit from Endorsement Deals
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are taking steps to allow college athletes to hire agents and sign endorsement deals. Many fear that if they don't act, then out-of-state rivals will leave the state's most storied university athletics programs in the dust by attracting the best recruits. A bill that would bar state universities from preventing their athletes from earning outside compensation easily cleared the state Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday. Athletics officials at the University of Kansas and Kansas State University back the measure and it appears to have bipartisan support, as Kansas' top-ranked men's basketball team prepares for March Madness.
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Plan Would Boost Funding for Offices of Top Kansas Lawmakers
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The offices of Kansas legislative leaders would see an 11% increase in their funding under a proposal that has cleared committee. Almost all of the new dollars would go to top Republicans. The House Appropriations Committee added the money Monday before approving the Republican-controlled Legislature's proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins in July. The biggest increases of nearly 58% would go to the offices with the smallest budgets. They are the Senate vice president and the House speaker pro tem. The proposal goes next to the House. Top Democrats strongly criticized the proposal and said such spending is not a priority.
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Missouri Lawmakers Urge Residents to Avoid State Capitol Building over Virus Concerns
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers are urging citizens to avoid the Capitol over concerns about the novel coronavirus. House and Senate leaders on Tuesday asked members of the public to reconsider visiting the Capitol building unless they're directly participating in legislative business. Lawmakers are ending public access to the House chamber and some other public spaces. House Speaker Elijah Haahr says lawmakers are acting out of an abundance of caution. He says lawmakers will continue to conduct business as usual. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. The vast majority of people recover.
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Former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill Happy with Transitions from Senate to TV Pundit
NEW YORK (AP) — There's no looking back for former U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill. The two-term senator from Missouri lost her seat in the 2018 midterm election but is now making waves as a TV analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. McCaskill says she's surprised by how much fun she's having and how little she misses the Senate. The Democrat says one of the toughest parts of the transition was realizing she has the freedom to say what she wants to say, without worrying about an evenly-divided electorate back home. McCaskill has emerged as a colorful and blunt analyst through President Donald Trump's impeachment trial and the presidential primaries.
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Only Players, Essential Staff and Limited Family to Be Allowed at NCAA Tournament Games
UNDATED (AP) — NCAA President Mark Emmert says NCAA Division I basketball tournament games will not be open to the general public because of concerns about the spread of coronavirus. Emmert says he made the decision to conduct both the men's and women's tournaments with only essential staff and limited family in attendance. The decision comes after the NCAA's COVID-19 advisory panel recommended against playing sporting events open to the general public. Emmert also says the NCAA is looking into moving the men's Final Four from Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium to a smaller arena. The tournaments begin next week.
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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.
