Kansas Governor Backs New Guidelines on Nursing Home Visits
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says she supports new federal guidelines detailing how nursing homes can begin allowing visits to patients. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week said nursing homes should continue to follow COVID-19 related protocols, such as social distancing and temperature screening. But it said indoor visitations can be allowed at facilities that take Medicare and Medicaid if they have not had any new COVID-19 cases for 14 days and are not conducting active outbreak testing. State officials said Tuesday that it will take some time to implement the new guidance because each facility will have to respond according to their own circumstances.
====================
KU Researchers Developing Quick-Turnaround COVID-19 Test
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — A University of Kansas professor is leading an effort to develop a quick-turnaround COVID-19 test that can be used at home. Professor Steven Soper’s team, which includes a half-dozen graduate students in bioengineering and chemistry, is repurposing “lab on a chip” technology. Soper had previously developed this technology to give doctors simple tools to quickly and more easily diagnose conditions ranging from stroke to colon cancer. Soper says taking the COVID-19 test will be as simple as taking a home pregnancy test, only this test involves saliva. “You take a saliva sample, you put it in the chip, and the chip does the processing,” Soper said. The whole process, including results, should take around 15 minutes. Current tests — including one used by KU — involve multiple steps, require a trained operator to implement the test and need an hour or two before results are available. ( Read more.)
====================
Kansas Has Nearly 60,000 COVID-19 Cases, Including 678 Virus-Related Deaths
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - State health officials say Kansas has recorded more than 59,500 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. The Department of Health and Environment reported Wednesday that the state now has 59,749 cases, including 678 deaths. That's an increase of 1120 cases and 41 deaths since Monday. Another update on case numbers will be released Friday.
(–Related–)
Kansas Health Chief Predicts Bigger COVID-19 Spikes to Come
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The top public health official in Kansas says the state has yet to see its biggest wave of coronavirus cases, suggesting the pandemic could spawn an average of 800 or even 900 new cases a day in coming months. Dr. Lee Norman, the state health department head, said Wednesday that Kansas is likely to surpass the record numbers of new cases it has seen recently. The state had an average of 646 new cases a day for the seven days ending Wednesday, second only to the 667 cases per day for the seven days ending Monday. Kansas saw 1,120 new cases since Monday, bringing the total to 59,729.
COVID-19 Outbreaks Back at Kansas Prisons as Cases Near 60,000
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Coronavirus outbreaks have returned to the state prison system as the number of cases in Kansas for the pandemic approaches 60,000. The state health department reported Wednesday that there are active clusters of five or more cases in four state prisons and an inmate work-release program in Wichita. They account for 244 cases within the past 14 days. The health department said the prison in Hutchinson has had 85 active cases in the past two weeks and the state’s prison mental health center in Larned has had 79. The health department said Kansas saw 1,120 new cases since Monday, an increase of 1.9% to bring the total to 59,729.
====================
Hospitalizations Increase 186% in Outstate Missouri Since June
O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — The number of people hospitalized for the coronavirus has nearly tripled in areas outside of Missouri’s two largest metropolitan areas since the state reopened for business in mid-June. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ COVID-19 dashboard shows that the state’s northwest, southeast, southwest and central regions all reached record highs for virus-related hospitalizations on Monday, based on seven-day averages. Excluding the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, hospitalizations in Missouri have risen 186% in the 3½ months since Republican Governor Mike Parson allowed the state to reopen on June 16.
====================
Kansas Unemployment System Blocks at Least 45,000 Bogus Claims
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials say criminals have targeted the state's unemployment system in a multibillion dollar fraud scheme that has delayed relief payments to thousands of people around the state who lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. The acting secretary of the Kansas Department of Labor, Ryan Wright, says the agency has blocked at least 45,000 fraudulent payments this year. The agency doesn't know how much money the fraudsters are believed to have stolen in Kansas. But The Wichita Eagle reports that the Legislature approved an audit of the program to determine how many payments slipped through to them.
====================
Wichita Woman Gets Life Sentence for Decapitating Ex-Boyfriend's Mom
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita woman has been sentenced to life in prison for decapitating her ex-boyfriend's mother with a pair of kitchen knives. The Wichita Eagle reports that 38-year-old Rachael Hilyard was sentenced Tuesday in the 2017 death of 63-year-old Micki Davis. Hilyard apologized at the hearing. Authorities say Davis was attacked after going to Hilyard's home to pick up some of her son's property on April 9, 2017. Prosecutors said Hilyard had planned the killing. Hilyard claimed that Davis fell during a struggle over a painting and that she carried out the decapitation because she thought Davis was dead and wanted to release her soul from her body. A jury convicted Hilyard in February.
====================
Topeka Authorities: Explosive Device Was Placed in Vehicle
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka authorities say a car was badly damaged after an explosive device was placed inside the vehicle. WIBW-TV reports that police were called Monday night after an explosion inside a car that was parked near an apartment building. The Topeka Fire Department says a preliminary investigation shows that an explosive device had been placed in the car's passenger compartment. The police Bomb Unit was brought in to investigate. The explosion was contained to the car. Authorities say no other explosive devices were found in the area.
====================
Man Posing as Police Officer in Wichita Sought by Actual Police
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police are looking for a man suspected of posing as a police officer to pull over a driver. The Wichita Eagle reports that a police impersonator, driving a dark-colored car with red and blue emergency lights in the windshield, pulled over a driver Monday night. Police say the man was wearing a blue or black uniform and was armed with a handgun. Police say the impostor asked the driver for license and insurance, looked at the documents, gave them back, and left. Police spokesman Charley Davidson says anyone questioning the legitimacy of an officer should call 911.
====================
Wichita State's Crash Evokes Moving Memories 50 Years Later
SILVER PLUME, Colo. (AP) _ It's been 50 years since 31 people died when an airplane carrying the Wichita State football team crashed in Colorado while traveling to a game at Utah State on Oct. 2, 1970. Among the casualties were 14 players along with coaches, boosters, administrators, trainers and three crew members. The school will hold a remembrance at Cessna Stadium this Friday. It's where the Shockers played until the football program was disbanded for cost-cutting reasons in 1986. Many touched by the tragedy will be there.
==================
Former Wichita State President to Be Paid for Consulting
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ The Wichita State University president who abruptly resigned last week will be paid a reduced salary until June 2021 for unspecified consulting services. The agreement with the Kansas Board of Regents also requires Jay Golden to limit his presence on the Wichita State University campus. It prohibits him from having official communications with faculty, staff or friends of the university _ except for those related to consulting services the interim or acting president may request. The agreement was provided to The Associated Press in response to an open records request.
====================
Unified Government Settles Case, Apologizes to Ex-Employee
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A former employee of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, has won a $125,000 settlement after her boss was convicted of grabbing her by the shirt and pushing her into a wall. The Kansas City Star reports that the Unified Government also apologized to Madeline Waldeck for the hostile work environment she faced while working for Dennis "Tib" Laughlin, the former director of general services. Her lawsuit says she called police in May 2018 after Laughlin shoved her, leading to a misdemeanor battery conviction and Laughlin's resignation. The suit said said she had complained previously about Laughlin's conduct but that no action was taken.
====================
Missouri Child Welfare Division Head Resigns After 3 Months
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The head of a Missouri division that oversees child welfare services has resigned after only three months on the job. David Wood, a Republican from Versailles, said Monday that he resigned as director of the Division of Children's Services, which oversees child abuse and neglect issues, child care licensing, adoption and foster care. He gave no reason for his resignation and state officials also declined to discuss it. Wood took over the division in mid-June after resigning his seat in the Missouri House. He said at the time he hoped to bring stability to a division that had five directors in seven years.
====================
Child Welfare Advocates Propose Independent Agency to Track Kansas Foster Care System
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Child welfare advocates in Kansas are pushing for an independent agency to monitor the state’s troubled foster care system. The nonprofit group Kansas Appleseed has proposed creating an Office of the Child Advocate to investigate complaints and evaluate the state agency overseeing foster care. The nonprofit failed to get state lawmakers to vote on a bill to create the agency during the 2020 session of the Kansas Legislature, but the group has the support of some lawmakers to push again in 2021. Opponents say the money would be better spent on existing programs that monitor the system.
====================
Kansas City Introduces Another Plan to Combat Growing Crime
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City leaders are introducing a new four-part plan they hope will help the city reduce its burgeoning crime rate. Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced Reform Project KC during a news conference Wednesday that was attended by dozens of public officials and community organizers. The four “pillars” of the program are prevention, intervention, enforcement and administrative reforms. Lucas says the focus is to engage residents in ways that have not been tried in the past. Several civil rights organizations didn't attend and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters-Baker acknowledges many of them don't trust officials involved in the latest effort.
====================
White Officers Who Fatally Shot Black Man Dropped from Lawsuit
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two white Topeka police officers who fatally shot a Black man as he fled from them after a struggle that revealed he was armed have been removed from a federal lawsuit accusing them of using excessive force. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled Officers Justin Mackey and Michael Cruse have qualified immunity and that it wasn’t clearly established that they violated 30-year-old Dominique White’s Fourth Amendment rights. The ruling Monday came on the three-year anniversary of White's fatal shooting near a Topeka park. A second count that contends the city failed to adequately train its police officers will move forward. A trial date hasn’t been set.
====================
Lawsuit: Kansas Woman Posed No Danger When Deputy Killed Her
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) _ A lawsuit says a Kansas woman who was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy after refusing to pull over was unarmed and posed no danger to him or the public. The court filing Tuesday paints a different picture than the one recounted by authorities following the fatal shooting in Wichita of 51-year-old Debra Arbuckle by Sedgwick County Deputy Kaleb Dailey on Dec. 30, 2019. An attorney representing Arbuckle's family says multiple law enforcement videos show the deputy and his colleagues were not in any danger when he killed her. The lawsuit, filed by Arbuckle's son, seeks unspecified general and punitive damages.
====================
Kansas City Man Shot by Officer Charged in Earlier Case
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors say a 32-year-old Kansas City man who was shot by a police officer has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend before the shooting. The Jackson County prosecutor said Sunday that Pierre Bey-Crawford was charged with rape or attempted rape and other crimes. Charging documents allege Bey-Crawford sexually assaulted and strangled his girlfriend on Saturday. He led police on a chase after he fled from her apartment. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Bey-Crawford fled on foot after the car crashed. He allegedly "directed a black object” at an officer, who shot and wounded him. Bey-Crawford was taken to a hospital after the shooting.
====================
Kansas City Police Will Wear Body Cameras by Early Next Year
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City patrol officers will begin wearing body cameras early next year. The police department says the cameras will be delivered in early December. The police department said Monday that after officers undergo training, the public should see them wearing body cameras early next year. Civil rights organizations have been calling for police to get body cameras for years, and that pressure increased after social justice demonstrations in the city this year. In June, city officials announced private donations of $2.5 million would pay for the cameras. The department is pursuing grants to fund body cameras for detectives and investigators.
====================
Some Kansans Still Have Not Completed the 2020 Census Questionnaire
SAN JOSE, Cal. (KNS) - About 99 percent of Kansas households have filled out the 2020 Census but that means tens of thousands of Kansans could still be left out. Since the federal government uses Census tallies to determine funding for everything from libraries to water infrastructure, a 1 percent undercount could cost Kansas as much as $600 million dollars by the time there’s a new count in 2030. The Trump administration attempted to set a stop date for the Census count at the end of September, a month earlier than originally planned, but a federal judge ruled last week that the collection must continue until the end of October.
====================
Juvenile Causes Brief Lockdown at McConnell AFB in Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Officials at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita say a juvenile in a stolen vehicle caused a brief shutdown at the base. Officials said in a news release the juvenile refused to stop at a base gate early Tuesday. All gates were closed an everyone on the base was told to stay indoors. When security stopped the vehicle, the juvenile fled on foot but was caught a short time later. All entry gates were reopened about two hours after the incident. The juvenile was being questioned by authorities.
====================
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.