Governor Issues Disaster Declaration Ahead of Winter Storm
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Governor Laura Kelly has declared a disaster emergency in anticipation of a winter storm forecast to bring blizzard conditions to parts of the state Saturday. The National Weather Service is forecasting the storm will move across Kansas Saturday, with a blizzard warning covering the western two-thirds of the state and the northern tier of counties along the Nebraska border. The forecast includes rain turning to heavy snow, winds of 30 and 40 mph with gusts higher than 50 mph. Travel in affected areas will be hazardous. Kelly said in a statement she issued the declaration to ensure state assistance is readily available if needed. The Kansas Division of Emergency Management said its state emergency operations center will be open through midnight Saturday and into Sunday if needed.
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Kansas Lawmakers Pass Pension Measure Passes Amid Partisan Sniping
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A public pensions funding bill has passed the Kansas Legislature unanimously but touched off partisan sniping. The measure sent Friday to Democratic Governor Laura Kelly requires the state to make an immediate $115 million payment to its pension system for teachers and government workers. It represents a payment the state shorted the system in 2016, with interest. The vote Friday in the Republican-controlled House was 117-0. The GOP-dominated Senate approved it earlier this month, 40-0. Kelly said it's encouraging that lawmakers are fixing "past mistakes" but called on GOP leaders to "offer reasonable ideas" to avoid future problems. Senate President Susan Wagle and House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, both Wichita Republicans, fired back by criticizing Kelly's budget proposals. Wagle said Kelly "continues to point the finger" instead of leading.
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Kansas House Committee Votes to Keep Death Penalty in Place
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House committee has narrowly voted to keep the state's death penalty law in place. The Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee voted 7-6 on Friday to reject a bill to repeal the state's 1994 capital punishment law. A bipartisan group of 33 lawmakers sponsored the measure. The bill would have made life in prison with no chance for parole the possible punishment for murders that now qualify for lethal injection. Kansas has 10 men on its death row but has not executed anyone under the 1994 law. The state's last legal executions were by hanging in 1965. Critics contend the death penalty is immoral and costly. But committee Chairman Russ Jennings said his constituents support capital punishment. The Lakin Republican broke a 6-6 vote to sink the bill.
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Plaque Stolen from Thurgood Marshall Bridge in Topeka
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police are investigating the theft of a commemorative plaque from a bridge named for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Civil rights activist Sonny Scroggins reported the theft Saturday. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports police spokeswoman Gretchen Koenen said authorities aren't sure when the plaque was stolen, or how much it is worth. Marshall was among the attorneys for plaintiffs in the Brown v. Board of Education case, which led the U.S. Supreme Court to ban racial segregation in schools. He became the first black U.S. Supreme Court judge in 1967. In August 2018, a plaque was stolen from a bridge honoring Ken Marshall, the first black Kansas legislator from Topeka. And a plaque designating the former Sumner Elementary School as a National Historic Landmark was stolen in 2012.
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Judge Dismisses Further Charges in Waterslide Park Death
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A judge has dismissed criminal charges against a Kansas water park owner and the designer of a 17-story slide on which a 10-year-old boy was decapitated in 2016.The Kansas City Star reports that Wyandotte County Judge Robert Burns found Friday that state prosecutors showed grand jurors inadmissible evidence in dismissing second-degree murder charges against Schlitterbahn owner Jeff Henry and designer John Schooley. The judge also dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against operations manager Tyler Miles. State prosecutors didn't immediately return phone and email messages. They alleged that shoddy planning and maintenance led to Caleb Schwab's death on a special day for elected officials. Caleb's father is Scott Schwab, a state lawmaker who's now Kansas secretary of state. A Schlitterbahn spokeswoman says the company welcomes the decision.
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Kansas Lawmaker Apologizes After LGBTQ Daughter Decries Bill
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A conservative Kansas legislator has apologized and said he has asked that he be removed as a sponsor of a bill calling same-sex marriages a "parody." Republican state Representative Ron Highland of Wamego took the actions Thursday after his LGBTQ daughter posted a letter to him on Facebook that ended with, "Shame on you." The Manhattan Mercury reports that Highland said in a letter to his hometown newspaper that he should not have signed onto the bill because it contained "hateful language" that he does not condone. The bill seeks to prevent the state from endorsing any policy in line with what it calls the "LGBT secular humanist religion." His letter came hours after his daughter, Christel Highland, a Kansas City-area artist, posted her letter on Facebook.
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Kansas Judge Freezes Assets of Sect Accused of Trafficking
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge in Kansas has frozen the assets of a sect that faced a $7.9 million judgment last year for human trafficking. Public radio station KCUR reported Friday that Judge Julie Robinson found that members of what was formerly known as the United Nation of Islam fraudulently transferred assets to nonprofit groups they created. The judge ruled the transfers were meant to prevent Kendra Ross from collecting the money. Ross successfully argued in court that sect leader Royall Jenkins forced her to work without pay for a decade. The United Nation of Islam now goes by The Value Creators. A phone message left with group members wasn't immediately returned. Another judge in November issued a bench warrant for Jenkins' arrest for allegedly ignoring court orders. He remains at large.
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Bill Would Require Notifications of Missing Foster Children
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Child welfare officials would be required to notify the legislature, the governor and the media when a foster child goes missing under proposed legislation. The Kansas City Star reports that the bill sponsored by Louisburg Republican Sen. Molly Baumgardner also would require that notifications be made when children stay overnight in the offices of foster care contractors while they await placements. She said at a hearing Thursday that lawmakers can't address the issue if they don't know it's happening. DFC initially opposed the bill, saying it could lose more than $55 million in federal funding if it released names of missing children. Agency spokesman Mike Deines says it would support sharing updates about missing children if the bill were amended to ensure confidentiality. A vote has yet to be scheduled.
