Kansas Senate Approves Abortion-Related Bill
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — A push to amend the Kansas Constitution’s language about abortion took a major step forward last (WED) night. After nearly five hours of debate, the Kansas Senate passed a bill that aims to reverse a Kansas Supreme Court decision from last year, which said the state constitution ensures the right to an abortion. Senate Democrats opposed the amendment, saying it opens the door to undue restrictions. Fighting back tears, Democratic Senator Vic Miller said the amendment would impose on a woman’s right to choose. "I don't know that I can even come close to knowing what it would be like to be a woman and have these types of decisions in my face," Miller said. Republican senators say the amendment protects women and unborn children, putting regulatory power back in lawmakers’ hands. If the proposed amendment is approved by the House, it will appear as a question on the August primary ballot.
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Governor: Abortion Measure Would Put Kansas in 'Dark Ages'
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly says a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the Kansas Constitution would return the state “to the Dark Ages.” Kelly on Thursday called the measure a political attack on women's rights that will hurt the state's business climate. Kelly is a strong supporter of abortion rights and has no formal role as the Republican-controlled Legislature considers putting the proposed amendment on the ballot for possible approval by voters. The measure would overturn a Kansas Supreme Court decision last year declaring access to abortion a “fundamental” right. Abortion opponents argue the amendment will allow the state to preserve reasonable regulations.
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Kansas Considers Requiring 'In God We Trust' in Classrooms
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservative Republicans are pushing for a law in Kansas to require the posting of the national motto of “In God We Trust” in public buildings and all classrooms and libraries in public schools and colleges. Critics link the idea to a broader effort by the Christian right to promote their religious beliefs in public life. A Kansas House committee had a hearing Thursday on a bill sponsored by 13 GOP lawmakers that would require the posting of the motto as soon as schools, colleges, cities and counties receive donations, either of “durable" posters or money to cover the costs.
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Medicaid Expansion May Save Kansas Prisons and Jails Millions of Dollars
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — If the Medicaid expansion bill passes in Kansas, it could save prisons and county jails millions of dollars. Medicaid covers only a fraction of low-income people in Kansas -- including less than one percent of people in state prisons. Under the Medicaid expansion bill under consideration, 80 to 90 percent of those people would be eligible for coverage if they’re hospitalized. Since most of the money would come from the federal government, the state Department of Corrections says it would save more than two million dollars a year. The bill would also affect county jails. Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter says the county jail spent about a million dollars on hospitalizations in 2018. "If Medicaid expansion would go in, that million dollars wouldn't be coming out of my budget and taxpayer money,” Easter said. The total cost for most of the other counties in Kansas in 2018 was six million dollars.
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Lawsuit: Kansas Highway Patrol Targets Out-of-State Drivers
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal court filing alleges that the Kansas Highway Patrol has a practice of unlawfully targeting motorists based on their out-of-state license plates or Colorado travel plans, due to that state's legalization of marijuana. Among the allegations contained in the new filing are statistics showing that drivers with out-of-state plates made up 93% of all of the agency's traffic stops in 2017. What began as a hand-scrawled complaint filed last December by two irate drivers themselves in federal court got some legal firepower on Thursday when the American Civil Liberties Union and a Missouri law firm filed an amended complaint. The Kansas Highway Patrol says it cannot comment on pending litigation.
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Spirit Aerosystems CFO Resigns, Makes 737 Max Deal
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Spirit Aerosystems Chief Financial Officer Jose Garcia has resigned as the aircraft parts maker found it did not comply with its established accounting processes. Spirit said Thursday that it started a review of its accounting process compliance in December and has since found that it didn't comply with the accounting processes related to certain potential contingent liabilities that it received after the end of 2019’s third quarter. Spirit said it doesn't believe the non-compliance will result in a third-quarter financial restatement or materially impact its financial statements for fiscal year 2019. But the company said the review is ongoing and no final conclusion has been made.
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Series of Small Earthquakes Rattles Central Kansas
MARION, Kan. (AP) — A series of four small earthquakes has rattled central Kansas this week. The Kansas Geological Survey says all of them were centered in Marion County. They ranged in magnitude from 2.5 to 3.4. The threshold for damage usually starts at 4.0. The first was reported around 11:45 pm Tuesday and the last was recorded around 7 pm Wednesday. Kansas began seeing a spike in earthquakes in 2014 that were blamed on wastewater injection wells from oil and gas production. The number of quakes began tapering off after oil prices dropped and regulations were enacted. A recent uptick in quakes is under investigation.
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Man, Woman Found Dead After Mobile Home Fire Identified
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have identified two people found dead after a mobile home fire near Emporia as a man and woman in their 60s. Deputy Jody Meyers of the Lyon County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Thursday that 67-year-old Jerry Wiley and 61-year-old Mary Ann Wiley were found inside the home on January 16 as firefighters extinguished the blaze. Their cause of death remains under investigation.
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Kansas Man Charged in Federal Court with Battery Acid Threat
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities allege in a federal indictment that a man threatened to burn government employees with battery acid. The Wichita Eagle reports that Roland Keith Vandenberg was indicted this week in federal court on one charge of assaulting, impeding, intimidating and interfering with employees of the U.S. government or one of its agencies. The charge alleges Vandenberg made the threat last month. Court documents don't identify what government agency the employees worked for or where exactly the incident took place. The case originated in Sedgwick County. The misdemeanor charges carries a fine of up to a year in prison.
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Grounded Jet Sends Boeing to First Annual Loss in 2 Decades
UNDATED (AP) — Boeing is reporting its first annual loss in more than two decades as the crisis surrounding its grounded 737 Max drags on. Boeing said Wednesday that it lost $1 billion in the fourth quarter and lost $636 million last year. The company is sharply raising its estimate of spending related to fixing the Max and compensating airlines for canceling tens of thousands of flights. Boeing is now estimating the Max-related extra costs at more than $18 billion. The company still hopes to get FAA approval for changes it's making to the Max around mid-year.
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Kansas Abortion Measure Advances in Tennessee Plan's Shadow
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans have pushed a proposed anti-amendment to the Kansas Constitution through the state Senate. The vote Wednesday came even as abortion rights advocates tried to undercut potential support for the measure by arguing that it would lead to a ban on most abortions like a measure being pursued in Tennessee. The Kansas proposal is aimed at overturning a state Supreme Court decision last year protecting abortion rights and is modeled on a change Tennessee voters approved in their state's constitution in 2014. The Senate's vote was 28-12, giving supporters one vote more than the two-thirds majority necessary. It goes to the House.
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Kansas Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Killing Wife
STOCKTON, Kan. (AP) — A northwest Kansas man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife who was a correctional officer. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said in a news release that 37-year-old Alifonso Eduardo Garcia, of Plainville, won't be eligible for parole for at least 50 years under the life sentence imposed Wednesday. Jurors in Rooks County found Garcia guilty last month of first-degree premeditated murder in the March 2018 death of 24-year-old Alexis Diane Garcia. Kansas Department of Corrections officials said she had been an officer at the Norton Correctional Facility's satellite unit in Stockton. Her obituary said she also was a mother of one.
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Man Fatally Shot in Pizza Hut in Kansas City, Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man has been fatally shot at a Pizza Hut in Kansas City, Kansas. Police identified the victim Wednesday in a news release as 25-year-old Laron Briggs. He was shot inside the restaurant Tuesday night. Police provided no information about a suspect or motive in the news release.
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Kansas Woman Killed when SUV Crashes into Police Vehicle
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a western Kansas police officer was not using lights and sirens when he crashed his patrol vehicle into a car, killing the driver. The Wichita Eagle reports that police officer Shane Harris was responding to a break-in call Saturday morning when 26-year-old Vanessa Guzman drove into the path of his patrol vehicle in Dodge City. The resulting collision rolled her car over a guardrail. She was ejected and died of her injuries. Harris was treated for a minor injury.
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Body Found in Burning Car in Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a body was found in a burning car in Wichita. KFDI-FM reports that the discovery was made around 5 am Wednesday as firefighters were putting out the blaze. The name of the victim hasn't been released, and it wasn't immediately clear what caused the fire.
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Driver Said He Thought He Was Braking Before Striking 14-Year-Old, Killing Her
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Charging documents say a 71-year-old driver who is charged in the death of a 14-year-old girl told police he thought he was stepping on the brakes when he struck her as as she walked home from her suburban Kansas City school. The documents released Tuesday in the case against Sudhir Gandhi, of Lenexa, Kansas, said that he also told police that when the car continued to accelerate, he decided to steer it away from other vehicles stopped on the road and drive onto a sidewalk. Gandhi is charged with reckless second-degree murder in the death of Alexandra Rumple.
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Police Arrest Man Accused of Ramming Vehicle into Wichita Home
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a man who is suspected of ramming into a Wichita home with three children and three adults inside during a domestic disturbance. Thirty-six-year-old Samuel Higgins, of Wichita, is jailed on suspicion of multiple charges, including aggravated assault, battery of a law enforcement officer, criminal damage to property and driving while under the influence. Police said in a news release that he also tried to run over a couple relatives, rammed into another vehicle and attempted to injure a police officer before he was arrested Tuesday night.
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Kansas Native Katie Sowers Becomes 1st Woman Coach in the Super Bowl
MIAMI (AP) — Katie Sowers says being the first woman and openly gay coach to work the Super Bowl feels a bit surreal. She also hopes she's blazing a path for more to follow. Sowers says she feels like a broken record but will continue saying that the most important thing is that she not be the last woman or openly gay coach at the Super Bowl. Simply attending a Super Bowl was Sowers' dream growing up in Hesston, Kansas, and playing football in the yard with her twin sister. Sowers is an assistant coach on offense for the San Francisco 49ers but she sports an image of the Kansas City skyline on her arm with the word "Home." ( Learn more in this report from KPR's Greg Echlin.)
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Tight Security Promised for Super Bowl 54, as Kansas City Chiefs Face San Francisco 49ers in Miami
MIAMI (AP) — Florida and federal law enforcement agencies preparing for the Super Bowl this Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens say they are ready for anything, including a detonated bomb or massive food poisoning. But they say they haven't identified any threats. Events for the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers kicked off Monday with an interactive Super Bowl Experience in Miami Beach and Super Bowl Live at Miami’s Bayfront Park. It's a lot of mileage to patrol. But officials say they are well prepared. A Homeland Security official says, “It’s all hands on deck.”
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Kansas and Wisconsin Consider Banning Bias Based on Hairstyles
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Black female legislators in two predominantly white Midwestern states are trying to convince their Republican colleagues to join a national push to outlaw discrimination based on hairstyles such as braids and dreadlocks. Supporters of bills in Kansas and Wisconsin said Tuesday that employers and teachers often wrongly see white people's hair as the standard for what's clean and professional. Committees in both states have proposals to revise anti-discrimination laws to ban bias in housing, employment and public accommodations based on hairstyles "historically associated with race" such as braids, locs and twists. But supporters are facing questions about how such laws could be applied.
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Judge Vetoes Plan to Cut Missouri Public Defenders' Workload
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge refused approval of a deal to reduce Missouri public defenders' case workloads, saying the proposed agreement is essentially unworkable. According to KCUR Radio, the consent decree submitted to the court last May, would have limited public defenders to no more than 174 hours of casework a month. Though studies conclude the Missouri public defender system is stretched beyond capacity, U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey said the consent decree proposed is not the way to solve the problem since judges were not bound by the agreement, forcing public defenders to choose between violating the consent decree or being subject to contempt of court.
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Opioid Prescriptions Down Significantly in Missouri's Medicaid Program
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Opioid prescriptions are down significantly in Missouri's Medicaid health care program. New figures show that the number of Medicaid participants receiving opioid prescriptions fell to fewer than 110,000 in 2019 — the second straight year with a 12% decline. Meanwhile, the number of pills prescribed to those people fell by 25% last year. State Medicaid Director Todd Richardson cites improved public awareness about the severity of the opioid crisis. He also credits state policy changes that have limited many initial opioid prescriptions to seven days and have expanded treatment options for people dealing with pain.
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KC Fans Under Closer Scrutiny for Chants, 'Tomahawk Chops'
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — While other sports teams using Native American nicknames and imagery have faced decades of protests and boycotts, the Kansas City Chiefs have largely slid under the radar. Until now. The Chiefs will appear in their first Super Bowl in 50 years when they play the San Francisco 49ers Sunday. What is traditionally the largest TV audience of the year will watch as Kansas City fans break into the “war chant" and mimic tomahawk chop. Although many defend the display as a fun fan tradition, others view it as offensive and racist to Native Americans.
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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.
