Two Kansas Doctors, Differing COVID-19 Takes in Senate Race
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Two doctors running for Kansas' open Senate seat have moved to different political poles on the coronvirus pandemic. Republican Representative Roger Marshall takes a weekly dose of an anti-malaria drug that President Donald Trump has touted to ward off infection. When Marshall spoke to a recent GOP lunch meeting in the Kansas City area, his audience crowded into a restaurant banquet room and didn't wear masks. Democrat Barbara Bollier has had mostly virtual events and her first in-person event of the fall campaign featured a few people standing in a socially distanced circle outside a school. The candidates' different approaches reflect a partisan divide in the U.S.
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Kansas Girl's Killer Executed in Indiana
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A man who killed a Kansas girl more than two decades ago has been executed in Indiana, the fifth federal inmate put to death this year and second this week. Keith Nelson received a lethal injection Friday at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, after a higher court tossed a ruling that would have required the government to get a prescription for the drug used to kill him. Questions about whether the drug pentobarbital causes pain prior to death had been a focus of appeals. Nelson grabbed 10-year-old Pamela Butler off the street on October 12th, 1999, as part of a plan to find a female to rape and kill.
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Autopsy: Topeka Man Died when Caught in Recycling Truck
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An autopsy says a Topeka man died accidentally in March when the dumpster he was in was dumped into a recycling truck. An autopsy made public this week says 62-year-old Paul Vigil died from multiple injuries in a cardboard recycler. Vigil's body was found March 9 by landfill employees among recycling materials. The autopsy by county coroner John Ralston said Vigil suffered gaping cuts to his left back and left upper chest and fractures to his skull, bones, and multiple ribs. Foul play is not suspected. He died on a day when Topeka received almost an inch of precipitation and had a morning low of 36 degrees.
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Kelly: College Students Pose Risk of Being 'Super-Spreaders'
HAYS, Kan. (AP) — Fueled in part by college students returning to classes, Kansas has set another pandemic record for a seven-day increase in coronavirus cases. The surge has prompted the Lawrence school district to put the brakes on some fall sports and Hays to extend its mask ordinance. Statewide, the number of new reported cases rose by 1,111 from Wednesday to Friday to bring the total to 41,048. The state Department of Health and Environment also reported an additional six COVID-19-related deaths, to put the pandemic total at 443. The average for the seven days ending Friday was 599, 3.6% more than the previous record.
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Turnout High in Kansas Primary; Mail-in Ballots Show Party Split
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas had a relatively high turnout in its primary election. Voting methods most preferred by Republicans and Democrats also appeared to reflect a partisan divide across the U.S. over the coronavirus. A state board on Friday certified election results Friday showing that about 636,000 votes were cast in the Aug. 4 election. That means 34.2% of the state’s nearly 1.9 million registered voters participated, and it was the highest percentage in at least a decade. Some 41% of voters cast ballots by mail. The secretary of state’s office said roughly two-thirds of Democratic voters used mail-in ballots, while roughly two-thirds of Republicans preferred to vote in person.
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Fourth Suspect Charged in Murder of Elderly Kansan
EUREKA, Kan. (AP) — A fourth suspect has been charged in the killing of a 78-year-old man at his home in the southeast Kansas town of Eureka. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said 34-year-old Leon Lindsay, of El Dorado, was taken into custody Thursday at the Butler County Sheriff’s Office. He is charged with felony murder, aggravated burglary, felony theft and conspiracy to commit felony theft in the Aug. 18 killing of Danny Shue. He doesn’t yet have an attorney. 30-year-old Noah J. E. Farr, of Dighton, and 25-year-old Joseph Warden, of El Dorado, and a 17-year-old previously were charged with identical counts. The KBI has not released details about Shue’s death.
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Ex-Female Boy Scout Files Lawsuit Alleging Harassment, Discrimination
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former 17-year-old female Boy Scout member alleges in a lawsuit against a Kansas City-area branch that she experienced sexual harassment and discrimination before she was fired as a staff member. The teen's lawsuit against the Heart of America Council says Boy Scout staff members engaged in drunken parties and barged in on women as they changed at camp. KCUR reports the girl, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, contends she was punished for things male staff members got away with. The Heart of America Council said Friday that it cannot comment on the lawsuit but that officials are looking into the matter.
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Ex-girlfriend Alleges Kansas House Candidate was Abusive
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former girlfriend says she was slapped and choked in late December by a 19-year-old Kansas House candidate who has admitted to abusive online behavior toward girls when he was younger. Taylor Passow told The Kansas City Star and The Topeka Capital-Journal that she stopped seeing Aaron Coleman in January, before he launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination in a Kansas City, Kansas, district. Coleman narrowly won the Aug. 4 primary. Coleman has admitted on Facebook that allegations of revenge porn and online harassment targeting several middle-school girls were true but said his actions were that of a troubled 14-year-old. Passow said Coleman was abusive to her last year.
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