Bob Dole Returns to Kansas for Services in Russell, Topeka
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Bob Dole has returned to Kansas for memorials in his hometown and at the Statehouse. The services will honor his military service during World War II and the distinguished political career that followed. Honors Saturday for the late former U.S. Senate majority leader and presidential candidate began with a public viewing of his casket and a memorial service at a Roman Catholic church in his hometown of Russell. Another memorial was to follow Saturday afternoon in the state capital of Topeka. Dole died Sunday at the age of 98. He served nearly 36 years in Congress before running as the GOP nominee for president in 1996.
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Dole: 'Genuine hero' Paid War's Price, Triumphed in Senate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bob Dole was honored at a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral Friday as top leaders from both parties gathered to display the kind of bipartisanship now rare in modern government. Dole’s flag-draped casket was carried in by a military honor guard as the congregation stood and Dole’s wife, former North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole, and daughter, Robin, looked on. President Joe Biden remembered Dole a “giant of our time and of all time.” In his eulogy, Biden spoke about Dole volunteering for military service and being gravely wounded, and how he came back to “painful” years recovering from those wounds. "God, what courage Bob Dole had,” Biden said. Dole died Sunday at the age of 98.
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Washburn Volleyball Team Advances to National Championship
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - In the NCAA Division II women's volleyball tournament, Washburn University will be playing for the national championship today (SAT). The third-seeded Ichabods defeated Western Washington, 3-1, Friday in the Division II semifinals. In today's national championship match, Washburn will take on top-seeded Tampa at the University of Tampa. The match is scheduled to start at 4:00 this afternoon.
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Missouri AG Threatens Legal Action Against Health Departments for COVID Action
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Several local health departments in Missouri are stopping COVID-19 services after Attorney General Eric Schmitt threatened to take legal action. Since Thursday, more than a half-dozen mostly rural departments have said they will stop such services as investigating virus cases or issuing quarantine orders. This, as the COVID-19 rate is surging across Missouri, prompting renewed concerns about overcrowding at hospitals and long waits for emergency services. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Star reports that Schmitt is threatening to sue Jackson County for a second time if it reimposes a mask mandate next week.
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Parsons Police Officer's Puppy Beheaded in 'Targeted' Attack
PARSONS, Kan. (AP) — Parsons police say someone beheaded a puppy belonging to one of their officers in what they termed a “targeted attack.” Police said the officer found the 3-month-old puppy, named Ranger, dead in her yard last Friday. Investigators determined the dog had been taken to another location, killed, and then returned to the officer's home. Parsons Police Chief Robert Spinks said investigators believe the puppy's death was a targeted attack against the officer. The police department is offering a $1,000 reward for information in the case. The suspect or suspects could face felony animal cruelty and trespassing charges.
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Lawsuit: Kansas Deputies Fired Rubber Bullets on Inmate
A former inmate at a Kansas jail alleges in a federal lawsuit that deputies fired a flash grenade and nonlethal bullets at her while she was having a panic attack inside an isolation cell in 2019. The lawsuit was filed last month by an attorney for 25-year-old Realiti Courson. It also alleges that deputies targeted her because she is Black. And it alleges that the Reno County sheriff’s department persuaded the local prosecutor to charge Courson with three felonies after her attorney contacted the department about the incident. The defendants are former Sheriff Randy Henderson; Shawn McClay, a captain at the jail; jail deputies Jake Harrison, Cody Blake and Kaitlynn Hazell; and the Reno County Commission.
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Pilot Walks Away from Crash of Ultralight Plane Near Hutchinson
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in south-central Kansas say the pilot of an ultralight plane that crashed near Hutchinson walked away from the wreckage with no serious injuries. Officials say the crash happened just before 5 p.m. Thursday southwest of Hutchinson in Reno County along West Morgan Avenue. The Kansas Highway Patrol says a 40-year-old man flying the aircraft was trying to land on the road when he hit power lines. The crash cut power lines, but officials say the pilot suffered only minor injuries and refused medical treatment at the scene.