Late Winter Storm Brings Heavy Snow to Kansas and Missouri, Closing Schools, Universities
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A late winter storm is moving over Kansas and much of Missouri, snarling traffic and leading schools to cancel in-person classes. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for most of the northern half of Kansas and parts of central and western Missouri, including Kansas City and surrounding communities. The warning is set to expire early Friday morning. The weather service says the heaviest snow is expected in central Kansas, where up to 8 inches is forecast. The Kansas City area is expected to get up to 7 inches. The weather service has issued a winter weather advisory for much of the rest of Kansas and Missouri. A number of public schools, universities and government agencies have closed because of the winter storm, including the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Washburn University. Most state agencies located in Topeka are also closed. ( Read more.)
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Snowfall Could Break Another Century-Old Record in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — A week ago on March 2, the temperature in Kansas City reached 84 degrees, breaking the daily record of 80 degrees that was set in 1901. WDAF TV reports that with the snowfall amounts predicted in today's (THUR) forecast, the daily record for snow could fall as well. The daily record for snow on March 10 is 6 inches, which was also set in 1901.( Read more.) A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for much of eastern Kansas, including the Kansas City metro.
Get the latest weather information from the National Weather Service.
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Kansas Close to Using up to $1 Billion to Shore up Pension System
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators plan to use up to $1 billion in surplus state funds to shore up the Kansas pension fund for teachers and government workers. They're close to passing a proposal despite bipartisan misgivings about that move ruling out some tax cuts. Both chambers approved their own measures Wednesday, and negotiators are set to draft a final version. The votes were 28-12 in the Senate and 113-5 in the House. A few conservative Republicans worried that the move would limit options for cutting taxes. Democrats feared that it would doom Kelly’s proposed income tax rebate as well as her plan to eliminate the state’s 6.5% sales tax on groceries.
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Kansas State Fair Could Soon Allow Drinkers to Roam
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — People attending the Kansas State Fair this fall will be able to stroll the grounds with a beer, a glass of wine or even a cocktail if some Kansas legislators get their way. House and Senate negotiators are set to draft the final version of legislation expanding the sale of alcohol on the fairgrounds in Hutchinson. During the fair, patrons 21 and older already can consume beer and wine in designated buildings and areas. But other states allow fairgoers to roam outside those areas with their drinks, and the Kansas fair wants to follow suit. The big issue for lawmakers to settle is whether to allow hard liquor sales.
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Plan to Make Raising Taxes Harder in Kansas Clears Committee
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A proposal backed by conservatives to amend the Kansas Constitution to make it harder for lawmakers to increase taxes has received a state Senate committee’s approval. The Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee’s voice vote Thursday on the measure sends it to the full Senate for debate. The measure would require two-thirds majorities in both chambers starting in July 2023 to pass any bill that would either increase a state tax or impose a new tax. Currently, only simple majorities are required. Conservative lawmakers see the proposal as a way to limit the growth of state government. But Democratic state Sen. Tom Holland, of Baldwin City, called it “anti-democratic” and “dangerous.”
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Ex-Johnson County Court Worker Charged in Embezzlement
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged a former Johnson County District Court employee with embezzling more than $1 million. KSHB-TV reports Dawna Kellogg was charged last week with eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of making a false federal tax return. The alleged crimes occurred between January 2007 and June 2017. Prosecutors allege Kellogg stole cash meant for the court’s bank account and diverted them to her personal accounts. They also allege Kellogg did not report the stolen funds as taxable income in three years.
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Kansas Man Arrested for Making Alleged Terroristic Threats in Linn County
MOUND CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 67-year-old man is jailed after authorities said he made threats that led to the temporary closing of the Linn County Courthouse in December. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Linn County sheriff's office announced that Albert C. Hinds, of Pleasanton, was arrested Wednesday on possible charges of terrorism and criminal threat. He was arrested at a grocery store in Mound City. Authorities allege that Hinds made threats against banking personnel and law enforcement officers. He is being held in the Bourbon County Jail. No other information was released.
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Bruce Weber Resigns as Head Men's Basketball Coach at Kansas State
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bruce Weber has resigned as the basketball coach at Kansas State. The move came one day after the Wildcats lost to West Virginia in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament to cap a third straight losing season. He led the Wildcats to five NCAA tournaments in his first seven seasons, including a share of two Big 12 regular-season titles. He took Illinois to the 2005 national champion game and his career record is 407 wins against 301 losses, with 13 appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Weber made headlines following the loss to the Mountaineers at T-Mobile Center on Wednesday night when he lambasted the NCAA over its handling of the FBI investigation into college basketball corruption. Weber said he had refused to cut his hair until schools that were identified in the probe were punished, which some took as a swipe at rival Kansas. "We won titles. We did it the right way," said Weber, who led the Wildcats to a share of two Big 12 regular-season titles in 10 seasons in Manhattan. "I'm on the NCAA ethics committee. I was told they were going to take care of the people in the FBI stuff, so I told somebody I'm going to grow my hair until something happens. Obviously, it's still growing," he said.
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Kansas Gas Prices Average $3.79, up 40 Cents in One Week
MANHATTAN, Kan. (The Mercury) - The average price for a gallon of regular gas in Kansas reached $3.79 on Wednesday, according to the latest data from the American Automobile Association (AAA). That's lower than the national average of $4.25 per gallon, but still up from an average of $3.39 per gallon in Kansas last week. The Manhattan Mercury reports that the average price of gas one year ago in the state was $2.63. Crude oil prices have risen amidst Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, pushing prices to more than $110 per barrel. Officials with AAA say consumers can expect the current trend at the pump to continue as long as crude oil prices climb.
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Kansas Hopes to Use Numerous Assets, Including Geographic Location, to Attract More Business
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Positioned right in the middle of the country, Kansas may be perfectly placed to grab more business from all ends of the nation. That's the assessment of Business Facilities magazine, which writes that "the state offers a plethora of benefits, including an educated workforce, low taxes and a low cost of living. With Topeka, the capital, and Wichita, its largest city, making a lot of positive news — plus Kansas City just across the border — Kansas is a magnet for many across the Midwest." ( Read more.)
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Authorities Identify Man Killed in Kansas Wildfire
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in south-central Kansas have identified a man who was killed in a wildfire over the weekend that also destroyed 35 homes. The Reno County Sheriff’s Office tells station KAKE that the body of 45-year-old Chadwick Penner was found in a wooded area that had burned on Sunday. The fire began Saturday in eastern Reno County. Besides the homes burned, it also destroyed 92 outbuildings and 110 vehicles as it spread across 12,000 acres. Officials say investigators determined the cause of the blaze was a brush pile fire that was left unattended. The Hutchinson Fire Department said Wednesday morning that the fire was 85% contained, and firefighters expected it to be fully contained sometime between now and Saturday.
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GOP Pushes Changes in How Kansas Supreme Court Justices Are Selected
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservatives have revived their longstanding efforts to change how Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved two rival proposals to amend the Kansas Constitution to change how Supreme Court justices are selected. The measures go to the full Senate for debate. One proposal would have the governor nominate new justices and require their confirmation by the Senate. The other would have prospective justices run in partisan statewide elections. The current selection process has a lawyer-led commission nominate three finalists for each vacancy and the governor make the appointment, with no role for lawmakers. Conservatives see the current selection process as insufficiently transparent.
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Kansas Teacher Sues District over Preferred Pronouns Policy
UNDATED (AP) - A Kansas middle school teacher is suing the district where she works after she was disciplined for refusing to use a student's preferred first name and gender pronouns. Fort Riley Middle School math teacher Pamela Ricard was suspended for three days last year. Ricard's federal lawsuit was filed Monday. She cited her constitutional rights and religious beliefs for her decision. She said the district refused to accommodate her Christian beliefs. The school district did not immediately return requests for comment on the lawsuit. Ricard was reprimanded in April 2021 for addressing a student as "miss'' to avoid using the student's preferred first name after being told the student used he/him pronouns.
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Man Sentenced for Shooting Death of Kansas City Boy
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A 26-year-old Leavenworth man has been sentenced to nearly 17 years in prison for the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy. Darvon Thomas was sentenced Wednesday for second-degree murder in the April 2021 death of Brian Henderson Jr., of Kansas City, Missouri. Police say the shooting happened in the parking lot of a Leavenworth pharmacy during a gun purchase. Evidence showed the firing occurred when the buyers determined the gun was a BB gun. Henderson was sitting in a car that was shot during the argument. Another man, Jaylen L. Johnson, is scheduled to go to trial May 9 on a first-degree murder charge in Henderson's death.
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Police Find Man Shot to Death Inside Lee's Summit Home
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — Police in Missouri say arrests have been made in the shooting death of a man inside a Lee's Summit home overnight. Police officers were called to the home around 1 am Tuesday for a disturbance. Arriving officers found a man dead inside the home who had been shot. Police have not released the man's name. Police said everyone at the scene involved in the shooting was taken into custody, and investigators are not looking for other suspects in the case.
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Former Kansas Attorney General to Represent Teen in Shooting
MISSION, Kan. (AP) — A judge has named a former Kansas attorney general to represent an 18-year-old high school football player who is charged in a shooting that wounded an administrator and school resource officer at a suburban Kansas City high school. Jaylon Desean Elmore was charged Saturday with attempted capital murder in Friday's shooting at Olathe East High School. The charge carries a sentence of life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Johnson County Judge Dan Vokins said during a Zoom hearing Monday that his attorney will be Paul Morrison, also the former district attorney for the county. Elmore, who was wounded when the school resource officer returned fire, was unable to attend the hearing because he remains hospitalized.
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25% of Missouri Public School Districts Headed to Four-Day School Week
MARSHFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A southwestern Missouri school district that struggles to fill teacher vacancies plans to go to a four-day week starting next fall. The Springfield News-Leader reports that the Marshfield district is among at least nine in Missouri planning to switch to the shorter week in the fall, pushing the total number of districts in Missouri using the truncated schedule to a record 128 — 25% of the state’s school districts. Marshfield Superintendent Mike Henry says the change will mean hourly pay rates will rise substantially. Marshfield has enrollment of 3,100 students, making it the second-largest district in the state to go to a four-day week.
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Joplin Mayor: Rally Behind Slain and Wounded Officers
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — The mayor of Joplin, Missouri, is urging residents to pull together in the wake of shootings that left one police officer dead and two others badly wounded. Mayor Ryan Stanley says Wednesday that support would be just as people did 11 years ago when a massive tornado devastated the city. Joplin Police Chief Sloan Rowland says the officer killed Tuesday was Benjamin Cooper, a husband and father of two daughters. He had been with the southwestern Missouri department since 2003. Another officer was hospitalized in critical condition and a third was in serious condition. The suspected shooter, who died in an exchange of gunfire with police, was identified as 40-year-old Anthony Felix.
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Missouri Man Sentenced to Prison for Shooting at Kansas City Zoo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man has been sentenced to four years in prison for a 2020 accidental shooting at the Kansas City Zoo that killed another man. Federal prosecutors for Missouri say 29-year-old Anthony Meneses was sentenced Tuesday in federal court after pleading guilty last year to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors say the shooting happened on August 9, 2020, in the zoo's parking lot while Meneses was in the back seat of a car. Investigators say Meneses grabbed a gun in the pocket of a seat in front of him in the car, and the gun fired, hitting 19-year-old Jason Smith who was in the front seat. Smith died at a hospital.
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Missouri House OKs Guns on Buses, in Churches
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s GOP-led House has passed a bill that would allow guns in churches and on public transportation. The House voted 101-40 in favor of the measure Wednesday. The proposal now needs approval in the Republican-led Senate. Currently, people need permission to bring firearms into places of religious worship. The bill would allow people with concealed carry permits to bring guns into churches, synagogues and mosques regardless. The legislation also would allow people with concealed carry permits to bring firearms on buses and other forms of public transportation. Guns would still be banned on Amtrak trains.
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Missouri House Tries Again for Photo Voter ID Requirement
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican Missouri lawmakers are trying again to require photo identification to vote. The GOP-led House on Tuesday advanced a photo identification requirement for voters. The bill needs another vote of approval to go to the Senate. Missouri voters in 2016 amended the state constitution to require photo IDs. But the Missouri Supreme Court later gutted the rule. Republican supporters say photo identification makes voting more secure. Democrats argue photo IDs only prevent voter impersonation, which they say is not an issue. Another measure approved Tuesday would amend the Constitution again to try to require photo identification.
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No. 6 KU Cruises Past West Virginia 87-63 in Big 12 Quarterfinals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ochai Agbaji led the sixth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks with 18 points in a 87-63 victory over West Virginia in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Tournament. Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins picked up two technical fouls and was ejected 10 minutes into the game. The top-seeded Jayhawks, who also beat the Mountaineers twice in the regular season, will play fifth-seeded TCU on Friday night for a spot in the title game. Christian Braun added 11 points and 15 rebounds, Jalen Wilson had 15 points and Mitch Lightfoot 10 for KU. Malik Curry led West Virginia with 19 points.
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WVU's Huggins Ejected in First Half of Big 12 Tourney Game
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was ejected from the Mountaineers’ quarterfinal game against No. 6 Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament after he was given two technical fouls in quick succession by referee Doug Sirmons. Jalen Wilson made five of the six free throws awarded for the three technical fouls with 9:55 left in the first half. Larry Harrison, the Mountaineers’ longtime associate head coach, took over when Huggins walked to the locker room.
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KU Signs Big 12 Women's Basketball Coach of the Year Schneider to 4-Year Deal
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Brandon Schneider signed a new four-year contract with the University of Kansas that will pay the Big 12 women's basketball coach of the year $400,000 annually. It also comes with numerous benefits and incentives through the 2025-26 season. Schneider led the Jayhawks to a fifth-place finish in the Big 12 this season after they were voted last in the league’s preseason poll. They won seven straight games earlier this season for the program’s longest streak since 1997. Their 20 wins in the regular season were their most since the 1999-2000 season. KU opens the Big 12 Women's Tournament against fourth-seeded Oklahoma on Friday in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Court Date Reset for 2 NFL Players, 2 Others in Las Vegas Case
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A judge in Las Vegas postponed until next month a hearing in an assault case involving two NFL players and two other men accused of severely beating a man at a Las Vegas Strip nightclub the weekend of the Pro Bowl. New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Chris Lammons and two other defendants — Darrin Young and Percy Harris — didn't have to appear in person in court on Tuesday. A prosecutor acknowledged that video evidence and witness statements are still being provided to their attorneys. The four each face felony charges of battery causing substantial bodily harm and conspiracy to commit battery.
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These area headlines are curated by KPR news staffers, including J. Schafer, Laura Lorson, Kaye McIntyre, and Tom Parkinson. Our headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays, 11 am weekends. This news summary is made possible by KPR listener-members. Become one today!