KU Cruises to 81-65 Win over Villanova in Final Four
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — David McCormack muscled his way to 25 points, Ochai Agbaji added 21 and hot-shooting Kansas withstood every Villanova run for a 81-65 victory Saturday night that sent the Jayhawks back to the national title game. Christian Braun also had 10 points for the Jayhawks, including a key 3-pointer to ward off a comeback late in the game. Now, they hope to follow a familiar pattern against North Carolina on Monday night for the national championship. The last three times that the Jayhawks and Wildcats have met in the tournament, the winner has gone on to win it all. The Jayhawks, the winningest program in Division I history, will face North Carolina, which sits at No. 3 on the list and has been to more Final Fours than anyone.
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Including Young Kids May Sink Kansas Trans Sports Ban
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas appears unlikely to join other states this year in banning transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s school sports. That's partly because conservative state lawmakers want the ban to apply to elementary school students. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved a proposed ban early Saturday with solid majorities in both chambers. But they don't have the two-thirds majority needed to override an almost-certain veto from Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. She rejected a similar bill last year. Enough GOP lawmakers in Kansas keep breaking with Republican colleagues that LGBTQ-rights advocates probably will prevail. Several dissident Republicans said having a ban apply as early as kindergarten is a problem.
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Kansas Grace Period for Voters Survives
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican state legislators in Kansas have abandoned a proposal to end the three-day grace period the state gives voters who use mail ballots. Republican lawmakers are still pursuing efforts to restrict the use of ballot drop boxes in elections. The GOP's latest plans emerged Friday from negotiations between the House and Senate over proposals to tighten state election laws. The Senate approved the proposal on ballot drop boxes, but the House did not take it up before lawmakers adjourned early Saturday for their annual, three-week spring break. The vote in the Senate on the ballot drop box measure was 21-17. Some Republicans representing rural areas joined Democrats in voting against it.
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Father Charged in Death of Topeka Infant
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An 18-year-old has been charged in the death of his 6-month-old daughter. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced Friday that Tray’vonne Da’Mont Jones-McNeal has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Brielle Jones. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that he also faces an alternative count of reckless but unintentional second-degree murder. Kagay said that rescue workers were called early Thursday to an apartment and found Brielle suffering from blunt-force trauma injuries. She was taken to a Topeka hospital, where she died an hour later. Topeka police Lt. Manuel Munoz said the girl’s mother was also taken to the hospital, where she was treated, then released.
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Court Records: Olathe Man Shot, Killed after Offering Ride
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — Court records say a Kansas City, Missouri, man fatally shot a Kansas man who offered to give him a ride because it was raining. Twenty-eight-year-old Aaron Simmons Jr. was charged Friday with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 32-year-old David Rowe. The Olathe, Kansas, man was shot four times Tuesday night outside a closed Independence gas station. The probable cause statement said Rowe’s girlfriend told police that Simmons became angry when they drove near him, alleging that they “almost hit him.” She said Rowe rolled down the window and said they just wanted to give him a ride, and Simmons threatened to shoot him. She said Rowe then got out of the SUV and was shot.
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Missouri Regulates Boarding Schools after Abuse Allegations
UNDATED (AP) - Fifteen years after Maggie Drew was first sent to Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch in southwestern Missouri, she says she still bears psychological scars and physical pain from abuse. Brett Harper says he has debilitating injuries from his time at the nearby Agape Boarding School. They are among dozens of people who say they were abused at those schools. Those allegations helped prompt a new Missouri law aimed at reining in religious boarding schools that for decades went without any oversight by the state. The founders of Circle of Hope face around 100 charges, some alleging sexual abuse. Agape’s doctor is accused of child sex crimes and five employees are accused of assault.