Kansas School District Ramps Up System for Tracking Threats
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW/KNS) - Weeks after a deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, a Kansas school district is ramping up its system for tracking threats. Wichita schools already have a process in place to identify students who present a potential threat to themselves or others. This might involve aggressive or violent outbursts, self-harm or other troubling behavior. Next school year, officials will have new software designed to better track those cases if students move from one school to another. Terri Moses is director of safety services for Wichita schools. She says a team of psychologists, counselors and social workers goes into action any time a threat is made. “If you have a second-grader that says, ‘I’m going to do something,’ … Did they hear it on TV, especially after you’ve had an incident like we had?,” she said. Wichita plans to use about $78,000 of its federal COVID-relief funds on the new threat assessment software.
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Four EF-1 Tornadoes Struck Northeast Kansas Saturday
TOPEKA, Kan. (Topeka Capital-Journal) - Four small tornadoes moved late Saturday through parts of Pottawatomie and Marshall counties in northeast Kansas, the National Weather Service said. No one was hurt or killed. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the twisters derailed train cars and damaged trees, power poles and a barn. The tornadoes came on a night when severe storms moved south from southeast Nebraska into northeast Kansas.
Marshall County Tornadoes
According to the National Weather Service, trees, power poles and a barn were damaged by an EF-1 tornado that touched down at 5:53 pm three miles south of Oketo in Marshall County, and stayed on the ground for 4.5 miles and 13 minutes. That twister rose back into the air at 6:06 pm, three miles east/northeast of Marysville. The tornado generated peak winds of 90 mph and had a maximum width of 50 yards. Train cars were derailed and trees and power poles damaged by an EF-1 tornado that touched down at 6:26 pm, three miles north/northeast of Blue Rapids in Marshall County, and stayed on the ground for 1.6 miles and five minutes. The twister rose back into the sky at 6:31 pm, one mile north of Blue Rapids. The tornado generated peak wind speeds of 90 mph and had a maximum width of 50 yards. An EF-1 tornado touched down at 5:40 pm in southeast Nebraska, seven miles south/southwest of Wymore, Nebraska, and stayed on the ground going northeast for 4.1 miles and 13 minutes. The twister rose back into the sky at 5:53 pm, three miles west/northwest of Oketo in Marshall County. The tornado generated peak wind speeds of 90 mph and had a maximum width of 150 yards.
Pottawatomie County Tornado
An EF-1 tornado touched down at 7:02 pm, three miles east of Olsburg in western Pottawatomie County, and stayed on the ground going south for 11 miles and 13 minutes. The twister rose back into the sky at 7:15 pm, near Spillway State Park at the southeast edge of Tuttle Creek Lake. The tornado generated peak wind speeds of 99 mph and had a maximum width of 30 yards. ( Read more.)
(-Related and earlier reporting-)
Strong Winds Did About $10 Million in Damage in Riley County
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — The National Weather Service says straight line winds, not a tornado, caused nearly $10 million in damage in Riley County over the weekend. The weather service office in Topeka said winds exceeding 100 mph around and in Manhattan Saturday night did not have the rotation to be classified as a tornado. Riley County officials said preliminary assessments found 41 residential and business properties were damaged, with 20 properties sustaining major damage and three homes destroyed. The weather service said four EF1 tornadoes touched down in Marshall and Pottawatomie counties on Saturday night. No serious injuries were reported from any of the storms.
Two Sorority Houses Among Manhattan Buildings Damaged by Saturday Storms
MANHATTAN, Kan. (The Wichita Eagle) - The Wichita Eagle reports that two sorority houses at Kansas State University were among the 41 residential and business properties in Riley County damaged by severe storms over the weekend. The preliminary storm damage assessment for the county is estimated at more than $9.7 million. No injuries were reported. Authorities declared five buildings condemned and unsafe to occupy in the McCain neighborhood, just east of the K-State campus. The buildings included the Chi Omega house and the Kappa Alpha Theta house. Both were unoccupied at the time of the storm Saturday evening. Three single-family homes in the neighborhood also were severely damaged. Downed power lines and large tree limbs were the most reported damage.
In Marysville, north of Manhattan, police chief Matt Simpson, said that while there was damage in the city’s downtown area from the storms, no injuries were reported. Evergy said the storms caused more than 25,000 outages in its service area with Manhattan and Marysville being the areas with the most outages. Crews were able to restore 80% of the power by Sunday morning, the power company said. A long-lived super cell thunderstorm developed over southeast Nebraska Saturday evening and tracked south across the entire state of Kansas, the National Weather Service in Wichita said on Twitter. The storm produced tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail as it dove south through the state. ( Read more.)
Severe Weather Spawns Tornadoes, High Winds, and Hail in Eastern Kansas
UNDATED — Severe weather moved through portions of the KPR listening area on Saturday, leaving behind damage in Marysville, Blue Rapids, Manhattan and many other areas in northeast and east-central Kansas. WIBW reports 80 mile-per-hour winds on the east side of Manhattan toppled power lines, leaving some 14,000 Riley County customers without power. KVOE reports that The Symphony in the Flint Hills event in Chase County was cut short by the weather, forcing the thousands who had gathered there to leave the area early. Kansas Public Radio reports that thousands of concertgoers made it to their vehicles but were trapped for hours inside Irma's Pasture, where the event was held, as high winds, heavy rains and hail swept through the area. There was only one, single-lane road in and out of the pasture. The Kansas City Symphony began its program near Bazaar, but a line of strong thunderstorms moved into the area around 8 pm, forcing the cancellation of the event. The theme of the concert was "Weather in the Flint Hills." KVOE Radio reports several hundred Evergy customers in Eureka remained without power Sunday morning. WIBW reports that a tornado did touch down in Marysville, leaving debris and damaged roofs in its wake, but no injuries were reported.
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Several Thousand Evergy Customers in Kansas City Temporarily Lose Power Monday as Heatwave Takes Hold
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Thousands of electric customers in Kansas and Missouri lost power Monday amid a heat wave that settled into the Kansas City metro. Around 4:30 pm Monday, Evergy reported more than 10,000 outages in the metro, ranging from the Plaza down to Waldo and over into Leawood and Mission Hills. This outage came as a record heat wave hit Kansas City. According to KCTV, Evergy said crews responding to the outages expected to restore power within an hour.
(-Related-)
Excessive Heat Rolls Across Midwest and Beyond
UNDATED (AP/KPR) - More than 100 million Americans are being warned to stay indoors if possible as a heat wave settles over Midwestern states. The high temps also stretch through parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas. The National Weather Service Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said Monday that a combination of heat advisories, excessive heat warnings and excessive heat watches will impact 107.5 million people, and record-setting temperatures are expected to last through midweek. Kansas City, St. Louis, Memphis, Minneapolis and Tulsa are among several cities under excessive heat warnings, with temperatures expected to reach above 100 in some areas. High humidity is forecast to accompany the heat, adding to the dangerous conditions.
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Governor Issues Disaster Declaration for Finney County Wildfire
FINNEY, COUNTY, Kan. (KAKE) – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has issued a State of Disaster Emergency declaration for Finney County due to a wildland fire. The declaration authorizes the use of state resources and personnel to assist local authorities with response and recovery operations. Kelly says that despite recent rains, there is still a risk of wildland fires across the state, and she is urging all Kansans to avoid outdoor burning.
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Report: Kansas Could Do More to Protect Patients from High Medical Bills
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A report from the University of Arizona and Pew Charitable Trusts says Kansas could do more to protect people facing large medical bills. The Kansas News Service reports that according to researchers, Kansas should require hospitals to tell patients about free charity care - and make clear that health care providers can’t send bills to collections while patients are still negotiating the amount owed. Gabriela Elizondo-Craig is a postgraduate fellow at the University of Arizona College of Law. She says states don’t need to wait for Congress to act. "There are so many important protections that can be put in place by the state legislatures," she said. Most debt lawsuits in the U.S. are about medical bills. The new report also found Missouri has weak consumer protections.
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White Kansas Fire Supervisor Suspended over Offensive Text
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A white Wichita Fire Department supervisor who texted a photo of himself wearing a sweater featuring a naked Black man has been suspended for three days without pay in the latest fallout over racist, sexist and homophobic texts and images exchanged by first responders in Wichita but wasn't part of that batch of texts. The Wichita Eagle reported Sunday that Capt. Keith Niemann, who was punished this month, shared the image in a WhatsApp chat with the message, “having a good morning at the firehouse.” A firefighters union official said the city was trying to “make an example” out of Niemann because the police department was criticized for giving light punishments to its implicated officers.
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Kansas Highway Patrol: 2 Dead in Jefferson County Car Crash
JEFFERSON COUNTY (KSNT) – The Kansas Highway Patrol says two people were killed Monday in a car crash in Jefferson County. KSNT reports that the two-vehicle crash happened Monday afternoon near Kansas Highway 4 and Northeast 31st Street. The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office responded to the accident. A state trooper told a KSNT reporter that a southbound truck on K-4 veered towards the middle lane which caused the oncoming northbound traffic to turn to the shoulder. The oncoming vehicle lost control and went left of center. The truck smashed into one car head-on during the crash.
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Six Ejected, One Killed in Kansas City Rollover
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (WIBW) - Six of the eight people riding in a vehicle Sunday night were ejected in a rollover in Kansas City, Kansas, leaving one person dead. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, around 7:35 pm, 35-year-old Wilfredo Lopez-Cartagena, of Kansas City, Kansas, was driving a GMC Envoy on the Southbound I-435 to Eastbound I-70 ramp when he took the curve too fast and lost control. Officials say Lopez Cartagena over corrected and rolled multiple times on the right shoulder and right ditch. Lopez-Cartagena was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seatbelt. WIBW TV reports that all seven other passengers sustained suspected serious injuries. According to KHP, only two of the eight people in the vehicle were properly restrained. They ranged in age from 33 years-old to 2-years-old. ( Read more.)
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Suspect in Fatal Hit-and-Run Booked into Douglas County Jail, Charged with 2nd-Degree Murder
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) - The suspect in a hit-and run that killed a Eudora 10-year-old has been transferred to the Douglas County Jail from Indiana, where he was arrested. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that on Monday, he appeared in Douglas County District Court to face three felony charges: second-degree murder, aggravated battery and leaving the scene of an accident. The suspect, 28-year-old Jose Alfredo Galiano Meza, of Overland Park, arrived at the jail Sunday night. Meza was booked around 11:30 pm with an ICE hold, according to the jail booking log. ICE refers to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On Monday, he made his first appearance in court via video from the jail. Judge Blake Glover set his bond at $500,000. The sheriff’s office was notified on June 4 that Meza was taken into custody in Martinsville, Indiana, by U.S. Marshals and Indiana state troopers. The sheriff’s office had a warrant for Meza’s arrest as the suspected driver of a van that struck a motorcycle May 14 near Kansas Highway 10. A 10-year-old Eudora girl, Brooklyn Brouhard, later died from injuries suffered in the crash. She was a passenger on the motorcycle driven by her grandfather 54-year-old Barry Larson, of Eudora, who was also injured. ( Read more.)
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Lawsuit: Death of Black Teenager at Juvenile Center Foreshadowed
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal civil rights lawsuit says the death of a Black teenager at a Kansas juvenile detention center was foreshadowed by a 2016 state inspection of the facility that noted systemic deficiencies in its handling of children with mental health issues. Cedric Lofton's foster father called authorities in September 2021 seeking help because the 17-year-old was hallucinating and needed to go to a mental health facility. Wichita police instead took him to the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center, where was held there facedown for more than 30 minutes. He died two days later. On Monday, his brother sued Sedgwick County, the City of Wichita and others. A Sedgwick County corrections official has said corrections workers followed policy in restraining the teen.
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Park University Pianist Advances at Prestigious Van Cliburn Music Competition
PARKVILLE, Mo. (KPR) - A graduate student at Park University in Parkville, Missouri, has advanced in the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. According to school officials, Park University International Center for Music graduate student Ilya Shmukler (pronunciation --- ill-yah shmook-ler) has advanced to the finals. The final round, which begins Tuesday night and ends Saturday afternoon, consists of each finalist performing two concertos with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. The concerts will be broadcast free via Cliburn.org. The awards ceremony will be held Saturday night.
The 27-year-old Shmukler studies under Park ICM founder and artistic director Stanislav loudenitch, who won the Cliburn event in 2001. Fellow Park ICM graduate student Kenny Broberg placed second in the Cliburn in 2017. Considered one of the renowned international music contests, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition began in 1962 in honor of Cliburn, who won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958.
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Paramedic Overcomes Health Issues, Domestic Violence to Teach Other First Responders How to Help
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Survivors of domestic violence likely have some type of head trauma, yet first responders might not know how those side effects can affect someone. The Kansas News Service reports that head trauma can make someone's memory hazy. Misremembering details is natural after traumatic events. But paramedic Paula Walters says that can make survivors of domestic violence look suspicious. “We often think of her maybe adding to it, embellishing, lying," she said. But Walters says that is not the case. She was recently in Emporia, teaching first responders about how to work with people who’ve just undergone a trauma. "The stories are evolving over the next two or three days because people are able to start processing that stuff," she said. Walters says police should do a better job encouraging people to share details days later. ( Read more.)
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#ChurchToo Revelations Growing, Years After Movement Began
UNDATED (AP/KPR) - Recent weeks have seen an especially intense set of revelations about sexual assault and misconduct in U.S. churches. An independent investigation found that Southern Baptist Convention leaders mishandled abuse cases and stonewalled victims. A woman from an independent Christian church confronted her pastor in a viral video for sexually preying on her as a teen. A documentary exposed sex abuse among the Amish and Mennonites. These and other reckonings are occurring five years after the rise of the hashtag #ChurchToo, part of the wider #MeToo movement. Says one advocate for survivors, “There is an absolute epidemic of abuse in the church.” Abuse allegations have plagued nearly all religious denominations.
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Trucker Gets 45 Years for Crash that Killed 4 Siblings, Injured their KC Father
RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — A truck driver whose semitrailer crashed into a car in an eastern Indiana road construction zone, killing four siblings, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison. Thirty-three-year-old Corey Robert Withrow, of Camden, Ohio, pleaded guilty last week to nine charges related to the July 9, 2020, crash on Interstate 70. A Wayne County judge sentenced Withrow to nine years for each of the five felonies that Withrow will serve one after another. The fiery crash killed 15-year-old Anesa Noel Acosta, 13-year-old Quintin Michael McGowan, 8-year-old Brekkin Riley Bruce and 6-year-old Trentin Beau Bruce. Their father, Aaron Bruce of Kansas City, Missouri, suffered severe injuries.
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Governors Forming Task Force to Address Mass Shootings
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The National Governors Association says it's forming a working group of governors to come up with recommendations to stop mass shootings following the Texas school massacre. Reaching consensus could be a tall order given that the nation's governors have been divided along partisan lines on how to approach issues of gun control and school safety. Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told the White House in a letter that their group is creating a panel of six to 10 governors to look at the issue. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly could be part of that group. Their letter left open the possibility the recommendations could include gun control proposals.
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Drivers Beware: 3 Bike Tours Rolling Through Kansas; 3 Cyclists Killed in Past 5 Years
SALINA, Kan. (Salina Journal) - While Biking Across Kansas will send about 600 cyclists streaming through the area this week, the annual non-competitive ride isn’t the only bicycle-related event that passes through central Kansas this month. The Salina Journal reports that three riders have been killed while traveling through the state over the past five years. As a result, cyclists and event organizers are asking motorists to be aware and share the road. State law requires at least 3 feet of space between a cyclist and a vehicle when passing, so drivers should pass like any other vehicle, only when it is safe to do so with sufficient space.
Two races — the Trans Am and the RAAM — should reach the western Kansas border around the third week of June, if not sooner. Those races follow different routes. The Trans Am Bike Race is an annual ultra-distance cycling race that travels about 4,200 across 10 states. The route uses the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, which passes through northern Reno County and into Harvey County. Cyclists in the event enter Kansas from Colorado on K-96 and travel through Leoti, Scott City, Rush Center, Larned, Reno County, Newton, Eureka, Chanute, Girard, and then Pittsburg. The eighth edition of the race began in Astoria, Oregon, on June 5 and will end in Yorktown, Virginia.
In 2017, a 61-year-old Trans Am race participant, Eric Fishbein of San Luis, California, was killed when hit from behind by a car about eight miles from Leoti, while a second man from California was left paralyzed after being struck by a car near Newton. In 2018, a cyclist from Minnesota, John Egbers, was killed at practically the same spot as Fishbein. A monument was installed on the highway last year to memorialize Egbers.
The other major race passing through the area is the annual Race Across America (RAAM), which starts in Oceanside, California, and ends 3,000 miles later in Annapolis, Maryland. In Kansas, the RAAM route follows U.S. 160 and U.S. 400, from Ulysses to Kingman. The race's halfway point is near Haviland.
The third rider killed in the state, incidentally, was not part of either of these races but was in Kansas to participate in the 200-mile Unbound Gravel 2022 race near Emporia. Authorities say 61-year-old Gregory Bachman, a Colorado high school math and science teacher, was struck at a rural Lyon County intersection the evening of June 3 while on a warmup ride the day before the race. ( Read more.)
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Hutchinson Turns into Superman's Hometown of Smallville
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (The Hutch News) - Hutchinson is transforming itself into Smallville, Kansas, Superman's childhood hometown... at least for a few days. The Hutch News reports that the Smallville Festival involves various events, live music, food trucks and costumes. Nearly the entire town has become involved in the town's celebration of all things Superman. On Thursday evening, a proclamation will be read that officially renames Hutchinson to Smallville for the weekend, beginning a citywide festival of comics, video games, film and literature. Organizers say there will be a "metropolis of possibilities" at the event.
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Chiefs' New-Look Offense Misses Pieces in Mandatory Minicamp
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes walked onto the field for the start of the Kansas City Chiefs’ mandatory three-day minicamp with his right tackle standing off to the side in a bucket hat and his Pro Bowl left tackle nowhere to be found. Lucas Niang was present but didn't work out as he continues to recover from knee surgery. Missing entirely was Orlando Brown Jr., who has yet to sign his franchise tender. The Chiefs and the Pro Bowler are working on a long-term deal and both sides are optimistic that it will get done before the July 15th deadline.
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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.