UPDATE: Panasonic Selects Kansas for Vehicle Battery Mega-Factory
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says Japan's Panasonic Corp. has selected the state as the location for a multibillion-dollar mega-factory to produce electric vehicle batteries for Tesla and other carmakers. Kelly announced the decision during a news conference on Wednesday. Kelly and state lawmakers approved a $1 billion incentive package to help close the deal. Panasonic was reportedly considering Kansas and Oklahoma as a location for the plant. Japanese broadcaster NHK reported this year that the company was looking to build the factory close to Texas, where Tesla is building an electric vehicle plant. The plant will be located in De Soto, Kansas, a town with about 6,000 people and 30 miles (48.28 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City, Missouri.
(–Earlier Reporting –)
REPORT: Panasonic Selects Kansas for Multi-Billion-Dollar "Megaproject"
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS, Nikkei Asia) — A Japanese news outlet is reporting that a subsidiary of Japanese industrial giant Panasonic Corporation will build a $4 billion plant to make batteries for Tesla electric vehicles in Kansas. Nikkei Asia reported Wednesday that Kansas had beaten out Oklahoma for the Panasonic Holdings plant, which would supply batteries to a large electric vehicle plant in Texas. That could mean some 4,000 jobs at the battery-making facility and more jobs for businesses supplying that plant. “The Japanese company picked the site of the new facility based on factors including its proximity to Texas and favorable tax treatment,” Nikkei reported. The deal would come after Democratic Governor Laura Kelly enlisted the help of the Republicans who control the Legislature to promise up to $1.3 billion in tax breaks and other incentives to land the massive economic development project. The Kansas State Finance Council is scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon and could potentially give official approval of the various taxpayer incentives that would seal the bargain. In the spring, the Legislature approved new rules giving state officials the ability to promise larger giveaways to entice employers to Kansas. Kelly’s administration and key Republican lawmakers were told what company the state was courting, but they signed non-disclosure agreements promising to keep the information confidential.
This story will be updated once more information is available.
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Authorities Identify Man Killed in Westport Shooting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri State Highway Patrol has identified the man who died in Sunday night’s shooting at the Ale House in Kansas City’s Westport entertainment district. The patrol identified the man as 24-year-old Cardell Crawford of Kansas City, Missouri. The highway patrol is investigating the incident because off-duty KCPD officers were involved and fired their weapons during the gun fight. It’s unknown whether bullets from those officers’ weapons wounded any of the people hurt in the incident. Investigators have not released the conditions of the five other people who were shot but troopers said that a security guard working at Ale House was among the five people shot.
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Man Found Dead Inside KCK Home
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – (KSHB) A man was found dead inside a home in Kansas City, Kansas early Wednesday morning. KSHB-TV reports that police were dispatched to a home in northwest Kansas City shortly after midnight on reports of a shooting. Officers discovered an adult male dead inside a home. No other details have been released, and the investigation is continuing.
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Sheriff’s Deputies Arrest Teenager After Alleged Threats Made in Chapman
CHAPMAN, Kan. (KMAN) - KMAN Radio in Manhattan reports that a teenager has been arrested for allegedly making threats to kill people at a swimming pool in Chapman, Kansas. Officials with the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office and the Chapman Police Department say a 17-year-old white male allegedly made threats Monday to kill individuals at the pool as well as the Chapman sports complex. Authorities say the teenager showed a small pistol in at least one of the videos he posted to Snapchat.
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Inmate Found Dead at Lansing Correctional Facility
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - An inmate at the Lansing Correctional Facility has died and the cause of death remains unknown. The Kansas Department of Corrections announced that inmate Jamie Gaius Marshall died on Monday. The department said the cause of death is pending autopsy results, however, a preliminary investigation indicates the death is not related to COVID-19. WIBW reports that the 43-yesr-old Marshall had been imprisoned since January, 2013, following two 2003 drug convictions and one 2012 rape conviction. The death is under investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation as is the protocol when a resident dies in custody.
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No Punishment for Former Prison Employee in Alleged Assault
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A former prison employee faces no punishment for alleged sexual assault after Kansas Supreme Court justices decided not to take up his case. Tomas Co was charged with six counts of sexual harassment but convicted of just one. He worked at a dental lab in the Topeka Correctional Facility, a women’s prison. Prosecutors accused him of groping women and making inappropriate comments. An appeals court later overturned his conviction. The Supreme Court justices declining to take the case means that a lower court decision will stand and his conviction is thrown out. Co denies the allegations. The appeals court said that Co had touched the woman inappropriately, but the act did not meet the legal definition of unwanted sexual relations. He had been sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
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Another U.S. Appeals Court Upholds Right to Record Police
DENVER (AP) — Another federal appeals court says people have a right protected by the First Amendment to film police while they work. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled Monday in the case of a YouTube journalist and blogger who claimed that a suburban Denver officer blocked him from recording a 2019 traffic stop. Its ruling concurs with decisions made by six of the nation's other 12 appeals court. U.S. government lawyers intervened in the appeal to support the public's right to record police in the 10th Circuit, which oversees Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah as well as parts of Yellowstone National Park that lie in Idaho and Montana.
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Catholic Church Vandalized in Overland Park Ahead of Ballot Question on Abortion
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KCUR) - Catholic Church leaders in Kansas say they won’t be intimidated by an act of vandalism at an area church last weekend. The Church of Ascension in Overland Park was spray painted early Sunday morning with the words “my body my choice.” Debra Nieson is Lead Consultant for Pro-Life Ministries with the Kansas Archdiocese. She says the church will continue advocating for people to vote “yes” on a constitutional amendment that would remove the right to abortion from the Kansas constitution. "We believe acts like vandalism are just un-American. We're moving on and we are gonna stand firm in our position and in our effort," she said. Overland Park police say a female suspect was seen running from the scene Sunday night. No arrests have been made.
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Girl Pulled from Kansas City Amusement Park Pool Dies
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The owner of a popular water park in Kansas City says a young girl who was pulled from a pool last week has died. A spokesman for Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which owns Oceans of Fun water park, confirmed the girl's death on Tuesday. The company said in a statement that park staff and fire department responders cared for the girl after she was found in distress on July 5 at the park's Coconut Cove pool. The company didn't say what caused the girl to begin struggling and it didn't immediately reply to a request for further information, including the girl's name. Law enforcement officials said the girl was younger than 10 years old.
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Snake Slithers on Missouri Woman's Windshield While She Drives Down Kansas Highway
TULSA, Okla. (KOKI) - A Missouri woman driving down a Kansas highway had an unwelcome passenger that hitched a ride. Vicki Ruhl says she was driving on a highway in central Kansas when she noticed a snake slithering on her windshield. Ruhl captured video of the reptile hanging off of her driver's side mirror. She said she didn't want to pull over because she was afraid of being stuck on the side of the highway in the heat without knowing what to do. Ruhl said she was just focused on not crashing her car. When she eventually exited the highway and parked, the snake slithered off of the vehicle. Wildlife experts say the snake in the video appeared to be a bullsnake, which is not venomous. ( Read more.)
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Authorities Identify Man Who Drowned at Lone Star Lake on July 4th
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) - The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has released the identity of the 81-year-old Lawrence man who died while swimming in Lone Star Lake on July 4th. Authorities say the man was James Robert “Bob” Kent, a retired Lawrence-Douglas County firefighter. His obituary notes that Kent was a competitive swimmer at Wyandotte High School and Carleton College in Minnesota. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Kent was a firefighter with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical until his retirement in 2004. Kent was also an adjunct researcher in the Special Education and American Studies Departments at the University of Kansas. He was believed to be the only Lawrence firefighter in the history of the department with a doctoral degree. Kent had been with a group that regularly swims at Lone Star Lake southwest of Lawrence. The Sheriff’s Office said he had broken off from the group to head back to shore. He was found unresponsive in the water and life-saving measures proved unsuccessful.
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Grain Belt Express Developers Announce Boost in Transmission Capacity
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KSHB) — Developers have announced plans to expand the capacity of a controversial wind power transmission line. The Chicago-based company, Invenergy Transmission, says it wants to increase the power load to match that of several new nuclear power plants. KSHB-TV reports that the company building the Grain Belt Express says the project will be able to carry as much as 5,000 megawatts of power, that’s about 25% more than originally planned. The power transmission line is planned to stretch about 800 miles to bring energy from wind farms in Kansas, across Missouri and Illinois, to power distributors in Indiana. Invenergy says investment in the project is also increasing to about $7 billion. The Grain Belt Express is supported by industry and manufacturing groups but some farmers along the power lines’ route are fighting the project. They say they don’t want the high-power lines on their land.
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New Head of KU Endowment Chosen
UNDATED (KU Endowment) – The KU Endowment Board of Trustees has named Dan Martin as the next president of KU Endowment, following a national search. Martin's most recent role was as Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Texas Division of St. Luke’s Health in Houston, and he has extensive experience in higher education leadership and fundraising. He is a fourth-generation Kansan from Overland Park, with three degrees from KU and one from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Swimmer Infected with Brain-Eating Amoeba; Other Cases Reported in Kansas and Missouri
BEDFORD, Iowa (AP) — A Missouri resident has been hospitalized in intensive care after being infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba. Health officials say the infection likely happened after the Missouri resident was swimming in a southeastern Iowa lake. The Iowa Health Department shut down the beach at Lake of Three Fires State Park after the person was diagnosed with the rare and usually fatal infection. Iowa state health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are testing to confirm the presence of the organism in the lake, which could take several days to complete. People are infected when water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose, usually while victims are swimming or diving in lakes and rivers. According to the CDC, the fatality rate is more than 97%. This is believed to be the first case discovered in Iowa. However, the neighboring states of Kansas, Missouri and Minnesota have all reported infections. ( Read more.)
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Missouri Man Sentenced to 27 Years in Fatal 2019 Shooting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man who was linked to a shooting by a tissue he used to blow his nose has been sentenced to 27 years in prison. The Jackson County Prosecutor's office says 45-year-old Timothy Fernandez has been sentenced for second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the 2019 shooting death of 40-year-old Michael Bryan. Police found Bryan dead on the sidewalk outside the Windstar Sinclair gas station at 17th Street and Grand Boulevard. He had been shot multiple times. Court records say Fernandez was identified through DNA left on the used tissue and by fingerprints on an item in a backpack near the scene. Surveillance video also showed the shooting.
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New Suicide Hotline to Launch in Kansas and Nationwide This Weekend
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A new suicide hotline launches on Saturday and it represents one of the largest investments in mental health services ever in Kansas. The new number is 988. Callers will be connected with workers specifically trained to help. Kansas is spending $10 million to support the new hotline. That funding helped hire staff for call centers and create mobile response teams that can reach people in crisis. Mental health advocacy groups say the new number is easier to remember and will connect people with mental health resources in their area like substance use treatment or counseling. The federal government is spending over $250 million nationwide to create 988 suicide hotline.
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Invasive Jumping Worms Discovered in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Harvest Public Media) — This summer you might notice a new type of worm in your garden. Jumping Worms, an invasive species from Asia, have recently been found in Kansas and other states throughout the Midwest. The worm has a voracious appetite that depletes the soil of nutrients. They also crowd out and replace beneficial earthworms. Jumping Worms get their name from the way they thrash around. They are more firm and less slimy than other earthworms with a white band around their bodies. To slow the spread of the worm, the Missouri Department of Conservation suggests reducing transportation of soil or mulch and not using the worms as fish bait. Because they’re relatively new to the Midwest, researchers are still waiting to see how they affect gardens, farms and forests. (Read more.)
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10 Unvaccinated Royals Players Skipping Trip to Toronto
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals will be without 10 of the 26 players on their active roster for their upcoming trip to Toronto due to Canadian restrictions on travelers who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19. Manager Mike Matheny said Wednesday the club will be without hitters Andrew Benintendi, Hunter Dozier, Cam Gallagher, Kyle Isbel, MJ Melendez, Whit Merrifield and Michael A. Taylor along with pitchers Dylan Coleman, Brad Keller and Brady Singer. The team is set to play four games in Toronto. The 10 players will be placed on the restricted list and forfeit four days of pay and major league service time in accordance with the terms of MLB’s collective bargaining agreement.
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New Commish: Big 12 Open for Business Amid Realignment Talk
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — New Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark says the league is open for business. While nothing is imminent, he says all options will be explored as he prepares to take over with conference realignment again in the forefront. Yormark made his introductory marks at the start of the league’s football media days. He says he's excited about the transformative moment and the opportunity to grow and build the Big 12 brand and business. The 55-year-old Yormark is joining the Big 12 from his role as an executive on the commercial side of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. He was previously CEO of the Brooklyn Nets.
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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. And follow KPR News on Twitter.