USDOT Report: Kansas Oil Spill Biggest in Keystone History
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Federal data shows that a spill dumping almost enough oil to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool into a northeastern Kansas creek this week is the largest for an onshore crude pipeline in nine years. It also shows that its operator was allowed to exceed typical maximum pressure levels. The Keystone pipeline spill was in a creek running through rural pastureland in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City. U.S. Department of Transportation data shows that it was the biggest in the system’s history. Canada-based operator TC Energy said the spill was about 14,000 barrels, or 588,000 gallons. Both it and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Friday the spill was contained, though cleanup efforts will continue into next week.
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Soccer Journalist, KC Native, Dies While Covering World Cup
LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) - Grant Wahl, one of the country's best-known soccer writers, died Saturday while covering the World Cup. Wahl was a native of Mission, Kansas, and graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School. Reporters seated near him said Wahl collapsed during extra time of the match between Argentina and the Netherlands, and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. Wahl was covering his eighth World Cup.
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Lawrence Woman, Three Florida Residents Indicted on Medicare Fraud
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - A Kansas woman and three Florida residents have been indicted in connection with a scheme to defraud Medicare. WIBW-TV reports that a federal grand jury in Topeka has returned an indictment -- charging 42-year-old Fawn J. Lickteig, of Lawrence, and three residents of Florida with multiple health care fraud charges, wire fraud and mail fraud. Federal prosecutors say the defendants are also accused of establishing a fraudulent mail-order pharmacy. The defendants allegedly used Freestate Pharmacy to submit false claims to Medicare, so the pharmacy can fill prescription orders for patients that had not spoken to a doctor and had not requested the medications.
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Suspect in 1980 Homicide Arrested in Small Kansas Town
BARTON COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) — The Barton County Sheriff's Office says a suspect in a 1980 homicide has been arrested. KSNW-TV reports that Mary Robin Walter was killed on January 24, 1980, and investigators had classified her death as a cold case until Thursday's arrest. According to Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir, 68-year-old Steven L. Hanks was arrested in Oxford, Kansas, and was in the process of being transferred to Barton County. Hanks is listed as a resident of Burden, Kansas. Further details are pending.