Chinese Balloon Seen in Skies High Kansas, KC Area
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Shoot it down. That's what Kansas Senator Jerry Moran and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley say about the Chinese baloon seen floating high above eastern Kansas and western Missouri. The Chinese balloon drifting 60,000 feet above the central U.S. today (FRI) has created a buzz down below among residents. The U.S. Defense Department says it's a Chinese spy balloon. The Chinese government says it's a weather balloon that drifted off course. The high altitude balloon has roiled diplomatic tensions between the two countries, prompting Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to abruptly cancel a trip to Beijing.
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Chinese Balloon Seen in Skies High Above NE Kansas, KC Area
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP/KPR) - The Chinese balloon drifting 60,000 feet above the central U.S. has created a buzz down below among residents. The U.S. Defense Department says it's a Chinese spy balloon. The Chinese government says it's a weather balloon that drifted off course. Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley says the U.S. should shoot down the balloon. Kansas GOP Senator Jerry Moran agrees. Moran told Fox News today (FRI) that the U.S. should either shoot it down or take it under control by some other means. The balloon was spotted in the skies above northeast Kansas, Kansas City and northwest Missouri today (FRI). Even Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly has been demanding answers from the Department of Defense and the Biden White house.
The high altitude balloon has roiled diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and China, prompting Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to abruptly cancel a trip to Beijing.
The National Weather Service in Kansas City says it received reports of a large balloon in the Kansas City metro area and posted two images of white orbs taken from the weather station office in Pleasant Hill, Missouri. The weather service also confirmed it was not a National Weather Service balloon.
Earlier this week, the balloon was spotted in the skies above Montana, home to Malmstrom Air Force base and dozens of nuclear missile silos. People doubted Beijing's claim that it was a weather balloon gone off course. And the governor and members of Congress pressed the Biden administration as to why the military did not immediately bring it down from the sky. A white balloon with what appeared to be a solar array hanging beneath it was seen over Billings Wednesday afternoon, around the same time the local airport was temporarily shut down and a day before the Pentagon revealed it was tracking a Chinese spy balloon over the state.
Montana GOP Senator Steve Daines says this is not the first time a Chinese balloon has entered American airspace over sensitive national security areas.
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Kansas House Committee Advances Ballot Box Bill
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A Kansas House committee has advanced an election bill to standardize the use of mail ballot drop-off boxes. The bill would give the secretary of state’s office the authority to create ballot box rules and regulations, but it does not include the tight restrictions included in some other proposals. Another bill in the committee would limit the number of drop boxes in each county.
Clay Barker works in Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s office and says Schwab does not want to restrict the use of ballot drop boxes.
“Drop boxes are just a tool to help the county election officers conduct their election. It’s not a magic bullet for a perfect election, but it’s a net benefit to the counties," he said. Democratic lawmakers tried but failed to limit the bill - making it apply only for the time Schwab is in office. They fear the next secretary of state would limit the use of ballot boxes altogether.
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Kansas Commits $304 Million to Chip Plant to Lure Federal Funds
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas plans to give $304 million in taxpayer-funded incentives to a semiconductor company in its largest city to build a huge new factory. But state officials and Wichita-based Integra Technologies said Thursday that the $1.8 billion project won’t go forward without funds the U.S. government has promised for rebuilding the nation’s chip-making capacity. Governor Laura Kelly announced that Kansas has an agreement with Integra Technologies for a 10-year package of tax breaks and reimbursement of expenses. State officials say the new plant would cover 1 million square feet and have 2,000 employees. The U.S. is trying to reverse a loss of capacity for making semiconductors and Congress last year approved $52 billion in grants and incentives.
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State Officials Announce Massive Incentive Package Deal with Semiconductor Company
UNDATED (KNS) – A semiconductor company will build a nearly $2 billion plant in Wichita as part of an economic development project that state officials announced Thursday. A panel of lawmakers and the governor approved a $300 million tax incentive package for Integra Technologies. The company says it will build a 1 million-square-foot factory and create nearly 2,000 jobs. The deal, which is contingent upon securing federal funding, is approved under the same state law that helped Kansas attract a $4 billion Panasonic battery factory. The announcement for the chip plant comes as the U.S. works to increase production capacity following the recent semiconductor chip shortage. (Read more.)
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KU Professor Part of Team Trying to Prevent Next Bird Flu Pandemic
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) - A University of Kansas professor is one of the leaders creating a new international center to predict and prevent the next bird flu pandemic. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that A. Townsend Peterson, a distinguished KU professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is part of a team that received a nearly $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish center. The International Center for Avian Influenza Pandemic Prediction and Prevention will be headquartered at the University of Oklahoma, but a portion of the center’s work will take place at KU.
Avian flu has been in the news recently as it has played a role in killing millions of chickens, which has led to a large increase in the price of eggs. But various strains of avian flu can be even more devastating as they infect human populations. The 1918 flu pandemic showed that influenza viruses that start off in birds can kill millions of humans.
The new international center — which has partnerships with the World Health Organization, the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of California-Berkeley and other institutions — hopes to find those new strains that could turn particularly dangerous before they begin spreading rapidly. If the center works as intended, it will become an early-warning system for researchers and public health officials.
“If you want a stronger America, you make an America that has a strong public health system that can respond to socially driven health threats like vaccine hesitancy,” Peterson said. “Measles was gone, polio was gone, but now they’re popping up in communities that are less well-vaccinated. And we’ll see more mosquito-borne diseases — like West Nile virus, Zika, chikungunya and dengue — all of which have recently emerged in the U.S. and each in a very different way.”
Read more about this story from the University of Kansas.
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Shawnee Man Sentenced for Sex Trafficking of Teenagers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Johnson County man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison without parole for sex trafficking two teenagers. A federal judge sentenced 40-year-old Antonio B. Flemming, of Shawnee. After he’s released, Flemming will be required to register as a sex offender and serve 15 years of probation. Topeka television station KSNT reports that Flemming pleaded guilty to two counts of sex trafficking a child. He admitted that he recruited two 16-year-olds from the Kansas City area. The victims told police that Flemming hired them to do massages for clients. They later learned that he wanted them to have sex with the people he brought in. One of the victims told investigators she saw as many as six clients for a day in early 2019. Lenexa police arrested Flemming as he was leaving a hotel with one of the teenage victims in February 2019.
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Washington County Residents Still Contending with Massive Keystone Pipeline Spill
WASHINGTON, Kan. (KNS/KPR) - The Canadian company TC Energy says it has cleaned nearly 90% of a massive oil spill in northern Kansas. On December 7th, the company's Keystone pipeline ruptured, spilling 600,000 gallons of crude oil into a creek in rural Washington County. The pipeline is the biggest local tax source in the mostly rural county, which is home to approximately 5,000 people. The Kansas News Service reports that county residents have mixed feelings about TC Energy and its efforts to clean up the contaminated creek. Two months after the spill, the exact cause of the pipeline rupture still isn't known. Meanwhile, hundreds of workers remain on site trying to clean up the spill and restore the surrounding area.
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Silver Lake Man Admits to Shooting, Blinding Dog
SHAWNEE COUNTY, Kan. (TCJ) - A Silver Lake man pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty to animals after using a shotgun to shoot a dog that trespassed on his property. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 61-year-old John C. Stover pleaded guilty in September to shooting the dog. The Irish setter named Lucy lost an eye and was blinded by the shotgun blast. Now, a judge is trying to decide how much Stover owes in damages to the dog's owner, Dian Workman. A restitution amount was discussed but not decided at Thursday's sentencing hearing for Stover. The judge continued that hearing until February 22. Prosecutors are asking Stover to pay restitution totaling nearly $13,000. Stover's attorney suggested Stover to pay half that amount.
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Kansas House Committee Considers Changes to Mail Ballot Deadline
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - The Kansas House Committee on Elections has advanced a bill that eliminates the three-day grace period to count ballots returned by mail. That sends the plan to the full House for consideration. The bill would only allow mail ballots to be counted if they arrive by 7 pm on Election Day. Currently, ballots returned through the mail are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received within three days after polls close. Republican Rep. Leah Howell says she supports the bill because it makes sure all votes are held to the same deadline. “We must treat all voters equally, whether they turn in their ballot by mail, or whether they vote in person," she said. Opponents contend the change makes it harder to vote by mail.
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Kansas Bill Would Limit Number of Ballot Drop Boxes
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A new bill in Kansas would limit the number of mail ballot drop-off boxes county officials may use during elections. The bill allows counties to set up one ballot drop box for each 30,000 registered voters. Counties with fewer than 30,000 voters could only have a single box. The ballot boxes would also need to be continuously monitored by election officials. Voting rights groups and Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s office oppose the bill. Clay Barker, with Schwab’s office, says the bill amounts to government overreach. “We don’t like when Washington D.C. tells our state how to run its elections. And yes there has to be some common doctrine. But within that parameter, let the counties decide what to do," he said. Opponents say the bill would also make voting in Kansas harder. Supporters contend the bill would improve security and transparency in Kansas elections.
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Jupiter's Moon Count Jumps to 92, Most in the Solar System
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP/KPR) - Astronomers have discovered 12 new moons around Jupiter, putting the total count at a record-breaking 92. That's more than any other planet in our solar system. Saturn, the one-time leader, comes in a close second with 83 confirmed moons. The Jupiter moons were recently added to a list kept by the International Astronomical Center's Minor Planet Center. Researchers discovered the moons using telescopes in Chile and Hawaii in 2021 and 2022, and confirmed the orbits with follow-up observations.
(Editor's note from KPR: No, this isn't specifically "Kansas" news, we just thought it was pretty cool.)
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Kansas Supreme Court Hears Challenge to State Election Law
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Kansas Supreme Court justices are considering whether to throw out a state law that tightens election rules. The issue is a provision that could lead to felony prosecution if someone is perceived to be impersonating an election official. Voting groups want the Kansas law thrown out because they believe it violates their rights. And could make their voter registration efforts illegal. An attorney for the state argued those fears of prosecution are unreasonable. But the justices asked several pointed questions - like whether a person could be prosecuted for sharing a Secretary of State election brochure without clearly stating that they don’t work for the office. Justice Evelyn Wilson says that’s how she understands it and it has a chilling effect on voter education efforts. “Why do I have to tell somebody I’m not the Secretary of State? Don’t I have the right to share a flier?," she said. A lower court ruled earlier that the voting groups had not proven that the law blocks their work.
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Report: 11 Kansas Children Died from Fentanyl Overdoses in 2020
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Eleven Kansas kids died from fentanyl overdoses in 2020, the first time the state has tracked the deaths of children from the drug. The state’s child death review board examines the deaths of all children under age 17 in the state. It operates a few years behind, which is why information from 2020 was reviewed. Drugs laced with fentanyl are responsible for many overdose deaths. Representative Jarrod Ousley is on the state’s Child Welfare Committee. “I fear we're just seeing the beginning of a rising trend in that statistic," he said. Law enforcement authorities are growing more concerned about fentanyl, with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach calling for dedicating more of his office’s resources to prosecuting the crimes. He also wants longer prison sentences for those who sell the deadly drug.
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Kansas Lawmakers Tackle Big Tech and Social Media Censorship
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A bill in Kansas would create fines for social media companies if the platforms censor content. The bill would update the Kansas Consumer Protection Act to prohibit censoring or editing user posts. If violated, the Kansas attorney general could issue fines up to $10,000 for each instance. Republican Senator Mark Steffen, who is a doctor, says his social media account was censored when he posted support for an unapproved COVID-19 treatment. “And at every turn, my Facebook pages were being throttled and warnings put up on them and all sorts of interference was going on," he said. Opponents argue the bill would prevent social media companies from blocking misinformation about elections and public health.
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EPA Official: Drought in Western Kansas Is State's Most Pressing Environmental Issue
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KNS) - One Environmental Protection Agency official says the drought in western Kansas is the state's most pressing climate change issue. The record-setting drought and declining underground aquifers in western Kansas have left small communities and farmers with limited water supplies. EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister recently made the comments while speaking in Lawrence. She says the agency is focused on reaching out to people not included in some past programs, like those living in rural areas. “There are also a lot of rural communities, who we would consider to be environmental justice communities, who are just very small communities who, maybe say, have a couple 100 people on a public drinking water system," she said. McCollister says the agency is connecting with people in rural areas through actions like virtual listening sessions.
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EPA Official: Lead Contamination Still a Problem in Kansas
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KNS) - Lead contamination is a significant risk in Kansas, and a federal official says the problem will remain a focus of the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister spoke about the issue at a recent event in Lawrence. One study found that children in Kansas had some of the highest blood lead levels in the country. McCollister says she wants the agency to continue efforts to detect lead exposure. “Lead in Region 7 is a huge issue. I think for me, that’s been something that’s always punched me a little bit in the gut because I have three little kids. And, my oldest is seven. So, they talk about kids under seven as being the most at risk from lead exposure," she said. This fall, the EPA announced a new strategic plan to reduce lead exposure through blood lead level screening in children.
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Co-Host of NPR’s "All Things Considered" Among Planned Speakers at Dole Institute
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) - The Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas has announced a spring schedule of events that includes an NPR radio host and the former president of Kosovo. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Juana Summers, co-host of NPR's “All Things Considered,” will give a presentation February 21 about politics and journalism, as part of a joint event between the Dole Institute and Kansas Public Radio, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary. The Dole Institute will also host an address by the former president of Kosovo. President Atifete Jahjaga will give an address on democracy on February 22.
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Royals, Zack Greinke Finalize $8.5 Million Deal for 2023 Season
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals finalized Zack Greinke's $8.5 million contract, bringing back a well-known and veteran arm to their otherwise young starting rotation. The deal for the 39-year-old Greinke includes up to $7.5 million in performance bonuses. He made $13 million with the Royals last season, when he went 3-9 with a 3.68 ERA while allowing two runs or fewer in 17 of 26 starts. Greinke began his career in Kansas City as a first-round pick in the 2002 amateur draft.
After fits and starts, and nearly walking away from baseball early in his professional career, Greinke flashed onto the scene two years later, beginning a 20-year career that has included time with the Brewers, Angels, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Astros. It was largely his affinity for then-general manager Dayton Moore that led him to return to Kansas City, where he pitched well last season despite two stints on the injured list. Moore was fired late in the season, though, and it was the new GM J.J. Picollo — one of Moore's longtime lieutenants — who decided to bring Grienke back this season. To make room on the roster, the Royals designated left-hander Anthony Misiewicz for assignment.
Greinke won the AL Cy Young Award in 2009 in his penultimate season in his first stint in Kansas City. He was later traded to the Brewers for a package of players that helped to form the backbone of back-to-back American League pennant teams and the club that won the 2015 World Series. Greinke went on to have plenty of success in his own right, though. He twice helped the Astros to the World Series, pitched for the Brewers and Dodgers in the NL Championship Series and led the Diamondbacks to the playoffs.
He is first among active pitchers with 514 career starts and 3,247 innings pitched, and he's second to Justin Verlander with 223 win. Greinke is also third in strikeouts (2,882) and has six Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger awards.
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Unheralded Group of Chiefs Players Get Redemption in Super Bowl Hunt
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are playing in the Super Bowl largely because they refused to give up on anyone, including players that few but their most-passionate fans know about. That includes Skyy Moore, their fumble-prone rookie punt returner, whose return last Sunday night set up the winning field goal in the AFC title game. It includes the young Chiefs defensive backs, who picked off Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow twice in the last game. And it most certainly includes Harrison Butker, who shrugged off the most inaccurate season of his career to drill the eventual winning field goal against Cincinnati.
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This summary of area news is curated by KPR news staffers, including J. Schafer, Laura Lorson, Tom Parkinson and Kaye McIntyre. Our headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays. These ad-free headlines are made possible by KPR members. Become one today. And follow KPR News on Twitter.