Air Quality Alert in Effect on July 4
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) - An Air Quality Alert is in effect today (TUE) for the Greater Kansas City area. The Mid-America Regional Council says ozone will be the primary pollution concern on this 4th of July. When air pollution levels are elevated, experts say people should consider limiting strenuous outdoor activities to reduce the risk of adverse health effects. People who are especially sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants include the very young... and those with pre-existing respiratory problems such as asthma or heart disease.
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Dangerous Heat Puts Area Residents at Risk
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KNS) - Rising temperatures are putting residents of Kansas and Missouri at greater risk of illness brought on by heat. Climate Central reviewed 50 years of temperatures in several Kansas and Missouri cities. A typical year in Topeka now has 18 more days of temperatures above 80 degrees. That’s the temperature when people become significantly more likely to experience heat-related health problems. High heat days rose in Wichita and Kansas City, too, though not as much. People who work outdoors in the heat, kids playing sports and the elderly face particular risks of heat stroke or other complications in high temperatures. The Kansas City metro remains under an Air Quality Alert for the 4th of July.
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Evergy Wants Rate Increase for Kansas Customers
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - The state's largest utility company wants to raise electic rates for most of its Kansas customers. Evergy has proposed a rate increase that would raise the average residential customer's bill by $15 a month. The requested increase will first have to be approved by the Kansas Corporation Commission. Under Evergy's plan, Wichita area customers will pay more than KC area customers.
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4 Injured in Blaze Caused by Fireworks
DE SOTO, Kan. (KCTV) -- A fire sparked by fireworks late Saturday night resulted in injuries to four people and the complete loss of a building in De Soto, Kansas. KCTV reports that crews were sent to an outbuilding fire at 127th Street and Gardner Road at around 10:15 p.m. Saturday, July 1. When crews arrived, fireworks were actively exploding, a detached building was on fire, and victims were laying on the ground. Firefighters, Johnson County Med Act, Johnson County Park Police and other responding personnel provided aid. Four people were injured — two of them, seriously. They were transported to local hospitals by Johnson County Med Act personnel.
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Father of 3 Struck by Lightning While Walking on His Kansas Farm
WAMEGO, Kan. (KAKE/KC Star) - A Wamego man is recovering from a heart attack after being struck by lightning. Matthew Campbell and his wife were walking on their family farm last Friday when a thunderstorm moved into the area. KAKE TV reports that Matthew was hit by lightning and his wife Jen says she was thrown by the force of the strike. According to a GoFundMe page set up for the family, Matthew was last listed in critical but stable condition at an area hospital. It's unclear how much Matthew's hospital stay and medical bills will cost, but at last check, his GoFundMe page had raised more than $68,000. The Kansas City Star reports that Matthew and Jen Campbell are parents to three children and owners of Woolly Bee Farm. The couple harvests flowers, honey, berries, meats and eggs, which they sell at the Manhattan Farmer’s Market.
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Police Confirm Two More Wichita Club Shooting Victims
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Two additional gunshot victims have emerged from a weekend shooting at a Wichita nightclub, bringing the total number of injured people to 11. Police say a 31-year-old St. Louis-area has been arrested in connection with the shooting but say others were involved. Several shooters opened fire just before 1 am Sunday inside City Nightz, a club in downtown Wichita. In all, 11 victims were injured - most of them by gunfire. All are expected to recover.
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Massive Retail Crime Wave Washes over Kansas and Missouri
New York (CNN/KPR) - Retail crime in Kansas is bad and getting worse. So says Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. In an interview with CNN, Kobach said Kansas and Missouri are among the top 10 states in the nation for the volume of retail crime. He says Kansas lost approximately $642 million in stolen goods in 2021. Kobach says there's a connection between drug trafficking, especially fentanyl addiction, and organized retail crime. Authorities say a Victoria’s Secret store in Wichita has lost $30,000 a month to theft. And the Cabela’s store in Wichita has reportedly lost more merchandise than any other Cabela's in the nation. CNN reportsthat a pattern of serious planned and brazen heists has retailers on edge all across the nation. In cities like San Francisco, retailers are closing up shop altogether.
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Drought Dries Up Midwest Pastures; Hay Now in High Demand
UNDATED (HPM) - In drought-stricken parts of the Midwest and the Great Plains, some farmers and ranchers are having to make tough decisions about their cattle. Without green pastures, some are sending cattle to market early. Others are feeding hay to their livestock. But hay is expensive. University of Nebraska-Lincoln ag economist Jay Parsons says normally, ranchers feed their cattle hay only during the winter months. "Hay becomes a valuable resource in a drought because what typically would grow isn’t growing, so you’ve got to feed them something," he said. In Missouri, where more than 90 percent of the state is in drought, the state is allowing farmers to get free hay from almost 700 acres of Missouri state parks.
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Kansas Kids Count Data for Education Released
UNDATED (KNS/KCUR) - Kansas ranks 26th in the nation for education. That's according to the latest Kids Count Data Book. Missouri ranks 22nd. The annual child wellness report says about 70% of fourth graders in both Kansas and Missouri were not proficient in reading. Ryan Reza, a policy analyst for Kansas Action for Children, says the numbers are a warning sign. "It's really important to kind of look and analyze that data early, so that states and agencies and organizations can and kind of get the students caught up as fast as we can," he said. The report also found that more than 75% of Kansas and Missouri eighth graders were not proficient in math. That's an increase from the previous year. Reza says students struggled to learn complex subject matter virtually during the pandemic.
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Black Maternal Mortality Rates Rise Nationally and in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Maternal mortality rates have worsened for Black and Indigenous people nationally and in Kansas over the past two decades. New research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that Black women are now much more likely to die in Kansas than in neighboring states. And the state saw one of the largest increases in the country in deaths for Indigenous mothers. Dr. Caitlin Chiles, with Hunter Health in Wichita, says barriers to accessing care and higher rates of conditions like hypertension play a role. “And if they’re not getting adequate care and they go into a pregnancy with those conditions uncontrolled, then it just makes them higher risk for the rest of the pregnancy," she said. Experts say making it easier to access primary care before pregnancy could help improve maternal health outcomes for Black and Indigenous mothers.
In 2019, Black women were more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes in Kansas as in Missouri, Nebraska or Colorado. The findings appeared in a paper published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Sharla Smith at the University of Kansas Medical Center says structural factors matter. “There’s a higher level of racial segregation in Kansas," Smith said. "There’s a lower level of public health spending. There’s a higher level of unintended pregnancy.” Kansas also had one of the largest increases in mortality for American Indian and Alaskan Native mothers over the last two decades.
(Additional reporting...)
Maternal Deaths in the US More than Doubled over Two Decades
UNDATED (AP) – Maternal deaths across the U.S. more than doubled over the course of two decades, and the tragedy unfolded unequally. Black mothers died at the nation’s highest rates, while the largest increases in deaths were found in American Indian and Native Alaskan mothers. And some states — and racial or ethnic groups within them – fared worse than others. The findings were laid out in a new study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers looked at maternal deaths between 1999 and 2019 — but not the pandemic spike — for every state and five racial and ethnic groups.
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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 and updated throughout the day. These ad-free headlines are made possible by KPR members. Become one today. And follow KPR News on Twitter.