Heat Advisory in Effect for Eastern Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - A Heat Advisory is in effect from noon until 8pm for most of eastern Kansas. The National Weather Service in Topeka says Heat Index values could reach as high as 112 degrees. Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat-related illnesses. Experts advise people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. (Read more.)
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Judge: Trans People's Rush to Alter Kansas Licenses Created a 'Safety Concern'
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The nearly 200 transgender people who rushed in recent weeks to change the sex listings on their driver's licenses created an immediate “public safety concern,” a state-court judge declared Wednesday in keeping in place a ban on those changes.
The state agency that issues Kansas driver's licenses failed Wednesday to persuade District Judge Teresa Watson that she'd made a mistake in imposing the ban two days earlier. Watson's latest order means that Kansas remains for now one of only a few U.S. states that won't change transgender people's licenses to reflect their gender identities.
The ban is a legal victory for the state's Republican attorney general, Kris Kobach. He argues that driver's license changes by the Kansas Department of Revenue's motor vehicles division violated a new law rolling back transgender rights, which took effect July 1. He sued two top department officials when the agency continued making changes despite the new law, in line with an announcement last month from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. The department stopped the changes when Watson imposed the ban.
The ban is set to expire July 24, but Watson's order indicated that she plans to have another hearing on whether she should extend it. In defending the ban, Watson said a key piece of evidence came from the department itself, data showing that the department changed 172 licenses in June alone or a third of all the changes made in the past four years.
“Licenses are used by law enforcement to identify criminal suspects, crime victims, wanted persons, missing persons and others,” Watson wrote. “Compliance with legal requirements for identifying license holders is a public safety concern.”
After lawmakers enacted the law, driver’s license changes accelerated in May and June as LGBTQ+ rights advocates encouraged people to do it ahead of the new law. Watson added that allowing license changes to continue would represent an immediate injury to the state and “the immediacy is supported by information” from the department. The judge had a Zoom hearing Wednesday from Shawnee County, the home of the state capital of Topeka, to consider a request from the Department of Revenue to lift her ban.
With Kobach's lawsuit in its early stages, Watson has yet to hear directly from transgender people affected the dispute. However, five transgender Kansas residents, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, have asked to intervene in the lawsuit. Watson has yet to rule on that request.
One of them, Adam Kellogg, a 20-year-old University of Kansas student, briefly discussed a traffic stop that occurred when his driver's license didn't match his male identity.
“The officer examined my license for a prolonged period and seemed suspicious of my identity,” his statement said. “I would not have chosen to disclose my transgender status during that traffic stop. That experience made me uncomfortable and anxious about further interactions with state officials, including police officers.”
The Department of Revenue contends that the new law conflicts with an older one dealing specifically with driver's licenses, in which license applicants are to provide their gender, not sex assigned at birth. And department attorney Ted Smith told Watson that the agency is bound by the older law on driver's licenses and not “the attorney general's legal theories.”
Montana and Tennessee also bar changes for transgender people, but their laws deal specifically with driver’s licenses. The new Kansas law prevents the legal recognition of transgender people's gender identities by defining male and female based on a person’s sex assigned at birth. Although it does not specifically mention driver's licenses, Watson noted in her decision Wednesday that it applies to any state law or regulation. Many critics of the new law view it as sloppily written, and the Department of Revenue argued that GOP lawmakers botched the job.
“It’s clear that they’re trying really hard to sort of go on the attack or at least show that they’re going on the attack against trans people," said Jenna Bellemere, another 20-year-old transgender University of Kansas student. “But at the same time, they clearly lack the capability or the inclination to write any kind of actual functional legislation that makes sense."
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Kansas Governor Seeks to Reinstate Rights of LGBTQ+ People to Change Gender Listed on IDs
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is asking a judge to undo an order that has temporarily stopped the state from letting transgender residents change the gender on their drivers licenses. The judge’s order came at the request of Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach, who is suing the Kansas Department of Revenue for granting license changes after a new law took effect earlier this month. Kobach says that law, which legally defines terms like male and female, forbids the changes. But in a new brief, lawyers for the Department of Revenue argue that while the law does impact birth certificates, it doesn’t forbid changes to drivers licenses. And, they say, licenses that reflect a person’s current identity make it easier for law enforcement to identify people.
Kansas Lawmakers Botched the Drafting of a New Anti-Trans Law, Agency Attorney Says
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators botched the drafting of a new law aimed at preventing transgender people from changing how their sex is listed on their driver's licenses, a state agency's lawyer argued in a court filing made public Tuesday. The attorney in Democratic Governor Laura Kelly's administration made that argument in asking a state court judge to lift an order barring such changes because of a lawsuit filed by Republican state Attorney General Kris Kobach. Five transgender Kansas residents also want the order revoked, arguing in their own court filings that their constitutional rights are being violated.
Kelly announced last month that the state would continue changing transgender people's driver's licenses to reflect their gender identities, despite an new anti-transgender rights law that took effect July 1. If Kobach's lawsuit is successful, Kansas would become one of the few states that don’t allow such changes. “It is a poorly written law,” said Adam Kellogg, a 20-year-old University of Kansas student, one of the five transgender people, who are seeking to intervene in Kobach's lawsuit. “It was meant to be hateful.”
Kansas Department of Revenue attorney Ted Smith argued that the new law conflicts with another governing what appears on driver's licenses. The department's motor vehicles division issues driver's licenses, and Smith said the division still must follow the older law because it applies specifically to driver's licenses. The new law does not mention them. Kobach filed a lawsuit in state court on Friday against the department's head and the motor vehicles division's director.
District Judge Teresa Watson issued an order Monday directing the state to stop allowing such changes, acting at Kobach's request and without a hearing. The order expires July 24, though the judge could extend it. Smith's filing, dated Monday, asked Watson to rescind her order, and she set a Zoom hearing for Wednesday. “There is a remedy available to the Legislature," Smith wrote in his filing, saying lawmakers can consider changing the driver's license law next year. They have adjourned for this year.
The Department of Revenue says more than 500 people have changed the sex listing on their driver's licenses since July 2019, including 172 last month alone. The new Kansas law defines male and female based on the sex assigned a person at birth for “any” other law or state regulation — preventing legal recognition for transgender people’s gender identities. It was part of a wave of anti-transgender legislation in Republican-led statehouses across the U.S., and the GOP-controlled Legislature enacted it over Kelly's veto.
The Kansas driver’s license law says each application for a license must include a person’s “gender,” even though the listing on the license is “sex.” Smith says that language has been in place since 2007 and was clarified by a 2011 policy that Smith himself outlined in a memo to driver’s license examiners.
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Kansas Department of Education: Teacher Vacancies Remain High
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - New numbers from the Kansas Department of Education show the teacher shortage continues across the state. Public schools reported more than 1,600 vacant jobs in April - about the same number as last fall. Most openings are in special education and elementary schools. State licensing director Shane Carter says districts aren’t getting qualified applicants. “There’s not anyone there that we can get into a program, that can take a test or whatever to become properly licensed. There’s just nobody to apply or fill that position," he said. While Kansas schools are still struggling to find enough teachers, officials think the teacher shortage may have hit its peak. Carter says the teacher shortage remains a challenge, but there is some good news. “We didn’t have a huge increase, so hopefully this indicates that we’ve reached our ceiling for vacancies," he said. Special education and elementary positions have the largest number of openings. And the teacher shortage is worst in rural parts of western Kansas. State education leaders are trying to attract more people to the teaching profession. A new apprenticeship program launching this fall will pay college tuition for some students pursuing degrees in teaching.
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Report: Kansas Schools Misspending Millions for At-Risk Students
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A new report says Kansas schools aren’t following state law in how they spend millions of dollars set aside for at-risk students. Auditors for the Kansas Legislature looked at a list of programs approved by the State Department of Education and said most aren’t proven to help students in poverty or those with other risk factors. Auditor Heidi Zimmerman says many districts use at-risk money to pay teacher salaries or for general programs. “It’s unclear how much of the districts’ at-risk spending really provides an above-and-beyond opportunity," she said. Department of Education officials say they will revise the list of programs before the 2024-25 school year.
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Kansas Applies for Federal Funding to Plug Oil Wells
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) - Kansas officials are applying for millions in federal funding to plug leaky oil wells abandoned by energy companies. The money would reduce, but not eliminate, the public health threat posed by the wells. More than a century of oil drilling in Kansas has left behind thousands of abandoned wells that can emit greenhouse gasses and pollute groundwater. That harms nearby communities, says U.S. Representative Sharice Davids. “When you’ve got families and kids out playing sports or just spending time outside, it can have negative impacts on people’s health," she said. The state is now eligible for $33 million to help plug the well as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law. That would come on top of the $25 million Kansas got last year. But it likely won’t cover all the more than 5,000 wells that need sealing in the state, which experts say likely under counts the true number significantly.
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New Crime Statistics Show Violent and Property Crimes Declining
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS/KPR) - A new report from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation shows that the state recorded more than 160 murders last year. And that's an improvement. The report says Kansans reported fewer violent crimes and fewer property crimes in 2022. Violent crime fell by 4% last year. Property crimes fell by 10%.
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76-Year-Old Woman Sues Kansas Hospital over Sexual Assault
WICHITA, Kan. (AP/KPR) - A man has been charged with rape and other crimes in a series of sexual assaults on patients at a Wichita hospital. A 76-year-old woman says she was among his victims and has filed a lawsuit citing negligence and carelessness by Ascension Via Christi Hospital. Miguel Rodela was charged last month with multiple counts of rape, attempted rape and battery and is jailed on $250,000 bond. The 28-year-old suspect was not a patient or a hospital employee. He was arrested June 15, not long after the alleged attacks. The hospital says it is reviewing its security procedures but has declined to comment on the litigation. The lawsuit notes that unionized nurses from the hospital held a one-day strike less than two weeks after the sexual assaults, identifying safety as one of their main concerns.
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Police Announce Another Arrest in Kansas Nightclub Shooting
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police have arrested another person in a Kansas nightclub shooting earlier this month that injured nearly a dozen people. A 23-year-old Wichita man was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of attempted murder, assault and battery, Wichita police said. He is one of three people in custody for their suspected roles in the July 2 shooting at City Nightz in downtown Wichita, in which nine people were shot and two others were trampled in the chaos. No one died. Police said details of the investigation have been sent to Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett, who will determine any charges against the suspect. Bennett did not immediately respond Wednesday to messages seeking comment.
The Associated Press typically does not name people arrested for crimes unless they've been charged.
Two other Wichita men have been charged in the shooting. John Houze, 27, and Ameir King-Ingram, 19, are charged with several gun and aggravated assault counts. King-Ingram is also charged with aggravated battery. Both are being held on $500,000 bond. A St. Louis-area man was arrested July 3, but prosecutors later determined he fired his gun to defend himself after shots were fired by others. The gunshot victims — seven men and two women — ranged in age from 22 to 34, police said. The two people trampled were a 30-year-old woman and a 31-year-old male.
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Lawrence Police Investigate Possible Homicide
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) – Lawrence police are investigating the death of a 62-year-old man as a possible homicide. The man, identified as Lawrence resident David Blaine Sullivan, was found dead in downtown Lawrence this (WED) morning. A release from the Lawrence Police Department said that officers responded to a call at around 10:45 am Wednesday, and found a man on the ground near trees northwest of the intersection of 6th and Vermont Streets. Investigators processed the scene and uncovered evidence suggesting foul play was involved in the death. Police did not know how long Sullivan had been in the location where he was found.
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Exonerated Kansas Man Files Another Suit for Compensation
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – A northeast Kansas man who spent 15 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit is requesting $24 million to $48 million dollars in compensatory damages from the four remaining defendants in a lawsuit he is pursuing. KSNT TV reports that Floyd Bledsoe is also requesting that the three defendants, which include an attorney and two former KBI agents, be required to pay punitive damages of $100,000 each for allegedly showing malice and/or reckless indifference to his constitutional rights. In April, Jefferson County commissioners approved a $7.5 million settlement with Bledsoe, who was convicted of the 1999 killing and rape of 14-year-old Camille Arfmann, of Oskaloosa. He was released from prison in late 2015 after DNA evidence revealed he could not have been the killer.
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KC Chiefs Superfan Accused in Series of Bank Robberies
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A rabid Kansas City Chiefs fan known on social media as "ChiefsAholic" is accused of robbing a bank in Iowa, and federal authorities suspect he's responsible for bank and credit union robberies throughout the central U.S. This week, federal prosecutors announced that 28-year-old Xaviar Michael Babudar, of Overland Park, was charged with bank theft and transporting stolen property across state lines. In December, he was charged with robbing a credit union in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was released on bond but prosecutors say he removed an ankle monitor and fled until his arrest last week near Sacramento, California.
Authorities believe he robbed banks and credit unions in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa and Tennessee. Prosecutors accuse him of laundering the robbery proceeds through casinos and bank accounts. The FBI says he purchased and redeemed more than $1 million in chips at casinos in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois in 2022.
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Fossilized Skeletons of Aerial and Aquatic Predators to Be Auctioned by Sotheby's
NEW YORK (AP) — The fossilized skeletons of an aerial predator with a 20-foot wingspan and an aquatic reptile with a snake-like neck will be auctioned in New York this month, Sotheby's announced Tuesday. The two creatures, both tens of millions of years old, will be sold July 26 in the latest sale of prehistoric fossils from the auction house that launched a new era of fossil auctions by selling a Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue in 1997. “More than 25 years since the groundbreaking sale of Sue the T. rex at Sotheby’s, we are very excited to now turn our attention to its predatory peers of the sky and the sea," Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's head of science and popular culture, said.
The mounted skeletons that will be auctioned this month are a pteranodon, a huge bird-like animal that lived about 85 million years ago, and a plesiosaur, an 11-foot marine reptile of the type that is thought to have inspired the legend of the Loch Ness monster. The pteranodon specimen, nicknamed Horus after the falcon-headed Egyptian god, was discovered in 2002 in Kansas in what was once an inland sea that divided the continent of North America during the Cretaceous Period, Sotheby's said. One of the largest winged creatures that ever lived, the pteranodon flew over water and used its long beak to fish for prey. Almost all of the specimen's original fossil bones have been preserved, Sotheby's said. “To get something of this size with the level of preservation is incredibly rare,” Hatton said. “Generally, if you go to a museum and you find a specimen that’s super well preserved, it’s going to be something on the smaller side.”
Sotheby's is estimating that the pteranodon will sell for $4 million to $6 million. The 11-foot-long plesiosaur was discovered in the 1990s in Gloucestershire, England and is believed to have lived about 190 million years ago. According to Sotheby's, many have drawn comparisons between plesiosaurs and the Loch Ness monster of Scottish folklore, as the plesiosaur's long neck, small head and flippers mirror recorded descriptions of the fabled monster. Sotheby's is calling its specimen Nessie. The estimated auction price is $600,000 to $800,000. Sotheby's has not identified the seller of either fossil.
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New Washburn Law School Building to Bear Bob Dole's Name
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR/WIBW) - Washburn University's new law school building will be named "Robert J. Dole Hall" in honor of the late Kansas senator. WIBW reports that Washburn's Board of Regents unanimously voted to name the new building after Dole, who graduated from Washburn in 1952. Construction on the building started in June 2021 and is expected to be completed at the end of July. The former law building was built after the 1966 tornado and housed Washburn's law school for more than 50 years. Mabee Library will moved into the old law school to make room for a clinical learning space for nursing students.
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KU Athletics Announces Date for “Late Night in the Phog”
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KSNT) – University of Kansas Athletics has announced the date for its pre-season tradition, the annual Late Night in the Phog. Basketball fans will return to Allen Fieldhouse on October 6 for the 39th annual event. KSNT TV reports that this year’s party will feature entertainment by the KU pep band as well as routines from KU’s spirit squad and dance teams. Fans will also be invited to participate in several activities with both the men’s and women’s basketball teams. A musical performance by an, as yet, unnamed entertainer will cap the evening. Past performances at the Late Night event have included Run-DMC and Snoop Dogg. Officials at Kansas Athletics say they will release more details later. Late Night in the Phog began in 1985 under former head basketball coach Larry Brown.
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A Year in as Big 12 Commissioner, Yormark Says 'Open for Business' Was About More Than Expansion
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Brett Yormark was definitely trying to send a message during his introduction as the Big 12 commissioner last year when he said the league was “open for business.” A year into the job, Yormark said that statement was more than just about ongoing realignment and the potential of additional expansion during a transformative time throughout college football.
“I think people took that as, my god, this guy’s new and he wants to go and disrupt, I guess, in some respects,” Yormark said Wednesday at the start of Big 12 football media days. “Open for business was that we were going to explore every and all possibility to grow revenue, to diversify our conference and do things that hadn't been done before. And we did a lot of that."
And, yes, there is still a plan for expansion, even though Yormark doesn't really want to talk about it. The Big 12 is already bigger after BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF officially became members July 1, about 17 months after their invitations to the evolving conference. There will be 14 teams this fall with Texas and Oklahoma, the league's only remaining national champions in football, playing their final seasons before heading to the Southeastern Conference next summer.
“We do have a plan and hopefully we can execute that plan sooner than later,” Yormark said, without being specific. “I love the composition of this conference right now. ... And if we stay at 12 (teams), we’re perfectly fine with that.”
Yormark said the Big 12 isn't chasing a certain number of schools. Before becoming commissioner, Yormark had never had a job in college athletics. He came from Jay-Z's Roc Nation, where he was the chief operating officer on the commercial side of the business. He is a former CEO of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and also worked for NASCAR.
“When I took this job, it was the first time I really experienced college football. And candidly, I’m hooked,” he said.
At the end of the Big 12's spring business meetings last month, Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec said there was a great deal of enthusiasm about the state of the conference and prospects for the future.
“The general sense is that when we hired Brett Yormark we hit the jackpot,” Schovanec said. “It was a little less than a year ago when we were conducting the search and we were considering our possibilities. Some were identified as moderate reward, moderate risk. One was identified as high risk, high reward, and we went with the high risk, high reward, and we’re benefiting.”
The Big 12 last fall extended its media rights deal with ESPN and Fox Sports through the 2030-31 school year, which Yormark said created stability and clarity for the league. That deal was set to expire in two years, after the departures of Texas and Oklahoma. The Big 12 recently completed its first conference-wide strategic plan since 2011, the first year as a 10-team league. A business advisory board was formed, and plans were announced for a league-wide Pro Day with the NFL and men's and women's basketball games in Mexico City late next year with the possibility of a football bowl game in Monterrey.
“It’s been a very busy 11 months, but it’s not necessarily about where we've been,” Yormark said. “For all of us, it’s about where we’re going as we look forward. We will continue to innovate, create and positively disrupt, living at the intersections of culture, sports and business.”
A record record revenue distribution of $440 million will be split among the 10 current schools for the past academic year, and those numbers are expected to grow moving forward with additional teams. Asked about where he felt the Big 12 ranked among the Power Five conferences, Yormark said he's not really competing with other leagues.
“I want the Big 12 to be the best version of ourselves. And if we can do that, we’re in a great place,” he said. “So it’s not about ranking us within the Power Five. But I can tell you this, there’s been no better time to be a part of the Big 12 than right now. And this thing is going to grow..”
Yormark said he anticipates 2023 being a season of celebration in the Big 12, which saw TCU reach the national championship game last year where it lost to Georgia.
“We’re going to celebrate our continuing eight (members), we’re going to celebrate our new four," he said. "And, in fact, we’re going to celebrate Texas and Oklahoma and all the contributions they’ve made to this conference since day one, because they’ll always be a big part of this conference.”
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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. You can also follow KPR News on Twitter.