Police Make Arrest in Lawrence Homicide
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR/LJW) – Lawrence police have made an arrest in connection with a homicide earlier this week. Thursday night, officers arrested 34-year-old Chadwick Potter. He's suspected of first degree murder in the death of David Sullivan, whose body was discovered Wednesday morning near 6th and Vermont in downtown Lawrence. Police say Sullivan appeared to have suffered traumatic injuries after being struck with a blunt object. While an arrest has been made, the investigation continues. Investigators will prepare a charging affidavit and submit it to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office. (Read more in the Lawrence Journal-World.)
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Government Incentives for Panasonic Plant in De Soto Exceed Company's Own Investment
DE SOTO, Kan. (KNS) - Panasonic’s electric vehicle battery plant in De Soto may receive nearly $8 billion in government incentives. That’s double the $4 billion the company is investing in the factory. A new analysis by a government accountability group, shows the company could earn nearly $7 billion in federal incentives for producing renewable energy batteries. That’s in addition to the more than $1 billion Kansas and local governments are offering. Jacob Whiton, of Good Jobs First, says federal incentives exceeding the amount of company investment is rare. “It certainly calls into question the necessity of that state and local package in light of the generosity of the federal credit," he said. State officials promised the new plant would create up to 4,000 new jobs and help boost the local economy.
Whiton says the federal package makes the state and local credits unnecessary. “That is revenue that could have been put to other sorts of investments in climate resilience," he said. State officials promised the new plant would create up to 4,000 new jobs and help boost the local economy.
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Kansas Governor Argues State's Anti-Trans Law Doesn't Prevent Birth Certificate Changes
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Democratic governor in Kansas is defending changes in the sex listings on transgender people's birth certificates in a federal court filing arguing that continuing the changes doesn't violate a new state law rolling back transgender rights.
An attorney for Governor Laura Kelly's office also argued in the filing this week that the new Kansas law is discriminatory and “represents a willful failure of the Kansas Legislature" to protect people's rights. It took effect July 1 and defines male and female based on a person's sex assigned at birth for any other state law or regulation, barring legal recognition of transgender people's gender identities.
The state's Republican attorney general, Kris Kobach, argues that the new law prevents the state health department, which issues birth certificates, from changing the sex listing while also requiring it to undo past changes.
The issue is in federal court because of a lawsuit filed in 2018 over a previous no-changes policy. Kelly's administration settled that lawsuit, and a judge's order enforcing the settlement requires the state to allow transgender people to alter their birth certificates. More than 900 people have done so over the past four years.
Kobach last month asked a federal judge to lift the requirement — and make Kansas among only a few U.S. states that don't allow birth certificate changes. The original lawsuit named only three health department officials as defendants, so Kelly's office filed a request Wednesday for permission to file written “friend of the court” arguments. The judge has not yet ruled on Kelly's request.
Ashley Stites-Hubbard, an attorney for Kelly, argued that Kobach's opinion about the law is “nothing but a political grandstanding that promotes discrimination and violence against the transgender community.”
“It is hard to fathom how legislation that made the discrimination worse, not better, warrants relief,” Stites-Hubbard wrote.
Montana, Oklahoma and Tennessee don't permit transgender people to change their birth certificates. Montana and Tennessee also don't allow changes in the sex listing on driver's licenses.
Kobach is attacking birth certificate changes in federal court while also attacking changes in the sex listings on driver's licenses in a state-court lawsuit.
In the birth certificates case, Kobach argued in a filing last month that Kelly agreed to the settlement before "any definitive legislative statement on the matter.”
“But now that the Legislature has spoken, the agency is bound to execute the law as written,” Kobach said. The Republican-controlled Legislature enacted the new law over Kelly’s veto.
In the governor's filing, Stites-Hubbard acknowledged that a specific section of the new state law says that in its data, the state must identify people as “either male or female at birth.” But, she argued, the law doesn't specifically prohibit recording a change in gender identity or amending a birth certificate.
“Thus, there is nothing preventing any state data set from BOTH identifying an individual as male or female at birth and also identifying them accurately later — that is to reflect their true sex, consistent with their gender identity,” Stites-Hubbard wrote.
(–Related story–)
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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7 KC Area Hospitals Included in HCA Healthcare Data Security Breach
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (WDAF) — HCA Healthcare is warning patients about a data security breach at seven of its Kansas City area hospitals. The health care company said it found out recently someone posted a list containing patients personal information online. WDAF TV reports that the information includes patient names, email addresses, telephone numbers and other personal information. HCA said the information on the list was used to send email messages such as appointment reminders to patients. The company says someone stole the information from an external storage location used to automate the email messages.
HCA provided a long list of hundreds of hospitals and clinics that may have been impacted by the data breach. Kansas City-area locations include:
Kansas
Menorah Medical Center
Overland Park Regional Medical Center
Missouri
Belton Regional Medical Center
Centerpoint Medical Center
Lafayette Regional Health Center
Lee’s Summit Medical Center
Research Medical Center
There are also nearly 90 clinics in the Kansas City area included. The full list is available at HCAHealthcare.com. HCA says it has not yet identified malicious activity on its systems or networks that would have caused a leak of information.
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Contaminated Northeast Kansas River Attributed to Animal Feeding Facility
NEMAHA (KSNT) – State health officials say residents and wildlife should avoid the water in the Nemaha River. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued the warning after contaminants were found.KSNT reports that the stream warning was issued for the South Fork of the Nemaha River, north of Seneca. The contamination was attributed to an animal feeding facility. Officials say at least one fish was killed in association with the contamination.
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USDA Approves Lab-Grown Chicken Meat for Sale
UNDATED (HPM) - For the first time ever, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has given two companies the green light to produce and sell lab-grown chicken meat across the country. Harvest Public Media reports that it could still take years before people can buy cultivated meat at grocery stores. Cultivated meat is expensive to make and labs aren’t able to produce the billions of pounds of meat Americans consume every year. So, the recently approved companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat, only plan to serve the new food in exclusive restaurants. Upside Foods Chief Operating Officer Amy Chen says there’s still a long road ahead to make the company’s cultivated chicken products affordable and available: “As we launch, we will be at a premium, but over time, as we continue to scale, as we build out the supply chain and operate at larger scales, our costs will come down," she said. "And I think that will then allow more consumers to have access to products.” She says getting people familiarized with cultivated meat is another long-term goal.
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KC Men Sentenced for Kidnapping, Torturing Victim in Wyandotte County
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KPR) – Two Kansas men have been sentenced to substantial prison terms following their convictions on kidnapping, firearm, and drug charges. In February, a federal jury found 36-year-old David Carr, of Kansas City, and 47-year-old James Michael Poterbin, of Edwardsville, guilty of kidnapping and torturing a man in Kansas City, Kansas. This month, a judge sentenced Carr to life in prison and Poterbin to 40 years in prison.
Prosecutors say the two men mistakenly believed a woman had stolen drug money from them. The men kidnapped the woman's boyfriend and demanded payment for his release. After beating, shooting, and stabbing the victim, Carr and Poterbin believed the victim was dead and left him in the house for days before he was discovered by another person. After the victim was found alive and rescued, Carr ordered a co-conspirator to burn the house to the ground. The men were later arrested, tried and convicted. Prosecutors announced their prison sentences today (FRI).
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Hays Man Accused of Scamming $4.5 Million from Elderly Victims
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A Hays man faces federal charges for his alleged role in a decade-long telemarketing scheme that stole more than $4.5 million from elderly victims. Prosecutors say 42-year-old Christopher Lang used false promises to sell or rent the timeshare properties of elderly residents. Lang was arrested alongside 44-year-old Michael Dragunov, of West Los Angeles. KCTV reports that both men have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and other crimes in connection with telemarketing and email marketing that targeted the elderly.
Authorities say Christopher Lang also used the aliases of “Scott Graham,” “Don Lewis” and “Jack Morgan.” Prosecutors say the defendants falsely told victims they would assist them in selling or renting their properties for a one-time advertising fee. However, despite reoccurring fees which totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years, the victims did not receive the services promised. If convicted, both men could face up to 30 years or more in federal prison.
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Package Containing 20,000 Pills Suspected of Fentanyl Thrown Out on Kansas Turnpike
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Two 18-year-olds have been arrested in connection with an undercover operation involving thousands of pills believed to contain fentanyl. The Butler County Sheriff’s Office says a package containing the pills was delivered to a home in El Dorado Wednesday morning. A person later retrieved the package, got into a vehicle and drove away. Deputies tried to stop the vehicle, but it fled, entering the Kansas Turnpike. Someone inside the vehicle then threw out the package, causing it to break open on the highway. KWCH TV reports that the package contained nearly 20,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills suspected of containing fentanyl. Authorities spent several hours cleaning up the pills to reduce the risk of fentanyl exposure to the public. Two people were arrested - the female driver, 18-year-old Jordan R. Cooper, of Wichita, and a male passenger, 18-year-old Kavonte Horton, of Wichita. They were booked into the Butler County jail.
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Kansas Attorney General Hires Conservative Law Firm for Abortion Litigation
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has hired a conservative Christian law firm to help defend abortion regulations in Kansas. The Alliance Defending Freedom also helped with the U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned federal abortion rights last year. The organization says it will work for free to help defend a Kansas law that makes women wait 24-hours before an abortion. And it requires doctors to provide certain counseling to patients. Julia Payne, an attorney for the group, says the law is legal because it does not prevent anyone from receiving an abortion. “It simply ensures that they fully understand the consequences of abortion and have time to consider those consequences when they make their decision.” Kansas abortion providers are suing to have the law thrown out for violating the state’s right to an abortion. They argue the law violates the constitutional right by delaying access to abortion.
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Another Republican Challenging Sharice Davids in Kansas' 3rd District
JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. (KCUR) -The list of Republican hopefuls running to replace Democratic Congresswoman Sharice Davids in the Kansas 3rd District continues to grow. Prasanth Reddy, of Lenexa, is a physician and military officer who immigrated to the U.S. as a child. Reddy has become the third GOP candidate aiming to beat Davids. Mohona Chowdhurry, Davids’ campaign manager, says the representative feels confident she'll continue to lead the district. KCUR Radio reports that Jonathan Westbrook, a former police officer and treasurer of the Kansas Black Republican Council, and Karen Crnkovich, an Overland Park businesswoman, are also running to unseat Davids.
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Gaming Commission Approves Wichita Casino Plan
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS/KMUW) - The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission has approved a proposal for a new casino to be built north of Wichita by casino magnate Phil Ruffin. The Golden Circle casino will be built at the former Wichita Greyhound Park near Park City. The facility will include 1,000 historical horse racing machines, which resemble slot machines and allow people to bet on replays of past horse races. Ruffin was the only remaining applicant after one dropped out and another was disqualified. The $84 million-dollar facility is set to open in about 14 months. It will include a dance hall, a hotel, and an entertainment amphitheater. The new casino is permitted under last year’s sports betting bill. (Read more.)
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No More Stopping at Tollbooths on the Kansas Turnpike in 2024
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) - Many drivers on the Kansas Turnpike currently have to stop at toll booths to collect a ticket and then again to pay their toll. But starting next year, those drivers won’t need to stop at all. Instead, their license plates will be scanned and a bill will be sent to them in the mail. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the new cashless tolling system will apply to all drivers on the turnpike who don't have a K-Tag, which automatically tracks a driver's use on the turnpike. For customers who already have a K-Tag, nothing will change.
K-Tag users pay about 30% less than the average motorist. Under the new system, if a vehicle drives through a tollbooth without a K-Tag, the driver will be charged extra for the postage used to send out the bills in the mail. With a K-Tag, users can pay tolls online and won’t be charged postage. Drivers can register for a K-Tag at myktag.com. There is no cost to sign up for the program.
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Wichita State Opens Heartland Environmental Justice Center
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS/KMUW) - The new Heartland Environmental Justice Center at Wichita State University has opened. It will assist Kansas nonprofits in applying for federal grant money. The center is one of 17 in the U.S. that will receive $10 million dollars from the EPA. The centers are a part of a federal effort to focus on environmental issues that disproportionately impact marginalized communities. The money will help Midwestern communities apply for federal grants. Millions of dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act are available. Meg McColister is the Region 7 EPA administrator. She says the center also will help smaller cities vie for federal funding. "These communities can be competitive with those bigger universities or bigger cities who maybe historically would have been able to get more of the funding," she said. The center plans to hire up to six community engagement coordinators to gather feedback on environmental justice issues residents are facing.
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Public Invited to Dole Institute’s Celebration July 22
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — The public is invited to attend a celebration this month honoring the 100th birthday of the late Kansas Senator Bob Dole and the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. The celebration will be held July 22 with free events and activities. Beginning at 10 am, the events will include tributes to Dole and the Dole Institute, with appearances by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, former U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole and Dole's daughter, Robin Dole.
The ceremony will close with the dedication of a commemorative earthwork created by renowned artist Stan Herd, which will incorporate over 1,000 works of art from students across Kansas. A Dole Institute open house and full slate of events for all ages will follow. (Read more.)
The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at KU is dedicated to promoting political and civic participation, as well as civil discourse, in a bipartisan
manner.
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Big 12 Notebook: Kansas State Defending Champ While West Virginia Picked at Bottom
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Kansas State is the defending Big 12 champion even though it was TCU that went to the national title game last season. The Wildcats beat then-undefeated TCU in overtime in the Big 12 championship game. K-State coach Chris Klieman says that was a big win that let his players know they are doing things the right way. He spoke at the league's media days on the same field where they won the title seven months ago. West Virginia is picked last in the 14-team league. Coach Neal Brown says they won't finish there.
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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.