Another Bank Fails, this Time in Southwest Kansas
ELKHART, Kan. (ABA Banking Journal) — Another bank has failed, this time in southwest Kansas. On Friday, state regulators closed Heartland Tri-State Bank in Elkhart and named the FDIC as receiver. The FDIC entered into an agreement with Dream First Bank in Syracuse, Kansas, to assume the failed bank’s $130 million in deposits and to purchase all of the bank’s assets. As part of the purchase, the FDIC agreed with Dream First to share losses and potential recoveries on the loans purchased from the failed bank. The ABA Banking Journal reports that this is the fourth bank failure of 2023 and the first community bank to fail this year. The failure is expected to cost the Deposit Insurance Fund $54.2 million.
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Yellow Is Shutting Down and Headed for Bankruptcy
UNDATED (KPR / Various Media) - One of the nation’s largest and oldest trucking companies is filing for bankruptcy, and nearly 1,000 employees in the Kansas City area could be laid off as a result. The Wall Street Journal reports that Yellow Corporation ceased operations Sunday. The Teamsters Union, which represents 22,000 Yellow employees, announced they received legal notice confirming today that the company was ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy. The nearly 100-year-old company has nearly 30,000 employees worldwide. Until last year, Yellow was based in Overland Park and still maintains a large presence in the Kansas City area. According to the Kansas City Business Journal, as of last month, Yellow had nearly a thousand full-time employees in Kansas City.
(Additional reporting...)
Yellow Trucking Corporation Headed for Bankruptcy
NEW YORK (AP/WSJ/KPR) - Trucking company Yellow Corporation has shut down operations and is headed for bankruptcy. That's according to the Teamsters Union and multiple media reports. After years of financial struggles, reports of Yellow preparing for bankruptcy emerged last week. The company, once based in Overland Park is now based in Nashville, Tennessee, but keeps a large presence in the Kansas City area, where about 1,000 jobs remain in limbo. The Wall Street Journal reports that Yellow shut down operations on Sunday, following the layoffs of hundreds of non-union employees on Friday. In an announcement early Monday, the Teamsters said that the union received legal notice confirming Yellow was ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
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Weekend Storms Knock Out Power for Thousands in KC Metro
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — Weekend storms knocked out power to thousands of people in the Kansas City metro. Many remained without electricity Monday morning after powerful storms blew through the area Sunday night. WDAF TV reports that the storms caused more than 80,000 Evergy customers to lose power. As of 10 am Monday, the Evergy outage map showed roughly 27,000 customers still without electricity. In Kansas City, Kansas, the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) reported approximately 12,000 customers were hit with downed trees and power outages Sunday night. As of 10 am Monday, roughly 5,500 BPU customers were still without power. BPU officials say restoration efforts could stretch into Wednesday.
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Midwest Heatwave Will Persist Through Early Part of Work Week
UNDATED (KNS/KMUW) — High heat index readings are expected through the first part of the week, with heat index values as high 107. A heat advisory from the National Weather Service is in effect until 9:00 pm Tuesday. Extreme temperatures can be particularly dangerous for people who work outside. Leticia Dominguez, a clinic coordinator at Wichita’s Guadalupe Clinic, says some patients have been coming into the clinic with signs of heat exhaustion, and she’s worried the number could continue to climb. “Our number one tip is staying hydrated throughout the day, and taking breaks of shade," she said. "And I know it's impossible for some of our patients but we always try to advocate to stay in cooler areas.” She’s urging employers to offer fans and shade, and encourage workers to take breaks. Signs of heat exhaustion include nausea, headache, weakness and dizziness. Much of Guadalupe Clinic’s patient population works outside. Dominguez says many of their patients live day-to-day, and not going to work for one day means not getting paid.
(-Related-)
Hot, Extreme Weather Continues with Summer Only Half Over
UNDATED (AP/KPR) - At about its halfway point, the record-breaking hot summer of 2023 is both unprecedented and unsurprising, featuring killer heat, deadly floods and choking smoke from wildfires. Scientists have been talking about this for a long time. But many of them are particularly worried about warming seawater. And there appears to be no relief in sight. Forecasters predict a hotter than normal August and September. Scientists say the extreme weather is mostly caused by climate change with a bit of help from El Nino.
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Ottawa Man Killed in Franklin County Shooting
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) — One man is dead following a fatal shooting in Franklin County. WIBW TV reports that deputies responded to a 911 call about a shooting Friday night (in the 1800 block of John Brown Rd.) in Princeton. Upon arrival, deputies discovered a man suffering from a gunshot wound. He died at the scene. Authorities later identified the victim as 42-year-old Nathan Boggs, of Ottawa. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Ottawa Police Department and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation are all investigating the shooting.
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Kansas Regulators Go After Landfill Beset by Complaints of Fires, Stench
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (Kansas Reflector) — Kansas regulators have instructed a Leavenworth County landfill to stop accepting waste until further notice. The Kansas Reflector reports that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has issued a "cease and desist" letter to the landfill’s operator, Shawn Britz, outlining a series of problems. The landfill is already under scrutiny because of fires and environmental violations and now, state health officials want to shut it down. The letter says the facility, owned by Flat Land Excavating, poses a threat to public health.
The order comes after a fire and a series of violations by the landfill inspired outrage among some neighbors of the landfill in Easton, a small town west of Leavenworth. They said the smell from the landfill was “unbelievable” and complained repeatedly to the state that the facility was forming a massive waste heap before inspectors finally visited the site.
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KC Chiefs Fan Dies While Attending Training Camp Practice
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KC Star) — A Kansas City Chiefs fan died Sunday while attending the team’s training camp practice in St. Joe, Missouri. The Kansas City Star reports that Jessica Tangen, of Riverside, Missouri, died Sunday morning. No further details were immediately available.
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2 Killed in Weekend Head-On Crash in Linn County
LINN CO., Kan. (KWCH) — Two people have been killed in a head-on collision in Linn County. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the crash happened Saturday evening near Mound City when two vehicles collided. KWCH TV reports that one of the drivers -- 62-year-old Dennis Mayes, of Mapleton - and a passenger in his vehicle, 59-year-old Elizabeth Mayes, of Fort Scott, were killed. The driver of the other vehicle, 21-year-old Clinton Barker, of Centerville, was seriously injured.
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Cops Fired for Misconduct Still Allowed to Work in Kansas Prisons
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — Kansas police officers who lose their law enforcement license for misconduct can still work in the state’s prisons or jails. Some groups want to change that. One former Lawrence Police Officer was charged with a crime after becoming violent with his wife. He lost his job with the police department but got a job working at the Shawnee County Jail. That’s because police officers have a more stringent hiring process - one that requires them to have an active police license. Jails and prisons have fewer requirements. Lauren Bonds is the executive director of the National Police Accountability Project. She says corrections and police officers should be held to the same standard. “Certification of correction officers in jails and prisons makes as much sense as it does for certification of police officers who are working out in the community," she said. State lawmakers have not shown much interest in boosting requirements for corrections officers. The state doesn’t track what jobs former police officers take, so it isn’t clear how many go on to work as corrections officers.
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A Community College in KC Teaches Students How to Grow Marijuana
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KC Star) — A community college in Kansas City is teaching students how to grow marijuana. The Kansas City Star reports that Metropolitan Communication College has launched three new online classes to help jump-start careers in Missouri’s burgeoning marijuana industry. MCC is partnering with a California-based company to offer three certificate programs that focus on different aspects of the pot industry: cannabis cultivation specialist, cannabis retail specialist and cannabis extraction & product development specialist. The program covers topics like the relationship between the cannabis plant and human biology, how different products are made, proper dosing and customer service.
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Program Makes Internet Access More Affordable for Residents of Kansas and Missouri
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — The cost of broadband internet service can be a barrier for low-income families. But there is a federal program that can lower the cost by $30 a month. The Affordable Connectivity Program was passed by Congress last year to provide low-income households with a monthly credit to help offset the cost of high speed internet service. Aaron Deacon, Managing Director of the group KC Digital Drive, says not enough people are taking advantage of the program. “We have a lot of good providers and a lot of good network capacity and a lot of people don’t know that you can get this support to make that monthly broadband bill more affordable.” The program is available to low-income residents of Kansas and Missouri, including those who receive SNAP benefits, Pell grants or who qualify for the WIC program. More information at the FCC’s website at FCC.gov.
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Kansas Farmers Didn’t Harvest Much Wheat This Season and It Continues to Rain
UNDATED (Brownfield Ag News) — A western Kansas farmer says drought destroyed his entire winter wheat crop and now, it won’t stop raining. Jim Sipes told Brownfield Ag News that the recent moisture was too little too late. “We’ve gone from having the driest three-year period of my lifetime to now having 20 inches of rain since May," he said. But, Sipes says, the rain has his "corn and sorghum crops in good shape, despite extreme weed pressure.”
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Kansas Man Gets 57 Years in Starvation Death of 2-Year-Old
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) — A northeast Kansas man will spend the next 57 years in prison for the starvation death of his 2-year-old daughter. WIBW TV reports that Jeffery “James” Exon, of Topeka, was sentenced Friday. He was convicted in April of first-degree murder related to the malnutrition death of his daughter Aurora.
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KC Woman Gets 2 Decades in Prison for Severely Beating Children
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KC Star) — A Kansas City woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for abusing two children in her care. The Kansas City Star reports that 40-year-old Nancy Russell was convicted in March of four felonies of first-degree domestic assault and other crimes in which two children were severely beaten at a Kansas City home in 2017.
A family member of one of the victims reported to police that one child was walking with a limp and had head wounds. Detectives learned that Russell hit the child with a cord and a metal pipe. The child said it was because the laundry "wasn't done properly.” During interviews with investigators, the children described being beaten by Russell on a routine basis. One of the children was also treated for “a breakdown of the muscle tissue due to the severe beating.”
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GOP Presidential Candidate and Florida Governor Coming to KC
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBC) — Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is coming to Kansas City for a fundraiser next month. The event will be held Tuesday, August 8 at noon. KMBC TV reports the luncheon fundraiser will be pricey. The VIP reception is $6,600 per person. The cost of the lunch itself is $3,300 per person.
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Mega Millions Jackpot Soars to More Than $1 Billion
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) — Tuesday night's Mega Millions lottery jackpot has climbed to more than $1 billion. There have been no jackpot winners since April, pushing the grand prize up to an estimated $1.05 billion, which is tied for the fourth-largest prize in the lottery's history. The next jackpot drawing takes place Tuesday night. Odds of winning are extremely low, at about 1 in 303 million.
The winning numbers from the most recent drawing on Friday, July 28 were: 5, 10, 28, 52 and 63. The Mega Ball was 18 and the Megaplier was 5X.
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Brain Fog and Other Long COVID Symptoms Become Focus of New Small Treatment Studies
WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Institutes of Health is starting some studies to test possible treatments for long COVID. Millions of people re estimated to have the mysterious condition. The studies are small but each will tackle multiple possible therapies for things like brain fog, sleep disturbances and the theory that lingering virus may be at least partly to blame. The studies are part of the RECOVER project, which had to unravel what the most common and burdensome symptoms of long COVID are before doing studies.
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Scammers Are Impersonating the Kansas Secretary of State's Office
TOPEKA (KSNT) — The Kansas Secretary of State’s Office took to Twitter this week to warn of a phishing scam impersonating the secretary's Office. Director of Communications and Policy Whitney Tempel said the scam email comes from an email address ending in .org and portrays itself as coming from the Secretary of State's office. KSNT reports that the phony email has a clickable link to “review documents,” where scammers will try to steal a person's information. Officials remind the public that all official emails from state government will come from an address ending in .gov.
Anyone receiving one of these scam emails is encouraged to call the Secretary of State's Office at (785) 296-4564.
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Remains of WWII Veteran Returning to Kansas for Burial
PLAINS, Kan. (KAKE) — The remains of a Kansas WWII veteran killed in World War II are finally returning home. U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Robert C. Elliott, of Plains, Kansas, was killed during a bombing mission in Romania. He was killed August 1, 1943 when his plane was hit by enemy fire. Elliot was just 24-years-old. His remains could not be identified at the time, so he was buried alongside other unidentified soldiers in Romania. KAKE TV reports that Elliot's remains were finally identified in February. Sgt. Robert Elliott will be interred at Plains Cemetery on Tuesday, August 1 - exactly 80 years to the day after he was killed in action.
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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 amweekdays 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.