Kansas Court System Down Nearly 2 Weeks in "Security Incident" that Has Hallmarks of Ransomware
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials are calling a massive computer outage that's kept most of the state's courts offline for two weeks a "security incident" and, while they had not provided an explanation as of Wednesday, experts say it has all the hallmarks of a ransomware attack. The disruption has left attorneys unable to search online records and forced them to file motions the old fashioned way — on paper. Courts are limping along, although the growing piles of paper are a mess that will have to be sorted and scanned eventually. "It's really just slowed the whole system down," said Chris Joseph, a Lawrence-based criminal defense attorney.
Since 2019, ransomware groups have targeted 18 state, city or municipal court systems, said analyst Allan Liska of the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. That includes one in Dallas, where some jury trials had to be canceled this year. But state-focused attacks have been much less frequent, and have not yet rivaled what is happening in Kansas. "We are treating this matter with the highest priority," Lisa Taylor, the Judicial Branch's spokesperson, said in an email Wednesday. Liska noted Tuesday that a short-lived attack in 2019 in Georgia shut down some court websites and forced some court dates to be rescheduled. A cybersecurity threat forced Alaska's courts offline for about a week in 2021. Texas' top criminal and civil courts were hit with a ransomware attack in 2020 but the filing system remained operational and trial courts weren't affected.
In Kansas, the first sign of trouble came on Oct. 12 when the state's Judicial Branch announced a pause in electronic filings because of a "security incident." The details released since have been sparse. Taylor said only that an investigation is ongoing in response to questions of whether the courts had determined that this was a malicious attack, whether there's been a demand for a ransom or when the systems will be back up. The court system has set up a website dealing with the incident, and Taylor said its officials will cooperate with any law enforcement investigation.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said only that is is "engaged" in examining the problems, along with "federal partners," said spokesperson Melissa Underwood. No ransomware group has come forward to claim credit for the prolonged outage, analysts said. But Liska said it is "highly unlikely" that this is anything but a ransomware attack. "The fact that they're calling it a cyber incident says that it's nefarious," Liska said.
Notably spared was Johnson County in the Kansas City area, the state's most populous county. It operates its own computer systems and had not yet switched over to the state's new online court system.
The effort to switch to a single, statewide system for tracking and managing cases started in 2018 under a 10-year, $11.5 million contract with Dallas-based Tyler Technologies. Tyler, which has similar contracts in around a dozen other states, referred questions to state court officials.
States have been moving toward statewide systems for more than a decades. On the security front, there are pros and cons, said analyst Brett Callow of the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. "On the pro side, economies of scale mean more resources should be able to be committed to protecting and securing that system," he said. "On the con side, when an attack does succeed ... it's going to knock out the entire state system rather than simply an individual county or municipality." Additionally, if security is not adequately built in during the rollout, systems can be more vulnerable, Liska said.
A risk assessment of the state's court system, issued last year, is kept "permanently confidential" under state law. But two recent audits of other state agencies identified weaknesses. The most recent one, released in July, said that "agency leaders don't know or sufficiently prioritize their IT security responsibilities." With the system down, courts haven't been able to accept electronic filings, process payments, manage cases, grant public access to records, allow people to file electronically for protection-from-abuse orders and to apply electronically for marriage licenses.
In Sedgwick County, home to the state's largest city of Wichita, Judge Phil Journey said Wednesday that although he is known as a "techie" judge, he's still maintained extensive paper files. That's allowing him to move forward with his family law cases. But, he said, other judges who were more reliant on digital files are faced with postponing trials. "All I know is that we're on paper for at least another week," he said. "We'll be killing a lot of trees."
In Wyandotte County, also in the Kansas City area, the outage has caused some delays, but trials are proceeding, said Jonathan Carter, a spokesman for the district attorney's office. A massive ransomware attack last year in the county crippled key services, including the court system. Whether that is related to what is happening now is unclear.
Meanwhile, older attorneys are finding their skills in high demand, as they teach younger attorneys to use faxes and file with paper, said Karla Whitaker, interim executive director of the Kansas Bar Association. "The wheels of justice are turning," she said Wednesday. "But I think it's just happening in a different way at a different pace right now."
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More TB Cases Identified at Olathe Northwest High School
OLATHE, Kan. (KNS) - Following a confirmed active case of tuberculosis earlier this month, Johnson County health officials say four more people tested positive for tuberculosis at Olathe Northwest High School. A spokesperson for the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment says the four people at Olathe Northwest High School with positive tuberculosis tests will need follow-up evaluations. According to the CDC, a person can test positive for tuberculosis bacteria but not have the disease. Earlier this month, health officials identified 425 close contacts of the first active case. So far, only 273 of those contacts have been tested. Because it can take weeks to test positive for tuberculosis after being exposed, people need to be tested more than once. Health officials say there will be more T-B testing at the school in mid-November. (Read more.)
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Feds: 6 Indicted in KC in Scheme to Steal $240,000 in COVID Relief Funds
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KC Star) — Six people have been indicted in Kansas City in an alleged fraud conspiracy involving $240,000 in COVID-19 relief loans. Prosecutors say the money was paid out to businesses that were fake or misrepresented in loan applications. The Kansas City Star reports that 54-year-old Renetta Golden-Larimore, of Kansas City, is accused of knowingly preparing false paperwork for five other conspirators to obtain the loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program. She allegedly charged a fee ranging between $2,000 and $7,000 for her services.
Five others are charged in the conspiracy. Each person was approved for a loan of about $21,000. All six defendants are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The others indicted are 31-year-old Tajona Manning, 24-year-old Tashawn Mayfield, 25-year-old Camonte Henderson, 33-year-old Quinniece Smith and 32-year-old Dannisha Taylor.
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Chiefs Wide Receiver Ross Pleads Not Guilty to Domestic Violence Charges
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KSHB) — Kansas City Chiefs player Justyn Ross appeared in Johnson County court yesterday (TUE) afternoon where he pleaded not guilty to two charges related to an alleged domestic violence incident. The 24-year-old wide receiver was charged with domestic violence and criminal damage charges, which are both misdemeanors. Ross was arrested Monday afternoon at a home in Shawnee. A judge set a $2,500 personal recognizance bond for Ross and he later bonded out of the Johnson County Adult Detention Center. KSHB TV reports that Ross is due back in court on December 4th.
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Former Ft. Riley Soldier Found Guilty in Aggieville Murder
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KSNT) — A former Fort Riley soldier has been sentenced to life in prison as a result of a 2022 shooting in Manhattan’s Aggieville entertainment district. A judge sentenced Tremelle Montgomery to life in prison for the killing of 21-year-old Joshua Wardi in February 2022. Last month, a Riley County grand jury found Montgomery guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated assault among other charges. KSNT TV reports that Montgomery will serve a life sentence with parole eligibility after 50 years. The judge also imposed an additional 26 years on the charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault. Two other men were also arrested and charged for their involvement in Wardi’s death. Their cases are continuing through the Riley County District Court system.
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Another Mountain Lion Spotted in Kansas, This Time in the Northwest
BREWSTER, Kan. (KWCH) - Another mountain lion has been spotted in the mountain-less state of Kansas. This time, the large predator cat was caught on camera in Thomas County, in northwest Kansas.KWCH TV reports that Wayne Luckert, of Brewster, about 20 minutes west of Colby, caught the animal on his cell phone camera. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks said seeing a mountain lion in the northwest part of the state is a rare occurrence. However, another mountain lion was captured on a trail camera on the other side of the state just last week. That mountain lion was recorded near Parsons. Wildlife officials say only 60 mountain lions have been seen in the state during the past 20 years.
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FHSU Survey: 70% of Kansans Support Medicaid Expansion
HAYS, Kan. (KNS) - Seventy percent of Kansans support expanding Medicaid, including more than half of Republicans. That’s according to a new public opinion survey released Tuesday by the Docking Institute at Fort Hays State University. Most respondents also agreed that Medicaid expansion would help keep rural hospitals in business. But Docking Institute director Brett Zollinger says those views might not translate into action at the ballot box. "It can be difficult to kind of gauge the extent to which support or opposition on an issue is going to affect someone's behavior and where it stands with respect to other issues," he said. Kansas is one of 10 states that has not yet expanded Medicaid.
Kansans’ views on the issue are out of step with actions by the Republican-controlled state Legislature, which has repeatedly blocked expansion in recent years. Nonetheless, Democratic Governor Laura Kelly says she'll push again for Medicaid expansion during the next session, which begins in January.
That same survey indicates that a majority of Kansans remain supportive of abortion rights.
More than 63% of respondents to the Kansas Speaks survey say women were in a better position than politicians to decide whether to get an abortion. Just over half say the Kansas government should not place any regulations on the circumstances under which women can get abortions. A number of abortion restrictions currently are in place in Kansas, including a ban after 22 weeks and parental consent rules for minors. The Kansas Legislature is prevented from banning abortion by the state constitution, but lawmakers did pass a few new incremental restrictions this year.
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Report: The Capital City of Kansas Is the Top Emerging Housing Market in the U.S.
TOPEKA, Kan. (FOX Business News) — Topeka is ranked the highest among the top 20 emerging real estate markets and is expected to do relatively well amid the tumultuous housing market compared to the rest of the country. That's according to the Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com Emerging Housing Markets Index for Fall 2023. The index analyzes key housing market data, economic vitality and lifestyle metrics in order to determine which markets offer the highest quality of life, and where homes are expected to see future price appreciation. Fox Business News reports that Topeka is among the markets poised to fare better with sales in the midst of what is on track to become the slowest year for home buying since the housing bubble burst in 2008.
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Kansas Among States Suing Owner of Facebook, Instagram Claiming Social Platforms Are Addictive
UNDATED (AP) — Dozens of U.S. states, including Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Colorado are suing Meta Platforms Inc. - the owners of Facebook and Instagram -- for harming young people's mental health and contributing to the youth mental health crisis. The states claim Meta knowingly designed features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to the platforms. The lawsuit was filed by 33 states in federal court in California. It also claims that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without parental consent, in violation of federal law. In addition, nine attorneys general are filing lawsuits in their respective states, bringing the total number of states taking action to 41 and Washington, D.C.
The broad-ranging federal suit is the result of an investigation led by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont. It follows damning newspaper reports, first by The Wall Street Journal in the fall of 2021, based on the Meta's own research that found that the company knew about the harms Instagram can cause teenagers — especially teen girls — when it comes to mental health and body image issues. One internal study cited 13.5% of teen girls saying Instagram makes thoughts of suicide worse and 17% of teen girls saying it makes eating disorders worse.
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Doctor with KU Connection Accused of Poisoning Pharmacist Wife
ROCHESTER, MN. (KAAL) — Authorities in Rochester, Minnesota, have arrested a 30-year-old doctor after a months-long investigation into his wife’s death. Police arrested 30-year-old Dr. Connor Fitzgerald Bowman last Friday. He's accused of poisoning his pharmacist wife, 32-year-old Betty Jo Bowman, who died in August. Dr. Connor Bowman used to work at the Mayo Clinic and is a former poison control worker in Kansas. He faces a single charge of 2nd-degree murder.
According to court documents, Dr. Bowman attempted to cancel his wife's autopsy and tried to have her cremated. KAAL TV reports that witnesses told police the couple was likely getting divorced and that Dr. Bowman stood to collect $500,000 worth of life insurance if his wife died while they were still married. According to court documents, Rochester police seized Bowman’s electronic devices, which included a University of Kansas HP laptop. Dr. Bowman's next court appearance is set for November 1.
(AP version)
Former Kansas Poison Specialist and Former Resident at Mayo Clinic Charged with Poisoning Wife
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A poison specialist and former medical resident at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota is charged with fatally poisoning his wife, a 32-year-old pharmacist who died days after she went to a hospital in August with stomach distress. Authorities say Connor Bowman, 30, tried to stop the autopsy on his wife, Betty Bowman — arguing she should be cremated immediately and claiming she had a rare illness, which hospital tests did not confirm. The medical examiner's office halted the order for cremation, citing suspicious circumstances, according to a criminal complaint, and an autopsy showed Betty Bowman died from toxic effects of colchicine, a medicine used to treat gout.
Medical records indicate she was not diagnosed with gout and had not been prescribed the medicine, the complaint states, adding that Connor Bowman had been researching the drug prior to his wife's death. Six days before she was hospitalized, he had also converted his wife's weight to kilograms and multiplied that by 0.8 — with 0.8 mg/kg considered to be the lethal dosage rate for colchicine, according to the complaint. Connor Bowman was charged Monday with second-degree murder. He was arrested Friday and was still in custody as of Tuesday. His attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Mayo Clinic spokesperson Amanda Dyslin released a statement Tuesday that did not identify Bowman by name, but indicated he was a resident at the hospital. "We are aware of the recent arrest of a former Mayo Clinic resident on charges unrelated to his Mayo Clinic responsibilities. The resident's training at Mayo Clinic ended earlier this month," the statement said. Dyslin did not say why Connor Bowman's training at Mayo Clinic ended. Betty Bowman was also a pharmacist at Mayo Clinic.
According to the criminal complaint, the Southeast Minnesota Medical Examiner's Office alerted police to the "suspicious death" of Betty Bowman on August 21, a day after she died. She had been admitted to a hospital in Rochester on Aug. 16 with "severe gastrointestinal distress and dehydration where her condition deteriorated rapidly," the complaint said. Her initial symptoms were similar to food poisoning and were treated that way, but they continued to worsen. She experienced cardiac issues, fluid in her lungs and organ failure.
While Betty Bowman was in the hospital, Connor Bowman suggested she was suffering from a rare illness called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH. Hospital tests came back inconclusive for HLH, but Connor Bowman told multiple people that she died from that disease, according to the complaint. He also told the medical examiner's office that Betty Bowman's death was natural and that she "did not want to be a cadaver," and therefore, the autopsy should be canceled, the complaint said. He asked an investigator at the medical examiner's office if the toxicology analysis would be more thorough than the analysis done at the hospital.
The night before Betty Bowman went to the hospital, she told a man — identified as SS in the complaint — that she was drinking at home with Connor Bowman. The next morning, she told SS she was sick, possibly from a drink that was mixed into a large smoothie.
Connor Bowman was a poison specialist and answered calls about poisons, using devices from the University of Kansas for his work, according to the complaint. A woman from the University of Kansas told investigators that Connor Bowman had been researching colchicine, the drug used to treat gout, though he had not received any calls about colchicine, nor had any other employees.
Investigators found that Connor Bowman had searched "internet browsing history: can it be used in court?" and "delete amazon data police" on Aug. 5. He did calculations that match the lethal dosage rate for colchicine on August 10. The Minnesota Department of Health found colchicine in Betty Bowman's blood and urine samples that were taken at the hospital, and the medical examiner determined the cause of death to be toxic effects of colchicine, the complaint says.
One woman told investigators that the Bowmans had been talking about divorce, and another told authorities that Connor Bowman said he was going to get $500,000 in life insurance from his wife's death, the complaint says. Authorities found a receipt for a $450,000 bank deposit inside his home. He is scheduled to appear in court on November 1.
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Kansas Secretary of Wildlife and Parks Brad Loveless Retiring
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — The secretary of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP), Brad Loveless, is retiring. He intends to step down upon the appointment of a new secretary in 2024. Loveless was appointed to the role in January 2019. During his tenure, the Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park and the Lehigh Portland State Park were established, and Kansas’ Flint Hills Trail was added to the National Trails System. Under his leadership, the department opened an additional research facility and successfully stocked three protected species – Plains Minnows and Neosho and Fatmucker Mussels.
“Congratulations to Secretary Brad Loveless on his well-deserved retirement,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “I thank him for his commitment to conservation, to our state parks, and to ensuring Kansans can enjoy the great outdoors for generations to come. His expertise will be greatly missed.”
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Kansas Liver Donor Helping Increase Number of Live Liver Transplants
UNDATED (KNS) — Medical experts say increasing the number of liver transplants that use organs from living donors could help more Americans access lifesaving transplants. The University of Kansas Health System plans to join a growing number of hospitals that offer the procedure. The vast majority of liver transplants use organs from a deceased donor. But that’s starting to change. (Read more.)
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Lawrence Receives Nearly 70 Reports of Non-Sanctioned Homeless Campsites Around Town
LAWRENCE, Kan. (LJW) — The City of Lawrence launched an online reporting tool for residents to reports new homeless campsites around the city. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that less than a week later, the city has received nearly 70 such reports. Although the city runs a tent support site for the homeless in North Lawrence, the emergence of unsanctioned campsites has been an ongoing controversy. When such reports are made, city staff members visit the unsanctioned campsites to discuss available services in the community. Staff members then give notice for people to vacate the area. The effort to curb illegal overnight camping comes after complaints that the city was not enforcing its no-camping ordinance.
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Manufacturing Council: Coolest Thing Made in Kansas? Cheese Curds
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - What's the coolest thing made in Kansas? According to the Kansas Manufacturing Council, the answer is... cheese curds. In an annual contest sponsored by the Kansas Manufacturing Council, Alma Cheese Curds from the Alma Creamery was the BIG winner of this year's People's Choice Award. The winner was announced after weeks of voting. More than 30,000 people cast votes in this year's contest. This year's competition started with 58 products made in the Sunflower State. Other finalists in this year's contest: products made by Catepillar Works Tools in Wamego, Plainscraft, LLC in Topeka and Acoustic Sounds of Salina.
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Chiefs Linebacker Nick Bolton Has Surgery on Fractured Wrist in Los Angeles
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs' Nick Bolton had surgery in Los Angeles on his fractured wrist this week, though coach Andy Reid said Wednesday he was not sure whether the linebacker would land on injured reserve or how long he might be out. Reid said there was no need during Tuesday's procedure for metal to be put into the wrist to support it, and that could help Bolton return to the field quicker. He already has missed three games this season because of an ankle injury. Bolton was hurt making a tackle in last Sunday's win over the Chargers. The Chiefs visit the Broncos on Sunday.
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Sporting KC Opens Major League Playoffs vs. San Jose
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) — Sporting Kansas City will host the San Jose Earthquakes tonight (WED) to open the Major League Soccer playoffs in a wild-card match. After going winless in its first ten matches this season, Sporting Kansas City had to claw its way back into playoff contention. Still, manager Peter Vermes says it’s the same team that has believed in itself from the outset. Sporting didn’t secure their postseason berth until the very last day of the regular season. The win-or-go-home game kicks off at 8:30 pm.
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Fast Starts by the Chiefs and Eagles Raise Possibility of a Rare Super Bowl Rematch
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City and Philadelphia are setting the stage for the possibility of a rare Super Bowl rematch. The Chiefs and Eagles both have won six of their first seven games and are tied for the best record in the NFL. This is just the sixth time that the two teams that played in the Super Bowl the previous season are tied for the best record in the NFL entering Week 8 or later. One of the previous times it happened was 1993 with Buffalo and Dallas on the way to the only Super Bowl rematch.
Buffalo and Dallas finished the season tied for the best record at 12-4 a year after playing in the Super Bowl. They met again in the Super Bowl that season, with the Cowboys repeating as champions in the only time the same two teams met in the Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons.
The win over the Chargers gave the Chiefs a three-game lead in the AFC West — just the fourth time in the past 10 seasons that has happened after seven weeks. Kansas City already has won division games against Denver and the Chargers to improve to 29-3 against division opponents with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. Mahomes' .906 winning percentage in the division is the best of any QB since the merger with at least 20 starts, far outdistancing Dak Prescott's .800 mark for Dallas against the NFC East. The 28-year-old Mahomes had his sixth career game in the regular season or playoffs with at least 400 yards passing and four TDs. The only players with more in NFL history are Peyton Manning (nine) and Dan Marino (eight).
The Eagles got to 6-1 by beating Miami 31-17. Receiver A.J. Brown had his fifth straight game with at least 125 yards receiving, tying Calvin Johnson (2012) and Pat Studstill (1966) for the longest streaks ever.
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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.