Kansas Lawmakers Move to Protect Businesses
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers moved Tuesday to extend protections for businesses from lawsuits over COVID-19, while a prominent critic of Democratic Governor Laura Kelly said the state’s vaccine distribution has improved in recent weeks. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would give businesses an extra year of protection, until March 31, 2022, from lawsuits from customers or employees who contract COVID-19 if those businesses were “in substantial compliance” with public health orders. The measure goes next to the Senate. Meanwhile, Senate President Ty Masterson said lawmakers are getting fewer complaints about access to vaccines now than a few weeks ago, but, “You can only go up from the bottom.”
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2 Bodies Found in Burning Car in Kansas City Neighborhood
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Homicide detectives in Kansas City are investigating after police found two people dead inside a burning car in a northeastern residential neighborhood. Police say officers responded to 911 calls around 5 pm Monday reporting gunshots and a car crash in the area. Arriving officers and firefighters found a car engulfed in flames and the two bodies inside. Police say the victims had been shot, leading to the fiery crash. Police say they have been unable to identify the victims and will rely on the medical examiner to confirm their identities. Police say they have no suspects yet in the case.
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Missouri Expects Johnson & Johnson Vaccinations to Start Today
O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Missouri vaccinators are expected to receive the first 50,000 doses of the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine by today (WED) and the state’s health director says the shots can start as soon as the doses arrive. The Food and Drug Administration cleared the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Saturday. Nearly 4 million doses of the one-shot vaccine are now being shipped across the U.S. Some states expect to begin injections Tuesday, but Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Lisa Cox said Monday that the first doses in Missouri are expected a day later.
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Kansas Reports More than 294,000 COVID-19 Cases, Including 4,743 Deaths, Since Start of Pandemic
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) reported Monday that there have been 294,302 cases of COVID-19, including 4,743 deaths, since the start of the pandemic. That’s an increase of 639 cases and 8 deaths since Friday. Johnson County has the highest number of recorded cases, with more than 54,300. KDHE will provide another update later today (WED).
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Tensions over Vaccine Equity Pit Rural Against Urban America
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Questions about how a limited supply of vaccine should be distributed have now found a new focus in rural America. As the unprecedented campaign to inoculate the most vulnerable Americans continues, those in some rural areas say they are getting slighted in favor of urban centers. At the same time, city dwellers in some states are traveling hours to score the vaccine in tiny towns and remote villages, sparking conflicts that play on the existing partisan divides worsened by the pandemic.
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States Easing Virus Restrictions Despite Experts’ Warnings
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — With the U.S. vaccination drive picking up speed and a third formula on the way, states eager to reopen for business are easing coronavirus restrictions despite warnings from health experts that the outbreak is far from over and that moving too quickly could prolong the misery. The push to reopen comes as nearly 20% of the nation’s adults have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 10% have been fully inoculated. The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urgently warning state officials and ordinary Americans not to let their guard down.
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NTSB: Pilot in Missouri Plane Crash that Killed 2 Ignored Ice Warning
GALT, Mo. (AP) — National investigators say a pilot ignored warnings about ice and bad weather before his small plane crashed in northern Missouri last month, killing him and his passenger. The crash on February 8 near Galt in Grundy County killed 82-year-old Philip Joseph LeFevre III, of Glendale, and 47-year-old Philip Joseph LeFevre IV, of Sunset Hills. The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report says the single-engine Cessna was covered with ice when it landed in Moberly. The pilot asked for help to de-ice the plane but dismissed suggestions that the men stay in Moberly until the weather improved. The report does not say which of the men was the pilot.
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Lawyer Wants “Most Serious Charges” Against Ex-Chiefs Coach
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An attorney for the family of a 5-year-old girl critically injured in a crash involving former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid says the girl suffered a devastating brain injury that has left her unable to speak or walk. Attorney Tom Porto said Tuesday in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the family of 5-year-old Ariel Young wants to see “the most serious charges and the most serious sentence that Britt could ever receive.” The girl has been hospitalized since the February 4 crash in which Reid’s truck slammed into two cars on the side of the road. Police have said Reid told investigators he had “two or three drinks” along with prescribed Adderall before the crash. No charges have been filed.
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Former Kansas Congressman Steve Watkins Enters Diversion Agreement in Voter Fraud Case
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Former Kansas Congressman Steve Watkins has entered into a diversion program to avoid a criminal trial over allegations that he voted illegally in a 2019 municipal election. Watkins, a Republican from Topeka who served only one term, was accused of listing a postal box at a UPS Inc. store as his residence on a state voter registration form. He was also accused of lying to a detective who investigated the case. Watkins said in a statement Tuesday that he did not intend to deceive anyone. He acknowledged telling the detective he didn’t vote in the Topeka City Council election, which was not true. Watkins lost the 2020 primary to the man who now holds the Kansas 2nd District seat in Congress, Republican Jake LaTurner.
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Chief Says Shooting of 3 Kansas Police Officers Was Not a Trap
LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — Law enforcement officials say it appears a shooting that injured three Wichita police officers over the weekend was not a premeditated trap. Wichita Chief Gordon Ramsay said Monday that a shotgun without a target guard was left in the pocket of a recliner with several other items. Some type of bump caused the gun to go off, hitting three officers in the legs while they were searching the house on Saturday. Officers arrested 46-year-old James Hathorn and 43-year-old Tiffany Vulgamore, both of Wichita, who were staying in the house. Two officers have been treated and released and the third is expected to be released Monday.
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Sedgwick County Deputy Arrested in Contraband Probe
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter says a 35-year-old deputy who works in the county jail has been arrested during an investigation into contraband brought into the jail. Easter says the investigation into began last week after officials got a tip that the deputy was bringing contraband into the jail. During that investigation, detectives discovered David Cameron also was involved in an incident involving neglect of an inmate. On Monday, detectives seized a phone, marijuana, tobacco, a lighter and K-2, a suspected synthetic drug, from inmates in one jail pod. Cameron, who has been with the sheriff’s office since June 2019, was suspended without pay during the investigation.
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Police: Driver Arrested in Deadly Crash in North Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police say a driver believed to have caused a deadly two-car crash in northeastern Wichita has been arrested. Police arrested 28-year-old Luis Ramos-Tafolla on suspicion of vehicular homicide, drunken driving, reckless driving and other counts in the early Monday crash that killed 60-year-old Jessie Lee Johnson. Investigators say Ramos-Tafolla was driving a Dodge Charger on Interstate 135 when he rear-ended Johnson’s car, then vaulted over the side of the raised interstate and fell to the ground below. Johnson died at the scene, and two passengers in his car — a 62-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman — were hospitalized with serious injuries. Ramos-Tafolla was treated for minor injuries.
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No Charges in Police Shooting of Black Man in Kansas City
LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City police officer who shot and killed a Black man last year will not be charged. The Jackson County prosecutor announced Monday that investigations into the death of 47-year-old Donnie Sanders did not find enough evidence to support charges against the officer, whose name has not been released. Sanders was shot in March 2020 after the officer began following him for alleged traffic violations. The officer confronted Sanders when he got out of his vehicle in an alley. The officer told investigators that he believed Sanders was pointing a gun at him. Investigators determined Sanders did not have a gun.
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Haskell University Student Editor Sues over Directive Muting Student Newspaper
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The student newspaper editor at Haskell Indian Nations University filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging the university and its president violated the First Amendment rights of the students by retaliating against them for engaging in protected speech and journalistic activities. The lawsuit stems from a directive that Haskell’s president, Ronald Graham, sent in October to Jared Nally, editor of The Indian Leader, instructing him not to contact any government agency for information while representing the paper or “attack” any student, faculty member or staff member in news copy.
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Legislation Would Let Missourians Keep Unemployment Overpayments
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A pending bill would exempt thousands of Missourians from repaying federal unemployment benefit overpayments. At issue are mistakes by Missouri’s Labor Department as it was considering a huge influx of unemployment claims during the coronavirus pandemic. The agency doled out roughly $146 million to 46,000 people who didn’t qualify. Governor Mike Parson and his administration now are trying to get that money back from Missourians. The proposed Missouri bill would stop the state from collecting the federal portion of the overpayments. But Missourians who mistakenly received unemployment help would still have to pay back money that the state chipped in.
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KPR’s daily headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays and updated throughout the day. KPR’s weekend summary is usually published by 1 pm Saturdays and Sundays.