Kansas State Representative Samsel Pleads Not Guilty to All Charges
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Kansas Representative Mark Samsel has pleaded not guilty on all counts at his first court hearing this (WED) morning. Samsel is charged with three counts of misdemeanor battery against a Wellsville High School student. The complaints allege that Samsel caused bodily harm to two teenage students while substitute teaching. He was arrested after a student reported an incident in late April. Videos from students appear to show Samsel pushing a student and ranting about masturbation, teen suicide and God. The second hearing for the Republican from Wellsville is scheduled for July 12. The judge also ordered Samsel to undergo a mental health evaluation.
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University of Kansas Reschedules 2021 Commencements
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Hundreds of University of Kansas graduates who had their graduation canceled Sunday because of severe weather will have another chance to attend commencement ceremonies. Chancellor Douglas Girod has announced that graduation ceremonies for the class of 2021 will be held Sunday, May 23, at Memorial Stadium. The university called off all three ceremonies on Sunday for the class of 2021 amid worries about lightning. Class of 2021 KU graduates still made the most of the day. Students and their families congregated on the Hill for photos, and graduates took turns walking through the Campanile. Girod said Monday he realized many people and their families would not be able to attend the rescheduled ceremonies but he said the university wanted to provide a ceremony for the class. It was the second straight year the university had to call off commencement. The 2020 ceremonies were postponed after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The class of 2020 is also scheduled to celebrate its commencement on Sunday(link is external).
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3-Year-Old Kansas Boy Dies After Being Run Over by Truck
GODDARD, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County authorities say a 3-year-old boy died after being accidentally run over by a truck driven by a family member. Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter says officers responding to a home in Goddard Monday evening found Kannon Agnew dead at the scene. The sheriff says the boy was outside with his father and three other children when he stopped to change his shoes, which were on the wrong feet. The 40-year-old driver was moving the vehicle to hook it to a trailer and didn’t see the child sitting there. Easter says the investigation will continue but the death appears to be “a horrible accident.”
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Police Identify Man Shot to Death in Kansas City, Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police in Kansas City, Kansas, have identified a man killed last week in a wooded residential area on the northwestern edge of the city. Police say officers were called to the area the afternoon of May 11 and found 38-year-old Francisco Herrera-Flores, of Kansas City, Kansas. Police say Herrera-Flores had been shot. Police say 36-year-old Guadalupe Benitez-Pizarro, of Sante Fe, New Mexico, has been arrested and charged with second-degree felony murder in Herrera-Flores’ death. Benitez-Pizarro is being held in the Wyandotte County Jail on a $250,000 bond.
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Former Tyson Employee in Emporia Pleads Guilty in Fraud Scheme
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — A former Tyson employee in Emporia faces sentencing in July after admitting that he defrauded the company of more than $416,000. Federal prosecutors say David John Ranger used company cards to transfer funds into his personal accounts while he was working as plant maintenance manager in Emporia. He also created a fictitious company and claimed the company was providing services to Tyson. Prosecutors say he used the money from the scheme to pay his personal expenses. The fraud began in December 2012 and ended in April 2019. Ranger pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on April 28.
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Students Line Up for Vaccines Amid Push to Relax Mask Mandate
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas schools are stepping up efforts to administer COVID-19 vaccines to newly eligible 12-to 15-year-olds as more districts relax mask rules or face pressure to do so. Hundreds of students from public and private schools gathered Monday to get vaccinated at Topeka High School. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the students were joined by Governor Laura Kelly, who touted the effort as the state aims to increase its vaccine uptake. School districts from Manhattan to Olathe are conducting similar clinics and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, as well as the Kansas National Guard, is chipping in support as needed.
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Wyandotte and Douglas Counties Discuss Dropping Mask Mandates
KANSAS CITY, KAn. (KNS) – The last two Kansas counties that require people to wear masks because of the coronavirus pandemic are deciding whether to change the rules in response to new federal guidelines. After meeting Monday night, the Wyandotte County Health Department recommended continuing to enforce the current mask order until it expires on May 29th. Wyandotte County Commissioner Melissa Bynum supports continuing the mask order because only 25% of Wyandotte County residents have been fully vaccinated. Bynum says the extra two weeks gives people time to get vaccinated before the order is rescinded. “At some point, we need to ask people to step up and help themselves and I think that’s the point we’re at in our community” Bynum said. Douglas County is the only other county in Kansas that still has a mask mandate in place. Douglas health officials are expected to recommend that the county lift the order when the commission meets Wednesday evening. Last week, Governor Laura Kelly said the state would immediately adopt the new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those guidelines say people who are fully vaccinated no longer have to wear face coverings indoors or outdoors except in crowded situations where social distancing is not possible.
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Hy-Vee Drops Mask Requirement
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Hy-Vee grocery stores has announced that they will no longer require vaccinated customers and employees to wear masks in their stores unless face coverings are required by a local ordinance. A spokesman for the grocery store chain told KSHB-TV that the change will go into effect immediately. Face masks are still recommended for people who have not been fully vaccinated.
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UPDATED: Kansas COVID-19 Case Count Exceeds 312,000; Death Toll Hits 5,040
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) reported Monday that there have been 312,073 cases of COVID-19, including 5,040 deaths related to the coronavirus, since the pandemic began. That’s an increase of 368 cases and two deaths since Friday. Another update is expected Wednesday.
(An earlier version of this story contained a typo from KDHE regarding the total COVID-19 case numbers to date, which also affected the case number increase since last Friday.)
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New CDC Data Show Rural Areas Lagging Behind in COVID Vaccinations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the rates of COVID-19 vaccinations show rural parts of the country are lagging behind urban areas. 49.7% of the population is vaccinated in Kansas urban areas while the rate in rural areas is 41.3%. George Diepenbrock, spokesman for the Lawrence-Douglas County Department of Public Health, told KSHB-TV that large vaccination events initially helped inoculation rates but demand for the shots has dwindled. Douglas County includes Lawrence, the smaller cities of Eudora, Lecompton, New guidance from the CDC recommends that public health departments work with doctors, pharmacies, and faith groups in rural areas to address the disparity in
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State of Kansas Providing Loans to Help School Districts Facing Abnormally High Utility Bills
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Kansas businesses and school districts hit with abnormally high natural gas bills from February’s cold snap can now get help from the state. Kansas is making $20 million dollars available to businesses and school districts that saw massive spikes in natural gas bills. The Wabaunsee school distric for example, saw its February gas bill go from about $4,000 to more than $50,000. The loans of up to $500,000 will be issued by local banks and funded by the state. They’ll need to be paid back within three years. The state has already funded about $80 million in loans to cities in need. The Attorney General’s office is investigating whether natural gas suppliers price gouged during the emergency.
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Kansas Schools Offer Summer Programs for Kids to Catch Up
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) — Some Kansas schools are offering summer programs to help kids catch up with course work after schools moved to virtual learning during the pandemic. But some school administrators say they are disappointed by a lack of interest among students and parents. Wichita schools invited more than 21,000 students to free K-8 summer camps aimed at boosting reading and math skills but only about 20% of those invited say they plan to attend. That mirrors a nationwide trend, as many burned-out families are declining offers of free summer school. Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson says recovering the learning time lost during the pandemic is going to be difficult, but it can be done. “We’re hopeful that with multiple summer schools, multiple extended school years and tutoring services, we can make this up” Watson said. Kansas schools will get about $1.3 billion in federal aid over the next three years for summer school and other programs.
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Proposal Would Put Missouri Gas Tax Hike to Public Vote
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A conservative advocacy group’s Missouri chapter is seeking to put what’s expected to be the state’s first gas tax hike in years to a public vote. The secretary of state says the director of Americans for Prosperity-Missouri filed the referendum petition. Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature last week approved a gradual increase in the state’s 17 cents per gallon gas tax to 29.5 cents over five years. Republican Governor Mike Parson is expected to sign the bill into law. Missouri voters have repeatedly voted down increases to the gas tax.
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Police Arrest One Person After Kansas City Woman Fatally Shot
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Officers called to an apartment in a historic neighborhood south of downtown Kansas City for reports of gunfire found a woman fatally shot. Officers were called around 2 a.m. Wednesday to the apartment in Hyde Park. Arriving officers found a woman inside the apartment who had been shot. Medics pronounced the woman dead at the scene. Police say one person was arrested. Authorities have not released the name of the woman killed or details about what led to the shooting.
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Kansas City Police Begin Homicide Investigation After Finding Body
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Police in Kansas City, Missouri have launched a homicide investigation after find the body of a man who had been missing for nearly a week. Police say the body of 52-year-old Gilberto Gutierrez was found Monday morning in the Swope Parkway-Elmwood neighborhood. Police have not said how Gutierrez died, but had issued a missing persons alert for him on May 11, when he was last seen near his farm in south Kansas City. Police say that they were working with the medical examiner to determine Gutierrez’s cause of death.
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Missouri Man Charged in Deaths Now Accused of fraud
KANSAS CITY,Mo. (AP) – A Missouri farmer accused of attempting to cover up a $215,000 cattle fraud scheme by killing two Wisconsin brothers has been indicted on a federal mail fraud charge. A federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri returned an indictment against 27-year-old Garland Joseph Nelson. Nelson is already awaiting trial on state murder charges in the deaths of 24-year-old Justin Diemel and 35-year-old Nicholas Diemel, of Shawano County, Wisconsin. Their burned remains were found in Missouri and Nebraska after they disappeared while visiting Nelson’s farm in Braymer in northwest Missouri in July 2019. The federal charge filed Tuesday focuses on the financial deal that brought the brothers to Missouri. Braymer is about 75 miles northeast of Kansas City.
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Kansas City Works to Preserve Satchel Paige Home
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KNS) – Kansas City, Missouri has issued a request for proposals to restore and redevelop the house of legendary Negro League and Major League Baseball pitcher Satchel Paige. Beth Breitenstein with city planning and development says they hope to find a contractor to restore the home. “It’s a historic property” Breitenstein said. “It’s something that this community deserves to have as an asset for years to come.” City officials say the RFP stressed that the redevelopment should be something that benefits the area. They would like to see the home rehabilitated as a community center or museum. Paige purchased the house in the Santa Fe neighborhood in 1950, and he lived there until his death in 1982. The 111-year-old house has sat vacant since about 2004. It was damaged by fire in 2018 but was purchased by the Kansas City Homesteading Authority, which used a $150,000 grant for repairs.
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