Kansas Inmates Wait Months for Mental Health Treatment
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Inmates with mental health issues are waiting months to get the medication and treatment they need to be deemed competent to assist in their own defense because a state hospital is so overtaxed. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Douglas County Sheriff Jay Armbrister says the situation is so bad that the case of one man with severe mental health issues took six years to make it through the court system. The man ultimately was sentenced to 16 months, or less than a quarter of the amount of time he was incarcerated. Armbrister says the case encapsulates the “dark underbelly” of the state’s criminal justice system, which he believes fails to properly account for the mental health of those who are held in jail prior to conviction.
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Crawford County Inmate Charged in Another Inmate's Death
GIRARD, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says a Crawford County jail inmate has been charged in the death of another inmate. The KBI says 25-year-old Gavin Wood of Arma was charged with second-degree murder on Monday. Twenty-year-old Dante Martinez of Pittsburg was found suffering from severe injuries in a common area of a jail pod on Saturday. He died later at a Joplin hospital. The KBI says video surveillance shows Wood attacking Martinez. The agency said the investigation is continuing. No further information was released.
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Overland Park Day Care Manager Fired as Police Investigate Possible Child Abuse
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) - An investigation continues into allegations of child abuse at a day care center in Overland Park. The person who ran the center was fired after police began investigating the allegations. A spokesman for The Learning Express said Sunday that the franchise owner of the location was fired for "failing to meet our standard of care." The Kansas City Star reports that the independently-owned day care center is a franchise location of a Florida-based company. Detectives are investigating at least nine reports of child abuse at the center. So far, no arrests have been reported.
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Kansas Legislative Committee Meets Next Week to Discuss Pandemic Mandates
TOPEKA, Kan. (KPR) - A special committee of Kansas lawmakers charged with blocking federal COVID-19 mandates has scheduled its first meetings. The panel, formed by Republican leaders to placate conservatives who wanted a special session of the entire legislature, will hold its first meetings next week. The meetings will include a rare Saturday session. GOP leaders say the panel is urgently needed so that Kansas can push back against federal overreach - Democratic President Joe Biden’s planned vaccine mandate in particular. But Senate Democratic leader Dinah Sykes says state lawmakers don’t have the power to do much. “So, I think it’s honestly a waste of taxpayer money to do this. It’s political theatrics, " she said. The federal government is still drafting rules for the vaccine mandate, which in addition to federal workers, would cover companies with 100 or more employees.
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Suspect in Lawrence Shooting Transferred from Tennessee
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A suspect in a fatal Lawrence shooting has been transferred back to Kansas after being arrested in Tennessee. Nineteen-year-old Andrel Darnell Spates Jr. was arrested October 6 in Three Way, Tennessee, on suspicion of first-degree murder. He is one of two suspects in the death of 21-year-old Christian Willis, of Wichita, on September 8. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Spates was booked into the Douglas County Jail Sunday evening and is being held on $1 million bond. Eighteen-year-old Javier Romero has been charged with first-degree murder in Willis's death.
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Contract Talks Resume Between Deere and Its Striking Workers
MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Contract talks between Deere & Co. and its 10,000 striking workers have resumed, but it wasn’t immediately clear how far apart the two sides remain. The strike began last Thursday after union members overwhelmingly rejected a proposed contract that would have delivered 5% raises to some workers and 6% raises to others depending on their positions in the factory. The last major strike at the maker of agricultural and construction equipment came in 1986. The contracts under negotiation cover 14 Deere plants, including seven in Iowa, four in Illinois and one each in Kansas, Colorado and Georgia.
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Farmers and John Deere Suppliers Worry about Strike's Impact
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - Farmers and John Deere suppliers are worried about what the strike at the tractor maker's factories will mean for their livelihoods. More than 10,000 Deere employees went on strike last week at 14 Deere factories in Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado and Georgia after the United Auto Workers union rejected a contract offer. The longer the strike continues, the greater the impact on communities around the plants. Iowa farmer Lance Lillibridge, who is president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association board, said he worries about not being able to get parts if his John Deere combine breaks down during harvest.
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President, First Lady Recognize Teachers of the Year, Including 2020 Kansas Winner
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have recognized the 2021 and 2020 national teachers of the year and all teachers for the work they do. President Biden was a surprise guest at Monday's White House ceremony. He says teachers are the “single most consequential people in the world” beyond a person's parents. Jill Biden says she was inspired by her grandmother, who taught in a one-room schoolhouse. The 2021 National Teacher of the Year is Juliana Urtubey, a special education teacher from Las Vegas. The 2020 National Teacher of the Year is Tabatha Rosproy, who teaches preschool in Winfield, Kansas.
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International Spread of Swine Disease Sparks U.S. Concerns
UNDATED (HPM) - A highly contagious swine disease has reached the Caribbean. That has federal and state officials working with American meat processors to brace for a possible outbreak on U.S. soil. As Harvest Public Media reports, there is no vaccine for African Swine Fever. The disease can be deadly to pigs and economies could take a hit. Some governments ban pork imports from countries with the disease. The USDA, Iowa Department of Agriculture, Tyson Foods and other partners held a mock exercise last month to test how prepared they are for an outbreak here. KatieRose McCullough, with the North American Meat Institute, says the industry found some areas it needs to work on. McCullough says the group also wants to encourage trucks to get washed as soon as they leave meatpacking facilities to prevent potential spread.
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Unhappy with Prices, Ranchers Look to Build Own Meat Plants
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Frustrated with persistently low prices, ranchers and others in the beef industry are moving to reverse a long trend of consolidation and are planning to open new slaughterhouses. The new plants typically cost more than $300 million, but they will still be much smaller than those owned by the four meat packing giants that slaughter over 80% of the nation's cattle. That has led to some skepticism about whether the new independent plants can succeed financially. David Briggs is the CEO of a proposed plant in western Iowa. He acknowledges the tough odds but says cattle people are risk takers.
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KCI on Pace to Tie a Record for Gun Seizures
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) - Security at Kansas City International is on pace this year to tie the record for numbers of guns seized at the airport. So far this year, 56 guns have been seized at checkpoints at KCI, according to the Transportation Security Administration. At that pace, the number of firearms confiscated at the airport is on track to break the record of 68 set in 2017. Last year, when travel was down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, just 30 firearms were seized at KCI. Across the country, the TSA says it’s already uncovered 45-hundred guns at checkpoints, breaking a 20-year record.
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Colorado Woman, Teen Die After Two Vehicles Collide on I-70
GOVE COUNTY, Kan. (AP) - A teenage girl and a woman from Colorado died after their vehicles collided on Interstate 70 in western Kansas. Several other people were hurt. The Kansas Highway Patrol said Christina Satana of Pueblo, Colorado, was driving the wrong way in the eastbound lanes of I-70 in Gove County before the collision. The crash happened early Saturday. Satana's vehicle struck another vehicle driven by 15-year-old Alexie Echo-Hawk of Mosca, Colorado. Satana and Echo-Hawk both died. Three child passengers and a 46-year-old passenger suffered minor injuries.
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Police Find Man Shot to Death in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police are investigating after a man was killed in a shooting Saturday afternoon in Kansas City. Officers who were in the area near the 4500 block of Chestnut Avenue said they heard gunshots around 3 pm. Kansas City Police Captain Leslie Foreman said officers found a dead man who had been shot inside a home. His age and name were not immediately released. Foreman said someone was arrested at the scene of the shooting on unrelated charges, and investigators are still trying to determine who is responsible for the shooting. The man’s death was the fifth homicide reported in the city last week.
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Trial Set for Man Accused of Kansas City Trail Killings
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A man charged with killing six people on or near trails in south Kansas City in 2016 and 2017 is now set to stand trial next year. Fredrick Scott's first-degree murder trial date for September 6, 2022. Scott is accused of killing six people: 57-year-old Steven Gibbons; 54-year-old John Palmer; 67-year-old David Lenox; 57-year-old Timothy Rice; 61-year-old Michael Darby; and 64-year-old Karen Harmeyer. The killings terrorized those who used and lived near the popular trails in south Kansas City, Missouri.
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KBI Reports It Has Opened 122 Clergy Sex Abuse Cases in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says it has opened 122 cases involving Catholic clergy sexual abuse. The KBI's Executive Director, Robert Jacobs, told state lawmakers last week that a task force set up to investigate clergy abuse has reviewed almost 40,000 records since its work began in 2019. He says Catholic church leaders have cooperated with the effort. KBI’s Catholic Clergy Taskforce was established at the request of Attorney General Derek Schmidt's office. Investigators are not only interested in looking at the allegations itself, but are investigating what follow-through occurred after a claim was reported. ( Read more.)
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Kansas City Mayor Files Complaint After Police Data Search
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has filed a complaint against a city police officer who allegedly conducted an unauthorized search for information about the mayor in a criminal justice database. The Kansas City Star reports Lucas filed the complaint Friday with the Office of Community Complaints. He said a Jackson County assistant prosecuting attorney advised him in September that an officer conducted an unauthorized search of his name in the Criminal Justice Information Center in May. Police department policy prohibits using the the information system for personal use. A police spokesman said last week the department had investigated the officer's actions but he would not say if the officer was disciplined.
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Leavenworth Man Pleads Guilty in Death of Pedestrian
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) - A 37-year-old Leavenworth man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of a man who was hit by a motorcycle. Justen Michael McCarter also pleaded guilty Friday to possession of stolen property. Prosecutors say McCarter was driving a stolen motorcycle and speeding in March 2020 when he hit Adam Wheeler, who was crossing a Leavenworth street. Sentencing is scheduled for January 19.
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Wichita Police: 1 Dead, 2 Critically Injured in Shooting
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Wichita police are investigating after a shooting left one person dead and two others critically injured. Police say the shooting happened Friday at an apartment complex in east Wichita. Officers found one man dead at the complex. Police say a second victim, who was critically injured, was found at a nearby Burger King. A third victim, who was also in critical condition, went to a Wichita hospital.
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Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Medicine Lodge Killing
MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. (AP) - A 35-year-old Medicine Lodge man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a woman last summer. Clinton Wayne Rogers has been sentenced in Barber County District Court after pleading guilty October 1 to first-degree murder. Prosecutors say Rogers killed 61-year-old Joyce Foulkrod in July 2020. A family member found Foulkrod dead in her home. Rogers fled and was arrested in Montana in August 2020 on a warrant for theft in Kingman County. Authorities said he stole a truck in Kingman County while fleeing to Montana.
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Weather Service Confirms Seven Tornadoes in Southwest Kansas
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) - The National Weather Service in Dodge City has confirmed that seven tornadoes touched down in southwest Kansas during storms last week. The weather service rated the tornadoes at EF-0 and EF-1 in strength. The tornadoes touched down Tuesday night in mostly rural areas, and the damage was generally confined to irrigation systems and outbuildings. No injuries were reported. The tornadoes touched down near Sublette, Howell, Spearville, Fellsburg, Truesdale and two twisters touched down near Greensburg.
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These area headlines are curated by KPR news staffers, including J. Schafer, Laura Lorson, Kaye McIntyre and Tom Parkinson. Our headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays. This news summary is made possible by KPR listener-members. Become one today!