KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City erupted in a half-hour flurry of fireworks Monday night after the Royals won the World Series, and the National Weather Service has radar images to prove it.
Meteorologist Jared Leighton says the weather service radar in Pleasant Hill, about 45 minutes southeast of Kansas City, shows the most intense fireworks activity was downtown, near the Power & Light District, starting just after 11:30 p.m.
He says smoke from the fireworks showed up better on the radar Monday night than it would have during the Fourth of July because the air is cooler and the radar beam stays closer to the ground.
Kansas City Police Chief Daryl Forte tweeted a photo of fireworks around midnight and said they were a big part of celebrations happening all over the city.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas collected nearly $11 million less in taxes than anticipated in October, and the shortfall worsens the state’s budget picture.
The state Department of Revenue reported that Kansas collected $446 million in taxes last month. The state’s official fiscal forecast had predicted $457 million in taxes, and the shortfall for the month was 2.4 percent.
Disappointing sales, corporate income and oil and gas tax revenues were largely to blame.
The shortfall in tax collections came only days before state officials and university economists planned to meet to issue new and more pessimistic revenue projections.
Since the current fiscal year began in July, tax collections have fallen more than $78 million short of expectations, at $1.8 billion. The shortfall for the four months is about 4.1 percent.
SEATTLE (AP) — The latest developments in an E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle restaurants in Washington state and Oregon (all times local):
1 p.m.
Analysts say the E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle restaurants in the Northwest could make consumers wary.
Allen Adamson of New York marketing consultancy BrandSimple says people have many fast food options and if they are worried about the safety of food they will avoid a chain until they’re certain the problem has been resolved.
Chipotle’s stock fell as much as 5 percent early Monday, but recovered slightly, and was down about 3 percent by Monday afternoon.
Although the shutdown restaurants represent just 2 percent of the company’s total locations of 1,931, Chipotle says each restaurant brings in about $2.5 million in revenue a year on average.
Laura Ries, president of Atlanta marketing strategy firm Ries & Ries, said the decision to immediately close the 43 restaurants in Washington and Oregon will help the brand in the long term. She says the chain “went above and beyond what they needed to do.”
9:45 a.m.
A food safety lawyer who is involved in other lawsuits against Chipotle restaurants says people should not assume a company that focuses on local and fresh ingredients is going to be immune from food safety issues.
An E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle restaurants in Washington state and Oregon has sickened nearly two dozen people in the third outbreak of foodborne illness at the popular chain this year. Chipotle said they would try to say more about the E. coli outbreak later Monday.
Although E. coli cases have only been connected to six restaurants so far, the company has closed 43 restaurants in the two states. Attorney Bill Marler of Seattle law firm Marler Clark says the company should be commended for that action.
But he says three cases of foodborne illness in a few months shows Chipotle is not paying attention to food safety like it should.
Health officials who are investigating the cause of the outbreak believe it is likely connected with a fresh food product. Marler agrees.
GREAT BEND- Law enforcement authorities in Barton County are investigating a hit and run bicycle accident.
Police say just before 7p.m. on October 28, officers and Emergency Medical staff responded to the 1400 block of 10th Street in Great Bend after a report of a man lying in the road.
The victim, identified as Eliesel Cartagena, 38, Great Bend, was lying in the roadway, unconscious.
Officers determined that Mr. Cartagena had apparently been riding a bicycle and a vehicle, which left the scene, struck him.
Cartagena was transported to the Great Bend Regional Hospital and then flown to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita for injuries sustained in this accident.
Police Officers have located a vehicle allegedly involved in the accident, but will not be releasing further details at this time so as to not compromise the ongoing investigation.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The frequency of inmate checks at the Sedgwick County Jail in Wichita has decreased amid low staffing levels and a policy change.
The Wichita Eagle reports previous jail policies called for what are referred to as “physical rounds” to be conducted every 30 minutes. According to the sheriff’s office, the checks require a deputy to visually check an inmate to ensure that the inmate is doing well.
The new policy says inmate checks should be reasonably spaced throughout a deputy’s shift and not more than two hours apart in maximum-security areas. Due to a lack of staff members, Sheriff Jeff Easter has said that increasing rounds is virtually impossible.
Easter said in October that jail staffing was down to 67 from a full staff of about 300.
23 pounds of pot seized by I-135/I-70 Drug Task Force.
SALINA -Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating suspects after a traffic stop led to drug bust at a Salina home.
Lt. Bill Cox, Interstate 135/Interstate 70 Drug Task Force Commander said 45-year-old Michele R. Logue was stopped in the 1900 block of Roach on a traffic infraction.
Aaron Miller
The officer discovered a small amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in the car.
Michele LogueJohn Tripp
Following that traffic stop, officers executed a search warrant on Saturday morning at a home in the 500 Block of Hartland Avenue and found 23 pounds of high grade processed marijuana valued at $93,000, according to the Drug Task Force
Officers seized processed marijuana along with a small amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
John J. Tripp, 49, Keystone Florida was arrested on requested charges of distribution of marijuana within a thousand feet of a school, no drug tax stamps, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Also arrested on drug charges were Michele Logue, 21-year-old Pedro D. Navarete, 43-year-old Aaron W. Miller, and 32-year-old Clark A. Adams.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — If she’s selected by a small group of Topeka Democrats to replace a retiring member of the state House of Representatives, Stephanie Mott would be the first transgender member of the Kansas Legislature.
Mott, who’s 57, began living as a woman full time in 2007 and has since become one of the state’s leading advocates for transgender rights.
I think more important than the idea of being a transgender woman in the Kansas legislature is the idea of being… https://t.co/8kMoKavmLD
The Wichita Eagle reports Mott wants to be the replacement for Rep. Harold Lane, a Topeka Democrat who announced his retirement in October.
Mott faces competition for the House post from Carolyn Wims-Campbell, the first African-American to serve on the Kansas Board of Education. Wims-Campbell, an executive member of the Topeka chapter of the NAACP, previously served on the Topeka school board.
The committee will vote on Lane’s replacement Nov. 14.
CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press
RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s health care law is approaching limits as its third sign-up season gets underway.
Enrollment on the federal and state exchanges began Sunday. President Barack Obama’s health overhaul already has reduced the uninsured rate to a historic low of about 9 percent, but the gains will be harder in 2016.
Costs are going up on the private, taxpayer-subsidized coverage sold through HealthCare.gov and state insurance exchanges. Also, many of the 10 million-plus eligible uninsured Americans tend to be younger people on tight budgets.
Others are trapped in what’s called the “Medicaid gap.” Across the South, Republican-led states have turned down the Medicaid option, leaving millions uninsured. That’s unlikely to change, with political divisions magnified in a presidential election year.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City officials have announced plans for the 2015 World Series parade and celebration for the champion Kansas City Royals. The city says in a release that the 2.3 mile-long parade starts at noon Tuesday in the Power & Light District in downtown and heads north before ending at Union Station, where the victory rally is planned.
The Royals on Sunday won their first World Series crown since 1985 with a 7-2 win in 12 innings in Game 5 against the New York Mets in New York.
Royals starter Edinson Volquez threw two-hit ball for six innings. He pitched a day after returning from his father’s funeral in the Dominican Republic.
The city also says free transportation to the celebration area will be provided from various locations around the city.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two men were arrested early Monday after a seven-minute police chase through East Topeka.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that officers received a call to check on a stationary car. Police officials say they were checking on two men passed out in the front seat of the vehicle as the driver took off.
Police followed as the car traveled about a mile and a half east on Interstate 70 and exited the highway.
When police stopped the chase, both men were booked into the Shawnee County Jail. The driver was booked for multiple traffic offenses, including fleeing and eluding from police officers. The passenger also was booked on several counts, including narcotics offenses.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Next semester the Lawrence Public Schools will introduce a pilot course that relies on free, openly licensed educational resources rather than textbooks.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports the district’s plan is part of a new U.S. Department of Education campaign called #GoOpen, which encourages states, school districts and educators to use openly licensed educational materials.
Lawrence Public Schools is one of 10 districts nationwide that have taken up the challenge to replace at least one textbook with open resources within the next year.
Superintendent Rick Doll says the money saved by using open resources to diversify class content can be used to fund costs that have been cut in the past six years, such as hiring more teachers and providing more resources or programs for students.
