KANSAS CITY  (AP) — The Latest on severe weather in the Midwest:

9:30 a.m.

Officials say three people in Douglas County, west of Kansas City, Kansas, were seriously injured by a strong tornado that struck near the college town of Lawrence.

The tornado touched down Tuesday night in a neighborhood south of Lawrence, which is home to the University of Kansas. More than a dozen homes were severely damaged, but no one was killed.

The Douglas County Emergency Management agency said Wednesday on Facebook that 15 people were injured by the storm, including the three with serious injuries. It warned people to stay away from storm-damaged areas.

The tornado was part of another strong round of severe and damaging storms that have battered the central U.S. Several twisters were reported in Iowa and Missouri, which also got heavy rain that caused flash flooding and led to water rescues.

Debris picked up on the airfield that caused our Operations staff to close the airport because Foreign Object Damage to aircraft can cause catastrophe. Pots, foam, wall panels, plant ID tags over millions of square feet. Presumed from tornado damage 47 miles away in Linwood, KS. pic.twitter.com/oOhYTs7F6H

— Kansas City International Airport (@KCIAirport) May 29, 2019

8:50 a.m.

Kansas City International Airport is open again after a harrowing night of storms that left debris over the runway, including debris apparently from a tornado-ravaged town nearly 50 miles away.

A tornado warning Tuesday night forced officials to move people from the terminal to a tunnel leading to the parking garage, where they stayed for about an hour.

But flights were delayed for several hours because of debris strewn about the airfield. Airport spokesman Joe McBride says debris that included pots, plants and wall panels was apparently blown to Kansas City from a tornado that struck Linwood, Kansas, 47 miles to the southwest.

The airport’s Twitter account described it as “Thousands of pieces over millions of square feet.”

The airport reopened around 12:15 a.m.

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8:30 a.m.

Another round of severe storms is causing more flood problems in the central U.S.

A round of storms Tuesday night and Wednesday morning resulted in several damaging tornadoes in Kansas. The storm moved into Missouri and dumped massive amounts of rain in the northern part of the state.

Several water rescues were reported in northern Missouri. In sparsely populated Putnam County, officials urged everyone to stay off roads because flooding was rampant after the county got 2 inches of rain in 20 minutes Tuesday night.

Hannibal, Missouri, officials were just beginning to assess damage Wednesday, hours after torrential rain proved too much for the storm sewers, causing a break that resulted in water damage to buildings in the historic downtown area.

The rain is expected to cause yet another spike in river levels. The Mississippi River already is approaching all-time records at several Missouri and Illinois communities.

4a.m.

A least a dozen homes have been destroyed or damaged in Linwood, Kansas, about 30 miles west of Kansas City.

48-year-old Mark Duffin learned from his wife and a television report that the large tornado that hit the Kansas City outskirts Tuesday evening was headed toward his home.

The next thing he knew, the walls of his house were coming down.

Duffin told the Star he grabbed a mattress, followed his 13-year-old to the basement and protected the two of them with the mattress as the home crashed down around them.

He says: “I’m just glad I found my two dogs alive,” He added: “Wife’s alive, family’s alive, I’m alive. So, that’s it.”

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9:40 p.m.

The Kansas town of Bonner Springs appears to have sustained the most damage from a storm that swept through Wyandotte County on the western edge of the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Wyandotte County government spokesman Edwin Birch says there were power outages, uprooted and damaged trees and structural damage to buildings but no reports of injuries.

Earlier in the evening, the National Weather Service said that a large and dangerous tornado was on the ground in Wyandotte County and headed toward an area known as the Legends shopping district.

But Birch says they had no reports of damage from the Legends shopping district or the area immediately around the Hollywood Casino. He does not rule out the possibility of some minor damage but says “the brunt” of the damage in the county was in nearby Bonner Springs.

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9 p.m.

The Kansas City International Airport has temporarily suspended flights and moved people from the terminals to parking garage tunnels for shelter because of storms passing through the area including tornadoes.

Passengers were in parking garages for about an hour before being allowed to return to the terminals.

But the storm left so much debris on the airfield that flights remained delayed, the airport’s Twitter account said. It wasn’t immediately clear when flights would resume. Phone and email messages left with airport spokesman Joe McBride were not immediately returned.

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8:50 p.m.

At least 11 injuries have been reported in Douglas County, Kansas, after the county west of Kansas City was hit with a large destructive tornado.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Douglas County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Jenn Hethcoat said six people had been taken to the Lawrence hospital with injuries suffered during the storm, including one with serious injuries, and five more people were headed to the hospital.

Police said most of the damage in the county appeared to be outside the Lawrence city limits, but there were damaged trees, power lines and other debris on the southeastern edge of the city, and some roads were impassable.

The sheriff’s office said that “several houses throughout the county” had sustained damage.

The newspaper said the tornado was confirmed near Lone Star Lake, southwest of Lawrence, around 6:10 p.m., and moved to the north and east, according to social media posts from the Lawrence Police Department.

7:40 p.m.

A tornado has damaged homes in a tiny town in eastern Kansas.

A twister described by the National Weather Service as large and potentially dangerous touched down just before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the tiny town of Pleasant Grove, a township of about 100 people 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Kansas City, Missouri.

There were no immediate reports of injuries but some homes suffered significant damage.

The tornado was part of another dangerous wave of storms crossing the Plains and Midwest. Kansas City and its suburbs were under a tornado warning Tuesday evening.

Heavy rain was falling on already-saturated soil, creating renewed concerns about flooding, including flash flooding.

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KANSAS CITY (AP) — A vicious storm tore through the Kansas City area, spawning tornadoes that downed trees and power lines, damaged homes and injured at least a dozen people in the latest barrage of severe weather that saw tornado warnings as far east as New York City.

Parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey also were under tornado warnings hours after a swarm of tightly packed twisters swept through Indiana and Ohio overnight, smashing homes, blowing out windows and ending the school year early for some students because of damage to buildings. One person was killed and at least 130 were injured.

The storms in Kansas City Tuesday were the 12th straight day that at least eight tornadoes were reported to the National Weather Service.

After several quiet years, the past couple of weeks have seen an explosion of tornado activity with no end to the pattern in sight.

A large and dangerous tornado touched down on the western edge of Kansas City, Kansas, late Tuesday, the National Weather Service office reported. At least a dozen people were admitted to the hospital in Lawrence, 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and home to the University of Kansas, hospital spokesman Janice Early said. Damage also was reported in the towns of Linwood, Bonner Springs and Pleasant Grove in Kansas.

But the Kansas City metropolitan area of about 2.1 million people appeared to have been spared the direct hit that was feared earlier in the evening when the weather service announced a tornado emergency.

Mark Duffin, 48, learned from his wife and a television report that the large tornado was headed toward his home in Linwood, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Kansas City.

The next thing he knew, the walls of his house were coming down.

Duffin told the Kansas City Star that he grabbed a mattress, followed his 13-year-old to the basement and protected the two of them with the mattress as the home crashed down around them.

“I’m just glad I found my two dogs alive,” he said. “Wife’s alive, family’s alive, I’m alive. So, that’s it.”

The severe weather wasn’t limited to the Midwest. Tornadoes were confirmed in eastern Pennsylvania and the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of New York City and northern New Jersey.

The winds peeled away roofs — leaving homes looking like giant dollhouses — knocked houses off their foundations, toppled trees, brought down power lines and churned up so much debris that it was visible on radar. Highway crews had to use snowplows to clear an Ohio interstate.

Some of the heaviest damage was reported just outside Dayton, Ohio.

“I just got down on all fours and covered my head with my hands,” said Francis Dutmers, who with his wife headed for the basement of their home in Vandalia, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) outside Dayton, when the storm hit with a “very loud roar” Monday night. The winds blew out windows around his house, filled rooms with debris and took down most of his trees.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in three hard-hit counties, allowing the state to suspend normal purchasing procedures and quickly provide supplies like generators and water.

Monday marked the record-tying 11th straight day with at least eight tornadoes in the U.S., said Patrick Marsh, a Storm Prediction Center meteorologist. The last such stretch was in 1980. The weather service website showed at least 27 reports of tornadoes on Tuesday, most in Kansas and Missouri but also in Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Outbreaks of 50 or more tornadoes are not uncommon, having happened 63 times in U.S. history, with three instances of more than 100 twisters, Marsh said. But Monday’s swarm was unusual because it happened over a particularly wide geographic area and came amid an especially active stretch, he said.

As for why it’s happening, Marsh said high pressure over the Southeast and an unusually cold trough over the Rockies are forcing warm, moist air into the central U.S., triggering repeated severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. And neither system is showing signs of moving, he said.

Scientists say climate change is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme weather such as storms, droughts, floods and fires, but without extensive study they cannot directly link a single weather event to the changing climate.

WASHINGTON — The Latest on special counsel Robert Mueller and the Russia investigation

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s first public statement on the Russia investigation lasted about nine minutes. Read his full statement released from the Justice Department below.

Two years ago, the Acting Attorney General asked me to serve as Special Counsel, and he created the Special Counsel’s Office.

The appointment order directed the office to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. This included investigating any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign.

I have not spoken publicly during our investigation. I am speaking today because our investigation is complete. The Attorney General has made the report on our investigation largely public. And we are formally closing the Special Counsel’s Office. As well, I am resigning from the Department of Justice and returning to private life.

I’ll make a few remarks about the results of our work. But beyond these few remarks, it is important that the office’s written work speak for itself.

Let me begin where the appointment order begins: and that is interference in the 2016 presidential election.

As alleged by the grand jury in an indictment, Russian intelligence officers who were part of the Russian military launched a concerted attack on our political system.

The indictment alleges that they used sophisticated cyber techniques to hack into computers and networks used by the Clinton campaign. They stole private information, and then released that information through fake online identities and through the organization WikiLeaks. The releases were designed and timed to interfere with our election and to damage a presidential candidate.

And at the same time, as the grand jury alleged in a separate indictment, a private Russian entity engaged in a social media operation where Russian citizens posed as Americans in order to interfere in the election.

These indictments contain allegations. And we are not commenting on the guilt or innocence of any specific defendant. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

The indictments allege, and the other activities in our report describe, efforts to interfere in our political system. They needed to be investigated and understood. That is among the reasons why the Department of Justice established our office.

That is also a reason we investigated efforts to obstruct the investigation. The matters we investigated were of paramount importance. It was critical for us to obtain full and accurate information from every person we questioned. When a subject of an investigation obstructs that investigation or lies to investigators, it strikes at the core of the government’s effort to find the truth and hold wrongdoers accountable.

Let me say a word about the report. The report has two parts addressing the two main issues we were asked to investigate.

The first volume of the report details numerous efforts emanating from Russia to influence the election. This volume includes a discussion of the Trump campaign’s response to this activity, as well as our conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy.

And in the second volume, the report describes the results and analysis of our obstruction of justice investigation involving the President.

The order appointing me Special Counsel authorized us to investigate actions that could obstruct the investigation. We conducted that investigation and we kept the office of the Acting Attorney General apprised of the progress of our work.

As set forth in our report, after that investigation, if we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that.

We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the President did commit a crime. The introduction to volume two of our report explains that decision.

It explains that under long-standing Department policy, a President cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. That is unconstitutional. Even if the charge is kept under seal and hidden from public view—that too is prohibited.

The Special Counsel’s Office is part of the Department of Justice and, by regulation, it was bound by that Department policy. Charging the President with a crime was therefore not an option we could consider.

The Department’s written opinion explaining the policy against charging a President makes several important points that further informed our handling of the obstruction investigation. Those points are summarized in our report. And I will describe two of them:

First, the opinion explicitly permits the investigation of a sitting President because it is important to preserve evidence while memories are fresh and documents are available. Among other things, that evidence could be used if there were co-conspirators who could now be charged.

And second, the opinion says that the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting President of wrongdoing.

And beyond Department policy, we were guided by principles of fairness. It would be unfair to potentially accuse somebody of a crime when there can be no court resolution of an actual charge.

So that was the Justice Department policy and those were the principles under which we operated. From them we concluded that we would not reach a determination – one way or the other – about whether the President committed a crime. That is the office’s final position and we will not comment on any other conclusions or hypotheticals about the President.

We conducted an independent criminal investigation and reported the results to the Attorney General—as required by Department regulations.

The Attorney General then concluded that it was appropriate to provide our report to Congress and the American people.

At one point in time I requested that certain portions of the report be released. The Attorney General preferred to make the entire report public all at once. We appreciate that the Attorney General made the report largely public. I do not question the Attorney General’s good faith in that decision.

I hope and expect this to be the only time that I will speak about this matter. I am making that decision myself—no one has told me whether I can or should testify or speak further about this matter.

There has been discussion about an appearance before Congress. Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report. It contains our findings and analysis, and the reasons for the decisions we made. We chose those words carefully, and the work speaks for itself.

The report is my testimony. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress.

In addition, access to our underlying work product is being decided in a process that does not involve our office.

So beyond what I have said here today and what is contained in our written work, I do not believe it is appropriate for me to speak further about the investigation or to comment on the actions of the Justice Department or Congress.

It is for that reason that I will not take questions here today.

Before I step away, I want to thank the attorneys, the FBI agents, the analysts, and the professional staff who helped us conduct this investigation in a fair and independent manner. These individuals, who spent nearly two years with the Special Counsel’s Office, were of the highest integrity.

I will close by reiterating the central allegation of our indictments—that there were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election.

That allegation deserves the attention of every American.

Thank you.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Kansas State Fair announced it filled the last spot in the grandstand concert lineup.

Hanson, the trio of brothers whose ’90s hit “MMMBop” vaulted them to teenaged stardom, is coming to the Kansas State Fair. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based pop rock band will close out the Nex-Tech Wireless Grandstand Concert Series on Sept. 14. Tickets go on sale at 8 a.m. this Friday.

The catchy 1997 hit “MMMBop” made Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson a household name. They were imprinted on hearts, minds — and yes, bedroom walls — across the globe. Their album, “Middle of Nowhere,” sold 10 million copies worldwide. “We are very excited to bring the Hanson brothers to the Nex-Tech Wireless Grandstand,” fair General Manager Robin Jennison said. “This is another great show for our concert series, and it will be a fun way to close out our nighttime events at the 2019 Kansas State Fair.” The fair is selling premium tickets for $55 in the Bud Light Party Pit – a standing-room-only area right in front of the grandstand stage. The grandstand’s center section is $30. All other tickets are $20.

Marketing Director Amy Bickel said the goal is to create a festive atmosphere that is affordable for all fairgoers. “We want this to be a concert where fans can come with family or have a reunion with friends,” Bickel said. “Many of the tickets are only $20, which includes the $7 gate admission through Aug. 11. It is an inexpensive way to see a great concert and spend a day at the Kansas State Fair.”

The group has had hits in recent years, too. “Anthem,” released in 2013, charted No. 22 on the Billboard 200, making it their eighth album to chart on the Top 40. A single from that album, “Get the Girl Back,” reached No. 39 on the Adult Pop Songs chart.

Isaac, Taylor and Zac will be 38, 36 and 33, respectively when they perform on the grandstand stage in September. Besides their beloved ’90s hits, the trio will perform other favorites from the 10 studio albums they have released in the past 25 years.

 

Here is the full Nex-Tech Wireless Grandstand lineup:

• Bobby Bones and the Raging Idiots with Nicolle Galyon. Friday, Sept. 6: Tickets from $20-$65. This comedy act is comprised of Bones, who hosts the nationally syndicated “The Bobby Bones Show,” along with Producer Eddie and a group of random friends. Galyon, a native of Sterling, Kansas, is a successful Nashville songwriter with several hit country songs.

• Billy Currington, Saturday, Sept. 7: Tickets from $25-$65. Grammy-Award nominee Currington has 20 Top 40 hits, including No. 1 songs “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right,” “Pretty Good at Drinkin’ Beer,” “Do I Make You Wanna” and “People are Crazy.”

• Skillet, Sunday, Sept. 8: Tickets from $20-$55. This quartet has cemented its place as one of the 21st century’s most successful rock bands. Their single “Monster” is the eighth most-streamed rock song of 2015 with more than 57 million plays on Spotify. “Monster” also earned the distinction of becoming the best-selling digital single in the history of Christian music.

• Demolition Derby, Monday, Sept. 9: An affordable family affair – this night of destruction occurs on Dillons Dollar Day. Gate admission is just $1 or free with a Dillons Plus Card. Demolition Derby tickets are $10 for adults 13 and over. Children 12 and under are free.

• Francesca Battistelli and Zach Williams, Wednesday, Sept. 11: Tickets from $20-$50. Battistelli, a contemporary singer/songwriter, has seven No. 1 singles. Her hits include “Holy Spirit,” “Free to Be Me” and “Beautiful, Beautiful.” Williams made music history when he achieved two consecutive No. 1 radio hits for a total of 35 weeks with “Chain Breaker” and “Old Church Choir.”

• Lauren Alaina with Mitchell Tenpenny, Friday, Sept. 13: Tickets from $20-$55. Alaina, a runner-up on Season 10 of American Idol, includes her first No. 1 hit, the title track “Road Less Traveled.” Breakout artist Tenpenny’s single, “Drunk Me,” recently hit No. 1 on the country chart. His latest single is “Alcohol You Later.”

• Hanson, Saturday, Sept. 14: Tickets from $20-$55. Hanson hit it big in 1997 with “MMMBop.” Their “Middle of Nowhere” album garnished them multiple Grammy nominations and five consecutive Top 40 singles besides “MMMBop,” including “Where’s the Love,” “I Will Come to You” and “Weird.”

• All Star Monster Truck Tour, Sunday, Sept. 15: Tickets from $5 to $35. Rev up your engines, the All Star Monster Truck Tour, featuring BIGFOOT, the king of monster trucks, will invade the Nex-Tech Wireless Grandstand. The VIP Monster Experience is $35, which includes gate admission, admission to the show, reserved seating, meet and greet with drivers and a ride in a monster truck.

By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post

Missouri might soon not require adult motorcycle riders to wear helmets.

The legislature repealed the mandatory motorcycle helmet law for those 18 and older who carry qualifying medical insurance. Those younger than 18 would still be required to wear helmets.

The legislation now goes to the desk of Gov. Mike Parson for his signature. Parson supported repeal as a member of the legislature.

St. Joseph Safety and Health Council Executive Director Sheldon Lyon declines to comment directly on the General Assembly’s action, but does say it’s only smart for motorcyclists, riding a vehicle with a small silhouette, to wear protective gear.

“It’s harder for operators of a motor vehicle, like a car, to see a motorcycle,” Lyon tells St. Joseph Post. “So, anytime you’re in a vehicle like that you want to protect yourself and that includes riding gear: your boots, your gloves, goggles, helmet. All of those things are important to keep yourself safe while you’re enjoying your motorcycle.”

Missouri is in the minority among states. Only 19 states, plus the District of Columbia, mandate the wearing of motorcycle helmets, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Lyon says whether the mandatory motorcycle helmet law is repealed or not, the council will continue to advocate for the wearing of motorcycle helmets.

“I understand the fact that there is a feeling of freedom when you ride the motorcycle and, for some, they’re very much opposed to the helmet law,” Lyon says. “I think, as an advocate for highway safety, we know those helmets save lives and so, I think, with the repeal of the helmet law, you’re going to see the number of brain injuries increase.”

Legislators opposed to the change warn repeal will lead to more deaths and serious injuries on Missouri roadways. Repeal has been before the General Assembly for years. In 2009, lawmakers passed a mandatory motorcycle helmet repeal law, but couldn’t overcome a veto by Gov. Jay Nixon.

Click here to read about Senate Bill 147, the motorcycle helmet repeal law.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

RILEY COUNTY —To ensure dam safety, the Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin to increase the water release from Tuttle Creek Dam in Manhattan Wednesday as runoff from rains over Memorial weekend are expected to fill the reservoir’s remaining flood storage capacity.

According to a media release from the city of Manhattan, based on water already in the Little and Big Blue Rivers, releases are expected to be set at 15,000 cubic feet per second. Tuttle Creek Dam will slowly increase water through the outlet works starting at 7:00 a.m. and continuing into the afternoon.

Sirens near the dam and Rocky Ford Fishing Area will he sounded with each increase in release. These are not flood warnings. Flood warning sirens are spoken words, not tones.

This amount of water is not expected to cause any flooding downstream and no evacuation notices have been issued. If any announced releases are expected to cause flooding downstream, evacuation notices will be issued for impacted areas. The release will be managed from the outlet works (the tubes) and is expected to stay within the river channel. Additional rainfall is forecast and USACE staff are monitoring the situation 24 hours a day.

“This release will help slow down the rise of the lake. We’re definitely not out of the woods yet, but this release is a positive development for our community,” said Scott French, Manhattan Fire Chief and current Incident Commander.

Officials in Riley County, Pottawatomie County, and the City of Manhattan will continue to prepare for potential flooding throughout the area. Credentialed personnel will be visiting flood prone neighborhoods in Manhattan and in rural areas, going door-to-door to make sure residents are aware of the flood risks. These personnel will also be gathering information from residents including how many people are in the household, asking if the occupants have flood insurance, and also asking if there are any people in the home with medical needs that would make evacuation difficult if that time comes.

Knowing the existing medical needs will help emergency personnel plan for safe evacuation appropriate shelter environments for people with medical conditions. Residents are encouraged to ask for credentials from people who visit their home. A Flood Evacuation Special Needs form is also available for both counties.

JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon on theft charges after an arrest.

Just after 8a.m. Monday, deputies received a report of a truck backed into a residential driveway in the area of 118^thand U.4 Road near Hoyt, according to Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse. A man was sleeping inside the truck.

Deputies made contact with the subject and identified him as Dylan Wayne Massey, 28, of Topeka.

LABETTE COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before 4:20p.m. Tuesday in Labette County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Ford Escape driven by Laci R. Myers, 21, Oronogo, MO., was northbound on U.S. 59 and Road 20000.

The vehicle crossed the center line and struck a 2016 Nissan Frontier driven by Herman C. Long, 84, Parsons, head-on.

Myers was pronounced dead at the scene. Long and two passengers in the Ford Nolan T. Polinsky, 2 and Mckenna V. Polinsky, 1, both of Oronogo, Mo., were transported to Labette County Medical Center.

All four were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

TOPEKA — President Donald Trump has granted a request from Governor Laura Kelly for an emergency federal disaster declaration for 18 Kansas counties affected by severe weather, heavy rains and flooding that currently is impacting the state.

According to a news release from the governor’s office, the president’s assistance is for the counties of Anderson, Butler, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Coffey, Cowley, Crawford, Elk, Franklin, Greenwood, Harvey, Montgomery, Neosho, Osage, Reno, Sumner, Wilson, and Woodson. Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further evaluation.

“Due to extreme weather and flooding, Kansas is facing significant weather related challenges,” Kelly said. “I’m pleased the president granted these counties emergency support. Sadly, with additional devastating storms hitting several communities tonight, this may only be the beginning of the support Kansas needs.”

An emergency declaration supplements state and local government efforts for required emergency measures to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe through direct federal assistance for emergency protective measures.

Listed in the request submitted by Kelly were 46 Kansas counties: Allen, Anderson, Barber, Barton, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Dickinson, Doniphan, Elk, Franklin, Geary, Greenwood, Harvey, Jefferson, Kingman, Lincoln, Lyon, Marion, McPherson, Meade, Montgomery, Morris, Neosho, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Riley, Rush, Saline, Sumner, Wabaunsee, Wilson, and Woodson.

The request was made under the provisions of Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5121-5208 (Stafford Act), and implemented by 44 CFR § 206.35. Kansas Division of Emergency has also requested assistance through the emergency management assistance compact for an advance team to assist with requests for assistance from other states, liaison officers, geographic information system specialist to assist with the development of mapping products and other technical assistance to assist counties that have sustained impacts and have unmet needs that exceed their resource capabilities.

GEARY COUNTY– Law enforcement authorities are investigating a police officer for domestic violence.

On Monday, special agents of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) arrested Junction City Police Lieutenant, Jason Waryan, according to a media release from the agency.

The Junction City Police Department contacted the KBI at approximately 1 p.m. on Monday to request an investigation into a domestic violence incident.

 

The incident occurred in the early hours of the morning between on-duty Lieutenant Jason Waryan, 39 and his live-in girlfriend, Krysteen Harbert, 27. The incident occurred on the 700 block of McClure St in Junction City.

Waryan was arrested for domestic battery and criminal restraint. Harbert was arrested for domestic battery.

The KBI released no additional details late Monday.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A northeast Kansas woman has been killed by a massive tree falling on her home while she was in the living room.

The death occurred Tuesday morning in Leavenworth. Authorities have not yet released the victim’s name.

Leavenworth Fire Chief Gary Birch said authorities believe the tree might have fallen over because the ground was so saturated from recent rains that its roots became loose. He said there was no strong wind in the area Tuesday morning.

Birch said a crew was working Tuesday to remove the tree so that the woman’s body can be recovered. He said the trunk of the tree appeared to be about 4 feet in diameter.

Much of Kansas has seen heavy rain and flooding over the past week.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A former town treasurer has been charged in federal court with defrauding her small northeast Kansas community and is accused of spending taxpayer dollars at a casino.

Prosecutors last week filed felony charges of wire fraud and filing a false tax return against ex-Fontana city Treasurer Deborah Sell.

Sell is accused of using city funds to pay personal expenses. Prosecutors allege she defrauded the city for more than two years before leaving the treasurer’s job in September 2017. Fontana is 40 miles southwest of Kansas City.

She is accused of using a city debit card to withdraw cash from an ATM at a Kansas City-area casino in 2017 and failing to report more than $94,000 in income on her 2017 federal tax return.

A telephone listing for Sell was disconnected.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 27-year-old Kansas City-area man has drowned while swimming at the Lake of the Ozarks during the Memorial Day holiday.

The Missouri Highway Patrol said 27-year-old William Gordon-Price of Overland Park, Kansas, drowned about 4:45 p.m. Monday near the Grand Glaize Bridge.

Gordon-Price had jumped into the water and was swimming near a pontoon boat when he went under and did not resurface.

The Highway Patrol said the lake is about 60 feet deep in the area where Gordon-Price went under. The patrol said he was operating the pontoon boat and was not wearing a safety device.

Rescuers used surface and side-scan sonar searches in hopes of finding him. Divers were brought in to search for him and continued into Monday night.