AP-US-ELECTION-2020-HOUSE-KANSAS

Kansas freshman GOP Rep. Watkins charged with 3 felonies

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A freshman Kansas congressman who had listed a UPS Inc. store as his residence on a voter registration form has been charged with three felony crimes, including unlawful voting. Republican Rep. Steve Watkins is accused of voting illegally in advance in the 2019 local city and school board election, voting when not qualified and interfering with law enforcement by providing false information. Those felony charges were filed Tuesday in state district court in Shawnee County, which includes Watkins’ hometown of Topeka. District Attorney Mike Kagay also charged Watkins with a misdemeanor charge of failing to notify the state of an address change. Watkins called the charges “hyper-partisan.”

VIRUS OUTBREAK-KANSAS

Kansas’ largest city worries about running short of ICU beds

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Officials in the Wichita area worry that a continued resurgence of novel coronavirus cases will force hospitals in Kansas’ largest city to scramble for new intensive care unit beds to treat the seriously sick. County Manager Tom Stolz told Sedgwick County Commissioners on Tuesday that if current hospitalization trends and use of ICU beds for coronavirus patients continue into next week, it’s likely the situation will be deemed “critical.” The county health department reported that eight of the 35 ICU beds available for coronavirus patients were open as of Monday. Kansas surpassed 20,000 reported coronavirus cases as of Monday and its health department reported 288 COVID-19-related deaths.

FEDERAL EXECUTION-PURKEY

Whether inmate mentally fit for execution could cause delay

CHICAGO (AP) — Legal experts say the man next on the list to be executed by the federal government after a nearly 20-year hiatus ended this week may have a better chance of avoiding lethal injection. That’s because Wesley Ira Purkey suffers from dementia. His lawyers say he can no longer grasp why he’s slated to die. Purkey was convicted of a 1998 killing and is scheduled for execution Wednesday at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. That’s where Daniel Lewis Lee was put to death Tuesday. Lee was convicted of killing an Arkansas family in a 1990s plot to build a whites-only nation. He was the first of four condemned men scheduled to die this summer.

MISSING GIRL-KANSAS

Grandparents of dead Kansas girl raised concerns to agency

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The grandparents of a 3-year-old Kansas girl who was killed say they raised concerns with child protective services before her death. The Kansas City Star reports Elisabeth and Howard Jansen II spoke out Sunday after their 29-year-old son, Howard Jansen III, and his 33-year-old girlfriend Jacqulyn Kirkpatrick were charged in the death of Olivia Ann Jansen. The girl’s grandmother says she expressed fears to the  Kansas Department for Children and Families on June 21 that drugs were in the home where Olivia resided. The girl’s body was found Friday nearly nine blocks from her Kansas City home, from which her father had reported her missing.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-POLL WORKERS

Coronavirus creates election worker shortage in Wichita area

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The top election official in the Wichita area is begging people to volunteer to work the polls because many of the retirees who normally fill the jobs have decided to skip this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Wichita Eagle reports that Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman said the office still needs about 170 more poll workers with less than a month to go before the primary. The COVID pandemic has sidelined 75 percent of the regular pool of election-day workers, who are senior citizens at particularly high risk of serious illness if they catch the novel coronavirus.

TOPEKA HOMICIDES

Topeka police investigating 3 deaths, 2 separate shootings

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Police in Topeka are investigating two separate shooting incidents that happened hours apart and resulted in three deaths. Police say the first shooting was reported around 8 p.m Monday, and arriving officers found two victims with gunshot wounds. Police say one victim had non-life threatening injuries. The other victim, 66-year-old Harry T. Jenkins of Topeka, was pronounced dead at the scene. Just before 2 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to another shooting and found two victims with gunshot wounds dead inside a home. They were later identified as 37-year-old Crystal D. Andrews and 13-year-old Mercedes M. Holford, both of Topeka.

CASINO LAYOFFS-BOYD GAMING

Casino company Boyd Gaming laying off workers in 10 states

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A U.S. casino company with 29 properties in 10 states is laying off thousands of employees, citing a slow restart to business following closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corp. said in a statement Monday that an unspecified number of furloughed employees will not return to work. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported 2,500 company workers in Nevada could be affected. The publicly traded company had about 10,000 employees in Nevada and another 14,300 nationally, according to its last annual report. It also has properties in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-KANSAS STATE FAIR

Kansas State Fair canceled this year amid pandemic concerns

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas State Fair Board has decided to cancel this year’s fair amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Hutchinson News reports that Monday’s reversal came a week after the board initially voted to continue with the fair. That initial decision sparking concern from vendors and the community. About half of the vendors had canceled amid worries about delays with travel quarantines, difficulties in putting crews together and cancellations of other fairs. Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska cancelled their fairs shortly after the board’s decision last week. The board is still interested in finding a way to safely hold livestock and 4H event.