JACKSON COUNTY — A Kansas woman has died from injuries in a Friday fire at a home in Jackson County.

Just before 8 a.m., first responders were dispatched to a home in the 600 Block Commercial Street in Netawaka, according to a media release.

A woman identified as Catherine A. Duncan, 75, was badly burned from a fire in a cooking stove. The open flames ignited her clothing.  The stove was being used to heat the residence.  Life Star Air Ambulance airlifted Duncan to the University of Kansas Medical Center Burn Unit. She was pronounced dead at 9:25 p.m. Friday, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The residential structure was not damaged in the fire.

The Netawaka, Whiting, Fire Departments responded to the scene as well as Jackson County EMS and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas paid out a total of $395,000 to settle lawsuits by two former rowers who said the school didn’t respond properly to their reports of being sexually assaulted on campus.

The Kansas City Star reports that the university admits no liability in agreeing to pay former rower Daisy Tackett $245,000 and former rower Sarah McClure $150,000.

Tackett reported a Kansas football player raped her in 2014 and McClure alleged she was assaulted by the same man a year later. The women claimed the school violated Title IX because officials should have anticipated a heightened risk of sexual assaults at the apartments where football players live.

The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify victims of alleged sexual assault, but Tackett and McClure have said they want their names used.

 

WICHITA — The Women’s Foundation, League of Kansas Municipalities, Kansas State University Extension and the Kansas Health Foundation have announced a new partnership focused on expanding the Appointments Project™, an initiative designed to increase the number of women serving on civic boards and commissions.

The League of Kansas Municipalities and its participating member cities, including Wichita, will work with the Women’s Foundation to encourage and promote board and commission vacancies be filled with diverse and underrepresented members of their communities.

“We’re excited to work with the League of Kansas Municipalities and Kansas State University Extension to increase the number of women and women of color who are at the decision-making table of their communities. Many of our city, county, and state boards and commissions do not reflect the communities they serve,” said Women’s Foundation President & CEO Wendy Doyle. “More than a nicety, including women in the process strengthens communities and is a best practice for good governance.”

Started in 2014, the Appointments Project is getting results with over 800 applicants with a total of 82 women appointed to Kansas and Missouri boards and commissions. In Kansas City, where the program was piloted, it has helped increase the percentage of women on city boards and commissions from 33-percent to 42-percent in just three years. Recently, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens acknowledged the importance of the Appointments Project and delivered on his commitment to appoint 30 women to statewide board and commission seats in 25 days in honor of Women’s Foundation’s 25th anniversary.

“The League works everyday to strengthen the cities of Kansas and our partnership with the Women’s Foundation and their Appointments Project not only makes our communities stronger, but it addresses the critical issue of diversity in the civic arena,” said League of Kansas Municipalities Executive Director Erik Sartorius.

Kansas State University Extension will offer civic leadership trainings to appointees and public officials.

“We’re thrilled to be a supporter of this statewide partnership,” said Tara Markley, county extension director for Johnson County K-State Research and Extension. “We understand the need to have leaders who reflect the diversity of our communities. Our trainings will give local leaders the tools to better serve the state of Kansas. ”

Support from the Kansas Health Foundation helped make the expansion possible to promote civic health.

“Diversity and inclusion are two hallmarks of democracy,” said Steve Coen, President and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation. “Ensuring representation of all genders, races, ethnicities and backgrounds is vital for new ideas, fresh perspectives and respectable governance now and in the future.”

The partnership with League of Kansas Municipalities and Kansas State University Extension is one of several Appointments Project expansion efforts. The Women’s Foundation has existing partnerships with the City of Olathe, Kansas; the City of Topeka, Kansas, the State of Missouri; the State of Kansas; and other jurisdictions to address the lack of women on boards and commissions.

Learn more about the Appointments Project at https://www.womens-foundation.org/a-p/.

The Women’s Foundation promotes equity and opportunity for women of all ages, using research, philanthropy and policy solutions to make meaningful change.  More information about the organization can be found at www.Womens-Foundation.org.

 

SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas has called for a school district in the Kansas City area to eliminate a policy prohibiting public complaints about individuals at board meetings.

The Kansas City Star reports that the ACLU sent a letter to the Shawnee Mission School Board Dec. 6 saying a policy approved last month violates constitutional rights to free speech.

The school board requires speakers participating in the open forum section of school board meetings to present information in a “positive” and “constructive way.” The policy says complaints against individual school board members or individual employees are considered inappropriate for the open forum.

ACLU official Doug Bonney says the First Amendment and case law gives individuals the right to express “sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.”

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 29-year-old Wichita man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his girlfriend and setting her house on fire.

Dane Wright will serve at least 29 years in prison for the death of 36-year-old Reyona Caldwell. Her body was found June 2 in the basement of her burning home.

Wright pleaded guilty last month to first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated arson and three counts of child endangerment.

A coroner determined Wright died from head trauma, smoke inhalation and burns, a coroner determined.

Law enforcement issued an Amber Alert for Caldwell’s three children after her body was found. They were later found in a south Wichita motel room. Wright told police he left the kids there to use methamphetamine and visit a casino.

By Stephen Koranda

Kansas lawmakers studying economic development policies say the Legislature should consider changes to a major incentives program next year.

During a meeting Wednesday at the Statehouse, a special committee recommended more study of the STAR bonds program, and members of both parties said they want more oversight.

Sen. Julia Lynn, an Olathe Republican, said there hasn’t been enough accountability in the program. She wants the state to use formulas that determine whether proposed projects will create enough economic development to outweigh their costs.

“If they cannot prove that they can produce a positive return on investment, then either you have to go back and look at the project again or you don’t do the project,” Lynn said.

Under the STAR bonds program, local governments issue bonds to help pay for development projects. Tax collections from the development projects are diverted away from state and local governments and used to pay back the bonds.

The program has been used for some high-profile developments, including the Kansas Speedway, as well as smaller projects. The redevelopment of the Heartland Park racetrack outside Topeka is a less-successful example. A bank eventually took over the track and sold it to a new owner.

The committee also heard about changing shopping trends that are creating struggles for brick-and-mortar retailers.

Sen. Tom Holland, a Baldwin City Democrat, said legislators should consider limiting STAR bonds to tourist destination projects and avoid retail developments. He said retail developments around a tourist attraction could be financed by private developers.

“If that kills the deal, then maybe it shouldn’t have lived in the first place,” Holland said.

Rep. J.R. Claeys, a Salina Republican, was hesitant to recommend any specific changes right away. He called the STAR bonds program “wildly successful.”

Claeys said lawmakers need more information, including input from local economic development officials, before proposing changes.

“We need to have measurement,” Claeys said. “I don’t want to make recommendations that might have unintended consequences by stopping a project from going forward that has merit.”

Kansas lawmakers reauthorized the STAR bonds program earlier this year, but only for a three-year period. They also put a one-year moratorium in place on any new projects while lawmakers study the issue.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A Kansas City man is charged with accidentally wounding a 15-year-old girl while attempting to rob a man who had arranged through Snapchat to meet up with the girl for sex.

The Kansas City Star reports that 20-year-old David Williams is charged with robbery and armed criminal action in the failed attack Wednesday in Independence. Bond is set at $50,000. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

Court records say the robbery victim told police that an armed man appeared after the girl got into his car. He said she began taking his wallet and cell phone. Court records say Williams then fired his gun when the man tried to flee, hitting the girl in the arm and leg. She fled in the victim’s car with Williams.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Three men accused of plotting to bomb an apartment complex housing Somali refugees have asked a federal judge to pull prospective jurors from rural Kansas because they are twice as likely to have voted for President Donald Trump.

A defense motion filed Friday argues plans to issue summons only to citizens in the more urban counties closest to the federal courthouse is a discriminatory practice that excludes rural and conservative jurors. The trial begins March 19 in Wichita.

Gavin Wright, Patrick Stein and Curtis Allen are charged with conspiring to detonate the day after the 2016 election truck bombs at a mosque and apartment complex in the meatpacking town of Garden City. They have pleaded not guilty.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Spirit AeroSystems says an employee who was injured in an accident Nov. 3 at its Wichita plant has died.

Spirit officials confirmed the death of Sammy Barnett in a statement Friday.

The company has not said how Barnett was injured.

An investigation is ongoing and Spirit said in its statement that it will use any findings from the investigation to improve its procedures.