A new report finds legalizing sports gambling could boost revenue for states like Kansas, but any windfall is likely to be brief.
Sports gambling began to tempt lawmakers after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalized it earlier this year. The report released Thursday from the Pew Charitable Trusts said sports book likely won’t be a magic pill to cure state budget issues.
A court ruling has cleared the way for more states to legalize sports betting, but it may not provide much revenue to government. (File photo)
Mary Murphy, one of the authors of the study, said tax collections from sports betting may not be new revenue. Rather, it’s likely to be money cannibalized from places such as casinos and the tax proceeds they generate. That’s based on past experiences when gambling has been expanded.
“States could experience short-lived gains followed by downward pressure on revenue as more and more states legalize,” she said.
Because there’s currently very little legal sports gambling, Murphy said it’s hard to estimate what the financial impact of sports betting could be. However, she said states shouldn’t count on a major bonanza.
“The revenue streams will likely be small,” she said.
That’s because sin taxes overall make up a small percentage of state revenues. The report found in Kansas they account for 3.3 percent and in Missouri it’s 4.9 percent. Those numbers include alcohol, tobacco and gambling taxes.
When the Supreme Court knocked down the federal ban on sports gambling, Republican Senate President Susan Wagle hailed the ruling as a victory for state’s rights.
“The legalization of sports betting will help diminish illegal gambling operations and allow states to bring their regulations into the 21st century,” she said in a statement. “I am confident the Kansas Legislature will act appropriately to regulate sports betting next year.”
Marijuana is another issue on the minds of some state lawmakers. The Kansas Legislature, with a strong block of conservatives, seems unlikely to approve legalization. But the number of other states legalizing medical and even recreational marijuana has grown rapidly in recent years.
Murphy said neighboring Colorado has seen significant, although volatile, revenues from recreational marijuana. Monthly taxes and fees totaled around $2 million in early 2014 and were around $21 million in April 2017.
States that are early to the party may be able to cash in on tourism dollars as people visit to sample legal pot, but that buzz is likely to fade over time.
“As their neighbors … legalize recreational marijuana, the early adopters may see fewer tourism dollars,” Murphy said.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman whose convictions in the 2002 shooting deaths of her ex-husband and his fiancee were overturned has lost her bid to have her trial judge removed from the case.
Dana Chandler -photo Shawnee County
A judge on Friday denied the request by Dana Chandler to remove Shawnee County Judge Nancy Parrish from future court hearings in Chandler’s case. Shawnee County Judge Teresa Watson issued an order saying Chandler’s request fell short of warranting appointment of a new judge.
Parrish presided over Chandler’s double murder trial and sentenced her to 100 years in prison for the 2002 killings of Michael Sisco and Karen Harkness.
But the Kansas Supreme Court in April overturned Chandler’s convictions, saying Shawnee County prosecutors falsely claimed that Sisco had taken out a protection from abuse order against Chandler before the killings.
O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri man has been charged in the December death of his girlfriend’s 4-month-old son.
Coleman -photo St. Charles County
31-year-old Devon Michael Coleman, of O’Fallon, was charged Wednesday with felony abuse and neglect of a child resulting in death.
The infant, Dexter Gabel, was found unresponsive on Dec. 7 in a portable crib. A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide as result of strangling or smothering. An autopsy found the baby had injuries around his head and face.
Police say Coleman had been watching the baby and told officers the infant wouldn’t stop crying. He says he put the baby down for a nap and later returned to find he had stopped breathing.
Coleman has multiple domestic violence convictions and is currently imprisoned for felony domestic assault.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – An organization backing one of three competing medical marijuana initiatives in Missouri has continued to bring in large contributions despite the origins of most of the haul being kept secret.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the Missourians for Patient Care campaign committee raised $530,000 in monetary contributions between April and July, about $505,000 of which was funneled from a nonprofit corporation with the same name. The nonprofit isn’t required to reveal its donors.
Previous secret donations to the group were part of a March complaint to the Missouri Ethics Commission by Howard Cotner, a Springfield resident.
Cotner said the maneuver violated the Missouri Constitution by intentionally obscuring the source of donations. The ethics commission hasn’t issued any findings on the complaint.
TOPEKA –The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA), the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE), public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating a multi-state outbreak ofSalmonella Sandiego infections. Spring Pasta Salad purchased at Hy-Vee grocery stores is a likely source of the outbreak.
As of July 17, the CDC reported 21 people infected with the outbreak strain ofSalmonella Sandiego from five states. On July 20, KDHE and JCDHE identified one infected person, an adult resident of Johnson County.
“Any individuals who have this in their refrigerator should return the recalled Spring Pasta Salad to the store for a refund or throw it away,” said KDHE Chief Medical Officer Dr. Greg Lakin. “Even if some of it was eaten and no one got sick, do not eat it. If you stored recalled pasta salad in another container, throw the pasta salad away. Thoroughly wash the container with warm, soapy water before using it again, to remove harmful germs that could contaminate other food,” Lakin said.
The Spring Pasta Salad was sold in Kansas Hy-Vee stores before Hy-Vee removed it from all its locations on July 16. Kansans should check their refrigerators to ensure they do not eat the recalled pasta salad. The Spring Pasta Salad includes shell pasta, carrots, celery, cucumbers, green pepper, onion and mayonnaise. It was sold in one-pound (16 oz.) and three-pound (48 oz.) plastic containers or may have been scooped at the deli counter into clear plastic containers. The recalled pasta salad was sold in all Hy-Vee grocery stores in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The expiration dates for the recalled pasta salad range from June 22, 2018 to Aug. 3, 2018.
Contact a health care provider if you think you got sick from eating recalled Hy-Vee Spring Pasta Salad. Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps 12 to 96 hours after being exposed to the bacteria. The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment. In some people, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other places in the body. Children younger than five years, adults older than 65 years, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness.
The Kansas Democratic party hasn’t had a gubernatorial primary since 1998. The unfamiliar competition this year is forcing Democrats across the state to wrestle with their identity ahead of the Aug. 7 election.
State Sen. Laura Kelly, former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, and former Kansas Ag Secretary Josh Svaty are all competing to be the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. STEPHAN BISAHA, MADELINE FOX AND BRIAN GRIMMETT
Should their nominee be a candidate who aligns strictly with the progressive ideals of the party platform, or someone with broader appeal? Do they go with experience and name recognition, or youthful exuberance?
Is that former big city mayor Carl Brewer of Wichita? Statehouse veteran Sen. Laura Kelly? Or a fresh face like former Kansas Agriculture Secretary and one-time legislator Josh Svaty?
At the Hutchinson Airport Steakhouse where they meet every month, the Reno County Democratic Women, a group of mostly older women, were still undecided about which way to go with just weeks until the primary.
“I honestly have not made up my mind,” Sandra Gustafson said. “It’s a huge conflict.”
Gustafson is a self-proclaimed women’s rights activist.
“At this point I’m really drawn between voting long-term convictions as a woman for right to choose and the woman candidate,” she said. “And I’m also very much concerned about the lack of new blood in the party and I’m very much attracted to Josh Svaty for that reason.”
Stretching the party platform
Democrat candidates for Kansas Governor attended a debate July 10 in Wichita
At a debate in Wichita in early June, Kelly, the only woman in the race, one-upped the 38-year-old Svaty, who’s 30 years her junior.
“I would veto any new restrictions on women’s reproductive rights,” Svaty said to light applause.
Then Kelly, responding directly to him got a bigger cheer, “Kansas has almost nowhere else to go to restrict women’s access,” she said. “So to just say, I will veto any more, is not enough.”
Another split is gun control.
Brewer has challenged both Kelly and Svaty for having sided with the NRA in the Legislature, and he clipped their tit for tat on the subject from that June debate and other forums into a campaign ad.
“The NRA is not going to support me today and they’re not going to support me any other day because of my position on guns,” the former mayor said in June.
The candidates all agree on pushing for greater access to healthcare and increased education spending — pillars of the party platform the women gathered in Hutchinson subscribe to.
At the airport steakhouse, Bev Ooley described herself as a staunch Democrat, but, said she’s one who’d accept a Democrat with some conservative ideas, if it’s someone who can get people out to vote and win back the governor’s office. For her, that’s Svaty.
“I just like that he was young and exciting and knowledgeable,” she said. “He was just what I would think of a good candidate.”
A moderate in November
In Kansas, where voter registrations tilt heavily toward the Republican party, the Democrat has often played the moderate in gubernatorial elections.
“Democrats in Kansas are relatively in the middle just by definition,” said Kathleen Sebelius, the last Democrat to be elected governor.
Given that political dynamic, Sebelius predicts it won’t be a “wild-eyed liberal” who emerges from the primary this year.
And, she said, as the GOP veers right, a coalition builder will have the best chance in November.
“Then you would attract 100 percent of the Democrats, a chunk of the independents and a slice of moderate Republicans. That’s the formula that elects a Democrat statewide,” said Sebelius, who was herself elected statewide four times as insurance commissioner and governor.
In 2018, Sebelius is supporting Senator Kelly.
Svaty has his own establishment backing from John Carlin, who was governor from 1979 to 1987.
New energy
It was also Svaty who generated the most of the excitement at the Kansas Young Democrats annual convention in early July. Several of the dozens in attendance said they were even volunteering for his campaign.
“He has the energy that we need to defeat someone, God forbid we face someone like Kris Kobach, he has the energy to take him on,” Nick Hinmanof Olathe said.
The few remaining undecideds at the convention in Lawrence said the intra-party disagreements would ultimately be good for the party.
“It’s giving people a chance to dream a little bigger than just having a Democrat,” said Elizabeth Fehr of Chanute. “We can talk more about the direction we’re going.”
Carving up the state
Shawnee County Democratic Party Chairwoman Ethel Edwards thinks most primary voters know the candidates not for their ideology, but because of geography.
“For Sedgwick County folks they’d say Carl Brewer. For Shawnee County folks they’ll say Laura Kelly, for western Kansas the Svaty folks will say Josh Svaty,” she said.
While the candidates are leaning into that — Svaty has been playing up his rural roots, Brewer his two-terms as mayor of the state’s largest city, and Kelly her tenure in Topeka — the contested primary has also forced them outside of their usual stomping grounds.
Zach Worf, Democratic Party Chairman in Finney County, says western Kansas usually feels forgotten by politicians. He’s been happy to see that each one of the candidates running this year has come out to Garden City at least three or four times already.
“I will support whichever candidate has the best policies closest to lining up with me,” he said. “But understanding what that four- or five-hour drive feels like and knowing that there’s a whole ‘nother side of the state that they have to be aware of is super important.”
But appealing to western Kansans might not matter as much until the general election. More than half of registered Democrats live in either Johnson, Shawnee, Sedgwick, or Wyandotte county.
That math likely favors Kelly.
Brian Grimmett is a reporter focusing on the environment and energy for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett.
MARYVILLE, Mo. – Seven distinguished members of the Northwest Missouri State University family will be honored during the Alumni Awards Banquet this fall for dedicating time, talent and service to the University.
The annual event, sponsored by the Northwest Alumni Association, begins at 6 p.m.Friday, Sept. 14, with a social in the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom. A dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. and the awards presentation begins at 8 p.m.
The banquet annually coincides with Northwest’s Family Weekend activities.
“The alumni awards banquet is one of the Northwest Alumni Association’s premier events for the year,” Bob Machovsky, Northwest’s director of alumni relations and annual giving, said. “The University comes together to celebrate individuals who are doing amazing things and are representative of what it means to be a Bearcat. The Northwest Alumni Awards are something the entire Northwest family can celebrate.”
For more information or to purchase tickets before Friday, August 31, visit nwmissouri.edu/alumni/events/awards/registration.htm or contact the Northwest Alumni Association at 660.562.1248 or alumni@nwmissouri.edu.
The honorees for 2018 are listed below.
Dr. Matt Becker. Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University.
Distinguished Alumni Award: Dr. Matt Becker
Becker, a 1998 graduate, is the W. Gerald Austen Endowed Chair of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering at The University of Akron, in Akron, Ohio. He holds appointments in the departments of Polymer Science and Biomedical Engineering. His multidisciplinary research team is focused on developing bioactive polymers for regenerative medicine and addressing unmet medical needs at the interface of chemistry, materials and medicine. To date, his group has published more than 140 papers, has 35 patents issued or pending and has delivered more than 200 invited lectures in 20 countries throughout the world. He is the founder of three start-up companies – 3D BioResins, 3D BioActives and Fortem LLC, under the umbrella of the holding company 21st Century Medical Technologies. Becker was one of two people worldwide under the age of 40 to be awarded the Macromolecules-Biomacromolecules Young Investigator Award in 2015. He also is a Kavli Fellow and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Institute of Medical and Biomedical Engineering and the PMSE Division of the American Chemical Society. He resides in Stow, Ohio.
Dr. Bayo Joachim. Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University.
Distinguished Faculty Award: Dr. Bayo Joachim
Joachim is a professor in Northwest’s School of Communication and Mass Media. He joined the faculty in 1990, teaching for seven years and returning in 1999 after earning his Master of Law degree in international law and international relations as well as his Master of Science in criminology. He has taught a variety of communication courses, served on numerous committees and sponsored several student organizations. In addition, he has won several awards, such as the Northwest Excellence Award for Civility and the Dean’s Faculty Award for Service. In addition to his teaching career, he has coached high school soccer in Maryville for 10 years and works on orphanage, high school and community projects in Haiti. He resides in Maryville.
Dr. Joyce Piveral. Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University.
Distinguished Faculty Emeritus Award: Dr. Joyce Wake Piveral
Piveral came to Northwest in 2000 as the director of teacher education services, having earned degrees from the University in 1970, 1974 and 1982. She advanced to become dean of the College of Education and Human Services in 2010, serving as the leader of five academic departments that represent diverse disciplines as well as the Horace Mann Laboratory School until her retirement in 2016. Because of her vast experience and leadership in education administration, Piveral helped position the School of Education to be one of the strongest and most reputable education programs in the region. During her tenure, she received many awards and served on various committees and teams. Piveral’s experiences and research put Northwest in the national spotlight as it was named one of two universities in the nation to receive the prestigious Christa McAuliffe Excellence in Teaching Award in 2006. She resides in Pickering, Missouri.
Dale Wion. Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University.
Honorary Alumni Award: Dale Wion
Wion is a construction superintendent with the Turner Construction Company and an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union electrician in Des Moines, Iowa. Although he is not a graduate of Northwest, he is an active member of the Central Iowa Alumni and Friends Chapter and volunteers his time at many events. Wion works the Northwest booth at the Iowa State Fair each summer, speaking with prospective students and parents about the Northwest experience. He especially likes to connect with parents of prospective and current students and shares his experience as a parent of a Northwest graduate. He also enjoys Bearcat athletics and can often be found assisting at the Northwest Alumni Association’s tent during Bearcat Zone tailgates. He resides in Urbandale, Iowa.
Ryan Heiland. Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University.
Public Service Award: Ryan Heiland
Heiland, a 1999 graduate, has more than 15 years of experience in government affairs and economic development. He has served the Maryville community as its assistant city manager since 2012. During his tenure, Heiland has been instrumental in strengthening the bond between the Northwest and Maryville communities. His most notable achievements have come with the transformation and development of Mozingo Lake Recreation Park, the construction of the Watson 9 youth golf course and the Fourth Street Improvement Project, and gathering community support for the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse. As a result of these efforts, Heiland has been selected five times as a presenter for the International Town and Gown Association Annual Conference for his collaborative work with the city of Maryville and Northwest. He resides in Maryville.
John Moore. Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University.
Turret Service Award: John Moore
Moore, a 1978 graduate, has been an active volunteer and supporter of Northwest since graduating with his bachelor’s degree in business finance. While at Northwest, he served as class president his sophomore year, student body president his senior year, president of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity and was a member of the Blue Key Honor Society. After retiring from a 30-plus-year career with the Federal Reserve Bank, Moore continues to share his expertise through volunteer activities at Northwest and in his community. A member of the Northwest Foundation Board of Directors, he was instrumental in establishing a successful fundraising initiative for the Hughes Fieldhouse with the creation of the Founding 50, a group of leadership donors providing gifts of $50,000 and greater. Moore also has given of his time, talents and treasures to Northwest’s Greek Life community, providing leadership and support during the University’s Greek Life visioning process. As a loyal supporter of Northwest, Moore has made countless trips to Maryville to attend meetings and events. He lives in Raymore.
Kelly Quinlin. Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University.
Young Alumni Award: Kelly Archer Quinlin
Quinlin, a 2000 graduate, is a Maryville native and has been the head athletic trainer at Northwest since 2003. Her responsibilities include managing the total well-being of all Bearcat student-athletes. She oversees the majority of long-term rehabilitation programs and works directly with women’s basketball and golf as well as the men’s and women’s tennis teams. She regularly presents to community groups regarding injury prevention and care, and she is a member of the Athletic Trainer Advisory Committee for the Missouri Board of Registration for the Healing Arts. She was the 2007 and 2008 recipient of Northwest’s Tower Service Award, which recognizes faculty and staff for outstanding service and contributions to the University. She also was recognized by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association with the 2008 NATA College and University Athletic Trainers’ Committee Above and Beyond Award for the care she provided to a student-athlete after he sustained severe burns from an apartment fire. She was named the 2017 National Athletic Trainers’ Association Division II Head Athletic Trainer of the Year.
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on a deadly tourist boat accident in Missouri (all times local):
About 300 people gathered in a parking lot outside a tourism business to remember the 17 people killed when one of its duck boats capsized in storm-tossed water.
First responders on the scene of the lake accident Thursday evening –photo courtesy KYTV
The mourners Friday night sang Amazing Grace and prayed, some of them holding candles. Another 75 gathered at Brookside Church in Branson to pray.
The Ride the Ducks boat sank Thursday in Table Rock Lake in southwest Missouri after a strong storm generated wind gusts of 50 to 65 mph (80 to 105 kph) in the area. The Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists
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9:25 p.m.
An Arkansas man and his son are among the 17 people who died when a tourist boat capsized near Branson, Missouri.
Carroll Smith said in a telephone interview Friday that his 53-year-old son, Steve, and 15-year-old grandson, Lance, were killed when a Ride the Ducks boat sank amid churning waters Thursday on Table Rock Lake. The family is from Osceola, Arkansas.
Steve Smith’s wife, Pamela, was with the family on the visit to Branson but did not go on the boat. Steve Smith’s 14-year-old daughter, Loren, suffered a concussion but survived.
Carroll Smith says his son was a retired math teacher who loved old Westerns and was active in his church. Lance would have been a freshman at Osceola High School.
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8 p.m.
Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill says she’ll examine “legislative solutions” to increase the safety of amphibious vehicles like duck boats after the tragedy in Branson.
The Democratic senator didn’t offer specifics after she was briefed Friday evening by officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board. Both agencies are investigating the Thursday evening accident on Table Rock Lake that killed 17 people.
The state’s other senator, Republican Roy Blunt, also was being briefed by the agencies. He said he will monitor the investigation closely and called it “a tragedy that never should have happened.”
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7:45 p.m.
A Missouri woman says nine Indiana family members killed when a duck boat sank were put on the ill-fated boat because of a ticket mix-up.
Tracy Beck, of Kansas City, says she and her family were waiting in line for another boat when the Indiana family stopped talking to have a group picture taken by the tour company.
Beck says the ticket taker realized the family should have boarded at a different location in Branson.
The family had to get new tickets and was put on the boat that eventually sank. Beck said she recognized the family When pictures began circulating Friday
Beck says the water became choppy while they were on the lake and the captain decided to return to shore.
But she says she doesn’t blame the operator of the doomed boat.
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6:45 p.m.
A survivor of the tourist boat accident that killed 17 people, including nine of her relatives, says the captain of the boat told passengers not to bother grabbing life jackets.
Tia Coleman told WXIN-TV in Indianapolis that she and a nephew were among 11 relatives on a duck boat Thursday night on Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri. Coleman says she lost “all my children” but she did not say how many.
Coleman says the captain of the boat told passengers, “Don’t worry about grabbing the life jackets — you won’t need them.”
She says by the time it was clear life jackets were needed, “it was too late.”
An email seeking comment from a spokeswoman for Ripley Entertainment, which owns the Ride the Ducks boat, was not immediately returned.
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6:30 p.m.
The local hospital’s president says that an employee of a nearby riverboat cruise line stayed with a small child who survived the capsizing of a duck boat on a Missouri lake for hours until the girl’s father arrived.
Cox Medical Center President William Mahoney said the young woman worked for the Showboat Branson Belle. It was near the duck boat when bad weather hit Thursday evening at Table Rock Lake.
Mahoney said the young woman threw a life preserver to try and help as the duck boat sank.
Mahoney said it is not clear how the young woman and the child arrived at the hospital. But he said once they were there the employee stayed with the child until her father came about 5 a.m. Friday.
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3:55 p.m.
A spokeswoman for Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says nine of the 17 people who died in a duck boat accident are from the same family.
Parson spokeswoman Kelli Jones says Friday that another two members of the same family survived when the boat capsized on Table Rock Lake near the tourist town of Branson.
The governor’s office had no other information about the family members. Authorities have not yet identified the victims.
The boat capsized Thursday evening when a thunderstorm hit the area and brought winds that approached near-hurricane speeds.
Twenty-nine passengers and two crew members were on the boat when it capsized. The boat’s driver was among those killed.
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3:32 p.m.
The president of the company that owns the Branson duck boats says a sudden “microburst” of high winds apparently came up suddenly before one of the boats capsized, killing 17 people.
The accident happened Thursday on Table Rock Lake. The last of the victims were found Friday. Several local, state and federal agencies are investigating.
Jim Pattison Jr. is president of Ripley Entertainment, which owns the duck boat business. Pattison says the captain operating the boat had 16 years of experience, and the business monitors weather.
Pattison told The Associated Press that the water was calm and flat when the amphibious vehicle arrived at the lake, but a sudden storm emerged and “turned it into turbulence.”
Pattison says his company is “sad” and “devastated” by the deaths.
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3:25 p.m.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says emergency responders and civilian rescuers helped prevent an even worse tragedy after a duck boat capsized on a lake and killed 17 people.
Parson spent Friday in the Branson area after the boat sank Thursday evening on Table Rock Lake amid high winds. He called the efforts of emergency responders and civilian rescuers “courageous” and said he was inspired by them.
He said people rushed in to help “in extremely dangerous conditions.”
Parson met with Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader and others leading the recovery operation before visiting the Cox Medical Center in Branson to meet with survivors and medical personnel.
The governor pledged the support of all state resources to help in an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard.
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3:15 p.m.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the agency has no authority to keep people or boats off of its lakes, even when bad weather approaches.
Seventeen people died Thursday when a Ride the Duck boat capsized in Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri. The accident happened amid churning waters and stormy weather.
Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Laurie Driver says storms tend to blow up quickly in the region of southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas that includes Table Rock, but the agency must rely on people making their own judgments about the safety of setting out on the water.
Driver says Ride the Ducks of Branson has a permit from the corps to operate on the lake.
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2:45 p.m.
Doctors believe that two people in critical condition after a duck boat sank in a Missouri lake will survive.
Cox Medical Center spokeswoman Brandei Clifton says “doctors are confident” about their long term prognosis.
The two adults are in critical condition after nearly drowning in the accident Thursday evening.
Cox received seven patients Thursday. Two are those in critical condition, one refused treatment and the remaining four, including three children, were treated for minor injuries such as sore ears and general anxiety.
Clifton says the hospital treated the accident like a mass casualty event and called in extra staff in anticipation of a large number of patients.
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2:40 p.m.
A candlelight vigil is planned to remember the 17 people killed when a duck boat capsized in stormy weather in southern Missouri.
Several pastors will be gathering at 9 p.m. Friday at Brookside Church in Branson, with a previously scheduled fireworks display to follow the vigil and prayers. The Stone County Sheriff’s Office posted details about the vigil on its Facebook page. The post says, “EVERYONE is welcome!”
The Ride the Ducks boat sank Thursday night in Table Rock Lake after a strong storm generated wind gusts of 50 to 65 mph (80 to 105 kph) in the area. The Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists.
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2:05 p.m.
Authorities say it could take several days to raise a duck boat that sank in southern Missouri, killing its driver and 16 passengers.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Pace says the vessel came to rest in 80 feet of water in on Table Rock Lake. Authorities initially said it would be raised Friday but Pace says it will take several days to get the equipment in place. He says investigators “want to preserve evidence as best is possible.”
Pace says the area has been secured and the investigation turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board and the Coast Guard.
Pace says divers indicated that the water visibility was better than normal, expediting the recovery of the victims’ bodies. They ranged in age from 1- to 70-years-old.
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11 a.m.
Authorities say the final four people missing since a boat capsized on a lake in southern Missouri have been found, raising the death toll to 17.
The office manager at the Stone County Sheriff’s office, Wendy Doucey, confirmed the discovery Friday. The Ride the Ducks boat sank Thursday night in the Lake of the Ozarks near Branson.
The victims’ names haven’t been released.
Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists.
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10:30 a.m.
Authorities are working to recover a duck boat that capsized and sank in a southern Missouri lake, killing more than a dozen people.
Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said during a news conference Friday that he believes the boat sank in 40 feet of water and rolled into 80 feet of water. He says the Missouri State Highway Patrol divers have located the vessel, which is on its wheels in Table Rock Lake in the Branson area. Authorities plan to recover the boat later Friday.
He says the first call about the capsized boat came in at 7:09 p.m. Thursday. He says authorities are working to determine what happened and had no information about whether passengers were wearing life jackets or whether they were just stowed onboard.
The victims’ names haven’t been released.
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9:30 a.m.
Authorities say the four people still missing after a duck boat capsized in southern Missouri are presumed dead, in addition to the 13 people whose bodies have been recovered.
Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader described the search as a “recovery mode for the bodies that are still missing” during a news conference Friday morning.
Rader says the driver of the Ride the Ducks boat died but that the captain survived when the boat sank Thursday night in Table Rock Lock in the Branson area. Thirteen victims already have been found.
Rader says an off-duty deputy aboard the nearby Showboat Branson Belle and others on the riverboat jumped in to help the duck boat’s passengers. He described the rescue effort as “outstanding.”
Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists.
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9 a.m.
The National Weather Service is warning of a fresh round of thunderstorms, as divers search for four people missing after a duck boat capsized on a lake in southwest Missouri.
Meteorologist Jason Schaumann says some of the storms are expected to churn up large hail and damaging straight line winds when they hit Friday afternoon in the Branson area where the Ride the Ducks boat sank. The bodies of 13 victims already have been found.
Schaumann says wind gusts of 50 to 65 mph (80 to 105 kph) were recorded around the time the boat capsized Thursday night in Table Rock Lake after a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued. He says the weather was calm in the search area overnight and that the area narrowly avoided more storms Friday morning.
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8:10 a.m.
President Donald Trump is extending his “deepest sympathies” to those affected by a Missouri boat accident that has killed at least 13.
In a Friday morning tweet, the president sends his: “deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those involved in the terrible boat accident which just took place in Missouri.”
He adds: “Such a tragedy, such a great loss. May God be with you all!”
Local officials said 14 people survived the sinking of a duck boat and four others remain missing after the accident Thursday evening on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri.
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8:05 a.m.
A witness has described the wind-borne chaos as a duck boat capsized and sank in a lake in southwest Missouri.
Allison Lester told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Friday that the “waters were rough” and “debris was flying everywhere” Thursday evening when the Ride the Ducks boat sank in Table Rock Lake in Branson. Lester was on a nearby boat.
Thirteen people were killed and four others are missing.
Lester’s boyfriend, Trent Behr, says he saw a woman lying in the water and that they pulled her up onto the boat. He says she was unconscious and that he was getting ready to start CPR when emergency responders arrived.
Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists.
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7:30a.m.
Authorities say divers have found two more bodies after a duck boat carrying tourists capsized in southwest Missouri, bringing the death toll to 13.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Pace says four others remain missing Friday after the accident on Table Rock Lake in Branson Thursday evening. He says 14 others survived, but that seven were injured.
Pace says those who died ranged in age from 1 to 70-years old.
Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists looking for entertainment ranging from theme parks to live music.
4a.m.
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) – Dive teams are expected to resume the search for five people missing after a tourist boat capsized and sank in a southwestern Missouri lake.
Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader says at least 11 people, including children, died when the Ride the Ducks boat sank Thursday night on Table Rock Lake in Branson. Seven other people were hospitalized.
Rader says the stormy weather was believed to be the cause of the capsizing. Another boat on the lake was able to safely make it back to shore.
NTSB launching Go Team to investigate July 19, 2018, amphibious vehicle accident at Table Rock Lake, near Branson, MO. Team will travel Friday morning.
National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Lindenberg says the agency had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Branson area, and winds reached speeds of more than 60 mph.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on Twitter that investigators are expected to arrive on the scene Friday.
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BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — At least 11 people, including children, died after a boat carrying tourists on a Missouri lake capsized and sank Thursday night, the local sheriff said.
Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said five people remain missing and seven others were hospitalized after a Ride the Ducks boat sank on Table Rock Lake in Branson.
A spokeswoman for the Cox Medical Center Branson said four adults and three children arrived at the hospital shortly after the incident. Two adults were in critical condition and the others were treated for minor injuries, Brandei Clifton said.
Rader said the stormy weather was believed to be the cause of the capsizing. Another duck boat on the lake was able to safely make it back to shore.
Steve Lindenberg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Springfield, Missouri, said the agency issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Branson area Thursday evening. Lindenberg said winds reached speeds of more than 60 mph.
“It’s a warning telling people to take shelter,” he said.
Rader said an off-duty sheriff’s deputy working security for the boat company helped rescue people after the accident.
Dive teams from a number of law enforcement agencies were assisting in the effort, but the sheriff said the divers ended their search for the night.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on Twitter that investigators will arrive on the scene Friday morning.
Suzanne Smagala with Ripley Entertainment, which owns Ride the Ducks in Branson, said the company was assisting authorities with the rescue effort. Smagala added this was the Branson tour’s first accident in more than 40 years of operation.
Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists looking for entertainment ranging from theme parks to live music.
Duck boats, known for their ability to travel on land and in water, have been involved in other deadly incidents in the past. They include one in 2015 in Seattle in which five college students were killed when a boat collided with a bus, and one in 1999 that left 13 people dead after the boat sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Safety advocates have sought improvements to the boats since the Arkansas incident. Critics argued that part of the problem is numerous agencies regulate the boats with varying safety requirements.
Duck boats were originally used by the U.S. military in World War II to transport troops and supplies, and later were modified for use as sightseeing vehicles.
KANSAS CITY, Kansas (AP) — The new face of an emerging democratic socialist movement joined its patriarch in the most unlikely place Friday, calling on Kansans unhappy with the direction of the country to get off the sidelines in a pivotal Republican-held congressional district.
“We know that people in Kansas, just like everywhere else in this country, just like families in the Bronx, just want a fair shake,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the surprise winner in a New York House primary last month, told a frenetic crowd of more than 3,000 in a Kansas suburb of Kansas City.
Headlining a rally with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez sought to infuse the final weeks of Democrat Brent Welder’s congressional primary campaign with the enthusiasm that lifted her over 20-year Democratic incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley last month.
In an election year defined by energized Democratic voters seeking to send President Donald Trump a message, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez were betting they could stir up liberals in places where the left rarely competes.
The 28-year-old Latina from New York and the 76-year-old Jewish senator from Vermont struck a stark contrast in the hotel ballroom, though they reflected the range of people in the racially and ethnically mixed crowd, weighted toward millennials but including gray-haired activists and parents with children.
Their combined messages sought to unite not just the diverse group in the hall, but restless liberals around the country.
“Whether you live in Kansas or Vermont or New York City, you want your children to have a decent life,” Sanders said. “And yes, we have differences. But despite these huge differences, we have a hell of a lot more in common.”
Kansas, where Trump won by more than 20 percentage points in 2016, would seem inhospitable for a duo championing strikingly progressive positions such as universal, single-payer health care and government-paid tuition to public college.
But Democrats see reasons for hope in a campaign year in which progressive candidates have won competitive primaries in GOP-leaning districts in suburban Philadelphia, metropolitan Omaha and Orange County, California, this year.
Thirty-two-year-old registered nurse Kristen Burroughs said she’d grown tired of feeling locked out of representation in Kansas.
“I wasn’t sure when I’d have the chance to vote for someone this liberal in Kansas,” Burroughs said, referring to Welder, a Sanders campaign activist and labor lawyer.
Kansas’ 3rd District, where Welder is competing, represented by four-term Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder, is on Democrats’ target list as they aim to seize the GOP-controlled House in November. Nationally, the party must pick up at least 23 Republican-held seats to claim the House majority, and they are focusing on 25 districts where Clinton won, or Trump won narrowly.
Democrats have been shut out of statewide and congressional races in Kansas since 2010.
Earlier Friday, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders headlined a rally in Wichita for Democrat James Thompson, a civil rights lawyer running in Kansas’ 4th District. He also was an activist for Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.
Sherri Lower, a 67-year-old retired emergency medical technician, showed up at the Wichita rally wearing a t-shirt that read: “We Care. We Vote. Do You?”
“This is the most important year we’ve ever had, and Thompson is one of our main guys,” Lower said. “I want Democrats to go out and vote.”
But Democrats have higher hopes in the 3rd District, one of only a handful Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the general election and Sanders won in the presidential nominating caucuses.
Republicans in the 3rd District outnumber their Democratic counterparts by more than 50,000, while unaffiliated voters also edge Democrats. Republicans outnumber Democrats by 2-to-1 in the 4th District.
Liberals argue that they are not just convincing moderate Democrats or disaffected Republicans but also engaging new primary voters, as Ocasio-Cortez did in New York this summer and as Sanders did in his insurgent 2016 presidential campaign.
While the Kansas campaign swing created a lot of buzz, Republicans were skeptical it would help Democrats make inroads in a conservative state.
State Rep. Tom Cox, a moderate Kansas City-area Republican, said there are pockets of liberal Democrats in the Kansas City suburbs but questioned whether Sanders’ message will resonate more broadly. He said Democrats tend to be split between liberals and moderates, with some union members and supporters holding conservative views on social issues.
“Even our Democrats around here are not socialist democrats,” he said. “If someone would describe the 3rd District, I would say center right.”
Leading candidates in the Democratic primary for governor have said their party must rebuild its brand in rural, heavily GOP areas. And despite surging energy among lefist Democrats in the Trump era, it was unclear if there were enough votes in the 3rd District for a liberal Democrat to win.
Before Yoder won in 2010, it had been held for 12 years by centrist Democrat Dennis Moore, who relied on moderate Republicans during his tenure.
Yet Sanders and his brand of liberalism have proved popular. He won more than two-thirds of the votes in the state’s 2016 presidential caucuses, surpassing Barack Obama’s 2008 vote total.
And Ocasio-Cortez said it can be done in Kansas by broadening the electorate to include previously less active voters, rather than trying to convert moderates.
“It is going to take every single person in this room knocking on 10, 50, 100 doors apiece,” she said. “So, if you have never knocked on a door before, I am talking to you.”
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TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) — Two luminaries in the democratic socialist movement — one its national leader, the other its new star — are descended on solidly Republican Kansas on Friday, taking their emboldened liberal message to an unlikely testing ground before next month’s congressional primaries.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who rose to fame following her surprise win in last month’s New York congressional primary, see an opportunity to influence Democratic voters in Kansas ahead of the state’s Aug. 7 primary. They’re especially focused on a crowded congressional primary in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City.
In an election year defined by energized Democratic voters seeking to send President Donald Trump a message, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are betting they can stoke the liberal march in places where the left rarely competes. Some liberal voters are welcoming the spotlight.
“Progressive voters and even some moderate voters have been disheartened by the lack of positive news from Kansas,” said Anne Black, 43, a Democratic precinct committee member from suburban Kansas City.
The trip is unusual on several fronts. For one, Trump won Kansas in 2016 by 20 percentage points, making it seemingly inhospitable for Democrats, much less democratic socialists. Moreover, Sanders is a 76-year-old Jewish senator from Vermont, while Ocasio-Cortez is a 28-year-old Latina from the Bronx who is poised to become the youngest member of Congress.
This political odd couple is scheduled to headline an evening rally in Kansas City, Kansas, for Brent Welder, a labor lawyer running in a crowded Democratic primary in Kansas’ 3rd District. The district, represented by four-term Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder, is on Democrats’ target list as they aim to seize the GOP-controlled House in November. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton narrowly carried the district in 2016.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are also scheduled to campaign together in Wichita for Democrat James Thompson, a civil rights lawyer running in Kansas’ 4th District. Like Ocasio-Cortez and Welder, Thompson was an activist for Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.
While organizers were forced to change venues for the Wichita event because of high demand for the Friday afternoon rally, the race in the 3rd District is considered more competitive. Still, Republicans are skeptical.
State Rep. Tom Cox, a moderate Kansas City-area Republican, said there are pockets of liberal Democrats in the Kansas City suburbs but questioned whether Sanders’ message will resonate more broadly. He said Democrats tend to be split between liberals and moderates, with some union members and supporters holding conservative views on social issues.
“Even our Democrats around here are not socialist democrats,” he said. “If someone would describe the 3rd District, I would say center right.”
Democrats, who have been shut out of statewide and congressional races since 2010, are having a similar debate among themselves. They must pick up at least 23 Republican-held seats to claim the House majority, and they are focusing on 25 districts where Clinton won, or Trump won narrowly.
Leading candidates in the Democratic primary for governor have said their party must rebuild its brand in rural, heavily GOP areas. And despite surging energy among lefist Democrats in the Trump era, it was unclear if there were enough votes in the 3rd District for a liberal Democrat to win.
In 2016, Clinton narrowly won in this urban and suburban district whose neighborhoods are out of keeping with the agriculturally rich prairies that make up much of that state. And before Yoder first won in 2010, it had been held for 12 years by centrist Democrat Dennis Moore, who relied on moderate Republicans during his tenure.
Yet Sanders and his brand of liberalism have proved popular. He won more than two-thirds of the votes in the state’s 2016 presidential caucuses, surpassing Barack Obama’s 2008 vote total.
But registered Republicans in the 3rd District outnumber their Democratic counterparts by more than 50,000, while unaffiliated voters also edge Democrats. Republicans outnumber Democrats by 2-to-1 in the 4th District.
Liberals argue that they are not just convincing moderate Democrats or disaffected Republicans but also engaging new primary voters, as Ocasio-Cortez did in New York this summer and as Sanders did in his insurgent 2016 presidential campaign.
“If you’re going to flip the district, you have to get new people involved in the political process,” said Sanders spokesman Josh Miller-Lewis. “There are so many people not involved.”
And candidates promoting Sanders’ agenda have won Democratic primaries in several of these districts, such as in Orange County, California, and suburban Philadelphia.
A race for Kansas Democrats to watch lies just 180 miles (290 kilometers) north on Interstate 29.
Democrat Kara Eastman won the May primary against moderate former Rep. Brad Ashford on messages much like Sanders’ in Nebraska’s 2nd District, which includes the city of Omaha and its suburbs.
She faces first-term Republican Rep. Don Bacon in this Republican-leaning district, where Trump won narrowly in 2016 but Obama won in 2008.
TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Friday issued a high-risk warning for West Nile virus infections (WNV) for northcentral, southcentral, and southwest Kansas. Northeast, southeast, and northwest Kansas are at moderate risk for WNV infections.
KDHE image
West Nile virus can be spread to people through mosquito bites, but it is not spread from person to person. About one in five people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms. About one out of 150 infected people develop swelling of the brain or brain tissue, that in some cases, can result in death. There are no vaccines or medications to treat WNV. People who have had WNV before are considered immune.
“Know your risk and take action to prevent mosquito bites to protect yourself and your family against West Nile virus”, said Dr. Greg Lakin, State Health Officer.”
KDHE recommends the following prevention measures:
When you are outdoors, use insect repellent containing an EPA-registered active ingredient on skin and clothing, including DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or IR3535. Follow the directions on the package.
Many mosquitoes are most active at dusk and dawn. Be sure to use insect repellent and wear long sleeves and pants at these times, or consider staying indoors during these hours.
The elderly or those with a weakened immune system should consider limiting their exposure outside during dusk and dawn, when the Culex species mosquitos are most active.
Make sure you have good screens on your windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out.
Get rid of mosquito breeding sites by emptying standing water from flower pots, buckets and barrels. Change the water in pet dishes and replace the water in bird baths weekly. Drill holes in tire swings so water drains out. Keep children’s wading pools empty and on their sides when they aren’t being used.
Horses can also be infected with WNV. Talk with your veterinarian about vaccinating your horse to protect them against WNV.
Most WNV infections occur in the late summer and early fall. Although there have been no cases of WNV reported to KDHE in 2018 there have been more than 600 cases of the most severe form of WNV and 30 deaths in Kansas from 1999-2017.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides this webpage with additional information about West Nile virus and preventing mosquito bites: http://www.cdc.gov/features/StopMosquitoes/. For questions about West Nile virus or other Arboviral diseases contact the KDHE Epidemiology hotline at 877-427-7317.
