NEW YORK (AP) — There aren’t many people who are still waiting for the gifts that were supposed to arrive by Christmas.

FedEx and UPS were able to improve their performance this holiday season, after failing to deliver some presents in time for Christmas last year. According to a shipment tracker, ShipMatrix, FedEx delivered more than 99 percent of express packages as promised on December 22nd and 23rd. UPS also hit the 99 percent mark.

There are no numbers yet for Christmas Eve deliveries.

Last year, some packages didn’t make it on time. The tracking company says the success rate was in the “low 90s” a year ago.

The delays last year were blamed on a mix of bad weather and overloaded systems, with more people shopping online. To avoid similar headaches this year, FedEx and UPS invested in improving their systems. They also increased the number of seasonal workers they hired.

MANHATTAN – Law enforcement officials in Manhattan arrested a suspect in connection with report of a fire and crash into a business early Friday.

Pottawatomie County Sheriff Greg Riat reported deputies responded just after 6:30 a.m. to a call of smoke coming from the Staples in the 600 Block of Tuttle Creek Blvd.

They found a large hole in the north side of the structure and also discovered that a vehicle had driven through the exterior wall of the structure leading into the back of the Short Go location.

The accident also damaged the interior wall to Staples. The vehicle was able to exit the building and the driver fled the scene.

After a tip from Riley County Police, Sheriff Deputies located a vehicle in the 500 Block of Tuttle Creek Blvd and discovered a 1996 Buick Century and items of evidence associated with the accident.

Riat said the driver of the vehicle Jason Lee Butler, 36, Marysville, was located and taken into custody for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident. He suffered minor injuries and is being held at the Pottawatomie County Jail pending bond. The incident remains under investigation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man sentenced to more than 55 years in prison for killing a man is getting a new trial.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 47-year-old Stephen Alan Macomber will be retried for the 2010 killing of Ryan Lofton. Lofton was shot during a dispute on a Topeka driveway.

The Kansas Court of Appeals reversed Macomber’s earlier conviction, ruling the trial court incorrectly allowed evidence about his prior convictions. The new trial starts March 9.

As he did the first time, Macomber will represent himself. A Topeka attorney will be his standby attorney.

Authorities have said that after Macomber shot Lofton, he shot and wounded a Marshall County deputy during a traffic stop in Blue Rapids, then held an elderly woman hostage during a police standoff.

By Andy Marso
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — News that federal and state health officials are studying a new virus linked to the death of a Bourbon County resident caused little stir in the county Tuesday. But that could change once ticks return to the county’s woods and prairies.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Monday it had joined the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in investigating the “Bourbon virus” that contributed to the death of a Bourbon County man last summer. The man died with symptoms like fever and fatigue common to other tick-borne illnesses, and state and federal health officials believe the new virus also is transmitted through the bites of ticks or other insects.

In a video posted by the University of Kansas Hospital, infectious disease specialist Dana Hawkinson said the virus is unlike anything ever seen in Kansas or even the United States.

“Its genome is similar to viruses that have been found in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, but no virus like that has ever been identified in the Western Hemisphere,” he said. “Those other viruses that it seems to be related to, there are very few cases reported to cause illness in humans and animals. Certainly nothing as we have seen here.”

Hawkinson said he and his team had few answers as the Bourbon County resident’s health declined.

“That caused a lot of frustration for myself and the other medical personnel caring for him because we just couldn’t answer questions to the family, and to ourselves, as to why this was happening to this gentleman,” he said.

It is not known if Bourbon virus was the cause of death or how much it contributed to the resident’s death, according to KDHE.

Without more cases to study, Hawkinson said it would be impossible to say if the illness is always that severe or if there are milder cases.

There are more than a dozen tick-borne illnesses identified in the United States, including Heartland virus, which was found in Missouri last spring.

The case history of the Bourbon County man who died has been reviewed. Now that the CDC has developed a blood test to confirm Bourbon virus, there are plans to test other residents with similar symptoms who also tested negative for the Heartland virus in the past year.

Investigators also will be testing ticks and other insects for the new virus.

A diagnosis, while a first step, does not provide many treatment options, Hawkinson said.

“There’s essentially no treatment available for a lot of our viral illnesses,” he said.

He and state officials encouraged prevention, including wearing long pants and sleeves and using insect repellent with DEET when in wooded or brushy areas. When returning from those areas, Kansans are encouraged to check themselves for ticks promptly.

In addition to symptoms such as fever and fatigue, those infected with Bourbon virus may experience muscle aches and severe appetite suppression that is akin to anorexia, Hawkinson said.

“They just don’t feel like eating,” he said.

Hawkinson said April to September is the usual timeline for tick season in Kansas, but in recent years warm weather has extended the season. The past two years, the Kansas Department for Wildlife, Parks and Tourism has disseminated tick warnings starting in April and May.

News of the Bourbon virus quickly spread to national websites in the United States and United Kingdom.

But in Bourbon County, with Christmas coming and the ticks long gone, all was quiet.

An employee at the Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department’s Fort Scott office said Tuesday she had received no calls about the virus from county residents.

Mary Winn, an infection prevention nurse at Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott, said she had not received any calls from concerned residents either, but that may change once the weather warms.

“Another tick-borne virus is worrisome, not only to health care providers but the population at large, because we are rural and people are out and about,” Winn said. “Farming and ranching is their business. It’s their livelihood.”

Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A tower at Kansas State University will be used in a 30-year-long project with the National Science Foundation.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the 26-foot tower at the Konza Prairie Biological Station in the spring will begin collecting data for the climate research project.

The $430-million project with the National Ecological Observatory Network project will collect information from more than 100 sites across the country.

Data from the project will be provided free to the public.

The Kansas State University tower will gather data on climate change, land use change and invasive species.

Crews in Kansas will study small mammals, mosquitoes, plants and soil.

Researchers also will focus on the spread of the hantavirus by deer mice and transmission of West Nile virus by mosquitoes.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Traffic-related fatalities and injuries in Kansas are up on roads with newly increased 75 mph speed limits.

The Kansas City Star reports numbers from the state’s transportation department show a 54 percent increase in highways deaths on those roads since the speed limit was raised. The number of crashes overall have been steady.

Injuries are up about 13 percent compared with the two years before the new speed limit went into effect in 2011.

Highways affected include I-135 north out of Wichita, and rural patches of I-35, I-70, U.S. 69 and I-470 near Topeka.

An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety spokesman says higher limits often lead to more accidents.

But state transportation officials say it’s too early to draw conclusions.

ANTHONY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas growers have been harvesting bumper crops of cotton this season. That is giving a boost in the state to a crop touted for its good profit margin and low water use.

The Hutchinson News reports that the uptick in yields is a positive sign for a crop that has been struggling to regain acreage since it spiked at more than 115,000 acres in 2006. Kansas has four cotton gins.

The Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service estimates cotton production in Kansas at 52,000 bales, up 27 percent from a year ago.

Cotton acres harvested in 2014 will be up 12 percent, with 29,000 acres cut. The average yield is forecast at a record 861 pounds per acre, or about 104 pounds per acre more than a year ago.

SARA BURNETT, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Unions across the U.S. are reaching out to immigrants affected by President Obama’s recent executive action in hopes of expanding their dwindling ranks by recruiting millions of workers who entered the U.S. illegally.

Labor leaders say the action will give new protection to workers who’ve been reluctant to join for fear of retaliation. The action curbs deportation and gives work permits to some 4 million immigrants.

Service Employees International Union Local has announced a website where immigrants can learn about the action. The AFL-CIO says it’s training organizers to recruit eligible workers. Other unions are partnering with community groups to reach out to immigrants.

Opponents meanwhile are working to undo the action, saying it will hurt American workers. Some labor experts are skeptical immigrants will feel safe enough to unionize.