The temperature at 9 a.m. Thursday was 64 in the Kansas City area, according to the National Weather Service, and it was expected to climb to a high near 68 today.
The temperature could approach the record high in Kansas City for Feb. 15, which was 72 degrees in 1911, according to weather service records. The normal high for this date is 43 in Kansas City.
The weather service said today will be mostly cloudy, with a southwest wind of 9 to 13 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon.
The warmup is short-lived, with temperatures falling 40 degrees to a low of about 22 Thursday night, with a north wind of 11 to 17 mph gusting to as high as 26 mph, according to the weather service.
Friday, it will be mostly sunny with a high of 36, the weather service said, and a north wind of 5 to 14 mph becoming east in the afternoon. Winds may gust as high as 20 mph.
Friday night, look for a low of 27 with mostly cloudy skies and a southeast wind of 5 to 7 mph.
Then the weather warms up again. Saturday, it will be mostly cloudy through mid-morning, then gradually clearing, with a high near 52, the weather service said. A south wind of 7 to 13 mph will become west in the afternoon. Winds may gust as high as 21 mph.
Saturday night, the low will be around 29 with mostly clear skies, according to the weather service.
Sunday, the high will be near 58 with sunny skies, the weather service said.
Sunday night, the low will be around 46 with mostly cloudy skies.
Monday, Presidents Day, there is a 60 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon, with a high of 65, the weather service said.
Monday night, expect a 40 percent chance of rain showers before 11 p.m., then a chance of snow showers, the weather service said. The low will be around 26.
Lamonte McIntyre talked to a Kansas Senate committee on Wednesday about a bill that would promise money to people who are kept in prison on convictions that are later overturned. He was exonerated after 23 years in prison, but state law offers no payment. (Photo by Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service) by Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service
If you’re released from prison in some states after a wrongful conviction, you could be owed millions of dollars or a promise of a college education.
In Kansas and 17 other states, you get nothing.
On Wednesday, lawmakers heard from men who’d lost decades behind bars on bogus convictions. They emerged middle-aged and broke, with no work history or credit rating.
A bill under consideration would promise $80,000 for every year a later-exonerated person spent in prison and an additional $25,000 for each year on probation or parole.
Lamonte McIntyre spent 23 years in prison for a double murder in Wyandotte County he didn’t commit. He struggles just to get by. He told a Senate committee that financial compensation would help because he was locked up during a period of his life when most people would be building a career.
“All that passed me,” he said. “It would help me by way of getting myself established as a man in America, basically.”
Another man wrongly convicted of a rape and murder, Floyd Bledsoe, said that once he was released it wasn’t as if life returned to normal. He’s had difficulty finding jobs. Background checks will show his criminal convictions, even though he’s been exonerated.
Floyd Bledsoe was exonerated after spending 16 years in prison. He told lawmakers that financial compensation from the state would help him establish a footing in life that prison denied him. (Photo by Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service)
“I had to work for myself because it was so hard to find a job,” Bledsoe said. “It’s an uphill battle. It’s a day-to-day battle.”
Bledsoe said he lost 16 years of his life, his family and all his possessions. Compensation, he said, would help relieve the financial pressure on him and other people who have been exonerated.
“It would give people legs to make it in life,” he said. “It would help us to build a retirement fund.”
Kansas is one of 18 states that has no law on the books to compensate someone locked up on a botched conviction, says the Innocence Project.
States that do offer compensation set widely varying rules. Montana won’t pay cash, but will cover university or community college expenses. Florida pays $50,000 a year up to $2 million.
Missouri offers $50 for every day spent behind bars. Colorado pays $70,000 for each year, another $50,000 for every year on death row and $25,000 per year on probation, parole or on a sex offender registry. Nebraska sets no standard, but caps compensation at $500,000 total. Oklahoma has a $175,000 maximum.
“This bill would really put Kansas squarely in line with what other states do,” said Michelle Feldman, with the Innocence Project.
The change could ultimately save Kansas taxpayers money, Feldman said.
She pointed to the example of Eddie Lowery, convicted of rape and other charges in 1982. In 2003, a court wiped out his conviction based on DNA evidence.
He ultimately sued Riley County and won a $7.5 million settlement that showed up in a special assessment in residents’ property tax bills.
Feldman said a fair compensation plan for people wrongly convicted could help prevent larger settlements stemming from lawsuits.
“So this is really a better solution for the taxpayers and the exonerees,” Feldman said.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Rick Wilborn, said he plans for the committee to amend and debate the bill on Monday.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.
Bull Bullard and Hoops Green posed with 16-year-old Sarah outside the pediatrics ward activities room. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)
by Brian Turrel
The Harlem Globetrotters brought some Valentine’s Day love to young patients at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas, on Wednesday.
Will “Bull” Bullard and Briana “Hoops” Green of the famed basketball troupe visited several patients in the pediatrics ward and the pediatrics intensive care unit, frequently donning masks and gowns even as they delivered autographs, smiles, and their signature spinning basketball trick.
Green is in her second season with the Globetrotters. She is the 15th woman in the group’s 91-year history, following in the footsteps of KU’s Lynette Woodard, the first female Globetrotter.
Bullard is in his 10th season with the team and is also a three-time participant in TV’s “American Ninja Warrior.”
The Harlem Globetrotters will play three games in the Kansas City area on Feb. 24 and 25 — two daytime games at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Independence, Missouri, and an evening game at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Bullard and Green put on masks and gowns to visit the room of a young patient. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)Aurora’s sister Crista was happy to get a shot of Bullard on her phone. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)Aurora pointed to her sister when asked by Bullard to be his valentine. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)KU Hospital CEO Bob Page passed Bullard’s quiz on the first female Globetrotter. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)Bull Bullard is known for his spectacular dunks and long-range shots for the Globetrotters. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)Three-year-old Aurora looked way up to see the 6-foot-4 Bullard. (Photo copyright 2018 by Brian Turrel)
