Mild temperatures are in the forecast this week. (National Weather Service graphic)
Is this August in Kansas? Unusually cool weather continues this week, with highs in the mid-80s today, according to the National Weather Service.
No rain and storms are in the forecast at this time, the weather service said.
Temperatures will remain 5 to 10 degrees below normal through the work week, before warming up to near normal temperatures by Saturday, according to the weather service.
Today, it will be sunny with a high near 84 and a north wind of 6 to 9 mph, the weather service said.
Tonight, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 60 and an east northeast wind of 3 to 7 mph, according to the weather service.
Wednesday, it will be sunny, with a high near 83 and an east southeast wind of 3 to 7 mph, the weather service said.
Wednesday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low around 62 and an east wind of 5 mph becoming calm in the evening, according to the weather service.
Thursday, it will be sunny with a high near 85 and a calm wind becoming south southeast around 5 mph in the morning, the weather service said.
Thursday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low around 63, according to the weather service.
Friday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 88, the weather service said.
Friday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 66, according to the weather service.
Saturday, it will be sunny, with a high near 90, the weather service said.
Saturday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 68, according to the weather service.
Sunday, it will be sunny, with a high near 90,the weather service said.
Sunday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 67, according to the weather service.
Monday, it will be sunny with a high near 88, the weather service said.
This graph showed state COVID-19 cases by symptom onset date. (KDHE graph)
Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday afternoon issued an order to stop evictions and foreclosures in Kansas.
An earlier order at the state level on evictions has expired, and the $600 per week unemployment from the federal government has lapsed, Gov. Kelly said.
This order will be in effect on a temporary basis “in the hopes the Senate will get its act together,” Gov. Kelly said. If not, they will look at another extension, she added.
“I can’t sit back and do nothing while the Senate has gone on vacation without addressing the issue,” Gov. Kelly said.
The state will review options to support landlords while this order is in effect, Gov. Kelly said. The order goes into effect immediately, until Sept. 15.
She said at the news conference that she didn’t think counties could opt out of the executive order. It just needs the State Finance Council to hear it, she added.
A federal stay on evictions was just for those who were under the federal home loan plan, she said. The state’s order is broader and includes everyone.
However, it does not include people who decide they don’t want to pay rent, she said. The failure to pay rent has to be pandemic-related, such as being unemployed because of the pandemic or not having money because of the pandemic, she said.
Gov. Kelly noted that some landlords may have gone a long time without being able to receive rent payments, and probably some action could be taken in the state’s recovery office to support them, she said.
“What I really think needs to happen is Congress needs to come back and re-up the original unemployment that was there,” the governor said. She said it is not true that the state has already received funding for it. While there are some funds in emergency management, those funds are pretty thin right now, she said. Also, the SMART Task Force already has committed most of the money that Kansas received from the CARES Act, she said. It would take over $40 million a month for Kansas to implement the unemployment program, she said.
She said Congress needs to implement the program that has already been put in place. There is already a structure for it.
The governor also extended relief for motor carriers from some rules and regulations until Sept. 14 or until the state of emergency expires. The order lifts some weight restrictions, helping the state to receive medical supplies, food shipments and other items.
Also, Kansas reported 1,282 new positive cases and three new deaths from Friday to Monday, according to the governor. There is a cumulative total of 35,167 cases, she said.
Johnson County reported 6,615 cumulative cases on Monday, an increase of 258 cases since Friday. Leavenworth County reported 1,576 cumulative cases Monday, an increase of 27 cases since Friday, according to KDHE.
According to the KDHE, other counties’ cumulative case reports: Sedgwick (Wichita area), 6,102; Wyandotte, 5,451; Ford County, 2,219; Shawnee County, 1,787; Finney County, 1,742; Douglas, 834; and Riley, 455. In all, there were positive cases in 103 Kansas counties.
Gov. Kelly quoted Dr. Deborah Birx, who came to Kansas over the weekend, who said everyone, including rural and urban residents, need to wear masks. “Wearing a mask works,” she said.
“We need Kansans to step up and do their part to stop the spread of this virus,” Gov. Kelly said.
She thanked cities that decided to enforce mask mandates when their counties failed to act on the mask mandate.
Many school districts used the extra time before school starts to obtain masks, equipment and thermometers, she said. She said last week she held a virtual call with teachers across the state of Kansas.
“My administration will be with them every step of the way, and we will do everything in our power to protect their health and to support their efforts to continue giving Kansas students a world-class education,” Gov. Kelly said.
She said they can’t allow politics to threaten health, schools and the economy.
“Take this virus seriously and practice social distancing, good hygiene, and wear masks, just like Dr. Birx, Dr. (Anthony) Fauci and Dr. (Lee) Norman have all consistently recommended,” Gov. Kelly said.
She also said quality affordable health care could be provided to 150,000 Kansans if they expand Medicaid.
Free testing available
Free COVID-19 testing is planned from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, at All Saints parish, 811 Vermont Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, through Vibrant Health and the Health Equity Task Force.
Free testing also is offered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Unified Government Health Department parking lot at 6th and Ann, Kansas City, Kansas. For more information, call 311.
Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask order and is in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan. For more information, residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website athttps://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Informationor call 311 for more information.
Aaron Coleman (Submitted photo)Rep. Stan Frownfelter
Aaron Coleman, a 19-year-old candidate, has won the official vote for the Democratic nomination for state representative, 37th District, with a 14-vote margin.
The total was 823 to 809, after a voter canvass on Monday. Long-time incumbent Rep. Stan Frownfelter said he will run in November as a write-in candidate. “It’s not over yet,” he said in a telephone interview.
Coleman said in a telephone interview after the canvass that he will keep knocking on doors in Turner to talk to the voters, which he said is how he won the election.
“My plan is to just keep my head low and work hard these next few months to keep this seat blue,” he said.
Only Coleman would be listed on the ballot in November, but there could be three or more candidates for the 37th District in November. Republican leaders said before the primary election that they were planning to have a GOP write-in candidate, no matter who won the primary. They did not have a candidate by the June filing deadline.
And, Rep. Frownfelter said today, besides his write-in candidacy and the possible GOP write-in opponent, he had heard that there would be another progressive write-in candidate, as well. If the Republican write-in candidate goes forward with her campaign, it will be tougher, Rep. Frownfelter said today.
The story of Coleman’s candidacy has now gone international, and the Kansas governor has been quoted in other stories as saying he isn’t fit to be a state representative. Negative news recently came out about Coleman’s alleged actions as a 14-year-old, involving revenge porn. Coleman picked up support from one local party official who was in favor of other legislators mentoring him.
Earlier this year, Coleman had been criticized for his social media comments, including one comment about Herman Cain, a Republican who went to a large rally and who recently died. Democratic officials apologized for Coleman’s comments, distancing themselves from him.
Rep. Frownfelter said a lot of Democrats believe his opponent is a loose cannon, who reacts to things without thinking first.
Coleman said today that his response is pretty much what it has been through the past, that he is a changed person and is not like that now.
There have been people in the Democratic Party who have stepped up in the past to mentor him, he said, and some may be disappointed in him now.
“Hopefully we’ll get to a point where we’ve shown them I’m not the person that everybody thinks I am,” he said.
Coleman, who announced his campaign on April 20 (4-20 being a slang term for cannabis) said the main different between him and the other candidates is he is a progressive, and he supports a single-payer health care system and legalized cannabis.
“I have a consistent track record on my progressive beliefs,” he said. He said 80 percent of the voters support these health care improvements and legalizing cannabis. “I’m the only one consistent on these very popular issues, that’s what carried me to victory this spring. I think these popular issues will carry me to victory this fall.”
Rep. Frownfelter said those who voted in the Democratic primary were split down the middle, and there are another 57 percent who will have a say in the general election.
He said there are over 22,000 voters in the 37th District, and only about 1,600 of them voted in this contest. Democrats make up about 43 percent of the district, with about 19 percent Republicans, and the rest unaffiliated voters.
“The independents came up this time,” Rep. Frownfelter said. “They’ll be the swing vote in the general.”
Rep. Frownfelter said he felt he has served the community well in the past, and the community needs his experience now. He said he didn’t want Coleman to go to the Legislature and destroy what they have worked to accomplish.
“I think everybody underestimated me in the primary and is going to underestimate me again this fall, because I’m really passionate about knocking doors, and that is what you have to do, meet people where they are, and everybody’s at home,” Coleman said.
“The people of this district have spoken,” Coleman said. “They want a change in the Democratic Party.”
No election outcomes changed. The new county voter turnout total was 23,781.
