Month: September 2021

Vaccine event planned Saturday at Harmon High School

KCKPS graphic

The Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools and Unified Government Health Department are holding the fourth “Don’t Throw Away Your Shot” community event on Saturday at Harmon High School, 2400 Steele Road, Kansas City, Kansas.

Free COVID-19 vaccines will be offered, along with free flu shots, free sports physicals, free dental screenings from Swope Health, free food and giveaways. There will be performances from high school bands.

The event runs from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2.

During the past three events, KCKPS and the Health Department have vaccinated over 600 families, according to a spokesman. They hope to increase those numbers to keep students, staff, families and the community safe.

KCKPS will offer transportation to and from the event. To find the complete list of pick-up times and locations visit www.kckps.org.

A $50 gift card will be given to residents who get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Masks will be required at this event.

Doctors support vaccinations for those who work around kids

At a University of Kansas Health System program on Wednesday morning, Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, supported vaccinations for those who work around children.


He believes it’s the right thing for schools to require those who are around kids to be vaccinated and wear masks, just like hospitals such as the health system requiring all staff to be vaccinated and wear masks.

“I think there is a moral quandary here, and that is if we believe in the science at all of the times that we take care of patients, why would we not believe in the science at the time of COVID inside the healthcare organization?” Dr. Stites asked.

“If you’re a patient, you deserve the safest possible environment to get care in. But what’s the safest possible environment?” he asked. “Being taken care of by somebody who has been vaccinated or someone who hasn’t been vaccinated? The science shows us there’s absolutely no question you’re safer being taken care of by somebody who’s been vaccinated.”

He cautioned that while case numbers have declined with masking, they run the same risk as last fall when masks came off and numbers shot up with the big crisis in December and January. Masks, he said, are the biggest reason there is no COVID transmission in the hospital.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, said the current vaccine still offers great protection, and boosters will help decrease transmission of COVID even more.

Also, he said the best mask is one that fits well. Dr. Hawkinson said with flu season possibly around the corner, people need to be prepared for the flu because mask requirements have eased in many places since last year, when the flu was almost nonexistent.

Vaccines, tests available

COVID-19 vaccines and testing are available from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30, at the Vibrant Health Argentine Clinic, 1428 S. 32nd St., Kansas City, Kansas. No appointment is necessary.

The former Kmart building at 7836 State Ave., a Unified Government Health Department vaccination site, will be open for testing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and for free COVID-19 vaccinations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Walk-ins are accepted. There are incentives being offered for Wyandotte County residents, while supplies last. See WycoVaccines.org.

COVID-19 testing from WellHealth will be available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30, at the Kansas National Guard Armory, 100 S. 20th. Appointments are necessary. The site is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To make an appointment, including a same-day appointment, visit https://www.gogettested.com/kansas.

Mobile vaccines can be requested online at WycoVaccines.org or by calling 3-1-1 (913-573-5311). For more information on the Unified Government Health Department’s vaccine schedule, see WycoVaccines.org.

COVID-19 vaccines and tests are available at other locations in Wyandotte County, including some pharmacies. For locations and availability, visit www.vaccines.gov.

Free vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public, and appointments are required. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated. KU Health System currently is vaccinating residents of Kansas and Missouri who are 12 or older, by appointment only. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the appointment.

Case numbers reported

The University of Kansas Health System reported 64 total COVID-19 patients on Wednesday, Sept. 29, a decrease of seven since Tuesday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control. Thirty-one patients with the active virus were inpatients on Wednesday, a decrease of two from Tuesday. Seven were vaccinated. Nine patients were in the intensive care unit, a decrease of three from Tuesday. Only one was vaccinated. Seven patients were on ventilators on Wednesday, the same as Tuesday. Thirty-three other patients were still hospitalized from COVID, but were out of the acute infection phase, a decrease of five from Tuesday. According to the doctors, the vaccinated patients have other serious medical problems besides COVID and would have been sicker without the vaccine.


Wyandotte County reported a cumulative 23,949 cases on Wednesday, Sept. 29, an increase of 33 cases since Tuesday, Sept. 28, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative total of 363 deaths on Wednesday, no change from Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Sept. 29, the Unified Government Health Department reported that 48.9 percent of Wyandotte County residents had received at least one dose of vaccine. Those completing their vaccinations totaled about 42.5 percent.
The percentage of Wyandotte County residents who were age 12 and older who had received at least one dose was 60.2 percent.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools COVID dashboard reported 114 students quarantined and three staff quarantined. There were 36 confirmed student cases and eight confirmed staff cases. The figures are new cases from Sept. 18 to Sept. 24.

The Mid-America Regional Council reported 215,800 cases on Wednesday in Greater Kansas City, a nine-county area. There were a total of 2,943 deaths. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 108.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 408,934 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Wednesday, Sept. 29, an increase of 2,481 since Monday, Sept. 27. There was a total of 6,024 cumulative deaths reported statewide, no change from Monday.

The KDHE reported 74,792 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Johnson County on Sept. 29, an increase of 324 since Sept. 27. Leavenworth County had 9,924 cases on Sept. 29, an increase of 30 since Sept. 27. Sedgwick County (the Wichita area) reported 76,285 cases on Sept. 29, an increase of 518 since Sept. 27.

On Wednesday night, there were a cumulative 43,349,187 COVID-19 cases in the United States, with a cumulative 695,112 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Links

To view a University of Kansas Health System video, visit https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/345194140722548.

Visit gogettested.com/Kansas and https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19 for more testing sites.

Wyandotte County residents may contact the Health Department at wycohelp.org to sign up for a test to be delivered to their home.
For more details about free COVID-19 testing offered by the UG Health Department, visit https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept or call 3-1-1.

To view details about the extension of the mask order in KCK until Nov. 18, visit
https://www.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/ug_extendsmaskmandate_nr_09102021.pdf.

Father Emil Kapaun laid to rest in his native Kansas, over 70 years after death

by Tom Shine, Kansas News Service, KMUW

Wichita – Services were held Wednesday in Wichita for Father Emil Kapaun, who died more than 70 years ago in a North Korean prisoner of war camp.

A funeral Mass for Father Emil Kapaun was held Wednesday, more than 70 years after he died in a North Korean prisoner of war camp.

Kapaun was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery on the battlefield during the Korean War. He also is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.

Officials from the church and military were in attendance at Wednesday’s Mass at Hartman Arena in Park City. The service was followed by a procession in downtown Wichita, where Kapaun’s remains were taken by horse-drawn caisson to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Members of the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas, Kapaun’s former unit, carried the remains into the cathedral. The remains will be interred in a crypt installed earlier this month.

Kapaun’s remains returned to Kansas on Saturday from Honolulu, where he was buried as an unknown soldier shortly after the Korean War ended.

Among those accompanying Kapaun’s remains was his niece, Air Force Maj. Christina Roberts.

His remains were taken to his hometown of Pilsen for viewing and a vigil over the weekend. They were returned to Wichita for a funeral vigil Tuesday night at Hartman Arena.

This is the second Mass held to honor Kapaun since he died.

A memorial Mass was held for him in July 1953 at the Cathedral. But his casket, draped by an American flag, was empty.

Wichita Bishop Carl Kemme said Wednesday’s events served two purposes.

“Not only to kind of shine a spotlight on his heroic witness but also to give him the funeral rites and burial that he certainly deserves,” Kemme said.

The Catholic Diocese of Wichita broadcast the funeral Mass through EWTN, Catholic TV and the diocese’s YouTube channel.

Several Wichita downtown streets were closed.

Call to service

Kapaun was born in 1916 in Pilsen, a small farming community in Marion County, about 70 miles northeast of Wichita. He was ordained into the priesthood in 1940 at what is now Newman University. A mural honoring Kapaun adorns the school’s chapel.

He served as a priest in the parish he grew up in, St. John Nepomucene.

He also was assigned as an auxiliary chaplain at the Army airbase in Herington, where he found he enjoyed working with enlisted men.

He joined the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps during World War II, serving in Burma and India in the closing days of the conflict.

After the war, he earned his master’s degree in education from American University before becoming the parish priest in Timken, a small town in Rush County.

Bishop Mark Carroll allowed him to enlist in the Chaplain Corps in 1948.

Kapaun was stationed in Japan with the 1st Cavalry Division, which was among the first troops to land in Korea when the Korean War broke out in June 1950.

The Korean War

Kapaun was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Unsan on Nov. 1-2, 1950. According to his medal citation, “Chaplain Kapaun calmly walked through withering enemy fire in order to provide comfort and medical aid to his comrades and rescue friendly wounded from no man’s land.”

His nephew, Ray Kapaun, accepted the medal from President Barack Obama in 2013.

When American forces pulled back from Unsan, Kapaun stayed behind to care for the wounded soldiers, even though he knew he would be taken as a prisoner.

After his capture and imprisonment, he stole food to help feed his fellow POWs. He tended to the sick and washed the clothes of prisoners too weak to do so. He also provided spiritual comfort during a brutally cold winter that saw nearly half the prisoners die.

Kemme says Kapaun served all of the prisoners, regardless of their faith.

“He didn’t ask them whether they were Catholic,” Kemme said. “He didn’t ask them any questions.

“He just saw a human being, and he did whatever he could, in those dire circumstances, to help them in their dignity, to help them be strong in the midst of such a challenging experience.

“That human love is stronger than death.”

Possible sainthood

Kapaun’s actions in the POW camp led the Vatican to name him a Servant of God in 1993, the first step in the long process to sainthood.

Vatican officials are expected to name Kapaun as venerable, the next step in the journey to sainthood. That step has been delayed because the pandemic halted most activities at the Vatican over the past year.

He would become just the fourth American-born saint if he is canonized.

Kapaun died in May 1951 after falling ill at the POW camp. He was 35.

Kapaun was buried in a shallow grave, and the location of his remains remained a mystery for nearly 70 years.

Shortly after the Korean War ended in 1953, nearly 900 sets of unidentified remains were returned from North Korea. They were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, known as the “Punchbowl.”

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, maintains a laboratory at the Punchbowl where it helps identify remains. In 2019, it began working through the unidentified remains from Korea.

Earlier this year, defense officials said Kapaun’s remains were identified using dental records and DNA provided by Eugene Kapaun, Father Kapaun’s brother and Ray Kapaun’s father.

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/2021-09-29/father-emil-kapaun-will-finally-be-laid-to-rest-in-his-native-kansas.

KCK man sentenced to 15 years in prison for attack on ATF agent

A Kansas City, Kansas, man was sentenced 15 years in prison following an attack on a federal law enforcement agent during an undercover operation.

In May 2021, Nicholas Newman, 20, of Kansas City, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of forcible assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon and guilty to one count of using, carrying, possessing, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. In September 2021, Newman was sentenced 10 years for the assault conviction and five years for the firearms conviction to run consecutively.

According to court documents, in February 2020, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted an undercover operation in Kansas City, Kansas.

Two undercover ATF agents drove their vehicle to the parking lot of the Sunfresh store at South 18th to meet with Newman after he contacted them a few days earlier suggesting he had a firearm for sale. Newman handed the undercover agent in the driver’s seat a firearm, which she put on the floorboard. She then gave him cash provided by the ATF for the undercover operation.

After Newman reached to grab the firearm, a violent struggle ensued between the agent and Newman for control of the weapon. Newman physically assaulted her, inflicting severe bodily harm, according to court documents.

The second agent, who had been in the rear passenger seat, came around and attempted to subdue Newman from behind. A short time later, ATF surveillance units arrived and instructed Newman to let go of the weapon, which he did. He was subsequently taken into custody.

“Every day our ATF agents work to make our communities safer by trying to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals,” said acting U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard. “In doing so, they often put themselves in harm’s way. Thanks to the bravery and quick action of these agents no lives were lost in an incident which could have resulted in tragedy.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Catania prosecuted the case.