A fatal accident was reported at 4:57 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, at southbound I-435 and Wolcott in Wyandotte County, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper’s report.
A Kia Forte was traveling southbound on I-435 when, for unknown reasons, the vehicle went off the roadway, crashing into a pole, the trooper’s report stated.
The driver, Shailee Y. Viramontes, age 23, of Leavenworth, Kansas, was killed in the accident, according to the report.
A 3-year-old boy in her car was taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital with a possible serious injury, according to the report.
Wind gusts could reach 36 mph today in Wyandotte County. (National Weather Service graphic)
A cool and windy day is ahead, according to the National Weather Service forecast.
The high was about 40 at 9 a.m., with a wind chill of 31, and temperatures were expected to reach only 41 today, the weather service said. Temperatures will drop to a low of 26 tonight.
Wind gusts from the west northwest may reach as high as 36 mph today, according to the weather service.
Today, there will be increasing clouds, with a high near 41, the weather service said. It will be breezy, with a west northwest wind of 17 to 23 mph, gusting as high as 36 mph.
Tonight, the low will be around 26 with a northwest wind of 7 to 14 mph, gusting as high as 24 mph, according to the weather service.
Saturday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 47 and a west northwest wind of 6 to 9 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon, the weather service said.
Saturday night, it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 38, according to the weather service. A south southwest wind of 6 to 9 mph will become northwest after midnight. Winds may gust as high as 20 mph.
Sunday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 50, the weather service said. A northwest wind of 5 to 10 mph will gust as high as 24 mph.
Sunday night, it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 35, according to the weather service.
Monday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 59, the weather service said.
Monday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 45, according to the weather service.
Tuesday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 68, the weather service said.
Tuesday night, it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 52, according to the weather service.
Wednesday, it will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 58, the weather service said.
Wednesday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 32, according to the weather service.
Thursday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 47, the weather service said.
Topeka — Republican leaders announced Thursday they had gathered the signatures necessary to force a special session for the week of Thanksgiving to respond to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Every Republican in both the Senate and House signed the petition, providing the two-thirds needed in each chamber. Leadership said they would deliver the petitions to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday.
The special session will start Nov. 22.
“This is a historic moment as the Legislature calls itself back into a special session for the first time in the history of our state,” House Republicans said in a statement. “This unprecedented action is necessitated by equally unprecedented actions from the Biden administration that enacted these mandates unilaterally, without respecting the constitutional law making power reserved for Congress. Never before has the federal government forced Kansans to choose between their personal beliefs and their livelihoods.”
Kelly, who is seeking re-election, opposes the federal mandates. Her likely opponent in next year’s election, Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt, has joined three separate lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of federal mandates.
A special committee on “government overreach” held two days of hearings last month to gather public input on the mandates, limiting comments to those who oppose them. The hearings were rife with false information about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, and Holocaust comparisons. Dissenting views were limited to written testimony that hasn’t been made public.
Earlier this week, the committee received an update on various legal challenges to orders and rules that require federal workers, as well as employees of federal contractors, large businesses and Medicaid and Medicare providers, to be vaccinated. Employees of private businesses would have the alternate option of weekly testing. All of the mandates provide exemptions for medical needs, disabilities and sincerely held religious beliefs.
The committee will hold hearings Friday on two bills drafted by Senate President Ty Masterson. One would prohibit employers from questioning the sincerity of a worker’s religious beliefs or medical needs, and the other would provide unemployment aid to individuals who are fired for refusing to get vaccinated.
Masterson said the intent is to pass both laws during the special session.
“The right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience shall never be infringed — that’s a part of our Kansas Constitution,” Masterson said. “It’s also why we have laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of religion, and that includes religious tests where one’s beliefs are scrutinized, either by the government or an employer.
“We’re not going to let the Biden administration force businesses to play God or doctor and determine whether a religious or medical exemption is valid or not. We’re going to trust individual Kansans.”
