Month: June 2022

Skies clearing today with high in mid-70s

National Weather Service graphic

After storms Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the forecast calls for skies that will be clearing on Wednesday, with a couple of dry days.

There were about 88 Board of Public Utilities customers without power as of 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to the utility’s outage map.

Rain is in the forecast again for Thursday night and Friday, before sunny skies return for Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

Strong storms are possible Thursday night, the weather service said.


Temperatures will be in the mid-70s today, will climb to 81 on Thursday, then return to 79 on Friday, before hitting 81 on Saturday and 89 on Sunday, according to the forecast.

Today, it will be mostly cloudy early, then gradually clearing, with a high near 77, the weather service said. A north northwest wind of 7 to 13 mph will gust as high as 21 mph.

Tonight, it will be mostly clear, with a high near 59, according to the weather service. A north northwest wind of 5 to 9 mph will become calm in the evening. Winds may gust up to 18 mph.

Thursday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 81, the weather service said. A calm wind will become south southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday night, there is an 80 percent chance of showers and a thunderstorm, with a low of 63, according to the weather service. A south wind of 5 mph will become calm in the evening. Between a tenth and quarter-inch of rain is possible.

Friday, there is a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1 p.m., the weather service said. The high will be near 79 with a calm wind becoming north 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain is possible.

Friday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 59, according to the weather service.

Saturday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 81, the weather service said.

Saturday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 65, according to the weather service.

Sunday, it will be sunny, with a high near 89, the weather service said.

Sunday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 73, according to the weather service.

Monday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 92, the weather service said.

Monday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 76, according to the weather service.

Tuesday, it will be sunny, with a high of 93, the weather service said.

KCK police conduct large drug bust, seizing almost 15,000 pills with fentanyl

Pills containing fentanyl found in a vehicle. (Photo from Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department)
Pills containing fentanyl found inside a home. (Photo from Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department)
Guns and cocaine also were found along with fentanyl. (Photo from Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department)

The number of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl seized last week by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department Narcotics Unit has increased from approximately 6,000 pills to nearly 15,000, making it a significant bust, according to a police spokesman.

The metro area continues to experience record numbers of overdoses involving the highly potent drug, KCK police said.

Narcotics detectives served a warrant at a Kansas City, Kansas, home on Wednesday and seized approximately 6,000 counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl along with eight firearms and other drugs, a spokesman stated. Charges were filed in the case, according to police.

Approximately, 9,000 more pills, cocaine, marijuana and two additional firearms were discovered the following day in vehicles seized during the operation.

According to narcotics detectives, the operation was run out of a home that looked like any other on the block.

These counterfeit pills are made to look exactly like the ones dispensed from a pharmacy, but contain potentially lethal amounts of fentanyl – a drug that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, the spokesman stated.

Many individuals take the pills, unaware they contain fentanyl. Once ingested or inhaled, most overdoses occur within seconds to minutes, according to police.

The only way to prevent death is by quickly administering, naloxone, known commonly by the name brand, Narcan. Naloxone is available at area pharmacies without a prescription. There have been 61 overdoses and 11 overdose deaths in Kansas City, Kansas, to date in 2022, police stated.

Signs of overdose include a person’s lips immediately turning blue; gurgling sounds with breathing; stiffening of the body or seizure-like activity; foaming at the mouth; or confusion or strange behavior before the person loses consciousness, according to police.

If someone exhibits these symptoms after ingesting or snorting a drug, call 911 immediately, police stated. Those who have any information regarding the sale of fentanyl, or any illegal drugs, may call the KCKPD Narcotics 24-hour Hotline at 913-573-6287, according to police. Callers may remain anonymous.

State Sen. Dennis Pyle launching independent campaign for Kansas governor

Joins field with Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Gov. Laura Kelly

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — State Sen. Dennis Pyle filed paperwork to launch an independent campaign for Kansas governor and enter a race that features Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

Sen. Pyle, a Hiawatha farmer among the Senate’s conservative members, said he submitted documents Monday night to initiate the campaign. Sen. Pyle and running mate Kathleen Garrison of Haysville would need 5,000 petition signatures to be on the November general election ballot.

He would be the fifth candidate for Kansas governor in 2022. In addition to Schmidt, Republican Arlyn Briggs of Kincaid is a GOP candidate. Kelly is seeking reelection to a second term against Emmett resident Richard Karnowski, a Democrat.

“I am a God-loving American, devoted to the Constitution and protecting our children, and I am entering this race to give Kansans a choice,” Sen. Pyle said.

Pyle, 61, has served in the Kansas Legislature for nearly 20 years. He was in the Kansas House from 2001 to 2003, but lost a race for reelection. He assumed a seat in the Kansas Senate in 2005. In 2020, he easily won reelection to his northeast Kansas seat in the Senate with more than 70% of the vote.

During the 2022 legislative session, Sen. Pyle was among Republican senators stripped of committee assignments for refusing to vote for the congressional redistricting map supported by Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover.

C.J. Grover, the campaign manager for Schmidt, said Pyle was a “fake conservative” engaged in a “vanity” campaign for Kansas governor.

“Dennis Pyle is a fake conservative who just wants attention,” Grover said. “He stood with pro-abortion legislators to nearly derail the Value Them Both amendment. He sided with Laura Kelly, Hillary Clinton’s lawyers and the ACLU against our Republican majority in the Legislature on redistricting maps. Now, he’s trying to help Laura Kelly and Joe Biden again with a vanity run for governor.”

In 2018, Pyle entered a crowded GOP field in an attempt to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, in the 2nd District. He finished fifth in the 2nd District’s Republican primary won by Steve Watkins, who served one term before ousted by U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner.

In announcing his congressional candidacy four years ago, Pyle said “no matter how crowded the field, there is always room for a genuine, proven conservative who represents rural Kansas values.”

Pyle also challenged Jenkins in the Republican congressional primary in 2010. He lost to Jenkins, but earned about 43% of the vote.

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/06/07/gop-senator-dennis-pyle-files-to-launch-campaign-for-kansas-governor/