Articles written by Heather Hollingsworth
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 208
By 
Judge denies new sentencing hearing for 2 brothers awaiting execution for 'Wichita massacre'
A Kansas judge on Monday denied a request for a resentencing hearing for two brothers awaiting execution for a quadruple killing known as the "Wichita massacre," ruling that he lacks jurisdiction to approve a reexamination of the sentences. The...
How Kansas women's disappearance on a drive to pick up kids led to 4 arrests in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A two-week search for two missing Kansas women came to a fatal end last weekend when Oklahoma authorities confirmed the two were dead and announced the arrests of four people who allegedly belonged to an anti-government group t...
Mountain goat stuck under Kansas City bridge survives rocky rescue
An escaped mountain goat that somehow got stuck under a Kansas City bridge has survived a rocky rescue effort and now may be reunited with the owners who suspect he was stolen from their farm two months ago. "It's the story that captured the hearts...
Actor in spinoff of popular TV western 'Yellowstone' is found dead, authorities say
MISSION, Kan. (AP) — An actor who appeared in a spinoff of the popular television western "Yellowstone" was found dead after he went missing amid a domestic violence investigation in Kansas, authorities said Friday. The Johnson County Sheriff's O...
Third employee of weekly newspaper in Kansas sues over police raid that sparked a firestorm
MISSION, Kan. (AP) — An office manager at a weekly newspaper in Kansas is the latest employee to sue over a police raid last year that sparked a firestorm. Cheri Bentz alleges in the suit filed Friday in federal court that she was unlawfully d...
Fill up your gas tank and prepare to wait. Some tips to prepare for April's total solar eclipse
MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Stock up on groceries. Print off driving directions. And be very, very patient. Small towns and rural enclaves along the path of April's total solar eclipse are steeling for huge crowds of sun chasers who plan to catch a g...
An ecstatic Super Bowl rally, upended by the terror of a mass shooting. How is Kansas City faring?
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — "Are you feeling good today, Chiefs Kingdom?" Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas shouted to a sea of football fans fresh from their town's third Super Bowl victory in five years. Less than an hour later — with music still bla...
Suspect dead amid shooting that claimed the lives of 2 officers, 1 first responder, group says
BURNSVILLE, Minn. (AP) — A desperate call for help from a home in suburban Minneapolis early Sunday turned deadly for two police officers and a first responder who were shot and killed, according to officials. A suspect in the shooting also died, off...
An arrest has been made in the theft of a Jackie Robinson statue later found dismantled and burned
A 45-year-old man was arrested in the theft of a bronze Jackie Robinson statue that was cut off at the ankles and found days later smoldering in a trash can in a city park in Kansas, police announced Tuesday. Ricky Alderete was taken into custody ear...
Donations pour in to replace destroyed Jackie Robinson statue on his 105th birthday
Donations poured in Wednesday to replace a destroyed statue of Jackie Robinson on what would have been the 105th birthday of the first player to break Major League Baseball's color barrier. Major League Baseball pledged support. And the total raised...
Taylor Swift's new romance, debt-erasing gifts and the eclipse are among most joyous moments of 2023
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A romance that united sports and music fans, a celestial wonder that drew millions of eyes skyward and a spiritual homecoming for some Native American tribes were just some of the moments that inspired us and brought joy in 2...
Gypsy Rose Blanchard out of prison years after persuading boyfriend to kill her abusive mother
Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the Missouri woman who persuaded an online boyfriend to kill her mother after she had forced her to pretend for years that she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses, was released Thursday...
Kansas officials blame 5-week disruption of court system on 'sophisticated foreign cyberattack'
MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Cybercriminals hacked into the Kansas court system, stole sensitive data and threatened to post it on the dark web in a ransomware attack that has hobbled access to records for more than five weeks, officials said Tuesday. The a...
Kansas school forced 8-year-old Native American boy to cut his hair, ACLU says
MISSION, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas grade school forced an 8-year-old Native American boy to cut off his hair after he grew it out for cultural reasons, the American Civil Liberties Union said. In a letter sent Friday, the ACLU demanded that the Girard S...
Kansas agency investigated girl's family 5 times before she was killed, a report shows
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Child welfare officials investigated the family of a 5-year-old Kansas girl five times in the 13 months before she was raped and killed, but couldn't confirm allegations of neglect or drug use by her mother, and the family r...
A homeless man is charged with capital murder and rape in the death of a 5-year-old Kansas girl
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 25-year-old homeless man was charged Thursday in the rape and killing of a 5-year-old Kansas girl who died despite firefighters' efforts to save her life in a gas station parking lot. Mickel Cherry faces one count of capital m...
More schools are adopting 4-day weeks. For parents, the challenge is day 5
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — It's a Monday in September, but with schools closed, the three children in the Pruente household have nowhere to be. Callahan, 13, contorts herself into a backbend as 7-year-old Hudson fiddles with a balloon and 1...
White man will stand trial for shooting Black teen Ralph Yarl, who went to wrong house, judge rules
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge ruled Thursday that the 84-year-old white homeowner who shot a Black teenager after he mistakenly went to the man's house must stand trial. Clay County Judge Louis Angles issued the ruling after a dozen w...
Oklahoma authorities name the BTK killer as the 'prime suspect' in at least two unsolved cases
The BTK serial killer has been named the "prime suspect" in two unsolved killings — one in Oklahoma and another in Missouri — leading authorities to dig this week near his former Kansas property in Park City, authorities announced Wednesday. Osage Co... Full story
A raid on a Kansas newspaper likely broke the law, experts say. But which one?
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A central Kansas police chief was not only on legally shaky ground when he ordered the raid of a weekly newspaper, experts said, but it may have been a criminal violation of civil rights, a former federal prosecutor added, s...
Man who ambushed Fargo officers likely had bigger and bloodier attack in mind, attorney general says
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The heavily armed man who ambushed Fargo police officers investigating a fender bender last week likely had a bigger and bloodier attack in mind, with at least two fairs taking place at the time in and around North Dakota's l...
Man who ambushed Fargo officers likely had bigger and bloodier attack in mind, attorney general says
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The heavily armed man who ambushed Fargo police officers investigating a fender bender last week likely had a bigger and bloodier attack in mind, with at least two fairs taking place at the time in and around North Dakota's l...
2 arrested in death of Kansas 6-year-old gunned down while playing outside
Two suspects have been arrested in the death of a 6-year-old boy nearly two weeks after he was gunned down as he played in the yard of a Kansas home with his uncle and a 7-year-old cousin, police announced Thursday. Police said 20-year-old Lakevis...
An end to the reading wars? More US schools embrace phonics
Move over "Dick and Jane." A different approach to teaching kids how to read is on the rise. For decades, two schools of thought have clashed on how to best teach children to read, with passionate backers on each side of the so-called reading wars....
Post-Roe, Native Americans face even more abortion hurdles
A few months after South Dakota banned abortion last year, April Matson drove more than nine hours to take a friend to a Colorado clinic to get the procedure. The trip brought back difficult memories of Matson's own abortion at the same clinic in...
