City leaders address recent incidents in which Topeka was in national media spotlight

The national media spotlight hasn’t been kind to Topeka the past two weekends, but city officials tried Monday to reassure a grieving community that is still trying to process the loss of 23-year-old Washburn University football player Dwane Simmons.

Simmons’ shooting death and the injury to recent New York Giants draft pick and former WU player Corey Ballentine early Sunday morning in central Topeka came only eight days after a Topeka Zoo worker was attacked and seriously injured by a tiger. The incidents were splashed everywhere — from websites belonging to the Washington Post and New York Times to broadcasts produced by the likes of CNN, CBS and ESPN.

In just over a week, Topeka made plenty of headlines — but for all the wrong reasons. Mayor Michelle De La Isla conceded as much Monday morning during her monthly news briefing at City Hall.

“I regret very much that for the last two weeks the media has been looking at Topeka at the national level with regard to what happened,” she said. ”(Those) are two very small incidents compared to all the great things that are happening in our community.”