Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Retiring in December
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss plans to retire in December, giving Democratic Governor Laura Kelly a second appointment on the court. Nuss announced today (FRI) that he plans to step down December 17 after serving on the court since 2002 and as chief justice since 2010. He was an appointee of moderate Republican Governor Bill Graves. During the 66-year-old Nuss's tenure as chief justice, the seven-member court came under increasing criticism from conservative Republicans for rulings that overturned death sentences in capital murder cases and directed legislators to increase spending on public schools. And the state's highest court ruled in April that the Kansas constitution protects abortion rights. Nuss's announcement comes the same month Justice Lee Johnson announced his own plans to retire September 8. Johnson was appointed by Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Justice Marla Luckert is the presumptive next Chief Justice. Another Graves appointee, Luckert joined the court in 2003, which would put her next in line for the job in terms of seniority. ( Read more about this story.)
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T-Mobile's $26.5 Billion Sprint Deal Approved Despite Competition Fears
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators have approved T-Mobile's $26.5 billion takeover of rival Sprint, despite fears of higher prices and job cuts, in a deal that would leave just three major cellphone companies in the country. Friday's approval from the Justice Department and five state attorneys general comes after Sprint and T-Mobile agreed to conditions that would set up satellite-TV provider Dish as a smaller rival to Verizon, AT&T and the combined T-Mobile-Sprint company. The Justice Department's antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, said the conditions set up Dish "as a disruptive force in wireless." But attorneys general from other states and public-interest advocates say that Dish is hardly a replacement for Sprint as a stand-alone company and that the conditions fail to address the competitive harm the deal causes.
"By signing off on this merger, the Justice Department has done nothing to remedy the short- and long-term harms the loss of an independent Sprint will create for U.S. wireless users," Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner said.
A federal judge still must sign off on the approval, as it includes conditions for the new company. The Federal Communications Commission is also expected to give the takeover its blessing. Dish is paying $5 billion for Sprint's prepaid cellphone brands including Boost and Virgin Mobile — some 9 million customers — and some spectrum, or airwaves for wireless service, from the two companies. Dish will also be able to rent T-Mobile's network for seven years while it builds its own.
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Ex-Kansas Band Instructor Sentenced for Sexual Exploitation
WELLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — A former Wellington High School band instructor has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for sexual exploitation of a child. Thirty-year-old Ben Olson was sentenced Thursday in Sumner County District Court. He pleaded guilty in March after admitting that he had a nude photo of a 17-year-old girl. KSNW reports Olson apologized in court for his actions. He said he was recently admitted to a center to address his mental health. The victim and the mother also spoke in court. They said Olson had betrayed their trust after the girl looked up to him as a friend and "father figure." Olson was suspended from the Wellington district in November and fired in April. As part of his guilty plea, Olson must register as a sex offender.
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16-Year-Old Killed in Apparent Drive-by Shooting in Topeka
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 16-year-old has been killed in Topeka in what appears to be a drive-by shooting. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the shooting happened around 3:40 p.m. Thursday. Lt. Andrew Beightel says the teen was rushed to a hospital, where he died. Beightel says police didn't currently have suspect information but believe they were looking for a small, blueish four-door passenger car that left the scene in an unknown direction. Gunfire also was reported in another location.
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9-Year-Old in Critical Condition After Lifeguard Rescues Her
DERBY, Kan. (AP) — Officials say a 9-year-old girl is in critical condition after a lifeguard rescued her from swimming police near Wichita. The Wichita Eagle reports that a Sedgwick County dispatch supervisor says emergency crews were called around 6:45 pm Thursday to a near drowning at the Rock River Rapids Aquatic Park in Derby. Emergency radio traffic indicated she was unresponsive in the ambulance on her way to Wesley Medical Center's emergency room, and that it was unknown how long she had been in the water.
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Man Pleads "No Contest" to Charges Linked to Topeka Girl's Death
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man has pleaded no contest to crimes linked to the drive-by shooting death of a 5-year-old girl. Twenty-two-year-old Jessie Dean Deshawn Hughes pleaded Thursday in the July 2015 death of Lily Coats-Nichols. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said Hughes pleaded to involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle. Hughes was originally charged with first-degree murder. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the plea deal requires Hughes to spend 25 years in prison. Kagay said the girl's family supported the plea deal. Authorities said Lily was shot in the head while in the back seat of a car driven by her mother. Kagay said prosecutors believe Hughes thought he was shooting at rival gang members in the area.
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Kansas Killer to be Among First 5 Federal Inmates Executed
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas man who raped, killed and dismembered a 16-year-old girl and beat an 80-year-old woman to death is among the first five federal death-row inmates scheduled for execution when the federal government resumes executions. The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced it planned to resume execution of federal inmates for the first time since 2003. Wesley Ira Purkey is scheduled to be executed December 13. The Kansas City Star reports that Purkey, of Lansing, killed Jennifer Long in January 1998 after picking her up in Kansas City, Missouri. He dumped her dismembered and burned body in a septic pond in Clearwater, Kansas. Nine months later, Purkey beat Mary Ruth Bales to death in her Kansas City, Kansas, home. He was sentenced to death for Long's killing.
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Justice Department Will Execute Inmates for First Time Since 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says it will carry out executions of federal death row inmates for the first time since 2003. The department says five inmates will be executed, starting in December. In 2014, President Barack Obama directed the department to conduct a review of capital punishment and issues surrounding lethal injection drugs. That review resulted in what effectively was a freeze on executions. The department says the Bureau of Prisons has completed the review and the executions can continue.
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Kansas Priest Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Pornography
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas priest pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing child pornography. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said 46-year-old Christopher Rossman pleaded guilty Friday. He was pastor at Annunciation Catholic Church in Baldwin City and St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lapeer until he was suspended. McAllister said monitoring software installed on Rossman's electronic devices reported he visited adult and child pornography websites. The archdiocese contacted law enforcement in September 2016 and suspended Rossman from the ministry. He was charged last week. When investigators sought Rossman in Baldwin City, they learned sister had tried to run over her brother's Galaxy tablet. A forensics examination found files depicting young females engaged in sexual activities. The archdiocese said in a statement Friday that the process of removing a man from the priesthood, called laicization, will begin against Rossman.
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Economist: New Trump Aid to Farmers May Be Paid More Fairly
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — An agricultural economist says the Trump administration's decision to base new handouts to farmers hit by the trade war with China on how many acres they've planted might be a fairer way to distribute the cash than the previous per bushel payments. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Thursday that it will pay another $16 billion in aid to farmers affected by the president's trade war with China. It comes after an $11 billion bailout Trump gave farmers last year. The new aid shifts from paying farmers a per-bushel rate for affected crops to paying them by how many acres they've planted and their location. Scott Irwin, a University of Illinois agricultural economist says the previous program heavily weighted toward payments to soybean growers and based on bushels, "didn't make any sense."
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Michigan Man Accused of Blackmailing Kansas Teen on Snapchat
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A 22-year-old Michigan man is charged with using Snapchat to coerce a Kansas teenager to send him sexually explicit videos. Martez Hurst, of suburban Detroit, is charged in Johnson County, Kansas, with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of blackmail. The Kansas City Star reports charging documents say Hurst told police he had tried to commit similar crimes against about 20 other females. Investigators say Hurst began communicating with the 16-year-old Overland Park girl in January 2018, while posing as a 17-year-old boy who attended a nearby high school. The teenager told investigators she sent Hurst about 10 nude photos of herself but refused to send sexually explicit videos. She said in March, Hurst threatened to release the photos if she didn't send a video.
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Guard Still Hauling Water to Residents Near Perry Lake
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Two months after Perry Lake flooded, the Kansas National Guard continues to deliver water to residents in a nearby village — and the effort could continue until mid-September. The Guard has delivered 1.3 million gallons of water to Lakeside Village because the community's water well pumps are submerged after flooding in May at Perry Lake, about 1 mile from the village. Jane Welch, spokeswoman for the Adjutant General, says six guardsmen, using three trucks, are hauling 40,000 gallons of water every day to about 150 homes. U.S. Geological Survey data indicates that Perry Lake's level currently stands at 911 feet, down about 10 feet from its record level of 921.15 feet in May of this year. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency is paying for the water hauling because Jefferson County is part of a federal disaster declaration.
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Police Investigate Deadly Shooting in Kansas City, Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a deadly shooting in Kansas City, Kansas. The Kansas City Star reports that the shooting was reported around 7:45 pm Wednesday. Arriving officers found the man shot inside the home. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name hasn't been released. Officer Jonathon Westbrook, a police spokesman, says at least a dozen shell casings were found in the street. He says investigators are checking the area for houses that may have cameras on them.
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Kansas Man Drowns While Fishing in Wyoming
JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — A 70-year-old Kansas man has died in an accidental drowning while fly-fishing in western Wyoming. Lincoln County Sheriff Shane Johnson says Mark Osmondson, of Madison, Kansas, was fishing about 12:15 pm Tuesday in the Greys River about 16 miles upriver from Alpine when he slipped and his waders filled with water. The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports that Osmondson's body was recovered nearly 2 miles down the river. Johnson says Osmondson's fishing partner was unable to help him although at one point the partner was able to briefly grab his hand. The Greys River is a popular destination for anglers. Johnson says the river can be dangerous and people underestimate the strength of the water and its ability to pull them under.
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Ex-Volleyball Assistant Coach Guilty of Stealing Underwear
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A former University of Kansas assistant volleyball coach has admitted stealing underwear from team members. Twenty-four-year-old Skyler Yee pleaded no contest Friday to two felony counts of burglary, in exchange for prosecutors dropping 13 other charges. Judge Peggy Kittel found Yee's crimes were sexually motivated. He must register as a sex offender for the next 15 years. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Kittel granted Yee's request to serve his sentence in Oregon, where he lives. However, Oregon must accept him, which may require him to serve part of his sentence in Kansas. Yee was charged in February with 15 counts, including four felonies. The charges include burglary, property damage and theft between December 2017 and January 2019. He was the women's volleyball assistant coach from August 2016 until resigning in mid-January.
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Girlfriend: Mexican National Pulled from Car in Kansas City Deported
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The girlfriend of a Mexican national, whose arrest was featured in a Facebook Live video that showed federal officers breaking his car window, says he was deported to Mexico. Cheyenne Hoyt tells Kansas City media that Florencio Millan-Vazquez called Wednesday evening to say he had been flown to Brownsville, Texas, and then taken to Matamoros, Mexico. Federal immigration officers trying to arrest Millan-Vazquez on Monday smashed a car window and dragged him from the vehicle in front of Hoyt and their two young children. Millan-Vazquez was in the U.S. illegally and asked that the agents show him a warrant before he would get out of the car. The agents didn't show a warrant. Hoyt said he is a chef and family man who never caused trouble. Immigration officials said he illegally re-entered the country twice after being voluntarily deported in 2011.
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Black Trans Woman Killed in S. Carolina is the 12th in 2019
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The 12th known transgender person to violently die this year was found fatally shot in South Carolina. News outlets report 29-year-old Denali Berries Stuckey was found dead Saturday on the shoulder of a North Charleston road. Deputy Chief Scott Deckard said Monday the investigation is ongoing. The Human Rights Campaign says all the victims in 2019 have been black transgender women. Chase Glenn, the executive director of the Alliance For Full Acceptance in North Charleston, says Stuckey is the third known black trans woman murdered in South Carolina since 2018. The state is one of five without hate crime laws. Brooklyn Lindsey was the 11th trans person to die this year. The 32-year-old was found fatally shot last month on her porch in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Man Charged with Robbing Bank After Making Fake Report
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man with a history of making hoax 911 reports has been charged with reporting a fake bank robbery and then actually carrying out the crime less than two hours later. The Wichita Eagle reports that 20-year-old Jeremy Vos was charged Wednesday in federal court with bank robbery. Wichita police spokesman Officer Kevin Wheeler says Vos made a fake report before approaching a teller Tuesday with a note that said he was armed and wanted cash. Wheeler says Vos then fled with the money. Vos had been on probation since 2017 in a case where he lied about purported emergencies. A police affidavit shows that Vos reportedly called 911 several times in 2016 and 2017 to report house and building fires, traffic crashes and other events that never happened.
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Search Continues in Missouri for Missing Wisconsin Brothers
SHAWANO, Wis. (AP) — Authorities have searched property in two Missouri counties for two missing brothers from Wisconsin. Nicolas Diemel and Justin Diemel own a livestock business in Shawano (SHAW'-noh) County and regularly travel to Missouri to meet with farmers. Family members say they last heard from them Sunday when they were expected to return to Wisconsin. Their abandoned rental vehicle was found in a commuter lot in Holt, Missouri. The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office says investigators searched a property near Braymer where the brothers met with clients. Clinton County Sheriff Larry Fish says law enforcement officers have conducted multiple searches in both counties. Fish says they are checking buildings, ponds and waste piles, but have not yet found anything.
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70 Cars from Union Pacific Train Derail in North-Central Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Union Pacific officials say no one was injured when 70 train cars derailed in north-central Missouri. Spokeswoman Kristen South says the train derailed Thursday near Mercer, about 125 miles northeast of Kansas City near the Iowa border. South says the train was not carrying hazardous materials. The train was traveling to Ft. Worth, Texas, from Butler, Wisconsin. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.
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Missouri Senator Josh Hawley Asks Universities to Cut Ties with China's Confucius Institutes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, of Missouri, is asking two universities in his state to end their relationships with a program that allows the Chinese government to help teach language classes on American campuses but that critics say poses a threat to national security and academic freedom. This week, the Republican senator wrote top leaders at the University of Missouri and Webster University to ask them to cut ties with the Confucius Institute, which he described as a Chinese tool to spread influence and exercise soft power in that nation's rivalry with the United States. Officials at both universities said they had no immediate plans to cut ties with the institute. Both said they were not aware of problems like the ones Hawley described occurring on their campuses. The state of Kansas has two such Confucius Institutes, one at the University of Kansas and another at Kansas State University.
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Motorcyclist, Passenger Found Dead 42 Hours After Crash
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Authorities say a Topeka man who crashed his motorcycle after a birthday celebration at a Topeka bar was found dead in a ditch about 42 hours later with the body of his passenger. The Kansas Highway Patrol says 59-year-old Kenneth Barsch went off the side of U.S. 75 around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Patrol Lt. Bryce Whelpley described the ditch that Barsch and 49-year-old Kimberly Hollis crashed into as "very steep'' and deep. A search party made up of relatives and friends came across the scene around 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Barsch had last been seen about 1 a.m. Wednesday riding away from the bar in northern Topeka. His birthday had been Tuesday.
