Top Kansas Court: Cities Can Raise Age for Buying Tobacco
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that cities have the power to raise the age for buying tobacco products even though state law sets it at 18. The unanimous decision Friday overturns a lower-court order that blocked Topeka from enforcing an ordinance increasing the age for buying tobacco to 21. A company operating Vapebar Topeka and Puffs 'n' Stuff challenged the ordinance just before it was to take effect in January 2018. It argued that the ordinance conflicted with the state law setting the age 18. But the Supreme Court said nothing in the law prevents a city from setting a higher age. More than 20 cities and counties in Kansas have set the age at 21. A company attorney said businesses will face a "patchwork quilt" of regulations.
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Dispute Escalates in Kansas over Change for Food Assistance
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A dispute is escalating in Kansas between top Republicans and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's administration over looser rules for people who receive food assistance. The state Department for Children and Families on Friday released an internal analysis defending the legality of a new policy that makes it easier for adults who are not working to keep receiving food assistance. DCF made the change in May. Republican leaders in the GOP-controlled Legislature contend that the policy violates a 2015 law setting stricter requirements for food and cash assistance. They have promised that a committee will review the issue later this year. GOP Attorney General Derek Schmidt sent DCF Secretary Laura Howard a letter earlier this week saying the policy appeared to violate state law. Howard released the legal analysis in response.
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Vaccine Foes Gather in Topeka to Protest Plan to Require New School Shots in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Vaccination opponents in Kansas have mobilized against a plan from the state health department to require more immunizations for children in school and daycare. The Wichita Eagle reports that dozens of them packed a hearing on a regulation drafted by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. They appeared to outnumber supporters 3-to-1, judging by the applause for comments. The new rule would require children in school and daycare to be vaccinated against meningitis and hepatitis A. Required immunizations already include polio, measles, whooping cough, mumps and chickenpox. The change could take effect later this year. Opponents said it would give state government too much power. The new rule would put Kansas in line with recommendations from the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, which guides vaccine use in the U.S.
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Man Who Dismembered Wife Sentenced to Nearly 9 Years in Prison
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A man who was found at a Kansas storage unit with his dismembered wife's remains and two of their children has been sentenced to nearly nine years in prison. Thirty-six-year-old Justin Rey was sentenced Friday for child endangerment, contributing to a child's misconduct and sexual exploitation of a child. The exploitation charges stem from sexually explicit photos of teenagers found on his phone. Rey hasn't been charged in the death of his wife, Jessica Monteiro Rey, who died after giving birth in October 2017 at a Kansas City, Missouri, hotel. Rey told authorities both that she killed herself and that she died of childbirth complications. The coroner couldn't determine her cause of death. Rey also is charged with abandonment of a corpse in Missouri and with a California homicide.
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Mental Health Project to Proceed After Survey Requested by Tribe
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A proposal for a behavioral health campus in Lawrence will proceed, after a survey of the site requested by the Delaware Tribe found no archaeological or human remains. The tribe asked for the survey earlier this year to ensure no historical tribal artifacts or burial sites remained on the land where tribal members once lived. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the Kansas Historical Society completed the survey on the 1-acre site this spring. Surveyors found no significant cultural resources. Brice Obermeyer, director of the tribe's Historic Preservation Office, says if the survey didn't find any artifacts, the tribe supports the new Douglas County behavioral health campus. The project would include a 10-unit housing complex located near a mental health crisis center and a supportive group home.
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2 Suspects Arrested After Large Meth Bust in Western Kansas
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — Two men from Philadelphia are jailed in western Kansas after authorities reported finding about 70 pounds of crystal methamphetamine in their vehicle. Ford County Sheriff Bill Carr says the men were arrested Tuesday after a traffic stop on Highway 54 east of Bucklin. He says after a deputy smelled raw marijuana while talking to the two men, a search found 80 cellophane packages wrapped in cellophane and a small amount of marijuana hidden in vehicle. Carr estimated the methamphetamine was valued at more than $1.2 million. The Dodge City Daily Globe reports 30-year-old Nelson Alvarez-Castillo and 24-year-old Anthony Yapul are being held in the Ford County Detention Center awaiting possible charges.
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Report: Kansas Farmers Planted More Corn, Fewer Soybeans
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A government report shows Kansas growers planted more corn and fewer soybean and sorghum crops in Kansas this spring. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Friday that farmers seeded 5.9 million acres of corn, up 8% from last year. The agency said soybean acreage in Kansas is estimated at 4.7 million acres, down 1% from last year. Sorghum acreage is estimated at 2.65 million acres, down 5% from the previous year. Harvest has finally begun in Kansas for winter wheat crops that were planted last fall. The state is expected to harvest 6.6 million acres of wheat, down 10% from last year.
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Supreme Court Justices Won't Revive Alabama Ban on Abortion Procedure
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won't revive Alabama's ban on the most commonly used procedure in second-trimester abortions. The measure has been blocked by lower courts. The justices on Friday rejected the state's appeal in which it sought to enforce a law enacted in 2016 that bans the abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall calls the procedure "dismemberment abortion." Courts have blocked similar laws in Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas.
Court records show 93% of abortions in Alabama occur before 15 weeks of pregnancy. For the 7%of abortions that occur later, almost all are by dilation and evacuation. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson found that the Alabama law would amount to a virtual ban on abortion in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Thompson's ruling blocking the law, but two of the three judges on the panel said they voted to affirm only because they are bound by past Supreme Court decisions in support of abortion rights. Chief Judge Ed Carnes wrote that "dismemberment" is an accurate description for the procedure but ruled against the state. "In our judicial system, there is only one Supreme Court, and we are not it," he wrote.
The Supreme Court still is likely to hear an election year case involving abortion, a challenge to a Louisiana law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. A district judge who barred the state from enforcing the law found it would close one or two of the state's three abortion clinics.
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Ex-Chiefs Player, Businessman Runs for U.S. Senate in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas City Chiefs player and now businessman who has served on local and state government boards is running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas. Dave Lindstrom, who lives in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, plans to launch his bid for the Republican nomination with an event Thursday in Goodland in northwestern Kansas. Four-term GOP Sen. Pat Roberts is not seeking re-election in 2020. At least 15 potential candidates have expressed an interest in running, and most are Republicans. Lindstrom says supporters have encouraged him for months to consider running. State Treasurer Jake LaTurner is actively campaigning for the GOP nomination. Other potential Republican candidates include western Kansas Representative Roger Marshall, state Attorney General Derek Schmidt, Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer and ex-Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
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Man Pleads Guilty in 2016 Rape, Killing of Kansas Woman
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A 25-year-old Kansas man pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing a woman who he left to die in woods in suburban Kansas City. Korrey Raine White Rinke, of Ottawa, had been charged with capital murder and rape in the 2016 death of 46-year-old Julianna Pappas of Overland Park. Under a plea deal announced Tuesday, Rinke pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. He faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years when he is sentenced September 12. In 2018 prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty against Rinke. The Kansas City Star reports court documents say Rinke told prosecutors he raped and beat Pappas after she refused to have sex with him. Her body was found about a week after she disappeared in August 2016.
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Death of 50-Year-Old Topeka Woman Investigated as Suspicious
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a 50-year-old Topeka woman as suspicious. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that police have identified the woman as Odessa Marie Henderson. Police Lt. Andrew Beightel says officers found her collapsed in a Topeka alley Wednesday afternoon while en route to a call for service. She was pronounced dead at a hospital. The department is waiting on the coroner's office for the official cause of death.
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Driver Arrested Going 100 MPH with Toddler in Car
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a woman who was stopped in Wichita going more than 100 mph with a 2-year-old in her car has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Police said in a tweet that the traffic stop happened Wednesday on the heavily traveled Kellogg Drive in the western part of the city. KAKE-TV reports that the 28-year-old remained jailed Thursday morning in the Sedgwick County Jail. Police say she also is suspected of speeding, reckless driving and child endangerment.
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Kansas Parks Department Employee Dies in ATV Accident
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas parks department says an employee died when his all-terrain vehicle overturned and rolled down an embankment at the Milford Wildlife Area. The agency said in a news release that 48-year-old Mark Jackson, of Milford, died Tuesday when he was pinned underneath the ATV. Jackson was a seasonal employee of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. He was spraying weeds when the accident occurred. Parks Secretary Brad Loveless said Jackson made a favorable impression on his co-workers in the short time he worked for the agency.
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Body Found Inside Badly Burned Central Kansas Garage
EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have found a body inside a badly burned central Kansas garage. KAKE-TV reports that the fire was reported before 1 pm Thursday just southwest of the Butler County town of El Dorado. Butler County dispatchers said the detached garage was on fire. There were multiple explosions from propane tanks stored in the garage. There is no word on the identity of the person found in the garage. El Dorado is 30 miles northeast of Wichita.
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Kansas City Area Saw 2nd Transgender Woman's Death in 2015
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A black transgender woman died this week in the same northeast Kansas City neighborhood where another transgender woman was killed four years ago. Police said 32-year-old Brooklyn Lindsey suffered trauma to her face before she died early Tuesday but a cause of death has not been released. Neighbors told police they heard an argument and gunshots before her body was found on the steps of a house. It remains unclear if Lindsey was killed because was a transgender woman. The Kansas City Star reports that in August 2015, a 36-year-old transgender woman, Tamara Dominquez, died after being run over by a vehicle in the same neighborhood. She was a native of Mexico. The vehicle's driver, Luis Sanchez, pleaded guilty in 2018 in Dominquez's death and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
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Man Sentenced in Fatal Topeka Shooting, Robberies
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 19-year-old Topeka man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a shooting death and three robberies. Dion Jha 'Dantaye Troupe had previously pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and three counts of aggravated robbery. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay says Troupe and three others were involved in the February 2018 killing of Tyrone Baggett. Baggett was shot during a home invasion. He died later at a hospital. The shooting came less than an hour after Troupe and three others robbed a Daylight Donuts in Topeka. Two other men have been found guilty in Baggett's death and the robberies. Erion Dijon Kirtdoll was sentenced to 46 years in prison, while Eli Perry awaits sentencing.
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Kansas Planning Changes in Child Care Assistance Rules
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State officials say planned changes to requirements for child care assistance could benefit 3,000 Kansas children. The Kansas Department for Children and Families said Thursday the minimum number of hours parents have to work each week to be eligible for child care assistance will be reduced from 28 to 20 hours, starting Monday. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports eligibility requirements also will be expanded to include participants in the GOALS employment and training program, which helps parents who participate in the state's food assistance program. The agency also intends to begin using Child Care Development Funds to provide day care for children in foster care. Governor Laura Kelly said the changes will help parents keep jobs while receiving help with the high cost of child care and meaningful training.
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Man Convicted of Killing Corrections Director Released
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man who has spent nearly three decades in prison for the killing of Oregon's prisons director in 1989 has been released from prison while a state appeal is pending. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Frank Gable's release comes after U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta in April found the trial court made an error in excluding evidence of third-party guilt. He also found Gable's attorneys provided Gable with "ineffective assistance in failing to assert Gable's federal due process rights in the face of the trial court's error." Gable left the prison in in Lansing, Kansas, Friday and had to report directly to a federal probation officer in Kansas City. He'll be allowed to live with his wife in Kansas. Gable was convicted in the stabbing death in Salem of Oregon prisons chief Michael Francke and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
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Starving Kitten Rescued from Shipping Container Named Cargo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Animal rescue workers in Kansas City have named a kitten Cargo after he survived being trapped in a shipping container with two other kittens that died. The Kansas City Pet Project said Thursday in a Facebook post that a shipping company employee brought the starving and dehydrated kitten to the city animal shelter late Wednesday afternoon. The worker said the type of container in which Cargo and the other kittens were found could go one or two weeks without being opened. The post includes a video of fluids being administered to Cargo. The gray tabby spent the night with a veterinary technician, who reports that he's started eating. The post says that while Cargo has "a long way to go," workers are hopeful that "this little survivor will pull through!"
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Cat Found After Nearly 3 Years; Kansas Owner "Still in Shock"
GARDNER, Kan. (AP) — A cat named Meow has been reunited with her suburban Kansas City owners after she went missing nearly three years ago. The Kansas City Star reports that Meow escaped after Taylor Jezik moved to a new apartment complex in Gardner, Kansas. Jezik searched for Meow in her old neighborhood, posted pictures on Facebook, called animal shelters and looked along roadsides for dead cats. She says her young son, Charlie, was devastated. Then Tuesday, she received a text message saying her cat had been found. Gardner police said the cat was spotted outside after a rainstorm and taken to an animal hospital, where employees scanned Meow's microchip. Jezik recalled that she "instantly started crying" when an animal control officer sent her a picture of Meow. She says she's "still in shock."
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Kansas Lottery Launches Program for Vending Machine Sales
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Lottery is launching a pilot program to test vending machine sales. Lottery officials announced Wednesday that four self-service vending machines will be installed at retailers in Topeka. The first pilot site was installed Wednesday, with the other three sites set to become operational next week. The Kansas Legislature passed a law in 2018 allowing the lottery to sell traditional lottery tickets through vending machines. The Kansas Lottery plans to install 272 machines at retailers across the state beginning in July. An expected net profit of up to $8 million from the machines is earmarked for mental health programs in Kansas.
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Sports Radio Host Loses Job After Comment About Chiefs Coach
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A sports radio host has lost his job after a comment he made about Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid and his family stirred outrage. The Kansas City Star reports that Union Broadcasting announced Friday afternoon that it had reached a mutual agreement to part ways with Kevin Kietzman. He had been suspended since Tuesday from WHB (810 AM), where he was a key on-air personality. Issues arose Monday when Kietzman said on his "Between The Lines" program that Reid has had "a lot of things go bad on him: family and players." Kietzman then added that Reid "is not good at fixing people." Kietzman has denied that he was referring to Reid's son Garrett, who died in 2012 at the age of 29 of a heroin overdose.
