Nomination in Doubt for New Chief of Kansas Prisons
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two Republican leaders say they have doubts that the Kansas Senate will confirm Democratic Governor Laura Kelly's choice to be the next head of the state prison system. Kelly on Wednesday stood by her appointment of top Idaho corrections official Jefferey Zmuda as Kansas corrections secretary. Zmuda is set to take over the Kansas Department of Corrections in July. Zmuda was criticized by an Idaho judge earlier this year for giving "disingenuous" testimony as the deputy director of that state's prison system in a lawsuit over access to execution records. Senate President Susan Wagle said Wednesday that she is not sure the GOP-controlled Senate will confirm Zmuda. Majority Leader Jim Denning said the vote would go against Zmuda if it were held now. Lawmakers are out of session until January.
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Kansas GOP Leaders: Food Assistance Policy Breaks State Law
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republican legislators are accusing Democratic Governor Laura Kelly's administration of breaking Kansas law with a new policy on food assistance. But the Department for Children and Families is standing by the policy it set last month to make it easier for non-working adults to keep food assistance. GOP House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins demanded in a letter Tuesday that Kelly rescind the policy. The department will extend assistance month by month to some able-bodied adults without children instead of cutting it off because the recipient isn't working or enrolled in job training. Hawkins said the policy violates a 2015 law setting stricter food and cash assistance rules. Republican Senate President Susan Wagle said lawmakers would hold Kelly accountable. The department said the policy helps young adults aging out of foster care.
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Kansas City Police Arrest 2 After Chase with Potential Kidnapping Victim
NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police say two people are in custody after a chase that included a bound person falling out of the vehicle and police using tear gas to get the suspects out of the vehicle. Police said in a news release the pursuit began when officers spotted people wanted for several property and assault cases in Clay County. At one point, a passenger with hands tied opened a rear door and fell out of the vehicle. That person told officers a potential kidnapping was occurring. The vehicle stopped and started several times, requiring officers to break the windows with beanbags. When the car still wouldn't stop, armored tactical vehicles surrounded it. The two suspects, a man and a woman, left the vehicle when tear gas was deployed. Further information was not immediately available.
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4 Arrested in Counterfeit Bills Scheme Around Kansas City
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Four people are accused of using counterfeit $100 bills on shopping sprees across the Kansas City area. Prosecutors say the four were caught after Overland Park Marriott Hotel employee reported seeing them throwing trash away in containers that weren't near their rooms. Prosecutors say the suspects were trying to dispose of evidence after they altered $1 bills to look like $100 bills. Steven Shane Escamilla and John Sebestyen, from California; Courtney Campbell, from Arizona; and Jonathan Washington, whose address is unknown. They are charged with conspiracy to commit counterfeiting. They also are each charged with possessing counterfeit money and drug violations. Prosecutors say they used the counterfeit bills to buy items at chain stores, then returned those items for cash refunds at different locations of the same chains.
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Topeka Zoo: Protocols Weren't Followed Before Tiger Attack
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Topeka Zoo says a tiger attacked a zookeeper after protocols for handling potentially dangerous animals were not followed. The zoo released a lengthy report Thursday detailing its internal review of the April 20 attack, when zookeeper Kristyn Hayden-Ortega was seriously injured by a 7-year-old Sumatran tiger named Sanjiv. The report said "multiple" protocols and procedures concerning spaces occupied by tigers had prevented any similar attack at the zoo for decades. The report says protocol was not followed when the keeper entered the tiger's outdoor habitat without ensuring that the animal was locked inside. Other zoo employees lured the animal away with meat so emergency responders could treat Hayden-Ortega. The city said Thursday it could not release any information on her current condition.
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Emails Show Chaos Before Kansas Football Player's Death
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Newly released emails show the chaos surrounding the heatstroke death of a 300-pound football player after practice at a Kansas community college. The emails obtained by The Associated Press through an open records request show the assistant coach who arrived at the scene determined 19-year-old Braeden Bradforth of New Jersey was in "visible distress." But rather than dial 911, the assistant called the head coach for instructions. Nearly 30 minutes passed between when teammates found Bradforth and when paramedics arrived. Under pressure from Bradforth's family and the New Jersey congressional delegation, Garden City Community College has hired independent investigators to review the case. The college did not directly respond to the AP's questions about the newly released emails.
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"AK-47 Bandit" Sentenced in Nebraska to 35 Years in Prison
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Montana man dubbed the AK-47 bandit and accused of holding up banks in several states over a five-year period has been sentenced in a Nebraska federal court to 35 years in prison. Richard Gathercole, of Roundup, Montana, received the maximum sentence Wednesday after pleading guilty in March to bank robbery. The 41-year-old Gathercole admitted during that plea hearing to using an AK-47 while robbing a Nebraska City bank in 2014. Gathercole also pleaded guilty to the 2017 carjacking of a farmer in Kansas that led to his arrest in Lexington, Nebraska. As part of his plea deal, Gathercole won't be prosecuted by other jurisdictions for other violent crimes, including shooting at a Kansas state trooper in 2017 and bank robberies in California, Idaho, Iowa and Washington state from 2012 to 2017. Some of the crimes had passed the five-year federal statute of limitations.
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Veterans Travel to Eisenhower's Home for D-Day Events
ABILENE, Kan. (AP) — Veterans are traveling to President Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential museum to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in the place where the Supreme Allied Commander during World War II was raised. Among them was 96-year-old Louis Graziano, who was part of the third wave during the largest seaborne invasion in history. Amid a week of events, he sat behind Eisenhower's old desk and recalled what happened. The Wichita Eagle reports that Graziano said he also was present in the little red school house where Germany surrendered. Of all the men there that day, Graziano's daughter Moira Johnson says her father is believed to be the only one still alive. Another of his daughters Kim Evans says it gives her chills to the day to think about it.
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Woman Sentenced for Taking Child from Kansas to Russia
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Russian woman has been sentenced to seven years in prison for taking a child she had with a Kansas man to her native country and demanding money before she would allow the father to talk to his daughter. Bogdana Alexandrovna Mobley was sentenced Thursday for international parental kidnapping and two counts of attempting to extort money. She was convicted in March. Prosecutors say she left Kansas in 2014 with two children, one from her marriage to Brian Mobley. He was awarded joint custody of the girl in Sedgwick County, Kansas, when the couple divorced and his ex-wife didn't have permission to leave with the children. Prosecutors say she allowed Brian Mobley to talk to the child until 2016 but then demanded money before he could see her. The child still has not returned to the U.S.
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Missouri OKs Invenergy's Acquisition of Wind Power Project
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri utility regulators have approved the acquisition of a large wind energy project by a Chicago firm. The decision Wednesday by the state Public Service Commission was a necessary step for Invenergy to buy the rights to construct the proposed Grain Belt Express power line. The project initiated by Houston-based Clean Line Energy Partners would carry Kansas wind energy on a 780-mile path across Missouri and Illinois before hooking into an electric grid in Indiana that serves eastern states. Missouri regulators earlier this year reversed their previous denials and gave the green light to the project. Missouri legislators then tried but failed to prohibit eminent domain for the project. But the project still needs regulatory approval in Illinois, where an appeals court last year overturned the state's previous approval. Invenergy's acquisition also needs approval in Kansas.
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Missouri River Will Remain High Because of Water from Dams
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The amount of water being released into the lower Missouri River will remain at a high level because of all the rain that fell in the area over the last month. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the amount of water being released from Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will remain at 75,000 cubic feet per second because of all the recent rain. The Corps' John Remus says the amount of water being released into the river is more than twice the average for this time of year. That may worsen flooding downstream because many levees were damaged by flooding in March.
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Hospital Agrees to Settle Whistleblower Suit for $250,000
BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — An east-central Kansas hospital has agreed to settle a whistleblower lawsuit for $250,000. The Wichita Eagle reports that the lawsuit alleged that the Coffey Health System lied to the federal government in order to receive at least $3 million in incentives payments it didn't deserve. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the settlement last week. The suit, which was filed in 2016, alleged that some misstatements were about compliance with security standards meant to ensure the privacy and security of patient information. The suit also said that the hospital gave the government data that didn't come from the source it claimed it had. Wichita attorney Gary Ayers said the Burlington-based health care organization decided to settle to avoid the expense of ongoing litigation — not because it did anything wrong.
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2 Tennessee Men Killed in Fiery Crash in Kansas
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) — Two men from Tennessee died in a crash at an intersection in rural southwest Kansas. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the accident happened Wednesday afternoon in Finney County north of Garden City when two pickups entered the intersection at the same time and collided. The intersection has no markings indicating right of way. One of the trucks rolled over and burst into flames, killing 50-year-old Joe McNally, who was driving, and 57-year-old Jimmy Sherlock. They were both from Memphis. A 47-year-old Scott City man driving the other pickup was taken to a hospital after complaining of pain.
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KU, Former Student Settle Lawsuit over Mold in Dorm
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas is paying a former student-athlete $40,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming she became ill because of mold in the vents of her dormitory room. The Lawrence Journal-World report s the university denies the claims but agreed to pay Laine Evans $20,000 and her attorneys $20,000 to settle the lawsuit. The agreement released Tuesday says the university and Evans used mediation in the case to avoid the expense and uncertainty of litigation. Evans was a freshman on the university golf team during the 2015-16 school year. She transferred to Wichita State the next year. In the lawsuit filed in 2018, she alleged the on-campus apartment building where she lived safe was unsafe for housing. The university contended Evans exaggerated her illnesses and denied it was at fault for her health problems.
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Wichita Approves Electric Scooter Pilot Program
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Electric scooters could be headed to Wichita soon. The Wichita Eagle reports that the city council approved a pilot program Tuesday. Companies that want to rent out scooters in Wichita will have to pay for the privilege through an administration fee of $500 to $1,000 and 15 cents for each ride rented. Officials say the money will go to a city fund to establish and maintain bike paths. Nathan Huber of Gotcha scooters says the company will evaluate the new ordinance and decide soon whether to move into Wichita. The ordinance also requires scooter operators to be 18 or older and go no faster than 15 mph. Scooters also would be barred from sidewalks or streets where the speed limit for cars is 40 mph or more.
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Today Marks 75th Anniversary of D-Day, Pivotal Battle of World War II
Much of the world's attention today (THUR) is focused on Normandy, France, site of the D-Day invasion. It was on June 6, 1944 that the western Allies launched a massive land, sea and air invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. The D-Day invasion, which marked a major turning point in World War II, was planned by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who served as Supreme Allied Commander for all forces in Europe. Eisenhower, or Ike as he was known, was born in Texas but grew up in Abilene, Kansas. After the war, he served as a two-term Republican president. Today, visitors can tour his boyhood home in Abilene, as well as his presidential museum and library. Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, are also buried at a chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Center. ( Learn more about the D-Day invasion.)
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