Top GOP Lawmakers Delay Nearly $10 Million for Kansas Prisons
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republican legislators are holding up nearly $10 million in funds for Kansas prisons that corrections officials say they need to deal with overcrowding. GOP leaders in the Republican-controlled Legislature expressed strong reservations Wednesday about plans by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's administration to ship inmates to private prisons outside Kansas. They also expressed doubts that a plan to move adult female inmates into empty space in a juvenile corrections center is legal. Lawmakers included nearly $36 million in extra funds for the Department of Corrections in the next state budget. But Republicans worried enough about how it would be spent to require Kelly to get top legislative leaders to sign off before nearly $28 million could be used. Legislative leaders did approve $9 million for pay raises for prison employees.
====================
Confirmation of Governor's Nominee for Prison Chief Now in Doubt
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two Republican leaders say they have doubts that the Kansas Senate will confirm Democratic Gov. 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.
====================
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.
====================
Kansas City Police: Man Set Himself on Fire with Kerosene
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police are working to determine why a man soaked himself with kerosene and lit himself on fire in the back seat of a car. Spokeswoman Captain Kari Thompson says the man is in critical condition after the incident Tuesday on a busy Kansas City street. The Kansas City Star reports the driver and another passenger in the car pulled the man from the back seat. They were not hurt. Thompson said police are still investigating why the man wanted to harm himself.
====================
Former Teacher / Coach Sentenced for Child Sex Crimes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 54-year-old former teacher and swim coach who worked in the Kansas City area has been sentenced to federal prison for sexually assaulting and exploiting children in crimes that spanned decades. James Green Jr. was sentenced Tuesday to concurrent terms of 30 and 10 years for production of child pornography and possession of child pornography. Green faces other sex crime charges involving minors in Jackson County. Federal prosecutors say Green used hidden cameras to videotape sex he had with children at his home, and to tape high school boys undressing in school locker rooms. The filming occurred for about 20 years. Green taught and coached at Oak Park High School, in several middle schools in the North Kansas City School District and at Blue Springs South High School. He also coached at Hallbrook Country Club in Leawood, Kansas.
====================
Topeka Business Owner Pleads Guilty in Fraud Scheme that Hurt Veterans, Minorities
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The owner of a contracting company has pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme that defrauded the government by receiving contracts intended for veterans and minorities. Forty-three-year-old Matthew McPherson, owner of Topeka-based McPherson Contractors, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and major program fraud. Federal prosecutors say the construction firms involved received $346 million for contracts for small businesses owned by for veterans and minorities. McPherson, of Olathe, is not a veteran or a minority and his construction company was not entitled to compete for those contracts, in what is known as "Rent-A-Vet" or "Rent-a-Minority" schemes. The co-conspirators are accused of claiming that black, disabled veterans managed construction companies in order to receive the contracts. The federal government has filed a lawsuit against McPherson and his co-conspirators over the fraud scheme.
====================
Kansas Man Sentenced to 21 Years over Toddler Girl's Death
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — A 26-year-old central Kansas man has been sentenced to 21 years in prison over the death of his girlfriend's toddler daughter. Chaz Stephens of Hoisington pleaded guilty in April to a charge of intentional second-degree murder in the March 2018 death of 2-year-old Iviona Lewis. He initially was charged with first-degree murder and faced a possible life sentence. The Kansas attorney general's office said Barton County District Judge Mike Keeley handed down the 253-month prison sentence Monday. Iviona had been gone for 48 hours when she was reported missing. Her body was found the next day near Hoisington. Police have said the girl's mother had been visiting her brother in Great Bend and confusion over who was supposed to care for her led to the delay in reporting her disappearance.
====================
Women Speak Out About Discriminatory Jail Screening Policy
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri county legislator says a screening policy at the local jail requiring women to remove their underwire bras before entering the facility is sexist and she is demanding that it be changed. The Kansas City Star reports that the corrections department disputes Jackson County legislator Crystal Williams' claims. Corrections director Diana Turner says the rules implemented May 16 aim to prevent weapons and contraband from being smuggled into the Jackson County jail. Williams raised the issue on Twitter Monday after hearing complaints from female attorneys and others about the jail's screening procedures. The checkpoint consists of an X-ray machine and metal detectors. Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forté says misinformation has been spread about the screening process and that no one has been asked to remove their underwire bras.
====================
Arizona Attorney General: Settlement Reached in Data Breach
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Attorney General's office says a settlement has been reached in the first health care data breach lawsuit involving numerous states. The office said Tuesday the deal was reached with health care software provider Medical Informatics Engineering Inc. and NoMoreClipboard, LLC, which will pay the states $900,000 and improve data security. The case was filed in Indiana, home to Medical Informatics. The lawsuit sprang from a May 2015 data breach. Hackers infiltrated a web application run by Medical Informatics and stole the health information of more than 3.9 million individuals, including 26,000 in Arizona. Information included names, Social Security numbers, lab results and diagnoses. Also participating in the case were Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
====================
Lawsuit Filed by Topeka Man Who Fell Through Bridge Gap
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man is suing the city of Topeka after he was seriously injured when he fell through a gap in a highway bridge in the same place where four people have plunged through since 2001, including a 14-year-old boy who died. The lawsuit filed Monday seeks nearly $2.78 million for Trong Do Turner, who was injured in July 2017 when he fell through a gap between the northbound and southbound lanes of the Kansas Avenue Bridge where he mistakenly believed there was a sidewalk. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports signs at both ends of the bridge warn about no foot traffic access but the lawsuit says Turner entered the bridge from a sidewalk where no warning was posted. City spokeswoman Molly Hadfield says the city doesn't comment on pending litigation.
====================
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 reports 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.
====================
'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.
====================
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.
====================
4 Arrested in Counterfeit Bills Scheme Operating in Kansas City Area
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, 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.
====================
Slain Sedgwick County Deputy to Receive National Award
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Sedgwick County sheriff's deputy who was killed in the line of duty will receive a national award from the National Sheriffs' Association this summer. Deputy Robert Kunze III will be honored with the Charles "Bud" Meeks Award Deputy Sheriff of the year for Valor. His family will receive the award for him on June 17 in Louisville, Kentucky, at the association's annual conference. Kunze was fatally shot on September 16, 2018, while trying to handcuff a man on suspicion of vehicle theft about 20 miles west of downtown Wichita. Before he died, Kunze shot and killed his attacker, 29-year-old Robert Greeson, likely saving the lives of two witnesses hiding nearby.
====================
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.
====================
Kansas City University Plans Dental College in Joplin
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences plans to build a dental college on its Joplin campus. University officials say the $80 million College of Dental Medicine in Joplin is planned to accept its first class of 80 students in 2022. KCU President Marc Hahn said the university will help with a shortage of dentists in the region. He says nearly all counties within a 125-mile radius of Joplin qualify as a dental health professional shortage area under federal regulations. He says more than 750 dentists would be needed within the area to remove that designation. The Joplin Globe reports the university has committed $40 million toward the project, and the rest will come from philanthropic efforts. About $20 million of the remaining amount has already been secured.
====================
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 in an attempt 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 need approval in Kansas.
====================
Pine Bluff Officials: Flood Won't Sink City's Hopes in Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An economically struggling city in Arkansas is preparing for record-breaking floods, though local officials say even after the waters recede, the community's resilience will bolster recovery. Officials in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, about 40 miles southeast of Little Rock, say revitalization for the town of 42,000 won't be thrown off track by a massive flood rolling through the state. About 550 homes have been evacuated, most of which are built in a flood plain. Officials say those residents are likelier to have flood insurance, though it's not clear how many do. The median income in Pine Bluff is about $11,000 below the state's average. Mayor Shirley Washington said state and federal aid will help with cleanup efforts after the flood recedes, and said her concerns for the recovery are not "insurmountable." Flooding continues to affect states in the central U.S., including Kansas.
====================
