Kansas Judge Dies Less Than Month After Retiring
MCPHERSON, Kan. (AP) -- A 66-year-old former central Kansas judge has died less than a month after he resigned his position so he could focus on his health. Carl Anderson died Thursday and will have a memorial service Tuesday at Messiah Lutheran Church in Lindsborg. The Hutchinson News reports Anderson was a double-amputee who has been diabetic since he was 2. He said before his January 12th retirement that he hoped to get stronger so he could wear prostheses and walk, instead of relying on an electric wheelchair. He served as a 9th Judicial District judge since 1977. Before that he served in western Kansas as Haskell County attorney and Sublette city attorney. He is survived by his wife, Becky; two grown children, Megan and Michael; and three grandchildren.
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Fort Carson, Colorado Welcomes Home 270 Soldiers
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Fort Carson has welcomed home 270 soldiers who spent the last nine months serving in the Middle East. The Gazette reports the soldiers - members of the base's 52nd Engineer Battalion - reunited with their loved ones during a ceremony Friday. Soldiers of the battalion's 497th Engineer Company split their time between Kuwait and Afghanistan, completing more than 40 projects. These projects included the construction of containment berms at a fuel facility and waste-water rention ponds. The battalion's 544th Engineer Company spent most of its time in Kuwait working on large-scale engineering projects. Meanwhile, platoon-sized detachments from the battalion worked in Afghanistan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates on infrastructure projects and to improve bases.
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Eishenhower Staff to Launch 3-Year WWII Exhibit
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A new World War Two exhibit starting this summer at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum will pay tribute to the millions who fought with the hopes of getting young people engaged in the war's relevance. The Abilene center's executive director, Karl Weissenbach, says the ambitious three-year project will be directed at younger generations that often know little about the war, its significance in world history or the impact of its outcome. The exhibit will rotate artifacts periodically from a collection of 78,000 items to reflect the advancement of U-S forces during the war, leading to the surrender of Japan and Nazi Germany in 1945. Among items to be displayed will be a Soviet uniform and diary that were obtained with the help of the U-S State Department.
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Kansas Man Pleads No-Contest To Trying To Kill Kids
LIBERAL, Kan. (AP) -- A southwest Kansas man has pleaded no-contest to three counts of attempted second-degree murder alleging he tried to kill his three children by slitting their throats. The Hutchinson News reports Irineo Garcia entered his plea Monday during a pretrial hearing and is scheduled for sentencing March 22nd. The Liberal man initially was charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder for trying to kill his children - ages 5, 6 and 7 - on October 18th, 2010, at his home. Prosecutors say he also tried to kill himself. The children and Garcia were found injured at their home after his estranged wife notified police. Seward County Attorney Don Scott says Garcia's plea was part of a deal in which he will face a sentence of about 25 years in prison.
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Number of Homeless Elderly Rising in Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- The number of elderly homeless people in Wichita continues to climb as the economy sends them to local shelters seeking refuge. Sandy Swank of Inter-Faith Ministries says the organization's winter shelter has served 13 people over the age of 62 so far this year after helping only five in 2012. In many cases, a spouse has died and left a mountain of debt that overwhelmed the survivor. Swank tole The Wichita Eagle that when she started working at Inter-Faith in 1990, elderly people occasionally came to the shelter but almost always had someone to look after them. A 2010 study by the Homeless Research Institute projected the number of elderly people who are homeless will increase by one-third nationally, from 44,172 in 2010 to 58,772 by 2020.