Mistrial Declared in Lawrence Murder Trial
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A judge declared a mistrial after a jury could not reach a verdict in the murder trial of a man accused of killing a Lawrence woman in 2014. A jury deliberated for three days before the mistrial was declared Friday in the trial of 23-year-old Rontarius Washington Jr. He is charged in the death of 19-year-old Justina Altamirano Mosso, who was found bludgeoned and stabbed to death in a Lawrence apartment in November 2014. Washington lived in an apartment near Mosso. He is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery, and an alternative of first-degree felony murder. The jury could not reach a verdict on all three charges. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Washington has been in custody since early 2015 while his trial was repeatedly delayed . Washington told detectives he entered Ruiz's apartment to steal money and Mosso dead.
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Kansas Governor at Odds with Attorney General in Joining Bid to Save DACA
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has joined a legal battle to save a federal program that shields young immigrants from deportation. Kelly's move Friday puts the Democratic governor and Republican Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt on opposite sides of a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Kelly signed onto written legal arguments opposing President Donald Trump's attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Kelly joined Democratic Montana Governor Steve Bullock and the Democratic attorneys general of Michigan and Nevada. Schmidt has joined 11 other GOP state attorneys general and Mississippi's Republican Governor Phil Bryant in a court filing arguing that the DACA program wasn't lawful. The program established by President Barack Obama grants temporary legal status to immigrants without proper documents who came to the U.S. as children.
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Mother Sentenced in Death of Boy for Not Eating Hot Dog
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 24-year-old Wichita woman has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison in the death of her 2-year-old son after he refused to eat a hot dog. Elizabeth Woolheater was sentenced Friday for the May 2018 death of Anthony Bunn. The Wichita Eagle reports Woolheater pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder and two counts of child abuse. She was sentenced to 19 years, five months. The boy died two days after he was beaten unconscious by his mother and her boyfriend, Lucas Diehl. Woolheater said she hit the boy for not eating the hot dog and then heard Diel hitting him more. Diel denied hitting the boy. He is serving a 49-year sentence for second-degree murder. Records show the Department for Children and Families was alerted the boy was being abused before he died.
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UAW-GM Talks Progress but Wage, Job Security Issues Remain
DETROIT (AP) — A top union negotiator says bargainers are making progress on a contract that could end a 19-day strike against General Motors. United Auto Workers Vice President Terry Dittes (DIT-ez) says in a letter to local officials Friday that talks have advanced on health care and a path for temporary workers to get full-time jobs. But he says wages, job security, skilled trades jobs and pensions remain unsettled. Dittes says they'll keep working into the weekend in an effort to reach a tentative agreement. About 49,000 UAW members walked off their jobs on September 16 when contract talks slowed. The strike has shut down GM production in the U.S. and forced factories in Canada and Mexico to close.
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Investigation into Western Kansas Murder is Closed
PLAINVILLE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say their investigation into the shooting death of a western Kansas man is closed after they determined a man who later committed suicide was responsible. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Rooks County authorities announced Friday that evidence indicated 47-year-old Jon Flowers, of Inman, killed 56-year-old Mark Reif, who was shot to death September 9 at his home in rural Plainville. The KBI said no evidence suggested anyone else was involved in Flowers' death. Flowers was found dead in his home September 14. His death was ruled a suicide. Authorities said he left a note claiming responsibility for Rief's death. The KBI said a fired cartridge found at the murder scene and a bullet taken from Reif came from a pistol belonging to Flowers. Authorities have not released information on a possible motive.
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Wichita Officer Who Drove 100 MPR with No Siren Fired
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita police officer who crashed his vehicle while speeding without lights or sirens has been fired. The Wichita Eagle reports Officer Samuel Dugo is charged with aggravated battery-recklessly causing bodily harm after the March 2018 wreck critically injured a 71-year-old. He has pleaded not guilty. Police spokesman Officer Kevin Wheeler said Dugo's employment ended August 30. He was with the department since July 2016. The Kansas Highway Patrol says Donald Clark, of Bel Aire, was thrown through the windshield of his truck when it collided with Dugo's vehicle at a Wichita intersection. The patrol determined Dugo was driving 79 mph in a 30 mph zone before the collision, while responding to a burglary call. He was not using his emergency lights or sirens. Before the collision, Dugo was clocked driving up to 100 mph.
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District Attorney Investigating Wichita Mayor over Contract
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Sedgwick County District Attorney is investigating Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell’s actions regarding a city contract for a new water plant. District Attorney Marc Bennett said Thursday in a news release that his office received several concerns from one individual after The Wichita Eagle reported Sunday that Longwell steered the contract to a partnership that included friends of his. Bennett’s spokeswoman, Georgia Webb, said the office would not release details about the concerns. The Eagle’s report said Longwell persuaded the City Council to give the nearly $524 million contract away from a nationally known design team and toward Wichita Water Partners, which includes his political supporters and friends. Longwell denied the allegations. He said in an email to the Eagle Thursday that he will cooperate with any request for information.
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Audit: Economic Development Funds Used for Other Purposes
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State auditors say millions of dollars intended for economic development in Kansas were spent on other projects. In a report released Wednesday, auditors said during fiscal year 2018, only 18% of the money in the Economic Development Initiatives Fund was directed to programs that met requirements for receiving the funds. The audit found nearly half of all spending from the fund - $20.1 million - didn’t go toward economic development. The Wichita Eagle reports auditors also found no tracking of how the money was spent or whether it was used effectively. Lawmakers who heard the audit said they were appalled and suggested the regulations controlling the fund should be overhauled. The economic development fund was created in 1986 and is replenished each year with lottery and gaming revenue.
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Wichita Woman, Man Charged with Murder in 2-Year-Old’s Death
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The mother of a 2-year-old Wichita boy and a man she lived with are charged with murder in his death. Prosecutors say 24-year-old Stephanie Aviles and 31-Bernardo Gonzalez-Mejia were charged Thursday with first-degree murder. They made their first court appearances via video from the Sedgwick County jail on Thursday. The boy, Jacob Aviles, was found dead Sunday at his home. A cause of death has not been released. The Wichita Eagle reports first responders found the boy dead and covered in bruises. He was left with Gonzalez-Mejia while Aviles ran errands on Sunday. Police said the adults were in a romantic relationship but Gonzelez-Mejia’s ex-wife told the Eagle he allowed Aviles to move in to help her and they were not dating. Aviles’ is being held on $300,000 bond, while Gonzalez-Mejia’s bond is $450,000.
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Lawrence Police: Kansas Man Cited Devil During Alleged Assault
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman after telling her that the devil wanted her dead. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that 34-year-old Lawrence resident Donavan Ryan Hiller faces three felonies and a misdemeanor for the alleged Aug. 30 attack at his house, including aggravated sexual battery and aggravated battery. According to a police affidavit, the woman says Hiller asked her to go to his bedroom to see his cats. She says he then ripped off her pants and attacked her. She says he told her that the devil said she needed to die and hit her in the head twice with a skillet before she escaped. Hiller is in jail on a $50,000 bond. His attorney didn’t immediately return an Associated Press request for comment Thursday.
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Mother Sees Daughter in Fight, Rams 3 Juveniles with Vehicle
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a mother who is suspected of ramming three juveniles with her vehicle in Kansas City after witnessing a fight involving her daughter. KMBC-TV reports that the mother was taken into custody Wednesday. Police say the daughter told investigators that she was headed home from school Tuesday when a group of juveniles attacked her. The daughter said there is an ongoing issue between her family, and a former classmate. Police say the mother arrived during the assault and accelerated her vehicle, striking the three juveniles. They were checked out by emergency crews at the scene and refused additional treatment.
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Police Shoot Man Who Allegedly Drove Toward Officers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police say an officer shot a man after he tried to hit them with his vehicle. Captain Tim Hernandez says the man suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the confrontation Thursday. He was in fair condition at a hospital. KCTV reports Hernandez said officers tried to stop a vehicle being driven by a man wanted on a felony warrant. He says the man stopped but then accelerated toward the officers. One of the officers fired but the vehicle continued on, hitting two police cruisers, several civilian vehicles and fences as it drove through residential neighborhoods. The man eventually fled on foot and was found later at a home. No officers were injured.
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Luke Bryan's Farm Tour Concert in Kansas Postponed
LOUISBURG, Kan. (AP) — Rain is forcing country western singer Luke Bryan to postpone a Farm Tour concert in rural Kansas. The concert scheduled for Thursday night in near Louisburg will be rescheduled. Early Thursday, Bryan tweeted that the rains made it too wet for equipment to be unloaded at the MC Farms for the concert. Louisburg city officials said attempts to find alternate locations were unsuccessful because the other venues also were too wet. The Kansas City Star reports this is the second concert on the six-stop tour postponed because of rain. A concert Friday night in Richland, Michigan, was canceled because of severe weather. That concert will be rescheduled also. The tour is set to continue Friday in Douglass, Kansas, outside Wichita, and Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma.
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Head of Missouri's Public Defender System Resigning
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The head of Missouri’s public defender system is resigning. Michael Barrett announced his resignation Thursday after four years as director of the Missouri State Public Defender system. He said he was returning to New York to be closer to family. The Kansas City Star reports a six-member public defender commission will select a new director. Barrett has been a vocal critic of the lack of resources for Missouri public defenders and the need for criminal justice reform. In 2016, he appointed former Governor Jay Nixon, who is an attorney, to defend a case for a person who couldn’t afford a lawyer. He said the move was a protest of budget cuts for the public defenders office. A judge later ruled that Barrett didn’t have the authority to make the appointment.
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Spirit AeroSystems Churns Out Fuselages Despite 737 Max Grounding
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Aircraft parts maker Spirit AeroSystems has seen its stock price decline by 20% since the Boeing 737 Max jet was grounded but continues to churn out fuselages in anticipation of a rebound when the plane returns to the sky. Spirit’s president and CEO Tom Gentile said Thursday that the Wichita-based company is building 52 fuselages a month, although Boeing reduced its production to 42 completed planes per month after two deadly crashes, reported The Wichita Eagle. “What we agreed with Boeing was that we would stay at 52, because for us to go down, it meant that it would take us a very long time to come back,” Gentile said during the Kansas Economic Outlook Conference, hosted annually by the Wichita State University Center for Economic Development and Business Research.
Gentile said it is “going to be a longer-term impact than everybody first thought,” although he is hopeful because there has been “an incredible surge in orders” for aircraft with more than 150 seats. Before the grounding, Boeing and its suppliers had been planning to increase production. “Today Boeing and Airbus have a backlog of (orders for) 12,500 aircraft worth $2 trillion and it represents almost eight years of production,” he said. “At Spirit, our backlog is about $48 billion, which is almost seven years of production for us.”
As of today, 65 extra fuselages are wrapped in plastic and Styrofoam, with a thick orange blanket used to cover them. Gentile says, “They look a little bit like goldfish.” Jeremy Hill, the director of the center putting on the conference, projected a .6 percent increase in Kansas jobs, but cautioned that trade issues, including the Trump administration’s tariff policies, could derail that quickly. “It is very possible we can grow stronger (than .6 percent), but it is also possible we could go down to zero growth,” he said.
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Netflix Series "Living Undocumented" Probes Migrant Plights
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A new Netflix documentary series investigates the diversity of migrants caught in the intricate U.S immigration system where uncertainty and pain often battle dreams. “Living Undocumented” now airing on the streaming service follows the lives of eight families from Latin America, Israel, Laos, and Africa who try to live normal lives in the U.S. despite family members’ immigration status. The six-episode series shows how the families do their best to go day by day while threats of deportation loom due to changing policy and laws. Crews follow families as they await immigration decisions and try to celebrate birthdays, bat mitzvahs and family cookouts in Florida, Texas and South Carolina. Co-directors Anna Chai and Aaron Saidman say they wanted to create a series that allowed the immigrants to speak for themselves.
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Rainy September Adds More Water to Swollen Missouri River
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — After an unusually rainy September in the region, the amount of water flowing down the lower Missouri River this year is likely to match the 2011 record. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it now expects 61 million acre feet of water to flow down the Missouri River this year. That would equal the record set during the prolonged 2011 flooding. So the Corps will continue releasing massive amounts of water from the dams along the river. The amount of water currently being released from the Gavins Point dam on the South Dakota-Nebraska border -- 80,000 cubic feet per second -- is more than twice what is typical for this time of year.
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Company Will Upgrade Military Housing at Fort Riley
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A national development company plans to build or renovate 128 homes at Fort Riley as part of a push to modernize housing on several U.S. military bases. Corvias, which partners with the U.S. military, said this week it will erect 96 new homes and renovate 32 homes at the fort near Manhattan. Corvias says about 44% of homes on the base are more than 40 years old. The company says the project will reduce water and energy use, and decrease the Army’s maintenance costs on the older homes. The Manhattan Mercury reports other upgrades will include new roofs on some homes, landscape upgrades, weatherproofing and updating or installing more energy efficient appliances, thermostats and light fixtures. Corvias has invested $325 million in modernization and improvements of U.S. Army base housing.
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KPR's daily headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays and updated throughout the day. KPR's weekend summary is usually published by 1 pm Saturdays and Sundays.
