Kansas Democrats Hopeful of Breaking GOP Stronghold
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democrats in Kansas who have had to sit on the political sidelines for the better part of a decade are hoping for a blue wave on Election Day that could help them break the Republican grip on power. They are optimistic about their chances in several contests, including the governor's race between conservative Republican Kris Kobach and Democrat Laura Kelly. It was a toss-up in the campaign's final weekend. The GOP winning streak that started in 2010 has an already Republican-leaning state teetering on deeply red dominance. Democrats anticipate that opposition to President Donald Trump could doom Republican Representative Kevin Yoder in a Kansas City-area congressional district that Trump narrowly lost in 2016. They're also hoping they can flip the seat in a neighboring eastern Kansas district that Trump won handily.
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Kansas Man Accused of Wife's Dismemberment Now Faces Child Porn Charges
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A man charged after his wife's dismembered body was found last year at a Lenexa storage shed has now been charged with possessing child pornography. The Kansas City Star reports that 36-year-old Justin Todd Rey had been set to go to trial next week on child endangerment charges in the death case, but the trial was canceled in light of the new charges. Authorities say they found child porn images after Rey asked them to look at his phone for evidence he thought would help him in his pending trial. Rey was arrested last October after police found the remains in bags at the storage unit where he and his children had been living. Rey told police his wife had committed suicide days after giving birth at a Kansas City hotel. Police say he told them he dismembered her body so he could take her back to Arizona. Missouri officials have charged Rey with abandonment of a corpse.
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Multi-state Crime Suspect Pleads to Mississippi Charges
PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (AP) — A man is pleading guilty in Mississippi to another in a series of killings and shootings in a multi-state spree that included a Kansas robberty. Alex Deaton pleaded guilty Friday in Neshoba County Circuit Court to the murder of Brenda Pinter, a 69-year-old woman who was cleaning a rural church. Still unclear is why Deaton killed Pinter. District Attorney Steven Kilgore told local media that prosecutors were never able to discern a motive. Deaton earlier pleaded guilty to killing his girlfriend in suburban Jackson, Mississippi, stealing her SUV and shooting a jogger. Police say Deaton later carjacked a New Mexico couple, and fled to Kansas, where he shot a store clerk and stole the clerk's car. He's pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and aggravated robbery in Kansas. Deaton faces multiple life sentences in Mississippi and nearly 13 years in prison in Kansas.
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Boot Hill Museum Opens Time Capsule, Plans Another
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City unearthed some of its past as officials turn toward the future. A time capsule buried at the museum in 1972 was unearthed Thursday as part of a groundbreaking ceremony for an expansion project at the museum. Assistant director Lyne Johnson said the time capsule held dentures, centennial coins, clothes, vials of grains and mementos from businesses located in Dodge City in 1972. The Dodge City Daily Globe reports the museum is planning another time capsule, which will be placed in the new exhibit building. Thursday's ceremony marked the start of construction on the new expansion project, which will include a new building to house temporary exhibits and to be used for educational presentations. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2020.
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Kansans Safely Dispose of Nearly 15,000 Pounds of Medicine
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says state residents safely disposed of more than seven tons of unused and unwanted medicines during last Saturday's National Drug Take-Back Day. Kansas law enforcement officers collected 14,860 pounds of medicines at 98 locations throughout the state. Schmidt says safe storage and proper disposal of drugs prevent misuse of prescription medicines. Kansans have safely destroyed a total of 163,158 pounds of medications in the 16 collection days that have been held since 2010. Law enforcement agencies turn the drugs they collect over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Unused prescriptions can be turned in all year at many local law enforcement locations and at a limited number of other locations.
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Wichita Police Identify Pedestrian Fatality
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police have identified a man killed when he was hit by a car while crossing a Wichita street. Wichita police say in a news release Saturday that the man has been identified as 33-year-old Thomas Mans. Investigators say he died at a hospital after being hit Friday morning while crossing a street in southeast Wichita. Police say a 21-year-old man was driving a car westbound and didn't see Mans crossing in the middle of the street. The investigation into the crash continues. Police say Mans' death was the city's 22nd fatality of 2018.
