Massive Fire Destroys Wichita Warehouse
PARK CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a massive fire has destroyed a 28,000 square-foot warehouse in a Wichita suburb. Television station KSNW reports that the fire at the Park City warehouse was reported around 9 p.m. Friday. Arriving firefighters found the huge warehouse fully engulfed in flames. No injuries were reported in the fire that saw five area fire departments respond to help battle the flames. It took more than two hours to get the blaze under control. Sedgwick County Fire Captain Bill Herold says the loss from the fire is estimated at $1.6 million. The warehouse held two businesses — a maintenance facility for 18-wheelers and an electrical company.
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KBI Investigates Attempted Murder, Shooting in Smith Center
SMITH CENTER, Kan. (KPR) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is investigating the attempted murder of a woman in north-central Kansas. In a news release, the KBI says sheriff's deputies were called to a Smith Center house where a 66-year-old woman reported being restrained, beaten, and strangled. She was taken to a local hospital and is expected to recover. A 15-year-old suspect fled the scene on horseback; he shot at troopers and was injured when they returned fire. He was flown from a local hospital to a Nebraska hospital where he underwent surgery. No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident.
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Wichita Man Convicted in 2015 Double Homicide
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The last of several men charged in the 2015 shooting deaths of two people in Wichita has been found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and other counts. Kansas prosecutors say 22-year-old Jamion Wimbley, of Wichita, was convicted Thursday. Besides the murder convictions, Wimbley also was found guilty of two counts of criminal discharge of a firearm. Investigators say Wimbley shot 55-year-old Betty Ann Holloman and 24-year-old Brenton Oliver on January 1st, 2015, in the front yard of a Wichita home. Wimbley is set to be sentenced January 25th. Quincy Carter and Brent Carter are already serving life sentences after being convicted in the case. Johnathan Carter is awaiting sentencing on January 2nd.
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Lawrence Brewery Sells Beer for California Wildfire Victims
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas brewery is selling a new specialty beer to help raise money for a Northern California community destroyed by the state's deadliest wildfire last month. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Free State Brewing Company in Lawrence is joining 1,400 breweries across the country to offer California-based Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's new specialty IPA called Resilience Butte County Proud. Sierra Nevada is based in Butte County, where the devastating wildfire started November 8th and led to the deaths of 86 people. Free State's head brewer Geoff Deman says Sierra Nevada shared the recipe for the citrus-flavored beer so that breweries could make it locally. He says the Lawrence brewery will have the beer on tap until it runs out. All proceeds will go to Sierra Nevada's relief fund to help rebuild Butte County.
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KU Receives $6.9 Million Gift for Archeology, Geology
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A $6.9 million gift from a late geologist and his wife will be used to help University of Kansas researchers better understand early human life in the Americas. Joseph and Maude Ruth Cramer established the Odyssey Archaeological Research Fund at the university in 2002 with a $1 million gift. The additional $6.9 million was recently received after their deaths. The KU Endowment said in a news release that the gift will benefit research by the Kansas Geological Survey and the university's archaeology program. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Cramer grew up in Wichita and graduated from the University of New Mexico. He was a petroleum geologist, but he had a lifetime interest in archaeology and a passion for searching for the earliest people in the Americas.
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Republicans Name Top Kobach Deputy to Kansas Senate Seat
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans have picked Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's top deputy to fill a vacant state Senate seat, making the chamber more conservative. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Assistant Secretary of State Eric Rucker will replace Insurance Commissioner-elect Vicki Schmidt of Topeka. Rucker will serve the remaining two years of Schmidt's four-year Senate term. The Topeka-area district's Republican precinct committee members voted 117-54 Friday evening for Rucker over former state Representative Joe Patton. Schmidt is a GOP moderate who served 14 years in the Senate and was its health committee chairwoman before being elected insurance commissioner. Rucker is a conservative and has been Kobach's top deputy since 2011. He previously was top deputy for former Attorney General Phill Kline, another conservative. Kobach lost the governor's race to Democrat Laura Kelly.
