Kelly Brushes Off Schmidt’s Opinion on Online Tax Collection
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Laura Kelly is discounting Republican calls to rescind a policy requiring out-of-state online businesses to collect sales taxes on sales in Kansas and remit the tax to the state. On Monday, Attorney General Derek Schmidt issued a nonbinding opinion that Kelly's administration did not have the legal authority to impose the policy, which some experts said is the nation's most aggressive policy for collecting state and local taxes on online sales. House and Senate GOP leaders then demanded the Kelly drop the policy, which the Kansas Department of Revenue issued in August. The tax collections were scheduled to take effect Tuesday. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Kelly said Tuesday the policy reflects existing state law and would promote tax fairness. She said it would help Kansas businesses compete with out-of-state retailers.
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Kansas Senators See Impeachment as Partisan Distraction
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’s two Republican senators see the House’s impeachment inquiry as arising from partisan opposition to President Donald Trump and say it is preventing Congress from taking up important legislative business. Sen. Jerry Moran said Wednesday some Democrats have favored impeaching Trump “almost since the day he was elected.” Sen. Pat Roberts dismissed the impeachment inquiry as “political theater.” He said he’s read a whistleblower’s complaint that disclosed a call by Trump in July to Ukraine’s president in which Trump pressed for an investigation of Democratic rival Joe Biden and his family. He said it’s a piece of evidence but he can’t draw conclusions from it. Moran hosted U.S. Attorney General William Barr for tours of law enforcement centers in Topeka and Wichita. Barr did not answer questions from the media.
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Kansas Conservatives Push to Undo Abortion Rights Ruling
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Anti-abortion legislators in Kansas have launched a push to overturn a state Supreme Court decision that protects abortion rights. Their efforts guarantee an election-year fight over amending the state constitution. A legislative committee opened two days of hearings Tuesday on a ruling in April by the state's highest court that access to abortion is a fundamental right under the Kansas Constitution. The Republican-led committee is expected to urge the full, GOP-controlled Legislature to put a proposed constitutional change on the statewide ballot next year. Anti-abortion groups and lawmakers don't yet have a specific proposal. But if their effort succeeds, Kansas would be among a handful of states in which voters have added provisions to their state constitutions to declare that they don't grant a right to an abortion.
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Day Care Owner Charged with Abusing 6-Month-Old Baby
SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — A former suburban Kansas City day care owner has been charged with abusing a 6-month-old baby. The Kansas City Star reports that 53-year-old Katherine Konon, of Shawnee, was arrested last week on the felony charge. Court documents say she caused bodily harm June 20. The child's father, Brett Braun, says Konon told his wife that the baby had been vomiting when she went to pick him up that day. He says his son also had red marks on his head. Doctors told the parents their baby suffered a brain bleed. Konon's attorney, Thomas Bath, says Konon denies the allegations and plans to plead not guilty. Bath says Konon has been in the day-care business for at least a decade and has "scores of parents" who will attest to her abilities.
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Wichita Eagle: Wichita Mayor Steered Water Plant Contract to Friends
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A newspaper reports say Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell recommended reversing a decision to award a contract for the city's new water plant to award the contract to his political supporters and friends. The Wichita Eagle reports it searched thousands of pages of public records while investigating how the city awarded a $524 million contract for the new water plant to Wichita Water Partners. A city selection committee recommended awarding the contract to Jacobs Engineering, a national firm that specializes in water treatment plants. Instead, at Longwell's urging, the City Council gave the contract to Wichita Water Partners. Longwell acknowledged he is friends with the presidents of two companies involved with Wichita Water Partners. But he said after 25 years, he has developed many friendships in the community and denied that he steered the contract to his friends.
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Kansas Tax Collections $43 Million More than Expected in September
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is reporting that it collected $43 million more in taxes than anticipated in September. The Department of Revenue said Tuesday that the state collected $744 million in taxes during the month when its official revenue forecast predicted $701 million. The surplus is nearly 6.2%. Revenue Secretary Mark Burghart called it an encouraging end to the first quarter of the 2020 state budget year that began in July. For those three months, tax collections were more than $1.7 billion and exceeded expectations by $48 million, or 2.8%. Tax collections for the current fiscal year are running about 2.9% ahead of tax collections for the 2019 fiscal year. Tax collections also have exceeded expectations 27 of the past 28 months.
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AP Source: GM Offer Short on Earnings, Temporary Workers
DETROIT (AP) — A General Motors contract offer to striking union members has wage increases or lump-sum payments in all four years. But a person briefed on the offer says it was rejected because it took money from other places to fund profit sharing and didn’t give temporary workers a clear path to a full-time job. Still, the offer made late Monday is likely to be the framework for whatever agreement is reached to end the strike by 49,000 workers that has halted production in the U.S. and severely cut output in Mexico and Canada. A different person says much of what the union objected to has been removed or is being bargained. Neither person wanted to be identified because the talks are confidential. Talks continued Wednesday with the strike in its third week.
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Dodge City Diocese Names Clerics Accused of Child Abuse
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Catholic Diocese of Dodge City has released a list of 12 clerics or seminarians with substantiated allegations of abuse against minors. The diocese said Wednesday five of the priests were assigned to the Dodge City diocese. Five others worked at some point in the diocese but the allegations against them were made in other dioceses. Two others were seminarians. Bishop John Brungardt apologized in a news release to the survivors of child sexual abuse and offered to meet with them or their families. The list was compiled by retired District Judge Robert Schmisseur, who reviewed more than 600 files in the Diocesan Chancery office related to priests, deacons and seminarians. Brungardt said the findings have been shared with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas Attorney General’s office.
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Fleeing Kansas Man Charged in Crash that Kills Illinois Man
BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP) — A fleeing driver has been charged with causing a crash in the Kansas City area that killed a suburban Chicago man. KCTV reports that 29-year-old Anthony Dorsey was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement. The pursuit started Monday after a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper attempted to stop a car with a registration issue near a Kansas City, Kansas, shopping area. The patrol says the man fled westbound on Interstate 70 before turning around near Bonner Springs, Kansas, and driving into oncoming traffic. That's when 19-year-old Nathan Pena, of Brookfield, Illinois, was killed in a head-on crash while headed to Colorado to see friends. Dorsey, who was wanted on an armed robbery charge, had minor injuries and was taken into custody at the scene.
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Director Named for National Biodefense Lab in Manhattan
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A permanent director has been named for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that Alfonso Clavijo will take over October 13 at the $1.25 billion national research and diagnostic plant in Manhattan. The Manhattan Mercury reports Clavijo will oversee the plant's transition from construction to full operation by 2023. He will also lead the facility's transition from the Department of Homeland Security to the USDA. Clavijo has been laboratory executive director of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's National Centres for Animal Disease. He also has had leadership or advisory positions Texas A&M University, the Pan American Health Organization and National University in Bogota, Colombia. He was a professor in Kansas State's College of Veterinary Medicine during the 2015-16 school year.
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Patrol Asks for Help Identifying Woman Killed in Hit-and-Run
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Highway Patrol is asking the public for help identifying a woman who apparently died in a hit-and-run crash during the weekend. The patrol says the woman, who is Hispanic with brown hair and brown eyes, had several tattoos, including "Michael" on the right wrist, "Aaliagah" on the left upper arm, "Gabriel 4ever" on the left wrist and "Alanno" on the left ankle. She is about 5-feet-4-inches and 160 pounds. The woman was last seen late Friday walking northbound on Interstate 35 near Seventh Street Trafficway in Kansas City, Kansas. The patrol says she was hit by a vehicle or vehicles a short time later and died at the scene. Anyone with information is asked to call the Kansas Highway Patrol or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
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Leavenworth Woman Pleads Not Guilty in Young Son's Death
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A 31-year-old Leavenworth woman has pleaded not guilty in the death of her 19-month-old son. Catherine Smith is charged with second-degree murder after her son's death in November 2018. She pleaded on Monday. The Leavenworth Times reports Smith allegedly left her son in a room where the temperature exceeded 90 degrees without checking on him for an extended time. Smith is free on bond. Court records indicate she was released September 16 on a $25,000 bond. The trial is scheduled for January 21.
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Police: Wichita Man Drowned While Trying to Save Dog
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County authorities say a 59-year-old Wichita man drowned while trying to save his dog. Sheriff’s Lt. Tim Myers said the man drowned Wednesday at the Sedgwick County Park lake. His name was not released. Myers says emergency responders were called when bystanders couldn’t find the man after seeing him go into the water. His body was found about a half-hour later. The Wichita Eagle reports Myers said the man apparently thought his pet was in trouble so he went into the water to help the animal. He says it’s unclear if the man had a medical problem. Myers said the dog was found near the man’s vehicle.
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Icelandair to Discontinue Flights to and from KCI
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Icelandair plans to drop its flights to and from Kansas City next summer. The airline company said in a news release it is ending flights between Kansas City and Keflavik Airport near Reykjavik, Iceland, for "commercial reasons." It also plans to discontinue nonstop service to San Francisco. Icelandair also said it is reviewing its routes to improve profitability and reduce risk because of the suspension of the Boeing MAX aircraft, which was grounded in March after two crashes killed more than 300 people. Icelandair leases five of the jets during the summer season. The Kansas City Star reports when the flight was announced in 2018, it was the Kansas City airport's first transatlantic route. City officials said they hoped it would lead to more overseas flights from Kansas City.
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Man Who Attacked WIBW Employees Charged in Jail Assault
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man who attacked staff members at a Topeka television station in 2012 is now charged with assaulting a county corrections officer. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced Monday that Ray Miles is charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery. Prosecutors allege Miles attacked Shawnee County Corrections Officer Kourtney Flynn in July while she was trying to get him to return a phone. Investigators say the attack continued until other officers intervened. Flynn was treated at a hospital for several injuries. During a court appearance Tuesday, Miles said he wanted to represent himself. Miles assaulted several employees of WIBW-TV in May 2012, stabbing two of them. His sentence was scheduled to end in November. He is being held on $500,000 bond on the new charges.
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Ex-Sheriff's Deputy in Missouri Sentenced for Abusing Infant Daughter
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A former Newton County sheriff's deputy has been sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to abusing his infant daughter. Fifty-three-year-old Kenneth Rush, of Joplin, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to child abuse. The Joplin Globe reports emergency responders were called to Rush's home in December 2017 because his 2-month-old daughter was having trouble breathing. She was transferred to a Kansas City hospital, where doctors found injuries indicating abusive head trauma. A probable cause statement says Rush initially said he didn't know how the child was hurt while he was with her. Rush was fired as a sheriff's deputy after the investigation began.
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Suspect in Random Attack in Wichita Remains in Custody
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 30-year-old man accused in a random attack on a Wichita woman last week will remain in custody pending trial. Wade Dunn was charged Monday in federal court with aggravated escape from custody. KAKE-TV reports a criminal complaint accuses him of escaping from the Mirror Residential Reentry Center on September 23. Prosecutors say he left the halfway house and stabbed a 28-year-old woman who was standing outside. Officials said during the weekend that the victim is improving and is assisting investigators. Police arrested Dunn just after midnight Saturday. He has not made a court appearance on charges related to the attack. Dunn was sentenced in July of 2017 to 33 months in federal prison for unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was transferred to the halfway house in July.
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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.
