Human Remains Found Near Kansas River in Kansas City, Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) _ Police are investigating after skeletal remains were found near the Kansas River in Kansas City, Kansas. According to police, a fisherman discovered the skeletal remains of a foot inside a shoe Saturday evening. A Search and Rescue team discovered more remains yesterday (SUN). Those remains will be sent to a pathologist for analysis.
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Perry Lake Drowning Victim Identified as Bonner Springs Man
OZAWKIE, Kan. (AP) _ Authorities say a 30-year-old man has drowned at Perry Lake in Jefferson County. The sheriff's office has identified the man as Jeremy Welch, of Bonner Springs. Authorities believe he jumped into the lake Saturday night and did not resurface. The drowning happened at Party Cove, which is a popular spot for boaters to gather on the lake. The drowning is under investigation.
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Kansas Court to Decide Whether School District Can Join Suit
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court says it will decide by Sept. 21 whether a suburban Kansas City-area school district can intervene in a lawsuit against the state over school funding. The court issued an order Monday setting a schedule for deciding how much the Shawnee Mission district participates in the lawsuit. A three-judge Shawnee County District Court panel has invalidated parts of an education funding law enacted this year and declared that the state must spend at least $548 million more a year on its public schools. The state has appealed. The lawsuit from school districts in Dodge City, Hutchinson, Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas, was filed in 2010. Shawnee Mission argues that the four other districts can't represent its interests. But the lower-court panel denied Shawnee Mission's request to intervene.
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UPDATE: White Supremacist Found Guilty of Murder in Jewish Site Shootings
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A jury has convicted a white supremacist of killing three people at Kansas City-area Jewish sites last year. Jurors returned their verdict Monday against Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., who admitted that he killed the three in April 2014, but argued that he was compelled to do it because Jewish people are trying to wipe out the white race. None of the victims was Jewish. Miller had been representing himself after firing his lawyers in May. Prosecutors had begun their case against Miller by quoting him after the shootings saying he hated Jews and asking how many did he get. They rested their case Thursday, barely four days into the trial. Proceedings moved swiftly because Miller asked witnesses very few questions. It took the jury of seven men and five women just over two hours to find Frazier Glenn Miller guilty of one count of capital murder, three counts of attempted murder and assault and weapons charges. After the verdict was announced, Miller, said: "The fat lady just sang." As jurors were filing out of the courtroom, he raised his right arm in the Nazi salute and told them: "You probably won't sleep tonight." He faces the death penalty. Sentencing proceedings are scheduled to begin Tuesday.
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Kansas Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Airport Bomb Plot
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man who plotted a suicide bomb attack aimed at causing "maximum carnage" at a Wichita airport has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Terry L. Loewen apologized Monday during his sentencing to his family for the pain he had caused them. The 60-year-old Wichita man pleaded guilty in June to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. U.S. District Judge Monti Belot imposed the proposed sentence that came with the plea deal. The avionics technician was arrested during an undercover operation in December 2013 when he tried to bring a van filled with inert explosives onto the tarmac at Mid-Continent Airport. He came to the FBI's attention when he became a Facebook friend of an individual who regularly posted information supporting violent jihad, or holy war.
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Insurance Department Studying Continuing Education Programs
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Insurance Department is considering whether insurance agents need more training. Currently, the state's insurance agents are required to complete 12 hours of education every other year. Most states require 24 hours for insurance agents. The Wichita Eagle reports the department wants to complete a study of the question in the fall and present recommendations to the Legislature in January. The Legislature has considered five bills in the last four years to raise the minimum education standard but none became law. Clark Shultz, director of government and public affairs for the department, says it has not taken a stance on the issue before but wants to reach a conclusion about whether the state's requirement is adequate before the next legislative session.
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Police: Man Threatens Officers with Screwdriver at Hospital
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 35-year-old man has been arrested after authorities say he tried to assault police officers with a screwdriver at a Wichita hospital. According to Sergeant Brian Sigman, officers responded to a call about trespassing at Via Christi St. Joseph just before 3 am Saturday. Sigman said when officers made contact with the man near the emergency room, he pulled out a screwdriver from his pocket and wielded it "in an aggressive manner." Sigman said officers used a Taser to subdue the suspect and arrested him. No injuries were reported. The suspect faces charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting and obstructing an arrest.
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Report: Landlords Rent Out 23.7M Acres of Kansas Farmland
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A government survey has found that there are more than 23.7 million acres of farmland rented out by landlords in Kansas. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported the number Monday in its first survey of landowners since 1999. Their survey, conducted last year, also found that there are 83,776 landlords owned farmland in Kansas. But only 14,359 of those were actually farmers, the majority of them are non-farming landlords. Cropland made up for 65 percent of all farmland rented, while 33 percent was rented for pastures. The rest of the land was used for forests and other uses. The agency also reported that landowners expect to transfer 5.04 million acres to other owners in the next five years.
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Animal Health Effort in Kansas and Missouri Notes 10 Years
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Nearly 1,000 people are gathering in Kansas City to celebrate the 10th anniversary of an Animal Health Corridor that stretches from Manhattan, Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri. The Kansas City Star reports the corridor has become a business site for more than 300 companies devoted to animal health. The companies' projects include such things as earlier identification of sick cattle and developing drugs and diagnostics for animals. A 10th anniversary dinner is scheduled for Monday night, with an investor showcase on Tuesday. A consultant found last year that companies with a business location in the corridor represent 75 percent of the worldwide sales of animal health products and diagnostics. That's about $19 billion of total global sales of $25.2 billion.
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Tax Amnesty Program for Kansans Begins Tuesday
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Kansans who owe back taxes to the state should consider paying them in the next few weeks. The state is waiving interest and penalties on back taxes, starting Tuesday through October 15. The amnesty program is available to Kansans who owe individual and business tax debt that accrued before December 31, 2013. The taxes must be repaid in full. Officials with the Kansas Department of Revenue estimated the tax amnesty program could bring in up to $30 million. Applications forms and eligibility information are on the department website. The taxpayer assistance phone number is (785) 296-6121.
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Wyatt Earp Re-Enactor Gets Ripped-Off in Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ A Wyatt Earp re-enactor is missing guns and ammunition after a thief broke into his car. The theft happened Saturday night after the re-enactor spent the day portraying the frontier lawman at a Wichita history museum. The Wichita Eagle reports that while he was inside a restaurant, the back window of his car was smashed. Sergeant Bob Gulliver, a police spokesman, says the re-enactor reported that someone made off with four handguns, their holsters and several thousand rounds of both blank and live ammunition. The victim's appearance earlier in the day at the Old Cowtown Museum was part of an event called the "Age of the Gunfighter.'' No arrests were immediately made.
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Army Corps of Engineers' $1.2 Million River Project Will Help Water Flow in Salina
SALINA, Kan. (AP) _ A $1.2 million federal project to upgrade a concrete installation in the Smoky Hill River will help ensure that a section of the river will flow into Salina's water supply. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project is paid by federal tax dollars. The Salina Journal reports the installation is essentially a concrete wall in the river that facilitates diverting water from the channel and takes it to the water treatment plant. About half Salina's water is supplied by the river. The remainder comes from wells. High water in the Smoky Hill River in 2013 caused a portion of the project structure to break away, reducing the amount of water diverted to the city. Officials say the new structure will have a 50-year design life.
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US Department of Education to Visit Kansas City School
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials from the U.S. Department of Education have announced an upcoming visit to a Kansas City school. The U.S. Department of Education says Woodland Early Learning Center is one of 11 stops on the department's sixth annual back-to-school bus tour, which begins the week of September 14. The Kansas City Star reports that the theme of this year's tour is "Ready for Success." It was unclear if U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan would be among the visitors.
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2 St. Joseph Residents Charged in 1-Year-Old Boy's Death
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — A man and a woman have been charged in the death of a 1-year-old child in St. Joseph. The child, Carter E. Lizar, died Thursday in a Kansas City hospital, where he had been hospitalized for about four days. The St. Joseph News-Press reports that 59-year-old Roy Miller Jr. is charged with felony abuse of a child. The child's mother, 28-year-old Sasha Lizar, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a felony. Court documents stated she left her child in a "dangerous environment." Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins said charges were filed over the weekend. Both Miller and Lizar remained in custody Monday. Online court records don't list lawyers for either defendant.
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Tampa Bay Beats Kansas City 3-2
The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-to-2 yesterday (SUN) in Florida. The Royals have today (MON) off.
