Winter Storm Cancels Classes in Kansas and Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hundreds of public schools and several universities in Kansas and Missouri are closing or starting late after a winter storm hit the region. Freezing rain that was coated with a layer of 1 to 3 inches of snow has slickened roads for the Wednesday commute. The Kansas Department of Transportation warned drivers to expect ice, especially on bridges. The University of Kansas and Missouri Western State University will be closed, while Baker University and Emporia State University are opening late. Among the Kansas districts canceling classes are Emporia, Atchison, Lawrence, Shawnee Mission and Topeka. Closures in Missouri included St. Joseph and Kansas City. For Riley announced it is operating with minimal manning and limited services. And the Kansas Legislature and state offices will open late. Check out the closures and cancelations called in to Kansas Public Radio.
====================
Kansas Offers Unemployment Benefits to Furloughed Workers
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Department of Labor says federal employees who are furloughed during the partial government shutdown can seek unemployment benefits. The Salina Journal reports that federal workers in Kansas can apply for unemployment benefits by calling the department's Unemployment Contact Center. The state says federal employees who are still working full-time without pay during the shutdown won't be eligible. Kansas labor officials say federal workers should be prepared to provide wage verification because the agency may be unable to reach their employers as the five-week old stalemate over President Donald Trump's demand for border wall funding endures. Workers will have to repay unemployment benefits if they receive back pay once the government is reopened. Trump signed legislation last week to guarantee back pay to federal employees once the shutdown ends.
===================
Kansas Governor Wants Review of State Sentencing Guidelines
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly said she wants a review of state sentencing guidelines to reduce overcrowding in prisons, a move that could find bipartisan support in the Republican-controlled Legislature. The Democratic governor said in an interview Tuesday with The Topeka Capital-Journal's editorial board that she would like to see more people receiving treatment rather than spending time in a cell. Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, R-Overland Park, said he believes finding ways to reduce the prison population "would get a lot of attention." Most of the discussion has been is in relation to the legalization of medicinal marijuana, Denning said. But the governor said many people in prison don't belong there.
"Aside from overflowing prisons, they lose their job, they lose their family, and they also become unemployable," Kelly said.
Kelly, whose first job out of college was at a boys' prison in Illinois, told the newspaper that she wants Kansas Secretary of Corrections Roger Werholtz to evaluate the state corrections system. Rehabilitation programs elsewhere have led to declines in recidivism, she said.
"Unless we want to give up on these people and pay for them for the rest of their lives, it's a wise investment," Kelly said.
====================
New Kansas House Rules Still Allow Unrecorded Votes on Bills
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Some Democrats are protesting new rules in the Kansas House because they still allow unrecorded votes by committees on legislation. The House approved its operating rules Wednesday on a 104-15 vote. The rules will be in effect for 2019 and 2020. Leaders from both parties said the rules contain changes designed to make the legislative process more open. They require more disclosure of information about who seeks bills and are aimed at making it easier to track when they're completely rewritten. But some Democrats said the changes aren't significant and that the GOP-controlled House needs to require recorded votes on legislation in committee. Most committee members' votes are not recorded. It's a long-standing practice. Top House Republicans said requiring recorded votes in committee would slow their work down.
====================
Pompeo Deflects Kansas Senate Talk, Says He Has 'Full Plate'
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is deflecting speculation that he might run for Senate in Kansas, saying he has a "very full plate" in his current job. Pompeo was asked Wednesday night in a Fox News television interview about whether he might run next year for the seat held by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. He stopped short of ruling it out but said his "singular focus" is his work as the nation's top diplomat under President Donald Trump. He acknowledged receiving encouragement from several Republicans to seek the seat. At least seven Republicans have said they're interested in running. Pompeo represented a Wichita-area district in the House for six years before Trump named him CIA director in 2017. He became secretary of state in April 2018.
====================
Woman Dies in Icy Crash; Trooper Moved to Tears
GOODLAND, Kan. (AP) — A state trooper wiped away tears after a woman died in a crash on an icy stretch of Interstate 70 in Kansas. The Kansas Highway Patrol says 19-year-old Ashlen Leigh Lemon died Tuesday when she lost control of her car because of icy road conditions, hit the median and struck a guardrail. Trooper Ben Gardner posted a video on Twitter as he wiped tears from his face and said, "It's devastating." The trooper asked motorists to consider their safety during inclement weather. He later asked people to focus on Lemon's family. A winter storm carrying ice, snow and high winds moved east across Kansas Tuesday, forcing officials to close a stretch of I-70 because of icy conditions and numerous accidents. The storm also prompted school closings and cancellations of several events. Governor Laura Kelly sent all non-essential state employees home Tuesday afternoon because of the conditions. And state government in Shawnee County is getting a late start today (WED), with non-essential state employees being told they can report for work at 11 am. Interstate 70 was closed between Colby and the Colorado border for several hours but was reopened Tuesday afternoon. A section of the interstate between Junction City and Chapman remained closed because of icy conditions and numerous accidents.
====================
Missouri Woman Sentenced to Life After Child Drowns in Kansas River at Lawrence
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 26-year-old Missouri woman who intentionally drove her car into the Kansas River with her two children inside has been sentenced to life in prison. KMBC-TV reports Scharron Dingledine, of Columbia, Missouri, was sentenced Tuesday for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Prosecutors said she drove her car into the river near Lawrence in August . She and her 1-year-old son were rescued. The body of her 5-year-old daughter, Amiyah Bradley, was recovered the next day. Dingledine told police she drove into the river in an attempt to kill herself and her children. She said she knew neither child could swim and would likely die. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder charge, and nearly 13 years for the attempted murder charge.
====================
Choreographer, Coach Deny Saying Student's Skin 'Too Dark'
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The former coach and a choreographer for a Kansas high school dance team are denying they prevented a black student from performing during an event because her skin was "too dark" and clashed with the costumes. Former student Camille Sturdivant has sued the Blue Valley School District, alleging she was discriminated against after complaining about how she was treated. Choreographer Kevin Murakami released a statement Tuesday saying the allegation was "absolute nonsense." He says he treated all dancers with respect. The lawsuit also alleges Murakami and former coach Carley Fine exchanged racist text messages about Sturdivant after she was named to the University of Missouri dance team. Fine was fired a day after the principal became aware of the messages. Fine told WDAF-TV the accusations are "false and/or misleading." She says her lawyers told her not to comment further.
====================
Man Asks to Change Guilty Plea in Deputy's Kidnapping, Rape
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A suspect in the ambush, kidnapping and rape of a Johnson County sheriff's deputy wants to withdraw his guilty plea. The Kansas City Star reports 23-year-old Brady Newman-Caddell, of Independence, Missouri, was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty in May to the attack. Instead, he asked to withdraw his plea and go to trial. His attorney, Zane Todd, then withdrew from the case. His co-defendant, 26-year-old William Luth, of Blue Springs, Missouri, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 41 years in prison. Court testimony indicated the two men kidnapped the deputy as she arrived for work, forced her into a car and took turns raping and sodomizing her. Newman-Caddell and Luth also are suspected of attacking an Independence, Missouri, woman several months before the deputy was attacked.
====================
3 Men Charged with Conspiracy to Make 'Swatting' Calls
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three men have been charged with conspiracy to help a Los Angeles man make phony emergency "swatting" calls around the nation in hopes of sending police to the scene or forcing building evacuations. Federal indictments unsealed Wednesday in Los Angeles allege they conspired with Tyler Barriss in 2017 to make bomb and shooting reports to police, a high school and convention center in Connecticut, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois. Barriss pleaded guilty in November to making hoax calls, including one that led a Wichita, Kansas, police officer answering a shooting call to kill an innocent man. The Los Angeles indictment names Neal Patel of Des Plaines, Illinois; Tyler Stewart of Gulf Breeze, Florida; and Logan Patten of Greenwood, Missouri. Two are in custody. It's unclear if the men have lawyers.
====================
Man Sentenced for Suffocating Infant Son After Drinking
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 34-year-old Kansas man who authorities say suffocated his 2-month-old twin son by rolling over on him while they slept has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison. The Wichita Eagle reports Kyle Kempton was sentenced Tuesday to 32 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter and four misdemeanor counts of endangering a child. Police say Kempton and his wife, Christy Rollings, had been drinking for a week before their son, Patrick Kempton, died in August in a Wichita motel. The other twin was not injured. Rollings was charged with the same crimes and sentenced to probation for manslaughter and two years for the endangerment charges. Officers took the twins from the parents two days before the boy died at the Scotsman Inn, but a family member returned the children to them.
====================
Woman Convicted of Severely Injuring 4-Month-Old Boy
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A 27-year-old Olathe woman has been found guilty of injuring an infant boy so badly at her home day care that he was left blind and brain damaged. Paige Hatfield was found guilty Friday of aggravated battery in Johnson County District Court. The jury also granted a motion to allow the judge to impose a sentence above what is called for in state sentencing guidelines. Hatfield is scheduled to be sentenced March 28. The Kansas City Star reported the boy, Kingston Gilbert, was four months old when he was injured at the unlicensed day care in January 2017. Hatfield testified that she did not hurt the child.
====================
Topeka Worker Finds Injured Homeless Man with Dog
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An employee of a business at a Topeka shopping center found an injured homeless man curled up in a fenced-off area with a small black dog at his side. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the homeless man told the employee who found him Wednesday at the Holliday Square shopping center that he had fallen and hurt his hip and had been laying there about seven days. Two snowfalls had occurred during that time with temperatures dipping into the single digits. Police say the man had no shoes and his feet were wrapped in socks. He was treated in an ambulance but refused to go to the hospital. Animal control officers placed the dog in a shelter for safe-keeping. The man's name and condition weren't immediately available.
====================
Prosecutors Charge Disbarred Attorney with Embezzlement
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged a disbarred Wichita attorney with embezzling more than $132,000 from a bankruptcy estate. A criminal information filed Wednesday in federal court in Kansas charges Christopher W. O'Brien with one count of embezzlement and two counts of making false statements. Court records do not list a defense attorney. The government alleges O'Brien was acting as an attorney in the bankruptcy case of RCCA Well Service, LLC, when he stole between 2011 and 2014 money belonging to the estate. O'Brien is also charged with making false statements in sworn affidavits related to bankruptcy cases for RCCA Well Service and Machining Program Manufacturing, Inc. His first court appearance is February 6.
====================
Ex-Soldier Sentenced for Sexually Abusing 5-Year-Old Girl; Had Previous Conviction in Kansas
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing a 5-year-old and 18-year-old while he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Craig Ralston was sentenced Tuesday for sex crimes involving the 5-year-old girl in 2003 and the 18-year-old in 2008. The Springfield News-Leader reports he met both victims while attending church in St. Robert. Prosecutors said Ralston's history of abusing children began when he was 13 years old. He was previously convicted of taking indecent liberties with a 12-year-old child in Kansas in 2009. Ralston apologized before his sentencing for the crimes and for being a bad husband. Prosecutors had asked that Ralston be sentenced to life in prison. Ralston was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release after his incarceration.
====================
Gun Safe Had Been Locked Before Deadly Shooting of Boy
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say an 11-year-old boy and his 9-year-old friend managed to unlock a bedroom gun safe before the older boy fatally shot the younger child in a Wichita mobile home. The Wichita Eagle reports that Officer Charley Davidson said Tuesday in an email that the family who lives in the home didn't know that the gun was loaded when Roy'Ale Spencer was killed. Davidson said the children got into the safe Monday after the adults in the home left for work, leaving three teens in charge. Students in Wichita public schools were out of class Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Inside the safe were two rifle-style BB guns and one shotgun, which had ammunition in it. After Spencer was shot, one teen attempted lifesaving efforts and called 911.
====================
Abortion Foes Vow to Pursue Change in Kansas Constitution
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Anti-abortion leaders are promising to pursue a change in the Kansas Constitution if the state's highest court rules that the document protects abortion rights. Several hundred abortion opponents rallied Tuesday inside the Statehouse. They marked the 46th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that legalized abortion across the nation. But anti-abortion leaders also had another pending court case on their minds. The Kansas Supreme Court heard arguments nearly two years ago from attorneys on whether the state constitution protects abortion rights. The justices have not ruled. If they declare that the state constitution protects abortion rights, state courts might invalidate restrictions in Kansas that would be upheld by the federal courts. Anti-abortion leaders said they would respond by pursuing a state constitutional amendment.
====================
Kansas Secretary of State Could Lose Election Crimes Authority
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas House committees are considering two bills that would repeal the secretary of state's authority to prosecute election crimes. Former Secretary of State Kris Kobach fought to have that authority while he was in the office and was successful in 2015 . Kobach argued that having the authority to prosecute election crimes would stop what he contended was widespread fraudulent voting by illegal immigrants. The Wichita Eagle reports that in 3½ years, Kobach prosecuted 10 to 15 cases of voter fraud. None of the defendants were illegal immigrants. Attorney General Derek Schmidt says Scott Schwab, who replaced Kobach as secretary of state, wants to return to the office's traditional responsibilities of registering businesses and administering elections. That would return prosecution of voting crimes to state and county prosecutors.
====================
New Rules Allows Breastfeeding in Kansas House
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Female lawmakers are now able to breastfeed in the Kansas House. The Kansas City Star reports lawmakers approved the breastfeeding provision Tuesday as part of a package or rules for the chamber. Representative Ponka-We Victors, a Wichita Democrat who offered the rule change, says the House rules should be updated to reflect the makeup of the chamber's members. Representative Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican, said the breastfeeding on the House floor hadn't been an issue in the past even though House rules didn't take a stance on the issue. She questioned whether it was necessary to make a specific rule on the subject.
====================
Sentencing Delayed for Suspect in Deadly Kansas Hoax Call
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has delayed sentencing for a California man who admitted making a hoax call that led police to fatally shoot a Kansas man following a dispute between two online gamers over a $1.50 bet in a Call of Duty WWII video game. U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren on Tuesday delayed until March 1 sentencing for Tyler R. Barriss. The government and defense had jointly requested more time to review objections to a presentence investigation report. The hearing had been scheduled for January 30. Barriss has pleaded guilty to 51 federal charges, including making a false report resulting in a death, cyberstalking and conspiracy related to the deadly swatting case in Kansas. The plea deal is expected to send him to prison for at least 20 years.
====================
Kansas City Jeweler Claims It Was Wronged by Computer in Online Review
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A lawsuit making its way through federal court alleges that a Missouri jeweler was trashed online by a Kansas competitor who used a customer's phone to write the bad review. The Kansas City Star reports that Meierotto Jewelers, of Kansas City, Missouri, has sued Karats Jewelers, of Overland Park and its owner, Akshay Anand. After a review described Meierotto's as "pushy," an employee reached out to the apparent poster. The woman said in a Facebook conversation that was submitted into evidence that she didn't post the review but maybe someone else had. She said Anand walked away with her phone during a visit. Anand said he was "flabbergasted" by the claim. He and his business filed a counterclaim Tuesday, alleging Karats also was wronged. Both sides are seeking damages.
====================
K-State's Defense Stifles No. 14 Texas Tech in 58-45 Win
MANHATTAN, Kansas (AP) — Kansas State and Texas Tech have two of the four highest-rated defenses in the country. They didn't disappoint Tuesday night. In a preview of the tough test that awaits Big 12 opponents, the Wildcats ground down the 14th-ranked Red Raiders 58-45 on Tuesday night. Kansas State held Tech to a season low in points and hasn't allowed a team to score more than 71 this season. "First of all, it is about K-State's defense," Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. "One team has broken 70 on them this year, and we knew it was going to be a difficult game to score so we set up a game plan." That game plan didn't work. Barry Brown Jr. had 15 points, Dean Wade scored 13 and Mike McGuirl added nine as K-State hit big shot after big shot. "Everyone is coming to win and play their best game," Brown said. "Especially knowing you've won five straight, everyone is trying to stop your momentum." The Big 12's top-ranked defenses combined to force 30 turnovers. The Wildcats (15-4, 5-2) held Texas Tech to 33-percent shooting and never let the Red Raiders get their offense rolling.
After Tuesday night, the teams seem to be going in different directions. K-State has won five straight while the Red Raiders have lost their last three games after starting 4-0 in Big 12 play. Beard thinks the Wildcats are built for a title run this year and was quick to give them credit after the loss. "This is one of the best teams in the country," he said. "Now they have won five straight, which is a direct reflection of the character of the guys they have on their team."
K-State is in a tie for first in the conference with Kansas, which has won 14 straight regular-season titles. The Wildcats will clash with the Jayhawks for the first of two meetings on February 5th at home.
BIG PICTURE
Texas Tech has lost three straight games after starting 4-0 in conference play. They will need to get the ship going back in the right direction soon. Kansas State has won five straight and looks to be one of the best teams in the Big 12.
UP NEXT
Texas Tech will be home Saturday against Arkansas in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge.
K-State plays at Texas A&M on Saturday.
====================
