Shawnee County Crash Kills One, Injures Another
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Highway Patrol says one person is dead and another has been seriously injured in a crash just west of Topeka in Shawnee County. The Capital-Journal reports that the single-vehicle crash happened Friday night on eastbound Interstate 70, when a vehicle drove into the median, went airborne and hit a creek embankment and a bridge pillar. A passenger, 29-year-old Carlos Colon-Medina of Topeka, was killed. The 23-year-old driver was taken to Stormont Vail Hospital with serious injuries. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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Seized Antlers Sold in Closed Auction
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials have sold a set of trophy antlers from an illegally shot buck for $16,001 in a closed auction. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the 14-point rack had prompted legislation and years of wrangling before Thursday's sale. A poacher shot the buck in a rural area south of Topeka in 2011 and fled with its head. After state wildlife officials seized the antlers the next year, a man whose family owned the land where the buck was shot claimed rights to the rack. He prevailed in the auction, where he and Bass Pro Shops were the only invited bidders.
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Kansas City Man Charged in Mother's Killing
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities have charged a Kansas City man in the shooting death last week of his 51-year-old mother. The Kansas City Star reports that 20-year-old Joshua Thompson has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the December 27th shooting death of Lisa Powell. Powell's body was found on a pathway between two homes in the Northland neighborhood with several gunshot wounds. Investigators say shell casings and bullets found at the scene match those later found in Thompson's room in his mother's home. Thompson is being held in the Clay County Jail on $1 million bond. His next hearing is set for Tuesday.
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Suburban KC Police Sergeant Killed in Crash
GLADSTONE, Mo. (AP) — Police in the Kansas City suburb of Gladstone say an Independence police sergeant and another motorist have been killed in a head-on crash. The Kansas City Star reports the crash happened Thursday night in Gladstone, killing 48-year-old Sgt. Jason Young, who was driving a car that crashed head-on with a pickup truck. The driver of the truck also died. Police have not released that driver's name. Young was a 20-year veteran of the Independence department. He was off duty when the crash happened.
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Motive for KC-area Crime Spree Still Unknown
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Investigators are still trying to determine what prompted a man to steal a gun at a suburban Kansas City store before driving to a car dealership and shooting a salesman. The man, who was identified Friday as 26-year-old Jeffery Millsap, died Thursday after he led authorities on a chase and was shot by a Clay County sheriff's deputy near Holt. Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Bill Lowe says a gun found near Millsap after he was shot was the same gun stolen earlier Thursday from a sporting goods store in Liberty. It is still unclear if Millsap fired at officers before he was shot.
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Missouri Man Sues Public Defender's Office
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man whose conviction was overturned after he spent more than two years in prison is suing the federal public defender's office. 30-year-old Aaron Winters says in his lawsuit that his public defender told him to plead guilty even though he was innocent. Winters was sentenced to 30 months in prison after his arrest in 2012 for being a felon in possession of a firearm. However, Winters later learned that he was not banned from having a gun because he had been sentenced to less than a year on an earlier conviction for possessing marijuana without a tax stamp. Federal prosecutors then recommended Winters conviction be overturned.
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Humboldt Water Plant Reopens after Chemical Spill Scare
HUMBOLDT, Kan. (AP) — Residents of a southeast Kansas town are able to once again use the city water after a water plant that was shut down reopened. Humboldt officials urged residents on Thursday to conserve water because of a chemical spill in the Neosho River. State health officials gave the all-clear and residents were told they could go back to regular water use Friday afternoon. The chemicals were spilled during a fire at Mid-West Fertilizer in Iola.
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Man Admits Shooting Fake Attack Ad in Wichita Mayor's Race
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The lawyer for a man who shot a false attack ad against Brandon Whipple during the Wichita mayoral race says his client did not act alone. Whipple, who won the mayor's race, is suing unknown people and 21-year-old Matthew Colborn, a video producer who admits shooting an ad that falsely suggested that Whipple had been accused of sexual harassment at the Kansas Statehouse. In court filings on Tuesday, attorney Ross Hollander wrote that Colborn made the video at the direction of others, who are not identified in court records. It’s still unclear whose idea the video was and who financed
it.
