High winds on Monday afternoon and evening blew dirt and caused roads to be closed in parts of western Kansas. 

Goodland reported wind gusts of 58 miles per hour and the resulting dust storm closed I-70 west bound to the Colorado border. K-27 was also closed from Sharon Springs to Goodland.

Burlington Colorado reported wind gusts in the 70s. Ulysses, in Southwest Kansas, had gusts in the low 60s. Dodge City reported winds in the 50s and Russell had a wind gust of 49 mph.  Other than the dirt, no damage was reported.

(AP) — Kansas City police have identified a man and woman who were found dead in a burned van earlier this month.

Police on Monday say 24-year-old Dennis Smith and 22-year-old Linda Williams, both of Kansas City, died Sept. 15 after an argument with a friend.

The victims got into an argument with the friend while in a van and the suspect allegedly shot Smith as he sat in the driver’s seat.

Williams and another person jumped out of the van but the gunman forced her back into the vehicle and drove away. Police say he later killed Williams and drove to Kansas, where he set the van on fire.

The suspected gunman was arrested the next day on a federal parole violation.

 

 

(AP) — Authorities are investigating after two burned bodies were found inside a minivan in Kansas City, Kan.

Police said firefighters made the discovery early Sunday while responding to a report of a vehicle fire. Police said the contents of the Oldsmobile Silhouette were burned beyond recognition. The identity of the victims will not be released until they are positively identified and their families notified.

Police are asking the public to call with tips. No other information was immediately available.

 

(AP) — Cowley County authorities say human remains discovered near Winfield  were those of a homeless man originally from New Mexico.

The sheriff’s office said in a news release Monday that DNA testing showed the remains were those of 38-year-old Adam Tyler Miller.

Authorities say Miller had been staying in the Arkansas City and Winfield area. He was arrested for trespassing twice in September 2012 but had no contact with law enforcement since then.

Miller told officers he was homeless and suffered from several medical conditions. The sheriff’s office says Miller left his home and family members in Albuquerque, N.M., five years ago and had not contacted them since then.

Investigators found no evidence of foul play. Investigators are seeking information about Miller’s movements since Sept. 12, 2012.

Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder has declined to file any charges, “sexual in nature,” against a 21-year-old Hutchinson man police say broke into a

home and inappropriately touched a 10-year-old girl and two 9-year-old’s.Schroeder sad at this point, there is insufficient evidence to support that the touching by Tyler Ford, which occurred with the three young girls was sexual in nature, or that it was meant for sexual pleasure. He says one child was touched maybe on her back, and another on the ankle.

He did charge Ford with aggravated burglary for breaking into the home in the 200 block of South Monroe in Hutchinson. He alleges that this was done with the intent to commit theft, felony or sexual battery. This charge carry’s a sentencing range of 31-to-136 months depending on his criminal history. Apparently the burglary and touching of the girls happened when the kids were in bed.

The girls’ father chased Ford from the home and police later found him walking in the area of Avenue A & Monroe. They also found his cell-phone in the child’s room. He was unknown to the family, but apparently lives within a block of their home on Sunday September 15.
Wichita Attorney Alice Osburn assigned to the case was not in court for the hearing.

Schroeder told the media that he simply couldn’t file the indecent liberties charges because of insufficient evidence at this point, however he said that can always change. He says it warrants further investigation.
Schroeder commented that the defendant is lucky he wasn’t shot.

 

(AP) — The Kansas Senate’s top Democrat says he worries the swearing in of Gov. Sam Brownback’s chief counsel as a state appeals judge is being deliberately

delayed until next year.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley is concerned the delay is to prevent a November 2014 vote on whether appointee Caleb Stegall stays on the bench.

The GOP-dominated Senate confirmed Stegall’s appointment Sept. 4. Stegall isn’t being sworn in until Jan. 3.

If Stegall took his seat before Nov. 4, he’d face his first statewide retention vote in the November 2014 general election. But with his swearing in set for next year, he won’t be on the ballot until November 2016.

The governor’s office says it wasn’t involved in setting the date. Court officials say the timing is tied to budget issues.

 

The Wichita City Council has approved the largest cash settlement stemming from a police standoff at an apartment building.

Council members voted 5-0 Tuesday to approve the $25,000 settlement with Southlake Village Apartments resident Justin Zoucher.  He was among several residents whose apartments were damaged during the police standoff in July.

The 32-hour standoff began after 24-year-old Jared Woosypiti locked himself in a nearby apartment. The standoff ended when Woosypiti was killed in a gunfight.

The settlement with Zoucher is one of eight settlements the city has approved with residents.  On Sept. 10, the council approved a $20,000 settlement with Alyssa Cooper and Derrick Jochum, whose apartment and contents were heavily damaged during the standoff.

Six other settlements were approved earlier.

Federal officials on Monday announced that the Kansas Insurance Department had been awarded a $3.1 million grant for enhancing the technologies it uses to review health insurance rate increases, promote rate transparency, educate consumers, and hold insurance companies accountable.

Similar grants from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were awarded to 20 other states.

The grants, totaling $67.6 million, are meant to ensure state reviews of proposed health insurance rate increases of 10 percent or more. The reviews are a key cost-control element of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

In addition to the technology enhancements, a portion of the grant will be used to develop a “consumer friendly” website for sharing non-personal data as well as in-state reports on health care costs, quality and outcomes.

The grant also will underwrite the insurance department’s “…work with partners at the Kansas Health Institute and University of Kansas to study data available and prepare fee schedules and other reports that accurately reflect charges for medical services,” Neil Woerman, the department’s director of information technology, wrote in an email to KHI News Service.

The Kansas Health Institute is the parent organization of KHI News Service.