WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism said officers pulled 17 stranded boats off the reservoirs during the holiday weekend.

Capt. Dan Melson said Wednesday the boats either ran out of gas or had mechanical failures. He says the holiday generally is the first time every year people take out their boats, and many don’t prepare their boats for the water.

Melson told The Wichita Eagle the number of boating and fishing incidents was relatively low because rainy weather kept many boaters off the reservoirs.

Two people drowned in Kansas reservoirs during the weekend. Wardens issued 113 citations for boating violations and 67 for fishing violations, and one person was arrested for boating under the influence.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas State Board of Education plans a special meeting next week to approve regulations for a new law that allows applicants without education degrees to obtain teaching licenses.

The law takes effect July 1 and was included in a school finance bill approved by the Legislature in early April.

State education officials said the change would increase the available pool of teachers in science, math, engineering and technology. The law will allow people with bachelor’s degrees and significant work experience in the designated fields to teach in secondary schools.

Another section makes it easier for teachers licensed in other states to obtain Kansas licenses.

The state board will meet via conference call Tuesday to approve the necessary regulations.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A fund for the family of a former Wichita police officer who died in a fall in Missouri has reached more than $13,500.

Shane Little and another man were climbing a trail at Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri, on Friday when he fell to the base of the cliff.

Little had been a member of Wichita’s North Patrol for several years before he contracted bacterial meningitis in 2011 and was left blind and unable to work.

Little is survived by his wife, Amanda, who is a Wichita police officer, and four children under age 8.

The Wichita Eagle reports that members of the Fraternal Order of Police and Wives Backing the Badge established a fund to help Little’s family via the online fundraising site GiveForward.com.

By Dave Ranney
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — The father of a combat veteran who says that mental illness played a role in his son’s bad conduct discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps is asking Kansas legislators to introduce a bill aimed at reducing the likelihood that a mentally ill veteran would spend time in jail or prison instead of being treated.

“If you have mental illness and you happen to commit a crime, the judge in your case should have diversion as an option,” said Jim Brann a retired telecommunications executive from Overland Park. “The judge should be allowed to require you to get treatment and to take your medications. Jail shouldn’t be the only option.”

Earlier this year, legislators passed a House Bill 2655 which would allow an honorably discharged combat veteran convicted of a crime to “assert” that the combat experience and likely post-traumatic stress disorder were factors.

If these assertions are made, the court must then confirm or deny their validity. If they are confirmed, the judge may order the veteran to undergo inpatient or outpatient treatment instead of going to jail.

The new law, which takes effect July 1, would only apply in cases of lower-level crimes and would only apply to those who were honorably discharged.
I’m saying it should be applied to (bad conduct and) dishonorably discharged veterans as well,” Brann said.

Brann, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, spoke today at a meeting the Kansas Mental Health Coalition.

He said his youngest son, Billy, now 30, served two nine-month tours in Iraq and was in “extreme combat at Fallujah and Ramadi.”

He was given a bad conduct discharge in 2008.

“He and three other Marines smuggled drugs into Iraq,” Brann said. “And when they ran out of drugs, they stole morphine from a corpsman.”

Brann said his son’s actions stemmed in part from him being bipolar and having been in combat.

“He was self-medicating,” he said. “He has a lot of PTSD. He’s going through a lot of depression. When he looks in the mirror, he doesn’t like the person he sees.”

Brann said his son continued to use drugs after he left the service. He’s now an inmate at the Sedgwick County Jail.

“Ever since he left the Marine Corps, he’s been in and out of trouble with law enforcement,” Brann said, noting that his son is scheduled to be released on probation June 8.

He said the new law discriminates against mentally ill veterans whose aberrant behaviors led to bad conduct or dishonorable discharges.

“The law says the judge can divert you if you’ve been in combat and if you have PSTD, but only if you’re honorably discharged,” Brann said. “I’m saying it shouldn’t matter. My son was in some of the worst combat in Iraq, my son has PTSD, my son has a mental illness.”

Brann said he’s discussed his proposal with several legislators from Johnson County. Most, he said, appeared supportive.

Brann said he’s also asking legislators to require the state’s prisons and county jails to make mental health counseling and medication available to all inmates known to be mentally ill and upon release connect them with mental health services in their communities.

“I know we can’t make people go to counseling or take their medications,” he said. “But those services need to be there and a lot of times they’re not.”

Jeremy Barclay, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Corrections, said it wasn’t immediately clear how Brann’s proposal might affect the agency’s operations.

“The devil’s always in the details,” Barclay said. “We’re always supportive of recommendations for helping the mentally ill and, for that matter, veterans. It sounds like we’re already doing a lot of what he’s proposing. I’d have to see the bill before I could say much about it.”

During the coalition meeting, Gina Meier-Hummel, commissioner of community services and programs at the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, said the agency plans to launch a public awareness campaign on mental illness issues in September.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Republican delegation will visit Kansas City next week as the party continues to weigh possible locations for its 2016 presidential nominating convention.

Kansas City was chosen last week as one of four finalists for the convention, along with Cleveland, Denver and Dallas.

The Republican National Committee said its Site Selection Delegation will be in Kansas City for three days beginning June 4 to consider venues, hospitality, security and transportation. Members will also meet with local officials to discuss Kansas City’s bid.

The campaign to land the GOP convention has been a bistate effort. Donations totaling $260,000 were announced in April by officials of Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri; Johnson County, Kansas; and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas.

JC Post

JUNCTION CITY — The body of a Salina man who drowned at Milford Lake last Sunday has been recovered.

Tony Wolf, Geary County Sheriff, identified the drowning victim as Stephen B. Edwards, 65, Salina.

Wolf said authorities received a 911 call about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. “That a fisherman had located the body.  We responded and we recovered the body just right about five o’clock.”

The sheriff reported the victim’s body had come to the surface in the Lake right in a cove in the West Rollings area where authorities had been searching.

Wolf had reported earlier that Edwards drowned Sunday morning after falling off of a pontoon boat when he went for a fishing rod that was going overboard. Edwards fell off the boat, and never resurfaced.

The drowning occurred about 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Since then Wolf estimated 15 to 20 personnel from multiple agencies and departments participated in the search. In the last two days that number had been scaled back to about eight people. The  Geary County Sheriff’s Department,  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, Junction City Fire / EMS,  Geary County Emergency Management, and the Shawnee Mission dive team all participated in the search.