KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have issued a Silver Alert for an 80-year-old Kansas City, Kansas man who has dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Police said John E. Burris told his family Thursday evening that he was in Overland Park buying a pair of shoes. Family members said he sounded confused and said he was lost trying to get home.
Authorities believe Burris might have driven north along Kansas 7 toward Atchison or Leavenworth. He is driving a maroon or burgundy 1995 Crown Victoria with Kansas tag 440BZH.
Burris is a black man, 6-feet-2-inches, 180 pounds with brown eyes, gray hair and a full gray beard. The family was not sure what clothes he was wearing.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City, Kansas police say a man died after a brief struggle with officers.
Police say in a statement after the man’s car was stopped Thursday evening for a traffic violation officers determined he was wanted on a criminal warrant.
The police statement says the man resisted arrest and attempted to flee.
After a brief struggle, officers realized the man needed medical attention and called for emergency responders and tried to help the man.
While the Hays City Commission voted Thursday to prohibit fireworks in 2014, the community is expected to have at least one fireworks display.
Assistant City Manager Paul Briseno said the Wild West Festival fireworks spectacular, scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. July 4, will proceed as planned — primarily because festival organizer and the city will have a contingent on hand to prevent emergencies.
“The city departments including fire works with the group to plan, prepare and stage the professional display safely in one location, thus eliminating many potential hazards,” Brisen said Friday morning. “The fire department calls in employees and staffs trucks at the location.”
The controlled nature of the display in a “controlled environment” is much different than having fireworks shot all across the community by residents, he noted.
“We do not have the staff/resources to guard against issues the dry conditions have created throughout the entire community like we do with a single professionally held event,” Briseno said, “and therefore the commission has voted to eliminate the sale or use of fireworks this year.”
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HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A Hutchinson company is installing what is believed to be the largest private solar project in the state.
A Lawrence company this week began installing a 200-kilowatt system on the roof of BOLD LLC’s building in Hutchinson. The system will supply an estimated 80 percent of the electricity consumed by the 110,000 square feet of office space and warehouse.
The project is part of a larger effort to increase energy efficiency at the building. Company president Bob Peel says the company also is installing motion-activated and more efficient LED lighting. The goal is to eventually have all power supplied by solar energy.
The Hutchinson News reports the system’s electrical generation will equal that required for 25 average homes.
Hays city commissioners Thursday approved a bid from Paul-Wertenberger Construction for terminal improvements at Hays Regional Airport. The bid will now be forwarded to the Federal Aviation Administration for final approval.
Hays Regional Airport
According to ID Creech, director of public works, improvements will include the construction of a larger secure holding area, restroom renovations, a new bathroom inside the TSA holding area, improvements to the roof and HVAC systems, and some “spruce-ups” to the walls and floors of the airport terminal.
The bid also includes the construction of a temporary holding area during the construction phase. A new holding area was included partially because the new commercial carrier, Sky West Airlines, will be using 70-person turbojets, much larger than previous commercial carriers. The current holding area only allows for approximately 30 passengers. SkyWest is scheduled to begin flights Aug. 1.
Much of the funding will come from the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program. The program provides 90 percent of the funding for the construction of eligible portions of the project. The city bears the other 10 percent of the funding of those projects. Improvements that are fully eligible for the AIP funding include the construction of the new hold area and improvements to the lobby. Areas that are partially eligible for the funding include the renovation of the lobby restrooms and improvements to the HVAC facilities. Improvements that are not eligible for AIP funding include the instillation of 2.5 inches of insulation to the roof and the construction of a temporary holding area.
Under the AIP guidelines, the city must accept the lowest bid from the bidder who offers the lowest base bid, which are those areas that are either partially or fully eligible for AIP funding. The city only received one bid in the process, coming from Paul-Wertenberger. The initial bid was tabulated at $1,198,860, but was reduced to $1,188,860. Combined with the engineering costs and the costs for some of the roof insulation and temporary hold area, the total cost of the project comes to $1,385,185. If the bid is accepted by the FAA, the AIP grant will provide $918,783 for the construction and the city will bear the remaining $466,402. Approximately $203, 407 will come from the Airport Improvement fund, $60,800 will come from the Airport Operating Fund and the remaining $202,195 will come from the City Commission Financial Policies’ Fund.
Creech told commissioners he believes it’s a good investment:
Mayor Henry Schwaller said it will be good for area business.
Once the FAA approves the bid, commissioners will vote to accept the financial obligations. According to Creech, construction should take between five and six months.
At Thursday’s Hays City Commission meeting, commissioners unanimously enacted a ban on fireworks for the summer of 2014, citing the persistent drought.
The resolution bans the sale, purchase and discharge of fireworks throughout the city. In normal years, city ordinances allow the sale and use of common fireworks between the 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. July 2 to 4.
Commissioner Shaun Musil noted that the ban was a “no-brainer.”
If commissioners and city staff agree conditions are improving, they do retain the authority to rescind the prohibition.
Ellis County also opted to keep its ban on fireworks in the county in effect at Monday’s meeting.
Looking at a radar map of the storm front moving into the region Thursday evening, it was easy to think, “Here comes some rain.”
Waking up this morning to bone-dry pavement and empty rain gauges, the parched region was yet again left disappointed.
The massive storm system moving north through the state simply fell apart, said Matt Gerard of the National Weather Service in Dodge City.
“It just weakened and fell apart completely,” he said.
Before that, the system did drop between 1.25 and 1.5 inches of rain in the Elkhart region, while the Syracuse area had approximately a half-inch of rain.
The system simply didn’t have the upper-level disturbance necessary to maintain it through the cooler evening hours.
“It kind of lost steam as it was coming north,” Gerard said.
For the optimist, there remains chances for moisture throughout the holiday weekend. A system moving north from the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma could deliver some precipitation this afternoon, while a system currently in the desert Southwest could offer a chance Sunday and into Monday.
“Probably not real severe,” Gerard said of the potential storms. “There’s some potential, but marginal … maybe some smaller hail and wind gusts.”
In northwest Kansas, spotty rain was reported, with a trace amount in far western Ellis County. About a half-inch of rain was reported in northeast Logan County, and a spotter in Sherman County reported 1.11 inches of rain.
WAMEGO, Kan.–A Wamego man who is the suspect in a shooting that occurred in the early morning hours of December 10th, 2013, outside of the Quality Inn in Manhattan was in Pottawatomie County District Court Thursday morning.
Dustin Monroe of Wamego entered the no contest plea on two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, and criminal discharge of a weapon at an occupied building. He was found guilty on those charges.
In court the prosecution testified that in the early morning hours of December 10th, 2013, Monroe was outside of the Quality Inn on East Poyntz Ave. in Manhattan with a long rifle next to a pick up truck. Monroe was accused of firing the weapon towards law enforcement and at the Quality Inn, sending patrons inside the establishment running for cover.
Police eventually fired back, striking Monroe. He was transported to a nearby hospital and treated for a gunshot wound.
Sherri Schuck, Pottawatomie County Attorney, explained that the plea agreement is a win-win situation for the state.
“We avoid having a lengthy or costly trial. We have three absolute person convictions, and we get to argue an appropriate sentence,” Schuck said.
Schuck further explained that all three charges are felonies. Monroe could be facing between 17 and 46 months in the Department of Corrections for the two aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer charges, and between 17 and 46 months on the criminal discharge of a firearm charges.
Sentencing was scheduled for August 14th at 1:00 p.m. in Pottawatomie District Court in Westmoreland.
Registration deadlines begin this month for summer camps sponsored by Fort Hays State University’s Sternberg Museum of Natural History. Camps are available for students of all ages.
Camp subjects range from animals, rocks and minerals to fossils and Paleontology. All camps are limited to 10 participants. For more information, click HERE.
Registration deadlines:
May 23: Fun with Fossils, elementary school day camp.
May 26: Junior Reptiles and Amphibians, elementary school day camp.
May 30: Paleontology Expedition, middle school camp.
June 2: Marvelous Mammals, middle school camp.
June 3: Junior Plants, Insects and Spiders, elementary school day camp.
June 5: Bird Biologists, middle school camp.
June 9: Reptiles and Amphibians, middle school camp.
June 20: Junior Bird Biologists, elementary school day camp.
July 3: Paleontology Field Crew, high school two-week camp.
July 25: Rocks and Minerals, middle school camp.
July 28: Plants, Insects and Spiders, middle school camp.
Aug 1: Junior Marvelous Mammals, elementary school day camp.
Aug 4: Junior Rocks and Minerals, elementary school day camp.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Corporation Commission has approved a Westar Energy rate increase to help pay for environmental projects.
The approval on Thursday means residential customers who use about 900 kilowatt hours will pay about 67 cents more per month, for a total of $3.49 of each bill dedicated to environmental projects.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Westar will collect about $58 million to cover its environmental costs. That’s about $11 million more than the utility recovered last year.
The company had requested $1.2 million more than it received.
Westar listed 20 environmental projects it had to meet federal or state requirements, and commission staff found all the projects met the standards for cost recovery.
