WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 24-year-old woman is dead after being shot while walking in a south Wichita neighborhood with her husband, a documented gang member.

The Wichita Eagle reports the couple were walking at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday when several shots were fired toward them. Police Lt. Todd Ojile says both the man and the woman began running, but one of the shots hit the woman in the head.

The woman is identified in a police document as Nichole Saldana, who was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before midnight.

Ojile says one person was detained for questioning but no arrests have been made. Police believe more than one weapon was fired at the couple.

He says the couple lived a few blocks from where the shooting occurred.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for convicted government secrets leaker Chelsea Manning says the Army private wants to get treatment for her gender disorder at the Fort Leavenworth military prison, not at a civilian federal lockup.

That word comes after military officials told The Associated Press the Pentagon is trying to transfer Manning to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Lawyer David Coombs says the federal prison system is not as safe as the military prison in Kansas. He says the proposed transfer would force Manning to choose between medical treatment and her personal safety.

Transgender people are not allowed to serve in the military.

The Defense Department doesn’t provide such treatment, but Manning can’t be discharged from the service while serving her 35-year prison sentence.

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) — Colorado is joining the effort to preserve the current route of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief.

On Wednesday, Gov. John Hickenlooper is set to sign a bill creating a commission to work with officials in Kansas and New Mexico to continue the existing service. It will also push for a new stop in Pueblo.

The Southwest Chief travels between Chicago and Los Angeles, but part of the current route is in jeopardy because the Burlington Northern Santa Fe track it uses need to be upgraded.

BNSF has pledged $2 million for the work, Amtrak has pledged $4 million and the Kansas Department of Transportation has committed $3 million. The money from the coalition would be provided to match possible federal Transportation Infrastructure Generating Economic Recovery grants.

Kansas Department of Transportation

SHAWNEE — Two years ago, Shelby Feugate was a 20-year-old who never wore her seat belt.

“I thought they were uncomfortable and I just didn’t like them,” Feugate said. “I never thought I’d get into a crash.”

Feugate spoke from a wheelchair Wednesday at a Kansas Department of Transportation news conference at the Shawnee Police Department.

Feugate says she never wore a seat belt until after the crash that cost the use of her legs. In 2012, a car she was driving was struck by another vehicle on the passenger side. The other driver was wearing a seatbelt and walked away; Feugate suffered a spinal cord injury that made her a paraplegic.

“I went to a rehabilitation center for two months to learn how to live life in a wheelchair,” Feugate said. “What I miss most about my life before is being spontaneous. Now I have to plan everything in advance, even just to go out.”

In May, the Kansas Highway Patrol and sheriffs and police departments across Kansas will be working overtime to catch drivers who are not buckled up.

“Given the choice between a crash death notification and writing a seat-belt ticket, any law officer would much prefer the latter,” said Shawnee Police Sgt. Jim Baker. “Making a death notification is one of the hardest parts of being an officer, especially when simply buckling up would have saved a life.”

The extra enforcement is part of a larger, national Click It or Ticket mobilization that runs May 19 to June 1.

“Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer vacation season, and we want everyone to arrive alive,” Baker said. “Just buckle up, or you will receive a ticket.”

Kansas law allows that law enforcement officers can stop any vehicle simply for a seat-belt violation. No other violation needs be observed. Baker said enforcement will focus on younger motorists, pickup trucks and nighttime motorists. National statistics show crash fatalities in these categories are more likely to be related to failure to wear seat belts than other categories.

Jenny Scheve, a former trauma nurse who now speaks for ThinkFirst of Kansas City, an injury prevention program, says the biggest challenges with unbelted crash survivors are head and spinal cord injuries.

“The body cannot regenerate damaged brain or spine cells,” Scheve said. “Crash victims who were not wearing a seat belt are the most difficult cases, medically for the treatment staff and emotionally for family and friends. Lives are changed.”

Chris Bortz, KDOT Traffic Safety manager, said Kansans are below the national average in seat belt use. In 2012, Kansas had a 79.5 percent usage rate, which is 39th in the country, compared with 86 percent in the rest of the United States.

“To save lives, we’ve created a new message that Kansans will see on television and online,” Bortz said. “The message emphasizes that you will be stopped and you will get a ticket if you don’t wear a seat belt. In Kansas it’s the law. Click it or ticket.”

For more statistics and information, click HERE.

TOPEKA – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt recently joined in support of a court challenge to New York’s ban on semi-automatic firearms.

In a brief filed by a bipartisan group of attorneys general from 22 states, Schmidt argued that New York’s broad gun ban infringed on law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights.

“New York’s decision to prevent law-abiding citizens from possessing an entire class of heretofore lawful weapons burdens the Second Amendment rights of those citizens,” the attorneys general wrote in the brief. “But it also fails to achieve its purpose, instead putting New York’s law-abiding citizens at risk by ensuring that only criminals will have access to certain kinds of rifles, shotguns, and handguns.”

The case, Nojay v. Cuomo, is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2^nd Circuit.

TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff from sun-up to sun-down Thursday in honor of National Peace Officers Memorial Day.

“Every day, law enforcement officers do a job that is difficult, dangerous and often unappreciated,” Brownback said. “It is important that we recognize and celebrate the courage and sacrifice of these men and women.”

National Peace Officers Memorial Day was established in 1961 to recognize local, state and federal law enforcement and peace officials.

ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio appeals court has upheld a judge’s order that a deadbeat father can’t have more kids until he pays his back child support.

The decision this week by the 9th District Court of Appeals didn’t provide an opinion about whether the judge’s order was appropriate. Instead the appeals court said it didn’t have enough information to decide the merits of the case without a copy of the pre-sentence report detailing Asim Taylor’s background.

In January 2013, Lorain County Probate Judge James Walther said Taylor couldn’t have more children while he is on probation for five years. The judge said the order would be lifted if Taylor pays nearly $100,000 in overdue support for his four children.

The (Elyria) Chronicle-Telegram reported Taylor’s attorney is arguing that the order violates his right to reproduce.