WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say they have arrested 280 convicted criminals for deportation in six Midwest states, including Kansas, during a monthlong enforcement surge.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a news release Wednesday that of those arrested, 35 men and one woman were found in Kansas. Thirty of the immigrants came from Mexico, and six came from Guatemala.

The agency says the immigrants arrested fall within its priorities for deportation. They had previous convictions for armed robbery, drug trafficking, drunken driving and other crimes.

Most of the arrests were made in Wichita and Garden City. Some also occurred in Cimmaron, Dodge City, Liberal, Newton, Syracuse and Ulysses.

ICE says its enforcement initiative began May 18 and ended Saturday.

by ANDY MARSO

Gov. Sam Brownback’s office said Wednesday it had received word from the U.S. Attorney’s Office that no charges will be filed after an investigation into loans made to the governor’s re-election campaign.

The governor released a joint statement with Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, a plastic surgeon who also was at the center of the probe.

“We have been advised by legal counsel that the United States Attorney’s Office has concluded an investigation regarding campaign finance matters, and no charges are to be filed,” the statement read.

“As we have stated many times, our campaign finances were conducted in full compliance with applicable law and ethics regulations. We will have no further statements regarding this concluded matter.”

The Associated Press first reported in January that a grand jury had convened in Topeka and among the information requested under subpoena were all documents related to loans Brownback and Colyer had made to the campaign.

Colyer, the architect of the Medicaid managed care switch known as KanCare, loaned the campaign $500,000 three times — twice just before a deadline for candidates to report their fundraising. Subsequent campaign finance reports showed that the first two times the loans were made, the campaign repaid Colyer within days.

When the most recent campaign reports came in at the end of 2014, however, the campaign had repaid only $400,000 of the final Colyer loan. The campaign had only about $45,000 in cash on hand at that point, so it could not fully repay Colyer or repay a loan Brownback and his wife, Mary, made to the campaign.

The most recent filing lists $100,000 to Colyer and $200,000 to the Brownbacks as “loan payable” on Schedule D, the section for “Other Transactions.”

Brownback and Colyer were asked repeatedly about the loans on the campaign trail but divulged little information about them, with Colyer only calling them “cash management.” Grand jury proceedings are closed, and the evidence presented to grand juries is rarely made public if no charges are filed.

 

Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says his office is launching a statewide billboard campaign against human trafficking.

Schmidt says the goal of the campaign is to raise awareness about human trafficking and to encourage people to report suspicious activities. He says billboard ads will go up in the Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita markets.

Schmidt says the ads will run over the next 12 months and encourage people to report suspicious activities to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.

The attorney general says Clear Channel Outdoors and Lamar Advertising are donating space on digital billboards.

Schmidt says awareness is an important part of combatting human trafficking.

NEW YORK (AP) — A major review suggests a 7-year decline in the number of babies born in the U.S. may be over.

Preliminary figures show there were about 53,000 more babies born in 2014 than the year before and that nearly every racial and ethnic group saw an upswing.

At the same time, teen births hit another historic low even though experts had been expecting that statistic to level off. Bill Albert of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy says social norms for teens may be shifting, with more wariness of pregnancy, and less likelihood they know someone who became pregnant as a teen.

Cesarean sections and preterm deliveries were also down again.

The total fertility rate rose slightly, to just shy of 1.9 children. Experts say 2.1 is a goal for population stability.

HARVEY COUNTY – A Kansas teen was injured in an accident just before 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Harvey County

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Dodge Avenger driven by Lance Oster, 28, Wichita, was northbound on Hoover Road one mile northeast of the city of Sedgwick.

The Dodge failed to yield at the intersection of Southwest 96th and struck a 2000 Ford Ranger driven by Andrew Mullin, 15, Wichita in the driver’s side door.

Mullin was transported to Wesley Medical Center.

Oster was not injured.

The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

NEW YORK (AP) — The retailer Target is cutting another 140 jobs at its headquarters and eliminating 50 other unfilled jobs.

The Minneapolis-based company says it is trying to simplify and streamline its organization.

Target Corp. said in March that it would lay off 1,700 workers, mostly in Minneapolis, and eliminate 1,400 open positions. Those cuts were part of a restructuring plan intended to save the company $2 billion over the next two years.

The company also laid off more than 17,000 people when it closed all of its stores in Canada this year.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has freed pending trial a couple accused of laundering millions of dollars for a Mexican cartel drug at a small Kansas bank.

Court filings in U.S. District Court in Kansas on Wednesday show George and Agatha Enns of Meade, Kansas, have been released from jail on secured bonds of $100,000 each.

An indictment alleges that between 2011 and 2014, the couple deposited more than $6.8 million into their account at Plains State Bank.

The government contended during a detention hearing last week the couple is hiding assets that they could use to flee.

But a defense attorney told the court that if it weren’t for their 10 family members the couple wouldn’t even have had the money to retain legal counsel.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Democratic legislator says Kansas lawmakers need to rewrite campaign finance laws to close what he sees as a loophole involving loans by candidates to their own campaigns.

Democratic Rep. Jim Ward of Wichita called for a review of campaign finance laws Wednesday. His comments came after the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas said it expected no federal criminal charges to be filed from an investigation of loans by Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer to his and Gov. Sam Brownback’s re-election campaign.

Colyer made three loans of $500,000 each, and two of them were repaid within days. Colyer said in August that the loans were “good money management,” but Ward on Wednesday called them “scam loans.”

Ward said such short-term loans deceive the public and legislators should stop them.

By TROY ROBINSON

HUTCHINSON — The hometown Comic Book and Pop Culture Celebration returns to the

Kansas State Fairgrounds, Meadowlark Building, June 20-21, 2015.

For this second year, the event has grown even larger. In 2014, interest and support forced

Smallville ComicCon to move to a larger fairground’s building before it even opened its doors. This

year activities and booths are now spread throughout two separate buildings with more outside.

Key celebrity appearances include Billy Dee Williams, who starred as Lando Calrissian in the

original Star Wars trilogy and several animated features, as well as countless box office movie hits;

Katrina Law starring as “Nyssa Al Ghul” in the CW series Arrow and “Mira” in the Starz series

Spartacus; Manu Intiryami, who starred as “Icheb” in Star Trek: Voyager and the soon-to-be

released Star Trek: Renegades, and as “Billy” on One Tree Hill; Vernon Wells, who starred as “Wez”

in Mad Max: The Road Warrior, “Bennett” in Commando, and the villain “Ransik” from the Power

Rangers series; Lee Meriwether, who starred as “Catwoman” in Batman: The Movie, Star Trek:

Original Series, as well as All My Children; and Kathy Garver from Spiderman and his Amazing

Friends and Family Affair.

Creator space has sold out, being packed with writers and artists from all genres. New faces and

returning favorites include artists Mike Grell, Rick Stasi and Tommy Castillo as well as writers Neo

Edmund and Mitch Brian, just to name a few.

Even the vendor space has grown in size providing fans with a diverse and eclectic collection of new

and vintage comics, collectibles, toys, jewelry, costumes, artwork, anime, and handcrafted specialty

items.

Interactive role play gaming is increasing this year with Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic the Gathering

tournaments sponsored by Midknight Games; Warmachine/Hordes Steamroller tournament

sponsored by The Association of Dragons and Starships; along with open gaming in Pathfinder and

Star Wars X-Wing.

Various garrisons, bases, and clans within the Star Wars fan club 501st Legion will be present in

costume with activities and photo opportunities. Fan favorites the Iron Brothers of Topeka (IBOT)

will be back to rock the house in their Iron Man, War Machine, and new Cylon costumes; as well as

numerous other professional cosplayers. Fans are encouraged to dress in costume whether they

are competing in the costume contest or not.

Advanced discount tickets and official event t-shirts are on sale now through

www.smallvillecomiccon.com. Tickets only may also be purchased through local Hutchinson

retailers, Midknight Games, The Toy Depot, and at Hastings during select events.