MAIZE -A judge on Wednesday granted Maize USD 266’s temporary restraining order, placing a stop to a planned road closure along the access road from Maize Road to Maize South Elementary School, according to a school district media release.
The court order mandates that the city of Wichita and developer not proceed as planned for now.
The road closure was scheduled to begin immediately and last approximately six weeks.
Citing significant concerns involving safety and logistics, the district on Monday took legal action and filed action seeking the temporary restraining order against the city of Wichita and the developer involved with the plan.
Judge William Woolley of the 18th Judicial District Court granted the temporary restraining order, which delays the planned project that will build a road from 37th Street North to Maize South Elementary School.
It will provide additional access to the school to maintain the current level of access now available.
A temporary road will be built from 37th Street to the schools before the proposed construction project can start, so that the school is still accessible from two streets. The finalization of that new temporary road will allow for the planned access road construction to begin, according to the school district.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas collected $31 million less in taxes than anticipated last month, a shortfall that could tighten the state’s budget picture.
The state Department of Revenue reported Thursday that the state took in $534 million in taxes, when its official fiscal forecast projected $565 million. The shortfall was about 5.5 percent.
Tax collections were almost equally as short of expectations in August, but the department attributed that month’s shortfall to larger-than-expected income tax refunds.
Since the fiscal year began in July, tax collections have been $67 million short of expectations, or about 4.7 percent off at about $1.37 billion.
Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan noted that taxes from oil and gas production failed to meet expectations in September because of fallen energy prices. He also said farm income has declined.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge ruled on Thursday there is enough evidence to try a 27-year-old for capital murder and rape in the death of a woman who was set on fire at a Wichita park.
The Wichita Eagle reports Cornell McNeal faces a Nov. 12 arraignment in the November death of Letitia “Tish” Davis. The 36-year-old mother of four suffered burns on more than half of her body and cuts on her head in the attack. She died about a week later.
The critically injured victim couldn’t say much to investigators after she was found near a charred area in Fairmont Park, but witnesses say she kept repeating she had been raped, beaten and set on fire.
Affidavits show a damaged cellphone and DNA evidence connected McNeal to the attack.
—————-
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A preliminary hearing is beginning for a man charged in the death of a woman who was raped and set on fire at a Wichita park.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the hearing that starts Thursday in Sedgwick County District Court will determine whether there is sufficient evidence for 27-year-old Cornell McNeal to stand trial. He’s charged with capital murder and rape in the November 2014 death of Letitia “Tish” Davis.
The mother of four suffered from burns on more than half her body and cuts on her head in the attack and died about a week later. Affidavits show McNeal was connected to the attack through a damaged cellphone and DNA evidence.
McNeal also is charged in a garage fire. He is jailed on a $1.25 million bond.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are grappling with the state’s possible response to new federal rules aimed at reducing carbon emissions from power plants.
The Topeka Capital Journal reports lawmakers expressed frustration Thursday with the regulations at the first meeting of a committee created earlier this year to review any plan for complying with the rules from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA told states earlier this year that by 2022, they must start reducing carbon emissions linked to climate change. The EPA’s target for Kansas is a 43 percent reduction by 2030.
Kansas is expected to submit its initial plan, along with an extension request, in September 2016.
The Kansas attorney general’s office plans to challenge the federal rules in court after the final rule is published.
Hays residents will once again see an increased police presence this weekend with Oktoberfest celebrations beginning Friday and Fort Hays State Homecoming on Saturday.
Because of the increased of number of people who return to Hays for this weekend, the Hays Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies are stepping enforcement.
Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler said officers understand that it is a big weekend for the community, adding patrols will be on hand to help keep people safe. He added they are stressing that people limit their alcohol consumption.
“We see a lot of these crimes being committed — batteries, assaults, sexual assaults — all occurring when the parties that are involved are highly intoxicated,” Scheibler said, “If they limit their intake, it will be much safer for everyone else.”
During the busy weekend, the police department will get assistance from the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, FHSU Police, Alcoholic Beverage Control and Union Pacific Police Department.
There will be an increase in bike patrols, vehicle patrols and saturation patrols throughout the weekend.
Scheibler said it is important to remember that Hays has an open container ordinance, making it illegal to carry an open container on public sidewalks, streets and alleys. With the Oktoberfest celebration moving to the north side of Municipal Park, it could be easy for people to forget they have an open container and leave the park.
Oktoberfest goers “need to stay in the park with open containers throughout the day,” he said.
The department says it is best to have a plan before you start drinking and make sure you have a designated driver or use SafeRide.
Scheibler said with the increase number of people and the amount of alcohol involved, the police department is there to keep people safe and serve as a deterrent.
Law enforcement officials will not tolerate any violence, Scheibler said, noting anyone taking part in or threatening violence will face arrest.
The department is calling on people use good judgement and be polite, courteous and respectful to everyone and everybody will have a good weekend.
JUNCTION CITY – Law enforcement authorities in Geary County are set to become one of the first in the state to use drone technology.
Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf said his department has acquired a civilian model drone, and another more advanced model drone is being acquired from a company in Colorado.
“What we’re planning on doing with these drones are using these mostly right now for search and rescue.”
As an example Wolf referred to an incident about two years ago involving a lengthy search for an elderly resident in the county that suffered from dementia, had wondered away from his home and become lost.
“We were calling in KHP to bring out a helicopter to fly the area for us, but due to the weather they couldn’t fly that day.”
Wolf said authorities could put the drones, which are about the size of large model airplanes, up in the air quickly to scan an area. It would involve the use of less people.
“This would be a very valuable tool to use in the future for situations like that,” he said.
Wolf noted the drones could also be used in search and rescue operations in the Milford Lake area.
“Seems like every year we have somebody that gets stranded in a boat, or disabled, or walked way and got lost along the shoreline somewhere. When they call 911 they don’t know where they are.” Use of the drones could enable locate and rescue much quicker and be less labor intensive.
The drones have four propellers and are operated by remote control on the ground. Two deputies have received training on how to use and control them.
Wolf confirmed the cost of the two drones combined totals approximately $28,000. They were purchased with drug forfeiture funds. No taxpayer money was used.
“Right now as I understand it, we are the first law enforcement agency in the state of Kansas that does have drones,” said Wolf.
Richard Krause will begin his duties as Russell Public Works Director in December. (Photo courtesy City of Russell)
City of Russell
With impending retirement of current Public Works Director Arlyn Unrein on December 18, 2015, it was important to the city and the community that we find the best person to lead the Public Works Department in the future, so the city conducted both an internal and state-wide search. The city was pleased with the quantity and the quality of the applications received.
Russell’s longtime Public Works Director Arlyn Unrein will retire Dec. 18, 2015.
After an extensive selection process, Richard Krause has been selected to fill the Public Works Director’s position beginning in December. Richard has worked for the City of Russell since 1980, where he has served
in the Water Department in various positions including Lead Worker. In 1996, Richard was promoted to Parks Superintendent and Cemetery Sexton.
Richard Krause and his wife Tammy are life-long Russell residents where they raised their two sons, Nathan and Ryan. Richard has broad municipal experience and received certification in municipal utility management from the Salina Area Vocational-Technical School.
Krause is involved within the community and currently serves as the financial secretary for the Knights of Columbus, is a volunteer with the Russell Regional Hospital Auxiliary and has coached many youth sports in the community.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A same-sex couple is seeking to force the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to issue a birth certificate listing both women as the parents of their baby boy.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Jessica and Casey Smith of Lawrence married in 2013 in California. Casey Smith gave birth Sept. 16 at Shawnee Mission Medical Center, which declined to list both women as parents on the birth certificate.
The couple filed an “emergency petition for the determination of parentage,” and a judge directed the state health department to issue a birth certificate listing both women as the child’s parents. But the department refused, saying it wasn’t notified of the women’s petition.
The women’s attorney filed a motion to join the department in seeking a legal decision on the issue.
Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute.
At a cultural moment when celebrity trumps character in America, it took a humble priest from Argentina to remind us of the better angels of our nature — and of the kind of nation we must aspire to build in the 21st century.
Pope Francis arrived in our public square as a self-described migrant, and for a refreshing week his message of compassion and justice drowned out the divisive, ugly, sometimes hateful rhetoric of this political season.
Temporarily pushed out of the headlines was trash talk about immigrants, demonizing language about American Muslims, and the puffed-up buffoonery that passes for political discourse in 2016 America.
The pope didn’t downplay or disguise his convictions about everything from climate change to the sanctity of life “at all of its stages.” But he delivered his views — and here is the lesson many of our political and religious leaders would do well to re-learn — with civility and respect.
Consider the pope’s message on religious freedom, delivered at the cradle of American freedom in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Few topics are more divisive in the United States, with one side proclaiming religious liberty “under assault” and the other side condemning religious liberty as cover for “bigotry.”
Without the rancor or hyperbole that characterizes our culture wars, Pope Francis offered a powerful affirmation of religious freedom as a right “given by God himself.” And he warned against confining religious expression to “a subculture without right to a voice in the public square.”
After the pope’s departure from the United States, it was revealed that he met privately with Kim Davis — the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on religious grounds.
Although both sides in the Davis affair are already citing the meeting to attack the other, the pope’s balanced approach to the controversy — signaling support for the right to conscientious objection while avoiding divisive public statements about same-sex marriage — illustrates the tone and balance he brings to conflicts over religious issues in the public square.
As John Gehring, Catholic program director at the liberal advocacy group Faith and Public Life, explained in a New York Times interview, the pope’s approach makes both sides “a little bit uncomfortable.”
“I think Pope Francis affirms religious liberty,” said Gehring, “and he rejects the culture wars. That’s something we need to grapple with.”
Of course, we can, and should, contend with one another over our religious and ideological differences, but if the common good is to be served, we should do so through civil and constructive dialogue.
Standing near the spot where American freedom was born in Philadelphia, Pope Francis called on people of all faiths and beliefs to work for “tolerance and respect for the dignity and rights of others.”
Religious freedom, he argued, thrives best in a society with “a healthy pluralism, which respects differences.”
The pope reminded us that what unites Americans is not religion — we each have our religious and non-religious convictions that rank among our deepest differences — but rather a commitment to pluralism framed by religious liberty, “a fundamental right which shapes the way we interact with neighbors whose religious views differ from our own.”
Just prior to his departure from the United States, the pope modeled the “healthy pluralism” he envisions at a worship service held at Ground Zero in New York. He met with families of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and participated in a “witness for peace” ceremony with Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and other religious leaders.
The gathering was deliberately and carefully described as “multi-faith” — rather than “interfaith” — to underscore that respect for the rights of others does not mean or require uniformity of belief.
At the Ground Zero ceremony, we saw on display the rich possibilities of an America of many faiths and cultures — a nation where citizens affirm distinct religious identities while living and working together for the common good.
Realizing this ideal in an America deeply divided by religion and ideology is one of our greatest challenges in the 21st century.
It will not be easy. But for one, brief shining week, Pope Francis made many of us believe it can — and must — be done.
Charles C. Haynes is vice president of the Washington-based Newseum Institute and executive director of the Religious Freedom Center. [email protected]
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A homeless woman previously sentenced to life in prison in the killing of a Topeka homeless advocate is expected to be released soon.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 36-year-old Kimberly Danielle Sharp was resentenced Wednesday after her earlier convictions were overturned. She’s already been behind bars longer than the sentence of eight years and fourth months that was imposed.
Sharp initially was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping for her role in the death of 38-year-old David Owen. He disappeared in June 2006, and his body was found the next month.
But an appeal court ruled in July that her confession was involuntary and couldn’t be used against her during retrial. Sharp pleaded no contest on Sept. 15 to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated battery.
Eric J. “Rick” Legleiter, 58, Hays, Kansas, formerly of La Crosse, Kansas, died Tuesday, September 29, 2015, at the Hays Good Samaritan Center, Hays, Kansas.
Mr. Legleiter was born December 9, 1956, in La Crosse, Kansas, the son of Alvin and Delores (Zimmerman) Legleiter. He lived most of his life in La Crosse, Kansas, until recently becoming a resident of Hays, Kansas, moving there from Russell, Kansas. He was a 1976 graduate of Hays High School, Hays, Kansas. While living in La Crosse, he worked for La Crosse Furniture Company.
He was a member of St. Michael’s Catholic Church, La Crosse, Kansas; a former member of Knights of Columbus Council #2970, La Crosse, Kansas; and a member of several organizations affiliated with Developmental Services Of Northwest Kansas (DSNWK), Russell, Kansas.
Survivors include: four brothers, Gerard Legleiter (Karen), Sterling, Kansas, Timothy Legleiter, Pratt, Kansas, Florian Legleiter (Dianne), Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Kurt Legleiter (Mary), Paso Robles, California; two sisters, Gerianne Kuntzsch (Carl), Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Mary Jo Tammen (Kent), Hays, Kansas; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Visitation will be Friday, October 2, 2015, from 4:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. at the Janousek Funeral Home, La Crosse, Kansas. A vigil service and rosary will be at 7:00 P.M. Church visitation will be Saturday, October 3, 2015, from 9:00 A.M. to 9:50 A.M. at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, La Crosse, Kansas.
Funeral service will be Saturday, October 3, 2015, at 10:00 A.M. at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, La Crosse, Kansas, with Father Matthew Kumi officiating. Interment will be in the La Crosse City Cemetery, La Crosse, Kansas.
Memorials are suggested to Developmental Services Of Northwest Kansas (DSNWK), Russell, Kansas.
Condolences or remembrances may be left for the family at www.charterfunerals.com/locations/janousek-lacrosse.php.
Arrangements were by Janousek Funeral Home, 719 Pine, P O Box 550, La Crosse, Kansas 67548, 785/222-2517.
The Hays Area Chamber of Commerce recently heard of a business scam, and we wanted to make sure our Chamber members and area businesses are aware of the potential risk.
The Chamber is making preparations for our 2016 Hays Area Community Guide and we are proud to partner with the following entities again: The Hays Daily News, Northwestern Printers and the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Unfortunately, an unknown entity is contacting local businesses, stating they are selling ads for the Community Guide, and anyone paying at that moment via credit card will receive a discount. This is a scam.
