LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — The city of Leavenworth will be required to spend $85,000 for violating the federal Clean Water Act.
The payments come after the Environmental Protection Agency documented 19 sewer overflows between 2010 and 2015 from the city’s water treatment plant near the Missouri River. The overflows sent sewer water into the river.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the city must pay $46,200 in penalties and spend $38,800 for improvements to its storm water system.
Leavenworth spokeswoman Melissa Bower says the city had already planned a project to improve its storm water system before the EPA’s report.
The EPA at first proposed $104,000 in penalties and costs but reduced the amount after talking with city officials.
SALINA- Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a second suspect in connection with an armed robbery.
Nathan A. Smith, 30, was booked into the Saline County Jail Wednesday on a requested charge of aggravated robbery in connection with the 9:30 a.m., December 21, armed robbery of the Horsemen’s Headquarters, 205 E. Pacific in Salina, according to Police Captain Chris Trocheck
Smith is alleged to be the driver of a car that was used by Travis Moreland to getaway from Horsemen’s Headquarters after he allegedly held up the business.
Moreland was charged with the robbery along with the burglary and robbery of two north Salina motels earlier in December.
Captain Trocheck said it is unlikely there will be further arrests in the case.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook’s making some of its users feel a lot older than they really are.
The social network sent automated messages Thursday inviting some users to celebrate “46 years of friendship on Facebook” with one or more of their online friends.
That’s odd, since Facebook only started in 2004. And some people who got the message are in their 20s and 30s.
Facebook blamed a software bug. It didn’t offer details, but computer experts speculate the problem stems from a quirk in Unix, an operating system used in big data centers where companies like Facebook store information. The glitch starts the internal calendar on some computers at midnight, Greenwich Mean Time, Jan. 1, 1970.
Facebook said its engineers are fixing the problem “so everyone can ring in 2016 feeling young again.”
Logan resident, Loretta A. Becker, passed away Wed., Dec. 30, 2015, at the Logan Manor in Logan, KS at the age of 82.
She was born in Hanover, KS on Feb. 20, 1933, the daughter of Joe & Anna (Moravek) Jandera. She worked for several years as Activities Director at Logan Manor. Her son, Bill, preceded her in death.
Survivors include her husband, Paul, of Logan; daughters, Shirley Colby and Susan Elliott, both of Phillipsburg, KS; brother, Jerrold Jandera, and sister, Betty Bittel, both of Logan; four grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
Mass of Christian Burial will be Monday, January 4, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. in St. John’s Catholic Church, Logan, with Father George Chalbhagam officiating. Burial will follow in the Pleasant View Cemetery, Logan.
Visitation will be Saturday, Jan. 2, from 5 – 9 p.m. and again Sunday, Jan. 3, from noon – 9 p.m. at the Logan Funeral Home in Logan. A Rosary service will be held Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home, with the family receiving friends afterward from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be given to Logan Manor or Logan ABC Day Care. Online condolences to: www.olliffboeve.com. Logan Funeral Home, Logan, KS, is in charge of arrangements.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An affidavit says a slain Wichita State University student contacted a woman charged in his death about sexual services she advertised online shortly before he was killed.
Rayan Ibrahim Baba, a 23-year-old Saudi undergraduate student, was found shot in a parking lot of one of the university’s dormitories Aug. 8. Eboni Fingal was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated robbery in October, and a 23-year-old man also faces those charges.
The Wichita Eagle reports the affidavit released Wednesday says Baba called Fingal about 30 minutes before his death. The affidavit says police tracked cellphone locations from the suspects, and that and surveillance video pinpointed the three together in the parking lot.
According to the affidavit, Fingal told police she activated the phone for a friend, but couldn’t explain why the friend would be in contact with Baba.
The Hays Board of Realtors and Multiple Listing Services Inc. recently held its annual banquet and
installation of new officers and board of directors for 2016.
Those installed by the 2015 Zone VII Vice President Dale Haselhorst were Marietta Leach of Remax Pro, HBOR president; Laura Sadeghi of Elite Realty Group, HBOR president-elect and MLS president; John Holub of Elite Realty Group, MLS vice president and program chairperson; and Tim Cossaart of Remax Pro, HBOR and MLS treasurer.
Directors for 2016 are Patty Stull (state director) of Coldwell Banker Executive Realty; Mary Beth Fisher of Landmark Realty; Tami Norris of Advanced Real Estate Co.;Brent Hines of Bel Air Realty; Terry Claycamp of Landmark Realty; Lisa Krull of Dean Ellner Inc.; Jennyfer Toepfer of Williams Real Estate; and Dale Haselhorst (2015 past president) of Elite Realty Group.
At the banquet the group recognized Errol Wuertz of Heartland Realty as the 2015 Realtor of the Year and Brent Hines of Bel Air Realty with the 2015 Distinguished Service Award.
WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State collected its eighth-straight win in the series vs. Drake and sixth straight Missouri Valley Conference opener with a 67-47 win over the Bulldogs Thursday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena.
The win improved Wichita State (7-5, 1-0) to 56-8 at home in MVC games since the start of the 2008-09 season and now lead the all-time series vs. Drake (5-8, 0-1), 101-47. The Shockers also extended their school-record home court winning streak to 38 consecutive, which ties Tulsa (1980-82) for the fourth-longest in MVC history.
Senior Ron Baker led a trio of Shockers in double-figures with 14 points, 11 coming in the second half, on 5-of-7 shooting overall, including 3-of-4 from downtown. Baker also added five rebounds. Fred VanVleet contributed another strong outing, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, six assists and three steals. His six assists give him 501 for his career to become only the 14th player in MVC history to dish out 500 assists.
Zach Brown chipped in 10 points and four rebounds in 24 minutes of action.
Behind 52 percent shooting in the second half, the Shockers finished the game at 42.6 percent (23-of-54), while knocking down 8-of-24 three-point attempts in the contest. WSU’s defense again made life difficult for the opponent, holding Drake to just 37 percent shooting from the field and three-point range and forcing 18 Bulldog turnovers.
The Shockers owned the battle of the boards by outrebounding DU, 38-28, while also outscoring the Bulldogs in the paint (24-10) and off turnovers (26-13).
Kale Abrahamson and Graham Woodward led Drake with 12 points apiece, but also combined to turn the ball over 11 times between the two of them.
WSU extended its halftime lead to 19 just over five minutes into the second half on the heels of a 13-2 run. During the run the Shockers got five points from VanVleet and four each from Brown and Anton Grady.
Baker connected on a corner three to push the Shockers’ lead to 21 at the 8:30 mark. Just a few minutes later the Scott City native’s third trey of the game put WSU ahead 60-38.
Wichita State started the game quickly by opening on an 8-1 run courtesy of a hook shot from Shaquille Morris and three-pointers from Brown and VanVleet. The two teams remained close for a majority of the opening half with the Shockers’ largest lead being only eight. After Drake tied the game at 25 near the four-minute mark, WSU closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 33-25 lead into the locker room.
VanVleet led the Shockers with eight first half points and four assists on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor. Wichita State began the game on a hot streak from the floor, but cooled down as the half went on and finished just 12-of-33 from the field, good for 36 percent. WSU knocked down its first three 3-point attempts, but made two of its final 13 attempts to close the half.
The Shockers relied on creating turnovers, as they forced nine Bulldog miscues and turned them into 15 points.
Drake shot 41 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of play. Abrahamson led all scorers with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
The Shockers hit the road Sunday to take on Bradley in a 1 p.m. CT tip that can be seen locally on Cox Channel Kansas and online via ESPN3. WSU then hosts Evansville on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 16-year-old Lawrence boy has pleaded not guilty in the death of his grandmother.
The teenager is being charged as a juvenile with first-degree murder in the death of 67-year-old Deborah Bretthauer. Police say she was found dead Monday in her apartment with “obvious traumatic injuries.”
Authorities say the suspect, who lived with his grandmother, called police and initially said he had found the woman dead. He was arrested after a police interview.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports the suspect entered his plea Thursday in Douglas County District Court.
He is being held without bond in the Douglas County Juvenile Detention Center until Jan. 20, when his next court appearance is scheduled.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The winner of a $1 million Kansas Lottery promotion bought the prize ticket in south-central Kansas.
Lottery officials announced in a news release Thursday that the winning numbers for the Kansas Lottery Holiday Millionaire Raffle re 1-4-3-3-3-3. The winning ticket is worth $1 million.
Twenty other people won $5,000 in the contest.
Whoever has the winning ticket has a year to claim the prize.
TOPEKA – Kansas Medicare beneficiaries can still purchase Medicare Supplement Plans C or F through the end of 2019, according to Ken Selzer, CPA, Kansas Commissioner of
Insurance.
The plans, which are regulated by the Kansas Insurance Department (KID), will not be sold beginning in 2020, Commissioner Selzer said in a news release.
However, those who are already eligible or enrolled in Medicare before 2020 will be able to keep those plans if they have them.
“Those plans will still be in force for you if you have them before 2020,” Commissioner Selzer said. “There is no reason you have to replace them. Your insurance company will still service your claims under those plans’ provisions.”
Congressional changes to the Medicare Access CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 prohibit the sale beginning in 2020. KID has received inquiries from consumers who have been misinformed about the plans’ immediate discontinuance.
Medicare Supplement insurance can help cover the expenses that come with coverage gaps in original Medicare. Plans such as these are often referred to as Medigap plans.
These plans and several others are described in the insurance department’s “Medicare Supplement Insurance Shopper’s Guide,” which is available for order in hard copy form or online at www.ksinsurance.org. “I urge those seeking Medicare Supplement information to call your insurance agent or our department’s Consumer Assistance Hotline at 1-800-432-2484,” Commissioner Selzer said.
Barbara Witt, 83, of Russell, Kansas, died on Wednesday, December 30, 2015, at the Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, Kansas.
The funeral mass to celebrate Barbara’s life will be 10:30 A.M. on Monday, January 04, 2016, at St. Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Russell. Vigil service will be held at 7:00 P.M. on Sunday, January 03, 2016, at the church. Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell, is in charge of funeral service arrangements.
Please check back later for a full obituary and funeral service details at pvpmortuary.com.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Attorneys in a federal lawsuit challenging Kansas’ proof of citizenship voting law want to add another plaintiff to the case in their bid to make it a class action lawsuit.
The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a 2013 Kansas law requiring new voters to document their U.S. citizenship when registering.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports lawyers for the plaintiffs filed a motion recently to add a 20-year-old Kansas University student, Parker Bednasek, as a plaintiff. If approved, he’d serve as a representative of all members of the class of people whose voter registrations are being blocked for failure to show valid proof of U.S. citizenship.
A spokesman for Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says their attorneys will ask for an extension of time to respond to the latest motion.
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — The city of Leavenworth will be required to spend $85,000 for violating the federal Clean Water Act.
