WICHITA – Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a suspicious death.

Just after 11:30a.m. on Monday, Wichita Police Officers were sent to an address in the 2100 block of South Laura to check the welfare of a man at the residence, according to a media release.

Upon arrival, a 58-year-old man was found dead inside.

The death is being considered suspicious and investigators are currently working on interviews and processing the scene.

Additional details are expected to be released on Tuesday

BILL DRAPER, Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The biggest wildfire in Kansas history has a silver lining despite scorching nearly 600 square miles of land in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Conservation experts say it would have taken decades to clear out the number of eastern red cedars consumed by the Anderson Creek fire in March.

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks agent Ken Brunson called the blaze an “ecological cleansing for the environment” because it killed so many cedars, also known as junipers.

Red cedars are drought-resistant trees that crowd out native grasses, suck up moisture from the soil and reduce the amount of forage for wildlife and livestock.

Aron Flanders with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates it would have cost Kansas landowners $56 million to remove the same number of trees killed in the fire.

REPUBLIC COUNTY – A Kansas man died and two others were injured in an accident just before 3p.m. on Monday in Republic County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1989 GMC pickup driven by Aaron M. Fischer, 88, Belleville, was attempting to cross U.S. 81 at Lincoln Road.

The pickup collided with a 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 driven by Randy D. Sheppard, 52, Lyons, that was southbound on U.S. 81.

Fischer’s vehicle rolled into the ditch. He was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Tibbett’s Funeral Home.

Sheppard and a passenger Dustin Sheppard 21, Hutchinson, were transported to Republic County Hospital.

Fischer was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The producer of a 1970s movie about a gorilla trained in kung fu that fights its way across Wichita says the film might have been one big-name actor away from being a hit. Watch it online here.

Bob Walterscheid says “King Kung Fu” was intended to be a widely distributed comedy but instead became a movie that “most people look at in the evening so they can drink.”

The Wichita Eagle reports this year marks the 40th anniversary of the film about a gorilla that stops in Wichita “to let the rednecks gawk at him.”

“King Kung Fu” played in only 11 U.S. theaters and lost most of the money sunk into the film. Still, Walterscheid and director Lance Hayes say they feel they accomplished something by making a movie in Wichita.

SALINA – Law enforcement authorities have arrested a suspect in connection with a stabbing on Sunday in Salina.

On Monday a SWAT team arrested, John James Brown at a home in southeast Saline County, according to a social media report from Salina Police.

Saline County Sheriff’s Department and the KHP Air Unit assisted with the investigation to locate Brown.

Brown faces charges of aggravated battery and attempted first-degree murder, according to police.

 

 

SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are searching for a suspect in an early Sunday morning stabbing.

Just before 3:30 a.m., officers were dispatched to the Salina Regional Health Center’s emergency room reference for two men that were attacked with a knife during a disturbance at a northeast Salina residence, according to a media release.

One victim sustained a cut to the hand; the other was stabbed in the torso and is listed in serious condition.

A Saline County warrant has been issued for a John James Brown for charges of aggravated battery and attempted first degree murder. He is a white male, 34 years old, 6’, 195 pounds, brown hair and gray eyes. Brown’s hair may be significantly shorter than pictured.

Brown is considered armed and dangerous and if you have information of his whereabouts to immediately call the Salina Police Department at 785-826-7210 or Crimestoppers at 785-825-TIPS. Please do not approach or attempt apprehension of this person on your own.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A farm aid nonprofit in the Northern Plains is expanding its services again this year, with an eye toward spreading geographically in a year or two.

North Dakota-based Farm Rescue does physical labor for farmers in need in both Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and eastern Montana. It started out planting crops, then expanded to harvesting crops, and then into haying.

The organization this year also is offering hay bale-hauling and grain-hauling services.

Founder Bill Gross says Farm Rescue needs to boost its annual budget from about $750,000 to $1 million to expand to more states. It’s finding new ways to raise money, including selling downloads and CDs of a country music tune sung by North Dakota farmer Joe Schmidt. “My Field of Dreams” was written by Billy Ray Cyrus’ cousin, Bobby.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts  said that the administration’s proposed Medicare Part B drug demonstration could disrupt care for some of Medicare’s most vulnerable patients and lead to government rationing of healthcare.

Speaking at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the demonstration, Roberts said, “I remain gravely concerned about how this demonstration, or “test” as the administration calls it, will impact patients’ access to care, particularly in rural areas like Kansas. I would like to reaffirm my request that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) withdraw this proposal.”

“When this committee was debating the Affordable Care Act, I was concerned about several provisions that I believed would decrease individual choice and open the door to government rationing of health care. CMMI was one of those creations and this proposal confirms my fears. We have before us a proposed demonstration that could disrupt care for some of Medicare’s most vulnerable patients.”

Earlier this year, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) proposed changes to how the government pays for prescription drugs under Medicare Part B. The proposal would reduce reimbursements on new medications and could limit access to others that the administration does not deem “high value.” This could result in patients being switched to products that are less effective or have more side effects. Over 300 organizations are asking that this rule be withdrawn. In addition, all Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee sent a letter to CMS in April requesting the agency withdraw this proposal.

In 2014, Roberts spoke on the Senate floor warning of the dangers of the government’s expanded authorities over healthcare as a result of Obamacare. He said, “CMMI gives the government new powers to cut payments to Medicare beneficiaries with the goal to reduce program expenditures. However, the reality is they will reduce patients’ ability to access the care they want and need. All hidden under the cloak of ‘innovation.’”

Senator Roberts has introduced legislation in response to this called the Four Rationers Repeal Act (S. 1718), which would repeal CMMI, and three other rationing bodies.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man convicted of fatally shooting bank employees during a robbery in Nebraska more than 50 years ago was transferred from a Kansas federal prison back to Nebraska on Friday.

Deuel County Attorney Joel Jay applied for the transfer order on June 24.

Duane Earl Pope, 73, was released from the Leavenworth, Kansas, prison Friday and transferred to the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in Lincoln to serve out three life sentences he received after authorities say he robbed a bank in Big Springs. Three people died and one person was paralyzed in the June 1965 incident.

Authorities say Pope drove from his Kansas home to the bank, where he demanded money and ordered four bank employees to lie on the floor before shooting each of them.