KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 70-year-old man accused of robbing a bank in Kansas told investigators he would rather be imprisoned than live with his wife.

Court documents say Lawrence John Ripple gave a note to a bank teller in Kansas City on Friday, demanding cash and warning he had a gun. Ripple took the money and went to sit in the lobby where he told a guard he was the “guy he was looking for.”

Officers arrived quickly. An FBI agent wrote in the affidavit that Ripple had earlier been arguing with his wife. He told investigators he wrote the note in front of his wife, telling her he would “rather be in jail than at home.”

Ripple was charged with bank robbery Tuesday.

Online court records don’t list an attorney for Ripple.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — U.S. Geological Survey researchers say they’re upgrading the strength of an Oklahoma earthquake that struck over the weekend to a 5.8 magnitude, making it the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the state.

USGS research geophysicist Daniel McNamara said Wednesday the previous strongest recorded quake in Oklahoma — a 5.6-magnitude temblor in 2011 — also is being upgraded to a 5.7-magnitude quake.

Saturday’s earthquake centered near the north-central town of Pawnee damaged more than a dozen buildings and left one man with a minor head injury after a fireplace collapsed.

McNamara says the volume of injected wastewater from oil and gas activity likely played a role.

He says Oklahoma’s two earthquakes this year greater than magnitude 5.0 will increase the likelihood of larger quakes in the future.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Lawmakers are raising questions as Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration works to overhaul the state’s protocol for employee layoffs and rehiring.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that legislators on a regulatory advisory committee are studying the Kansas Department of Administration’s plan for altering policy on employee layoffs and rehiring, annual performance ratings, and donation of unused sick leave.

Some of the proposed alterations include capping the donation of unused sick leave at 80 hours, and restricting worker options for appealing regular job performance ratings

Some lawmakers say the proposed regulations are too vague and could be manipulated to weaken the standing of the most experienced staff. Legislators are also unhappy that the state workers or employee unions were asked for their input.

A department spokesman has said the changes have been in development since 2014.

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in southeast Kansas are investigating a suspect arrested early Wednesday after a high-speed chase and manhunt.

Just after 12:30p.m. on Tuesday, an off duty police officer was called to the Short Stop Convenience store to check on a suspicious person, according to a media release.

The man claimed to have mechanical problems with his vehicle. The officer checked his name, which the officer believed to be fake, and determined he did not have a license to drive.

Two on-duty officers were dispatched and when they arrived they were advised of the situation.

The officers wanted the driver to exit the car.

The driver slammed the vehicle in reverse backing up nearly hitting the deputies’ vehicle and then drove forward nearly hitting several items at the convenience store and the high speed chase was underway..

The suspect vehicle was thought to reach speeds of around 150 mph.

The vehicle was last seen driving North on Kansas 99 towards Sedan when the trail went cold.

A citizen of Chautauqua County, knowing of the vehicle deputies were looking for, spotted it on his property and called 911 and did not approach the vehicle.

A search determined the suspect was on foot south of Sedan.

Just before 8 a.m. on Wednesday, the suspect was apprehended allegedly driving a stolen pickup in Montgomery County, according to Chautauqua County Sheriff Richard Newby. Investigators were still working to learn the name of the suspect. “He had no identification and gave several names of suspects wanted elsewhere.” said Newby.

By Sam Zeff

A bipartisan group of four former Kansas governors is predicting dire consequences if conservatives successfully oust four state Supreme Court justices.

Former Democratic Gov. John Carlin has the harshest assessment. If the justices are kicked off the bench in November’s retention election, “then the hole this (Brownback) administration has dug for us may be too deep to get out of,” said Carlin during a stop Tuesday in Kansas City. Carlin, who served as governor from 1978 to 1986, also called this retention fight “chaos” and said it has “an indirect effect on economic growth” in the state.

The governors are on a two-day tour organized by Kansans for Fair Courts, the group campaigning on behalf of the targeted justices. Judges’ political activity is severely restricted.

The four appeared at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce before moving on to Topeka for a similar event; they headed to Wichita next.

Former Gov. Bill Graves, a Republican who served from 1994 to 2002, agreed. “We have the potential in this election to have tremendous upheaval in the stability, the institutional knowledge, the whole character and ability in our court system in our state.”

Conservative groups — including Kansans for Life, the state Republican Party and the state Chamber of Commerce — are committed to removing four Kansas Supreme Court justices: Carol Beier, Dan Biles, Marla Luckert and Chief Justice Lawton Nuss.

Also up for retention is the newest member of the court, Caleb Stegall, who was appointed by Gov. Sam Brownback.

Most conservatives are asking voters to retain Stegall but get rid of the other four. The former governors said they want all five justices to retain their seats.

“We’re suggesting that there’s no reason that they shouldn’t all be retained, regardless of which governor appointed them or which party that governor belonged to,” said former Gov. Mike Hayden, Republican governor from 1986 to 1990.

Conservatives have three main complaints about the four justices they seek to oust: the court’s rulings on school finance, abortion and the death penalty.

The toughest rhetoric has come from Kansas House Republicans. In an email last week, they said the four have a “shameful disregard for the law and that they’ve been scolded on numerous occasions by the U.S. Supreme Court.” House Republicans also said the justices use “their own erratic and illogical method” of interpreting laws.

 

But Hayden strongly disagreed and said he holds the court in high regard.

“While we may have some disappointment or maybe some disagreement, 99.5 percent of the time the court’s been upheld. That’s a tremendous record, and it should stand on its own merit,” he said.

Graves said this is all driven by the politics of Brownback and conservatives in the Legislature. Brownback has called several times for changing the current merit selection process for judges, and the Legislature has tried but failed to pass a constitutional amendment dumping merit selection.

“There’s clearly energy on the other side, if you will, and we just think it’s important that there be energy in support of retaining these five justices,” Graves said. “So someone has to speak for the justices, and we’ve chosen to do that.”

Clay Barker, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, had little reaction to Tuesday’s event. He did say that Stegall has been on the high court for just a year so “he hasn’t done anything to have the voters not retain him.”

— Sam Zeff is co-host of the political podcast Statehouse Blend