PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas man is accused of fatally shooting a motorist from Texas during what authorities described as a road rage confrontation in Missouri.
Prosecutors in Missouri’s Platte County near Kansas City charged 22-year-old Bobby Crumpton of Wichita with second-degree murder in the Friday night death of Clinton Alsobrook.
Authorities say they found 35-year-old Alsobrook of Charlotte, Texas, dead and unarmed in his bullet-riddled sport utility vehicle Friday night. The vehicle was lodged on an embankment, its engine running.
Court records allege Crumpton told police Alsobrook hit his vehicle, forcing both vehicles off the road. Crumpton allegedly said he feared for his life when he fired after Alsobrook tried to drive toward him.
Online court records Monday didn’t show whether Crumpton has an attorney. His bond was set at $100,000.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback isn’t ruling out a tax increase next year to balance the state budget even though he thinks it would be harmful to raise taxes with agriculture in a slump.
Brownback had a Statehouse news conference Monday to tout what he sees as several successes that include highway projects and a reading program for struggling third-graders.
Income tax cuts championed by the Republican governor have become a key issue in legislative races as Kansas has struggled to balance its budget.
Brownback says Kansas is facing a “rural recession” because of slumps in agriculture and energy production. He said a big tax increase would be “very harmful.”
But asked whether he would rule out a tax increase, he said, “I’m not ruling anything in or out.”
Oct. 6 marked the dedication of the first byway to exclusively celebrate agriculture in this country. Located in far western Kansas and named the “Land and Sky” scenic byway, it follows Highway 27 through Wallace, Sherman and Cheyenne counties.
The Land and Sky scenic byway stretches 88 miles from Wallace County to Cheyenne County. This byway consists mainly of crops, livestock and pasture and showcases Kansas agriculture.
Since our state’s beginning, farming and ranching have played a major role in the Kansas economy, it’s communities, culture, heritage and people. Today, agriculture remains the state’s largest industry, economic driver and employer.
Farming and ranching accounts for approximately 20 percent of the state’s GDP and directly employs approximately 17 percent of the Kansas labor force, or nearly one in five jobs. Kansas remains a national leader in wheat, grain sorghum and beef production.
“Agriculture is an exciting, dynamic industry,” says Robin Jennison, Kansas secretary of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism. Jennison helped cut the ribbon and spoke to those attending the Land and Sky dedication. His family has farmed in Lane County since 1887.
Farming and ranching is something to celebrate and be proud of in Kansas,” Jennison says. “Kansas agriculture is exciting and interesting and people who visit our great state and northwestern Kansas will have an opportunity to experience this rich and diversified culture.”
Nearly 100 people attended the events and tour during the first week of October. Wallace County hosted the first day of the dedication with a celebration and tour of the Fort Wallace Museum. That evening nearly 75 people traveled to Mount Sunflower to view the stars and identify the constellations after sunset.
In case you don’t know, Mount Sunflower is the highest point in Kansas with an elevation of 4,039 feet above sea level. Mount Sunflower is located on the Harold Family Ranch.
With no disruption from earthly light, the stars appeared like countless pinpricks in the pitch-black sky and provided a mesmerizing panorama overhead.
The next day began at Smoky Gardens south of Goodland and finished in St. Francis. At Smoky Gardens, attendees heard from Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame historians Gary and Margaret Kraisinger.
A chuck wagon lunch, complete with piping hot beef and vegetable stew, warmed the visitors who braved the brisk northerly winds at the Sherman County Fairgrounds.
After lunch the tour moved to the Arikaree Breaks. This area of extremely rough terrain with its deep ravines and gullies offers a marked contrast to the plains generally associated with this area of northwestern Kansas. The tour ended with some guests touring the new motorcycle museum in downtown St. Francis.
Oct. 5-6 provided a day chock full of events and gave visitors the opportunity to experience what the Land and Sky byway offers. More importantly, it included a panoramic patchwork of crops including corn, milo, soybeans and sunflowers decked out in brown, red and yellow.
This vibrant, ever-changing landscape serves up a different assortment of crops and colors throughout the year providing travelers a chance to see a different look throughout the seasons. During the springtime, when the wheat crop looks like a great green carpet, visitors travelling through often ask, “why are these lawns out here with no houses or people?”
With the new byway in place, these visitors will learn the answer to this question and more about the land and crops. Travelling through western Kansas will also afford a chance to experience the culture and heritage of the people who call this country home.
Thousands of acres of rolling hills, valleys, canyons and ravines showcase this scenery. Future plans include turn-outs and interpretive signs that will further enhance the learning experience.
The people who live, work and raise their families in Wallace, Sherman and Cheyenne counties hope visitors will come see their rural lifestyle and enjoy the experience of living in farm and ranch county. Who knows, some may like it well enough to move to this region of land and sky in western Kansas.
John Schlageck, Hoxie, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
OSAGE COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Osage County are investigating suspects for hunting violations.
Following a citizen’s report of illegal shooting from a rural road, Kansas Game Warden responded and located the suspect’s vehicle in a nearby county, according to a social media report.
The wardens found two deer allegedly killed by the hunters, who were from the local area, according to KDWP&T Captain Dan Melson
They warden confiscated the guns and issued citations.
Charges against the hunters and the amount of the fine were not released.
Gavin Wright, Curtis Allen and Patrick Stein were arrested on Friday and charged with domestic terrorism
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the arrest of three men accused of plotting to attack Somali immigrants in Kansas (all times local):
2 p.m.
The family of one of three men accused of plotting to attack Somali immigrants in western Kansas says they are “extremely grateful” to law enforcement for intervening.
Patrick Eugene Stein’s family issued a statement Monday through their lawyer, Dan Monnat, saying they were shocked and devastated to learn of the alleged plot. They say they do “not support discrimination of any sort and have never advocated or condoned violence as a solution to differences.”
Prosecutors allege that Stein, Curtis Wayne Allen and Gavin Wayne Wright were part of an anti-Muslim, anti-government and anti-immigrant militia group called “the Crusaders” and that they were planning to detonate truck bombs around a small Garden City apartment complex where about 120 Somalis live.
The trio are accused of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. They appeared in court earlier Monday and were appointed lawyers, who later declined to comment.
Phillipsburg resident Frances E. Cote passed away Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016 at the Hays Medical Center in Hays, KS at the age of 69.
She was born October 31, 1946 in Ottawa, Illinois the daughter of Leo & Josephine (Hanley) Kerrins.
Frances was united in marriage to Ralph J. Cote on April 15, 1967 in Kankakee, Illinois. He survives.
Other survivors include her two daughters, Shelly Cote & Kelly Cote, both of Phillipsburg, her son, Thomas Cote of Amarillo, TX; ½ sister, Kathy Deminsky of Pheonix, AZ; 8 grandchildren; & 8 great grandchildren.
Cremation was planned. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, October 20, 2016 in the First Christian Church, Phillipsburg, with Pastor LeRoy Herder officiating.
Friends may sign the book from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016 at the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, with family receiving friends for visitation from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. that evening.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Fresenius Dialysis Center of Hays. Online condolences may be left at www.olliffboeve.com.
The Hays USD 489 Board of Education will hear from three architectural firms during a special board meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Rockwell Administration Center, 323 W. 12th.
Early last month, the board and district administration outlined numerous steps that needed to take place in order to address facility needs throughout the district.
The board rested on four courses of action in September that would allow USD 489 to make a plan that would address the district’s aging infrastructure. District officials say much of that infrastructure has served past its normal life expectancy. Proposed plans also aim for creating safer schools and providing space for educational programs that allow students to be college and career ready.
One of those courses of action is a change in an architecture firm.
The board will meet with three separate architectural firms tonight. All three firms have worked with school districts in western Kansas and are experienced in successfully completing bond-funded school building construction projects.
Hollis and Miller Architects, Overland Park, is the first firm that will present in front of the board. They will be followed by Wichita-based Schaefer, Johnson, Cox, Frey Architecture and DRL Group, which is based in Colorado Springs and Overland Park.
Brian Newby is now executive director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission- photo U.S. Election Assistance Commission
ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Emails obtained by The Associated Press show a top U.S. elections official left behind an unfolding scandal in Kansas where he was having an affair with a woman he promoted in his previous job and used her to skirt oversight of their lavish expenses.
Brian Newby is now executive director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
The affair and much of the fallout at the Johnson County elections office where he previously worked are revealed in emails ordered released after AP sued Johnson County.
Those emails and hundreds more AP obtained from the Kansas secretary of state’s office through a separate open records request show a toxic workplace whose finances prompted an investigation by a local prosecutor.
Newby did not respond to numerous messages seeking comment.
BUNKER HILL – Smoky Hills Public Television will air “The Big First” Congressional District Forum sponsored by the Russell Chamber of Commerce. The forum will air Thursday, Oct. 20, at 9 p.m. and Monday, Oct. 31, at 9 p.m.
The forum, held at the Dream Theater on Monday, included three candidates for the First Congressional District seat. Republican candidate Dr. Roger Marshall defeated incumbent Tim Huelskamp in the August primary. Challenging Marshall are Independent Alan LaPolice and Libertarian Kerry Burt.
On Nov. 6, Smoky Hills Public Television will air a Kansas Candidates marathon in advance of the Nov. 8 election. The marathon will begin with “The Big First” forum at 10:30 a.m.
Marijuana, Xanax and drug paraphernalia seized in a drug arrest early Saturday morning (Photo: Saline County Sheriff’s Office)
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating two suspects on drug charges.
Just before 1a.m. on Saturday, a Saline County Deputy clocked an eastbound vehicle going 85 miles-per-hour near the Hedville-Culver exit, according to Saline County Undersheriff Roger Soldan.
The deputy stopped the 2011 Honda Fit and while talking with the driver noticed a smell of marijuana and also observed that the driver and a passenger appeared to be under the influence.
Approximately 299.8 grams of marijuana, 47 1/2 Xanax pills, and several pieces of various drug paraphernalia were found during a search of the vehicle, according to Soldan.
Levi Regnier
Deputies also found receipts indicating the vehicle had recently been in Colorado.
Shawn Vanderpool
Deputies arrested the driver, 28-year-old Levi Regnier of Kansas City, Kansas, and a passenger, 20-year-old Shawn Vanderpool of Overland Park.
Regnier was booked on requested charges of possession of a depressant, possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while suspended and driving under the influence. He also had an outstanding arrest warrant out of Kansas City, according to Soldan.
Vanderpool was booked on requested charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.
Authorities in Liberty, Missouri have issued an Amber Alert after a teenager was abducted Monday morning.
The Liberty Police Department said 13-year-old Amiya Morris reportedly abducted by 38-year-old Nicholas Bejarano around 5:55 a.m. Monday in the 530 block of Sarah Lane in Liberty.
Bejarano was last seen wearing a gray t-shirt, red shorts, and multi-colored women’s slippers. He may be driving a blue 2012 Toyota Camry with Missouri handicap license number DS17X.
He has multiple tattoos including the letter “B” on his left hand, the letters “MG” on a finger on his right hand, the letter “N” on his right hand, and the letters “EJ” on his neck.
Nicholas Bejarano
Amiya is a black female, approximately 5’3″ tall, weighing around 105 pounds. She has black hair, brown eyes, and a light complexion. She was last seen wearing a tan tank top, dark blue leggings, and black and pink Nike flip-flops.
Amiya is believed to be in imminent danger. Authorities say Amiya and Bejarano may be headed to Kansas.
Anyone seeing Amaya, the suspect, or the suspect vehicle is asked to immediately call 911 or the Liberty, Missouri Police Department at 816-439-4701.
Gavin Wright, Curtis Allen and Patrick Stein were arrested on Friday and charged with domestic terrorism
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the arrest of three men accused of plotting to attack Somali immigrants in Kansas (all times local):
11:05 a.m.
Three men accused of plotting to attack Somali immigrants in western Kansas have appeared in court and been appointed lawyers.
Magistrate Judge Gwynne Birzer on Monday ordered Curtis Wayne Allen, Patrick Eugene Stein and Gavin Wayne Wright to remain in custody after federal prosecutor Anthony Mattivi said they pose a danger to the community. Birzer scheduled detention hearings for Stein and Wright for Friday and for Allen next Monday.
Prosecutors allege that the men are members of a small militia group calling itself “the Crusaders,” whose members espouse sovereign citizen, anti-government, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant extremist beliefs. They allege the men planned to detonate truck bombs around a small Garden City apartment complex where about 120 Somalis live and that they had discussed attacking area churches that helped settle the refugees and get them jobs.
The trio is charged in a criminal complaint that was unsealed Friday with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. Their attorneys declined to comment after the brief hearing in Wichita.
___
7:15 a.m.
Three men accused of plotting to target Somali immigrants in a diverse western Kansas community remain in custody for now following their first federal court appearances.
Federal prosecutor Anthony Mattivi told a magistrate judge that the three men pose a danger to the community.
Curtis Wayne Allen, Patrick Eugene Stein and Gavin Wayne Wright are charged in a complaint unsealed Friday with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction.
Defense attorneys declined comment.
Magistrate Judge Gwynne Birzer scheduled detention hearings for Stein and Wright on Friday. Allen’s detention hearing is next Monday.
A preliminary hearing was set for Oct. 28, although lawyers told the court they anticipate that hearing will not be needed because a grand jury will likely hand down an indictment before then.
The complaint says the men are members of a small militia group calling itself “the Crusaders,” and that its members espouse sovereign citizen, anti-government, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant extremist beliefs.
Prosecutors allege the men planned to detonate truck bombs around a small Garden City apartment complex where about 120 Somali residents live. Authorities say the men talked of attacking area churches that helped settle refugees and get them jobs.
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WICHITA— Three southwest Kansas men accused in bomb plot on a Garden City apartment complex are due in Federal Court on Monday.
On Friday, Federal prosecutors announced charges related to a planned attack on the Somali immigrant community in Garden City.
Following an 8-month investigation, Curtis Allen 49, Liberal, Gavin Wright, 49, Liberal, and Patrick Stein, 47, Wright, were charged with domestic terrorism according to acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
They are being held in the Sedgwick County Jail.
From the Federal Affidavit:
BACKGROUND OF CASE
7. This investigation began based on reporting from a reliable, paid Confidential Human Source (CHS) who has attended numerous KSF and Crusaders meetings where plans were discussed to carry out a violent attack against Muslims (whom the group members refer to as “cockroaches”) in southwestern Kansas. These groups meet in person frequently, as often as once per week, and also engage in frequent communication daily through a telephone application (app) called Zello. Information provided by the CHS has been verified at least seventeen times through consensual monitoring of phone calls and messages, as well as recordings of meetings made when the CHS was wearing a body recorder. The CHS has been corroborated multiple times by another FBI CHS who has provided reliable information in the past and on another occasion by a trusted local law enforcement agency source. On at least one occasion a local law enforcement officer provided information consistent with CHS reporting over several topics. The CHS has been further corroborated through social media and open source reporting.
8. Through recordings, CHS cooperation and reporting, and open source and social media investigation, STEIN, ALLEN, and WRIGHT have been identified as members of the aforementioned militia groups. They have also been determined to be the primary architects of the attack plan. STEIN has been identified as a leader within the KSF and participated in meetings of the Crusaders. ALLEN is a close associate of STEIN’s, has been identified as a leader within KSF, and has led meetings of the Crusaders. WRIGHT is also a member of both groups and has been participating in the planning of the attack. Though they are still part of the larger militia group, STEIN, ALLEN, and WRIGHT have branched off to form their own subgroup to plan and carry out this attack, bringing the CHS along with them.
PROBABLE CAUSE
9. The investigation to date has revealed that KSF/Crusaders members Patrick
STEIN, Curtis ALLEN, and Gavin WRIGHT are conspiring to carry out a domestic terrorist attack by using an improvised explosive device (IED) to destroy an apartment complex located at 312 West Mary Street, Garden City, Kansas, which contains a mosque and is home to many Muslims. Their activities have demonstrated, and continue to demonstrate, actions taken in furtherance of this scheme. Their rhetoric and their speech have revealed a hatred for Muslims, Somalis, and immigrants. They chose the target location based on their hatred of these groups, their perception that the people represent a threat to American society, a desire to inspire other militia groups, and a desire to “wake people up.”
10. According to CHS reporting, STEIN has participated in at least three different group surveillances on potential target locations around Garden City and other parts of southwestern Kansas. These surveillances were conducted on an African store, a Somali mall, and a mosque located in an apartment complex, as well as on various vehicles believed to contain Somalis or Muslims. On one such surveillance in February 2016 when the CHS was driving STEIN around, STEIN at various times yelled at Somali women dressed in traditional garb, calling them “Fxxx raghead bitches.” STEIN also referred to Somalis as “cockroaches” and said several times that they needed to eliminate the Somalis.
During the surveillance, STEIN had with him a pistol, an assault rifle with several magazines, a ballistic vest, and a night vision scope. He also mentioned to the CHS that he had done several surveillances like this on his own in the past and that he always made sure he was armed. STEIN also discussed the Oklahoma City bombing and how he had the same explosives components on his farm (diesel and ammonium nitrate). He was looking for any more explosives or things he could use to blow things up.
During a Friday news conference, Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beal reported the government alleges the men conspired to bomb
an apartment complex in the 300 Block of West Mary Street in Garden City.
Muslim immigrants from Somalia live and worship at the complex.
The targeted apartment complex in Garden City -google image
The government says the suspects conducted survelliance to size up potential targets and stockpiled ammunition, firearms and explosive components.
They also prepared a manifesto describing their beliefs to be published after the bombing.
One suspect told investigators “The bombing would wake people up.”
The defendants were members of a small group they called the Crusaders and they formed a plan for a violent attack, according to Beall.
“They considered a variety of targets including churches and public officials who had expressed support for Somalis.
The suspects discussed obtaining four vehicles, filling them with explosives and parking them at the four corners of the apartment complex to create a large explosion.
The men were arrested on Friday morning in Liberal. If convicted they could face life in prison, he said.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The state of Kansas plans to appeal a jury’s ruling that it pay $120,000 to the family of a 2007 car crash victim who died after a state trooper demanded she be sent to Missouri hospitals rather than a closer one in Kansas.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the Kansas Court of Appeals has upheld the 2014 jury award related to Kristin Saragusa’s death.
Authorities say Charles Barker was fleeing a trooper when his car collided with an oncoming car occupied by Saragusa.
An ambulance carrying Saragusa initially was sent to a Kansas hospital four minutes away but was rerouted to two Missouri hospitals, keeping her in an ambulance for 16 minutes.
Jurors during the trial over the Saragusa family’s lawsuit assessed the state’s liability at $120,000.
