HUTCHINSON – A dispute between two men that led to one of them being taken to jail on a charge of aggravated battery was back before a Reno County judge on Monday for the formal reading of the charge.

Dustin Wedgewood, 32, Hutchinson, was arrested on the charge after he allegedly struck 28-year-old Joseph Murur with a large piece of wood.

On September 25, police were called to the 500 block of East 3 Road on the report of a battery.

When they arrived, they found Murur lying in the yard outside of an apartment.

He had been knocked out from being hit in the head and was taken to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center for treatment.

In court on Monday, Wedgwood claimed self-defense saying the victim pulled a knife on him.

The aggravated battery charge is a level seven person felony with a maximum sentence of two years and 10-months in prison.

The case now moves to a waiver-status docket.

GREENWOOD COUNTY – A bicycle rider died in an accident just after 8 a.m. on Monday in Greenwood County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Chevy Impala driven by Shawn Patrick Echols, 32, El Dorado, was east bound on U.S. 54 seven miles east of Eureka.

The car struck an eastbound bicycle ridden by Michael John Balfe, 60, Claremont, West Australia.

Balfe was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Country Side Funeral Home.

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GREENWOOD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Greenwood County are investigating a fatal bicycle accident.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported just after 8a.m. on Monday, a 2008 Chevy Impala was east bound on U.S. 54 seven miles east of Eureka.

The car struck an eastbound bicycle.

Name of the victim and additional details were have not been released.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the case of a Kansas serial killer who stuffed the bodies of several victims into barrels.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says Monday’s ruling leaves John Robinson’s capital murder conviction and death sentence intact. Robinson was convicted of killing seven women and a teenage girl in Kansas and Missouri in cases dating back to 1984. Investigators say he lured some victims with promises of work or sex.

Schmidt says this is the first death penalty case to exhaust direct appeals since capital punishment was reinstated in 1994 in Kansas. The case now returns to Kansas courts for further proceedings.

His attorney didn’t immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press.

BARTON COUNTY – A Kansas teen was injured in an accident just after 6:30 p.m. on Monday in Barton County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1994 Chevy 1500 driven by Meghan Elizabeth Doyle, 17, Bushton, was westbound on Kansas 4 just east of Claflin.

The driver was distracted by food in the vehicle.

The pickup left the roadway, entered the north ditch, collided with a guardrail and came to rest on a culvert.

Doyle was transported for treatment in Claflin.

She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Democrats and voting rights advocates are ramping up voter registration drives across Kansas in the wake of recent court rulings allowing thousands of people to more easily register with a federal form or at motor vehicle offices without providing citizenship documents.

But the state’s Republican Party contends those court cases are “practically irrelevant” to the November election.

GOP Executive Director Clay Barker says it isn’t putting party emphasis on registration because its numbers are so high in Kansas and registration “tends to take care of itself.”

Republicans comprise 45 percent of the state’s 1.76 million registered voters. Unaffiliated voters make up 29 percent of the electorate, while Democrats trail with 25 percent.

The League of Women Voters is also advising its volunteers to use the federal form to register voters.

SEDGWICK COUNTY – Following an arrest of a juvenile following a clown threat against schools in USD 259, Wichita Public Schools, other high schools are alerting parents of an online threat.

On Monday morning, the Maize Police Department became aware of photos of a clown in front of Maize South High School, which were being circulated via social media, according to a report from police.

Police took the photos seriously and immediately notified the Maize school district and increased the number of officers patrolling around schools.

The investigation ultimately identified three students of Maize South High School who had both taken the photos and circulated them on various social media sites. The students did this solely as a prank and were not aware at the time of the other threats being circulated. We are confident in talking with the students that there was and is no connection to the “creepy clown” threats that have been made towards other schools.

USD 262 Superintendent Cory Gibson sent a note to parents on Monday.

“As you may know, there have been several reports in the area and nationally about “creepy clowns.”

Over the past couple of days, area schools have been dealing with potentially threatening social media posts related to clowns.

Valley Center is not immune to these posts.

On Monday, the school district was made aware that a Valley Center High School student made one or more posts that may be viewed as threatening.

The post was not directed at anyone specifically and the district does not believe there is any imminent danger.

October 3, 2016
Dear Valley Center USD 262 Families,
As you may know, there have been several reports in the area… https://t.co/zC4Dgr9LlK

— USD262 Valley Center (@USD262) October 3, 2016

USD 262 administrators and Valley Center Police Department are working collaboratively to investigate any and all posts that may be viewed as a safety concern.”

Gibson encouraged parents and children aware of any threats (social media or otherwise) that make you question the safety of students or staff to report it to your child’s school principal immediately. If it is after school hours, please report the threat directly to law enforcement.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that professional racecar driver Scott Tucker and others deceived payday loan consumers and owe the Federal Trade Commission about $1.2 billion.

The Kansas City Star reports that the commission brought charges against Scott Tucker, of Leawood, Kansas, and others on claims that their payday loan operations charged exorbitant interest rates.

U.S. District Court of Nevada Judge Gloria Navarro issued a judgment Friday that found consumers of Tucker’s payday loan businesses were harmed because of misleading loan terms.

Tucker denied wrongdoing in the case. He also has pleaded not guilty to criminal exploitation charges and is scheduled for trial in April.

The Associated Press sent an email early Monday seeking comment from an attorney for two lending companies with ties to Tucker.

HUTCHINSON. — The Kansas Supreme Court on Monday denied District Attorney Keith Schroeder’s motion asking for a stay or injunction to prevent a new mental evaluation completed for a teen convicted for killing his mother and sister.

The Reno County District Attorney had filed a second motion with the Kansas Supreme Court asking for a stay or injunction over any plans to have a new mental evaluation completed for a teen convicted of setting the fire that killed his mother and sister.

Keith Schroeder had already filed a petition against Judge Trish Rose and the Public Defender’s Office for writs of mandamus in connection with the Samuel Vonachen case.

The high court ordered Judge Rose to present a brief over what legal reason she used for denying the state’s request that the 17-year-old be moved to adult jail after being convicted of two counts of murder, attempted murder and aggravated arson as an adult and also asking for another mental evaluation be conducted.

The high court is giving Judge Rose until Oct. 11, to file the brief with the court.

However, in the latest filing by Schroeder, he alleged that the judge may be trying to arrange a mental evaluation in Hutchinson.

Schroeder says in his motion that the teen told officials with Reno County Youth Services that he learned through his attorney that he may have the evaluation done in Hutchinson rather then being sent to the state mental hospital in Larned.

According to the filing, Judge Rose called officials at Larned to see if something could be set done in Reno County.

Schroeder says in the motion that he was never notified of the judge’s attempt to have the evaluation done in Reno County.

Schroeder has argued that there have been a number of other evaluations and that the jury rejected the mental disease and defect argument.

In August, a jury convicted the teen of the two counts of murder for the killing of his mother and sister who died after he set fire to the family home on Sept. 26, 2013.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas says its tax collections fell nearly $45 million short of expectations in September.

The report Monday from the state Department of Revenue complicates the state’s budget picture five weeks before the election. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s fiscal policies are a major issue in legislative races.

The department said tax collections were $521 million last month, 7.9 percent below the official projection of $566 million.

Since the budget year began July 1, tax collections have been $68 million less than anticipated. That’s a 4.7 percent shortfall.

Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since Republican legislators slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013. Brownback pushed for the cuts as an economic stimulus.

Tax collections have fallen short 32 of the 45 months since the first cuts took effect.