STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter says an American serviceman has been killed near Irbil in Iraq.
Carter revealed the death at the outset of a news conference Tuesday in Stuttgart, Germany, where he has been consulting with European allies.
Carter says “it is a combat death,” but he hasn’t offered any further details.
Vice President Joe Biden visited Baghdad last week to exhort leaders of the government in Iraq to resolve internal political strife and concentrate on the effort to defeat the Islamic State group.
Carter, likewise, visited Baghdad recently. The Obama administration has been pressing the effort against IS, which has been slowed down in its quest to overrun Iraq.
Carter presided earlier at a ceremony installing a new commander of U.S. European Command, Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti
SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County continue to investigate the April 29 shooting near a child-care center.
A person of interest in the case, according to police is Colwin Lynn Henderson III, 18, Topeka.
He left the scene in a gold Chrysler Sebring convertible with extensive front-end damage. He is believed to be armed with a handgun.
Just after 5 p.m. on Friday, police responded to 33rd and Gage Street in Topeka after report that a man was wounded.
The victim was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Several rounds from the weapon were fired, according to police. One bullet also hit a building used as a childcare center. There were no injuries in that facility.
Any information on this suspect please Email the TPD Criminal Intelligence Unit ([email protected]) or TPD DET Victor Riggin ([email protected]) or call #785 368 9503 or Crime Stoppers at #785 234-0007
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — An Arkansas City woman found guilty in the death of her 16-month-old daughter has been sentenced to 18 months of probation.
KAKE-TV reports that 30-year-old Lindsey Abegg was sentenced Thursday. She had pleaded guilty to aggravated endangerment of a child in the August death of Astra Abegg. She also pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and marijuana.
Police say that Astra Abegg was found dead at an Arkansas City apartment when emergency crews responded to a report of a medical emergency involving a child.
The cause of the child’s death is unclear. Prosecutors argued that abuse led to the child’s death.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — National Weather Service branches in Wichita and Tulsa, Oklahoma, are re-enacting a deadly 1991 tornado outbreak on social media a week after the threat of nasty weather forced them to postpone a similar exercise.
The Wichita Eagle reports the Wichita office will focus on conditions leading to an F5 tornado that killed 17 people and injured more than 200 in Andover, south Wichita and McConnell Air Force Base on April 26, 1991.
The first tweets Tuesday will focus on the atmospheric environment on that day. The Wichita branch will then live-tweet the actual event starting with the first tornado warning at 4:36 p.m.
Meterologist Vanessa Pearce says there will be about 60 tweets issued by the Wichita branch.
Fort Hays State University’s College of Business and Entrepreneurship students graduating with a Masters of Business Administration received outstanding scores on a national test administered by the Educational Testing Service. These scores place them among top graduates in the nation.
MBA graduates Felicia Mincks, Kansas City, Mo.; Marc McCrary, Hutchinson; Nikolous Rempe, McPherson; and Kunwar Shahrukh, Lahore, Pakistan, scored in the 90th percentile nationally on the ETS Major Field Test.
MBA graduates Tim Westfahl, Wichita; Olivia Seirer, Manhattan; Mycal Miles, Douglass; Stephanie Goolsby, Waldo, Fla.; Bryce Owens, Aurora, Colo.; Kai Wang, Xingyang, China; and Juan Hou, San Diego, Calif., scored in the 80th percentile.
“The number of students scoring in the 90th and 80th percentile continues to increase each year,” said Merri Incitti, assistant dean for accreditation and assessment of the College of Business and Entrepreneurship. “This is a testament to the quality of our program and dedication of our faculty. Our graduates continue to make us proud.”
The ETS Major Field Tests are comprehensive MBA outcomes assessments that are administered to graduating MBA students at FHSU each semester to measure the critical knowledge and understanding obtained by the students. The test evaluates students’ abilities to analyze and solve problems, understand relationships and interpret material.
“I am very proud of the quality of FHSU’s MBA graduates,” said Dr. Mark Bannister, dean of the College of Business and Entrepreneurship. “This national exam demonstrates that our students can compete with MBA graduates from anywhere in the country. We have a high-quality program, which is producing very talented and knowledgeable students.”
photo Kansas Department of Corrections shows convicted child sex offender Fernando Neave-Ceniceros plead guilty to stealing the identity of Marcus Calvillo
ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A decades-long ordeal ruined a Texas man, but his life might start to get better now that the sex offender in Kansas who stole his identity has pleaded guilty to misusing a Social Security number.
Fernando Neave-Ceniceros’ plea Monday in federal court in Wichita will help prosecutors begin to repair the havoc left behind for Marcus Calvillo, the Grand Prairie, Texas, man whose identity he assumed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson says he doesn’t know of a case where the theft of an identity had a more devastating impact than this one.
The 41-year-old convicted child sex offender and Mexican national admitted to using Calvillo’s Social Security number to hide his own identity and lack of legal status in the United States. Sentencing is July 25. His attorney declined comment.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Figures from a survey of supply managers in nine Midwest and Plains states have dropped slightly after rising for three months, but they still point to economic growth.
A report issued Monday says the Mid-American Business Conditions Index declined to 50.1 in April from 50.6 in March.
The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests economic growth. A score below that suggests decline.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says “continuing weakness in the region’s agriculture and energy sectors remains an obstacle to improving overall growth.”
The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
Click below to listen to Monday night’s Tiger Talk with Fort Hays State softball coach Adrian Mohr and baseball coach Steve Johnson. The program airs Monday’s at 6 pm on Tiger Radio Mix-103. This is the final show for the 2015-16 sports season. Join us again prior to the start of the 2016 football season for the next show.
HUTCHINSON – A Kansas man, well known for stealing vehicles, was arrested again over the weekend when he allegedly stole a truck in Haven.
Maurice Miles, 36, and Ashley Miles were spotted driving on U.S 50 on Saturday and a traffic stop was made, according to police. They were arrested.
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Miles, who was just paroled for his other convictions in February and according to the Kansas Department of Corrections absconded from that parole.
Miles faces charges of theft or possession of stolen property, driving while suspended, failure to appear and violating his parole.
In court, his bond was increased to $7,500 after District Attorney Keith Schroeder noted that he may have the record for most stolen vehicles in Reno County saying it was more then 25.
Ashley Miles is charged with theft or possession of stolen property and asked for a bond reduction. However, she is facing a probation violation, so the judge decided against any change till she had time to visit with another judge over the probation violation. She told the judge she is supposed to start court ordered drug treatment on Wednesday.
She’ll also be back in court on May 9.
ELLIS COUNTY – A Rush County man was injured in an accident just before 4:30 p.m. on Monday in Ellis County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Ford Edge driven by Katelyn Jo Rippe, 27, Hays, was southbound on U.S.183.
The driver attempted to make a left onto Mt. Pleasant.
A southbound 2004 F250 driven by Nicholas Erik Mitchell, 27, Otis, struck the rear of the Edge.
The collision caused the pickup to spin and come to rest on its side in the west ditch.
Mitchell was transported to Hays Medical Center.
Rippe and a 1-year-old in the Edge were not injured.
All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
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By James Bell Hays Post
Around 4:30 p.m. Monday, officers from the Ellis County Sherrif’s Department, Kansas Highway Patrol, and Ellis County Emergency Medical Services responded to a two-vehicle accident at 250th Ave. and Mount Pleasant Rd, just south of Hays.
Traffic was being allowed to proceed slowly as responders worked to clear the scene.
According to eyewitness reports, a SUV and pickup truck collided at the intersection. The SUV came to rest on the east side of the roadway facing south.
The pickup spun around and came to rest in the west ditch facing south, resting on its passenger side.
The driver of the pickup kicked out the windshield in order to escape the vehicle.
The condition of the drivers and passengers of both vehicles are unknown at this time.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman was spared from going to prison after admitting she helped her husband steal more than $1.2 million from a company which owns assisted living centers in Kansas and Missouri.
U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten sentenced 51-year-old Lori A. Shryock of Augusta to five years on probation. Her husband was sentenced in October to three years in prison. Both pleaded guilty to mail fraud.
Her attorney told the court the wife was motivated less by greed than by fear and love for her husband, but knowingly enjoyed the financial benefits.
The indictment alleges the thefts occurred while Brent Shryock was employed as information systems director for Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, where he was in charge of purchasing equipment.
The couple created fictitious companies to submit fraudulent invoices.
The assistant project manager leaned back in a chair in his company’s job trailer, and his face broke into a grin.
It felt good to rest a bit after a long week of dealing with a muddy construction site following more than 5 inches of rain in Hays. He glanced at the masons erecting the stair towers for Fort Hays State University’s new 450-bed, four-story, 110,748 square-foot Wiest Hall while talking about the differences between construction labor and construction management.
D.J. Brown, a white hard hat atop his head and an auburn stubble gracing his youthful face, looked more like a college student working at an internship than one in charge of a multi-million dollar project.
Brown happens to be both.
The 24-year-old Plainville native is fulfilling his internship requirements for his bachelor’s degree in construction management from Fort Hays State. He will graduate next month, and like a lot of seniors, he was offered a job even before graduation.
Unlike most, however, Brown has been working full time for McPherson Contractors, Inc., out of Topeka for four months during his final semester of college.
Such are the benefits of students in FHSU’s construction management program, in its fourth year in the university’s Department of Applied Technology.
Courses were added to the construction technology curriculum in 2012 for students to complete the degree with a construction management emphasis.
“We’ve always had students who graduated in construction technology, went out and got a job and grew into a construction manager,” said Kim Stewart, chair of the Department of Applied Technology.
“But,” he added, “we needed something about management that high school counselors and teachers could identify with, so we created a hybrid.”
The new program caught on rapidly.
“We started with the typical five students the first year, then 12, 18, and it keeps doubling itself,” said Kris Munsch, assistant professor of applied technology. “We have 30-plus in the program now.”
Until recently, the only four-year institutions in Kansas offering a construction management program were Kansas State University and Pittsburg State University.
All of a sudden, students from Kansas and area states realized there’s now another option — a more affordable one at that. One of those students was Brown.
Not only does Fort Hays State offer top-notch instruction and hands-on experience, it also has the most affordable tuition of any four-year school in the Kansas Regents system. For Brown, FHSU is only half an hour from his hometown.
The Applied Technology Department has benefitted from the addition of the construction management program.
“Now, it’s not just internships for seniors that companies want, but they are wanting them as freshmen,” Munsch said. “That field is just exploding. It’s really booming.
“By the time those students are seniors,” Munsch added, “they’re ready to manage a 5-, 10-, 15-million dollar job in their early 20s, which is mind boggling.”
That’s the situation already facing Brown, who grew up around construction but was most familiar with electrical technology, working alongside his dad, Blaine Brown, an electrician in Plainville.
After a couple of years of college majoring in health and human performance, then a couple more out in the work force, D.J. Brown decided to return to college and major in business management.
“I was thinking I wanted to own my dad’s business some day,” the younger Brown said of switching majors.
However, Brown was drawn to construction technology and liked the classes added to the program’s original curriculum, so he chose the construction management route.
“They were teaching us how to run our own business, and I liked that,” he said. “The management classes were more in-depth, gave more detail of things I never even thought of before. The fitting together of construction and management all started to make sense.”
Brown said he gained invaluable on-the-job experience during an internship last summer with Deines Construction out of WaKeeney.
“I hadn’t had that type of hands-on experience in that type of construction before,” said Brown, who was exposed to a variety of construction projects — both residential and commercial that ranged from designing buildings to pouring concrete to building wheelchair ramps. He designed some of his own projects and also worked under an architect.
“The two to three months working last summer, I learned so much,” he said.
When it came time to look for a senior internship last fall, Brown sought out McPherson Construction because his cousin is married to the mason who works on a lot of that company’s jobs.
“I set up an interview, got the internship,” Brown said, “and things started to happen in a hurry.”
Brown left for Topeka and began his internship in mid-December.
Coincidentally, McPherson Construction was bidding on the Wiest Hall replacement project at the time. Steve Kesl, senior project superintendent for McPherson, said that Brown was a big help in landing the Wiest Hall job in early January.
“He was instrumental in working the figures and helping our estimator with information,” Kesl said. “The fact that he knows the community and knew a lot of the sub-contractors has been a real help to me. It’s been a learning process for us together. So we asked him if he wanted to go back to Hays and help build Wiest.”
Brown didn’t hesitate to say “Yes.” Kesl said his company was so impressed with Brown’s work ethic and quality of work that they hired him full time Feb. 1.
“D.J. is a doer,” Kesl said. “He likes to make sure he gets his things done.
“He’s of the electronic age, so he works with AutoCAD really well,” Kesl said of computer software application used for design and drafting.
Brown admits he has had to improvise in getting things done as a planner and scheduler rather than a laborer.
“I’m not afraid of hard work, so I miss pushing the shovel sometimes,” he said. “But I like paperwork and behind-the-scenes stuff, too. It’s great to know both sides.”
“It’s such a golden opportunity,” said Kesl, who has worked for McPherson Construction for 27 years. “… for both parties.”
“It’s unbelievable what he’s learning,” Stewart agreed.
Those golden opportunities have not been lost on Brown.
“I want to own a business some day, but I don’t know how,” he said. “But when I get going on something, I’m goal oriented. If I want to get better at something, I just keep trying until I get it right, so I’ll learn how.”
Brown is excited to see the Wiest replacement project — which includes a new three-story Themed Housing building and expansion of the McMindes Hall dining area — through to completion in the summer of 2017. At the same time, he gets to watch FHSU’s construction management program continue to thrive.
“Every year, Fort Hays State has just gotten better and better,” he said. “Students coming through this program the next few years are going to do amazing things.”
Brown paused and looked thoughtful. He realizes it’s a case of being in the right place at the right time for him, and he plans to make the most of it.
“I don’t believe in coincidences, though,” he said. “I believe it was supposed to happen this way.”
While Brown looks and sounds like a 24-year-old about to graduate from college, he speaks with a wisdom beyond his years.
“Instead of working for a paycheck, I’m working to learn,” Brown said. “I want to learn something new every day.”
Democrat Eber Phelps, former state representative and current mayor of Hays, has filed to run for the 111th District against incumbent Republican Sue Boldra.
Eber Phelps, mayor and city commissioner of Hays, filed in Topeka Monday morning to run for the Kansas Legislature.
Phelps, a Democrat, will challenge incumbent Republican Sue Boldra in the 111th House District.
“Gov. Brownback and Republicans in the legislature, have bankrupted our state, starved our schools, and ignored our roads,” Phelps said in a news release. “I look forward to providing leadership to move our state in a new direction.”
Phelps indicated that his top priority would be creating a stable budget by rebuilding the Kansas economy and reinstituting a common-sense tax policy. He criticized the budget passed by the House early Monday morning.
“The mismanagement of the Kansas budget under Governor Brownback and legislators like Rep. Boldra is appalling,” Phelps said. “Last night, Rep. Boldra voted for and the legislature passed a budget that transfers money needed to pave our roads to cover basic state services, and delays payments to the KPERS, and cuts funding to Fort Hays State University. And it still doesn’t balance!”
When elected, Phelps said he would work with Democrats and other moderates to reinvest in Kansas.
“I cannot sit by and watch as Brownback and Republicans in the legislature mismanage Kansas any longer. We should be maintaining and building new roads, because it creates jobs in our communities and drives economic development. We should be investing in schools, because our children need a high-quality education to succeed. It’s time to return to common sense leadership.”
Phelps lives in Hays with his wife, Joni. Phelps is employed by Glassman Corporation.
ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer
FHSU University Relations and Marketing
