RHINELANDER, Wis. (AP) — A northern Wisconsin teenager accused of killing her mother and stepfather has pleaded guilty in a plea deal that has prosecutors recommending a 40-year prison sentence.
Eighteen-year-old Ashlee Martinson entered her plea on Friday to two counts of second-degree homicide. The teen had earlier pleaded innocent by reason of insanity.
Martinson was accused of fatally stabbing 40-year-old Jennifer Ayers and shooting 37-year-old Thomas Ayers at the family’s home near Three Lakes in March 2015.
Investigators said Martinson confined her three sisters in a room before fleeing to Indiana with her boyfriend. Court documents say the Ayerses were killed the same day they warned Martinson’s 22-year-old boyfriend to stay away from her because she was a minor.
The sisters, ranging in age from 2 to 9, weren’t hurt.
Jennifer Ayers is a New Jersey native who grew up in Hays and graduated from Hays High School and Fort Hays State University.
FORD COUNTY – A Russell County man was injured in an accident just before 9 a.m. on Friday in Ford County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2009 Peterbilt semi driven by Dennis C. Bostwick, 44, Colorado Springs, CO, and a 2004 Freightliner semi driven by Lyndall R. Kuntzsch, 50, Russell, were westbound on U.S. 50 one mile east of Spearville.
The trucks were separated by 3 other vehicles.
Kuntzsch was passing other vehicles as Bostwick attempted to make a left turn onto 127 Road. The Freightliner collided with the Peterbilt.
Kuntzsch and Bostwick were transported to Western Plains Medical Center, Dodge City.
The were both properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
HUTCHINSON- Law enforcement authorities in Hutchinson are Police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred at the
Main Street Dillon’s Store.
According to HPD a store employee ran into the street to flag down a patrol officer telling him they had just been robbed.
According to police a man walked into the store around 11 a.m. and said he had a weapon inside his waistband and demanded money. The man then left the store heading west on foot.
The robbery forced Hutchinson Middle School 8 to go into lockdown temporary lockdown that was lifted just after noon.
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HUTCHINSON –. – An incident in the neighborhood of the middle school in Hutchinson has prompted a temporary lock-down of the school located at 14th and Adams Street.
The school sent a notice to parents.
“Hutchinson Middle School is operating with locked exterior doors today and not allowing anyone in after receiving a call from police about a situation in the neighborhood.
We will continue to operate this way until police tell us otherwise.
If you need to pick up a student early, they ask that you call them first at 615-4800 and let us know you are on the way.”
For the record, all exterior doors at HMS-8 are locked during the school day with visitors needing to be “buzzed” in.
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Hutchinson Middle School 8
HUTCHINSON –. – An incident in the neighborhood of the middle school in Hutchinson has prompted a temporary lock-down of the school located at 14th and Adams Street.
The school sent a notice to parents.
“Hutchinson Middle School is operating with locked exterior doors today and not allowing anyone in after receiving a call from police about a situation in the neighborhood.
We will continue to operate this way until police tell us otherwise.
If you need to pick up a student early, they ask that you call them first at 615-4800 and let us know you are on the way.”
For the record, all exterior doors at HMS-8 are locked during the school day with visitors needing to be “buzzed” in.
By Rep. Troy L. Waymaster, Kansas House District 109
March 11, 2016
February Revenues Drastically Down
On Tuesday, March 1, 2016, we received the revenue numbers for the month of February and they were, somewhat, what we anticipated just not the excessive amount of being almost $54 million short of the stated projections.
Here is a breakdown of the February revenue numbers where the state of Kansas missed the projections in income, sales, and cigarette taxes, the latter two were adjusted during the tax debate last session. Income taxes were approximately $27 million below the estimates that were calculated by the Consensus Revenue Estimate Group back in November 2015. The revenue group had predicted that in the month of February the state would collect $100 million in income taxes, however, in actuality the amount was $72.9 million.
The state sales tax projections missed the intended target by over $12 million dollars. The revenue group had anticipated the collection of $176 million in sales tax, although the amount collected was $163 million for the month of February.
As I mentioned before, the cigarette tax, along with the state sales tax, were two of the taxes adjusted in the tax deliberation last spring. For cigarette taxes in the month of February, the projection called for the collection of $11 million whereas only about $9 million was collected. Governor Brownback, in his statements last Tuesday, did not criticize the current tax policy in the state of Kansas, however, he directed the root cause of the short revenues being the downturn in the economy and falling prices in the oil and agricultural sectors.
The Governor’s response to address some of the shortfall precipitated by the dismal February revenue numbers was to reduce allotments for the regents schools in Kansas by three percent, or approximately $17 million for Kansas universities throughout the rest of the current fiscal year which ends June 30, 2016. For Fort Hays State University, the Regent school closest to our area, this results in a cut of funding of $992,367. While awaiting the March revenue figures, the Legislature will be studying areas where adjustments can be made to balance the budget for the state of Kansas.
Efficiency Study: General Government Budget Recommendations
This entire week the General Government Budget Committee focused on the recommendations from the auditing firm Alvarez and Marsal in identifying savings to the state of Kansas. Our committee heard from representatives from the auditing firm and state agencies. We heard detailed descriptions of over twenty-five recommendations that could potentially save the state over $146 million over the course of five years. Some of the recommendations that we discussed were: centralized budgeting and management; centralization of state printing services; re-bidding of state insurance; and many recommendations regarding the Governor’s office. On Thursday, the committee chairs reported the recommendations to the full Appropriations committee. We will take action on these in the coming weeks.
The Governor’s Vetoes
Last Friday, Governor Brownback vetoed the STAR (Sales Tax as Revenue) Bond provision that was included by the Senate and conferred on by the House in the supplemental budget bill that was passed in February by both chambers. The rationale behind the governor’s line-item veto is that he is attempting to entice the American Royal, one of Kansas City, Missouri’s prime fall events, to hold their event in Wyandotte County, Kansas. If the event were to relocate from Missouri to Kansas, there would be tremendous infrastructure needs that would be addressed. The event would generate the construction of livestock arenas, areas for barbeque contests, and a newly constructed hockey rink, all in the Kansas City, Kansas area known as Village West. The provision that was added to the budget bill would only apply to Wyandotte County and would prohibit new STAR bonds issuances. Since the governor has vetoed this particular provision in the budget, there is discussion on whether both chambers may decide to override the governor’s veto. If that were to occur, right now I would vote not to override the governor’s veto regarding this issue.
Another bill that Governor Brownback vetoed was Senate Bill 250, which happened to be a bill that I carried on Wednesday, February 23, which was initially an innocuous bill regarding the Department of Administration. However, during deliberation of the bill, an amendment was added halting the Governor from moving forward on a decision by his office to enter into a $20 million financing agreement, without legislative oversight, for the construction of a new power plant for the Capitol complex when, and if, the Docking Building is razed. The amendment that was included on the base bill of Senate Bill 250 prevented the Governor from moving forward on this lease purchase agreement and delayed the razing of the Docking Building for the period of two years to allow for a study and more analysis of the possible future of the Docking Building. On Thursday, March 10, there was a motion in the Senate to override the veto, however, that motion was later withdrawn and will most likely be debated in the Senate on Monday, March 14. On this bill I would vote to override the Governor.
House Chaplain and Contact Information
On Monday, March 7, 2016, Pastor Roger Dennis from St. John’s Lutheran Church, Russell, was invited to serve as the House and Senate Chaplain for the day by Senator Elaine Bowers and myself. Here are the words he shared with us:
“In a time where there are no easy answers to the challenges confronting this body, I pray. May people truly listen to each other, converse with each other, and cooperate with each other. Help all to realize it is not about them, but the people they serve. May this body meet the heavy responsibilities inherent with governance. Provide all with insightful and just deliberation marked with good stewardship of resources and compassion.”
The honor to serve you in the 109th Kansas House District and the state of Kansas is one I do not take lightly. Do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, concerns and questions. I appreciate hearing from the residents of the 109th House District and others from the state of Kansas.
Troy L. Waymaster,
State Representative
109th Kansas House
300 SW 10th
Topeka, KS 66612
The first case of Zika virus in the state has been confirmed in southwest Kansas.
TOPEKA–State health officials say an adult from southwest Kansas has the state’s first confirmed case of the Zika virus.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in announcing the case Friday the person had traveled to a country which has “local Zika virus transmission.”
The KDHE news release reads: “The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) received confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the first person in the state to test positive for Zika virus. The individual is an adult from southwest Kansas and has travel history to a country with local Zika virus transmission. The person subsequently developed an illness consistent with Zika virus infection and was tested per guidance from CDC and KDHE.”
“Kansas is prepared for the Zika virus, and we are working with health care providers across the state to respond to both suspected and confirmed cases,” said Susan Mosier, MD, MBA, FACS, KDHE Secretary and State Health Officer. “I urge everyone who is considering travel to a country with Zika transmission to be aware of the situation and take precautions to protect themselves and prevent mosquito bites.”
Health officials say the virus is mainly transmitted by a specific type of mosquito and most people who get the disease have no symptoms. Others with the Zika virus suffer from fever, rash, joint pain and pink eye.
Investigation are underway whether the virus is linked to birth defects in the children of women who caught the virus while pregnant.
The list of affected areas includes many countries in the Caribbean and South and Central America. The list continues to change and can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/index.html
Fort Hays State University, which has been setting records regularly since the turn of the century, has set another all-time record for enrollment in a spring semester. The official 20th-day enrollment for spring 2016 is 12,338, which surpasses the enrollment of 11,889 from spring 2015 by 449 students. That is an increase of 3.8 percent.
The official 20th day enrollment number for Fort Hays State actually is misleading because one of the two partner universities in China — Shenyang Normal University — starts its spring semester too late to be included in that official total. Shenyang delays the start of its spring semester every year to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The Shenyang spring enrollment of 684 students arrived this week. That compares to 643 last spring at Shenyang, which is an increase of 41 students.
The record enrollments semester after semester and year after year at Fort Hays State are all the more extraordinary because just the opposite trend is occurring at universities nationally. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported that in fall 2015, the most recent semester for which complete numbers were available, overall postsecondary enrollments decreased 1.7 percent from the previous fall. Taken as a whole, public sector enrollment for combined two-year and four-year institutions declined by 2.3 percent. Enrollments actually increased slightly among four-year public institutions such as Fort Hays State, at 0.4 percent, but the FHSU increase in fall 2015 was much higher than the national average, at 2.8 percent.
Likewise, the FHSU enrollment increase this spring bucks the national trend. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported that in spring 2015, overall postsecondary enrollments decreased 1.9 percent from the previous spring. Enrollments increased slightly among four-year public institutions such as Fort Hays State, at just 0.1 percent, but the FHSU enrollment increase in spring 2015 was a robust 2.7 percent. And, as reported above, the 20th-day enrollment increase for FHSU this spring was 3.8 percent.
“These numbers happen only because of the continuous hard work of our faculty, our staff and our students, who continue to spread the word about our programs of distinction,” said Dr. Mirta M. Martin, FHSU president. “Our continual enrollment increases in the face of national declines affirm that Fort Hays State is literally the destination of choice!”
Craig Karlin, FHSU registrar, noted some enrollment areas of special interest. He said the number of Kansans enrolled at Fort Hays State this spring is 6,946, an increase of 191 students, or 2.8 percent, from 6,755 a year ago. In spring 2010, 5,762 Kansans were enrolled in FHSU classes. So just in the past six years, the number of Kansans enrolled at Fort Hays State has increased by 1,184 students, or 20.5 percent.
Hispanic enrollment has been another area of emphasis for the Kansas Board of Regents. Karlin said the number of Hispanic students enrolled on campus grew to 375 this spring compared to 365 in spring 2015, an increase of 2.7 percent.
The number of students who identify themselves as African-American also continues to trend upward. The number of black students on campus this semester is 122 compared to 112 last spring, an increase of 8.9 percent.
Growth also continues to be strong in the Graduate School. The total number of graduate students is 2,449 this spring compared to 2,217 in spring 2015, which is an increase of 232 students, or 10.5 percent.
“We will not take our success for granted,” Karlin said. “It takes everyone to make it happen year after year. Our faculty and staff are truly dedicated and work hard to make it happen.”
Photo by Andy Marso Tim Wood talks to Kari Ann Rinker, a lobbyist for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, at the statehouse. Interhab announced Thursday that Wood will become the organization’s executive director in September, replacing Tom Laing, seated at left.
The state’s largest organization representing developmental disability service providers announced its new leader Thursday.
Interhab, a Topeka-based non-profit that has been active in statehouse lobbying on behalf of Kansans with disabilities, announced that Tim Wood will take over as executive director in September.
Wood, a disability advocate who also has been active in Topeka for several years, will replace Tom Laing. “I have big shoes to fill,” Wood said.
“I want to provide solid leadership like my predecessor Tom Laing and move the organization forward. Obviously there are a lot of tough issues we’re dealing with but I’m optimistic and really up for the challenge.” Service providers for Kansans with developmental disabilities face a number of regulatory changes at both the state and federal level.
Wood said the main focus, though, will be on the state’s plan to collapse seven Medicaid waiver programs for Kansans with a variety of disabilities into two: one for kids and one for adults. A news release from Interhab said Wood will take on the public advocacy role that now falls to Laing, who has led the organization since 1993.
Wood is coming to Interhab from Johnson County Developmental Supports, where he is director of the county’s Community Developmental Disability Organization.
He previously worked for the Topeka-based Disability Rights Center’s End the Wait campaign, which sought to convince legislators to fund waiting lists for home- and community-based services for Kansans with disabilities.
Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso
By RANDY GONZALES FHSU University Relations and Marketing
It’s Ecuador this week, then Finland for a year, Alaska and Canada last year. Travel opportunities offered by Fort Hays State University have made a world of difference for Lecompton junior Julie Clement.
“I think (FHSU has) been a good choice for me based on what I wanted to do, because I really wanted to study abroad,” Clement said. “It gives me a different view of the world. Growing up in a little town in Kansas, you really don’t get an outside view. Then you travel somewhere — it entirely opens up what I can see.”
Clement is spending her spring break as part of a Fort Hays State student group visiting Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, a different world from Lecompton, Kansas — population 630.
Seven FHSU students and David Levering, education director at Sternberg Museum of Natural History, departed Hays late Wednesday night for Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. The group’s plans included biking down a volcano, through a rain forest and eventually reaching a desert. Along the way, they plan to stop at a butterfly farm.
Then it’s on to the Galapagos Islands, where naturalist Charles Darwin studied several species of life. Clement said she was looking forward to seeing the wildlife, especially the giant sea tortoises.
As part of the National Student Exchange program, Clement took classes during fall semester 2014 in Fairbanks, Alaska, at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. She then was in Canada in spring 2015, studying at Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Grenfell campus in Corner Brook. She spent her spring break in 2014 helping build homes in Peru.
In September 2016, Clement begins classes in Joensuu, Finland, part of International Student Exchange Programs. She will study at the University of Eastern Finland while paying FHSU tuition. Clement is busy trying to learn Finnish; she has five language learning apps on her phone.
“I like Hays a lot, but I can go elsewhere and still pay this awesomely affordable tuition,” Clement said. “I like to travel; they say you travel most in college. Why not, since I’m getting college credit for traveling.”
Clement will receive one hour of geosciences credit for her trip to Ecuador. The trip is not just for science majors.
“They’re not all studying to get science degrees, but they all have a common thread of understanding the significance of this place,” said Levering, who will lead a trip to the Galapagos Islands in 2017 for non-FHSU students.
Clement traveled with her family when she was younger, and her father, Scot, moved around a lot when he was a child. Clement and her dad took a trip to Paris, Barcelona and Madrid the summer before her senior year in high school through the school’s international club. Clement also traveled to Florida as part of the school band during her freshman year in high school. While her father doesn’t object to Clement’s globe-hopping, her mom, Gina, isn’t so sure.
“My dad thinks it’s awesome,” Clement said. “My mom, on the other hand, not necessarily a fan of me going places. She would much rather I stay in Kansas, but she’s accepted I’m going to travel.”
Clement, a physics major for two years before switching to history, isn’t sure of her future plans after graduation. She knows what she would like to do.
“I know I want to continue traveling,” she said. “I love taking pictures, and I love history. It would be awesome to go to all these historical places and take pictures and tell people about them.”
For now, it’s Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. After Finland, what country is next on Clement’s bucket list?
She laughed. ”All of them,” she said without hesitation.
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A 16-year-old Kansas girl has pleaded no contest to killing her younger sister.
The Salina Journal reports that Sierra Niehaus entered the plea at an early March status conference that had been scheduled in advance of her Saline County District Court trial.
Prosecutors allege Niehaus stabbed her 13-year-old sister, Galazia, to death at the family’s rural Saline County home on Aug. 1, 2014.
A judge ruled in April that she could be tried as an adult on a first-degree murder charge. She pleaded no contest to amended charges of second-degree murder, felony theft and two counts of interference with law enforcement.
Saline County Attorney Ellen Mitchell said Thursday the state will be seeking a total sentence of more than 15 1/2 years for Niehaus.
The Eagle Radio Auction is coming up on March 17 and 18 on stations Mix 103 KJLS and 99 KZ Country KHAZ.
If you are a business that would like to participate in our Spring Radio Auction, give us a call at (785) 301-2211. It’s a great way for any business to market their goods and services, and get valuable radio advertising.
The Eagle Radio Auction has been going on for over 20 years.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has stalled an effort by Kansas legislators to override one of his vetoes by warning that it could hurt the state’s credit ratings.
The developments Thursday in the Senate involved a bill to protect the aging Docking State Office Building near the Statehouse from demolition.
The demolition was part of a $20 million project to replace Docking’s power plant for nearby government buildings with a new plant. Bipartisan opposition prompted Brownback to cancel it.
The bill tied the project’s cancellation to lawmakers’ refusal to provide money for it. Brownback vetoed it last week, saying it was unnecessary.
Supporters of the bill wanted to vote to override the veto Thursday, but Brownback’s warning about the state’s credit ratings caused them to drop the effort until next week.
Wilber Martin Romeiser left this world to be with our Lord on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at the Phillips County Retirement Center in Phillipsburg, Kansas at the age of 99. He was born on December 25, 1916 in a saddle and harness shop in Palco, Kansas to the late Herman and Eleanor (Grecian) Romeiser. He graduated from Stockton High School with the Class of 1937 in Stockton, Kansas and was President of the High School Alumni Association in 1965. He was united in marriage to Lodeska Darnell from Plainville, Kansas on March 9, 1943. Together they raised three children, Lodeska Marlene, Douglas Wilber, and Rebecca Rae.
Wilber worked at the Wright Hardware Store on the south side of Main Street in Stockton for 16 years. When Mr. Wright’s son Irwin began working in his father’s store it was Wilber who taught Irwin the Hardware business. In 1931 he proudly began rebuilding his first car, a Ford Model T, with parts he gathered from here and there. Later, in 1945, he built his own building on South Seventh Street in Stockton and started a mechanic shop. He worked on all kinds of machinery, from lawnmowers to combines and everything in between, for approximately 67 years; and was instrumental in the design and development of “Snapper” lawnmowers.
Wilber loved to dance, fish, and hunt. He had a wonderful sense of humor and always loved a good joke or story. He was a wise man in many ways and could tell you what was wrong with your mower or vehicle engine just by the sound it was making. Of course if he didn’t have the tool he needed to fix something, he just made it himself. He belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America Fraternal Benefit Society for over 68 years, was a lifetime member of the Masonic Paradise Lodge #290 of Plainville, and was a Past Worthy Patron of the Order of the Eastern Star.
Wilber is survived by his three children Lodeska Lovin of Overland Park, Douglas Romeiser of Antioch, TN, and Becky Heckman of Stockton; two grandsons Mikel Lovin and wife Amory, and Kevin Lovin all of Kansas City; and third wife Ione Hill-Romeiser of Logan.
He was preceded in death by his parents Herman and Eleanor Romeiser, stepfather Henry Beck, first wife Lodeska in 1975, second wife Alma Rogers of Zurich in 1987, grandson Alan Lovin, and son-in-law William Lovin.
Wilber lived his life as a continual example of brotherly love, relief, and truth. He was always caring, always willing to help, and always seeking wisdom and happiness for others as well as himself. The impact of his life will be remembered until we are all reunited, in that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Funeral Services will be held 10:00 a.m. Saturday, March 13, 2016 at Plumer-Overlease Funeral Home in Stockton. Memorials are suggested to Phillips County Retirement Center or Paradise Lodge #290 and may be sent in care of Plumer-Overlease Funeral Home, 723 N. First Street, Stockton, Kansas 67669. Condolences may be left for the family at www.plumeroverlease.com.
Goodland, Kansas, resident Ralph G. Schlick, 85, died Wednesday, March 9, 2016, at Hays Medical Center in Hays, Kansas.
He was born January 14, 1931, at Grainfield, Kansas, the son of Emma (Heier) and Peter Joseph Schlick. He graduated from Grainfield High School and from Fort Hays State University in 1968, with a masters degree in social studies.
He served his country in the United States Navy, from March 25, 1952 through March 19, 1956. On November 22, 1962, he and Julie Lee Saffa were married at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Hays, Kansas. He was a high school social studies teacher at Sacred Heart High School in Salina, and at Hays High School in Hays. He was a lifelong learner, with a sharp wit, who enjoyed politics, history, gardening and landscaping, woodworking, Bingo and Pokeno. Ralph was very proud of his wife of fifty-three years, as well as his family. He would make whatever sacrifice necessary for those he loved.
Preceding him in death were his parents; siblings Bill, Pius, Ted, Joe, Cecilia, Walter, Leo, Esther Haffner, Andy, Emanuel; and son-in-law Tom Rohr.
Surviving family includes his wife Julie Schlick of Goodland; daughters Mary Warren and her husband Craig of Salina; Betty Rohr of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Suzie Butts and her husband Rod of Goodland; five grandchildren Anthony Warren, Jessica Warren, Anthony Rohr, Katrina Rohr, Sheldon Nelson; two step-grandchildren Summer Smith and her husband Joe; and Nathan Butts; and six great-grandchildren.
The funeral service will be Saturday, March 12, at 1:30 PM MT, at Koons Chapel in Goodland, with Father Norbert Dlabal presiding. Burial, with military honors, will follow in the Goodland Cemetery.
Friends may share their respects on Saturday, from 9:00 until 11:00 AM MT, at Koons Chapel in Goodland.
Memorials may be designated to the Ralph Schlick Memorial, and may be left at the service or mailed to Koons Funeral Home, 211 N. Main, Goodland, KS 67735-1555.
Wilber Martin Romeiser left this world to be with our Lord on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at the Phillips County Retirement Center in Phillipsburg, Kansas at the age of 99. He was born on December 25, 1916 in a saddle and harness shop in Palco, Kansas to the late Herman and Eleanor (Grecian) Romeiser. He graduated from Stockton High School with the Class of 1937 in Stockton, Kansas and was President of the High School Alumni Association in 1965. He was united in marriage to Lodeska Darnell from Plainville, Kansas on March 9, 1943. Together they raised three children, Lodeska Marlene, Douglas Wilber, and Rebecca Rae.
Goodland, Kansas, resident Ralph G. Schlick, 85, died Wednesday, March 9, 2016, at Hays Medical Center in Hays, Kansas.