POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY – Fire crews in Pottawatomie County on Wednesday responded to a grass fire in the 4000 block of Blue Run Road in St. George.
The Westmoreland Fire Department temporarily blocked off Black Jack Road and Some homes were evacuated along the Highway 24 corridor as the fire rapidly spread.
Firefighters also battled the fire in a wooded area using off-road vehicles.
The fire appears to have been started by an improperly discarded cigarette, according to Pottawatomie Co. Fire Chief Jared Barnes.
Approximately 40 acres burned and there were no injuries.
Pictured before the Supreme Court today are Jackie Casteel (left), an abortion rights activist, and Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. CREDIT COURTESY BONYEN LEE-GILMORE
By MATT HODAPP
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday about a controversial Texas law that imposes strict requirements on health clinics that provide abortions. The law requires doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals and meet ambulatory surgical standards.
The case is hugely consequential for abortion providers in Kansas and Missouri because both states have similarly restrictive laws.
Jackie Casteel, an abortion-patient advocate, and Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of a contingent of abortion rights activists that gathered in front of the Supreme Court today. A group of anti-abortion demonstrators was there too.
“If these laws are upheld we will see abortion providers vanish,” Lee-Gilmore told KCUR in a telephone interview. “If they are stricken then I think that we will definitely see doors start to re-open and we will be able to better argue in our state courts the undue burden that it puts on women and the unconstitutional standards that it sets in our state.”
Casteel had an abortion in 2003 at Planned Parenthood’s Columbia, Missouri, health center. That clinic was forced to stop providing abortion services after the University of Missouri Health Care system, bowing to pressure from the Missouri legislature, voted to remove admitting privileges for the clinic’s physician.
Casteel says she would have found it exceedingly difficult to access abortion services if current laws were on Missouri’s books when she had her abortion. Missouri now has only one abortion provider, in St. Louis.
“It would have made my journey a lot harder and made the cost great and could have even led me to have to self-induce,” she says.
With the vacancy created by Justice Antonin Scalia’s recent death, Justice Anthony Kennedy is expected to provide the Supreme Court’s crucial swing vote in the case. The court is expected to hand down its decision in June.
Matt Hodapp produces Statehouse Blend for KCUR a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz stopped at a suburban Kansas City restaurant for some barbecue before heading to a rally at Johnson County Community College.
The Texas senator ordered a smoked brisket sandwich at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday and sampled some of the restaurant’s ribs and burnt ends.
Cruz shook hands with supporters and said he was looking forward to trying Kansas City-area barbecue because his home state of Texas takes its barbecue seriously. He told a television reporter the best way to eat ribs is with your fingers, because “if you’re eating barbecue and you’re not getting it all over, you’re not doing it right.”
Cathy Schmidt, a 62-year-old Olathe real estate agent, reassured Cruz that he still can win his party’s nomination.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and Republican hopefuls Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are planning to come to Kansas this week ahead of the state’s presidential caucuses.
Cruz’s campaign scheduled a Wednesday evening rally for the Texas senator at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park.
Sanders state director Shelby Iseler said the Vermont senator plans to have a rally Thursday evening in Lawrence at the 4H Building on the Douglas County Fairgrounds.
Rubio’s campaign said the Florida senator will have a Friday afternoon event at Jabara Airport in Wichita.
Both parties having their Kansas caucuses Saturday.
Rubio and Cruz are battling businessman Donald Trump for the state’s national convention delegates.
Some Democrats are predicting a close race between Sanders and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An attorney for the Quapaw tribe has agreed in federal court documents that the tribe’s gambling lawsuit against Kansas should be dismissed.
The tribe, which operates Downstream Casino Resort in Oklahoma, sued Kansas in January, asking that a judge order the state to negotiate an agreement with the tribe within 60 days that would allow it to offer gaming in Kansas.
The lawsuit could still pave the way for the tribe to ask the secretary of the Department of the Interior to issue guidelines for casino gaming on the Kansas side of Downstream’s property. Currently, the Kansas side of the resort’s property is used for parking lots.
A spokesman for Kansas Attorney General’s office says it will continue to oppose gaming on the land.
A Downstream spokesman declined to comment to The Joplin Globe
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating two cases where women were scammed out of money.
In the first instance, a woman in her 30’s lost more than $7,000 while trying to secure a $5000 loan via the internet, according to Salina Police Captain Chris Trocheck.
Between February 23rd, and 26th, the woman had applied for a loan from a website she said was a five minute loan site.
Before she contacted police, the woman had sent $6,118 to cover fees and other charges to four different addresses.
On Monday, after contacting police, the woman received another call asking her to send another $1,000 and she did. Her total loss is $7,118.
On Tuesday afternoon a Salina woman in her 70s told police she received a phone call from a man claiming to be her son.
The caller said he had been involved in a crash with a rental car and she needed to send money.
A short time later the woman said she received another call from a man claiming to be her son’s lawyer. The man said she needed to buy I-tune gift cards or her son would go to jail.
The woman purchased four cards totaling $1,800 and scratched the back of the cards and sent information off of the cards in the mail to New York City.
She then was called again and told to send another $1,800. She called police after her son who lives in Las Vegas called to she how she was doing and learned he had not been involved in an accident.
Call it March Madness. As of March 4, the Hays Public Library will no longer be circulating VHS tapes. This applies to VHS tapes in both the children’s and adult collections.
“Circulation numbers for VHS tapes has been in a steady decline for years” said Eric Norris, the library’s director. “We are running out of space for newer video technology like DVD and Blu-Ray, so it’s really a case of supply and demand. VHS tapes are simply no longer in demand.”
For patrons who still enjoy the library’s VHS collection, there is a unique opportunity on the horizon. Between March 14 and 18, the library’s entire VHS collection will be up for grabs. Claiming VHS tapes will be first come, first serve and there will be an opportunity to give a free-will donation, otherwise the tapes are free.
Dust off your VHS players and plan on coming to the library between March 14 and 18 because once these VHS tapes are gone, they’re gone forever.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Senate committee is considering a bill that would require municipalities to give the state more of the money they receive from traffic tickets.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the measure would require cities to cough up any traffic ticket proceeds that exceed 10 percent of their annual revenues.
The bill before the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday also would require municipal courts to hand over 70 percent of all revenue they collect from traffic violations on highways.
All of the money from the municipalities would go into the state’s general fund. If a city refused to follow the new law, its municipal court would be temporarily shut down.
A long list of opponents of the bill waited to testify Wednesday, while no one spoke in favor.
Saturday’s loss at Central Oklahoma cost the Fort Hays State women two spots in the latest NCAA II Central Region rankings. The Tigers drop to No. 4. Pittsburg State continues to hold down the top spot with Winona State (Minn.) and Missouri Western State both moving up a spot.
The region rankings are used to help determine the field for the NCAA II national tournament. The field of 64 will be revealed Sunday evening.
No change for the Fort Hays State men’s basketball team in the latest NCAA Division II Central Region rankings. Despite a loss at Central Oklahoma in their regular season finale, the Tigers hold at No. 4 entering the MIAA Tournament.
Augustana (S.D.), who won their second straight Northern Sun Conference tournament title Tuesday, continues to hold down the top-spot with Northwest Missouri State at No. 2. Minnesota State-Moorhead is third.
Nebraska-Kearney of the MIAA is sixth with Missouri Southern State ninth and Pittsburg State 10th.
The region rankings are used to help determine the field for the NCAA II national tournament. The field of 64 will be unveiled Sunday evening.
ATCHISON COUNTY- Charges have been dropped against a Kansas woman who had been accused of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old Atchison student in 2012 while she was employed as a teacher with the school district.
Shelley Aversman, 35, Rushville, was due in court Wednesday morning for a preliminary hearing on a charge of unlawful sexual relations with a student
The student recanted his statement and said the relationship did not happen when he was in high school but rather when he was in college, according to the Atchison County Prosecutor’s Office
RUSSELL – Russell Community Theater opens the 2016 season with “Old Ringers,” written by Joe Simonelli and directed by RCT volunteer Bob Roe.
Veteran actors are leading the way, with Crystal Craig, Teressa Roe and Mitch Hunsley bringing over 60 years of combined experience to the stage. Sheila Lamb and Sheldon Schwien are still relatively new to acting, while Megan Opdycke Reeves and Randyll Smith are making their RCT debuts.
In this rollicking comedy, no one feels the pain of tough economic times like senior citizens living on fixed incomes. When the recession hits a group of senior women, they’re desperate to find a way to pay the bills. An improper phone call from a wrong number inspires these sassy seniors to establish an at-home phone hotline. This semi-sequel to “Men Are Dogs” is a riotous adult comedy. Although two characters are reprised from “Men Are Dogs,” this production stands on its own.
Performances run Tuesday through Saturday, March 8 to 12, at the RCT Playhouse, Fifth and Kansas in Russell. Show time is 8 p.m. Admission is $10 or by season ticket. Season tickets may be purchased in advance at Encore Antiques & Collectables (590 S. Fossil, Russell). “Old Ringers” is presented by special permission from Simonelli Productions. For more information, contact RCT at (785) 483-4057.
Russell Community Theater is a nonprofit theater company in Russell. The sole purpose of RCT is to produce theater for the community and the surrounding area. Completely volunteer-driven, RCT is supported financially solely through ticket admissions and gifts from those supportive of community theater. Since its inception in 1986, RCT has presented 85 full-scale theatrical productions.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Shawnee County sheriff’s detective may have falsified information in charging affidavits.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Shawnee County district attorney’s office sent a notice to defense attorneys. The notice says the detective stated she had spoken with people with whom she hadn’t actually talked and that the information was used in a charging affidavit. It wasn’t immediately clear which case was tied to the allegation of misconduct.
Prosecutors are required to notify defense lawyers about witnesses, including law enforcement officers, whose credibility may be in question because of misconduct.
Sheriff Herman Jones said only that “an individual” has been placed on paid administrative leave, and his office is investigating. A Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokesman says the agency is looking into a matter in Jones’ office.
SEDGWICK COUNTY – A Kansas woman died in an accident just after 10 p.m. on Wednesday in Sedgwick County.
