SHAWNEE COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating a bank robbery and asking the public for help to locate a suspect.
Just after 1:30 p.m. on Monday, police responded to an alarm for a bank robbery at US Bank in the 5700 Block of SW 21st Street in Topeka.
Police are asking the public for help to identify the male suspect who said he had a weapon but did not display one.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police in Topeka.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man is jailed on $200,000 bond after being accused of causing a traffic crash that killed a woman.
The Kansas City Star reports Wyandotte County prosecutors have charged 45-year-old David Wayne Colvin of Kansas City, Kansas, with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the Aug. 16 wreck.
Authorities have said a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper was trying to stop a driver for a traffic infraction when he sped away, ran a red light and hit a vehicle driven by 66-year-old Janet Eimer, also of Kansas City, Kansas. Eimer died.
Court records show that Colvin was arrested after the wreck on an unrelated aggravated assault charge.
Online court records don’t show whether Colvin has an attorney.
Click below to listen to Tiger Talk with “Voice of the Tigers” Gerard Wellbrock and Fort Hays State women’s basketball coach Tony Hobson and men’s coach Mark Johnson.
Tiger Talk airs on Monday evening at 6 p.m. on Tiger Radio Mix-103.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Supreme Court justice accused in an ethics compliant stemming from a political fundraiser her husband held says she’s been cleared by a state commission.
Justice Carol Beier told the Wichita Eagle she learned Monday the Kansas Commission on Judicial Qualifications has thrown out the complaint against her by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust.
Beier won retention this month.
A commission spokesman, John Houston, declined to comment on the complaint, saying Beier was free to speak publicly about the matter.
The foundation had alleged a political fundraiser Beier’s husband hosted for Democrat Paul Davis during his unsuccessful bid to unseat Gov. Sam Brownback in 2014 violated the Kansas judicial code of conduct because it could be viewed as an endorsement.
Beier didn’t attend the event.
By STEVE WEBSTER
Great Bend Post
Barton County Commissioners Monday approved a resolution to form an extension district with Ellis County. Once formed, the district would become an independent taxing entity, meaning the county no longer would be required to provide general fund support.
Barton County KSU Extension Council President Natalie Fullerton presented details to the board about what kind of mill levy the council would propose.
“We have determined that the mill levy cap would be no higher than 1.5 mills,” Fullerton said.
She added that they believe the mill levy would be a .78 “for the next few years.”
The .78 mill levy would generate around $215,000 which is the level Barton County Extension is currently funded in 2016. At 1.5 mills, approximately $260,000 could be generated at the so called mill levy cap.
Commissioner Alicia Straub supports the formation of the council, saying it keeps spending decisions at home instead of Topeka.
“If you look at the history of extension districts across the state, pretty much the whole northern half of the state has already formed districts,” Staub said. “My fear would be that the state would come down and tell us you must form a district”
“Looking at the current budget situation at the state, I could see them doing that in the very near future and doing it in a way they did the tax lid and put that on the tax payers.”
The extension board would be made up of eight members, four from Barton and four from Ellis County. Initially, Barton and Ellis County Commissioners would appoint the four members with two coming up for election in two years and the other two in four years.
There will be a 60-day protest period, during which residents can oppose the new district through a qualified petition that includes no less than 5 percent of the county’s qualified voters. If that happens, the future of the extension district would be determined by a vote of all registered voters in the county.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A woman who gave her ex-boyfriend the guns he used in February’s mass shooting at a Kansas lawn equipment factory has been ordered to spend a year on supervised release.
A federal judge in Wichita, Kansas, on Monday also credited Sarah Hopkins for time she’s already served in jail. Prosecutors had agreed not to oppose Hopkins’ probation request.
Hopkins pleaded guilty to not alerting authorities that a convicted felon unlawfully possessed firearms.
Prosecutors say Hopkins gave a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun to Cedric Ford, who used the weapons in a Feb. 25 shooting at the Excel Industries plant in Hesston that killed three people and wounded 14. Ford was killed by police.
Hopkins’ attorney says she suffered from PTSD and battered woman’s syndrome at the time.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge will decide whether a woman who gave her ex-boyfriend guns he used in February’s mass shooting at a Kansas lawn equipment factory should spend any time in prison.
The sentencing hearing for Sarah Hopkins is Monday in federal court in Wichita. She has pleaded guilty to not alerting authorities that a convicted felon unlawfully possessed firearms.
Her defense attorney has contended she suffered from PTSD and battered woman’s syndrome at the time of the offenses.
Prosecutors say Hopkins gave a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun to Cedric Ford, who used those weapons Feb. 25 in a shooting at the Excel Industries plant in Hesston that killed three people and wounded 14. Ford was killed by police.
Prosecutors have agreed not to oppose her request for probation.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A woman who gave her ex-boyfriend the guns he used in February’s mass shooting at a Kansas lawn equipment factory will return to federal court for sentencing.
The defense attorney for Sarah Hopkins has filed a sealed sentencing memorandum that includes her psychological evaluation in advance of Monday’s hearing.
Earlier filings contended she suffered from PTSD and battered woman’s syndrome at the time of the offenses.
Prosecutors say Hopkins gave a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun to Cedric Ford, who used those weapons Feb. 25 in a shooting at the Excel Industries plant in Hesston that killed three people and wounded 14. Ford was killed by police.
Hopkins has pleaded guilty to not alerting authorities that a convicted felon unlawfully possessed firearms.
Prosecutors have agreed not to oppose her request for probation.
OK, it’s starting to get interesting now, this $345 million budget shortfall for the nearly half-over Kansas Fiscal Year 2017.
So far, it’s the governor reminding the Legislature and anyone else who will listen that assembling and maintaining the budget is the job of the Kansas Legislature. But Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, is telling the governor that he really ought to use his executive power to make budget cuts now, not leave the job to the incoming new Legislature.
Hmmm…
Wagle is expected to be re-elected Senate President by the GOP caucus of the upper chamber on Dec. 5. Current House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, didn’t seek re-election to the House. So, when the session starts Jan. 9 we have a governor with two years left on his term saying he’ll come up with something after Jan. 9 and the presumptive leader of the Senate for the next four years saying fix it now.
Sound like a happy little discourse? And while there isn’t a designated House Speaker yet, in the minutes after the House GOP Caucus selects its leader on Dec. 5, don’t look for the new Speaker to side with Brownback.
Now, all of this makes for an interesting little political scrap, except that whenever and whatever cuts are made by the governor, or the Legislature if he hangs back and just makes a “suggestion,” we still live here.
That means that the cuts for the remainder of this fiscal year are going to have to be sharp, and some of us Kansans are going to feel them and some of us aren’t.
Practically, if you receive little or nothing from the state in the way of services—say, Medicaid (KanCare) or welfare or special assistance for a child or grandchild in public schools, or maybe even just making sure that the guy fishing in the next boat over is using a hook and not a net, you’ve got little to lose. Just sit back and watch what happens to those other folks.
But if you are depending on the state for welfare, for school and health care for your children or grandchildren, or your neighbors, or even penciling out just how you’re going to pay tuition at a state university…well, this isn’t just something to watch like Dancing with the Stars.
The budget is already tight; there is a Kansas Supreme Court decision on its way that might require the state to spend more money on public education. The roads? Well, that’s been a major source of money for the rest of state government and that well is about dry.
So, while you’re reading about the budget shortfall—and wondering whether there are income or property or sales tax increases in your future—remember that it’s going to be a just-elected or re-elected Legislature that is likely going to have to do the heavy lifting. A majority or at least a plurality of you voted for those folks who are going to be inconveniencing you.
The scuffle is over whether the governor is going to take direct action to solve things or whether he’s going to make suggestions and watch the Legislature just like the rest of us.
So get ready, and remember that much of what we know about state government and its services and protections for us are going to change dramatically in the next couple months.
And…wonder just what those candidates were thinking last spring, when they decided that making law and managing the state is really what they wanted to do…
Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Police say officers fatally shot a man outside a suburban Kansas City retail store after he hit one of them with a long wooden rod.
Lenexa, Kansas, police spokesman Dan Friesen says the man was shot near a Wal-Mart in Olathe around 10:30 p.m. Sunday after striking an officer.
Friesen, speaking on behalf of Olathe police, says the rod resembled a martial arts bo stick.
He says officers responded to a report of a man with a weapon and tried to use non-lethal force to subdue him, including an attempt to use a stun gun, but those measures were not effective.
The officer hit with the stick was treated and released at a hospital. Friesen says the dead man’s identity was being withheld while authorities searched for next of kin.
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OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Police outside Kansas City say officers shot and killed a suspect who struck one of them with a blunt object.
According to a news release, police in Olathe, Kansas, were called to the scene around 10:30 p.m. Sunday after getting a report of an armed person.
Police say officers encountered a person armed with a blunt object who refused to put it down. The person struck an officer with the object. Officers then shot the suspect, who died at the scene.
The officer who was struck was brought to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries and later released.
We are currently working an officer involved shooting at Walmart off K7. One officer is being treated for minor injuries.
— Olathe Police (@OlathePolice) November 28, 2016
The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
No other details were immediately released.
SALINE COUNTY – A Kansas man is facing jail time after he is released from the hospital.
On Sunday afternoon, Police attempted to stop a 1997 Buick Regal driven by 33-year-old Jacob Deckert of Concordia, in the 600 block of E. Iron in Salina for speeding, according to Police Captain Mike Sweeney.
When the officer turned around Deckert drove off and a brief chase ended in an alley between Iron and Gypsum Avenue when the car hit a pole and parked SUV.
Deckert crawled out the window of the car and ran from the scene. He was apprehended by an officer on Penn Avenue.
Deckert will face several traffic charges when he is booked into jail.
He remained hospitalized Sunday for treatment of a broken nose.
Office of the Ellis County Clerk
Due to a clerical error in the process of creating tax statements, the tax statements sent out by Ellis County this year contained incorrect levies for all townships.
New tax statements showing the corrected amount of tax due will be mailed no later than Wednesday, Dec. 7. In no case will the new amount increase from the amount billed previously. Taxpayers with very small bills may experience no change; those with larger bills should expect a small reduction in their taxes due.
Taxpayers who have already paid their first-half taxes will receive a credit toward their second-half amount. Those who have paid taxes in full will receive a refund check in the mail prior to Christmas.
This clerical error did not affect taxes for school districts, cities or improvement districts. Therefore, taxpayers in the cities of Ellis and Hays will not receive new statements; their bills were correct as originally sent.
Ellis County apologizes for this error. If you have any questions, contact the County Clerk’s office at (785) 628-9410
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 29-year-old man has made his first court appearance on charges linked to the shooting and wounding of a Topeka, Kansas, police detective.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Christopher Curtis Harris secured to a wheelchair in court Monday in Shawnee County District Court in Topeka, more than three weeks after being wounded during a gunfire exchange involving detective Brian Hill.
Harris is charged with attempted capital murder, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, aggravated robbery and criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
He’s jailed on $1 million bond.
Hill is expected to make a full recovery after being shot twice Nov. 5 while trying to capture the suspect after a convenience store robbery.
Online court records don’t show whether Harris has an attorney.
FHSU University Relations and Marketing
The Christmas tree at Fort Hays State University’s Sheridan Hall will be lighted up in a ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The public is invited.
The ceremony, in front of Sheridan Hall, is sponsored by Fraternity and Sorority Life, the Office of International Student Services, the Office of the President, the University Activities Board, FHSU Athletics and Wendy’s Restaurants.
Special features will include performances by the Dickens Carolers, the announcement of the winners of the annual coloring contest and hay rides. Students and community members will also be able to view luminaries representing host countries of FHSU students and make a holiday craft with members of the University Activities Board.
Following the ceremony, hot chocolate and cookies will be provided in the Dreiling Lobby of Sheridan Hall. Santa will also make a special appearance on the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center stage with a sack full of toys. Following Santa’s visit, guests can stay in the auditorium and enjoy a free screening of the classic 1966 cartoon “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”
RUSSELL — Two people were injured in an accident just before 9 a.m. Monday in Russell County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Lexus BTM driven by Abdulaziz A. Alysulaymi, 27, Los Angeles, CA., was eastbound on Interstate 70 four miles west of Russell.
The vehicle drove onto the right hand shoulder.
The right front corner of the Lexus hit the corner of a disabled semi, which was legally parked on Interstate 70 and had its emergency flashers on and reflective triangles deployed.
Upon impact, the right corner of the car was removed and the car went under the trailer and broke the axle away from the semi’s trailer.
The vehicle then crossed eastbound lanes of Interstate 70, turned south, and came to rest against the eastbound guardrail in the eastbound lane.
A passenger in the Lexus — Ahmed J. Sindi, 23, Warrensburg, Mo. — was laying down in the back seat and was ejected.
EagleMed flew him to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.
Alysulaymi was transported to Russell Regional Hospital.
The semi driver — Edward P. McPhillips, 61, California City, Calif. — was in the driver’s seat waiting for a wrecker, when the accident occurred. He was not injured.
Sindi was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
The accident caused a portion of eastbound I-70 to be closed down temporarily Monday morning.
