GEARY COUNTY -The Junction City Police Department is requesting help from the public in locating a runaway juvenile that’s been missing since January 31 at approximately 10 p.m.
Allison Y. Blanco, 16, is a Hispanic female.
If you have seen her or know where she may be located contact the JCPD at 785-762-5912 or the Junction City / Geary County Crime Stoppers TIPS line at 785-762-TIPS ( 8477 ).
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – Perry Ellis scored 19 points, Svi Mykhailiuk and Devonte Graham added 10 points apiece and No. 7 Kansas pulled away from turnover-prone Kansas State, 77-59 on Wednesday night.
Dominated on the glass all night, the Jayhawks (18-4, 6-3 Big 12) were able to overcome their poor rebounding and some streaky shooting in part by forcing the Wildcats (13-9, 2-7) into 23 turnovers.
Kansas guard Wayne Selden Jr., who had a career-best 33 points in last Saturday’s overtime victory against Kentucky, was shut out in the first half before finishing with seven points. Fellow guard Frank Mason III was just 1 of 5 from the field and contributed eight points.
Still, it was enough to give Kansas its 36th consecutive victory at Allen Fieldhouse.
Stephen Hurt had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats.
By JEFFREY PARSON
Associated Press
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Fred VanVleet had 12 points and 11 assists to lead No. 21 Wichita State past Southern Illinois 76-55 on Wednesday night.
Shaquille Morris had a season-high 13 points and Anton Grady added 10 for Wichita State (17-5, 11-0 Missouri Valley), which won its 12th straight.
Anthony Beane scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the first half for Southern Illinois (18-6, 7-4). Bola Olaniyan had seven points and 16 rebounds for the Salukis, helping them outrebound the conference’s top rebounding team 48-31.
Beane, who was 3 of 10 from the field in the first game against Wichita State, needed less than 7 minutes to top that number of baskets. He scored 10 of Southern Illinois’ first 12 points, going 4 of 5 from the field.
GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) — A Glendale, California, company closed 10 months ago will pay about $10 million to settle claims by the Federal Trade Commission that it wildly exaggerated the results of its diet supplements, used fake endorsements from people like Oprah Winfrey and hired marketers to send millions of spam emails.
FTC Midwest Region attorney Matthew H. Wernz says the $43 million settlement allows $33 million to be suspended if the defendants comply with statements submitted earlier.
Wernz says a court-appointed attorney liquidated the company, called Sale Slash and Purists Choice. There was no listing for Sale Slash. A call to Purists Choice went to a recording; a message was not returned.
The FTC sought to recover money to repay those who bought supplements with names like Premium Green Coffee and Pure Garcinia Cambogia.
FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State celebrated senior night with an MIAA victory over Central Missouri on Wednesday (Feb. 3) by the score of 44-9.
A brief ceremony before the dual honored the seven Tiger seniors on the team – Joey Dozier, Tyler Dryden, Noah Killip, Bradley Little, Adam Ludwin, Nathan Shipley and Matt Ziegler.
The Tigers took an early 6-0 lead as a result of a forfeit at 125 pounds and never lost the lead for the rest of the night. Adam Ludwin received the win, moving to 20-7 on the season. He reached 20 wins for the fifth consecutive year (which includes a redshirt season).
Anthony Calderon doubled the Tiger lead to 12-0 when he pinned Daide Agnew at the 4:51 mark in the 133-pound bout.
The first senior Tiger to wrestle in the dual was Noah Killip at 141 pounds and he did not disappoint. Killip extended the Tiger lead by six more points with a pin at 1:50 in the first period over Caleb Crabtree.
Another open weight class (149) by the Mules gave the Tigers a 24-0 lead heading into the 157-pound bout featuring FHSU’s Joey Dozier and UCM’s Dylan Lewis. Dozier, another senior honored on the night, ended his home wrestling career at Fort Hays State with a quick pin just 57 seconds into the first period.
FHSU’s Kregg Clarke and UCM’s Allan Person hit the mat for the 165-pound bout with the Tigers leading 30-0. Trailing 3-2 heading into the third period, Clarke earned a key two-point reversal with 30 seconds left in the match and remained in control to earn the 4-3 decision.
With the Tigers on top 33-0, senior Nathan Shipley faced the toughest opponent on the Mules roster, No. 7 wrestler at 174 pounds Archie Williams. Despite a solid effort from Shipley, Williams showed why he is among the best in the nation and recorded a pin at 1:55 making the score 33-6 in favor of the Tigers.
FHSU countered with its ranked wrestler as No. 6 Jon Inman increased the Tiger’s lead to 39-6 when he scored a pin fall of his own at 1:55 over freshman Tyler Nelson at 184 pounds.
At 197 pounds Cash Drylie had full control of his match and only suffered a one point escape on his way to an 18-1 technical fall victory.
In the final bout of the evening (285), Central Missouri’s Nick Lovejoy was able to hang on over Fort Hays State’s Dakota Gulley with a 5-3 decision. Despite the late victory by the Mules it was too little, too late as the Tigers earned the 44-9 victory.
The Tigers now hold a dual record of 6-5, 1-3 MIAA and the Mules dropped to 2-9 overall and 1-4 in the MIAA.
The Tigers look to pick up a second MIAA win on Thursday (Feb. 11) when they head to Wichita, Kan. to take on the Newman Jets at 7 pm.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are pledging support for a bill that would open up private emails sent by public employees about government business.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the bill would make information made by an employee of a public agency concerning business available to a Kansas Open Records Act request regardless of “form, characteristics or location.”
The addition of “location” comes after Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget director used a private account last year to email lobbyists a draft of the governor’s proposed budget before lawmakers saw it. The new bill would apply to employees who conduct government business on private email accounts.
The Kansas Association of Broadcasters and the Kansas Press Association voiced support for the bill. There was no opposition.
RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — It was one of those feel-good moments that lotteries love to promote when “Lucky Larry” Dawson claimed a $9 million jackpot, surrounded by his kids and grandkids.
But five years later, the Iowa man could become a key player in litigation that threatens to cost state lotteries tens of millions of dollars in damages in an insider jackpot-rigging scandal.
A Des Moines law firm filed a lawsuit Wednesday on Dawson’s behalf seeking to declare that his Hot Lotto jackpot in May 2011 should have been nearly three times as big, had the previous one not been fixed.
It’s the first in what could be several lawsuits filed by players who claim they were ripped off by games allegedly rigged by Eddie Tipton, former security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.
Prosecutors allege that Tipton used his access to random number generators to fix jackpots in Kansas, Colorado, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and worked with associates to play winning numbers and collect prizes.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A university study projects the number of Kansans older than 65 will double in the next 50 years and outnumber children for the first time in state history.
Watch the 2 minute WSU CEDBR Video on the study here
The forecast released Wednesday by Wichita State University’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research also projects a 21.8 percent increase between 2014 and 2064 as the Kansas population reaches more than 3.5 million people. That is slower than the growth rate for the nation.
The biggest social and economic impact may come from projections that the state’s working age population is projected to increase only 10.3 percent.
Only 20 of the state’s 105 counties are projected to grow in population. The remaining 85 counties will see declines.
More than 80 percent of Kansas residents will be living in metropolitan areas by 2064.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would lessen penalties for first and second-time marijuana possession.
The vote Wednesday was 38-1.
The measure would reduce the punishment for first-time misdemeanor possession to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, rather than the current year in jail and $2,500 fine. A second possession conviction would no longer be a felony, so an offender wouldn’t be sent to prison.
The measure goes next to the House, which passed a similar proposal last year.
The lone vote against the bill came from Democratic Sen. David Haley, of Kansas City.
He proposed imposing only a $50 fine for the first, second and third time a person is caught possessing small amounts of marijuana. The Senate voted 31-5 against Haley’s amendment.
KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press
DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press
CATONSVILLE, Md. (AP) — President Barack Obama says bias against any segment of American society tears at the fabric holding the nation together and must be tackled “head on.”
In an address Wednesday at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, Obama pushed back against bias that Muslim Americans say is on the rise following terrorist attacks in Paris and California.
Obama talked about a 13-year-old Muslim girl from Ohio who wrote him to say she is scared.
Obama said that girl is like his own daughters. He says it’s wrong that any child would be filled with doubt or question their place in society.
The visit was Obama’s first as president to an American mosque.
Before the speech, Obama met at the mosque with Muslim-American leaders from around the country.
CLAY CENTER – A single-family residence in Clay Center suffered extensive damage on Tuesday, according to Fire Chief John Ihnen.
The cause of the fire at 710 Sherman was accidental. Fire crews were able to work from inside to extinguish the blaze.
The fire started in a utility room according to an investigation by the State Fire Marshal. “We were not able to pinpoint which appliance was responsible for starting the fire,” said Ihnen.
Both occupants, in their 50s, were able to escape unharmed. They are staying with relatives.
A pet bird and several cats died in the fire.
Total damage estimate was not available. The home and contents were not insured.
TOPEKA – The former branch manager of a bank in Manhattan, Kan., was sentenced Wednesday to 27 months in federal prison for embezzlement, according to U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom.
In addition, she was ordered to pay $277,000 in restitution.
Melissa Vinsonhaler, 34, Manhattan, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a bank. In her plea, she admitted the crime occurred while she was branch manager of Kansas State Bank on East Highway 24 in Manhattan, She embezzled $277,000 from the bank and made false entries in the bank’s ledger to cover up the crime.
Grissom commended the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rich Hathaway for their work on the case.
BARTON COUNTY -An early morning fire West of Great Bend is being investigated as an arson.
According to the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, the Albert Fire Department responed to structure fire approximately 9 miles west of Great Bend Wednesday morning at 1155 N. East 20 Road. Upon arrival firefighters and officers discovered the structure had totally collapsed and was a complete loss.
“Evidently, the fire had been burning for a considerable length of time prior to authorities being notified,” Sheriff Brian Bellendir said in a press release.
“The house was not occupied at the time of the fire. The fire has been deemed suspicious in nature.”
On Monday, the Sheriff’s Office was notified of an attempted arson at the same location. That report was currently under investigation.
Bellendir says the Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office, and an investigator is currently assisting detectives. The Sheriff’s Office will continue investigation of both cases.
The loss of Wednesday’s fire is estimated to be in excess of $85,000.00.
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BARTON COUNTY-The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause of a fire at a two-story residence in Barton County.
Fire crews were called to 1155 Northwest 20 Road just after 6a.m. on Tuesday, according to Albert Fire Chief Charlie Keller.
“A passerby believed it was just a grass fire. However, when we arrived, we discovered the 2-story, unoccupied residence had burned all night.
The structure was a complete loss. “We called in the State Fire Marshal to help with the investigation,” he said.
No injuries were reported.
