MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press

FAIRFIELD, Ala. (AP) — An Associated Press analysis shows that the closing of more than 150 Wal-Mart stores nationwide will create three food deserts in Alabama, Kansas and Arkansas.

Stores slated to shut down Thursday will leave residents in Ellsworth, Clearwater, and parts of Wichita,  Fairfield, Alabama; and Coal Hill, Arkansas; without a supermarket.

The federal government considers a neighborhood a food desert if at least a fifth of residents live in poverty and a third live more than a mile from a supermarket in urban areas, or more than 10 miles in rural areas.

Another 31 neighborhoods in 15 states will also lack access to grocery stores after Wal-Mart’s closures. But those aren’t as impoverished.

Wal-Mart says it has a good track record in needy neighborhoods and is offering help to the communities it’s leaving.

HUTCHINSON – A Kansas man was arrested Wednesday morning on a charge of alleged sexual exploitation of a child.

Douglas Anthony Kennel, 45, Hutchinson, was arrested following an investigation that began when the suspect took an old phone to have data transferred to his new phone.

The worker transferring the data saw images that he thought were possibly child porn.

Hutchinson Police Detective Scott Carlton says after investigating they found over 4,000 images on the phone’s S-D card. Police believe the images were downloaded from a file-sharing site.

Kennel apparently came to the police station to talk with the detective and was arrested.

Kennel is a registered sex offender with convictions for two counts in Harvey County for a conviction for indecent liberties with a child from 1997.

His bond in the Reno County case is set at $10,000 and should make a first appearance in court Thursday.

WICHITA – A Kansas woman died in an accident just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday in Sedgwick County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 GMC pickup driven by Brenda Theresa Petrey, 63, Kechi, was northbound on Webb Road.

The driver failed to yield at Kansas 254. An eastbound 2014 Dodge Ram pick driven by Joshua Jay Mathews, 35, Whitewater, 35, collided with the GMC pickup.

Petrey was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the Sedgwick County Forensics Lab.

Mathews was not injured.

Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

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WICHITA – A Kansas woman died in an accident just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday in Sedgwick County.

Update: 1 confirmed fatality from the crash on K-254 / Webb Road.

— Trooper Chad (@TrooperChadKHP) January 27, 2016

 

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported the crash on Kansas 254 at Webb Road.

The names of the drivers have not been released. The accident remains under investigation.

Check Hays Post for additional details as they become available.

FORT RILEY – The visit by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to Fort Riley scheduled for Thursday has been canceled, according to officials at Fort Riley. No explanation was provided by the Defense Department.

Currently there are no plans to reschedule the visit.

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FORT RILEY -Defense Secretary Ash Carter is coming to Kansas, according to officials at Fort Riley.

He will be speaking to soldiers about military reforms at Fort Riley on Thursday.

Carter is the nation’s 25th Secretary of Defense.

According to his Defense Department bio, Secretary Carter earned his bachelor’s degrees in physics and in medieval history, summa cum laude, at Yale University, where he was also awarded Phi Beta Kappa; and he received his doctorate in theoretical physics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

He was a physics instructor at Oxford, a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University and M.I.T., and an experimental research associate at Brookhaven and Fermilab National Laboratories.

Secretary Carter is author or co-author of 11 books and more than 100 articles on physics, technology, national security, and management.

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 7a.m. on Wednesday in Leavenworth County.

The Kansas Turnpike Authority reported a 2007 Isuzu passenger vehicle driven by Eugene Houston Mccarter, 32, Mission, was westbound on Interstate 70 near the Tonganoxie-Eudora exit.

The vehicle came over the crest of a hill and the driver was unable to avoid a semi traveling 50 miles-per-hour in the number 2 lane.

The Isuzu stuck the rear of the semi and caught fire.

Mccarter was transported to a local hospital.

The semi driver James Edward Long, 52, Edwardsville, was not injured.

The accident shut down the highway for a couple of hours.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

MANHATTAN- Law enforcement authorities in Riley County are investigating two suspects after an arrest following a high-speed chase through Manhattan.

Just after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, police responded to report of a verbal altercation, which turned physical in the area of Mission Circle in Manhattan, according to a media release from Riley County Police.

Officers were told that the altercation involved a suspect brandishing a firearm prior who left the scene with another individual in a green Pontiac.

Police in the area attempted to perform a traffic stop on the vehicle at which time a short vehicle pursuit, at speeds 10-15 miles per-hour over posted limits, began near the intersection of Tuttle Creek Boulevard and Allen Road and continued south through the residential section east of Tuttle Creek Blvd.

The suspect vehicle made its way to the intersection of Casement Road and Tuttle Creek Boulevard and turned south onto Tuttle Creek Boulevard.

Officers at the intersection of Holiday Drive and Tuttle Creek Boulevard were able to deploy “stop sticks” in order to slow the vehicle and initiate a “felony traffic stop” as a safety measure.

Out of an abundance of caution the intersection of Tuttle Creek Boulevard and Bluemont Avenue was briefly closed to traffic.

Police arrested Shawn Sime, 36, St. George, for the offense of criminal damage to property, which gave him a bond of $3,000.00.

Also arrested was Johnathan Bruce, 21, St. George, for the offenses of flee or attempt to elude law enforcement, reckless driving, criminal damage to property, and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license.
Bruce received a bond of $7,000.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wendy’s says it is investigating reports of “unusual activity” on payment cards that had been used at some of its restaurants.

The company says it learned from payment industry contacts this month of reports indicating fraudulent charges may have occurred on cards that had been used legitimately at some of its locations. It says it is has launched an investigation with the help of cybersecurity experts and that it is cooperating with law enforcement officials.

“Until this investigation is completed, it is difficult to determine with certainty the nature or scope of any potential incident,” the company said.

Wendy’s Co., based in Dublin, Ohio, encouraged customers to watch for unauthorized charges on their cards.

The investigation was first reported by the website KrebsOnSecurity on Wednesday.