JIM SUHR, Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A judge is weighing the fate of two federal lawsuits in Kansas challenging the constitutionality of a state law requiring prospective voters to prove their U.S. citizenship.

RILEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Riley County are investigating a report of aggravated arson.

On Thursday, police filed a report from a 39-year-old man who told police a 36-year-old woman known to him set his bed on fire and hit him with a cell phone at a residence in Manhattan.

The woman faces possible charges of domestic battery and aggravated arson.

There were no injuries, according to Riley County Police spokesman Alexander Robinson.

Due to the nature of the allegations made, police released no additional information.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man will be sentenced in May for causing a fatal traffic crash while he was fleeing from law enforcement.

Forty-one-year-old Boyd Chism, of Shawnee, pleaded no contest Thursday to reckless second-degree murder in the November 2015 death of 17-month-old Addilynn Poole.

The Kansas City Star reports Chism also pleaded no contest to a charge of aggravated battery for injuries suffered by another child.

A Johnson County judge accepted the pleas and found Chism guilty. His sentencing is scheduled for May 11.

Chism’s car hit a vehicle driven by Addilynn’s mother as he was fleeing from a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy who tried to stop him for speeding.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say an 18-year-old who pointed a gun at a Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop last year died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Sheriff Jeff Easter released the findings Friday in the death of Caleb J. Douglas. An autopsy ruled his death a suicide after the bullet in his head matched the handgun found in his car.

A bullet fragment found in his left shoulder is believed to have come from the deputy’s gun.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett says no charges will be filed over the Sept. 1 encounter.

When the driver pulled a handgun, the deputy ran toward his patrol car before turning and firing multiple shots at the suspect’s car. The driver sped off.

His car hit a house about two blocks away.

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a woman who allegedly violated a protection from stalking order.

On Thursday, police arrested Marlyce Rose, 74, Salina, during a traffic stop, according to Police Captain Paul Forrester.

Rose was wanted on a warrant after she allegedly violated the October 2016 protection order on February 27 and March 2.  The victims, former co-workers of Rose, included a 71-year-old Salina man and his wife, according to Forrester. 

Rose faces charges including battery, two counts of stalking and two counts of violating a protection order.

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — A modern day cattle roundup shut down traffic ramps for about four hours on a busy section of Kansas highways in Johnson County.

The Kansas Department of Transportation closed ramps about noon Friday near Kansas 10 and Interstate 435 after an semi-trailer truck overturned on the westbound Interstate 35 lanes to Kansas 10, releasing dozens of cows.

At one point, between 55 and 60 cows were running loose.

The ramps were reopened about 4 p.m. Friday after the cattle were all rounded up and the truck was hauled away.

Several law enforcement agencies were involved in the roundup.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the truck to overturn.

FINNEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are asking the public for help to locate a suspect who ran from two traffic stops.

Just before 10 a.m. Thursday, Officers of the Garden City Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the 1700 Block of North 8th Street for a traffic violation. After the vehicle stopped a male passenger fled from the vehicle on foot, according to a media release.

Officers checked the area but were unable to locate the suspect.

Other occupants of the vehicle identified the person that fled as John DeHerrera, 41, no known address. Further investigation revealed DeHerrera has active arrest warrants for his arrest from the Garden City Municipal Court for theft and a Warrant from Kearny County for Failure to Appear on traffic charges.

A short time later deputies of the Finney County Sheriff’s Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the area of 4101 E Highway 50.

During the stop, a passenger fled from the vehicle. After an interview with the driver, it was learned the passenger that fled was again John DeHerrera.

Deputies and Officers searched the area. During the search of the area, two schools Charles O’ Stones and Victor Ornelas, were notified of the incident and went into lockdown procedures as a precaution.

The suspect has not been located.

Anyone with information on DeHerrera should call the Garden City Police Department (620) 276-1300, Crime Stoppers (620) 275-7807, or text your tip to Garden City PD, text GCTIP and your tip to Tip411 (847411).

By Mallory Houser
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA—With a nationwide shortage of psychiatrists, Senate Bill 32 would broaden the Medical Student and Resident Loan Act to include psychiatry, providing an incentive for psychiatry students to practice in Kansas upon graduation.

While there is a psychiatric specialist deficit across the state, rural areas are especially suffering.

Compass Behavioral Health is one of the 26 community mental health centers in Kansas that covers 11,000 square miles of the state. Eight of the 13 counties it serves are considered “Frontier,” with less than six persons per square mile. In these counties, one psychiatrist covers approximately 5,000 lives within 683 square miles, opposed to urban areas where one psychiatrist covers approximately 900 lives within one square mile.

Executive Director of Compass Behavioral Health Ric Dalke faces geographical and resource barriers daily to provide mental health services to rural Kansans. To address this issue, the center has established a tele-psychiatry program, providing services completely on tele-video. While this has been beneficial, Dalke said it is secondary to face-to-face services.

“If people in the eastern part of Kansas can see a psychiatrist face-to-face, people in the western side Kansas should also be able to see a psychiatrist face-to-face,” Dalke said. “It is the best way to provide psychiatric service.”

Another issue Dalke faces is recruiting psychiatrists who are under retirement age and will practice for more than a few years. Dalke believes adding an incentive such as a medical student loan repayment is a step to fix this issue.

“If we can get people out, and they see and experience the people and the culture of rural and frontier Kansas, many of those people stay,” Dalke said.

Legislative Liaison for the Kansas Sheriffs Association Ed Klumpp has similar concerns about Kansans mental health, as law enforcement officers interact daily with people who have mental health issues.

“Law enforcement is usually the primary conduit for getting people help,” Klumpp said.

Law enforcement agencies depend on local services to assist people into treatment before they reach a mental health crisis where officers must take action if they become a risk to themselves or others. Especially in rural areas, Klumpp said SB32 could fill the deficit of psychiatric professionals to prevent escalated instances.

“It’s a matter of having a quantity of trained professionals to provide services,” Klumpp said. “It’s a step in the right direction.”
SB32 was passed in the Senate with a 35-5 vote on last month, and is now in the House Health and Human Services committee. The bill will continue to be discussed once the legislature reconvenes.

Mallory Houser is a University of Kansas junior journalism major from Dallas.

BARTON COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in central Kansas are investigating a suspect for a series of vandalism using a gun.

On February 10, Police responded to a complaint of vandalism to the Yoga Central studio, 6003 10th Street in Great Bend.

Security camera footage showed a person pulling up in front of the studio, getting out of a van, and shooting several rounds through the front of the studio.

Detectives quickly found that several other area law enforcement agencies were investigating similar occurrences.

A jailer at the Pawnee County Jail recognized the suspect as someone that had recently been booked into their jail.

Using this information detectives were able to locate a suspect for the crime in Rush County.

In subsequent interviews, the suspect Michele Cresci confessed that she was the person in the video of the Yoga Central shooting.

The Rush County Sheriff’s Office arrested Cresci for charges related to Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation.

The Great Bend Police Department is currently in the process of arranging for charges to be pressed against Cresci in Barton County as well.