KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Wyandotte County officials have charged a man with murder in the death of a woman who died in a traffic crash while she was fleeing from an alleged rape.
Prosecutors filed the felony first-degree murder charge Friday against 35-year-old Orlando Taylor, of Kansas City, Kansas, in the death of 39-year-old Shannon Keithley.
The Kansas City Star reports Keithley died Aug. 18 when the car she was driving hit a concrete pillar less than mile from her home while she was calling 911.
Taylor was arrested that day while hiding under the deck of Keithley’s house. He was originally charged with rape and burglary.
District Attorney Mark Dupree said in a statement Friday that Keithley died as a result of Taylor committing underlying felonies of rape and burglary.
SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and asking for help to locate suspects.
Just before 6:30 p.m. Thursday, a homeowner returned to his residence in the 700 Block of Scott Street in Salina. As he pulled into the driveway, two suspects ran from residence, according to Police Captain Paul Forrester.
The homeowner got back into his pickup and attempted to track down the burglars but was unsuccessful.
The suspects are described as white males, around 5-foot 8-inches tall and they wore white shirts.
Police say that the suspects damaged the French doors at the rear of the house and ransacked two bedrooms.
Over $5,000 in cash was reportedly stolen from the home, according to police.
Choosing the right life insurance protection and choosing the right amount of coverage are important choices for you and your family.
Knowing what a life policy can do for you and your loved ones, and how to protect it for their future use, can be two important factors in your financial planning. Since September is designated as Life Insurance Awareness Month, this is a good time to review your knowledge of these valuable aspects.
Kansas Insurance Department staff members emphasize the following life policy considerations.
• What kind of life insurance do you need? Term and whole life insurance are the two most common types of plans. However, there are many variations of each type, as well as a number of special-purpose policies that combine the basic policies with other elements. Discuss the best choice with your insurance agent.
• Who is your beneficiary going to be? If you die without naming a beneficiary or beneficiaries of your policy, the benefits would be paid into your estate, then paid out according to your will or through state laws. This delays payment and could create a financial hardship for your heirs.
• Will I have any tax consequences? Your beneficiary(ies) will receive your insurance benefits tax free. With named beneficiary(ies), life insurance benefits do not have to go through probate or other legal delays regarding your estate.
• How much coverage do you need? You and your agent should do a careful evaluation of your coverage needs. This should include the debts you now have and any future income that would be necessary. Some estimates say that you should have coverage that is equal to 5-7 times your annual take-home pay, but other estimates go as high as 20 times that amount.
• Where should I keep my policy? Keep your policy in a safe place. However, do not use any place where the policy might not be readily available. Record the basic information — such as company, policy type, policy number, insured’s and beneficiaries’ names — in a separate place. Let your beneficiary(ies) know the kind of insurance policy you have, any changes you make, and where you keep the policy.
• What happens if I lose my policy? Loss of a life insurance policy will not affect your protection in any way. If a policy is lost, accidentally destroyed or stolen, ask your agent or write the company directly to obtain a duplicate.
• Do life insurance proceeds affect my family’s Social Security benefits? According to law, monthly life insurance payments will not disqualify the beneficiary from receiving full Social Security payments. Monthly life insurance benefits do not count as earned income, regardless of how much is paid each month through a policy.
• What happens when my family needs to file a claim? Family members, preferably with policy in hand, will need to notify the life insurance company in the event of a death of an insured person. Your local insurance agent should be able to discuss the steps needed to make sure the policy is disbursed quickly.
• Filing a life claim. Your beneficiary will need to notify the life insurance company of your death. Again, that’s why it is important for your beneficiary to be able to locate your policy. Companies require a certified death certificate or other legal proof of death, and they may ask for the policy. The life insurance company will pay the proceeds of the policy to your beneficiary(ies) after receiving proper notification of death. You might ask your funeral planning directors if they can assist with this.
Talking over your life insurance needs with qualified insurance professionals is a good first step toward assuring your assets are best used by your family.
Ken Selzer, CPA, is the Kansas Commissioner of Insurance.
DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting.
Just after 10:30 a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to a residence in the 600 Block of North Michigan Street in Lawrence after report of a shooting involving a 1-year-old girl, according to a media release.
Despite life saving measures attempted by first responders, the child was pronounced dead at the scene.
Based on witness statements and evidence at the scene, this incident is being investigated as an accidental shooting. Once the investigation is completed, the reports will be forwarded to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Police are not looking for any other persons involved in the incident.
On Saturday afternoon, get your sweet tooth ready for the Heart to Heart Dessert Challenge.
The event will be from 1 to 3 p.m. at Big Creek Crossing. Participants can sample desserts and vote on their favorites, as well as enter drawings for a chance to win gift baskets.
All of the proceeds from the event, sponsored by First United Methodist Church, will go to Hosea’s Heart, foundation that helps abused women and women at risk in Swaziland.
Law enforcement authorities on the scene of a home in Hutchinson
RENO COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have made an arrest.
Just after 6:30 a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to a residence located at 1701 East 30th Avenue in Hutchinson on the report of a shooting, according Police Captain Troy Hoover.
Officers found a man dead of an apparent gunshot wounds. A suspect is in custody.
Police are working to notify family and will then release names of the individuals involved, according to Hoover.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Hutchinson Police Department at 694-2816.
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RENO COUNTY —Police are investigating report of a suspicious death at a home on East 30th Street in Hutchinson.
Hutchinson Police Capt. Troy Hoover confirmed is was a shooting investigation.
Check Salina Post for additional details as they become available.
WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas woman pleaded guilty Friday to robbing three local businesses, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Christina A. Messerschmidt, 26, Wichita, Kan., appeared in federal court in Wichita to enter her plea. She admitted to the following robberies:
June 14, 2017: Kwik Shop at 2809 E. Douglas in Wichita. She threatened store employees with a knife and took money from the register.
June 13, 2017: Patricia’s, 6143 W. Kellogg in Wichita. She threatened to strangle an employee and took money from the register.
Dec. 16, 2016: Intrust Bank at 1544 S. Webb. She gave a teller a note saying, “Give me $1,000 or I will shoot you.” She was arrested after a standoff with police at an apartment near the bank.
Sentencing is set for Nov. 13. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of seven years in federal prison.
Millions of victims of a data hack that targeted a Kansas state agency in possession of Social Security numbers were not informed of the breach directly, according to information obtained through an open records request.
The Kansas Department of Commerce says it only had valid email addresses for about 2.5 million of the more than 6 million job seeker accounts that were exposed when Kansasworks.com was hacked earlier this year. FILE PHOTO / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
The Kansas Department of Commerce says it only had valid email addresses for about 2.5 million of the more than 6 million job seeker accounts that were exposed. It sent notices to those addresses and further spread word of the hack through news releases and other public messages.
“We are confident our agency fulfilled all legal requirements of Kansas and the other member states on how to ensure those affected were lawfully and properly contacted,” spokesman Kevin Doel said.
Information technology staff discovered the hack in March. It affected job seekers across 10 states, including nearly 600,000 in Kansas. More than 5.5 million of the accounts contained Social Security numbers.
A unit within the Kansas Department of Commerce called America’s Job Link Alliance-Technical Support had been managing the data for the Kansasworks.com website, which connects job seekers with opportunities, and for similar sites in the other states. The other websites are for Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Oklahoma, Vermont, Alabama and Illinois.
The hack came just months after Kansas legislative auditors released the conclusions of a three-year check into IT security at 20 state agencies, excluding the Department of Commerce. The auditors flagged concerns at most of the agencies, including IT weaknesses that posed a risk for data breaches.
Kansas offered victims of the AJLA-TS attack credit monitoring through Equifax, which itself recently became the victim of a hack.
Cost to taxpayers
It remains unclear what the data breach will cost Kansas taxpayers in total.
Records indicate the state contracted with a law firm for $175,000 and an IT firm for $60,000 to help deal with the aftermath.
But the Department of Commerce redacted pricing information from its contract with Epiq, the company it hired to email victims, operate a call center for them and supply Equifax services. The arrangement is ongoing. The Commerce Department said Thursday it had paid about $800,000 to Epiq as of the end of last month.
In an email, Epiq instructed the Commerce Department to redact the pricing information from its contract.
The Kansas News Service obtained records related to the hack through open records requests. The Commerce Department took eight weeks to provide records fulfilling parts of one request and five weeks to provide any records related to the second request. It took 13 weeks from the original Kansas News Service request for the Epiq contract for the agency to cite any provisions of statute for redacting pricing.
Mike Kautsch, a University of Kansas law professor and former dean of the KU School of Journalism, said Kansas’ open records act requires public agencies to provide documents within three business days or give a “detailed explanation” for the delay and specify the earliest date the records will be available, which the agency didn’t do. The statute also requires agencies to cite specific legal provisions for any redactions within three days of a request for that information.
“In my opinion, they’re already in violation of the law,” he said. “The burden is really on them to comply.”
Legislative meeting
On Friday, officials from the Commerce Department and AJLA-TS will update Kansas lawmakers on security steps taken since the hack. The conversation with a joint panel of senators and representatives will be partly or wholly closed to the public.
Doel of the Commerce Department said Thursday the agency is confident in the measures it has taken to prevent future breaches.
“Although no system is invulnerable,” Doel said, “yes, areas of potential risk were determined during the assessment process and those areas have been properly remediated.”
Derby Republican Rep. Blake Carpenter chairs the legislative panel, which has been examining IT security at the Commerce Department and other Kansas agencies.
“I want to make sure that the information of Kansas citizens is protected,” Carpenter said. “Especially if the government has that information and people are trusting us.”
Rep. Brandon Whipple, a Wichita Democrat, said the panel needs to go beyond pointing fingers and work on ensuring sensitive information is adequately guarded.
“The conversation has to be about what went wrong and shifting right into how we make sure this never happens again,” he said.
Whipple said the goal is to pinpoint and address why some agencies have better security than others.
“We need to figure out — how do we make all of them good at this?” he said.
Sen. Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Republican, said the state needs a proactive approach to protecting its data.
“It seems like it’s been an afterthought in Kansas,” she said.
Hilda Edna Zerfas, age 97, of Manhattan, died Thursday September 21, 2017 at the Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community in Manhattan.
She was born on April 9, 1920 in Trego County, Kansas, the daughter of David and Eva (Dietz) Meisner. She grew up in Trego County and attended schools in the area and graduated from high school in 1938.
On January 11, 1942 in Ellis, Kansas she was united in marriage to Harold Zerfas. He preceded her in death in 1991.
Her passion was quilting and her life goal was making a quilt for everyone in her family. She spent many hours to make quilts for her grandchildren and she loved every minute of it. Her family was so important to Hilda, especially the grandchildren. Hilda enjoyed cooking for her family and always tried to make a good German dish for them. She also enjoyed playing cards, especially pinochle.
Hilda was a member of the St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan. She was a member of the LWML and taught Sunday school for many years.
In addition to her husband, she was also preceded in death by her brother and six sisters.
She is survived by her children: Jennifer Lindsey, of Colby, David Zerfas (Kim), of Manhattan, and Tom Zerfas (Juanita), of Hays; and also her 5 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.
The family will greet friends during a visitation from 6:00 until 7:30 p.m. Sunday September 24, 2017 at the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home in Manhattan.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Monday September 25, 2017 at the St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 330 Sunset Avenue, in Manhattan, with Pastor Michael J. Schmidt officiating.
Graveside services will be held at 3:30 p.m. Monday September 25, 2017 in the Mount Hope Cemetery in Ellis, Kansas.
Memorial contributions in memory of Mrs. Zerfas are suggested to the Meadowlark Hills Good Samaritan Fund. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502.
Online condolences may be left for the family through the funeral home website at www.ymlfuneralhome.com
Protect the Social Security Program – Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Contact your US Reps and ask them to Oppose H.R. 2792 which takes away SSI payments for people with disabilities any outstanding warrant or an alleged probation or parole violation. These warrants are often old, involve minor infractions, or are part of inactive cases that law enforcement does not want to pursue.
Think about it. The only way a person with a disability can get SSI is if they are too disabled to work. That means they have an incredibly significant impairment. The type of impairment, like a Traumatic Brain Injury or a Bipolar diagnosis or Down Syndrome, that might cause them to forget to pay parking tickets or any other minor infraction that would take away their social security.
Also, SSI pays around $735 PER MONTH. People with disabilities on SSI must choose between eating and paying parking tickets. Then, they can lose their SSI for the tickets. It is nonsense!
A very high percentage of those who would lose their benefits under this bill have a mental illness or intellectual disability, making it especially difficult, if not impossible, for them to go through the laborious process of resolving and removing an old outstanding warrant from their record.
This bill is cutting vital income for people with disabilities. This bill would deprive thousands of people of benefits they depend on to meet their basic needs.
The House Rules Committee has set a vote on H.R. 2792 next Monday, September 25 at 5:00 PM. House floor consideration of the bill is expected on Tuesday, September 26 or Wednesday, September 27.
NAMI Kansas is a state-wide organization of the National Alliance on Mental Illness – a self-help, membership association of individuals living with mental illness, their family members and friends, dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by mental illnesses. We provide leadership and work in partnership with local affiliates to ensure peer support, advocacy, and education.
SCOTT COUNTY — Four people were injured in an accident just before 7a.m. Friday in Scott County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Hyundai passenger car driven by Cristo Abel Hinojos, 37, Scott City, was westbound on Kansas 96 four miles west of Scott City.
The driver attempted to pass a 2007 Chrysler van driven by Yolanda Serna Valdez, 39, Norwalk, TN. The Hyundai collided with the van when it stopped to make a left turn onto Hereford Road.
Hinojos, Valdez and passengers in the van Angel Marie Herrera, 16, and Mario Moreno Valdez, 39, both of Robstown, TX., were transported to the Scott County Hospital.
All four were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Mike Rowe, of Dirty Jobs fame, and now the founder of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation Work Ethic Scholarship Program, has announced the recipients of the 2017 Work Ethic Scholarship Program. Over $900,000 has been amassed for this program and 259 individuals will be receiving scholarships this fall.
Jesse Lyle, an Electrical Technology student on the NCK TECH Hays campus has been awarded one of these substantial and prestigious awards. The scholarship, worth $6,500, will assist Lyle with tuition, books, fees and other educational expenses.
Lyle, a graduate of Natoma High School, lives in Natoma and commutes on a daily basis to Hays. “I am immensely honored to receive this scholarship and it is a huge financial help,” Lyle said. He noted the application process was intense and included many essay questions along with a submission video.
“Eventually, I would like to own my own business, but I know that is down the road a bit,” said Lyle. “First comes graduation and the degree along with the journeyman license. Experience and the master electrician certification are a must.”
Sandy Gottschalk, Dean of the Hays campus said “Jesse is a well-deserving student who has a passion for his studies and his chosen field of study. This is a huge honor for him and the administration and entire college are proud that he is a member of our NCK TECH community.”
According to the mikeroweWORKS web site “The skills gap is wide and getting wider. […] mikerowWORKS is not a scholarship fund – it is a PR initiative whose prime directive is to shine a light on several million jobs that don’t get a lot of attention.”
The electrical program at NCK TECH is an 18-month AAS degree program that focuses on hands-on learning along with theory. The program is offered on both the Hays and Beloit campus.
