LAWRENCE — Dark State Media, LLC, has launched its website, darkstatemedia.com, designed to feature news and analytical reports about issues related to government transparency and accountability in Kansas.

Dark State Media is owned and operated by Max Kautsch, a media lawyer based in Lawrence. In his practice, he concentrates on press freedom and open-government laws.

“The idea is to create a news service specifically focused on holding state and local government officials accountable to the Kansans who elect them,” Kautsch said. “The company’s name is an homage to KSHB-TV’s seminal 2014 The Dark State series that was instrumental in shining a light on probable cause affidavits related to arrests and searches.”

Interest in government transparency in Kansas is at an all-time high following the Kansas City Star’s 2017 series, Why so secret, Kansas?, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The article series resulted in public forums featuring Kansas legislators to discuss legislation aimed at increasing transparency in state government. It also served as a catalyst to the passage of multiple laws related to transparency that Governor Jeff Colyer signed into law last Thursday.

“The time is right to capitalize on the public’s recognition that in a democracy, you get the government you deserve. The first step to ensuring a government that acts in the public interest is to make sure the decisions officials make, and the reasons for them, are widely known,” Kautsch said.

The website’s first report, No Mercy, is about the disposition of Mercy Hospital property in Independence, Kansas, after the hospital was closed. Negotiations regarding the property were subject to a confidentiality agreement between the City of Independence and the hospital ownership. The agreement curtailed public information about the negotiations, and city officials made decisions that resulted in severe financial consequences for Independence taxpayers.

“The events in Independence are, sadly, a great example of what happens when government is not fully open,” Kautsch said. “Dark State Media seeks to report stories to expose when and how government officials fail to meet their obligations to be transparent.”

The plan is for the website to feature periodic, long-form articles, in-depth investigations and multimedia presentations, so the publication schedule may vary. “Hopefully, darkstatemedia.com can become an essential part of public dialog about transparency in this state,” Kautsch said.

Dark State Media can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at (785) 201-9650.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A 20-year-old Kansas man has admitted being part of a group that shot and killed several cows in Leavenworth County.

Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson says Christopher Wright, of Overland Park, pleaded no contest Wednesday to criminal damage to property and animal cruelty.

Wright was one of four people who have been found guilty in the shootings. Twenty-year-old Marcel Timmons, of Manhattan, and two others whose names were not released because they are juveniles, pleaded guilty last year.

Investigators say the shootings occurred in August 2016 in rural Leavenworth County. Several cows on two separate properties were found dead of gunshot wounds.

The damage was estimated at more than $16,000.

Police say the four admitted to shooting the cows but offered no justification.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A sheriff’s sergeant didn’t expect while running errands at work to save four people from a car that had crashed in a Wichita creek, but he says he’s happy he did.

Sedgwick County Sgt. Clayton Barth was driving Tuesday toward Southeast High School when he saw people running across the street. He says he drove closer to eventually find a car about halfway underwater in a creek behind the Parklane Shopping Center in Wichita.

A video posted to the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page says Barth saw children in the back seat and “immediately emptied out his pockets and jumped into the water to help them.”

The sergeant brought two children back to the embankment, and then returned to save two women before other first responders arrived. He says there were no injuries.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita State University says a Wichita couple is donating $12 million, representing in the single largest cash gift to the school.

The university said in a news release Wednesday that oil producer Wayne Woolsey and his wife, Kay, committed to a lead gift of $10 million to build a new home for the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State.

Wichita State said it will name the building the Wayne and Kay Woolsey Hall, a move approved Wednesday by the Kansas Board of Regents.

The couple also plans to donate $2 million to the university’s geology department for the petroleum geology program and field camp experiences for students.

Wayne Woolsey is chairman of Woolsey Companies, an oil and natural gas exploration and production company he founded in 1978.

SHAWNEE COUNTY— Investigators determined unattended cooking is the likely cause of a deadly house fire in northeast Topeka.

Just after midnight Tuesday fire crews responded to the fire at a one-story, wooden-framed house, according to a media release.

First-arriving crews reported the house was fully involved in flames. The fire appeared to have done the most damage on its back side.

The victim identified as 49-year-old Ronald Dean Bass was found inside the residence, according to Topeka Fire Department Shift Commander Dan Macke.

Ammunition was stored inside the residence. The home also had a lot of clutter inside, according to Macke.

Fire crews stayed at the scene several hours after the blaze.

The blaze caused an estimated $75,000 in damage.

Topeka Fire Marshal Mike Martin says working smoke alarms weren’t present in the house.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say one person is dead following an overnight fire in northeast Topeka.

The blaze was called in at 12:08 a.m. Tuesday at a one-story, wooden-framed house.

Topeka Fire Department Shift Commander Dan Macke says that first-arriving crews reported the house was fully involved in flames. The fire appeared to have done the most damage on its back side.

The victim, who wasn’t immediately identified, was found inside the residence

Macke says ammunition was stored inside the residence. The home also had a lot of clutter inside.

Fire crews stayed at the scene several hours after the blaze.

Topeka fire investigators were called to determine the cause of the fire.