LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Lawrence police officer who shot a man during an arrest is asking that criminal charges against her be dropped.
Police on the scene of the officer-involved shooting investigation-photo courtesy WIBW TV
In a motion filed last week in Douglas County, attorneys for 26-year-old Brindley Blood argued that Blood shot 35-year-old Akira Lewis in self-defense, which makes her immune from prosecution under Kansas law.
Blood was charged with aggravated battery after shooting Lewis in May. Lewis and another officer were fighting when Blood arrived and eventually shot him. Lewis was hospitalized with a gunshot wound in the back.
Blood thought she drew her Taser rather than her gun before firing the shot. The motion doesn’t address that part of the case.
As of Wednesday, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office had not filed a response to Blood’s motion.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating burglary and have a suspect in custody.
Police continue to search for two additional suspects- click to expand
The burglary occurred November 8, at a residence near SW 30th and SW Atwood in Topeka, according to LT. Andrew Beightel.
Police did identify one subject and the 17-year-old boy was arrested just after 9:30p.m. Tuesday in the 3700 Block of SW Park South Ct. in Topeka, according to Beightel.
Officers were granted search a warrant at the SW Park South Ct address and they located and recovered property from over a dozen residential burglaries spanning from Topeka, Shawnee and Douglas County. Police still need the community’s help to identify the other 2 suspects.
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — A man who secretly photographed and made videos of women as they undressed at a E-Z Tanning salon in Great Bend has been sentenced to 60 days in jail.
Driscoll -photo Barton Co.
Tracy Driscoll, 35, was also ordered to serve three years of probation when he’s released from jail. Driscoll pleaded no contest in September in Barton County to six counts of breach of privacy.
While on probation, he won’t be able to use the internet or a phone with a camera. He also must pay fines and for counseling for one of the victims. Additionally, three victims are suing.
The sentence was the maximum possible for the charges. Driscoll has a previous felony conviction stemming from a 2007 hit-and-run crash in Russell that killed Kansas State University sophomore Rebecca Trible.
Today, the National League of Cities announced $100 million in local partnerships to expand America’s innovation economy.
Hays was one of the cities included in the program.
Hays is connecting bilingual services to STEM career support and expanding the program from 25 to 500 participants.
Fort Hays State University’s Science and Mathematics Education Institute and United School District 489’s Migrant Education Program in partnership with the city of Hays and a host of civic partners commit to advancing the STEM and maker-centered learning of the city’s migrant families.
They hope to connect bilingual services with STEM career pathway opportunities and expanding to the general population in 2019 growing from 25 to 500 participants.
These investments come at a critical time when there is a growing need for resources to create startups and train the next generation of science and engineering talent in communities across America. Eighty percent of venture capital goes to just five metropolitan areas, and computer science is not offered in 75 percent of American high schools.
Cities must lead on the nation’s most pressing issues in the absence of federal leadership. Over the past year, NLC, with support from Schmidt Futures, has worked with city leaders, universities, the business community and the social sector to design innovative partnerships that harness the power of science, technology and entrepreneurship to build stronger, more equitable local economies.
Today, over 50 cities, ranging from rural townships and college towns, to major metros, as well as over 200 local partners, are announcing new and specific partnerships that will be supporting young businesses, leveraging technology and ensuring STEM education and workforce training for all. These new partnerships will:
Support new and expanded STEM initiatives that connect over 700,000 kids and workers to careers in technology. For example: Tampa, in partnership with 13 university, civic and private sector partners, will provide 600,000 regional K-12 students entrepreneurship training.
Partner cities with startups to improve government services in 15 municipalities. For example: Fourteen cities are partnering with City Innovate to establish or expand their local Startup in Residence programs. These programs connect startups with government agencies to co-develop technology solutions to pressing civic challenges.
Foster and resource local entrepreneurs in five cities.For example: Akron and the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce are identifying and supporting 25 local companies that have business models that can grow into regional employment generators.
Create and improve eight innovation districts — urban neighborhoods that bring together researchers, workers and entrepreneurs — to ensure these areas benefit all. For example: Providence, with eight higher education institutions and two hospital systems, is creating a new
public-private-university partnership, the Urban Innovation Partnership, to collectively govern and develop two Innovation Districts within Providence.
Serve as living laboratories to translate university research to address critical social issues such as opioid overdoses, autonomous public transportation, cleaner electrical grids and climate change. For example: Tempe and Arizona State University are testing waste water for opioids to redeploy public services to neighborhoods in the most need.
Establish and fund significant, new public-private-civic partnerships that target timely local opportunities. For example: Hartford with Hartford’s insurance industry, led by Travelers, The Hartford, Cigna and LIMRA, and the non-profit StartupBootcamp, have joined together to make the city of Hartford the country’s premier destination for insurance technology startups.
MURPHYSBORO, Ill. (AP) — A Kansas man has pleaded guilty to several charges in connection with a shooting that wounded a southern Illinois police officer during a July 2016 chase.
Karcher-photo Jackson County, IL
The Jackson County state’s attorney office says the plea agreement with 24-year-old Alex Karcher of Salina, Kansas, calls for him to face a prison sentence of at least 25 years.
Karcher pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of aggravated battery to a police officer, aggravated discharge of a firearm and marijuana distribution. Charges related to shots Karcher fired that missed Carbondale Officer Trey Harris were dismissed.
Officials say one shot wounded Harris in the eye, causing him to lose vision.
Authorities say Harris was among officers chasing Karcher and three other men after gunshots were fired in a dispute over 15 pounds of marijuana.
Fort Hays State remained No. 17 in the latest edition of the D2Football.com Top 25 Media Poll, released on Tuesday (Nov. 13). Fort Hays State enters the NCAA Playoffs this weekend ranked inside the Top 20 in both the AFCA and D2Football.com Polls.
There was not much movement in the Top 20 of the poll, aside from No. 3 West Georgia falling to No. 6 Valdosta State last week in a Top 10 matchup. Teams ranked No. 4 through No. 9 moved up one spot and West Georgia dropped to No. 9. The teams in the No. 10 through No. 17 rankings remained the same.
Fort Hays State faces Indianapolis in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs this weekend. The Greyhounds are ranked No. 11 in the D2Football.com Poll and No. 12 in the AFCA Poll. The Tigers are No. 17 in the D2Football.com Poll and No. 19 in the AFCA Poll.
Here is the D2Football.com Top 25 Poll for November 13, 2018 as the NCAA Playoffs get underway this weekend.
Team Record Previous
1 Minnesota State 11-0 1
2 Ferris State 11-0 2
3 Ouachita Baptist 11-0 4
4 Minnesota Duluth 11-0 5
5 Valdosta State 10-0 6
6 Tarleton State 10-0 7
7 Grand Valley 10-1 8
8 CSU-Pueblo 10-1 9
9 West Georgia 10-1 3
10 West Chester 10-0 10
11 Indianapolis 9-1 11
12 Notre Dame 11-0 12
13 LIU-Post 10-0 13
14 Northwest Missouri 9-2 14
15 Midwestern State 8-2 15
16 Colorado Mines 10-1 16
17 Fort Hays State 9-2 17
18 Texas A&M-Commerce 9-2 19
19 Lenoir-Rhyne 10-1 20
20 Harding 9-2 21
21 Kutztown 9-1 22
22 Bowie State 9-2 NR
23 Ohio Dominican 9-2 NR
24 New Haven 8-2 NR
25 Hillsdale 9-2 23
DALLAS (AP) — Caroline Rose Hunt, a philanthropist, luxury hotel magnate and daughter of Texas oilman H.L. Hunt, has died at age 95.
Caroline Rose Hunt -photo courtesy Rosewood Corp.
Family spokesman Andy Stern says Hunt suffered a stroke Oct. 31 and died Tuesday in Dallas. Services are pending.
Hunt’s wildcatter father provided a trust for her and the operating company was The Rosewood Corporation in Dallas. Caroline Rose Hunt founded Rosewood Hotels & Resorts in 1979, which operated The Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas. The company was sold in 2011 to New World Hospitality, now known as Rosewood Hotel Group.
Hunt married twice. She had five children, 19 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.
She had 14 siblings including sports tycoon and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, who died in 2006, and oil executive Nelson Bunker Hunt, who died in 2014.
EL PASO COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with a sexual assault investigation.
Armstrong-photo from his arrest in Butler County Kansas
In May 2018, officers with the Colorado Springs Police Department initiated the investigation involving a suspect identified as Daniel Armstrong, 57, of Colorado Springs, according to a media release from police.
Information indicated Armstrong sexually assaulted a child several years prior to the incident being reported. The investigation culminated with Crimes Against Children detectives obtaining a warrant for Armstrong’s arrest, charging him with Sexual Assault on a Child and Sexual Exploitation of Children. Despite their efforts, detectives were unable to locate and arrest Armstrong.
In July, the Colorado Springs Police Department learned Armstrong was arrested in Douglas, Kansas.
While Armstrong remained in the custody of the Butler County Jail, detectives continued to develop information indicating Armstrong may have sexually assaulted other juveniles.
This secondary investigation again culminated with detectives obtaining a warrant for Armstrong’s arrest, charging him with Sexual Assault on a Child. This warrant was executed on Armstrong in mid-September 2018 while he was still being held at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center.
Anyone with information or is a witness to this investigation is asked to call the Colorado Springs Police Department at
Police in Shawnee, Kansas, found the bodies of 27-year-old Courtney Bivins, of Kansas City, Missouri, and 34-year-old Joshua Mobley, of Mission, Kansas, near a park on Sunday. Police say Mobley shot Bivins and then himself. Police described them as “close friends.”
Bivins played in 19 games at Western Kentucky University before transferring to Campbellsville University, where she graduated in 2013 with a biology degree. Campbellsville says Bivins, who previously went by the last name of Clifton, was a nurse and had been “actively pursuing a career field in anesthesiology.”
Campbellsville Sports Information Director Jordan Alves says she could “shoot it with the best of them.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been sentenced to life in prison for raping a 7-year-old girl in a stranger’s apartment six weeks after he was freed from prison for another rape.
Breitenbach -photo Kansas Offender Registry
24-year-old Corbin Breitenbach won’t be eligible for parole under the sentence ordered Tuesday for attempted capital murder, rape, aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated burglary.
The attack happened in June 2017 while the victim was spending the night at a friend’s condo in Wichita. Prosecutors say Breitenbach quietly sneaked in, choked her into unconsciousness and sexually assaulted her.
The girl, now 9, described the attack as “scary” in a video that was played before the sentence was imposed. District Attorney Marc Bennett gave her a fist bump before she left the courtroom surrounded by family.
MANHATTAN – Approximately 600 attendees with diverse water interests were encouraged at the Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas to keep pushing forward with implementation efforts for accomplishing regional priorities within the Long-TermVision for the Future of Water Supply in Kansas to ensure our state’s water future.
“The state of Kansas remains focused on its goal of a sustainable water future,” said Lt. Governor Tracey Mann. “During this past year serving as Lt. Governor I have met thousands of Kansans that are working each day to make a living and make Kansas a better place and it’s easy to see how having a ready supply of good quality water means a community or industry can develop and grow. It’s important for everyone to know water is not a Republican or Democrat issue, it is a Kansas issue.”
Attendees heard updates on water resource statuses and continued implementation of the Vision as well as areas of concern throughout the state. Progress continues to be made through local, state and federal efforts to implement conservation practices to improve water quality and decrease reservoir sedimentation, but much work still remains. To date 185 failing streambanks have been stabilized but nearly 700 still need to be addressed in priority watersheds. Reservoirs within Kansas continue to lose storage due to sedimentation. There are now 10 Water Technology Farms across the state demonstrating how producers can maintain their bottom line while reducing water use. More progress needs to be made to reduce water use as groundwater levels continue to fall in the Ogallala Aquifer.
Sustainable food production was the message attendees heard from Tim Hardman, Director of Food and Markets, World Wildlife Fund US, as he shared changing consumer attitudes towards how food is produced. This concept is explored as many businesses look to do business in Kansas and sustainable water is part of that conversation. “How and where we produce food in the next 40 years is the biggest challenge of the 21st century. In the next 40 years we have to produce as much food as we have in the last 8,000. In order to live within the planetary boundaries, we have to figure out how to do more with less.”
Meeting growing water supply needs is a common problem facing communities across the nation, and a critical component of the Vision in Kansas. Tom Kula, Executive Director of the North Texas Municipal Water District addressed this issue head-on while describing the construction of the first major reservoir in Texas in 30 years to serve growing communities. Challenges included mitigation of more than 17,000 acres and permitting requirements at all levels. “Your reservoirs are an absolute necessity in our part of the county. We can find ways of building reservoirs which is smart development and taking care of the environment at the same time. It is important to stay encouraged and build key relationships at the local state and federal levels. As with anything difficult it’s important to develop win-win solutions.”
“One important feature of our Conference is to provide a perspective from outside our state from folks who are addressing similar water issues in other parts of the country and around the world,” said Kansas Water Office Director Tracy Streeter. “We were very pleased to have Hardman and Kula join us.”
The morning also featured the “Water Legacy Award” which was presented to David Pope, who has worked to define and implement the modern water resource management principles used in Kansas today. Starting with his role as manager of Southwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 3 for two years, five years as Assistant Chief Engineer of the Division of Water Resources (DWR) and 24 years as Chief Engineer of DWR, Pope spearheaded many groundbreaking initiatives.
This year’s ‘Be the Vision’ award recipients were also honored for taking extraordinary measures to conserve, reuse or adopt better practices to help ensure the future of our state’s water resources.
This year’s recipients were Bryan Taylor, Project Manager in the Civil Works Branch Programs and Project Management Division, who was assigned to the John Redmond Reservoir Dredging project and became an integral part of the process and eventual success; Chuck Samples, with KVOE radio for his continual media coverage of water in Kansas and the John Redmond Dredging project; USDA-NRCS and State Conservationist Karen Woodrich for their partnership with the Milford Lake Watershed RCPP as well as their critical role in the recent drought through the EQIP Drought Initiative Program; and Weston McCary, director of the Precision Ag program at Northwest Kansas Technical College in Goodland which is a comprehensive program teaching students about high-tech practices, equipment, and software being utilized in production agriculture today. Using a combination of classroom, shop, and field environments, students acquire the skills necessary to succeed in today’s competitive precision agriculture industry and incorporating the practices on the Water Technology Farm. Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey and Lieutenant Governor Tracey Mann were on hand to help with the award presentation.
The rest of the day continued with four panels highlighting different water topics, Conservation and Sustainability; Why Does Navigation Matter to Kansas; Water Technology Farms and Aquifer Impacts and Infrastructure for the Future.
Tomorrow will build on Vision implementation and water management and policy discussions from the previous day with technical presentations, posters and talks. Graduate and undergraduate students will present their research.
The conference also features the Kansas Water Office Photo Contest. More than 120 photos were submitted to be voted on as the ‘people’s choice’ at the conference. The winner will be featured on the 2019 brochure, website and other locations throughout the coming year.
The Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas is hosted by the KWO, K-State/Kansas Water Resource Institute. Major sponsors for the event include Black & Veatch, Burns & McDonnell and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock.
