TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 47-year-old has been arrested at a Colorado hotel where he was found with a former 14-year-old castmate from a Kansas community theater production of “Elf: The Musical.”
Fitzgerald -photo Montezuma County Sheriff
A sergeant at the Montezuma County Detention Center in Colorado says Kansas authorities are seeking a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor against Michael Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald was arrested Thursday night at the hotel in Cortez, Colorado, two days after the teen went missing from her Topeka home.
Fitzgerald initially played the role of Walter, the father of main character Buddy the Elf, in last month’s Topeka Civic Theatre production.
UPDATE: Chloe Hunnicutt has been located in Cortez, Colorado. She is safe and is now in police protective custody until she can be safely reunited with her family here in Topeka. We would like to thank everyone that helped in locating Chloe. https://t.co/uJ5JLBeuAB
The teen was part of the ensemble. The theater group’s president and CEO, Vickie Brokke, told The Topeka Capital-Journal that Fitzgerald was replaced after cast members expressed concerns.
WICHITA – A retired Kansas Highway Patrol trooper was sentenced Monday to a year on federal probation for lying to the FBI during an investigation into illegal gambling in Wichita, according to U.S. Attorney Stephan McAllister.
Michael Frederiksen, 53, Derby, Kan., was convicted in a jury trial in May on one count of making false statements to FBI investigators. During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that in 2014, while Frederiksen was still a Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper, he was filmed taking part in an illegal cash poker game. On Feb. 23, 2017, he was interviewed by FBI agents investigating illegal gambling businesses in Wichita.
The FBI had a video of Frederiksen playing in an illegal cash poker game held Feb. 12, 2014, at 922 1/2 E. Douglas in the Old Town district of Wichita. The site was equipped with poker tables, a cabinet for valuables and poker chips, video surveillance equipment, liquor and snacks. Staff included dealers, someone serving food and a waitress serving drinks and giving massages to the players.
An undercover investigator was at the game posing as a gambler. At one point, the undercover officer tried to use his phone to take photos. The men running the game took him aside and told him he was making other players nervous. They allowed the undercover officer to continue playing, but moved the game to other locations after that night.
During an FBI interview, Frederiksen made false statements, downplaying his involvement in illegal poker and his relationship with the operator of the poker game.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge cleared the way Monday for a lawsuit to proceed against a Kansas City-area school district accused of violating students’ free speech and free press rights last year during a nationwide walkout protesting gun violence.
Students in Kansas and across the nation staged a walkout -photo courtesy 2020 Vision
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ruled the students have presented a plausible claim that the Shawnee Mission School District violated their First Amendment rights by stopping speakers from talking about gun control or gun violence. The 17-minute walkout on April 20 was sparked by last year’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead.
Robinson also found that the students have a plausible claim under the Kansas Student Publications Act after a school official confiscated a camera from a student journalist to prevent her from photographing the event for the student newspaper. The state law, passed in 1992, aims to protect student journalists from censorship of political or controversial material.
The judge said that the school district’s act of confiscating the camera — alleged to have been loaned to the student by the school to be used in her capacity as a student journalist — suppressed material that would have been used in a student publication.
Robinson also found that former interim Superintendent Kenneth Southwick is not personally liable for the alleged constitutional violations. The judge dismissed those claims against Southwick while allowing other parts of the litigation against the district to continue.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas sued on behalf of students, accusing the district of suppressing student’s political speech on campus “merely to avoid controversy.” The school district countered in court documents its actions were justified because of concern that others might have wrongly assumed the students’ voices reflected the district’s position.
Student organizers at various schools informed administrators in advance that they intended to participate as part of the national walkout, and the school informed parents that the students would be allowed to participate without risking discipline, according to the filing.
But the district then directed administrators to prohibit students from discussing guns, gun control and school shootings — the central topics of the planned protest — during the walkout, the judge noted.
Among the plaintiffs is an eighth-grade student enrolled in Hocker Grove school, identified in court documents only as M.C., who organized her school’s walkout. She spoke two lines of her prepared speech, stating “the school administration wants us to keep this about school violence and not about the real issue here. The real issue is gun violence” before an administrated interrupted her and ordered to step down from the speaking platform. She complied without protest, and the administrator abruptly ended the event. About 50 students remained outside.
Several students were suspended or given detention, including M.C. who was sent home for “being the most disruptive child in the school,” according to the court documents.
At Shawnee Mission North High School, more than 100 students remained outside the school after the approved walkout ended to discuss the topics the administrators had prohibited. The school let them remain outside for that “unsanctioned” event, except for student journalists, the court documents said.
A high school junior identified only as S.W. in the lawsuit was ordered to hand over the camera she was using that had been checked out to her for the year to use in her role as student journalist. The administrator also confiscated at least one other camera during the protest, according to the filing.
Mary Kae Lee, 52, La Crosse, Kansas, died Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, at her home.
Mrs. Lee was born Oct. 28, 1966, in Fort Dodge, Iowa, the daughter of Michael and Julie (Picht) Monahan. She was a 10-year resident of La Crosse, Kansas, moving there from Ness City, Kansas. A 1985 graduate of Lake City High School, Lake City, Iowa, she was a homemaker.
On April 14, 1995, she married Pat Lee at Yellville, Arkansas.
Survivors include: her husband, Pat Lee, La Crosse, Kansas; two sons, CorDell Monahan (Kelsey), Otis, Kansas, and Cody Lee, Hays, Kansas; her mother, Julie Picht, Lincoln, Nebraska; two brothers, Ron Monahan, St. Louis, Missouri, and Jimmie Monahan, Longview, Washington; one sister, Vickie Benjamin, Lincoln, Nebraska; five nephews; and six nieces.
She was preceded in death by her father; and one grandson, Lucas Monahan.
The family will celebrate Mary Kae’s life with a funeral mass at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, La Crosse, Kansas, with Father Eric Gyamfi officiating.
Memorials are requested to the Mary Kae Lee Memorial Fund.
A Ford Escort driven by a 28-year-old woman was northbound on Webb Road. The driver was attempting to make a left turn into a private parking lot and collided head-on with a southbound Chevy Cavalier driven by a 34-year-old man, according to officer Paul Cruz.
An 82-year-old female passenger in the Chevy was pronounced dead at the scene. The drivers were transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Webb Road at 35thStreet was closed in both directions while police investigate the crash, according to Cruz.
Luke Oborny was the first to file for re-election to the Hays USD 489 school board on Friday.
Oborny, 39, a customer sales supervisor for Next-Tech, is in his first term as a school board member.
“When I look back at everything that has happened the past four years, I am amazed but I just don’t feel like like the job is done yet,” Oborny said via email. “I had thought about it for a long time and received feedback from many encouraging me to rerun so I decided to take action and make it official.”
Oborny said his goals for his second term really are not that different than when he sought election the first time.
“I would like to work on board unity and see us come together more. Perhaps our long-term plan would help and then we could all rally behind our goals and steps to accomplish that.
“I also would like to see progress and/or a plan for facility improvement. We all know and seem to agree our schools have needs and are aging. I would like to see us start to make some progress toward those improvements.
“Our staff has done a great job making improvements where we could, including lighting and some new HVAC systems, but some of our needs are too large for the capital outlay budget. I feel we have done a good job with the budget and saving where we could, but new buildings will require a bond. I would like to see us begin that process even if that means one school at a time.”
The school board is scheduled to discuss more on a possible bond and capital improvements at tonight’s meeting.
Kristy Oborny, Luke’s wife, is a fourth-grade teacher and librarian at O’Loughlin Elementary School.
Also up for re-election are board president Mandy Fox, and members Greg Schwartz and Paul Adams.
School board members are elected for four-year terms. The filing deadline is June 3. There will be a primary in August if enough people file, which is twice the number of seats available plus one. Ellis County Clerk Donna Maskus said all city and school board candidates must file with the County Clerk’s Office. The filling fee is $20.
Improvement district leadership as well as extension directors will also be on the the ballot this fall, Maskus said.
The General Election will be Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Also up for election in November will be the Hays City Commission seats now held by James Meier, current mayor Henry Schwaller IV and Ron Mellick.
Ellis USD 383 will have four seats up for election. Those seats are currently held by Mike Keller, Glenn Fondoble, Rob Soneson and Melanie Fischer.
Victoria will elect a mayor and two city council positions. The current Victoria mayor is John Schulte. The council seats are held by Erica Dinges and Dustin Schumacher.
The City of Ellis has a separate charter. It elects three council seats per year and the mayor and treasurer every other year. This year the three council seats held by Holly Aschenbrenner, Robert Redger and Bret Andries are up for election. The mayor and treasurer positions will also be on the ballot. David McDaniel is the current mayor, and Faith Scheck is the current treasurer.
Fort Hays State shot just over 51 percent from the field on Saturday and defeated Northwest Missouri State 91-63 to finish the week 2-0 after they defeated Missouri Western State 67-50 on Thursday. Sophomore Whitney Randall had back-to-back 14 points games last week and shot 65 percent off 17 attempts from the field in the two games combined. The Tiger women currently have a one-game lead over Washburn in conference play and are off until Saturday when they travel to Kearney to take on the Lopers.
The Tiger men went 1-1 last week with a thrilling win over Missouri Western State on Thursday and an 81-69 loss to No. 2 Northwest Missouri State on Saturday. The MIAA on the men’s side is in a tight race for second place. Three teams (including the Tigers) are 7-3 and chasing down Washburn who is in second at 7-2. The Tigers travel to Kearney on Saturday.
TMP-Marian girls improve to 9-4 with win over 4A Abilene
The TMP-Marian girls got an impressive win on Friday over a 10-1 Abilene team, which was ranked No. 5 in class 4A. The Monarchs were down 15-13 at halftime before going on a 15-0 run over six minutes to take a 28-16 lead in the third quarter. The Monarchs would lead by as many as 18 points before finishing the game with a 44-35 victory. Emily Schippers and Hannah Willey lead the way with 16 points each for the Monarchs. You can listen to the highlights and interviews here.
The TMP-Marian boys fell to Abilene 62-45 Friday night. The Monarchs are now 8-5 on the year.
Both TMP-Marian teams take on Smith Center tonight in a make-up game.
Hays High girls win fifth game in a row
The Lady Indians trailed Salina Central on Friday 39-26 at halftime but came out in the third quarter on a 20-2 run to take their first lead of the game. Hays lead 68-62 before making five of their final six free throws to secure a 73-65 victory. Savannah Schneider scored a career high 26. Jaycee Dale has now scored in double figures in five-straight contests after scoring 15. Hays improves to 8-3 and has won five in a row and seven of eight games. You can listen to the highlights and interviews here.
The Hays High boys fell to No. 7 Salina Central 52-39 on Friday night. The Indians fall to 6-5 on the year.
Both Hays High teams are in action Tuesday as they travel to take on Salina South.
OVERTIME
Power outage puts Area Game of the Week in the dark
The Area Game of the Week on KKQY Friday featuring the Quinter Bulldogs and Hoxie Indians in Hoxie started an hour later than planned. During the fourth quarter of the boys JV game (the game before girls varsity), the lights and power went out in the gym leaving a packed Hoxie High School gym full of parents and students reaching for the flashlights on their phones.
A dark Hoxie basketball gym was illuminated with cell phones on Friday night
According to a social media post by the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Department, Hoxie and places north of Hoxie were without power.
After about 45 minutes, the power came back on and both varsity games continued without any problems. Special thanks to Midwest Energy lineman who were out fixing the power.
Have highlights you want to share for next week’s Hoops Highlights? Email them to C.D. DeSalvo. Photos are encouraged!
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A person familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press that the Kansas City Royals and versatile second baseman Whit Merrifield have agreed to a $16.25 million, four-year contract.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because the contract has not become official. Merrifield must still pass a physical, though that could be completed soon.
The deal for the 30-year-old Merrifield covers his arbitration-eligible years. It includes $2 million in performance bonuses and a fifth-year team option worth $10.5 million.
Merrifield remained in Kansas City following the club’s annual fan festival last weekend.
Merrifield was a late bloomer who didn’t break into the big leagues until 2016, when he was 27 years old. But he’s become a rock for the rebuilding Royals, hitting .304 with an American League-high 192 hits and 45 stolen bases last season.
