SEWARD COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 11:45p.m. Wednesday in Seward County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Kenworth semi driven by Damon E. Brown, 68, Plains, northbound on U.S. 83 highway just north of road 17. The semi left the roadway. The driver lost control of the semi. It collided with a sign and rolled.
Brown was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Brenneman Funeral Home in Liberal. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Mitch Haniger hit a tiebreaking homer with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the Seattle Mariners over the Royals 6-5 Wednesday night after Whit Merrifield extended his hitting streak to a Kansas City-record 31 games.
Merrifield’s RBI bunt single in the seventh tied it at 5 and moved him past Hall of Famer George Brett for the Royals mark.
Haniger took Brad Boxberger (0-2) deep, lifting Seattle to 12-2 following an offseason roster overhaul. The Mariners and the 2002 Cleveland Indians are the only teams since 1908 to homer in each of their first 14 games. The Mariners have 34 homers, tied with the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals for most ever through 14 games. Seattle has scored at least five runs 13 times.
Anthony Swarzak (1-0) got two outs in the eighth, and Roenis Elias worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for his second save.
Seattle’s Jay Bruce, tied for the AL homer lead with seven, left the game in the fourth inning with tightness in his left Achilles tendon.
Kansas City dropped to 2-9 with its ninth straight loss.
Merrifield bunted with Terrance Gore on third in the seventh. He placed the ball perfectly up the third-base line and tipped his cap to a cheering crowd after reaching first without a throw.
Gore made his first major league start and had three hits in the game after entering with two hits over six major league seasons. His two-out double helped Kansas City threaten in the ninth, but after Merrifield was walked intentionally and Billy Hamilton drew a free pass, Adalberto Mondesi popped up to end it.
Yusei Kikuchi gave up three runs and five hits through six innings for Seattle. He retired the last 10 batters he faced after allowing the second of two home runs.
Jorge Soler hit a 454-foot home run in the third. Hunter Dozier also took Kikuchi deep.
LONG TIME COMING
Gore was part of the Royals’ back-to-back AL championships in 2014 and 2015 but usually as a pinch-runner. He has appeared in 67 games but had only 20 plate appearances. He got his first major league hit last season with the Chicago Cubs. He got his first hit with the Royals earlier this season.
“I don’t want to pigeon-hole him as a baserunner,” manager Ned Yost said. “I’ve watched him work his tail off – Alex Gordon-type work. I watch him take batting practice every day. He’s gotten stronger. His swing’s gotten better. As long as he’s working hard, I want to provide opportunity for him.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: SS Tim Beckham returned to the lineup after missing two games with a tight right hamstring.
UP NEXT
Mariners RHP Mike Leake (2-0, 2.92 ERA) will get the start for the Mariners in the final game of the four-game series. He’ll face Royals RHP Jorge Lopez (0-1, 4.09 ERA).
HAYS, Kan. – Friday’s Fort Hays State baseball series opener with Washburn and the annual “Pack the Park” event will begin one hour earlier than initially scheduled due to the forecasted low temperatures. The Tigers and Ichabods will open the weekend with a 5 p.m. first pitch on Friday, April 12.
Heartland Building Center will once again be sponsoring Pack the Park, which features food and drink specials, giveaways and more all evening.
Admission for the game will be $3 for adults and $1 for students K-12. As always, FHSU students get in FREE with a valid Tiger Card.
Concession specials include $1.50 drinks, hamburgers and hot dogs. There will also be a bounce house for all the young Tiger fans.
Heartland Building Center will be giving away limited edition t-shirts to the first 200 fans, so be sure to get to Larks Park early! Gates will open at 4 p.m.
The series will continue with game two at 1 p.m. Saturday before wrapping up Sunday at noon.
The Tigers hold a 106-83 lead in the all-time series with Washburn, dating back to 1966, the inaugural season of baseball at FHSU. The Ichabods (14-17, 8-13) currently sit in ninth in the MIAA standings.
HUTCHINSON — A Kansas man serving a substantial amount of time in prison for a 2004 case is in more trouble. Anthony Jefferson, 53, is once again accused of battering a correctional officer at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility – Central Unit.
This is not the first time. In 2005, Jefferson was being transferred to the Hutchinson Correctional Facility from the El Dorado Correctional Facility so he could appear in District Court for an aggravated battery case. Jefferson became angry about an intake procedure and spit in the face of corrections officer John Markus. Jefferson was convicted of the crime and sentenced to more than 10 years in prison by the late Reno County District Judge Richard Rome.
Jefferson was also convicted of aggravated battery for shooting at Jesse Villa. Jefferson hit Villa in the ear with a .38-caliber handgun in the early morning hours of Feb. 1, 2004. Jefferson was given a 15-year sentence in that case.
Those sentences are running consecutively to each other. Jefferson is also serving time for drug convictions out of Harvey County.
According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, as it stands now, Jefferson is not eligible for parole until 2029. Any new sentence could add to that
Thursday A chance of rain and snow before noon, then a slight chance of rain between noon and 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 40. Very windy, with a northwest wind 31 to 36 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Snow totals over Wednesday night into Thursday morning. pic.twitter.com/E2GYm6bmcK
— NWS Dodge City (@NWSDodgeCity) April 9, 2019
Thursday Night Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 26. Very windy, with a northwest wind 26 to 31 mph decreasing to 17 to 22 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 45 mph.
FridaySunny, with a high near 52. Northwest wind 13 to 17 mph.
Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 27. North northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east northeast after midnight.
SaturdayMostly cloudy, with a high near 52.
Saturday NightMostly cloudy, with a low around 29.
SundaySunny, with a high near 63.
WICHITA COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before 3:30p.m. Wednesday in Wichita County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Chevy Cavalier driven by Gregory Ray II Martinez II, 21, Leoti, was Vehicle was southbound in the 900 block of County RD 9.
The vehicle left the roadway to the right, entered the west ditch, rolled and the driver was ejected
Martinez was transported to the Wichita County Health Center where he died. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
KDOT
The Kansas Department of Transportation has reopened westbound I-70 at Hays. All lanes that were previously closed are now open.
For up-to-date information on road closures and road conditions, call 511 in Kansas or 866-511-5368 outside Kansas, or check travel information online at www.kandrive.org.
KDOT
UPDATE Thursday 1:45 p.m.: The Kansas Department of Transportation has reopened westbound I-70 at Hays. All lanes that were previously closed are now open.
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UPDATE Thursday, 10 a.m.: The Kansas Department of Transportation has closed westbound I-70 between Hays and Oakley. Both directions continue to remain closed between WaKeeney and Oakley.
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The Kansas Department of Transportation on Thursday morning closed both directions of Interstate 70 between Oakley and WaKeeney because of multiple crashes blocking the roadway.
For up-to-date information on road closures and road conditions, call 511 in Kansas or 866-511-5368 outside Kansas, or check travel information online at www.kandrive.org.
ROAD CLOSED:
I-70 is closed in both directions between Oakley and WaKeeney because of multiple crashes blocking the roadway. More condition and closure updates at https://t.co/hFNgAPWzND. #kswx pic.twitter.com/owsIBwMRNk— NWKansasKDOT (@NWKansasKDOT) April 11, 2019
SEDGWICK COUNTY— A former used car dealer who defrauded his own finance company has been sentenced.
In February, Obada Alashqar, 24 of Wichita, one of the former operators of Adams Auto Sales & Repairs, was found guilty of conspiracy to impair a security interest. Alashqar was accused of conspiring with his business partner to defraud NextGear Capital, the finance company that provided the line of credit to run the used car lot, according to a media release from Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett.
On Monday, Judge Bruce Brown granted probation in the case, but ordered Alashqar to make monthly payments on the restitution. Judge Brown told Alashqar that he would have to serve five months in prison if he violated his probation by failing to make payments.
As one of the operators of Adams Auto Sales and Repairs, Alashqar purchased cars for resale using financing provided by NextGear. Under terms of the financing agreement, Alashqar was required to pay back NextGear when the cars were sold. The investigation alleged that Alashqar sold several cars financed by NextGear, but kept all the money.
Obada Alashqar, and his brother, Abdallah Alashqar, were previously ordered to pay $526,802 in a civil judgment brought by the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the District Attorney against the brothers and their car lot at 220 E. Kellogg. The car lot is no longer in business.
The Office of the District Attorney launched an investigation of the brothers and their dealership following consumer complaints. The District Attorney’s civil lawsuit alleged 48 violations, includingfailure to disclose safety recalls, failure to provide car titles, taking customer trade-in vehicles withoutpaying for them, selling vehicles “as is” and not having an auto dealer license with the Kansas Department of Revenue.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — More than 75 years after Nicholas J. Gojmerac was last seen alive dragging a wounded comrade to safety during a World War II battle, his remains are back home in Kansas.
A Marine Corps honor guard was on the tarmac of Kansas City International Airport Tuesday as Gojmerac’s remains were returned to his family. His remains are now at Leavenworth National Cemetery.
Gojmerac was in the Marine Corps Reserve when he was wounded during a battle on the Solomon Islands in 1943. The 29-year-old from Kansas City, Kansas, became one the multitude of U.S. service members listed as missing in action during World War II.
He was officially declared dead on July 21, 1944. It wasn’t until last September that relatives learned Gojmerac’s remains had been identified through dental and anthropological analysis.
“We just never knew what happened to him,” said Therese Moeller, a niece, who lives in Overland Park, Kansas.
“When he went missing, it affected the whole family because they all lived in the house or close to the house where he grew up,” Moeller said. “I’m sure there was much grief there on Strawberry Hill and because everybody who settled there was from Croatia, they were very close.”
Gojmerac was a member of Company Q, 4th Raider Battalion, 1st Marine Raider Regiment. According to his service record, Gojmerac and his unit went into battle with a Japanese stronghold on July 20, 1943.
“Upon hearing a wounded comrade in the front lines cry out for help, PFC Gojmerac crawled out to him through extremely heavy rifle fire, machine gun and mortar fire, administered first aid and dragged him to safety,” his record states. “While assisting his wounded comrade, Gojmerac himself was seriously wounded. Following this engagement with the enemy, it was discovered Gojmerac was missing.”
According to his obituary, his remains have been interred since 1949 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly says she wants to move the state’s prison system from being “all-punitive to much more therapeutic.”
Pleased to join law enforcement, advocates, and volunteers at the Crime Victims’ Rights Conference this morning. I’m thankful to each of you for prioritizing the needs of crime victims, whether it’s helping them get assistance, support, resources, and the justice they deserve. pic.twitter.com/uWiZIm19Im
— Governor Laura Kelly (@GovLauraKelly) April 10, 2019
Kelly made the comment Tuesday while speaking to more than 200 people at a Wichita school district administration building. Kelly says she has learned challenges within the Kansas Department of Corrections are worse than anticipated. In the search for a replacement to the agency’s interim leader, the governor said she would seek someone eager to properly staff prisons and transition the facilities to a rehabilitative footing.
She also says Kansas should engage in comprehensive sentencing reform because too many people were being thrown in jails and prisons. And she added that too many were held long after a point in which it had any benefit.
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ELLIS COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just before 5p.m. Wednesday in Ellis County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Subaru Legacy driven by Vicki F. Renninger, 65, Littleton, Co., was eastbound on Interstate 70 seven miles west of Hays.
The vehicle drifted off the left side of the road. The driver overcorrected. The vehicle traveled into the south ditch, struck an embankment and rolled into a field.
Renninger was transported to the hospital in Hays. She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
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By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Just before 5 p.m. Wednesday an SUV westbound on Interstate 70 left the roadway at mile marker 152 between Hays and Ellis and rolled.
The SUV came to rest on its top, trapping the driver inside.
One woman was taken to the hospital with critical injuries, according to scanner reports.
The woman’s name has not been released.
The Interstate was not closed as a result of the accident.
Watch the Hays Post for more information as it becomes available.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a drive by shooting and have three suspects in custody.
Just before 11:30a.m. Tuesday, dispatch received a call stating that in the area of the 700 Block of NE Wabash in Topeka, a small blue passenger car just fired several gunshots out of the vehicle and fled the area, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel.
A police officer near the area when the call went out saw the suspect vehicle fleeing southbound down an alley. The officer radioed in his location and other officers were able to follow the car to the area of the 500 Block of NE Michigan, east alley.
At that point, the officers were able to take the two adult male occupants from the passenger car into custody without incident and recover firearms from the vehicle.
James Gillespie, 43, is being held on requested charges that include Criminal Discharge of a Firearm, Possession of StolenProperty, Felon in Possession of a Firearm. He has 11 previous convictions for burglary, theft, forgery, arson and more, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Jaugger E. Thomas, 22, is being held on requested charges that include Possession of Counterfeit Money, Possession of
Stolen Property, Felon in Possession of a Firearm.
Charles T. Higgins, 23, was in custody on requested charges that include Possession of Stolen Property. He has posted bond and was no longer in jail.
