SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects caught driving a stolen vehicle.

Just after 3 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a suspicious character call at the Trail Motel, 827 S. Broadway in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

An officer observed a maroon Chevrolet Impala leave the parking lot and remembered tag number being broadcast as a stolen vehicle earlier in the day.

The officer attempted to stop the vehicle in the area of Indianapolis and Topeka when the driver later identified as 37-year-old Delaura Hopkins refused to stop, accelerated and fled from police.

A short vehicle pursuit ensued and the vehicle stopped after striking a curb at 21st and Erie. Hopknis was taken into custody without further incident. A passenger  Theodore Mitchell, 49, Wichita,  fled from the vehicle on foot and was taken into custody after a short foot pursuit.

Hopkins is being held on requested charges of auto theft, drive on suspended license, unlawful possession of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of cocaine, unlawful possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, flee and elude police, hit and run, transport open container, multiple traffic charges and an outstanding warrant. Mitchell is being held on requested charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and obstruct.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 16-year-old girl has been charged with murder in the killing of another teenage boy in a suburban Kansas City community.

On Wednesday, the Olathe girl was charged in Johnson County Juvenile court with first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Rowan Padgett of Overland Park. The girl was also charged with felony obstruction of justice for allegedly giving false information to investigators.

The charges allege Friday’s killing in a suburban cul-de-sac occurred during a drug deal involving the anxiety drug Xanax.

Prosecutors requested she be tried as an adult.

Padgett, an Olathe East High School senior, was just weeks from celebrating his 18th birthday when he died. The suspect is a runaway who at one time also attended the same school.

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — One of three Kansas men charged in a triple homicide in downtown Lawrence has pleaded guilty to attempted voluntary manslaughter.

23-year-old Ahmad Rayton was scheduled to go to trial Monday but accepted the plea deal Wednesday. He had previously been charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 8.

The shootings in October 2017 involved two groups of Topeka men who had previous confrontations. They fired about 20 shots, killing three and injuring two others.

Twenty-year-old Dominique McMillon pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor battery and was released from jail.

A third suspect, 22-year-old Anthony Roberts Jr. is scheduled for trial in June on three counts of murder.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Just weeks after winning a key regulatory approval, one the nation’s largest wind energy projects is facing a new obstacle from Missouri legislation that could prevent the proposed high-voltage power line from being strung across the property of uncooperative landowners.

A Missouri House panel advanced legislation Wednesday that would prohibit the use of eminent domain to acquire easements for the Grain Belt Express project. The proposed 750-mile

transmission line would carry wind power from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois into Indiana, where it would connect to a power grid that serves eastern states.

The $2.3 billion project has been repeatedly delayed by regulatory hurdles and court battles but won a significant victory in March, when Missouri’s utility regulatory commission reversed its previous denials and approved the project. Missouri’s “certificate of convenience and necessity” deems it a public utility, which allows it to pursue condemnation cases in local courts against landowners who refuse to sell easements.

The legislation is intended to block that — either forcing the power line to zig zag around unwilling sellers or zapping it altogether.

Clean Line Energy Partners, based in Houston, has been pursuing the project since 2010. In November, Chicago-based Invenergy announced it was buying the project — a deal that would strengthen the project’s finances but still needs regulatory approval.

Unlike traditional power line projects, the Grain Belt Express is not part of an existing energy distribution system and would not carry power directly to residential customers. It instead would sell power to other utilities. A coalition of Missouri municipal utilities has agreed to purchase some of the energy, but the vast majority would go to eastern states.

That’s sparked opposition from some Missouri landowners and politicians.

“We’re asking our Missouri farmers and rural areas to give up their land and their rights so that people further east can save on their energy bills? I don’t think that’s good for Missourians,” said Republican Rep. Dean Plocher, the chairman of the committee that advanced the eminent domain legislation.

Invenergy spokeswoman Beth Conley said the legislation would delay or prevent residents in dozens of Missouri communities that agreed to purchase the wind power from saving millions of dollars annually through cheaper rates.

While approving the project last month, the Missouri Public Service Commission concluded that “the broad economic, environmental, and other benefits of the project … outweigh the interests of the individual landowners.”

At a legislative hearing this week, Marilyn O’Bannon vowed that she and her relatives never would agree to provide easements for the transmission line to pass through about 5 miles of her family’s farmland near Madison. She expressed concerns that their farms would be harmed by the construction without benefiting from any of the electricity passing overhead. Her family’s farms get their power from a rural electricity cooperative.

“They think we’re just out here complaining because it’s our land, but every acre really counts, especially when the commodity prices are where they are today,” O’Bannon told The Associated Press.

Other property owners appear more willing to sell easement rights without going through condemnation proceedings.

“I really believe in renewable energy,” said Donna Inglis, whose Huntsville property lies in the path of the power line. She added: “I think a lot of the people on the line are being very selfish, because they’re worried about me. They’re not worried about the better good.”

Shawnee County —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two Kansas felons on new charges.

Just before 10p.m. Tuesday, police conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of SW 6th and SW Oakley in Topeka, according to Lt. Manuel Munoz.

Officers detected a strong odor of narcotics coming from within the vehicle. Further investigation revealed narcotics and two firearms.

Officers arrested and then transported Stacey Banks, 26 and Andre Stewart, 23 to Shawnee County Department of

Corrections for Criminal Possession of a Firearm by a convicted felon.

This is the 34th and 35th case in 2019 with a charge involving a felon in possession of a firearm reported by the Topeka Police Department.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An Ohio gamer upset over a $1.50 bet in an online game pleaded guilty Wednesday to asking a prankster to make a bogus emergency call, then tried to destroy his text communications so as to hide his involvement when he realized from news reports that the antic had gotten a Kansas man killed by police.

Casey Viner, 19, of North College Hill, Ohio, changed his plea to guilty on charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. He initially pleaded not guilty.

The plea deal jointly recommends two years of probation, although the judge is not bound by that sentencing recommendation. The deal also recommends Viner be barred from online gaming for 2 years.

The death of Andrew Finch, 28, in Wichita drew national attention to the practice of “swatting,” a form of retaliation in which someone reports a false emergency to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to descend on an address.

Authorities said Viner recruited Tyler R. Barriss to “swat” an opponent in Wichita over a $1.50 bet stemming from the game Call of Duty: WWII. But the address they used was old.

Barriss, a 26-year-old Los Angeles man with an online reputation for “swatting,” called police from Los Angeles on Dec. 28, 2017, to falsely report a shooting and kidnapping at that Wichita address. Finch, who was not involved in the video game or dispute, was shot by police when he opened the door.

The intended target in Wichita, Shane Gaskill, 20, is charged as a co-conspirator in the case. Authorities said Viner provided Barriss with an address for Gaskill that Gaskill had previously given to Viner. Prosecutors alleged that when Gaskill noticed Barriss was following him on Twitter, he gave Barriss that same old address and taunted him to “try something.”

The federal indictment detailed Viner’s panic in text communications after he realized someone had gotten killed and the ensuing investigation would likely unveil his Twitter conversations related to the prank. A person identified in the indictment only as J.D. texted him saying that hopefully Viner didn’t say anything stupid.

“I did, I literally said you’re gonna be swatted. Not thinking at all, so I’m going to prison,” Viner texted back.

When J.D. apparently tried to reassure him by pointing out that Viner himself didn’t call the hoax in, Viner replied, “Does t (sic) even matter?????? I was involved I asked him to do it in the first place,” according to the indictment.

The indictment also alleged that a forensic examination of Viner’s iPhone recovered his deleted outgoing messages to unknown persons, including one in which Viner allegedly wrote: “I was involved in someone’s death.”

Sentencing for Viner was scheduled for June 26.

Barriss was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to 51 counts for making fake emergency calls and threats around the country, including the deadly hoax call in Kansas. Prosecutors believe it is the longest prison sentence ever imposed for “swatting.”

Gaskill’s trial has been delayed to April 23 amid plea talks with federal prosecutors.

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A gamer accused of recruiting a prankster to make a bogus emergency call is expected in federal court to answer for his alleged part in the hoax that got an unarmed Kansas man killed by police.

A change-of-plea hearing is Wednesday for 19-year-old Casey Viner of North College Hill, Ohio. He initially pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice, wire fraud and other counts.

Viner allegedly became upset over a $1.50 bet while playing Call of Duty: WWII online with 20-year-old Shane Gaskill of Wichita. Prosecutors say Viner then asked Tyler Barriss of Los Angeles to “swat” Gaskill.

Swatting is sometimes used by gamers to send first responders to an opponent’s address.

Barriss was sentenced last week to 20 years. Gaskill’s trial is April 23.

SEWARD COUNTY–Law enforcement authorities are investigating after two Kansas men were found dead on Tuesday.

 Just after 8 a.m. Tuesday, a farmer reported to the Seward County Sheriff’s Office that he found the body of a man located in a ditch on his property near U.S. Highway 54 and the Kansas/Oklahoma state line in Texas County, Oklahoma, according to a media release from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation .

Since the body was discovered very near the state line, authorities and crime scene teams from both states responded to investigate. The deceased man has been identified as Timothy J. Martin, 25, of Liberal.

While investigators were developing leads in the case, at approximately 8:50 p.m. Tuesday night, a 911 call was received by the Seward County Sheriff’s Office reporting the body of a second deceased man located in a trailer at the Seven Winds RV Park, at 1702 Road F, west of Liberal. The man has been identified as 31-year-old Erick G. Salas, of Liberal.

Authorities believe the two homicides are likely connected as the two men were former roommates.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), the Seward County Sheriff’s Office, the Liberal Police Department, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, the Texas County, Okla., Sheriff’s Office, and the Texas County, Okla., District Attorney’s Office are working together on this investigation.

Anyone with information about these homicides is asked to contact the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME, the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017 or [email protected], or the Seward County Sheriff’s Office at 620-309-2000.

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SEWARD COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a possible homicide near the southwest Kansas community of Liberal.

The first of two bodies was found near U.S. Highway 54 and the Oklahoma/Kansas state line in Texas County, Oklahoma. The second was found in Seward County, Kansas, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.  They have not released details on a possible connection between the two bodies.

The Seward County Sheriff’s office released no information Wednesday morning. Undersheriff Gene Ward referred all questions on the case to the KBI.

By BRIAN GRIMMETT
Kansas News Service

Major flooding on stretches of the Missouri River from Nebraska and Iowa through Kansas and Missouri resulted in several breached levees and significant damage to cities, towns, and farmland in March. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the threat of even more flooding isn’t over yet.

According to NOAA’s spring flood outlook, flood risks will remain significantly high for the duration of spring.  And not just in the Missouri River basin.

Here’s what the report has to say about three of Kansas’ major waterways.

Missouri River Basin: Major Flood Risk

Flooding in the upper Missouri River basin, which includes parts of northeast Kansas, has already broken records this year.

Meteorologists at NOAA say a number of unusual circumstances added up to a major problem.

It started with a large amount of late spring snow in the Dakotas and Minnesota. Then rapid snowmelt and a bomb cyclone dropped even more water on already saturated or still frozen ground.

“It was like falling on a paved street,” said meteorologist Bob Holmes. “It had nowhere to infiltrate, there was no natural infiltration, and so every bit of that ran off.”

Additional spring rain and melting snow will prolong or expand the flooding that is already happening.

The outlook predicts that the Missouri River from Kansas City to the Kansas-Nebraska border has greater than a 50 percent chance of major flooding this spring. “Major” meaning flooding that causes extensive inundation of buildings and roads and prompts large scale evacuations.

Kansas River Basin: Moderate Flood Risk

The areas that feed into the Kansas River basin do not have nearly as much extra snowpack as the feeders of the Missouri River basin. The greatest risk in the Kansas River basin instead lies with the chance of greater than normal rainfall falling on saturated ground.

That’s one of the reasons why NOAA’s spring flood outlook only puts the Kansas River basin at risk for moderate flooding — flooding with some inundation of buildings and roads, but less cause for evacuations.

The Kansas River basin also includes several reservoirs used for flood control, such as Milford Lake which receives water from the Republican River, and Tuttle Creek Lake which receives water from the Big Blue River.

Because the Kansas River ultimately flows into the Missouri, which is already at record highs, the reservoirs have been set to release only the minimum amount. So the lakes are at higher than normal levels.

“We have folks on the upper end of Tuttle Creek who have bottom ground, farm ground, coming into Tuttle Creek that is underwater right now,” Earl Lewis, Acting Director of the Kansas Water Office, said.

Tuttle Creek is 35 feet above normal, and at 40 percent of its capacity for flood storage. Some of the campgrounds around the lake have delayed their opening until the end of April because of the high water.

Arkansas River Basin: Minor Flood Risk

Unlike the other two rivers on this list, the Arkansas isn’t as likely to burst its banks this year. However, the NOAA forcast does predict a risk for minor flooding that would lead to minimal property damage, but could pose some public threat such as the flooding of roads and low lying areas.

The greatest risk to the Arkansas will come from spring thunderstorms that drop a large amount of water in a short amount of time. Couple that with ground that’s saturated and you have a recipe for flooded streets and small creeks overflowing.

The oft’ repeated advice from experts in situations like those: “Turn around, don’t drown.”

Brian Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett.