HOLTON, Kan. (AP) — A Nebraska woman involved in a crash that killed three Kansans will be sentenced in June after accepting a plea agreement.

Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller confirmed Monday that 49-year-old Maria Perez Marquez, of Omaha, pleaded guilty in April to three misdemeanor counts of vehicular homicide and one felony count of aggravated battery. She had originally been charged with three felony counts of involuntary manslaughter.

The November 2017 crash on U.S. 75 killed three family members of two Sabetha High School football players shortly after their team won a state title.

The Kansas Highway Patrol said Perez-Marquez was trying to pass another vehicle about 12 miles north of Holton when her vehicle hit a minivan driven by 42-year-old Carmen Ukele, of Sabetha. The crash killed Ukele, her daughter and her brother-in-law.

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A California trucker working for a Kansas freight brokerage pleaded guilty Monday to stealing a load of meat valued at more than $160,000, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Gegham Avetisyan, 37, Valley Village, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Avetisyan contracted with a trucking freight brokerage business in Olathe to deliver a load of meat to three locations in California.

He faxed documents to the company in which he used the name Robert Ivanov. He picked up the meat at a packing plant in Omaha, but never delivered it.

Sentencing is set for Aug. 12. He faces a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. McAllister commended the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley for their work on the case.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man and woman in a stolen SUV involved in a crash that killed two people are both convicted felons.

Police say 24-year-old Mia Collins led police on a chase Sunday in a stolen BMW sport utility vehicle. After about 1 mile  the car collided with a car and another SUV at an intersection.

The crash killed 70-year-old Maria Wood and 12-year-old Rosemary McElroy and critically injured 36-year-old Jenny Wood, a popular Wichita musician known for performing with children. She is Wood’s daughter and McElroy’s aunt.

Collins is on probation. A passenger in her car, 38-year-old Christopher English, is on parole.

The driver of the SUV that was hit, 65-year-old Alfred Angle, was seriously injured. Collins and English also were taken to a hospital.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran is putting pressure on Amtrak to commit to the continued operation of the Southwest Chief passenger rail service that connects Chicago to Los Angeles with stops in Kansas.

Moran recently delayed confirming three nominees to Amtrak’s board of directors in an effort to push the national rail carrier to offer assurances that the line will operate for at least another year, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

Amtrak’s president, Richard Anderson, agreed to meet with Moran and other lawmakers about the rail service’s future later this month.

Amtrak officials considered suspending rail service from Dodge City to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and transitioning to buses last year. The idea stemmed from the cost of repairs needed along a portion of the route.

The Republican senator was behind a federal budget compromise approved by Congress in February that provides an additional $50 million to go toward maintenance and safety improvements of the Southwest Chief line. Discussions in Congress about extending funding are ongoing.

“As the divide between urban communities and rural communities in America continues to expand, passenger rail services, like the Southwest Chief, are necessary in connecting Kansans to the rest of the country,” Moran said. “I am continuing to seek assurances from Amtrak that it will uphold its commitment to repair, improve and continue the Southwest Chief rail line.”

Moran and a group of lawmakers also sent Amtrak officials a letter requesting information about the route. Last year’s ridership information hasn’t been made available yet.

More than 52,000 passengers boarded the Southwest Chief line in Kansas in 2017, which was an increase of 2,700 people from the previous year.
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By CORINNE BOYER, Kansas News Service

Long-running frustration about Amtrak’s willingness to keep a rail passenger line running through remote parts of the country has politicians threatening to block new directors to the agency.

A handful of U.S. senators demanded specifics by this week about how Amtrak plans to spend an added $50 million to keep the Southwest Chief line running from Chicago, through Kansas, to Los Angeles.

Hoping to force Amtrak to make long-term promises of keeping the Southwest Chief line, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas had already used the power each senator holds to put a legislative block on the appointment of three nominees waiting to join the passenger rail agency’s board of directors.

Amtrak still has not specified when it will answer the pending questions from the Senate. A spokeswoman from Moran’s office said Amtrak has made contact, but not with answers about how it plans to alter long-distance routes or how the rail service calculates what states must chip in to support service.

“(Moran) will maintain those holds (on the nominations until he gets) assurances from Amtrak that it will continue to fund the Southwest Chief and funds that rail service,” said Moran spokeswoman Morgan Said.

Moran and other senators have criticized Amtrak for proposals to replace train services with buses along some parts of the route.

Amtrak officials did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

In February, Congress gave $50 million for upkeep of the route to Amtrak to keep the line working through September. Last year, Amtrak proposed replacing service from Dodge City to Albuquerque with buses, but the federal budget prohibits the use of buses to replace long-distance train service along the route.

In early April, a group of 11 senators sent Amtrak a letter demanding more detail about its plans for the Southwest Chief and how, more broadly, it decides which long-distance routes are worth operating.

The Senate letter also addressed Amtrak’s claims that ridership is down. The most recent data provided by Amtrak says more than 52,000 passengers boarded the Southwest Chief line in Kansas in 2017, up 5.7 percent from 2016.

With 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. departures, Newton, the busiest station in the state, saw nearly 16,000 passengers in 2017. Erin McDaniel, communications director for the City of Newton, says the town supports the Southwest Chief and partners with other cities to fund it.

“We know many of our residents use it to get to Chicago as well as the Southwest,” McDaniel said.

Keeping the Southwest Chief running is important to Newton because preliminary efforts looking at establishing train service to connect Newton to the Heartland Flyer route, which runs from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, Texas, are underway.

“There used to be a train route that went there years ago,” McDaniel said, “but if the Southwest Chief goes away, dreams of extending the Heartland Flyer would go away with it.”

Over the last year, Amtrak has removed ticket agents from many stations. But Assistant City Manager for Dodge City Melissa Mccoy said the city employs staff at its train depot.

“We have few options in terms of public transportation,” McCoy said. She said ridership jumps with tourists in the summer.

Without the Southwest Chief route, McCoy says some Dodge City residents wouldn’t be able to travel long distances.

“We have a lot of working class folks, and they have limited income,” she said. “Amtrak provides them a way to visit family and go on vacation and without that they might not have it all.”

An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed the reason a hold was placed on Amtrak directors’ appointments. U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran took that action to secure a pledge to keep the Southwest Chief line running.

Corinne Boyer is a reporter based in Garden City for the Kansas News Service. Follow her @Corinne_Boyer.

Hutch Post

HUTCHINSON – A lightning strike damaged the main apron of the Hutchinson Airport Sunday evening.

Airport Manager Pieter Miller said he got the call from the flight control tower Sunday night.

“About 7:15 or so, I got a call from the control tower and they reported the main apron just east of the restaurant here and that it blew chunks of concrete in each direction,” Miller said.

Miller said lightning strikes happen at the airport on occasion, but the damage this strike caused was extreme.

“I wouldn’t say it happens quite often, although we have been hit by lightning lots of time out here over the years. This is the most damage that I’ve seen happen at one time,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of hits on runways and of course, all of our windsocks and things like that get hit. I’ve never actually seen it blow a 6-by-10-foot chunk up in the air.”

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The process of obtaining a new Real ID is creating headaches for some Kansas residents.

Vietnam War veteran Armando Fleming is among several Kansas residents who have left driver’s license offices empty-handed after learning that the documents they brought to verify their identity weren’t enough to get approved for a Real ID.

The credential will be required under federal law to board airplanes and enter some federal buildings beginning next year. Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 as a security measure following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Many states have been waiting to come into compliance closer to the Oct. 1, 2020, deadline.

Fleming, a Wichita retiree, was initially denied a Real ID with the name he’s been using his entire life because it doesn’t match the name on his birth certificate, the Wichita Eagle reported.

“I pulled out military records, discharge records, my awards . and I took them down (to the DMV) and the guy said, nope, it won’t satisfy the requirements” he said. “Needless to say, I started to get a little upset because I spent 15 years in the Army and fought for my country and got wounded for my country. I didn’t think I needed to prove who I was.”

The veteran’s documents listed Fleming as his last name, but they conflicted with his birth certificate.

Fleming’s maternal grandmother had filled out his birth certificate with his mother’s last name, Robinson. But he ended up using his father’s last name, Fleming, and didn’t even know about the issue until years later.

To obtain a Real ID, residents must present proof of their current legal name with a birth certificate or passport, as well as documents proving a social security number and residence. Individuals whose names don’t match their birth certificates or passports have to show additional documentation that traces their name changes, such as marriage, divorce or adoption records.

Fleming had to go to court and spend $204 to legally change his name so that he could get a Real ID with the name he’s been called for 74 years.

The Kansas Department of Revenue has acknowledged that some people are seeking legal name changes to obtain a Real ID that matches the rest of their personal, military, school and financial documents.

Kent Selk, the department’s driver services manager, said it’s a problem that mostly affects older residents.

“The state’s just upholding the federal law,” Selk said. “We’re following all of the guidelines from the federal government that says this is what you have to do to issue this credential.”

It’s unclear how many people across Kansas have changed their name to obtain a Real ID, or how many have decided not to apply for one because of the trouble or cost of getting a legal name change.

According to the department, more than 40% of Kansas’ 2 million licensed drivers have a Real ID.