DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary at the Islamic Center of Lawrence and after releasing security camera images of the suspect have made an arrest.
Amadou Oury Bah -photo Omaha policeSurveillance images courtesy Lawrence Police
On Tuesday night, police in Omaha arrested 32-year-old Amadou Oury Bah for the recent burglary of the Islamic Center, according to officer Patrick Compton.
Just before 4a.m. August 13, an unknown individual burglarized the Center on Naismith Drive and through the course of the investigation detectives were able to link Bah to the crime.
Bah remains in Omaha pending an extradition hearing scheduled for Thursday, according to Compton.
Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU presidentI am sure I will remember the storms of the summer of 2019 for a long time, not as a whipping from mother nature but as an opportunity to witness the resilience, the kindness and the blessings of living in this community.
The storms arrived with a fierceness – and frequency – that required us to stop our busyness, even if just for a moment. Perhaps, if you are like me, you actually stopped to count your blessings.
In those moments of blessing counting, other things began to occur. We stopped to check in with our loved ones and renewed our gratitude for our friendships. We shared a common experience that facilitated sharing stories and building relationships with a wider circle of people. That fierce storm created moments for us to help others or to be helped.
And no surprise to me, people in this community stepped up.
My “day” began the evening of fierce storm No. 1 with a phone call from our VP of Administration and Finance Mike Barnett letting me know he and his team (university police, energy plant personnel, and the facilities and ground employees) were all on campus making sure our students were safe, actively conducting assessments, and managing vulnerabilities.
Throughout the night I learned about the implosion of the wall at the Akers Energy Center, the efforts put in place to restore electricity and ensure our students had access to hot water, and reports of water damage and trees down. Our crews worked throughout the evening and early morning safeguarding our campus, removing debris and repairing damage.
By early morning the campus was fully operational. We were ready to help new students move in to their residence hall as well as welcome our faculty and staff to a new academic year.
As the day continued, I learned that the roof was torn off of Celebration Community Church, and I heard stories of blessings and miracles and how people rallied to help. We were reminded that a church is not a building – it is people. The same can be said for the university, businesses and families.
I was grateful, thankful and happy for the kindness and selfless service all around me. The storms continued to arrive in bursts and so did the resilience and kindness of our community. Frequency did not wear us down. People still showed up.
Here in Western Kansas, we believe in the value of strong families, hard work, innovation and compassion. These characteristics also define who we are at Fort Hays State University. When one of our neighbor’s faces challenges, we all pitch in to help.
Upon reflection, I think what I grew to understand most is that although moments of adversity tend to shine a spotlight on our compassion and resilience, when such moments pass and we return to our everyday lives, we still watch over one another. We just do it without the need for a spotlight.
I came to realize that people who seem to be extraordinary in moments of disruption – our employees, students, and neighbors – are actually extraordinary every day. We are not perfect, but we are humble, reliable and kind.
I am so grateful to be surrounded by extraordinary people and small acts of kindness every single day. Thank you to my Fort Hays family, my church family, and my Western Kansas family for your own unique way of being everyday heroes.
Are you turning 65 in the next six months to a year? Or do you assist your parents with their medical options? Perhaps you are confused about your options and what to expect once your insurance changes.
If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, then the Medicare Basics Program is for you. This free class will help you gain the knowledge you need to make informed decisions about your health care coverage.
The Medicare Basics program will be presented Friday, September 13th, at the basement of the Ellis County Administrative Center, 718 Main. The program will be presented twice to accommodate those working around their lunch hour. The first presentation will run from 11:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. and the same information will be presented at 12:30 to 1:30.
Donna Krug, Cottonwood Extension District Agent and her husband, John, will be the presenters. They have been certified SHICK counselors the past five years. They received update earlier this summer and are happy to share those updates with the public.
The workshop is free and open to everyone, but pre-registration is helpful so that enough handout materials are available.
Interested participants may call (785) 628-9430 or email [email protected] with questions or to register.
By Karissa Niehoff Executive Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations
and Bill Faflick Executive Director of the Kansas State High School Activities Association
Inappropriate adult behavior at high school athletic events in Kansas has reached epidemic proportion.
When more than 2,000 high school athletic directors were asked in a recent national survey what they like least about their job, 62.3% said it was “dealing with aggressive parents and adult fans.”
And the men and women who wear the black and white stripes agree. In fact, almost 80% of officials quit after the first two years on the job, and unruly parents are cited as the reason why. As a result, there is a growing shortage of high school officials here in Kansas, and in some sports like wrestling, soccer, and baseball/softball, the shortage is severe. No officials means no more games.
If you are a parent attending a high school athletic event this fall, you can help by following these six guidelines:
1. Be a Role Model. You are, after all, an adult. Act in a way that makes your family and school proud and teaches lessons we want our children to learn. They are watching. They will imitate.
2. Don’t Live Your Life Vicariously Through Your Children. High school sports are for them, not you. Your family’s reputation is not determined by how well your children perform on the field of play.
3. Let Your Children Talk to the Coach Instead of You Doing It for Them. High school athletes learn how to become more confident, independent and capable—but only when their parents don’t jump in and solve their problems for them.
4. Stay in Your Own Lane. No coaching or officiating from the sidelines. Your role is to be a responsible, supportive parent—not a coach or official.
5. Remember, Participating in a High School Sport Is Not About Getting a College Scholarship. According to the NCAA, only about 2% of all high school athletes are awarded a sports scholarship, and the total value of the scholarship is only about $18,000. In fact, there are more dollars available for more students with academic scholarships than what is available to athletes.
6. Make Sure Your Children Know You Love Watching Them Play. Do not critique your child’s performance on the car ride home. Participating in high school sports is about character development, learning and having fun—not winning and losing.
Purchasing a ticket to a high school athletic event does not give you the right to be rude, disrespectful or verbally abusive. Cheer loud and be proud, but be responsible and respectful. The future of high school sports in Kansas is dependent on you.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Reno County jury found a Kansas man guilty of aggravated criminal sodomy Wednesday but found 28-year-old Nathan Allen Crum was not guilty of rape.
Crum -photo Reno Co.
Crum was accused of sexually assaulting the woman — whom he met online while they watched a movie at his home.
Crum admitted they had sex, but claims it was consensual. The sodomy incident occurred in August of 2018.
The female victim reported the alleged crime immediately and was taken to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center for treatment.
With the verdict, Reno County District Judge Tim Chambers set sentencing for Oct. 11. Crum has a prior felony conviction for attempted arson, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Smoke rising from the Tyson plant fire early Sunday photo courtesy Shrimplin Photograph
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue said Wednesday his department has launched an investigation to determine whether there have been unfair beef pricing practices after the fire at the Tyson slaughterhouse in Kansas.
“As part of our continued efforts to monitor the impact of the fire at the beef processing facility in Holcomb, Kan., I have directed USDA’s Packers and Stockyards Division to launch an investigation into recent beef pricing margins to determine if there is any evidence of price manipulation, collusion, restrictions of competition or other unfair practices,” Perdue said in a statement..
If any unfair practices are detected, the department will take “quick enforcement action,” he added.
Industry experts say the price of live cattle has fallen since the fire, while wholesale beef prices have risen. The Holcomb plant processed about 6,000 cattle a day, about 6% of all the cattle processed in the United States.
Tyson officials have said a spark from welding during maintenance is the likely cause of a fire, which caused extensive damage. No one was injured. The fire damaged a small area but affected critical operating systems. The company has said it plans to reopen the facility .
The impact on retail beef prices for consumers since the Aug. 9 fire is not yet known because those figures are only reported monthly, said Glynn Tonsor, an agricultural economics professor at Kansas State University.
In the days after the fire, fed cattle prices fell by $5 per hundredweight to about $105 per hundredweight, Tonsor said. That amounts to about $70 per head for a 1,400-pound animal.
At the same time, choice wholesale boxed beef was up $22 per hundredweight in the days following the fire. Those were the largest daily gains for wholesale meat prices on record since market reporting began in 2001, Tonsor said.
“The point is wholesale beef got more expensive and cattle got cheaper because of the event,” Tonsor said.
Prices for live cattle have recovered a bit in recent days, but have not returned to their levels before the fire.
“I can’t say if there was anything inappropriate occurring,” Tonsor said. “I just think in general what was observed in the reported markets is consistent with supply and demand factors we anticipated.”
The fire reduced the ability of the industry to kill and process cattle as normal. That came at a time when beef stocks — the amount of beef in freezers — was pretty low in July. Beef buyers were concerned about the low beef supplies at the same time the meat processing plant fire made it harder to produce wholesale beef, so they bid up what beef existed, Tonsor said.
“On balance, I think it is the markets were working … the supply and demand situation led to lower cattle prices and higher beef prices,” Tonsor said.
Tonsor also pointed to other factors— such as the volatile stock market in the last two or three weeks — which can indirectly affect cattle prices. If demand is expected to be weak, cattle are worth less, when demand is expected to be strong, cattle become worth more, he said.
At the Kansas Livestock Association, spokesman Todd Domer said its members are frustrated with what is going on in the marketplace. He said an investigation is “probably justified.”
“Our members would hope that not only they can do a thorough job in that investigation, but also a fairly quick job,” Domer said. “Do it expeditiously so that we don’t have this hanging over the market forever or for an extended period of time.”
The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for areas of Ellis, Trego, Rush and Ness counties until 10 p.m.
At 9:06 p.m., a severe thunderstorm was located along a line from Codell to 8 miles north of Utica, moving north at 35 mph.
There is the risk of 80 mph wind gusts, as well as half-dollar size hail.
Flying debris is expected, as well as extensive tree damage and possible power outages.
“For your protection, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building,” the NWS said. “Torrential rainfall is occurring with these storms and may lead to flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.”
Stay tuned to you Eagle Radio stations for the latest on severe weather.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — A federal death row inmate from Kansas who raped, killed and dismembered a 16-year-old girl and beat an 80-year-old woman to death wants the chance to present claims that his trial lawyer was ineffective.
Wesley Purkey, 67, is being held at the U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute, Indiana. His execution is scheduled to occur on Dec. 13, 2019 photo KDOC
Attorneys for Wesley Ira Purkey on Tuesday requested a stay of his execution, currently scheduled for Dec. 13.
Purkey is among five death-row inmates across the country set to be executed in the next five months. The executions, which the Justice Department announced in July, would be the first carried out by the federal government since 2003.
The defense argued that his trial lawyer failed to investigate his traumatic childhood, which included sexual abuse by alcoholic family members and a Catholic priest.
“Mr. Purkey is not ‘the worst of the worst,'” his attorney, Rebecca Woodman, said in a statement. “Had the jurors heard this information, at least one of them might have voted for a life sentence.”
Purkey, of Lansing, was sentenced to death for the 1998 killing of Jennifer Long after picking her up in Kansas City, Missouri. Purkey raped Long, stabbed her repeatedly and used a chainsaw to cut her body into pieces. He burned her remains in a fireplace and then dumped her ashes 200 miles away in a septic pond in Clearwater, southwest of Wichita.
Nine months later, Purkey was arrested in the killing of 80-year-old Mary Ruth Bales, of Kansas City, Kansas. He pleaded guilty to Bale’s murder and was handed a life sentence.
A federal jury in the Western District of Missouri found Purkey guilty in 2003 of kidnapping Long, resulting in her death. Prosecutors sought the death penalty. Purkey has remained at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Long’s mother, Glenda Lamont, has said she planned to attend the execution.
“I don’t want to say that I’m happy,” Lamont said in July. “At the same time, he is a crazy mad man that doesn’t deserve, in my opinion, to be breathing anymore.”
Purkey’s lawyers said they are also seeking clemency from President Donald Trump, urging him to commute Purkey’s death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. They cited his dementia diagnosis and his remorse.
“He has not forgiven himself, and so he cannot ask for forgiveness from you or your office,” his attorneys wrote in his clemency petition. “He asks only for your intervention, which would simply permit him to die in prison, at this late stage of his life.”
SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and working to find suspects.
Police on the scene of Tuesday’s shooting investigation photo courtesy KWCH
Just before 11p.m. Tuesday, police responded report of a shooting at a home in the 1600 Block of South Batten in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.
At the scene, police located a 22-year-old woman who had been shot in the arm. She was transported to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. She is pregnant and remains hospitalized Wednesday afternoon, according to Davidson.
Investigators learned several suspects forced their way into the residence where the victim and a 29-year-old man were located.
During the disturbance, a shot was fired striking the woman. The suspects then fled on foot. Those involved have not been cooperative with police and not shared details that could help with the investigation, according to Davidson.
It is not believed to be a random incident. Police ask that anyone with information on the case to contact them.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Food is always a popular hit with the Kansas State Fair.
Krispy-Kreme hot dog
Visitors to this year’s fair will have some new items to try out including a new twist to Krispy Kreme pastries: the Krispy Kreme hotdog.
Just when you thought Carousel Cafe’s Krispy Kreme hamburger was quirky now comes the Krispy Kreme hot dog. The treat features a fresh jelly stuffed Krispy Kreme donut as the bun. It’s filled with an Angus beef hot dog topped with more jelly and finished off with thick Applewood smoked bacon.
Another food item with a local twist is the honey bun burger. It’s a beef patty from Yoder Meats which is sandwiched between two warm Honey Buns, then topped with fresh veggies, often served with a slice of melted cheese. To top it off, you can add Applewood smoked bacon or chocolate-covered bacon, which serves as the perfect complement to this sweet and salty burger. The Carousel cafe will also be serving this treat.
If you have a sweet tooth, a deep-fried bite-sized cheesecake may be your thing. The nuggets are then topped with powdered sugar and cherry drizzle. Brackett Concession’s cookie dough stand will be selling those.
Directions to any of these food items or other treats will be on the free state fair app.
SALINA —The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) has released the names of the two people who died as a result of the incident on Harold Avenue Wednesday morning.
Salina Police received a 9-1-1 call from a family member of a resident of 2092 Harold, according to KBI Communications Director Melissa Underwood. When officers arrived, they found what they believed to be blood on the porch of the home.
The officers made entry and as they were clearing the residence, they found a deceased female who Underwood identified as Linda Kromer, 71, who she said lived next door. Officers believed that Kromer had been stabbed to death, Underwood said.
As the officers continued clearing the residence, they heard noises coming from a room in the basement, Underwood said. Through a crack in a door, officers could see a man armed with a knife. They told the man to drop the knife and come out, at which time the man advanced on the officers and two officers fired, striking the man, Underwood said.
Underwood identified the man as 28-year-old Jeremy Connolly, who was Kromer’s grandson. Connolly was transported to Salina Regional Health Center, but died a short time later, Underwood said.
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SALINA — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an officer-involved shooting in Salina.
Salina Police and Saline County Sheriff’s personnel responded to what turned out to be an officer-involved shooting in southwest Salina.
Just after 11:30 Wednesday, police were dispatched to a call for service in the 2000 block of Harold Avenue in Salina, according to a media release.
The caller believed that an individual inside the home had been injured.
Upon arrival, officers located what appeared to be blood on the front portion of the residence. Officers entered the home in an effort to locate anyone in distress. Officers located a recently deceased female inside and immediately began securing the home for any other victim(s) or suspect(s).
Shortly thereafter, officers located a man in the basement of the home. This male was armed with a knife. After a brief confrontation, the man who was still armed with the knife, was shot by two Salina Police officers.
This man was transported to Salina Regional Hospital and he was pronounced dead at just before 1p.m., according to the release.
This officer-involved shooting and death investigation has been turned over to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) who is presently on-scene.
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SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Salina police say an officer was involved in a fatal shooting at a home in west Salina.
Police Capt. Gary Hanus said that the confrontation began Wednesday morning when officers went to the home for a welfare check.
He says a person who was armed was shot by police during the incident.
Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Melissa Underwood said the suspect died after being taken to a hospital.
She said no officers were injured.
No further details were immediately available.
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By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
A Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) Officer-Involved Shooting team is responding to a Wednesday morning incident in southwest Salina
Officers were dispatched to the 2000 block of Harold Avenue for a welfare check, according to Salina Police Captain Gary Hanus.
“During the welfare check, they came upon a person who was armed. There was an officer-involved shooting. Per department policy, we’ve contacted the KBI. They are responding with their OIS team and they are taking over the investigation,” Hanus said.
One person was transported to Salina Regional Health Center, Hanus said. He could not say whether that person was an officer.
Hanus said there is no public safety issue.
Two KBI agents were already on scene, he said. Any additional information about the incident will come from the KBI, according to Hanus.
A Hays man was sentenced to 30 days in jail and more than two years of probation after pleading guilty this week to animal cruelty and assault charges connected to three driving under the influence cases.
Tucker Rhoades, 20, was originally charged with three counts of driving under the influence, felony fleeing and eluding, failure to report an accident, and cruelty to animals.
As a result of the plea agreement in July, Rhoades pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and one count of animal cruelty.
Animal cruelty, an unclassified felony, carries a mandatory 30 days in jail, a $500 fine, a mandatory psychological evaluation and anger management.
Rhoades had already spent 22 days in jail and another 29 days in treatment and was given time served on Monday.
He was also sentenced to a total of 30 months of probation on the four charges.
Rhoades was sentenced Monday to 15 months of probation for the three misdemeanor DUIs and 12 months of probation for the felony cruelty to animals.
If he violates the terms of his probation, Rhoades could be sentenced to 27 months in the county jail.
He will also be ordered to pay $4,000 in fines.
According to court documents, on Nov. 19, 2017, Rhoades threw a kitten against the ceiling, a wall, a trash can, up in the air and finally against a stone wall, killing the animal.
Ellis County Attorney Tom Drees said Rhoades was intoxicated at the time of the incident.
Rhoades’ DUI arrests started when he was 16, with the latest arrest in September.
