WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A former physical education teacher in Haysville has been sentenced to two years of probation for having sexual contact with a male student.
District Attorney Marc Bennett said 36-year-old Shari Herrs, of Andover, was sentenced Wednesday for an amended charge of attempted unlawful sexual relations.
If Herrs violates her probation, she could receive a 13-month prison sentence.
Prosecutors say Herrs committed the acts with an 18-year-old student at Campus High School between April and May of 2018.
Herrs has already registered as a sex offender and surrendered her teaching license.
The nearly 10-week-old puppy, named Narwhal, has a tail-like appendage growing from his forehead.
Narwhal was rescued over the weekend and sent to Mac’s Mission in Jackson, which specializes in fostering animals with special needs.
Mac’s Mission founder Rochelle Steffen says Narwhal doesn’t notice the extra tail and is otherwise a happy, healthy puppy. Although it looks like a tail, Narwhal cannot wag it.
Steffen says the rescue group has been flooded with requests from people wanting to adopt Narwhal since his picture hit social media. But he’ll remain at Mac’s Mission so his caretakers can be sure the tail doesn’t grow out of proportion to his face and cause him problems.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Federal transportation safety investigators criticized the U.S. Coast Guard Wednesday for ignoring suggestions over nearly two decades to improve tourist duck boats, changes they say might have prevented last year’s Missouri accident that killed 17 people.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a “Safety Recommendation Report” on the July 2018 accident, when a Ride the Ducks of Branson boat known as Stretch Duck 7 sank during a severe storm. The boat’s captain and two company executives were indicted, and 30 lawsuits filed on behalf of victims’ families have been settled.
Former World War II amphibious vehicles known as duck boats operate around the country as tour boats. Many, like the one in Branson, begin with land tours before the vehicles goes onto water.
The NTSB says that since an Arkansas duck boat accident killed 13 people in 1999, it has repeatedly urged the Coast Guard to require the vehicles to be better able to remain afloat when flooded, and to remove impediments to escape such as canopies.
“Lives could have been saved, and the Stretch Duck 7 accident could have been prevented had previously issued safety recommendations been implemented,” NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt said in a statement.
“It is imperative that the United States Coast Guard adopt these life-saving recommendations now,” Sumwalt said.
Coast Guard Lt. Amy Midget said the Coast Guard issued guidance in 2000, after an NTSB recommendation, urging its inspectors and vessel owners to evaluate canopy design and installation and to “evaluate the design and installation of seats, deck rails, windshields, and windows as a system to ensure the overall arrangement did not restrict the ability of passengers to escape.”
In addition, the guidance “emphasized the importance of carefully evaluating proposed routes and anticipated environmental conditions and imposing appropriate safety measures and operational restrictions,” Midgett said.
A new review of amphibious vessel canopies is planned based on “the NTSB’s reissuance” of recommendations, Midgett said.
The NTSB said duck boats’ low freeboard and open interior make them “vulnerable to rapid swamping and sinking” when they are suddenly flooded. In the Branson accident, a sudden storm caused massive waves that poured over the boat, sinking it within minutes.
The safety report also found that a fixed canopy and closed side curtain impeded passenger escape and likely caused more deaths. Fourteen of Stretch Duck 7’s 31 passengers survived.
“These safety issues were identified almost 20 years prior to the sinking of the Stretch Duck 7 and remain relevant to this accident,” the report said.
In May 1999, the Miss Majestic sank in Lake Hamilton near Hot Springs, Arkansas. Three children were among the 13 victims.
A February 2000 letter from the NTSB urged the Coast Guard to take immediate action. The NTSB said the Coast Guard responded in 2002 with a letter stating that “sufficient requirements and guidance are in place to provide to amphibious passenger vessels a level of safety equivalent to other passenger vessels of similar size and capacity.”
The NTSB said it also recommended the changes to 30 duck boat operators years ago, but just one made the recommended improvements.
The Missouri boat entered the lake as part of a land-and-water tour despite severe weather warnings. The dead included five children.
Tia Coleman of Indianapolis survived the accident but lost her husband and three young children — four of the nine victims from one extended family.
“The duck boat and Coast Guard’s failure to act on the NTSB’s recommendations to remove death trap canopies and improve the buoyancy of these boats killed my family,” Coleman said in a statement through her attorney.
Ripley Entertainment, owner of the Branson boats, has settled 30 of 31 lawsuits filed on behalf of victims of the accident, Ripley spokeswoman Suzanne Smagala-Potts said.
Meanwhile, a federal grand jury has indicted the boat’s captain, Kenneth Scott McKee, along with Ride the Ducks Branson General Manager Curtis Lanham and the company’s operations supervisor, Charles Baltzell.
McKee faces several charges accusing him of failing to properly assess the weather and failing to tell passengers to don flotation devices as conditions worsened.
Lanham and Baltzell are charged with misconduct and neglect. Indictments alleged that Baltzell got onto the duck boat before it departed and directed McKee to conduct the water portion of the excursion before the land tour because of the approaching storm. At no point after that did Baltzell or Lanham communicate with McKee about the growing intensity of the storm, including that wind gusts of 70 mph were predicted, the indictment said.
The indictment accused Lanham of helping to create “a work atmosphere on Stretch Duck 7 and other duck boats where the concern for profit overshadowed the concern for safety.”
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A 22-year-old Texas woman who said she accidentally shot and killed her boyfriend has been sentenced to three years of probation.
Gregoria Baez, of Stamford, Texas, was sentenced Tuesday for involuntary manslaughter. She was convicted in September in the death of 21-year-old Feliz Florez in Manhattan, who died in September 2018.
Baez testified during her trial that she and Florez pointed guns at each other while they were joking around. She said she accidentally disengaged the grip safety and shot Florez.
Before sentencing, Baez apologized and said she still loved Florez.
But Jennifer Florez, Felix’s mother, said the family would get some comfort if Baez was sentenced to prison.
Baez will serve her probation in Texas, where she moved after the shooting.
Police on the scene of the shooting investigation early Sunday photo courtesy WIBW TV
LAWRENCE —The suspect in Sunday’s shooting that left two injured at Playerz Sports Bar has died as a result of his injuries. The suspect is identified as 30-year-old Terry Dean Scearce III of Lawrence, according to police spokesman Patrick Compton.
Just after 2 a.m. Sunday, the Lawrence Police Department responded to multiple 911 calls in reference to a shooting at Playerz Sports Bar.
Officers learned that just prior to their arrival, a shooting had occurred in the parking lot resulting in serious, but non-life-threatening injuries to both a male and female victim.
Police located the suspect vehicle shortly after and attempted to initiate a car stop. Scearce attempted to evade police, but eventually stopped in the vicinity of E. 23rd St. and O’Connell Road.
Scearce was discovered by police in his vehicle with serious, life-threatening injuries from what appeared to be a gunshot wound and was transported to an area hospital.
Both victims have been released from the hospital. The case remains under investigation, according to Compton.
SEDGWICK COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting that left a Kansas man dead and have made another arrest.
Pierce Jackson photo Sedgwick County
At approximately 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, officers responded to a shooting call in the 4600 block of east Boston in Wichita, according to office Charley Davidson.
Upon arrival, first responders found 33-year-old Jerome Armbeck in an open field with multiple gunshot wounds to his body. A WPD officer began rendering life-saving aid until Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrived. Armbeck was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigatigators learned a disturbance occurred between Armbeck, 18-year-old Pierce Jackson, 20-year-old Marcus Lamar and a 17-year-old boy in the 4600 block of east Boston when a suspect fired multiple times from a firearm, striking Armbeck.
On Tuesday, the Wichita Police Department arrested Jackson in Dallas, Texas, on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and an outstanding warrant, stemming from the shooting. He is being held on a $500,000 bond, according to online jail records.
This is the third arrest in this case. Wichita police previously arrested Lamar and the 17-year-old boy.
This was not a random incident, and is drug related, according to Davidson.
The case has been presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
RILEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon on new charges after a Tuesday arrest.
Calmes photo KDOC
Just after 1p.m. Tuesday, police filed a report for burglary, aggravated assault and criminal damage to property in the 1400 block of Normandy Place in Manhattan, according to the Riley County Police Department Activity report. A 31-year-old man reported a known male suspect stole copper pipe and gained access to storage units in the area, causing damage.
Police arrested Ryan Calmes, 30, of Manhattan in the 700 block of North Juliette on requested charges of aggravated assault, aggravated burglary and criminal damage to property.
Calmes has previous convictions that include DUI, flee and or attempt to elude law enforcement, driving while suspended and for drugs, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections. In March, the RCPD arrested Calmes on drug allegation. They arrested him in September for alleged shoplifting and drugs.
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State men’s soccer head coach Gerry Cleary announced this morning the signing of Class of 2020 freshman, Ethan Doud.
Doud will be making the move from one tiger family to the next as he prepares to continue his soccer journey in black and gold. Currently a senior at Goddard-Eisenhower High School, he was ranked the preseason No. 1 high school player in the Greater Wichita area and will be bringing his highly touted skills to a program riddled with success.
As an All-Metro selection in 2018, the central midfielder posted seven goals and 13 assists through 18 games. Doud led his team to an 18-1-1 record in the 2019 campaign, a top four placement in the Class 5A bracket, and a top 10 ranking in Kansas according to MaxPreps.
“No player in the Wichita area controls the game the same way,” wrote Hayden Barber of the Wichita Eagle. “Last year, Doud pulled the strings for Eisenhower on its way to a share of the AVCTL II title. Although not a high-volume scorer like other in the area, Doud’s vision and soccer IQ set him apart from others in Kansas. Those attributes earned himself spot on the Eagle’s All-Metro team and AVCTL II first team.”
Doud has earned an additional accolade on the AVCTL II First Team for the production during his senior season as well as the AVCTL II Player of the Year honor.
“We are excited that Ethan has chosen to be a Tiger,” Cleary stated. “Our staff has a great relationship with him and his family. He is one of the top players in the state and we know he will be the same for us.”
Doud starred as a three-sport athlete collecting three varsity letters in wrestling spending time on the diamond as a member of the baseball team. He has also spent time playing at the club level for FC Wichita’s U20 Academy team.
Andrew Lyon with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment shows how roots create space for water to infiltrate into the ground. Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service
HARTFORD — Some of Kansas’ major reservoirs are filling up with sediment, and if something isn’t done to address the issue, parts of eastern Kansas could see water shortages and insufficient flood control as soon as 30 years from now.
To help slow down the slow, but consistent, reduction of usable water storage in Kansas’ reservoirs, the Kansas Water Office is trying to help farmers in critical areas upstream of the lakes to reduce the water running off from their fields.
But if that isn’t widely accepted, state officials say taxpayers may have to pay millions more just to keep the water flowing.
Sediment collecting in reservoirs is a part of the natural lifespan of a water system. But in several Kansas reservoirs, it’s already drastically reduced their originally designed capacity and lifespan — more than 40% in the Kanapolis, Tuttle Creek, John Redmond and Toronto reservoirs.
“That means when we get into a drought, that’s 40% less water that we have available to make it through that drought,” said Earl Lewis, acting director of the Kansas Water Office. “So, that’s a significant problem.”
The program works with farmers in key areas upstream of Fall River, Kanopolis, John Redmond and Tuttle Creek to help pay for land management practices such as terracing, putting in grass between fields and creeks and planting cover crops.
These practices are meant to help the soil in these areas better soak up water from heavy rains — water that otherwise runs off fields into nearby creeks and streams. The runoff carries excessive amounts of nutrients and sediment, which ends up at the reservoirs.
Rex Truelove used the program to get help paying for cover crops on his farm near Hartford. In his case, it’s a mix of rye, radish and turnips.
Truelove planted the crops between the times he plants his traditional corn and soybean rotation.
“The more time you can have something green on the ground that’s what Mamma Nature wants,” said Truelove, whose land is north of John Redmond reservoir.
During a demonstration at Truelove’s field, Andrew Lyon from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s watershed restoration and protection strategy program pulled out a shovel, dug up a radish and explained how cover crops reduce sediment problems downstream.
“It’s the root channels that grow that really allow water to then infiltrate into the soil,” he said. “It’s just huge for getting the water into the ground and not running off over the top of the ground.”
This is particularly important during heavy rains — 3 to 4 inches in an hour — that are increasingly more likely in eastern Kansas due to climate change.
Cattle graze on Kevin Mautz’s farm where he’s implemented cover crops. Credit Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service
Cover crops are also possibly beneficial for farmers. Up the road, Kevin Mautz showed how he’s used the program to save money.
He uses some of his fields to graze cattle, and planting cover crops has provided extra food beyond the leftover corn stalks — which means he can purchase less hay.
“I don’t have to feed ’em,” Mautz said. “They’re just content out here.”
The Kansas Water Office’s Earl Lewis said the program’s current level of funding isn’t nearly enough to solve the problem from a watershed scale.
But he hopes by finding early adopters, he can prove to reluctant farmers it can be mutually beneficial. If not, the consequences could be huge.
Satellite imagery showing sedimentation of Tuttle Creek Reservoir. Credit U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City District
Saving Tuttle Creek
The state has already spent $20 million dollars to dredge (that is, physically remove sediment) from John Redmond reservoir, southeast of Emporia.
Tuttle Creek, which is a major part of the Kansas River basin system, could be the next candidate. Sediment has reduced its original storage capacity by 47.9%.
Not only does it provide important flood storage, but Tuttle Creek also is a source of northeastern Kansas’ agriculture and public drinking water systems.
“We want them to be fully functional for 400, 500 years,” Lewis said. “We need to figure out how to get us to a much more sustainable situation where we have those reservoirs for the long-term.”
In the meantime, researchers are studying the best way to mitigate the problem. While reducing sediment entering the reservoir in the first place is a start, at some point, sediment will have to be removed.
Rather than use traditional dredging, which could cost an estimated $39 million a year at Tuttle Creek, engineers are looking at a new method called water injection dredging.
It shoots high-pressure jets of water into the sediment, which stirs the sediment up and allows it to naturally flow through the dam’s outlet and through the Kansas River as it would have before the dam.
While early tests show this technique would work with the kind of sediment in Tuttle Creek, researchers are less certain they can get it to flow downstream.
For now, the state is going to keep doing what it can with its limited resources. Fixing a problem that’s 40 years down the road is a hard sell, Lewis said, but it will only be worse in the future.
“The amount of money we spent at John Redmond,” Lewis said, “would pale compared to what we’d end up doing at Tuttle Creek.”
Brian Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett or email him at [email protected]. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — An 18-year-old Kansas man accused in a fatal shooting of a 15-year-old due to a social media dispute will make a first appearance in court Wednesday.
Malick Garrett is scheduled to appear before Judge Rodger Woods, according to to the Sedgwick County Attorney.
Garrett photo Sedgwick County
Just after 6p.m. November 6, police responded to report of a shooting in the 1400 Block of North Ohio Street in Wichita, according to Captain Brent Allred.
At the scene, police located a 15-year-old later identified as Marion Wheaton who had been shot in his upper body. EMS transported him to a local hospital where he died.
On November 7, police reported the arrest of 18-year-old Malick Garrett of Wichita on a requested charge of 2nd degree murder and outstanding warrants in connection with Wheaton’s death.
Investigators have learned that Wheaton and two teenage friends walked to the area to meet with a 15-year-old boy and other unknown individuals to fight over an ongoing dispute that involved social media, according to Allred.
As Wheaton and his friends walked in the area, they were approached by a vehicle. A 15-year-old male and Garrett exited the vehicle. Garrett fired multiple shots from a handgun, striking Wheaton.
This was not a random incident, according to Allred. Multiple handguns were recovered during the investigation.
It is the 24th criminal homicide in Wichita in 2019.
RENO COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Reno County woman on child sex allegations.
Leticia Carrillo photo Reno Co.
Just after 1:30p.m. Tuesday, deputies arrested Leticia M. Carrillo, 27, Sylvia on requested charges of two counts of Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child, according to a media release from the Reno County Sheriff. The victim in this case is a 15-year-old boy.
The investigation stemmed from a sexting case that occurred in Reno County. Through the investigation it was determined Carrillo had sexual intercourse with this victim on two separate occasions, both of them occurring in Reno County.
Carrillo is being held in the Reno County Correctional Facility on a $50,000 bond, and awaits her court appearance.
