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Year: 2019
Federal judge blocks Missouri’s 8-week abortion ban
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A new Missouri ban on abortions at or after eight weeks of pregnancy won’t take effect Wednesday after a federal judge temporarily blocked it from being implemented.
U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs put a pause on the law as a legal challenge against it plays out in court.
Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed the lawsuit, arguing that the law is unconstitutional and goes against the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
The law includes exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for rape or incest. If courts don’t uphold the eight-week ban, the measure includes a series of less-restrictive bans ranging from 14 weeks up to 20 weeks. The policy also bans abortions based solely on race, sex or a diagnosis indicating the potential for Down syndrome.
Similar laws have been struck down in North Dakota and Iowa.
Attorneys for the state can appeal the judge’s ruling. They argue that courts have allowed limits on abortions based on the gestational age of the fetus, although similar abortion restrictions in North Dakota and Iowa have been struck down by judges. In court documents, they told the judge that the state’s goal is “protecting fetal life” as well as protecting women. During a court hearing Monday, Missouri Solicitor General John Sauer’s argument centered on his contention that Planned Parenthood and the ACLU do not have standing to challenge the law.
Federal law allows states to prohibit abortions after fetuses are viable outside the womb, which can be from 24 to 28 weeks.
Missouri’s law also includes an outright ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergencies, but that would take effect only if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Missouri already has some of the nation’s most restrictive abortion regulations. Just one clinic in the state performs abortions.
Appellate court to hear Kan. vet’s fight to keep daughter in US
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A federal appellate court will hear the case of a retired Army lieutenant and his wife who are seeking to keep their adopted Korean-born daughter in the country after she graduates from college.
Attorneys for the family of Hyebin Schreiber said Monday that the hearing is set for next month. Schreiber was 15 when she went to live with her aunt and uncle, Army veteran Patrick Schreiber, in Lansing, Kansas, because of family problems in Korea.
Schreiber’s deployment to Afghanistan caused the couple to put off her adoption until she was 17. The age limit for a foreign-born adopted child to become a naturalized U.S. citizen is 16.
She currently is in the U.S. legally on a student visa, but could be forced to leave after she graduates from the University of Kansas.
Helen Anna Anschutz
Helen Anna Anschutz, 100, of Russell, Kan., died on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019, at the Hays Medical Center in Hays.
Services are pending with Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary at this time. Please check back later for a full obituary and funeral service date and time.
Ella M. Enfield (Masten)
Ella M. Enfield (Masten) was born Monday, Nov. 18, 1929 and died Friday, Aug. 23, 2019.
Services are pending with Baalmann Mortuary.
WKHRMA annual seminar is Oct. 23
Western Kansas Human Resource Management Association will hold its annual seminar on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 at the Fort Hays State University Robbins Center (Eagle Communication Hall), One Tiger Place.
Registration is at 8:30 a.m. with the program being held from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The program for the October seminar will be presented by Melody Rayl and Lauren Sobaski of Fisher & Phillips LLP.
Program topics include: Creating a Culture of Inclusiveness, The Real Problem with Workplace Retaliation Claims, Drugs in the Workplace & Changing Marijuana Laws, Preparing and Surviving when OSHA Calls, and Handling Audits.
RSVP at wkhrma.shrm.org by October 9. The program is $75 for WKHRMA members and $90 for non-members. Lunch is included.
WKHRMA is an affiliate chapter of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), a local professional organization for persons engaged in personal or human resource management.
For more information on WKHRMA, visit wkhrma.shrm.org.
News from the Oil Patch, Aug. 27
By JOHN P. TRETBAR
U.S. crude prices dropped more than two percent on Friday, after China announced it would impose a five percent tariff on U.S. oil imports.
Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson dropped a dollar on Friday to end the week at $44.50 per barrel, down fifty cents from a week ago but up a quarter from the first of the month.
Baker Hughes reported the largest weekly drop since April in its weekly rotary rig report. There were 916 active drilling rigs across the U.S. on Friday, down sixteen oil rigs and three seeking natural gas. The count in Texas was down four, Oklahoma was down three and New Mexico was down two. Colorado was down four rigs, and Pennsylvania reported a drop of six drilling rigs.
Independent Oil & Gas Service reported 26 newly completed wells across the state, eleven east of Wichita and 15 in Western Kansas, including one in Ellis County. So far this year, Kansas operators have completed 950 wells.
Regulators approved 17 permits for drilling at new locations in Kansas last week, all of them in the western half of the state. There are two new permits in Barton County and one in Stafford County. There are 625 new drilling permits across Kansas so far this year.
The Kansas Corporation Commission announced an investigation into a string of earthquakes near Hutchinson. Regulators are collecting data and analyzing recent injection well activity in Reno County in an effort to determine what caused a series of earthquakes earlier this month that knocked down ceiling tiles and broke some windows. The largest of the quakes August 16 was a magnitude 4.2, and was felt as far away as Ponca City, Oklahoma and Kansas City, Missouri.
U.S. producers have been shipping increasing amounts of crude oil by rail over the last decade, as pipeline capacity failed to keep up with booming production. New analysis on the Web site “Freight Waves” suggests some changes on the horizon. Analysts say as long as the cost of production plus the cost of rail shipping is less than the sale price, the trend could continue. But because of the decreasing difference between national and international price benchmarks, those profit margins are decreasing. Analysts say crude-by-rail from the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast will soon fade out of the picture, as a string of new pipelines come on line. Data from the government show most oil-by-rail travels to the east and west coasts.
Weekly oil-by-rail totals topped year-ago totals by more than ten percent last week. According to the latest tally from the Association of American Railroads, producers shipped petroleum and petroleum products on 12,004 rail tanker cars during the week ending August 17. The cumulative total so far this year is over 421,000 rail cars, an increase of more than 20% over the total a year ago at this time. Canada saw a 22% increase in the weekly total and a 24% increase in the year-to-date total. AAR says total rail traffic for the week was down 5.2 percent compared with the same week last year.
The government reported another near-record for domestic crude-oil production. For the week ending August 16, operators pumped 12.339 million barrels per day, an increase of six thousand barrels per day over the week before and the second-largest weekly tally ever. That total is 39,000 barrels per day below the all-time weekly record set back in May.
The dramatic increase in U.S. crude production has fueled our rise to become the top-producing nation in the world, and has reduced our reliance on imported oil by more than ten percent compared to a year ago. The government reported average imports of 7.2 million barrels per day for the week ending August 16, down about half a million barrels per day from the week before.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports a drop in U.S. crude oil inventories. The latest weekly numbers show stockpiles of 437.8 million barrels, down 2.7 million barrels from the last count. Inventories are still about two percent above the five-year seasonal average.
The lobby group that represents Canada’s oil sector has registered for the first time as a political third party, stepping up its advocacy efforts ahead of October’s federal election. According to the Edmonton Journal, changes to the Canada Elections Act mean the group must register if it’s to discuss issues that could be associated with a particular candidate. Election watchers are predicting a surge in lobbying efforts by energy companies as well.
Revenue collections in New Mexico are hundreds of millions of dollars higher than projections, thanks to booming oil production in the Permian Basin. Total state revenue collections were $273 million more than expected through April. The Legislature already approved a $663 million increase in spending in the current budget, including big bucks for education and highways. One lawmaker tells the Albuquerque Journal there could be another big spending increase in the upcoming budget year, while still keeping cash reserves of 20% or more.
The U.S. refining arm of Saudi Aramco is buying a chemical plant adjacent to it’s refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. Reuters reported the purchase as part of the Saudi push into petrochemicals. The Saudis are in the middle of an $18 billion expansion of its operations on the Gulf Coast.
Logan Labor Day Celebration Sunday
Police: 15-year-old Kan. girl threatened boy on social media
RILEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a teen after an alleged threat.
Just before 7:30 a.m. Monday, police filed a report for aggravated criminal threat in the 1900 block of Lincoln Drive in Manhattan, according to the RCPD activity report.
Officers listed a 15-year-old boy as the victim and a 15-year-old girl as the suspect when it was reported she threatened the victim on social media while displaying a weapon. Police have not reported an arrest.
Snapchat
On August 21, a citizen alerted the Riley County Police Department that a video had been posted to the social media messaging phone app Snapchat which depicted a 15-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl holding what appeared to be a gun and making threatening statements, according to Captain Josh Kyle.
Preliminary investigation indicates the video was directed at a different 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy.
All the parties mentioned are students at Manhattan High School West Campus.
Update: Pickup falls off I-70 after driver falls asleep
SALINE COUNTY —A teen driver received only minor injuries after the pickup he was driving traveled off of Interstate 70 and down a steep embankment Monday in Saline County.
A 2007 GMC pickup driven by Alec Sappington, 18, Guymon, OK., was eastbound on Interstate 70 just west of the Hedville exit when he fell asleep, drove through a guardrail, down a steep embankment, and impacted the ground before coming to rest next to railroad tracks, according to Saline County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Sean Kochanowski
EMS transported Sappington to Salina Regional Health Center after he complained of minor facial injuries. The pickup had front-end and undercarriage damage,
Sappington was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to Kochanowski.
———–
SALINE COUNTY — The Kansas Highway Patrol responded to a minor injury crash along Interstate 70 in Saline County Monday morning
It’s believed the driver fell asleep at the wheel and the vehicle dropped off the roadway to the railroad tracks below, according to Trooper Ben Gardner.
Lieutenant Riedel responded to this minor injury crash along I-70 in
Saline county.County deputies are handling the call.
It’s believed the driver fell asleep at the wheel and dropping off the roadway to the R&R tracks below. pic.twitter.com/r33HwRsbyk
— Trooper Ben (@TrooperBenKHP) August 26, 2019
Authorities released no additional details early Monday.
Plainville HS Class of ’69 reunion Aug. 30
Plainville High School Class of ’69 is having a 50-year reunion Labor Day weekend.
We would like to invite those who may have gone to school with us and our teachers to a get-together at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30 at 302 SW 8, Plainville.
TMP-M invites community to submit homecoming parade entries
The TMP-Marian Alumni Association invites the community to share in our Sept. 20, 2019 homecoming celebration with any entries they would like to add to further enhance our parade.
Any groups that are interested in participating in the parade need to contact the Alumni Office at TMP-Marian prior to September 13, 2019 at (785) 625-9434 or [email protected].
As a preventative safety precaution, candy will not be allowed to be thrown from any motor vehicle. All candy that is handed out must be done by participants that are walking along the parade route. This is a requirement by the Hays Police Department and it will be enforced beginning this year. Please comply with their request and help keep our children safe.
Kansas deputies track cell phone to catch felon in stolen SUV
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a stolen car suspect after a chase.
Just after 6:30 a.m. Monday, Shawnee County Sheriff deputies responded to a report of a stolen vehicle from the parking lot of the Petro Deli, 3603 NW 46th Street in Topeka, according to Sgt. Todd Stallbaumer.
The victim had left a Nissan Rogue unlocked and running and entered the business.
The victim had left a cell phone in the vehicle that was tracked.
Deputies located the Nissan near NW 46th and Brickyard Road and attempted a traffic stop. The suspect failed to stop for the deputies and drove the Nissan west on NW 46th and committed several traffic violations.
A deputy was able to successfully deploy spike strips near NW Valencia Road and 24 Highway. The vehicle was then stopped near NW Docking Road and 24 Highway.
Deputies with assistance from the Kansas Highway Patrol arrested 26-year-old Jesse L. McCormick, 26, of Topeka and transported to the Shawnee County Department of Corrections.
The Shawnee County Sheriff K9 officers were also able to locate a 9mm handgun near the location of the vehicle stop.
McCormick is being held on requested charges that include, Felony Theft, Felony Fleeing and Eluding, Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Various Traffic Charges.
McCormick has numerous convictions that include theft, obstruction, flee and attempt to elude and drugs, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.