HUTCHINSON — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon convicted over a dozen times on new charges after a weekend chase.

Gabriel Sanchez Jr., 28, was arrested Saturday after he attempted to flee law enforcement.

During a Monday court appearance, police said they were looking for Sanchez and spotted him at the Texas T-Bone Steakhouse on East 11^thStreet in Hutchinson. Officers tried to stop his vehicle but Sanchez fled at a high rate of speed. He finally stopped near 6th and Cleveland and  entered a home that was not his own and hid in the bathroom.

Police got permission to enter the home and eventually forced Sanchez from the bathroom and made an arrest.

In court Monday, Sanchez was also read the charge against him including cruelty to animals and burglary of a residence from an earlier incident.

He reportedly grabbed a puppy by its neck and threw it in the air. The puppy died from the ordeal. Sanchez is also accused of breaking into a home in the 700 block of East 1st. Both of these crimes occurred on March 30.

Additional charges include two counts of felony interference, criminal damage felony flee and elude, reckless driving and driving while suspended.

He is being held on a $60,000 Bond and is scheduled to be back in court April 15.  Sanchez previous convictions include forgery, burglary, theft and criminal possession of a weapon.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A panel of lawmakers on Monday considered enacting a ban on discrimination against unvaccinated children, an effort that comes as other states look to increase immunization amid disease outbreaks.

Parents testified to lawmakers that their unimmunized children were turned away from daycares and doctors. Republican Rep. Lynn Morris, a pharmacist from southwest Missouri, said parents are being pressured to vaccinate their children.

“Parents are getting bullied,” Morris said. “They’re getting bullied by county health departments. They’re getting bullied by schools. They’re getting bullied by their doctors. They’re being intimidated, and I just don’t think that’s right.”

The Republican’s bill would ban discrimination against unimmunized children in doctors’ offices, daycares, public schools and colleges if families have legal exemptions. Missouri grants exemptions for religious and medical reasons.

The hearing came just days after a judge temporarily blocked a suburban New York county’s emergency order banning children from public places unless they’ve been vaccinated against measles.

Lawmakers from other states also are looking to ramp up vaccinations in response to outbreaks of diseases such as measles and whooping cough .

Washington lawmakers in March passed a measure to strip exemptions for measles vaccinations after an outbreak sickened dozens. There’s a push to end non-medical exemptions for vaccines in Maine, where there were 95 cases of whooping cough through February.

While overall vaccination rates remain high in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control, the number of kids under two who haven’t received any vaccines is growing. The CDC attributes much of this to lack of health insurance — uninsured kids are much more likely to be unvaccinated than children who have health insurance.

Janessa Baake, from the city of Peculiar in southwestern Missouri, cited concern over potential medical risks and told lawmakers Monday that her 3-year-old daughter is unvaccinated. She said after being denied by a Missouri doctor, she now takes her daughter to a Kansas pediatrician.

Another man said his two children developed autism after being vaccinated as toddlers.

“All of the stories and the anecdotes that we heard are very important, but I don’t think that they can be used to refute science,” Ferguson Democrat Rep. Cora Faith Walker said during a break in the hearing.

Multiple studies have debunked claims that measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations increase the risk for autism, and the National Institutes of Health says reports of serious reactions are rare: about one every 100,000 vaccinations. In the U.S., more than 90 percent of the population nationally is properly vaccinated.

“What we know and what we have in study after study of scientific fact is that vaccines are safe, and they’re effective,” said Jefferson City pediatrician Katie Blount, a member of the Missouri chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Ultimately what it boils down to is it’s one of the best ways that I know how to take care of a kiddo.”

A similar bill didn’t make it to the floor last year.

The House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee also is considering legislation to require physicians to provide information on the benefits and risks of vaccines, information from CDC and other information before giving vaccines.

SHAWNEE COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities are investigating a pair of armed robberies at cash advance stores in Kansas and are offering a reward.

According to a media release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, they are offering up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of whoever is involved in the robbery of the Advanced America stores on February 21, in the 2200 block of Louisiana Street., in Lawrence and on March 29,  at 1747 NW Topeka Blvd. in Topeka.

In both robberies, a suspect walked into the stores wearing a black zip-up sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head, approached the counter with a silver pistol pointed at the clerk and left with an undisclosed amount of money.

Anyone with information about either robbery is asked to call the FBI’s Topeka office 785-231-1700 or local law enforcement.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A south Kansas City school district says police are investigating a report that at least one student became ill after eating marijuana-laced brownies.

The Hickman Mills district said in a statement Monday the incident happened in late March at Hickman Mills Freshman Center.

Assistant principal John Miller said a student complained March 28 that she felt strange after eating a brownie given to her by another student.

Another student said she felt fine after taking a bite of the same brownie. And Miller said the girl accused of having the brownies denied they were laced with anything.

The school nurse were checked the students, who were then sent home. Miller reported the incident to the Missouri Division of Family Services.

By Paige Henderson
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA — Jacquie Fernandez-Lenati, the great niece of prominent labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, gave a powerful speech Wednesday, April 3, about the importance of Hispanic civic engagement at the eighth annual Hispanic Day at the Capitol.

Hispanic Day at the Capitol is a free-to-the-public event hosted by the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission as a way to celebrate the additions and accomplishments made possible by the Hispanic and Latino communities in Kansas.

We had a great time today at Hispanic Day at the Capitol with Gov. @LauraKellyKS, Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla, and Acting Secretary of Labor Delia García. National Committeewoman Teresa Krusor also hosted the @KDPLatinoVote Caucus! pic.twitter.com/gNWblP1xEK

— Kansas Dems (@KansasDems) April 3, 2019

Dolores Huerta was a leader in the Chicano civil rights movement and a co-founder of the United Farm Workers labor union. Her great niece, Fernandez-Lenati, encouraged the audience to “show up” as Hispanic and Latino citizens.

“The power is in the person. It’s not in the title. It’s not in the position — it’s the person,” Fernandez-Lenati said. “I became an activist before I could even read.”

Fernandez-Lenati reinforced the importance of voting and letting Latinx voices be heard.

“You don’t have to run for office to impact change,” Fernandez-Lenati said.

She also encouraged the Hispanic and Latino community to support other minorities, such as the LGBTQ and African American communities.

“When minorities join together, we become the majority,” Fernandez-Lenati said.

Other prominent speakers included Acting Secretary for the Kansas Department of Labor Delia Garcia, Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla and Evergy CEO Terry Bassham.

Richard Martinez, the interim executive director of the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission, took time to recognize each speaker and reinforced the importance of Fernandez-Lenati’s words.

“You have to be confident and know that you have a place at the table,” Martinez said.

The Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission was established in 1975 in the effort to eliminate official neglect and provide opportunities for Hispanic advancement in Kansas.

“At the end of the day, we have more in common than not,” Fernandez-Lenati said. “We have to shift our thinking to the next level.”

Paige Henderson is a University of Kansas senior from Lenexa majoring in journalism.

MCPHERSON, Kan. (AP) — Charges have been dismissed against a 27-year-old man accused in an April 2017 death of a central Kansas man.

First-degree murder and other charges against Travis Ryan Belt were dismissed Friday without prejudice, which means charges could be filed again.

Belt, of Little River is charged in the death of 58-year-old Steven Carlson of McPherson. Carlson was found dead in his home in April 2017. The dismissal will allow further testing of DNA found at the scene.

Prosecutors said Belt used Carlson’s truck to shoplift at a Walmart the day before Carlson’s body was found.

Belt remains incarcerated in the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility on charges stemming from unrelated cases.