JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — About 100 people responded to public pleas to attend the funeral of a 63-year-old Junction City veteran.

Army soldiers and members of the public braved frigid weather Wednesday to attend services for Servando “Kiko” Silva-Jimenez, who served as a medic in the U.S. Army. He died Jan. 15 at Geary Community Hospital in Junction City.

Officials with the Johnson Funeral Home tried for days to find Silva-Jimenez’s relatives. Social media posts began circulating asking that people attend Silva-Jimenez’s services at the Kansas Veterans Cemetery.

However, at the last minute, cemetery manager Cecelia Shellnute said officials found Silva-Jimenez’s brother in Puerto Rico and he was able to get to Manhattan for the funeral.

By JOHN HANNA

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kansas have advanced tax relief and pension proposals that would thwart Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s plans for boosting spending on public schools, quickly setting up a test of whether she can build bipartisan coalitions in the GOP-dominated Legislature.

A Senate committee Thursday endorsed a bill designed to prevent Kansas residents and businesses from paying more income taxes to the state because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017. Republican leaders have made eliminating the revenue “windfall”a top priority.

The tax committee’s voice vote came a day after the Senate budget committee backed a bill to make a $115 million payment before July to the state’s pension system for teachers and government workers. It is money the state shorted the pension system in 2016 — with added interest, but the measure runs counter to Kelly’s budget plans.

The Senate expects to debate both bills next week. Meanwhile, Kelly has called on legislators to pass a bill in February to phase in a $364 million increase in aid to public schools funding over four years in hopes of ending an education funding lawsuit filed in 2010.

Projections this week from legislative researchers suggest that the state can’t enact the Republicans’ tax relief plan while also boosting education funding as much as Kelly wants without facing a small budget shortfall by 2022. Adding the pension payment to the mix would widen the gap.

“That will make it much more difficult to look at what we should be paying for,” said state Sen. Pat Pettey, a Kansas City Democrat.

Kelly has little choice but to work with moderate Republicans to get her initiatives passed. But moderates will have to break with their conservative GOP leaders on tax relief, an issue that has broad appeal with the party’s right-leaning base.

The federal tax changes championed by President Donald Trumpcut rates and are designed to stimulate the economy. But they included provisions that inadvertently raise extra revenue for Kansas because of how its income tax code is tied to the federal code.

Kansas doesn’t allow filers to claim itemized deductions on their state forms if they don’t itemize on their federal returns. Changes in federal law discourage itemized deductions.

Republican legislators also worry that the state will start taxing foreign income earned by individuals and corporations that it hasn’t touched previously. The tax committee heard testimony that the coming change will hurt the state’s business climate.

“We’re going to lose a bunch of jobs,” said Sen. Julia Lynn, a conservative Olathe Republican. “That’s my issue, pure and simple.”

The Kansas Department of Revenue estimatesthat the tax relief bill would cost the state — and save taxpayers — $192 million during the budget year beginning in July. Kelly spokeswoman Ashley All called the bill “irresponsible” and said the state should focus on stabilizing the budget while “reinvesting in schools and roads.”

“The state’s financial outlook continues to be very uncertain and we have very little room for error,” All said.

Department of Revenue officials acknowledge that it’s been difficult to pin down the size of any windfall and the GOP tax bill’s effects.

Sen. Vic Miller, a Topeka Democrat and former department official, said the state is “still guessing” and even Wagle called the projections “a shot in the dark.”

“We might as well shake our Magic 8-Ball,” said Sen. Tom Holland, a Baldwin City Democrat. “What if it’s a whole lot more?”

Democrats also argue that increased spending on public schools is a bigger priority because of the education funding lawsuit. The Kansas Supreme Court ruledthat a law enacted last year to boost funding wasn’t sufficient because it didn’t account for inflation.

Kelly’s plan represents education officials’ best guess for complying. A Senate committee will begin hearings on her plan next week.

But GOP leaders are resisting. They argue that the spending couldn’t be sustained without a tax hike — and they view failing to pass the GOP’s tax relief bill as raising taxes.

“We have a governor who has a big-spending agenda,” said Senate President Susan Wagle, a conservative Wichita Republican. “She’s in a corner.”

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A man arrested at a Kansas storage unit with two of his children and his dismembered wife’s remains has been convicted of three felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

Jurors deliberated until around 12:30 a.m. Thursday before finding 36-year-old Justin Rey guilty of the felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and contributing to a child’s misconduct.

Rey said he cut up his wife, Jessica Monteiro Rey, after she died in October 2017 after giving birth at a Kansas City, Missouri, hotel. He was arrested with the couple’s newborn and 2-year-old at a storage unit in nearby Lenexa, Kansas. Authorities say they found child porn images after Rey asked them to look at his phone for evidence he thought would help him at trial.

Sentencing is set for March 27. Rey also is charged with abandonment of corpse in Missouri and with killing a California man. He isn’t charged with killing his wife.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and have a suspect in custody.

Just after 1:30 p.m.  January 14, police responded to a burglary-in-progress call at a residence in the 1200 block of south Water in Wichita, according to a media release.

A 56-year-old man witnessed a suspect later identified as 30-year-old Nathan Goeser enter a neighbors home and exit with property.

RILEY COUNTY—Authorities are investigating a fatal Thursday morning house fire. The fire in Ogden claimed four lives., according to Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins. 

Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins confirmed that authorities investigating the fatal fire in Ogden early Thursday morning are working to positively identify the victims, notification of next of kin and the cause of the fire. Four people were pronounced dead at the scene.

Collins said multiple agencies are helping with the investigation. Work is being done to dig through the debris at 208 Riley Avenue to determine what  caused the fire.

Collins noted several firefighters slipped on the ice. “It got really slick here, fell down, they’re all doing alright now but I think they’re going to be really sore come nightfall or tomorrow. Two of the firefighters were treated by EMS on scene but no one required transport to a hospital.

Cold weather early Thursday morning made it difficult to fight the fire. “The cold, it was really bad trying to get around, move around, and do things. I don’t know that it was a big factor on the initial attack but as the morning went on it made it hard to get around, get upstairs, move around the trucks.” The City of Ogden brought in salt and sand and helped spread it out, which helped improve the conditions.

The building that burned had a residence upstairs and business history in the past. Collins noted in the 1960s it was a bar and later became a location where first radios and then videos were sold. The downstairs business area was not in use at the time of the fire. “There was only one way to the upstairs, up a pretty steep set of stairs and we haven’t found any smoke detectors in the building.”

The first truck on the scene was from the Manhattan Fire Department. “They made entry to the front door and actually found one victim by the front door. They were in rescue mode so they were trying to get to other parts of the building upstairs where we knew the bedrooms were and couldn’t get up the stairs. So actually made entry through a front window and we found the other three victims in one of the bedrooms.” Riley County firefighters also responded and helped battle the blaze.

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RILEY COUNTY — Authorities are investigating a fatal Thursday morning house fire. The fire in Ogden claimed four lives., according to Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins. 

At 3:43 a.m. the Ogden, Riley and Manhattan Fire Departments were dispatched to 208 Riley Avenue in Ogden for a report of a structure on fire with multiple people entrapped. Upon arrival, crews found a two-story structure with heavy smoke showing. Crews entered the building and performed search and rescue operation along with extinguishing the fire.

Crews quickly removed one person from the building and upon re-entry three more people were located. All of four of them were pronounced dead at the scene.

The identifies of the victims have not yet been released. The owner of the structure has been identified by authorities as Roger Harris. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Riley County Fire Department, Riley County Police Department, Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Manhattan Fire Department.

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OGDEN, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say four people are dead after a fire in a Kansas neighborhood.

The structure fire was first reported shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday in Ogden, about 10 miles southwest of Manhattan. Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins says the state fire marshal is on scene.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Traffic is being diverted around the area.

No other details were immediately released, including the names of the victims. State and county fire officials didn’t immediately return phone messages from The Associated Press.

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RILEY COUNTY — Authorities closed the 200 Block of Riley Avenue early Thursday, according to the Riley County Police.

First responders are on the scene of a structure fire in Ogden.
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We will report additional details as they become available.