WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal jury will decide whether the operator of a Wichita abortion facility had reasonable grounds to seek a protection-from-stalking order against an abortion protester.

Jury selection begins Monday in the federal lawsuit filed by anti-abortion activist Mark Holick against clinic operator Julie Burkhart.

The lawsuit stems from anti-abortion protests in 2012 and 2013 in front of Burkhart’s home and in her neighborhood. She subsequently got a temporary protection-from-stalking order against him that was dismissed two years later.

U.S. District Judge John Broomes has already thrown out some of the lawsuit’s claims, but left it to a jury to decide whether the facts constituted malicious prosecution.

WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced Thursday to 27 years in Federal prison for using his pone to produce child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Michael Paul Murphy, 41, Pittsburg, Kan., pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child pornography.

In his plea, Murphy admitted using an iPhone to surreptitiously record minor victims in various stages of undress. He edited the recordings to focus on the victims’ genitals. He emailed the images to his workplace.

 

PAWNEE COUNTY — Two people were injured in an accident just before 2:30p.m. Sunday in Pawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 Honda Accord driven by Gerardo M. Lara, 49, Amarillo, was northbound on U.S. 183 five miles east of Rozel.

The driver disobeyed a stop sign at the Kansas 156 Junction and collided with a westbound 2002 Chevy Impala driven by Kaci N. Jordan, 36, Great Bend.

The Chevy rolled multiple times before coming to rest on its roof facing north. EMS transported Jordan and Lara to the hospital in Larned. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

SEDGWICK COUNTY Law enforcement authorities are investigating a stabbing that sent a man to the hospital.

Just after 11 a.m. Saturday, police  were dispatched to a stabbing call in the 500 block of N. West Street in Wichita, according to officer Kevin Wheeler.

Upon arrival they located a 38-year-old man with a stab wound to his abdomen. He was taken to a local hospital where he remains hospitalized.

The preliminary investigation shows that the victim was in a verbal and physical disturbance with another man. During the disturbance, he was stabbed once. Police detained two individuals near the scene. One woman was interviewed and then released. A 38-year-old male was booked on outstanding warrants.

There is no threat to the community, according to Wheeler. Police have not reported an arrest in connection with the stabbing.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state committee has agreed to replace a plaque commemorating the completion of the Kansas Capitol renovation that named only former Gov. Sam Brownback with a plaque bearing the names of four governors involved in the project.

The original plaque was installed during a dedication ceremony in 2014 after the $325 million project was completed.

The renovation project began in 1999 and ended in 2014, when Brownback was governor.

The new privately-financed plaque approved by the Capitol Preservation Committee will include the names of Govs. Bill Graves, Kathleen Sebelius, Mark Parkinson and Brownback. It also names the contractor, architects and the former director of legislative administrative services.

Senate Majority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, said he pushed for the new plaque because the original was not inclusive.

SHAWNEE COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting that sent a woman to the hospital.

Late Friday night police were called to the 1200 block of SW Chatham Place in Topeka for a report of a disturbance, according to Lt. Aaron Jones. Officers learned that a disturbance was heard followed by a single gunshot.

At the residence, police located a woman with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.  Police also located a man in the vicinity. He attempted to run from officers, but was quickly apprehended, according to Jones.

The woman was treated and released from a local hospital.  Police have not reported an arrest or released the victim’s name.

JEWELL COUNTY — A series of earthquakes shook north central Kansas over the past 24-hours.

The ten quakes measured from a magnitude 2.1 to 3.5, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The first just after 6:45p.m. measured 3.3 and was centered just east of Randall, Kansas. The strongest of the quakes measured 3.5 and was centered in the same area.

There are no reports of damage or injury, according to the Jewell County Sheriff’s office.

 

 

 

MONTGOMERY COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 4p.m. Saturday during the street drag races at the Coffeyville Industrial Park.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Pontiac Firebird 2-door driven by Joseph K. Hunt, 27, Carter Lake, ID., and a 1980 Ford truck driven by Jason L. Maxey, 43, Carthage, Mo., were westbound on B Street.

Hunt lost control of the Pontiac. It struck the driver’s side of the Ford, entered the north ditch and collided with a sewage drain pipe.

The Ford entered the north ditch and came to rest in the grass. Hunt was pronounced dead at the scene. Maxey was not injured.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The gap between the haves and have-nots in the United States grew last year to its highest level in more than 50 years of tracking income inequality, according to Census Bureau figures.

Income inequality in the United States expanded from 2017 to 2018, with several heartland states among the leaders of the increase, even though several wealthy coastal states still had the most inequality overall, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The nation’s Gini Index, which measures income inequality, has been rising steadily over the past five decades.

The Gini Index grew from 0.482 in 2017 to 0.485 last year, according to the bureau’s 1-year American Community Survey data. The Gini Index is on a scale of 0 to 1; a score of “0” indicates perfect equality, while a score of “1” indicates perfect inequality, where one household has all the income.

The increase in income inequality comes as two Democratic presidential candidates, U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are pitching a “wealth tax” on the nation’s richest citizens as a way to reduce wealth disparities.

The inequality expansion last year took place at the same time median household income nationwide increased to almost $62,000 last year, the highest ever measured by the American Community Survey. But the 0.8% income increase from 2017 to 2018 was much smaller compared to increases in the previous three years, according to the bureau.

Even though household income increased, it was distributed unevenly, with the wealthiest helped out possibly by a tax cut passed by Congress in 2017, said Hector Sandoval, an economist at the University of Florida.

“In 2018 the unemployment rate was already low, and the labor market was getting tight, resulting in higher wages. This can explain the increase in the median household income,” Sandoval said. “However, the increase in the Gini index shows that the distribution became more unequal. That is, top income earners got even larger increases in their income, and one of the reasons for that might well be the tax cut.”

A big factor in the increase in inequality has to do with two large population groups on either end of the economic spectrum, according to Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida.

On one side, at the peak of their earnings, are baby boomers who are nearing retirement, if they haven’t already retired. On the other side are millennials and Gen Z-ers, who are in the early stages of their work life and have lower salaries, Snaith said.

“I would say probably the biggest factor is demographics,” he said. “A wealth tax isn’t going to fix demographics.”

The area’s with the most income inequality last year were coastal places with large amounts of wealth — the District of Columbia, New York and Connecticut, as well as areas with great poverty — Puerto Rico and Louisiana.

Utah, Alaska, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota had the most economic equality.

Three of the states with biggest gains in inequality from 2017 to 2018 were places with large pockets of wealth — California, Texas and Virginia. But the other six states were primarily in the heartland — Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire and New Mexico.

A variety of factors were at play, from a slowdown in agricultural trade and manufacturing to wages that haven’t caught up with other forms of income, economists say.

While some states have raised the minimum wage, other states like Kansas haven’t. At the same time, the sustained economic growth from the recession a decade ago has enriched people who own stocks, property and other assets, and have sources of income other than wages, said Donna Ginther, an economist at the University of Kansas.

“We’ve had a period of sustained economic growth, and there are winners and losers. The winners tend to be at the top,” Ginther said. “Even though we are at full employment, wages really haven’t gone up much in the recovery.”