GEARY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities and officials with USD 475 are investigating additional students for criminal threat.
At 10 a.m. Tuesday the School Resource Officer at Junction City High School was made aware of two students at the main campus that had allegedly made comments constituting a criminal threat. According to JCPD Public Information Officer, Trish Giordano, both students, ages 15 and 16, were arrested and transported to the Juvenile Detention Center.
Giordano also reported that at approximately 10:55 a.m. on Tuesday, Officers responded to the Freshman Success Academy in reference to a 15-year old who had an airsoft pistol in his backpack and had shown it to other students.
When the airsoft pistol was located in the backpack it was disassembled. The student claimed he had brought the airsoft pistol to school to give to a friend. Even though no verbal threats were made, the student, age 15, was arrested on suspicion of Criminal Threat. Police said the student’s actions caused a classroom to be evacuated and the school’s regular activities to be disrupted which meets the definition under state law of Criminal Threat.
On Monday, police arrested a 12-year-old Junction City Middle School student who brought an airsoft gun to class. He was taken to juvenile detention for alleged Criminal Threat.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for causing recurring flooding that damaged farms and property in four Midwest states along the Missouri River.
The ruling Tuesday in Washington says the government must compensate farmers, landowners and business owners for the flood damage in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. The damage has been estimated to exceed $300 million.
More than 300 farmers, landowners and business owners argued in the lawsuit filed in 2014 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims that the Corps has altered its practices regarding the river’s water storage, release and flow management. The suit contended the Corps unconstitutionally deprived plaintiffs of their land, essentially taking it without compensation.
On Tuesday, Judge Nancy B. Firestone found in favor of the plaintiffs in five of the six years that the flooding was claimed dating back to 2007, disallowing the flood claims in 2011.
CAMDEN, Mo. (AP) – A northwest Missouri couple is charged with more than 50 felony counts of child abuse and neglect involving a 9-year-old girl.
Barreto-photo Ray Co.
Ray County authorities say the girl was abused for months, including allegedly being struck with an ax.
The Kansas City Star reports 29-year-old Mario Barreto, of Camden, is charged with 29 counts of child abuse or neglect. And 25-year-old Melissa Holloway, also of Camden, faces 22 counts of child abuse or neglect and one count of hindering prosecution. The child was in the care of Barreto, a relative of the girl.
Holloway-photo Ray Co.
Both pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
Court records indicate the girl was hospitalized in February with several injuries, including fingers on her right hand that were allegedly crushed with an ax head.
Online court records don’t indicate the couple has attorneys. Camden is 35 miles east of Kansas City.
Traffic on I-70 backed up due to the accident investigation-Photo courtesy KHP
DICKINSON COUNTY— A Kansas teen died in an accident just before 9a.m. Tuesday in Dickinson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Nissan Sentra driven by Mariah M. Lowe, 18, Abilene, was eastbound on Interstate 70 nine miles east of Abilene.
The vehicle left the road on the south side, struck a concrete culvert, overturned and caught fire.
Lowe was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Danner Funeral Home.
She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
TOPEKA– A man was sentenced Tuesday to 24 years and six months in federal prison for trafficking methamphetamine in Topeka, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Marco Antonio Cortes-Gomez, 42, Kansas City, was found guilty in a jury trial on one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and one count of attempted possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that over a three-year period Cortes-Gomez distributed no less than 66 pounds of methamphetamine to buyers in Topeka.
The investigation began in 2015 when the Kansas Highway Patrol stopped a car in Ellis County that was bound for Topeka carrying about five pounds of methamphetamine. Investigators set up a controlled delivery at a Walmart parking lot in Topeka, where Cortes-Gomez was arrested when he attempted to pick up the load.
At trial, prosecutors presented testimony from witnesses who said Cortes-Gomez delivered one-pound and two-pound quantities of methamphetamine to them on a regular basis.
WICHITA, Kansas (AP) — A Kansas official has debunked a widely shared story that recently resurfaced on Facebook about a woman named Dorothy whose Oklahoma home supposedly flew nearly 130 miles before landing outside Wichita.
Sedgwick County spokeswoman Kate Flavin told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the story is not true.
The story was published in 2015 by the World News Daily Report and recently circulated again on Facebook. It claimed a woman named Dorothy Williams and four members of her family were carried in their Tulsa, Oklahoma, mobile home over northern Colorado before landing on an unoccupied car in Kansas.
“This is false; it did not happen,” Flavin wrote in an email, noting the publication’s website states the content is not true.
The story claims no one was injured in the home’s 4-hour-plus flight amid winds that reached speeds of more than 220 mph. The story is accompanied with photos of storm damaged properties.
The website includes a disclaimer that states, in part, that, “All characters appearing in the articles in this website – even those based on real people – are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.”
The Ellis County Commission might use economic development funds to support a proposed indoor sports facility south of Hays.
Project developers presented their plan and request for tax incentives, in front of a large crowd of supporters Monday to the Ellis County Commission.
According to Justin Herl, project manager with RDH Construction, the facility, which will be located 2 miles south of Hays on 240th Avenue, will be a 210-by-130-foot metal building. It will a 120-by-120-foot turf area that will be completely netted, which will allow for multisport use.
It will also house a full-size basketball court, a weight training facility, an office and a conference room.
The group has requested the county cap the property tax on the facility at $6,150 per year for the first 10 years, but state law prohibits the county from giving the group a tax abatement for the project.
Commissioner Barb Wasinger suggested the county use economic development funds to help offset some of the costs. The county set aside $47,500 that was originally set to go to the Ellis County Economic Development Coalition, but that organization is no longer receiving funding from the county and the city of Hays.
“Very rarely do we have to opportunity where someone’s going to get something done like this in Ellis County,” said Wasinger.
Jeremy Schmeidler, who is helping to lead the project, said, “The facility itself doesn’t have a direct economic impact.”
He said Tuesday that they will not be able to host tournaments at the facility, but they will be able to host camps and showcases for area athletes.
But Schmeidler said the facility will have an indirect impact on the economy. He said this facility will help area athletes who are a part of traveling teams become more competitive at tournaments throughout the state.
“Without competitive traveling teams, there’s nobody that would ever host a tournament,” Schmeidler said. “The economic impact of getting families to Hays for the weekend is significant.”
Schmeidler said the majority of the kids involved with the proposed facility will belong to the traveling teams.
Dustin Washburn is also a member of the group proposing the facility, and he told the commission Monday the Hays Baseball Club has developed a partnership with the baseball clubs in Inman and Great Bend where teams from each city travel to the other city and take part in tournaments they host.
“I know all the traveling teams of friends that I know that travel, across the state, they stay out of town Friday night, Saturday night and come home Sunday, and just the restaurants they eat in (and) the motels they stay at,” said Commissioner Dean Haselhorst. “We’re building a new convention center in Hays here in the very near future. I think it’s a win-win just for Hays alone to start bringing these tournaments here.”
The facility will also be available for individual, family and team memberships as well as for private lessons, although Schmeidler said they do not know what the membership costs will be at this time.
The group has also asked that the county re-evaluate the appraised value of $1,058,220.
At Monday’s commission meeting, Washburn said, for insurance purposes, they estimated the project value at between $700,000 and $1 million.
Commissioner Barb Wasinger said she believes the appraiser’s valuation is similar to what they are going to insure the building for.
The commission will address the issue again at its first meeting in April.
In other business, the commission approved an amendment to the Collective Bargaining Agreement for Ellis County EMS Responder Employees.
They also gave approval to County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes to move forward with a proposed 2019 budget schedule and a budget direction.
Sen. Moran speaking at a Capital Factory panel entitled, “Supporting Startups to Fuel American Competitiveness.” From left to right, moderator Eugene Sepulveda of Capital Factory, panelists Kansan Jason Tatge with Farmobile, Jeff Farrah with the National Venture Capital Association, Sen. Moran (R-Kan.), Rachel Wolbers with Engine, Ben Johnson with the State Science & Technology Institute, John Dearie with the Center for American Entrepreneurship and Kansan Jason Wiens with the Kauffman Foundation.
OFFICE OF SEN. MORAN
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) visited with entrepreneurs, technology and policy leaders at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, where he discussed a variety of issues critical to our nation’s innovators, including barriers to starting a business.
“Finding effective and efficient ways for the public and private sectors to work together to advance American innovation should be one of our top priorities, free of partisan politics,”said Sen. Moran.
“I was proud to showcase Kansas’ innovation and success at SXSW again this year, and I will continue to advocate on behalf of Kansas entrepreneurs to advance their ability to bring their ideas to market, create jobs and improve American economic competitiveness.”
Sen. Moran participated in a Capital Factory panel entitled, “Supporting Startups to Fuel American Competitiveness,” with Kansans Jason Wiens from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Jason Tatge from Farmobile.
During the panel discussion, Sen. Moran highlighted provisions in his bipartisan Startup Act legislation that would improve entrepreneurs’ abilities to commercialize technology resulting from federal research and development funds. This bill would modernize the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Regional Innovation Strategies program to bolster capital opportunities to get businesses up and off the ground.
Sen. Moran reiterated his priority to make certain broadband deployment is included in any infrastructure package so that Kansas entrepreneurs in rural areas may compete in the global economy.
Sen. Moran also participated in a panel discussion hosted by Dell Technologies, “Making Government Better with Better Technology,” where he discussed entrepreneurship and technology issues that impact businesses’ abilities to grow and the federal government’s authorities to tap into these types of innovations. Sen. Moran highlighted his bipartisan MGT Act – signed into law last December as part of the NDAA for FY2018 – which reforms the way federal agencies purchase IT systems in an effort to eliminate cybersecurity vulnerabilities while saving taxpayer dollars.
Additionally, Sen. Moran spoke with the Case Foundation’s Vice President of Social Innovation Sarah Koch live on Facebook about ways to reduce barriers when starting new businesses.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — An expert witness called by Secretary of State Kris Kobach in a trial over Kansas’ voter registration law endured intense questioning over his estimation that 18,000 noncitizens have voted in the state.
Richman-photo courtesy Old Dominion University
Jesse Richman, an associate professor of political science at Old Dominion, testified Tuesday in the sixth day of a federal lawsuit challenging the law, which requires people to show documentation when registering to vote.
Richman has offered various estimates, ranging from 1,000 up to 18,000, based on surveys he conducted. Kobach has said the 18,000 estimate is the best available number to show the law is needed to address widespread voter fraud.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Richman acknowledged under cross-examination that his surveys weren’t peer reviewed. Instead, 200 political scientists signed a letter criticizing Richman’s work.
All Kansas counties are in drought condition according to the March 6 U.S. Drought Monitor map.
OFFICE OF GOV.
TOPEKA – Today Governor Jeff Colyer, issued Drought Declarations for Kansas counties with Executive Order 18-11 at a press conference with Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey and Kansas Water Office Director Tracy Streeter. The declaration includes all 105 counties either in an emergency, warning or watch status.
“The entire State of Kansas has been considered in drought or abnormally dry conditions for the past several weeks,” said Governor Colyer. “This has led to an extremely high risk of fire hazards and many have already occurred.”
The drought declaration placed 28 counties in emergency status, 29 into a warning status and 48 into a watch status. This action was recommended by Tracy Streeter, Director of the Kansas Water Office and Chair of the Governor’s Drought Response Team. Over the past six months the state-wide average precipitation was only 66 percent of normal and in January and February the state-wide average precipitation was even less, at 43 percent of normal.
“While wildfires are the most urgent concern at this point, water supplies can be dramatically impacted in a very short period of time, especially as we start to enter into spring and summer months,” said Streeter. “The Governor’s Drought Response Team will continue to monitor the situation closely as future outlooks call for drought persisting and make recommendations to the Governor as necessary.”
Secretary of Agriculture McClaskey, who was also present at the press conference, remarked on the potential impact the drought could have on Kansas agriculture, saying “The Kansas Department of Agriculture is committed to serving Kansas farmers and ranchers, especially during challenging times like the current drought. Whether that means making sure regulations and statutes are in place to move hay or working with our federal partners to gain access to additional grazing land, we stand ready to work with farmers and ranchers and all of our partners in agriculture.”
Counties who are in emergency stage are eligible for emergency use of water from certain state fishing lakes due to the Kansas Water Office (KWO) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism (KDWPT).
For more detailed information about current conditions, see the Kansas Climate Summary and Drought Report on the Kansas Water Office website at: www.kwo.ks.gov
