ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District has sent a case over a stalled multi-state transmission line to the state Supreme Court.
The overview map depicts the proposed route of the Grain Belt Express Clean Line in Kansas- Image Clean Line Energy Partners.- click to expand
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the 780-mile Grain Belt Express wind energy line has been held up since the Missouri Public Service Commission said last year that all counties along its path must agree to the project.
Presiding Judge Lisa Page wrote Tuesday that the commission erred when it said it could not authorize the project. The court ordered the case sent to the state Supreme Court.
The line would run from wind farms in western Kansas through Missouri and Illinois to Indiana, where it would connect with a power grid for eastern states. All the other states on the route have approved the $2.3 billion project.
Crews on the scene of the fatal fire-photo courtesy Jackson County Sheriff
JACKSON COUNTY — Authorities have identified two people killed in a February 16, Kansas house fire.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said the victims are Richard D. Willits, 55, and Denise Willits, 47, of Netawaka.
Autopsies were conducted at Frontier Forensics in Kansas City, Kansas.
Just after 10 a.m. February 16, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a structure fire at 421 Whiteway Street in Netawaka, Kansas.
A dozen fire departments from surrounding areas including the Netawaka Fire Department responded to the scene. Upon arrival, the two-story residence was fully engulfed with fire.
The fire threatened a residence to the east. The fire was brought under control in a little over an hour. A family dog was rescued from the fire. Following the fire, two deceased persons were found inside.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say they will stop searching city parks for a missing 5-year-old boy unless new information comes in.
Law enforcement officers, using dogs, horses, drones and divers, have searched four parks since Lucas Hernandez was reported missing Feb. 17.
Police have not said what led them to search the parks.
Officer Charley Davidson said Tuesday no further searches are planned but police detectives are going through information they have already received. Police are asking the public to continue to provide any tips.
Police aren’t discouraging citizen searchers from looking for evidence in the parks but ask that people not disturb anything that might be evidence.
Lucas’ stepmom, Emily Glass, was charged Monday with one count of endangering a child. She remains jailed on $50,000 bond.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The stepmother of a missing 5-year-old Kansas boy was criminally charged Monday with endangering a child while the search for the boy stretched into its second week.
Emily Glass, 26, stepmother of Lucas Hernandez, made a brief appearance via video conference to hear the charge against her. She will continue to be held on $50,000 bond. She said she planned to hire her own attorney before her next court appearance March 13.
Glass was originally booked into jail Feb. 21 on two counts of child endangerment, with police saying the counts related to Lucas and a 1-year-old child. It wasn’t immediately clear Monday if the child endangerment charge was related to Lucas or the other child.
The boy has been missing since Feb. 17, when Glass reported he disappeared while she showered and took a nap in their Wichita home.
Extensive searches involving more than 100 officers, along with dogs and helicopters, have been conducted in Wichita parks, nearby streams and the neighborhood where Glass lived. Citizens groups joined the search on Monday but have found no sign of the boy. Police have not said why they focused on the parks.
Investigators have said they found no evidence the boy was abducted.
Police reports show officers have been called to the family’s home in the past when the boy’s father and stepmother fought. Relatives have alleged that Lucas was abused but no other charges have been filed in the boy’s disappearance.
Lucas has brown hair and brown eyes, is about 4-feet tall and weighs about 60 pounds. He was last seen wearing black sweats, white socks and a gray shirt with a bear on it.
By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN FHSU University Relations and Marketing
Bailey and Brody Lewis didn’t have to wrestle very hard with the decision of where to attend college.
The youngest siblings of a close-knit farming family from south central Nebraska, Bailey and Brody trusted what other family members had been learning for four generations – that Fort Hays State University was the right fit for them.
Now, Bailey and Brody think so much of FHSU – and its wrestling program – that they stayed in Hays last weekend rather than head home for their favorite time of year: calving season.
The Lewis siblings, in their first year at Fort Hays State, decided to help work tables at the Class 3-2-1A State High School Championships at FHSU’s Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Brody, a freshman who wrestled some varsity matches for the Tigers this season, and Bailey, a junior who served as one of the FHSU wrestling team managers, jumped at the chance to be around their favorite sport and to experience the difference between state tournaments in Kansas and their native state.
The Lewis siblings – children of a long-time high school wrestling coach in Nebraska – have been around the sport their entire lives. Over the years, the Lewis family saw a lot of quality wrestling in Century Link Center Omaha, home to the state prep wrestling tourney for all four prep classifications.
After watching their dad’s teams compete at state for several years, Bailey and the rest of her family then got to cheer on Brody, who qualified for state all four years of his high school career. Both Bailey and Brody enjoyed Kansas’ version of high school state competition, too.
“It was pretty competitive for the most part,” Brody said. “There were some really close matches, and one of the finals went to overtime.”
“Here, it seemed like the whole town travels to state,” Bailey said. “It was nice to see all the families and community members who came to support their wrestlers.”
Bailey served as manager of her high school wrestling team all four years and was a talented athlete herself. She attended Cloud County Community College in Concordia on a volleyball scholarship for two years and knew she was going to transfer to FHSU this year.
Following a stellar high school wrestling career highlighted by two state championships and a runner-up finish, Brody said he was strongly considering FHSU. Then a scholarship offer from Tiger wrestling coach Chas Thompson confirmed the deal.
“I looked at some options, but Fort Hays State was a school I had been to before with my parents and sisters, and I really liked the way the school is set up,” said Brody, a four-time state qualifier who recorded a 153-16 career record at Franklin High School.
Following both his older sisters to FHSU seemed as natural a family tradition for Brody to keep as wrestling. Oldest sister Brittany also attended FHSU right out high school. Brittany, now married with a family and living back home, is taking online courses through FHSU to finish her degree in elementary education.
The Lewis family connection to Fort Hays State goes back a lot farther than that, though.
The Lewis siblings’ parents, Aaron and Brook, were high school sweethearts from neighboring towns in Nebraska and came to Fort Hays State together. They graduated in 1995 and 1997, respectively – Aaron with a degree in agriculture business and Brook, elementary education, then returned home to Nebraska to raise their family.
Decades before that, Aaron’s maternal grandmother, Ruth Glover from Jewell County, attended FHSU in the 1940s and received her normal training for a teaching certificate. Aaron’s paternal grandparents, Kenneth and Dorothy Lewis, also attended Fort Hays State and received their degrees in elementary education in 1963.
While wrestling will always be a part of Bailey’s and Brody’s lives in one way or another – their 4-year-old nephew, Gracin, already is competing – they also have set the bar high for their career goals.
Bailey is an accounting major with aspirations to become a CPA. Brody is an animal science in the pre-vet program. He plans to earn his bachelor’s degree from FHSU before applying for veterinary school at a larger university.
“It was great to get a wrestling scholarship to Fort Hays State,” Brody said, “but I really came here for the academic part. Something that sold me on (FHSU) was the high acceptance rate to larger schools.”
Both Brody and Bailey are also involved in other ways on campus.
Brody is part of the “Athletes Today, Leaders Tomorrow” Learning Community and also helps run the chute for the rope typing events for the FHSU rodeo team practices.
Bailey works in the admissions office on campus, where she serves as a student ambassador and gives campus tours to potential students and their families. She learned just recently that she has been chosen to serve as a New Student and Family Orientation Leader. That group staffs pre-enrollment sessions for freshmen and transfer students during the spring as well as Tiger Impact Fall Orientation Weekend during August.
Brody, who said he would like to coach or referee wrestling someday, said he thought Fort Hays State suited him better right out of high school than a larger university, and Bailey said FHSU is “the perfect size.”
The Lewises have found there are several benefits of siblings attending the same university. They eat lunch together on Tuesdays and attend a church group on Wednesday evenings. At least one weekend a month, they travel home together to help out on their family farm.
“It’s nice to have someone to ride home with you,” said Bailey, who lives in an apartment near campus with some other former Cloud County teammates.
“On Sunday nights, we have supper together,” said Brody, who lives in the Victor E. Village residence hall. “Bailey can cook a pretty good meal.”
Harry “Conrad” Kough, age 87, passed away on Sunday, February 25, 2018 at his home in Scott City, Kansas.
He was born on October 1, 1930 in Wichita County, Kansas, the son of Blair & Thressa Whitham Kough. A lifelong resident of both Wichita County and Scott City, Kansas, he was a retired Farmer, Relator, and Motel Owner and Operator.
He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Scott City, Kansas and past member of the Pence Community Church in Pence, Kansas.
On June 1, 1952 he married Betty Ann Ryan in Scott City, Kansas. She survives.
Survivors include his Wife – Betty Ann Kough of Scott City, Kansas, Three Sons – Dan & Evelyn Kough of Scott City, Kansas, Steve & Flossie Kough of Scott City, Kansas, Bryan & Brenda Kough of Scott City, Kansas, Two Daughters – Sherri & Kenny Baker of Scott City, Kansas, Lisa & Kriss Schroeder of Colby, Kansas, Thirty One Grandchildren and Thirty Three Great Grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his Parents, One Daughter – Nancy Kough, Two Grandsons – Justin Schroeder and Nicholas Kough.
Funeral Services will be held at the First Baptist Church in Scott City, Kansas at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, March 3, 2018 with Rev. Kyle Evans presiding.
Memorials may be given to the VIP Center or First Baptist Churcc in care of Price & Sons Funeral Home.
Interment will be in the Scott County Cemetery in Scott City, Kansas.
Visitation will be from 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Thursday and 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Friday at Price & Sons Funeral Home in Scott City.
The monthly Hays Community Acoustic Jam session will be held Saturday, March 3rd, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the Hays Arts Center Annex, 1010 Main in downtown Hays. The sessions are held on the first Saturday of each month.
The local acoustic jam is a fun place for people of all skill levels to play acoustical instruments (guitars, banjos, fiddles, harmonicas, bass guitars, etc.) and to invite friends to enjoy music, whether you’re playing, singing, or listening.
All are welcome to listen or participate as little or much as you’d like!
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man is suing a Wichita vaping shop after he says a spare battery for his e-cigarette exploded in his pants pocket.
Daniel Anderson filed a lawsuit Feb. 6 in Sedgwick County against Big E’s Vapor Shop.
The lawsuit alleges Anderson was carrying the lithium ion battery, his car keys and coins in his pants pocket in February 2016. The touching metal items caused a short to the outside of the battery, which then overheated and exploded.
The suit says Anderson had chemical and thermal burns to his left leg and hands from the explosion.
Anderson says the shop should’ve known the battery’s defect and failed to warn customers.
Big E’s owners said last week the company has seen the lawsuit but declined to comment.
Kansas schools already have the freedom to arm their teachers. Gov. Jeff Colyer says now bonuses for teachers who pack weapons might be in order.
Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer thinks bonuses to teachers who carry weapons might help prevent school shootings, but that it’s ultimately up to local districts. FILE PHOTO / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Yet the governor also said that local school districts should make the call, embracing those options that they think make the most sense to prevent school shootings.
“It’s not just a gun control issue,” Colyer said at an event in Washington, D.C., last week. “It’s not just a mental health issue. It’s not just the building itself. This is a multi-point situation.”
His comments came in the wake of the school shooting that left 17 dead in Parkland, Fla., early this month — and the debates that have followed.
In an interview with NPR on Monday, Colyer appeared to back legislation pending in Topeka that would lower the age for the concealed carry of a firearm to 18, down from 21.
“If you’re old enough to serve in the U.S. military,” he told NPR’s Ari Shapiro, “then I think having that Second Amendment right should not be denied to you.”
President Donald Trump has, for the moment, seemed to give a little on his hard-line stance against gun control.
He’s said his administration may unilaterally outlaw bump stocks that can make a semi-automatic rifle fire multiple rounds of ammunition almost like a fully automatic weapon. And Trump has suggested he may side against the National Rifle Association in raising the legal age for purchasing a rifle to 21, from the current level of 18.
The president has also talked about the possibility of arming teachers and other school workers to discourage, or more quickly subdue, potential school shooters.
Colyer said that bonuses for armed teachers might be a good idea for local districts to consider. School districts in Kansas already have the authority to arm their school faculties.
“This is not something that we have championed as a universally good idea,” said Mark Tallman, the associate executive director for advocacy and communications for the Kansas Association of School Boards. “We have recognized that the law allows it,” he said.
But districts have balked, in part because the companies that provide them liability insurance see too much risk.
EMC Insurance Companies covers most districts in the state. It has said that arming employees creates a “heightened liability.”
“One of the underwriting guidelines we follow for schools is that any onsite armed security should be provided by uniformed, qualified law enforcement officers,” the company said in an emailed statement.
The carrier said it won’t cover school districts where “non-security personnel” are allowed handguns.
“There certainly are issues of liability that I know our staff would encourage school districts to be very careful about,” said Tallman.
KASB has not heard of any school districts allowing its employees to be armed.
Stephan Bisaha is an education reporter for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @SteveBisaha.
Harold David Bieker passed away at the Hays Medical Center, Saturday, February 24, 2018 at the age of 67. He was born to Louie and Ludwina (Munsch) Bieker on August 13, 1950 in Quinter, Kansas. Harold was the youngest of thirteen children. He grew up in Hoxie, Kansas and attended Hoxie Grade School and the Hoxie High School graduating with the class of 1968.
On September 13, 1975, in Hoxie, Kansas, Harold married the love of his life Arlene Rumback. They were blessed with three children Heather, Heath, and Brent. Harold’s family was very precious to him.
Harold loved to work. He enjoyed working as a heavy equipment operator for the Sheridan County Road Department and running the big “blade” was a real joy for him. When he wasn’t working he loved to hunt and fish. He really liked to go deer and pheasant hunting. When he wasn’t hunting you might find him riding his motorcycle or just “tinkering”. Harold was a good cook, and you might just find him in the kitchen or at the grill fixing a feast for his family. Above all, Harold was a family man. He loved his wife, kids, and grandchildren, and they were the most important thing in the world to him.
Harold is survived by his wife Arlene of the home; daughter, Heather Bieker of Dodge City, Kansas; sons, Heath Bieker and his wife Desi of Colorado Springs, Colorado and Brent Bieker and wife Erin of Elizabeth, Colorado; grandchildren, Braden Simmonds, Jovan Bieker, Ivan Kaus, Hayden Bieker, River Bieker, Ashlyn Kaus, Laela Bieker, and Tessa Bieker; brothers, Ralph Bieker of Hoxie, Kansas, Clarence Bieker and wife Virginia of Hoxie, Kansas, Eugene Bieker of Oberlin, Kansas, Alex Bieker and wife Willetta of McCook, Nebraska, and Charles Bieker and wife Sue of Salina, Kansas; and sister, Eleanora Douglas of Afton, Oklahoma, Mary Kay Sanders and husband Bill of Hoxie, Kansas, and Annie Stillman of Hoxie, Kansas.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Louie and Ludwina Bieker; brother, Tony Bieker; sisters, Viola Bieker, Barbara Irwin, and Louise Bryant.
A funeral service is planned for Wednesday, February 28, 2018, at the St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church, at 10:00 A.M. with interment to follow in the Hoxie City Cemetery. A visitation is planned for Tuesday, February 27, 2018, from 11:00 A.M. until 7:30 P.M. Family will receive friends from 5:00 P.M. until 6:00 P.M. A vigil service will be held at 6:00 P.M. on Tuesday, February 28, 2018. Visitation and Vigil will be held at the Mickey-Leopold Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to the St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church. On-line condolences may be left at www.mickeyleopoldfuneral.com.
Harold was a hardworking man. The greatest love and joy of his life was his loving wife, children, and grandchildren. The father loved by all is gone, but his kind and caring spirit will live on in his family.
WAKEENEY — Terry Eberle, the former WaKeeney police chief, will serve 12 months probation after pleading guilty Monday to official misconduct/perjury.
Eberle initially was charged with 10 different felony counts that included two perjury counts and making false information.
The charges stem from testimony by Eberle in which he claimed not to have recorded conversations and interviews on several occasions.
Under the sentencing guidelines, Eberle faced 18 months of probation on the official misconduct charge, but the judge agreed to a downward departure of 12 months.
In court documents filed Monday in court, Trego County Attorney Chris Lyon presented testimony from the 2014 case of the State of Kansas v. Scott Bollig, in which Eberle said he did not record an interview with Bollig.
But, according to testimony from a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent, evidence of a recording either made by Eberle or that he was aware of was found.
There were cases in 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2014 where Eberle was present while interviews were being conducted and recorded with a webcam.
The diversion agreement is for five years but, if Eberle is convicted of a felony, misdemeanor or traffic infraction during that time, he could face additional penalties on the perjury charge.
Under the plea, Eberle is also not allowed to run for public office or work in law enforcement.
MANHATTAN — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on alleged sex charges.
Just before 5:30p.m. Monday. police arrested Lonnie Gallauger, 50, of Manhattan, in the 3000 block of Brookville Drive in Manhattan on three counts of rape, seven counts of electronic solicitation, three counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, seven counts of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child and one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, according to Riley County Police Department activity report.
Gallauger was issued a total bond of $200,000.00 causing him to remain confined at the time of this report.
The Janousek Funeral Home of La Crosse, Kansas, has announced Funeral Services for Dennis E. Elias, 67, McCracken, Kansas, at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 3, 2018, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, McCracken, Kansas.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated assault.
Just after 11 a.m. Monday, police responded to a disturbance with weapons call in the 900 Block of South Bonn in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.
At the scene, a 43-year-old man and 49-year-old man told police they were driving a Chevy Tahoe in the area when two unknown suspects in a 2007, red Chevy Impala drove up next to them and fired multiple shots. The gunshots did not hit the SUV and there were no injuries, according to Davidson. However, gunshots did hit a vehicle parked in the 900 Block of Bonn.
Police later located the suspect vehicle unoccupied nearby. It has been impounded as part of the investigation. Police don’t believe the shooting is a random incident and are asking the community’s assistance in the case, according to Davidson.
The suspects are described as 2 black males. Anyone with information is asked to call Wichita Police.
