COWLEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities continue to search for a suspect who fled a traffic stop in Winfield Thursday morning that prompted USD 465 officials to place all schoos in the district on lock-out and hold in place.
Just after 8:15a.m., police attempted the traffic stop on a vehicle in the 1400 Block of Bliss Street, according to Winfield police. The driver sped away at a high rate of speed and for the safety of the public, police discontinued the chase in the 1400 Block of John Street.
A local citizen reported finding the vehicle in the 1600 Block of Pearl Street after the driver fled from the scene. Police did detain a female passenger but late Thursday afternoon had not reported an arrest.
The school district returned to normal operation just before 2p.m., according to USD 465.
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COWLEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities and USD 465 officials placed all schools in Winfield schools a lock-out, hold in place Thursday morning.
Law enforcement is continuing an active search for a fleeing suspect in the Winfield area, according to a social media report from the school district.
In a separate incident Monday, Winfield High School received information regarding a possible threat. As a result, USD 465 administration and the City of Winfield Police conducted a thorough investigation which follows appropriate School Board Policy, district procedures and safety protocol. The threat was not deemed to be credible.
The school district released no additional details.
BARTON COUNTY –The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) issued an arrest warrant for Erin M. Baker, 27, for crimes connected to the April 29 shootings of the Rice County Sheriff and Undersheriff.
Erin Baker photo Barton Co.
Just after 9 a.m. Wednesday, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Baker at her residence at 517 E. 5th Street in Ellinwood, according to a media release from the KBI.
She was arrested for interference with a law enforcement officer, aggravated child endangerment, and obstruction of apprehension.
The charges allege Baker put her 7-year-old child in danger in continuing a relationship with David Madden, who she knew was a convicted felon who possessed a firearm, which culminated in the child being present when Madden shot the Undersheriff. She is also accused of obstructing the investigation into the shootings of the Undersheriff and Sheriff, and the murder of Thomas Madden, by leaving the scene and not attempting to notify authorities of the crimes that occurred.
Baker was booked into the Barton County Jail. The Rice County Attorney’s Office will prosecute the case. Nothing further will be released at this time.
Jack L. Merten, 91, passed away September 19, 2019, in Wichita. He was born June 6, 1928, at Great Bend to Ralph Albert & Audra Vivian (Larason) Merten. He married Wilda Whala, February 23, 1957, at Oklahoma City, OK. She survives.
A lifetime Great Bend resident, Jack was a technician at the power plant for 46 years. He was a member of the First Southern Baptist Church and in the United States Navy. He loved cars, airplanes and Nascar. Jack especially loved his family and playing with his dachshunds, Kooper and Gordie.
Survivors include, his wife, Wilda of the home; one son, Michael Merten and wife Pamela of Great Bend; one daughter, Lahree Jenkins and husband Ken of Comanche, OK; five grandchildren, Bradley Jenkins, Jaclynn Jenkins, Ryan Jenkins, Cordell Merten, and Kyler Merten; and one nephew, Lew Erhart. He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Dorothy (Merten) Erhart; and one niece, Monica.
Visitation will be held from 1:00 to 9:00 p.m., Friday, September 20, 2019 at Bryant Funeral Home, with family receiving friends from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Funeral Service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, September 21, 2019, at First Southern Baptist Church in Great Bend, with Pastor Tim Singleton presiding. Interment will be in the Great Bend Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to the First Southern Baptist Church, in care of Bryant Funeral Home.
Google imageKANSAS CITY (AP) — Jurors have ruled against a teacher who alleged that she was fired from a Catholic school in Kansas City, Missouri, because she was pregnant, unmarried and refused to have an abortion.
Jurors sided Wednesday with the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, which said St. Therese School teacher Michelle Bolen was let go in 2015 because of poor performance. Bolen testified that a priest told her that had she terminated her pregnancy, the school would not have to deal with the “scandal” of a pregnant, unmarried teacher.
Her attorney, E. E. Keenan, says state law exempts churches from being sued for pregnancy discrimination. Instead he argued that the diocese violated a state law that protects women from being fired for refusing to have an abortion.
The 21st annual Western Summit sponsored by the Hays-area chapter of AARP will be held on Thu., October 10 at the Rose Garden Banquet Hall, 2350 E. 8th St., Hays, from 8 a.m to 2:30 p.m. The cost for the luncheon and registration fee, to be paid at the door, is $11.
Information will focus on areas of concern for seniors and how to decrease your susceptibility to these concerns.
Coffee and doughnuts are served from 8 to 9 a.m. while you peruse informational booths related to seniors. Some vendors will have free giveaways for you to sign up for. There will be door prizes to giveaway at the end of the Summit.
To register call 785-625-6896 or 785-623-7412 on or before October 3.
HUTCHINSON — The Kansas State Fair announced that they saw an increase in attendance for this year’s event from last year. Officials say the great weather, along with new programming helped boost Kansas State Fair attendance by about 3 percent in 2019. according to a media release.
More than 337,400 people came to the state’s largest gathering, which ended Sunday. Those figures don’t include visitors who came in free before 11 a.m. on the Fair’s kickoff day — Friday, Sept. 6. Fair officials estimate another 6,000 to 10,000 people strolled through the gates on that first morning. About 328,000 people attended the 2018 Kansas State Fair.
“This year’s Fair took an already wonderful Kansas event to new heights, bringing residents from all across the state together to celebrate everything that makes Kansas so special,” General Manager Robin Jennison said. “We had beautiful weather, and we also made some positive improvements.”
The Fair launched a new logo and new brand in January that focuses on “Celebrating All Things Kansas.” To incorporate the mission, the Fair added an Explore Kansas Festival the first weekend, which showcased more than 40 Kansas communities in Gottschalk Park. The event was so successful that community officials have expressed an interest in coming back in 2020 to help expand the festival.
The Fair ended its 10 days on a high. The final Sunday focused on promoting Kansas outdoor tourism with children and families learning more about fishing and shooting sports. The Fair’s first-ever Pronto Pup eating contest was so successful it will be expanded next year. The All-Star Monster Truck Tour packed the grandstand with more than 5,000 people attending the event. Children 5 and under were free and were not included in that count.
“This event replaced the Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pull, which drew about 2,500 people for the past several years,” Jennison said. “We wanted to find a family-friendly event, and the monster trucks worked. Many fairgoers told me that it was the most people they have seen in our grandstands in a long time. It was a great show and a great way to end the Fair.”
Fair officials are still figuring vendor revenue. However, many vendors said the strong weekend crowds will help boost this year’s bottom line. Pat Repp, with North American Midway Entertainment, the Fair’s carnival company, called it one of the best fairs the company has experienced in several decades. The carnival saw a 13.3 percent increase in midway sales over 2018. “That is the highest gross in the history of the Kansas State Fair on the carnival side,” Repp said. “We had perfect weather. The attendance was awesome. The Fair did a great job with promotions. We had one of those dream fairs where everything worked out, and we hope to keep up the momentum next year.”
Jennison noted while there were many successes, there are always areas that need improvement. Those changes will be explored in the coming months as the staff begins to work on the 2020 Fair.
Front row, left to right: Avery Jones, daughter Paul and Steph Jones, and Elodie Jones; Maddie Lohmeyer, daughter of Joe and Misty Lohmeyer; Yesenia Maldonado, daughter of Lacho and Patty Maldonado; Madelyn Waddell, daughter of Josh and Tina Waddell; Cassidy Prough, daughter of Brandon and Shaina Prough. Back row, left to right: Ben Boland, son of Roger and Camber Boland; Nathan Erbert, son of Greg and Lisa Erbert; Tommy Brooks, son of Matt and Krista Brooks; Derrick Aragon, son of Inez Gutierrez; Carson Ackerman, son of Jeff and Kelly Ackerman.
Hays High School has announced 2019 Homecoming candidates and unveiled this year’s schedule of events.
Homecoming Week activities begin this weekend with a color run and float building. The crowing of the king and queen will take place at halftime of the varsity football game against Garden City, which is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Two suspects are being penalized after they allegedly stole a life-sized cutout of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, then had a wreck as they fled.
Image courtesy KC Chiefs
Lawrence police spokesman Patrick Compton says a man and woman grabbed the cutout at a McDonald’s restaurant Monday, ran out the door, then jumped into a car and sped away.
Officers investigating a two-car accident nearby saw the cutout in one of the vehicles. Compton said the vehicle also matched the description of the car that drove away from the McDonald’s.
The two were issued notices to appear for theft and were cited in the accident. One person was treated for minor injuries.
The cutout of the popular Chiefs quarterback wasn’t damaged and is back on display at the McDonald’s.
KDWPT says upland bird hunting prospects are looking “good” for fall. Photo courtesy KDWPT
KDWPT
PRATT – Surveys are complete, data is in, and the 2019 Kansas Upland Bird Hunting Forecast is ready for viewing.
The highly-anticipated annual forecast predicts what pheasant, quail and prairie chicken hunters can likely expect going into the new seasons. Based on this year’s crow counts for pheasants, whistle counts for quail, and lek counts for prairie chickens, overall upland bird hunting prospects are looking “good” for fall.
PHEASANT
Pheasant hunting in Kansas should be fair to locally good this year. Heavy winter precipitation made hunting conditions tough in 2018 but provided ample soil moisture entering the 2019 nesting season. A few late winter storms raised some concern in western Kansas, but the spring crowing index remained the same as 2018, indicating there was no measurable impact on over-winter survival. Heavy rainfall continued throughout the spring and resulted in high levels of nest abandonment. However, nests that did hatch appear to have responded to the plentiful cover with relatively high chick survival, indicated by larger brood sizes. In wet years like 2019, the nesting season becomes longer, allowing for multiple re-nesting attempts. Overall, the large brood sizes, combined with production from re-nesting birds appear to have compensated for the losses from extreme spring weather.
The counts through much of central Kansas decreased while numbers farther west increased or remained similar to last year. Kansas continues to maintain one of the best pheasant populations in the country and the fall harvest should again be among the leading states.
The highest densities this year will likely be in the High Plains regions of western Kansas.
QUAIL
Quail hunting in Kansas should be good in 2019. Kansas is still supporting above-average quail populations after a recent population boom. While total harvest has remained below average due to decreasing hunter participation, the average daily bag has remained at some of the highest levels observed in 20 years.
The bobwhite whistle survey in spring 2019 saw a modest decline following a generally poor production season in 2018. However, this is relative to a 20-year high in 2017, so despite the decline, spring densities were still well above average. The 2019 roadside survey index was just slightly higher than 2018, suggesting production compensated for any reductions previously recorded. However, regional quail densities have changed. Heavy precipitation and associated flooding across the eastern regions reduced productivity. While rainfall was also high across the western regions, a mid-summer dry period and improved habitat increased production. While densities in the eastern-most regions have decreased, all remaining regional indices remain at or above their respective long-term averages.
Kansas maintains one of the premier quail populations in the country and harvest will again be among the highest this year.
The best opportunities will be found in the central regions, extending east into the northern Flint Hills and west into the Southern High Plains.
PRAIRIE CHICKEN
Kansas is home to both greater and lesser prairie chickens. Both species require a landscape of predominately native grass and benefit from a few interspersed grain fields. Lesser prairie chickens are found in west-central and southwestern Kansas in native prairie and nearby stands of native grass established through the CRP.
Greater prairie chickens are found primarily in the tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies that occur in the eastern third and northern half of the state. Greater prairie chickens have expanded in numbers and range in the northwestern portion of the state while declining in the eastern regions. Hunting opportunities will be best in the Northern High Plains and Smoky Hills regions this fall, where populations have either been increasing or stable, and public access is more abundant.
The Southwest Prairie Chicken Unit, where lesser prairie chickens are found, will remain closed to hunting this year. Greater prairie chickens may be harvested during the early prairie chicken season and the regular season with a two-bird daily bag limit in the Greater Prairie Chicken Unit. All prairie chicken hunters are required to purchase a $2.50 Prairie Chicken Permit.
To view the complete forecast, including regional breakdowns for all three species, visit ksoutdoors.com/Hunting/Upland-Birds or pick up a printed copy at any Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism office (available soon). The full forecast will also be featured in the 2019 November/December issue of Kansas Wildlife and Parks Magazine, available for $2.75 by calling (620) 672-5911.
SALINE COUNTY — Two people were injured in an accident just after noon Wednesday in Saline County.
Photos Saline Co. Sheriff
The Saline County Sheriff’s office reported a 1998 Chevrolet pickup driven by Chris Giroux, 22, of Marquette, was eastbound on Water Well Road behind a Dodge pickup kicking up a lot of dust near South Burma Road.
The pickup in in the disorienting dust cloud collided nearly head-on with a 2002 Chevy Utility pickup driven by Randy Choitz, 40, Salina.
Giroux was ejected through the driver’s side window, according to Saline County Sheriff’s Captain Jim Hughes.
Giroux’s pickup
Choitz was trapped and had to be extricated from his pickup.
EMS transported both drivers to Salina Regional Health Center with serious injuries that did not appear to be life threatening, according to Hughes.
The drivers were not wearing seat belts, according to Hughes.
