HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Hutchinson Zoo director Ryan VanZant says flooding in May covered more than one-third of the zoo.
Flooding at the zoo in Hutchinson
The zoo — except for the gift shop and train — has been closed since May 21 after consecutive storms caused water to rise at the zoo.
VanZant said in a Facebook post Wednesday that five buildings and two playgrounds were affected by flood waters. He said staff moved animals to safety ahead of the rising water and built temporary housing where the animals are being kept while waiting for the water to recede and the cleanup to begin.
A Facebook fundraiser has been started to help cleanup costs.
The Hutchinson Friends of the Zoo says the goal is to raise $10,000 before Family Fun Day on Aug. 17.
Resident undergraduate tuition to remain flat at the six state universities in 2020
Kansas Board of Regents
(Topeka, Kan.) – The Kansas Board of Regents voted today to keep undergraduate tuition at the six state universities flat for Kansas residents in Fiscal Year 2020.
“The Board believes that keeping tuition flat was incredibly important for Kansas families,” said KBOR Chair Dennis Mullin. “Education beyond high school offers students the best chance at building successful and fulfilling careers. This vote will help keep our state universities affordable and accessible.”
For Fiscal Year 2020, KBOR requested $50 million in restored funding for state universities, which had experienced multiple state funding cuts during the past decade. The Legislature added $34 million to state universities this year, but the universities remain $31 million below the 2009 level of state funding.
“We are very thankful to the Governor and Legislature for the partial restoration of funding, but it’s important to remember that this was only a first step,” said Regent Mullin. “State universities are having to find efficiencies and make difficult decisions next year to keep their tuition flat. I believe that these tough decisions will be worth it to keep our universities affordable for Kansas families, but continued investment by the Legislature will be critical in the coming years.”
One of the primary responsibilities of the Board of Regents, as defined in state law, is to set tuition and fees at state universities. The full tuition and fee rates for Fiscal Year 2020 are available here.
WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas woman was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in federal prison for sex trafficking of a 16-year-old girl, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Brittany D. Knighton-Harris, 31, Wichita, pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking. In her plea, Knighton-Harris admitted she recruited the girl and made arrangements for her to perform sex acts for money in Wichita and later in Topeka. The defendant posted notices on an adult web site advertising the girl’s services.
RILEY COUNTY —Five people were involved in a single vehicle accident just before 7p.m. Wednesday in Riley County.
Wednesday evening crash in Riley County photo courtesy RCPD
The Riley County Police Department reported the vehicle was leaving the area near Pillsbury Crossing on Deep Creek Road when it left the roadway, crashed and two of 5 passengers were trapped inside.
Thanks to an observant citizen also driving in the area, emergency help was able to get to the scene quickly. Working hand-in-hand with first responders from Riley County EMS, Rural Fire, Manhattan Fire and LifeStar, the people were freed from the vehicle and transported to the hospital.
Authorities released no additional details Wednesday evening.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Court records say a man charged with helping his girlfriend fatally stab her ex-stepfather told Wichita police that the couple was seeking revenge because of past sexual abuse.
Micaela Spencer photo Sedgwick Co.Royce Thomas has previous convictions for violation of offender registration from a previous sex crime in Colorado, according to the KBI offender registry
An affidavit was unsealed Tuesday in the case against 24-year-old Micaela Spencer and 25-year-old Royce Thomas. They are charged with first-degree-murder and several other felonies in last month’s meth-fueled killing of 50-year-old William Callison.
Police began investigating after Callison’s boss, who owns an auto-dealership, saw the couple driving Callison’s truck out of a storage facility. It was pulling the boss’ trailer and was loaded with a $150,000 classic car.
Police tracked the truck to a camper, where they eventually found Callison’s body. Spencer said the plan initially was to get money from Callison in exchange for sex.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — McDonald’s has started a transatlantic barbecue feud with the introduction of a Kansas City-themed hamburger in the U.K.
Outgoing Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Sly James said Tuesday that the fast-food chain should “stay in your lane” in a tweet that included a picture of what he says a “real” burger looks like. Kansas City is known for its style of dry-rubbed, slow-cooked meats drizzled in tomato-molasses sauce.
He responded after McDonald’s proclaimed “Yeehaw” as it introduce d its “Kansas City Stack” in a tweet. Other twitter users rushed to join the mocking. Barbecue powerhouse Q39 kidded “Yeehaw, mate!” while Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que retweeted a scathing critique of the burger and added a laughing tears and thinking faces emoji.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State universities will not be increasing tuition this fall for undergraduate students from Kansas.
But the state Board of Regents on Wednesday approved tuition increases for some Kansas graduate students and out-of-state undergraduate and graduate students.
The regents considered tuition proposals after the Legislature increased state funding for their operations by $38 million for the 2019-20 school year, or nearly 6.5%. Some lawmakers said they expected the universities not to increase tuition in return.
Board of Regents members said they focused on helping undergraduates from Kansas the most and believe that they sent a clear message to lawmakers that they’re holding the line on tuition.
All graduate students at the University of Kansas will see their tuition rise by 2.5% and at Kansas State University, by 1.5%.
SALINA — The number of victims in the fraudulent use of Sunflower Bank accounts case has risen to 124, Salina Police Detective Sergeant David Villanueva said Wednesday.
Villanueva also confirmed that police now do not believe the malware message shared with local media on Tuesday is responsible for the loss of funds from the Sunflower customers’ accounts. He explained that the message, which apparently appears on computers that have a specific software plug-in, was seen by two Salina Police Department employees only and that none of the 124 victims had seen or clicked on the message.
Sunflower Bank issued the following statement on Tuesday, “We take our security, and the security of our customers very seriously. Upon learning of these reports, we immediately reviewed our security protocols to confirm the issue was not present in our environment. We actively monitor our environment 24/7 to ensure security protocols remain effective. The message that was shared appears to be from pdfmaker-live and is not associated with Sunflower Bank or its websites.”
Villanueva said that as of yet, there does not appear to be a common point of compromise on the accounts. He explained that the victims were asked where they last used their cards before the breach. Some had used ATMs while others had not, he said. ATMs that were used were all over the city and were not just those belonging to Sunflower, Villanueva said.
According to Villanueva, the majority of fraudulent transactions appears to be for cash. He said that locations where fraudulent transactions occurred include the following cities along or near Interstate 135 and Interstate 35.
Newton
Burrton
Wichita
Andover
Norman, Okla
Springer, Okla.
Ardmore, Okla.
Denton, Texas
Houston, Texas
Additionally, several transactions have occurred in the Kansas City area, Villanueva said.
Villanueva encouraged people to regularly check their accounts for improper charges. If suspicious activity is detected or if people have information about this case, they are encouraged to contact Tim Brown, who is the Salina Police Department’s lead detective on the case.
Caroline L. Pfeifer, 98, Hays, died Wednesday, June 19, 2019 at Via Christi Village.
She was born March 1, 1921 in Victoria, the daughter of Ben H. and Clara (Linenberger) Schulte. On June 5, 1946 she was united in marriage to Robert A. Pfeifer. They celebrated 53 years of marriage before he preceded her in death on November 9, 1999. Caroline was a homemaker, secretary and bookkeeper for H.E. Hutchison Vending Company for 15 years, did housecleaning, and worked for Al’s Chickenette. She was a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, a former member of the Altar Society Christian Mothers, and embroidered baptismal gowns for the church. She enjoyed Bingo, needlework, crocheting, and sewing, and she made many of her own clothes and her children’s clothes. Caroline also made many doilies to share with family and friends. She was an excellent cook, was very punctual, organized, and devoted to family.
Survivors include her son; Alan Pfeifer and wife Roselin of Hays, a daughter; Carolyn Pfeifer of Hays, two grandsons; Aric Pfeifer and Adam Pfeifer, a great-granddaughter; Raegan Pfeifer, and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Robert, a daughter Clare Lou Pfeifer, six brothers; Fr. H.J. Schulte, John Schulte, Bob Schulte, Ed Schulte, Benny Schulte, and Denis Schulte, and by two sisters; Georgine Schulte and Edna Dreiling.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 9:00 am on Saturday, June 22, 2019 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church with Fr. Barry Brinkman officiating. Burial will follow in the St. Joseph Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5:00 pm until 8:00 on Friday and from 8:00 am until 8:45 on Saturday, all at the Hays Memorial Chapel, 1906 Pine Street. A parish vigil service and rosary will be at 7:00 pm on Friday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to Hospice of HaysMed, Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, or to masses. Condolences and memories of Caroline may be left for the family at www.haysmemorial.com
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge Wednesday to make it easier to protest inside the Kansas Statehouse, as some members of the Republican-controlled Legislature worry that liberal demonstrators have become increasingly disruptive.
One KSU student, Jonathan Thomas Cole, posted a video to the Post Facebook page of security staff removing the banners
An ACLU lawsuit challenges rules that require groups to obtain a legislative sponsor and an event permit for Statehouse demonstrations, and that prohibit hand-held signs and banners. The lawsuit also challenges the Capitol Police’s authority to ban people from the building for violating the rules.
The ACLU filed its lawsuit after a March 27 protest in which protesters seeking an expansion of Medicaid eligibility hung huge banners inside the Statehouse rotunda. Capitol Police briefly detained three Kansas State University students who hung banners and told them they were banned from the building for a year. The ban was lifted the next day.
The state agreed to back off its enforcement of the rules in May, before the Legislature adjourned for the year, but the ACLU wants U.S. District Judge Holly Teeter to block their enforcement while its lawsuit goes forward. One of the students, Jonathan Cole, testified that he found his encounter with police “terrifying” and is wary of protesting inside the building because of the restrictions.
“I would need my government’s permission, in essence, to protest at the Statehouse,” Cole testified.
The Kansas attorney general’s office is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that the rules are not as restrictive as the ACLU portrays them. Assistant Attorney General Arthur Chalmers even argued during the hearing that the rules apply to organized events, disagreeing with the ACLU that they also apply to demonstrations involving only a few people.
“This case is a series of straw men,” Chalmers argued.
But Cole and Davis Hammet, a voting-rights advocate and veteran of numerous rallies for liberal causes, testified that they’ve been told demonstrators must have a permit. And Tom Day, the Legislature’s director of administrative services, said hand-held signs would be confiscated under the rules.
Day defended the restrictions, saying they allowed officials to know what groups are in the building and what they plan, in part for safety reasons.
“We need to make sure everyone in the building is safe, including 4-year-old Johnny who is there for a tour,” Day testified.
The court hearing came three weeks after a May 29 demonstration in the Senate gallery in favor of Medicaid expansion shut down the chamber temporarily. It was a protest against top Senate Republicans, who blocked a votethis year after the House approved an expansion plan backed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
“It escalated with the banners,” Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, a Kansas City-area Republican, said last week. “They’re agitators and they want you to engage either verbally or physically.”
There have been no physical confrontations between protesters and lawmakers.
The March 27 protest for Medicaid expansion was followed by a May 3 demonstration in which about 15 protesters dropped thousands of leaflets depicting blood-stained, overdue hospital bills.
In the May 29 protest, a Unitarian minister stood in the gallery, chanting and signing and drowning out an unrelated Senate debate. Aides to Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, attempted to clear the floor, and a Capitol police officer even directed reporters who were recording the protest to leave — prompting letters of protest.
Even some Medicaid expansion supporters have expressed misgivings about the some of the protest tactics they’re seeing.
“Sitting in the gallery, holding signs, or chanting in the rotunda, that’s fine,” said House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat and expansion supporter. “When they’re chanting to the point where a session can’t take place, I think that does cross a line.”
The ACLU contends that the power granted to the state to deny permits or ban people from the building is too unfettered, and that enforcement could depend on the demonstrators’ cause. The state rejects that idea, but the ACLU noted in court that some enforcement policies are unwritten.
“I’m sure we wouldn’t have been here if they (the banners) had said, ‘I love Susan Wagle,'” testified Rep. Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat.
Former Brewster, KS resident Carrie “Ruth” Jones, 93, passed away April 10, 2019 at Meadow View Assisted Living in Greeley, Colorado. She was born July 20, 1925 in Goodland, KS to Leslie and Rose (Miller) McClelland. Ruth and her husband Duane were married on June 21, 1946 in Colby, KS. They celebrated 70 years of marriage in 2016.
Ruth was preceded in death by her husband Duane, parents, her brothers George, Bob and Jim McClelland, and a sister Marie Edwards.
Ruth has 2 daughters, Linda (Larry) Hoffner and Monn Rose (Mike) Blank, four grandsons; Bradley Hoffner, Eric Hoffner, Aaron Blank and Caleb Blank, as well as nine great grandchildren.
Ruth grew up loving music. She played the piano, clarinet, violin and saxophone. Her family traveled and played at different venues when she was growing up. She was active in 4-H and raised Holstein cattle.
She attended cosmetology school in Denver and had shops in both Goodland and Brewster.
Ruth and Duane lived many years in Brewster, KS. She was a Girl Scout and a 4-H Leader for over 28 years. She was active in the Brewster Senior Center, Methodist Church, VFW Auxiliary and other activities.
Southwest of Osborne May 28, 2019 (Courtesy Osborne Co. Sheriff)
TOPEKA – Brown, Ness and Osborne Counties were added to the state disaster proclamation signed by Governor Laura Kelly May 9 which brings the total to 66.
“Due to the severity of the weather damage, the path to recovery won’t happen overnight,” Kelly said. “We will continue to provide assistance as requested by jurisdictions to support response, and move swiftly in support of efforts to repair the damage.”
Thirty-three Kansas counties are now included a federal emergency disaster declaration from President Donald Trump. These counties are Allen, Anderson, Butler, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Coffey, Cowley, Crawford, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Elk, Franklin, Geary, Greenwood, Harvey, Jefferson, Leavenworth, Linn, Lyon, Marshall, Montgomery, Morris, Neosho, Osage, Pottawatomie, Reno, Riley, Saline, Sumner, Wabaunsee, Wilson, and Woodson.
An emergency declaration supplements state and local government efforts for required emergency measures to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe through direct federal assistance for emergency protective measures.
The State Emergency Operations Center remains at a partial activation to monitor flooding response.
The Kansas National Guard continues to conduct water hauling operations in support of Lakeside Village in Jefferson County. The Guard is currently delivering an average of 24,000 gallons of water daily to the community water tower.
Starting June 18, Small Business Administration representatives are on hand at two Disaster Loan Outreach Centers to answer questions about SBA’s disaster loan program, explain the application process and help individuals complete their application. Both centers will be open from June 18 through June 27. No appointment is necessary.
In Douglas County, the Disaster Loan Outreach Center will be located at Peaslee Technical Training Center – Classroom B, 2920 Haskell Ave., Lawrence. Hours of operation will be Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
In Leavenworth County, the Disaster Loan Outreach Center will be a Linwood Community Center – Commons Area, 105 E. Third St., Linwood. Hours of operation will be Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The disaster declaration makes SBA assistance available in Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, Osage and Shawnee counties. Low-interest federal disaster loans are available to businesses of all sizes, most private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters whose property was damaged or destroyed as a result of the severe storms and tornadoes on May 28.
