CLAY CENTER, Kan. (AP) — Kansas authorities say a Nebraska man who was reported missing earlier this week was found dead in his car.

Clay County Sheriff Chuck Dunn says the body of 66-year-old Rick Kubes, of Auburn, Nebraska, was discovered Wednesday evening about 3 miles north of Clay Center on Kansas 15.

Dunn says an official cause of death hasn’t been determined but it appeared Kubes had a medical issue because his vehicle had drifted off the road.

The sheriff says Kubes left a home in Clay Center early Sunday to drive to a hospital in Auburn because he was suffering from back pain.

A statewide silver alert was issued on Monday when after he didn’t arrive at the hospital.

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CLAY COUNTY – The statewide silver alert issued for Rick Kubes has been canceled, according to a media release from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. They reported he was located deceased, Wednesday evening.

The KBI released no additional details.

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CLAY COUNTY – The Clay County Sheriff’s Department requested the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) issue a statewide Silver Alert for a missing 66-year-old Nebraska man. Rick Kubes  was last seen Sunday morning in Clay Center, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

He was last seen wearing dark long sleeve shirt with a dark green windbreaker, blue jeans. a red/white ball cap, red in the front with mesh in the back and wearing glasses and large mustache.  He is 5-foot-10, and weighs 175 pounds. He has white hair and a white mustache.

He was heading to his home in Auburn, Nebraska from Clay Center.

Mr. Kubes travels from Clay Center north on K-15 to Highway 36 then East bound on 77 then North to Beatrice Nebraska and then east on 136 to Auburn.  His family states that he doesn’t travel outside this normal route.

He is driving a 2010 Ford Super Ranger pickup, silver in color. The back window has an “N” Nebraska sticker and a pass thru window.  The front has a black bug guard. There is also a cooler and red two wheel appliance cart in the back.

The tag that is on the vehicle is Nebraska KUMFISH.

Kubes was in pain when he left Clay Center and was headed to the hospital in Auburn. He does have a phone but is not answering it.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Law Enforcement Center of Clay Center Kansas at 785-632-5601 opt #5.

SALINE COUNTY —A Kansas woman lost her home after a fire Wednesday morning southeast of Salina.

A passerby noticed flames coming from the roof of the house at 5493 S. Cunningham Road and notified authorities, according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan. When the firefighters arrived, the house was fully engulfed and the roof had collapsed, he said.

The house valued at $55,000 was a total loss. Ten cats also died in the blaze.

The 65-year-old homeonwer was not at home at the time. She told authorities that she had left a space heater on in the house.

By STEVE WEBSTER
Great Bend Post

GREAT BEND  — Challenging would be a good way to describe farming over the past six months in agriculture. In central Kansas, farmers had to work around above average precipitation in the fall during the corn, soybean and milo harvest while trying to beat the weather to get a wheat crop planted.

Great Bend Coop Seed Manager Jeff Mauler says that fall precipitation will mean timely decisions will need to be made this spring when it comes to planting those crops that will be harvested next fall.

Jeff Mauler Audio

As for this year’s wheat crop, Mauler says there is a big difference between the wheat that got planted early and the wheat that didn’t get planted until very late in the fall. With the wide range of winter weather we have been experiencing he hopes that crop will come out unscathed.

Jeff Mauler Audio

Mauler expects this year’s wheat acres to be down significantly in the area due to the fact that the weather kept some of the crop from even being planted. But due to the government shut down that kept USDA from providing normal crop reports, no one really knows for sure.

The USDA has reported that crop reports that were due out on January 11th are now scheduled to be published on Thursday February 8th.

By GRANT HEIMAN
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA — Due to inconsistencies in statutes regarding sentencing for alleged felons who commit another felony while out on bond, the Kansas Sentencing Commission introduced House Bill 2046 to rectify the issue. On Monday, the House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice began hearings for the bill.

HB 2046 aims to clarify the sentencing regulations for offenders who commit felonies while on a bond. The bill would amend Statute 21-6606(d), giving discretionary power to judges to decide whether a person out on felony bond who commits another felony will serve consecutive or concurrent sentences if found guilty of both crimes.

Currently, one statute requires consecutive sentencing in such a situation while a separate statute appears to give the district court discretion to decide between concurrent and consecutive sentencing, according to testimony provided by the Kansas Sentencing Commission.

“The proposed amendment does not preclude the district court from sentencing an offender to consecutive sentences when they commit a new felony crime while on felony bond,” said Scott Schultz, executive director of the Kansas Sentencing Commission in an email after the committee meeting. “It simply makes consecutive sentencing discretionary rather than mandatory.”

In the Sentencing Commission’s testimony, Schultz cited the unpublished decision in Carpentier v. State by the Kansas Court of Appeals, in which the defendant, David Carpentier, was arrested on charges of driving under the influence while out on bond from a previous DUI arrest. He was convicted in both cases but allowed to serve the sentences concurrently. The Court of Appeals held that the district court has discretion to issue sentences consecutively or concurrently when an individual is found guilty of a felony while out on felony bond.

However, the Kansas County and District Attorney’s Association (KCDAA) opposed the bill. Kim Parker, prosecutor coordinator for the KCDAA, likened the potential effects of the bill to that of punishing a child once for two instances of bad behavior.

“If we say don’t put your hand in the pumpkin pie and the child does, we may set the child in the time out chair for two minutes,” Parker said. “Let them up, and they put their hand in the pie again and we say, ‘Oh well, you already served your two minutes.’ That’s what concurrent sentencing is.”

The KCDAA’s opposing testimony noted that it fails to see any clarification in regard to the existing statutes, stating that the rules “reflect a clear statement of long-standing public policy for criminal sentencing,” according to a memo from the association.

HB 2046 has the potential to lower incarceration rates and the potential to save money by increasing the number of concurrent rather than consecutive sentences. Parker said these savings for the state come at the cost of the victims.

“This measure may indeed serve to free up bed space, and I know the cost of incarceration is of concern to our legislators and our legislative body, but the cost of a measure like this is only born on the backs of crime victims,” Parker said.

Grant Heiman is a University of Kansas junior from Wichita majoring in journalism.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before 3:30a.m. Thursday in Shawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported 2006 Pontiac G6 driven by Dana MichelleThowe, 51, Topeka, was eastbound in Interstate 70 at Fairlawn. The vehicle was traveling too fast for road conditions and rear-ended a 2003 Sterling KDOT truck doing snow removal.

Thowe was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver Wasson, Caleb AnthonyWasson, 39, Topeka was not injured.  Thowe was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.