KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A convicted felon who was under house arrest was indicted Friday on a federal charge of escaping custody, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Florez -photo Wyandotte Co.
Joaquin Florez, 42, Kansas City, Kan., is charged with one count of escaping federal custody. According to documents filed in the case, Florez was sentenced to federal prison in 2015 after being convicted on a drug charge. He was transferred from federal prison to home confinement in Kansas City, Kan.
On Sept. 13, 2018, the Bonner Springs Police Department notified the U.S. Probation Office that Florez was involved in a police chase in Bonner Springs. On the same day, Florez called the Grossman Residential Reentry Center in Leavenworth to say he was in a bind. He said he had purchased a vehicle and allowed a friend to drive it. He said the friend was involved in a chase with police. The director of the center ordered Florez to return to the center immediately. Florez did not report as required.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
OTTAWA COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before 2p.m. Sunday in Ottawa County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Nissan Altima driven by Meghan Stanley, 17, Bennington, was stopped on Eastbound on Kansas 18 waiting to turn North on 170th.
The Altima made a left turn in front of a southbound 1988 Suzuki motorcycle driven by Brian Montague, 43, Delphos. The motorcycle struck the left sice of the Nissan.
Montague was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Geisendorf Funeral Home.
Stanley and two passengers in the Nissan were properly restrained and not injured. Montague was wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The Lawrence school district will survey whether students, parents and staff would support starting high school classes later in the morning.
Lawrence Deputy Superintendent Anna Stubblefield said the surveys will be sent no later than Nov. 12. A phone survey of randomly selected parents also will be conducted.
Phone and online surveys done last school year showed wide support for the change among district parents and high school staff.
The district surveys will ask respondents if they prefer keeping the high school start time at 8:05 a.m. and release time at 3:10 p.m. It will also propose possible changes, such as from 8:30 a.m. and 3:35 p.m., or 9 a.m. and 4:05 p.m.
School board member Rick Ingram says the district will consider the possible challenges of the changes.
RENO COUNTY — An Arizona man convicted of being in possession of 44 pounds of marijuana during a Reno County traffic stop was sentenced Friday for intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute the marijuana.
44-pounds of pot -photo courtesy So. Hutchinson Police
In September, a Reno County jury took approximately 90 minutes to find 25-year-old Dominic Holder, guilty.
During a Reno County traffic stop for speeding on April 15, 2017, officers found Holder had conspired with 31-year Alyssa Holler to distribute 44-pounds of marijuana. Both were traveling together in separate vehicles from Mesa, Arizona to Indianapolis.
The defense was denied any relief, including motions for a new trial. The judge also denied any departure from prison or for a lesser sentence.
“Justice is done,” Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton said after the sentencing.
Holler entered a plea in this case and was granted three years community corrections.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The third Navy ship to bear the city of Wichita’s name will be sent into active duty early next year.
The littoral combat ship USS Wichita will be commissioned Jan. 12 at a Naval Station in Mayport, Florida. Littoral combat ships are the Navy’s fastest ships and are used for minesweeping, anti-submarine, drug trafficking or humanitarian operations.
The ship is 387 feet long, 57 feet wide and has a top speed of more than 45 knots — or nearly 52 mph.
The USS Wichita also is equipped with a launching pad for two, MH-60 Seahawk helicopters.
The first USS Wichita was a heavy cruiser that earned 13 battle stars during World War II. The second was a replenishment oiler that earned four battle stars in Vietnam.
Jimmy Page / Shutterstock.comBy ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer
CORONA, Calif. — Jimmy Page once painted a dragon, and used it to slay.
The guitar guru was so bursting with creative inspiration 50 years ago that he felt compelled to pick up a brush and use his skills from art school to take poster paints to his favorite instrument, a 1959 Fender Telecaster, and decorate it with a psychedelic beast.
He calls the axe “the Excalibur” that he wielded through the wildly eventful year of 1968, when his old band, the Yardbirds, crashed, and his new band, Led Zeppelin, was born just two months later.
“My whole life is moving so fast at that point,” Page, now 74, said as he reflected on Led Zeppelin’s 50th anniversary in an interview with The Associated Press at the Fender guitar factory in California. “Absolutely just a roller-coaster ride.”
Page said he had Led Zeppelin’s sound, and first songs, fully formed in his mind before the Yardbirds were even done.
“I just knew what way to go,” Page said. “It was in my instinct.”
He found his first ally in singer Robert Plant, whom he invited to his house to thumb through records and talk music.
Page said he used an unlikely bit of folkie inspiration — Joan Baez — to show Plant the sound he wanted, playing her recording of the song “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” and telling him to emulate the way she sang the top line of the song. Zeppelin would put the tune on its first album.
Page still marvels at how fast the whole thing took off after Plant brought on drummer John Bonham and Page pulled in his friend John Paul Jones to play bass.
“The whole journey of Led Zeppelin and the rise of Led Zeppelin, each tour was just extraordinary, and the growth and the respect and love of the band, and the people that were flooding to see us,” Page said.
The first record also included “Dazed and Confused,” with Page famously using a violin bow on the dragon guitar, which he played on every electric song on the record.
The guitar had been a cherished gift that guitarist Jeff Beck had given Page to thank him for recommending Beck for a job in the Yardbirds, which had brought a handsome payday.
“He’d bought a Corvette Stingray, and came roaring up my driveway with it,” Page remembered. “He said, ‘This is yours.’ I was absolutely thrilled to bits. It was given to me with so much affection.”
Page said he made immediate and intense use of the instrument, and wanted to “consecrate” it, so he went at it with paints that were used at the time for psychedelic posters, and summoned the dragon.
Page later left the guitar behind at his home in England on an early U.S. tour with Led Zeppelin in 1969. He’d come to regret it.
When he returned, exhausted and abuzz, he found that a ceramicist friend who had been serving as his house-sitter had painted over the dragon in his own mosaic style as a “gift” for Page.
“It was a disaster,” he said.
Page angrily stripped off all the paint and it sat in storage where it sat for decades.
Flash forward 50 years. Page was assembling a book for the band’s anniversary, and the dragon guitar kept popping up in pictures.
Page felt that maybe it was time to bring the old beast back to life. He worked with a graphic artist who helped illustrate the book, using photos to repaint the guitar, and recreate its old look.
He loved the result so much that he approached Fender, guitar maker happily signed on to make an anniversary rendition for the public.
“It’s absolutely identical,” Page said. “You wouldn’t see any difference. If anything, the colors were just slightly richer.”
Four different versions of the guitar will be released next year.
Along with the book, the instruments are a tribute to the band’s 50-year legacy.
Asked what kind of gift one might get for his bandmates for such a milestone, Page said, “I might give them a paintbrush, and the body of a guitar, and see if they can do something with it.”
Larry Max Archer of Abilene passed away Thursday, November 1, 2018 at Abilene Place. He was born January 26, 1939 in Almena, Kansas, the son of Tracy and Gladys (Ackinson) Archer.
On October 8, 1960 he was united in marriage to Rita M. Geist in Norton, Kansas. She preceded him in death March 19, 2012.
Max was a Sgt. in the Army during the Vietnam War.
He worked as a heavy equipment operator for Norton County, served as Sheriff of Norton County for 14 years and was a truck driver for 40 years with the last 20 years with Long Island Grain Company.
Family was very important to Max and he enjoyed going to watch them participate in school events.
Max is survived by his son, Mark (Amy) Archer of McPherson; daughters, Lori Fulks of Smithland, Kentucky; Kristi McDowell of Abilene, Kansas; and companion Leta Meats of Abilene.
He was preceded in death by his parents, loving wife Rita, 4 brothers, 1 sister and 1 son-in-law.
Funeral Services for Max will be 10:30 A.M., Monday, November 5, 2018 at Martin-Becker-Carlson Funeral Home with Father Don Zimmerman officiating. Burial will follow at the Abilene City Cemetery. Parish Rosary will be 5:00 P.M., Sunday, November 4, 2018 at Martin-Becker-Carlson Funeral Home with visitation to follow until 7:00 P.M. The family suggests memorials be given to the Hospice of Dickinson County.
Memorials may be dropped off or mailed to Martin-Becker-Carlson Funeral Home, 414 NW Third St., Abilene, Kansas 67410.
MANHATTAN — In April, the Kansas legislature passed Senate Bill 263 to enact the Alternative Crop Research Act and charged the Kansas Department of Agriculture with implementing the Industrial Hemp Research Program. This fall, KDA requests that individuals who are considering participation in the Industrial Hemp Research Program in Kansas in 2019, whether as a grower, distributor or processor, submit a Pre-Application and Pre-Application Research Proposal.
The Pre-Application is voluntary, and it is not an application for a license; anyone who plans to participate in the spring will still need to obtain a license through the official application process after the regulations become effective. Those who submit a Pre-Application with a Pre-Application Research Proposal will have an opportunity for the Industrial Hemp Research Advisory Committee to informally review the research proposal to determine the likelihood of its approval when the regulations are effective. In addition, those who submit the Pre-Application will get direct notification as soon as the full research license application process is available.
The Pre-Application is not the full research license application; there is no fee requirement or fingerprint-based state and national criminal history record check requirement to submit the Pre-Application, although both will be required with the research license application when it becomes available. In the Pre-Application Research Proposal, potential growers, distributors or processors will be asked to explain in detail the research they plan to conduct in their participation in the Industrial Hemp Research Program in Kansas.
The regulations that will guide the Industrial Hemp Research Program are still in the midst of the approval process as outlined on KDA’s industrial hemp webpage. A public hearing will be held soon, which will be one of the last steps prior to the adoption of the regulations.
The deadline for submission of the Pre-Application and Pre-Application Research Proposal is December 1, 2018. The Pre-Application forms and additional instruction — along with much more information about the new Industrial Hemp Research Program in Kansas — can be found at agriculture.ks.gov/industrialhemp.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an attempted aggravated robbery and have a suspect in custody.
Toole -photo Shawnee Co.
Just before 11p.m. Friday, police responded to an aggravated robbery attempt to Lynn’s Liquor located at 3335 SW Gage in Topeka, according to Lt. John Trimble.
Employees of the store stated that after they had locked the doors for the night, 2 subjects wearing blue bandanas covering their faces and dark clothes attempted to enter the store. One of those subjects were armed with a handgun. Once the 2 subjects were unable to enter the store, they fled on foot in an unknown direction.
The investigation led police to a residence in the 3500 Block of NW Twilight in Topeka. Police arrested four people for questioning, according to Trimble. Two were identified as suspect in the attempted robbery including 35-year-old Joseph Toole. He was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. A juvenile was aldo booked into the Juvenile Detention Center for attempted aggravated robbery.
A painting by Michael Knutson. Photos courtesy KWU
SALINA — Conquering the Flight of Fancy, an exhibit by Michael K. Knutson and Brian K. McCallum of Great Bend will be featured in The Gallery at Kansas Wesleyan University beginning Nov. 9.
The artists are scheduled to discuss their work during a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 9 in The Gallery. Refreshments will be provided.
Knutson and McCallum create magical and mysterious surreal oddities inviting the viewer to take a flight of fancy. Functional pottery and impressionistic landscape paintings also will be available for holiday purchasing.
Knutson works as a 2-D art instructor at Garden City Community College. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Black Hills State University, he completed his MFA at Fort Hays State University in 2010. As an accomplished visual artist and primarily a painter, he has exhibited nationally and creates public commissions for institutions such as the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. The basis of his work is a deep connection to the immediate environment, life experiences and the way the mind interprets this information.
A 3-D piece by Brian McCallum.
Also an educator at Garden City Community College, McCallum teaches all levels of 3-D art and art history. His sculptural work and methods are featured in Lark Publications’ 500 Figures in Clay and Pottery Making Illustrated. Receiving awards and showing extensively throughout the country, he was recently a featured artist at the Art of the New West exhibit at Process Art House in Amarillo, Texas.
The Gallery is located in Sams Hall of Fine Arts at KWU, 100 E. Claflin Avenue. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and weekends by appointment.
Rip WinkelIt’s that time of the year where we see a very noticeable needle drop on some evergreens such as arborvitae, pines and spruce.
In fact, just this last past week I have received a number of calls on this very issue. Not to worry, as this is normal, and to be expected. Evergreens do not keep their needles indefinitely but will drop them after one to several years. This is a process that happens with these types of conifers, where 2- to 4-year-old needles, usually in the interior of the canopy by this time, turn yellow, then brown, and eventually drop off.
For example, Ponderosa and Scotch pines usually keep their needles for three years. However, this pattern may vary from tree to tree and year to year. Also, this process may be a gradual one, or all the older needles may turn in a very short period of time.
If the needle dropping is sudden, and people are not familiar with this process, it is often that they become concerned about the health of these trees. Again, this natural phenomenon occurs every year, and does not by any means hurt the tree. Having said that, be sure to check that only the older needles towards the center of the shrub or tree, are the ones browning and dropping.
The needles on the ends and tips of the branches should look fine, having their normal green color. Check to see that there is no spotting or banding on the needles on the ones that are turning yellow. If spotting or banding is noted, take a sample to your local county extension office for diagnosis. What’s more, if the tips of the branches (candles) have turned brown, brittle, and are hollow inside, or if whole branches and sections of the plant have died back, again, be sure to contact your local Extension office. They have information for the proper remedial actions to take.
Rip Winkel has been the Horticulture agent in the Cottonwood District (Barton and Ellis Counties) for K-State Research and Extension. You can contact the office by e-mail at cottonwood.k-state.edu or calling either 785-682-9430, or 620-793-1910.
