Dr. Hendratta Ali, associate professor of geosciences at Fort Hays State University, has received a grant from the National Science Foundation.
The grant will offer international research experience in STEM subjects for students from the United States.
The project is titled “Collaborative Research: IRES Track: US – Cameroon Collaboration Investigating Anthropogenic Perturbations on Carbon Cycling in an Urbanized Tropical Estuary.”
The purpose of the grant is to “investigate the impact of human activities estuaries by characterizing the movement of carbon between the sediments on the sea floor, the water column and the atmosphere,” said Ali. Research will take place in the Atlantic estuary located in the Gulf of Guinea, located on the coast of West Africa.
Working with Ali and FHSU is the University of Delaware. “This is called a linked award. We will both work on the same project but the financial responsibilities are shared between our two schools,” said Ali.
The grant totals $300,000. Of that amount, FHSU will directly receive $120,426 to put towards the project.
Students from all of the U.S. who are interested in or study STEM disciplines such as geosciences, chemistry, and biological sciences can apply to work on the project.
Applicant must be at least 21 years of age, no felony convictions, no convictions for domestic violence, and must maintain a valid Kansas driver’s license.
MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. (AP) — A judge is waiting for written opinions before deciding whether there is sufficient evidence for a Kansas undersheriff to be tried for involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting a man with a beanbag round.
Brewer photo Barber County
A final decision isn’t expected until February in the case against Barber County Undersheriff Virgil “Dusty” Brewer.
The involuntary manslaughter charge stems from the Oct. 6, 2017, death of Steven Myers, who was shot after leaving a shed. Authorities tracked Myers to the shed after he was accused of threatening people with a gun outside a bar in Sun City, about 110 miles west of Wichita.
A Kansas Bureau of Investigation special agent testified during the preliminary hearing that Brewer hadn’t received any training in the use of beanbag rounds.
Today Rain likely, mainly before 10am. Cloudy, with a high near 53. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 42. Light and variable wind becoming northwest 5 to 8 mph after midnight.
Friday Sunny, with a high near 69. Northwest wind 8 to 14 mph.
Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 43. West northwest wind 5 to 7 mph.
SaturdaySunny, with a high near 74.
Saturday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 45.
PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. (AP) — Parole has been denied for a school janitor who subdued a 13-year-old girl with chloroform more than 40 years ago as she walked home from a suburban Kansas City pool and then killed her.
Horton-photo KDOC
Kansas Prisoner Review Board has ruled that 71-year-old John Henry Horton will have to wait until 2023 for his next chance to be released from prison.
He wasn’t arrested until 2003 for the 1974 death of Liz Wilson. She vanished while cutting through the parking lot of Shawnee Mission East High School. Her remains were found six months later.
Horton was sentenced to life in prison. But life, under Kansas law in force at the time of Liz’s death, meant serving only 15 years before being eligible for parole.
GEARY COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 4:30p.m. Wednesday in Geary County.
The Kansas Highway patrol reported a 2000 Chevy Silverado driven by David L. Sutton, 70, Clay Center, was southbound on U.S. 77 a mile south of the Kansas 82 Junction.
The SUV traveled off the roadway to the right. The driver overcorrected, back on the roadway, traveled off the road to the west and rolled.
Sutton was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man pleaded guilty today to assuming his brother’s identity to get a loan and buy a car, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
John Nolan, Jr., 64, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. In his plea, Nolan admitted he fraudulently used his brother’s Social Security number to purchase a Chevrolet Suburban from a car dealership in Merriam, Kan. Nolan filled out a Wells Fargo credit application using his brother’s name, date of birth and Social Security number. He also provided a driver’s license with Nolan’s picture and his brother’s identifying information. Nolan’s brother was living in Saudi Arabia and had not communicated with the defendant for years.
Sentencing is set for Jan. 24. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 30 months in federal prison.
Doug Williams has been hired as executive director of Grow Hays, after serving as interim director since May.
Williams is a lifelong entrepreneur and has been involved in a wide variety of business interests during his 30 year career. He spent the first 14 years of his career in the real estate business as a broker/owner of a RE/MAX franchise. During that time, Williams was involved in numerous real estate investment projects and gained considerable experience and knowledge in creatively structuring and financing transactions. He was 1985 Realtor Associate of the Year for the Hays Board of Realtors and the President of the Hays Board of Realtors in 1986.
In 1991, Williams founded System Solutions Inc., a company involved in the sale of IBM information systems. The company began with two employees and grew to 75 employees at the time it was sold to Rural Telephone Service in 1997. Williams then started InfiniTec, Inc. and Medical Business Resources. Infinitec, Inc., a computer software company, was the primary software provider for over 70 of the 105 county governments in Kansas. Infinitec, Inc. was sold to Wheatland Electric Cooperative in 1999. Medical Business Resources, a physicians billing service, was sold in 2003. In 2005, Williams re-entered the real estate business in Hays. He was the 2010 President of the Hays Board of Realtors and 2016 Hays Board of Realtors Realtor of the Year.
“Grow Hays is critically important to the long-term growth and prosperity of our community, and I know that the board of directors and I are committed to work toward making that happen any way we can,” Williams said.
Williams has attended advanced courses in the areas of entrepreneurship, business ownership, and salesmanship. These courses include The Wharton Business Schools Entrepreneurship Class, IBM Sales School, and the Owner-Presidents course at The Harvard Business School. In 1997, he was the first recipient of the Harley L. Rhoads Small Business Achievement Award presented by the Hays Chamber of Commerce.
“Since May, we have been grateful to Doug’s efforts as our interim director, and we are increasingly excited about our future with someone of his stature at our helm,” said Ron Fields, board chairman. “He brings a level of experience with every aspect of the regional business community that is unmatched.”
“Grow Hays has reached an important transition point, and it is well-positioned to advance the economic expansion of this region,” he added. “Doug Williams brings a wealth of experience and long-established relationships to the organization.”
Grow Hays is a nonprofit organization aimed at advancing the economic health and vitality of Hays and the surrounding communities. Long known for its efforts to promote a robust local economy through business creation, retention, expansion, and recruitment, Grow Hays has offered instrumental support toward numerous community successes. A few of those include the arrival of Hobby Lobby, a soon-to-be constructed convention center, development of innovative job training initiatives, and BriefSpace, a co-working space and business incubator that opened this summer in downtown Hays. Grow Hays also administers a housing redevelopment program and training programs designed to offer skilled-trade training to area workers.
DISCLOSURE: Ron Fields is director of news and information for Eagle Communications.
SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement and officials at USD 305 are investigating report of a weapon in the possession of a student.
According to a letter sent to parents, Salina South High School Principal Curtis Stevens said the weapon was located in a student’s vehicle parked off campus. Police found and secured it.
“The safety of our students and staff is our number one priority and we will continue to be vigilant and encourage reports of any safety concerns,” wrote Stevens.
Authorities have not reported the type of weapon involved in this incident.
There was no reported disruption to the school day.
Kansas City (AP) – A 17-year-old Kansas City boy has been charged with pointing a gun at the head of a kneeling 13-year-old after a video of the incident was widely shared on social media.
Photo courtesy Independence Police
Alexander Schrader, of Independence, was charged Wednesday with first-degree robbery for allegedly taking money from the younger teen. A police detective wrote in charging documents that Schrader pressed a semiautomatic handgun against the victim’s head Saturday while another teen told the boy to kiss his feet. A video also shows a friend of Schrader punching the victim in the face in an Independence neighborhood. The boy was bruised but refused medical treatment.
The juvenile that punched the boy and another juvenile that recorded the incident also were arrested. Police spokesman John Syme says he doesn’t know if they have attorneys.
JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an assault and have a suspect in custody.
According to Independence Police, Alexander Schrader, the person of interest in an assault case, turned himself him at IPD police headquarters late Tuesday. Two other juvenile subjects have also been taken into custody.
Authorities have not released details on criminal charges.
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JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an assault and searching for a person of interest.
According to a report from Independence Police Department, a disturbing video is being shared on social media showing someone pointing a pistol at a juvenile victim, who is later punched several times by another person.
Police have received numerous calls from the public about this case. Just before 9:30 PM Monday, the Independence Police Department received a report of this incident that occurred on Saturday.
The IPD criminal investigations unit is currently investigating this case and the suspects have already been identified and is being sought.
Detectives would like to speak with 17 year old Alexander (Alex) Schrader. He is white male, approximately 5-foot-5, 120 lbs, with blue eyes and blonde hair.
Anyone who knows where Alex is, please call the Tips Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS, IPD tips at (816) 325-7777 or email [email protected]
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the horrific abuse and slaying of a 3-year-old boy whose body was found encased in concrete in the laundry room of his home four months after his death.
Stephen Bodine, 41, of Wichita, was convicted Wednesday in the May 2017 death of Evan Brewer. Bodine was also found guilty of child abuse, aggravated child endangerment and two counts of kidnapping. He will be sentenced December 17.
Bodine faces a potential sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years on the murder conviction.
Prosecutors called dozens of witnesses and presented more than 550 pieces of evidence during six days of trial, including parts of the concrete tomb found in the rental home where the boy had lived with his mother, Miranda Miller, and Bodine. Jurors saw videos and photos showing Evan being abused, including footage of him chained and naked in a basement, being berated by Bodine and Miller, and forced to stand in a corner for hours.
Carlo Brewer, Evan’s father, celebrated the verdict but said his joy was tempered by sadness because of the cruelty his son had endured. Brewer had been fighting for custody of Evan in the months leading up to his death, and authorities had been alerted at least six times that Evan was being abused .
Evan Brewer- courtesy photo
“(Evan) didn’t get to have the imagination like other children, where they think there’s monsters in their closets or under their beds,” Brewer said. “He had real monsters.”
Miller is also charged with murder in her son’s death. In exchange for testifying against Bodine, she will be allowed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.
Much of the evidence at trial came from a cache of 16,000 photos and video files collected by the couple’s home surveillance system. In one video, Bodine and Miller are heard chastising Evan over the course of several hours, less than two months before he was killed.
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said the jury performed an extraordinary service to the community for enduring the sometimes grisly testimony.
“I can’t really overstate what a difficult task it was to sit and absorb the kind of wretched details of how this little boy lost his life and the role this defendant had in it,” Bennett said.
Miller testified that Bodine had been punishing Evan for not eating on May 19, 2017, when he took the screaming boy into the bathroom. She said he soon came out with her son’s wet and lifeless body in his arms.
She said during a preliminary hearing that a few days later Bodine told her that he wanted “to take care of Evan before he started to smell.” She said he mixed up several bags of concrete and buried the boy’s body in it.
Evan was discovered entombed in the concrete in early September, after Miller and Bodine had moved out of the property.
An autopsy couldn’t determine the cause and manner of Evan’s death because his body was so badly decomposed by the time he was chipped out of the block of concrete. He had Benadryl in his system, and Miller said she thinks Bodine sickened him in the days leading up to his death by force-feeding him large amounts of salt.
Bodine’s own daughter, Samantha Johnson, also testified about the physical abuse she suffered from her father, saying her experience was similar to Evan’s.
Brewer said he hopes his son’s death will lead to more efforts to confront child abuse.
“Take a step back and question what you’re doing as a parent, question if it’s the right way to discipline or not or if it’s abuse,” Brewer said. “Because it’s got to stop. It’s got to stop.”
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder in the killing of a 3-year-old boy whose body was found encased in concrete in the laundry room of his home four months after his death.
Stephen Bodine, 41, of Wichita, was accused in the May 2017 death of Evan Brewer.
Prosecutors called dozens of witnesses and presented more than 550 pieces of evidence, including parts of the concrete tomb found in the rental home where the boy had lived with his mother, Miranda Miller, and Bodine.
Miller is also charged with murder in her son’s death.
Evan had been subject to a monthslong custody battle and authorities had been alerted at least six times that he was being abused.
Much of the evidence at trial came from a cache of 16,000 photos and video files shot by the couple’s home surveillance system, including images of Evan naked and chained up in the basement. In one video, Bodine and Miller are heard chastising Evan over the course of several hours, less than two months before he was killed.
Miller testified that Bodine took her screaming son into the bathroom on May 19, 2017, and came out with her son’s wet and lifeless body in his arms. Evan was discovered entombed in concrete in September after Miller and Bodine had moved out of the property.
An autopsy couldn’t determine the cause and manner of Evan’s death because of the condition of his body when he was chipped out of the block of concrete. He did have Benadryl in his system, and Miller said she thinks Bodine sickened him in the days leading up to his death by force-feeding him large amounts of salt.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Jurors deciding the fate of a man accused of killing a 3-year-old boy found encased in concrete were shown photos and video of the child chained up in the basement of his rental home in Kansas.
The judge sent the jury home Tuesday evening without a verdict after deliberations began that afternoon in the first-degree murder trial of 41-year-old Stephen Bodine. He’s accused in the May 2017 death of Evan Brewer.
Prosecutors called dozens of witnesses and presented more than 550 pieces of evidence over six days, including what’s left of the concrete tomb found in the rental home where the boy lived with his mother and Bodine in Wichita.
The defense rested its case without calling witnesses.
Bodine faces charges of child abuse and aggravated child endangerment, along with other crimes related to a threat against the boy’s biological father.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Both sides have rested in the trial of the Wichita man accused of killing a 3-year-old boy whose body was found encased in concrete.
Forty-one-year-old Stephen Bodine is on trial charged with first-degree murder in the May 19, 2017, death of Evan Brewer. He also faces charges of child abuse, aggravated child endangerment as well as other crimes related to an alleged hatchet threat against the boy’s biological father, Carlo Brewer.
Tuesday marked the sixth day of witness testimony and evidence presentation by prosecutors.
Defense attorney Casey Cotton rested his case without calling anyone to the witness stand.
Jurors watched on Monday photos and video of Evan chained naked in the basement of the rental home where he lived with Miller and Bodine in Wichita.
RENO COUNTY – A Kansas man faces charges in connection with a home invasion attack.
Thompson -photo Reno Co.
Titus Thompson 38, Hutchinson, faces potential charges, of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated burglary, criminal threat, burglary and theft.
On Monday, Thompson and an unknown white male forced their way into a home in the 400 block of East B in Hutchinson, according to police. They demanded prescription drugs from the homeowner believed to be in his 50s.
The homeowner tried to fight back, but was kicked repeatedly. The suspects took a knife the victim used to try to defend himself and put it to his neck and threatened him with his life.
Thompson then forced the man to search the home looking for prescription drugs. The suspects took some prescription medications as well as the victim’s wallet, cell phone, a big screen TV and clothing from the home.
They then blindfolded the victim and loaded him and the stolen items into the victim’s car.
The suspects left and at some point stopped a Kwik Shop, a liquor store in Burrton and traveled to a farmhouse in eastern Reno County.
This is where Thompson allegedly tried to sell some items to two individuals. The victim was still in the back seat and saw an opportunity to escape. He jumped into the front seat of the car and took off. During that time a TV fell off the top of the car where it had been placed.
The victim’s call 911 started the investigation.
Thompson was later found walking in the 1800 block of Landon in Hutchinson. Based on the description from the victims and surveillance video from Monday’s incident, police arrested Thompson.
The victim in the kidnapping suffered bruises and cuts according to police.
Thompson is jailed on a $167,000 bond and during a first court appearance was denied a bond reduction.
He has prior convictions for obstruction, domestic battery, and driving while suspended for a case in Reno County in 2008. He also has priors for convictions of aggravated burglary and criminal possession of a firearm for a case in Sedgwick County in 2001.
Luella Effie Purinton Kephart was born Dec 15, 1919 at Collyer Kansas to Ray and Leona Ward Purinton. She died at home October 23, 2018 in Buffalo, MO.
She was married to Hollie Lee Kephart October 23, 1938. To this union three children were born. Robert Lee Kephart, Ruby Carol Wallace and Cleo Mae Schneider.
Luella was a homemaker and nurse. She enjoyed making quilts on which she won several ribbons. She was a member of the United Methodist Church of Buffalo, MO. She was also a lifetime member of the Eastern Star and also a member of the D.A.R. She was an active member of several quilt groups.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Ray and Leona Purinton; her husband, Hollie; a daughter, Cleo Mae; a son-in-law, George Wallace; a sister, Ruby and husband Elmer Cue; and a brother, Leonard and wife Irene Purinton.
She is survived by her son, Robert; daughter, Carol Wallace; granddaughter, Kim Routt and husband Melvin; two great-grandchildren, Benjamin Routt and wife Miranda, BJ Routt and wife Sharon; one great-great granddaughter, Bristol Routt; one sister, Hazel Mae and husband Sam Rocco. She is also survived by nieces and nephews and a host of friends.
Graveside services and burial will be 11:00 a.m., Friday, October 26, 2018 at Union Cemetery (a.k.a. Collyer Cemetery), Collyer, KS. Service will be officiated by Pastor Bob Clemence with honors by Eastern Star.
