WICHITA – The Youthville residential campus for foster kids in Dodge City will close on November 12, according to Shelley Duncan, president of EmberHope.
“It’s a large wonderful campus,” said Duncan. “However with reduced state funding, the organization is no longer able to sustain residential services in Dodge City.”
“If another entity would assume the services, that would be wonderful,” she said.
Seventeen children are currently enrolled in the program and there are approximately 50 staff members in Dodge City, according to Duncan.
EmberHope is a nonprofit, faith-based agency started by the United Methodist Church. It is committed to developing innovative programs that inspire change in at-risk youth and families, according to the organization’s web site. The organization operates with private and state funding.
In February, the organization announced plans to sell a portion of their Newton Youthville campus.
STANTON COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after midnight on Tuesday in Stanton County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Kenworth semi driven by Andy G. Farmer, 53, Hugoton, was eastbound on U.S. 160 twelve miles East of the Kansas 27 junction.
The semi traveled off the roadway into a ditch and rolled.
Farmer was transported to the Stanton County Hospital.
He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
WICHITA -In recognition of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and to speak about the importance of domestic violence awareness, the Wichita Police Department will be host a Domestic Violence Awareness Facebook Live Panel on Wednesday at 2p.m..
Present to speak will be representatives from Stepstone ministries, Young Women’s Christian Association Women’s Crisis Center, Catholic Charities Harbor House, and Wichita Police domestic violence investigations section.
BRENHAM, Texas (AP) — Blue Bell Creameries is recalling all of its ice cream products that contain cookie dough from an Iowa-based supplier.
The move announced Monday night comes after Aspen Hills recalled cookie dough supplied to ice cream makers after finding potential listeria bacteria contamination.
The Blue Bell recall involves half-gallons and pints of Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Blue Bell Cookie Two Step sold to retailers and three-gallon packages of Blue Bell Blue Monster, Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Cookie and Blue Bell Krazy Kookie Dough sold to food-service clients. They were produced between Feb. 2 and Sept. 7 and distributed in Kansas and 15 other states.
Listeria can cause serious, sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and those with weakened immune systems. In 2015, company products were linked to 10 listeria illnesses in four states, including three deaths in Kansas.
SALINA -Friends and family are searching for a missing Salina teenager.
Leslie Rush, 15, was reportedly last seen at about 3:45 a.m. Monday. It is believed that she is the company of an adult male.
Rush is 4’11” tall, 122 lbs., with light brown and blonde hair and blue eyes.
Her ears are pierced and she has cutting scars on her wrists.
When last seen, the teenager was wearing a black and green hooded sweatshirt, a blue or black t-shirt, a black jogging suit with stripes down the sides, and she may be carrying a blue backpack.
Anyone with information regarding Leslie Rush’s disappearance or knows of her whereabouts, is asked to call the Salina Police Department at 785-826-7210.
MANHATTAN — The Kansas secretary of agriculture and attorney general have asked the Environmental Protection Agency not to regulate the herbicide atrazine to the point it becomes ineffective or uneconomical for Kansas farmers.
In comments filed with EPA in connection with that agency’s proposed new regulation for atrazine and related herbicides, Secretary Jackie McClaskey and Attorney General Derek Schmidt urged the agency not to adopt a regulation that would render atrazine effectively unavailable for Kansas farmers.
“Any decision by EPA to restrict or eliminate the availability of the subject herbicides, particularly the availability of atrazine, would directly and negatively affect thousands of Kansas farmers by increasing the costs of production, reducing yield, and harming profitability while producing no meaningful environmental benefit,” the two wrote. “Please carefully consider a broader perspective and long-term approach when handling this issue. The proposal is inconsistent with EPA’s previous stated environmental concerns, is in conflict with proven evidence, and is detrimental to agriculture conservation practices.”
McClaskey and Schmidt pointed out that new regulations that result in atrazine being ineffective or unavailable would undermine efforts to promote soil conservation through reduced tillage practices.
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a Publisher’s Clearinghouse scam.
A man in his 70’s, received multiple calls between October 3rd and October 6th to notify him he had won a Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes, according to Salina
Police Captain Mike Sweeney.
The victim was instructed that he would have to pay taxes and fees in order to receive it. He told the caller that he did not have the money to pay the fees and instructed the caller to donate his winnings to charity.
On October 4th, the man received a second call and was asked to provide credit card information that would assist the caller in helping him pay the fees and taxes. The caller stated that $1,800 would be placed in the account and at that time, the man would need to get a cash advance for $300 and wire $299 of that to cover the fees.
Sweeney said the man received a third call on October 5th informing him that he needed to pay additional fees to release his winnings. The caller again requested credit card information, stating that $4,900 would be placed on his account and he was again to get a cash advance and send $279 via MoneyGram to cover the fees.
Despite the man sending the payments, the $1,800 and $4,900 deposits were never made.
Sweeney indicated the caller also requested the man provide his date of birth and social security number so that a checking account could be opened that was required to assist with payment as well. An account was later opened in the man’s name at Bank of the West with an initial deposit of $34,000.
That deposit never cleared.
After realizing he had been scammed, the man contacted police.
Total loss in the case to date has been estimated at $578, according to Sweeney.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A tax exemption enabling business owners to pay no state tax on business income is a boon to many Kansas lawmakers.
The Wichita Eagle reports nearly 70 percent of lawmakers or their spouses own a business or property that allows them to benefit from the exemption.
Gov. Sam Brownback and his wife, Mary, also stand to benefit from the law, which was passed in 2012 at the governor’s urging. Brownback would not discuss his family’s taxes when asked at the Capitol last month.
The law exempts the owners of limited liability companies, S-corporations, limited partnerships, family farms and sole proprietorships from paying state income tax on their non-wage business income. The law also extends to other sources of pass-through income, such as rents, royalties and trusts.
MANHATTAN — A corn disease that is new to the heartland is infecting Kansas crops. Bacterial leaf streak is so new to the United States that it is unclear whether it will pose a threat to this year’s yields, according to Kansas State University plant pathologist Doug Jardine.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed the presence of the new disease Aug. 26. In Kansas, it has been positively identified in 12 counties from Pratt County to Edwards County.
The disease is thought to have occurred on corn in South Africa, but it has been most notably associated with gumming disease of sugarcane. At this time, it is not known how it made its way to the United States or how long it has been here.
Following its initial confirmation, APHIS, working with state departments of agriculture and extension plant pathologists, began a survey of corn fields across the western Corn Belt. Bacterial leaf streak disease has now been identified in nine states including Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota, Texas and Oklahoma, Jardine said.
“Three additional counties have had corn with symptoms of the disease, but samples have not yet been confirmed definitively by DNA analysis.”
Infected corn leaves exhibit narrow tan to brown streaks that range from less than an inch to several inches long.
It is not currently known how the disease has spread to so many states, Jardine said, but a current hypothesis is that it is seed transmitted. Movement within a field or from field to field may be by the bacteria blowing in the wind created by thunderstorms. Unlike Goss’s blight, it does not appear that it needs a wound to aid it in getting into the plant.
“Under what conditions is it likely to occur? By far the single largest scenario associated with the disease is corn being produced in a continuous, no-till, sprinkler-irrigated production system,” Jardine said. “This is likely the reason that most positive counties in Kansas are in the western part of the state. That being said, the disease has also been found in furrow irrigated fields, as well as dryland fields in a strict corn-soybean rotation.”
No research has been conducted to date to determine if there will be any impact on yield, the K-State plant pathologist said. Disease management options are currently limited. Since it is a bacterial disease, fungicides are not effective. Because of the highly erodible nature of most Kansas soils, residue management will not likely be an option except perhaps in southeast Kansas.
“We do not know how long the bacteria can reside in old crop debris, but observationally, it can survive through the rotational year to soybeans,” Jardine said. “Observations in hybrid demonstration trials in Nebraska indicate that there are differences in hybrid response to the disease with some being much more susceptible than others. Long term, hybrid selection, as with Goss’s blight, will be the primary means of management.”
As with any crop disease, he added, samples can be submitted to the K-State Plant Disease Diagnostic clinic through any county or district extension office or directly to the clinic. Information on sample submission can be found at tinyurl.com/hm9eale.
A bald eagle flew in front of became lodged in the grill of the vehicle-photos Clay County, FL., Sheriff
GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — A bald eagle that somehow managed to get wedged in the front grill of a car was freed unharmed after a passing motorist noticed the bird.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office says a resident of the Fleming Island area south of Jacksonville noticed the bird peering out of a passing car Saturday as the area recovered from Hurricane Matthew. The resident urged the motorist to pull over and rescue crews were called.
The sheriff’s department says rescue personnel and deputies were able to work the bird free from the car. It was taken to a wildlife sanctuary in Jacksonville but authorities say the eagle appears to be unharmed. Photos posted of the eagle on the sheriff’s office Facebook page show it standing on two feet in a cage.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – A Kansas woman was arrested Sunday night on U.S. Highway 50 by Reno County Sheriff Deputies after she failed to stop for them leading to a chase.
Just after 10 p.m. on Sunday, Kansas Highway Troopers received a call of a hit and run accident at U.S. 50 and Partridge Road.
Reno County Sheriff Deputies responded and saw the vehicle traveling east bound on U.S. 50 with one tire missing.
When Samantha Caravalho, 28, Hutchinson, ultimately did stop, there were flames coming from the vehicle’s right fender.
Deputies initially had trouble getting her from the vehicle and she informed them she had four kids in the vehicle.,
Deputies safely removed the children and then used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire.
They were then able to get Caravalho from the vehicle and she was taken to jail.
Potential charges against Caravalho include DUI, two counts of aggravated battery, felony flee and elude and four counts of felony endangerment of a child.
Her bond in the case is set at $27,500 she should make a first court appearance on Tuesday.
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating report of a laser being pointed at an airplane near Saline Regional Airport.
On Friday, the Salina Airport Authority notified the Saline County Sheriff’s office after a pilot reported a green laser was pointed at him just before 9 p.m.
The beam was reported to have come from about 6 miles southwest of the airport.
Deputies located and spoke with some individuals in the area but were not able to locate the source of the laser, according to Saline County Undersheriff Roger Soldan.
OSAGE COUNTY – Authorities in Osage County are investigating the death of an infant.
Just after 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, first responders were dispatched to a home in the 1100 Block of Laing Street in Osage City after report of a 2-month-old infant girl who was not breathing, according to a social media report.
Efforts to revive the child were unsuccessful.
The infant was transported to Frontier Forensics in Kansas City to determine cause of death.
