JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man from Mexico who has been deported several times faces charges accusing him of raping a child in Kansas.

Tomas Martinez-Maldonado is jailed in Geary County on $100,000 bond on a charge of raping a child under the age of 14 last month while on a Greyhound bus trip on I-70.

Public defender Cole Hawver declined to comment Friday. The public defender’s office was appointed to represent Martinez-Maldonado during his first appearance Thursday.

The Kansas Bureau of Information says he was taken into custody in late September in Missouri, where authorities alerted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE said Friday that Martinez-Maldonado has been deported back to Mexico 10 times since 2010. ICE also says he’s a priority for deportation when his Kansas case is completed.

————

GEARY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Geary County are investigating a suspect for an alleged rape.

Tomas Martinez-Maldonado, 41, Marietta, Georgia, was arrested on a Geary County District Court warrant charging him with the rape of a 12-year-old girl, according to Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf.

The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department contacted Geary County authorities. “A Greyhound bus had made a stop in Kansas City and there was an alleged rape that occurred on the bus, however they had no idea where this rape took place,” according to Wolf.

The KBI was called to investigate and determined the crime occurred somewhere on Interstate 70 in Geary County in late September.

Martinez-Maldonado was arrested in Kansas City and then returned to the Geary County Detention Center.

Martinez-Maldonado is allegedly an eight-time deported illegal alien, according to the sheriff.

LABETTE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in southeast Kansas are investigating two suspects on drug and and weapons charges.

On Friday morning the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Parsons Police Department and the Labette County Sheriff’s Office conducted a search warrant to conclude a two month long investigation into the sale of methamphetamine, according to a media release.

The search warrant was executed at a residence at 1411 Belmont in Parsons. As a result of the investigation, 35-year old Josh Brown was arrested and booked into the Labette County Jail on charges of Distribution of Methamphetamine, Possession with the Intent to Distribute within 1,000 feet of School Property, Criminal Possession of a Firearm, Possession of Prescription Pills with the Intent to Distribute and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Also arrested was Audra Nixon or Misdemeanor Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Seized during the search warrant was approximately one half ounce of methamphetamine, one vehicle, one pistol, two rifles, $600 in cash, and scales as well as other drug-related paraphernalia. The confiscated vehicle was previously reported stolen in Nebraska and the pistol had been reported stolen in Labette County.

The KBI’s mission in proactive narcotics operations like these is to partner with all relevant law enforcement agencies in an effort to reduce the availability and distribution of drugs in Kansas.

HARVEY COUNTY – For the second day in row, first responders were on the scene of Thursday’s chemical spill in Hesston.

Just after 5 p.m. on Friday, GVL Poly of Hesston had to be evacuated after report of a sick employee was made to 911, according to a media release.

Emergency crews transported four victims to Newton Medical Center and two were taken to Saint Francis Hospital.

There was no actual chemical spill located in the plant. First shift workers worked their shift without any incident. Investigators are attempting to find out what may be the cause for this of Friday’s incident.

PRATT – Kansas hunters should be aware that iSportsman Electronic Daily Hunt Permits are required on 24 wildlife areas (check the2016 Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary or kdwpt.isportsman.net for a list).

The electronic permit system has been in place for two years, and is normally fast and efficient. However, the software company that manages the host servers experienced technical difficulties this week that slowed the check-in procedure. Hunters utilizing iSportsman may experience slow processing or may find the system entirely down for the next few days.

iSportsman replaces the old paper permits and allows hunters to conveniently check in and out using a telephone, smartphone or home computer. As with the old paper system, information gathered helps area managers tailor management practices specific to an area and hunter preference. The paper system was inconvenient for hunters and labor intensive for managers. However, hunters who experience difficulties this weekend with iSportsman are encouraged to check wildlife area offices and kiosks and use paper forms where available.

Repairs should have the iSportsman system fully functional soon, and KDWPT staff want all hunters to enjoy hunting this weekend. If technical problems persist, KDWPT encourages hunters to go hunting but keep trying to check in with iSportsman or check with area offices and kiosks for paper cards.

RILEY COUNTY – A Kansas school bus was involved in an accident just after 2p.m. on Friday in Riley County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Ford Escape driven by Jeffrey Lynn Baxter, 68, Leavenworth, was westbound on Interstate 70 two miles west of Tallgrass Road.

The driver attempted to pass and sideswiped a westbound Prairie View Heights Elementary School bus from Council Grove.

Baxter, the school bus driver Machelle L. King, 61, Council Grove,
two other adults and twelve students on the bus were not injured.

No addition details were released on Friday afternoon.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A couple has bought a former central Kansas plantation that was once a large shipping point for fruit between the Missouri River and California. See more on the sale here

The 1,260-acre Yaggy Plantation near Nickerson was auctioned off this week. Auction participants told The Hutchinson News  the land sold for more than $5 million. The buyers were Craig and Lucinda Piligian, who have homes in Reno County.

Descendants of the plantation’s founder, Levi Walter Yaggy, sold the acreage. The property, which has been in the same family for 130 years, at one time had as many as 50,000 apple trees and a million catalpa trees.

Lucinda Piligian says the land’s history was part of the attraction. She says they plan to continue the land’s current farming operation, which includes irrigated and dryland acreage.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man already charged with killing a man connected to the shooting death of a Kansas bride has been charged in another killing.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 27-year-old Cortez Tyrell Timley was served Thursday with a warrant charging him with the second slaying. No details were provided.

In July, Timley was charged with first-degree murder in the June 2014 shooting death of 26-year-old Jermel Robbins Sr.

Three weeks before Robbins’ death, 42-year-old Tiffany Davenport-Ray was killed when shots were fired from a sport utility vehicle in which three men were riding. Two men were convicted previously, and Robbins name surfaced as the third SUV occupant during their trials.

Attorney Matt Works is representing Timley in the Robbins’ homicide but said he had no information about the latest case.

SALINE COUNTY – Thursday afternoon’s tornado that damaged two houses, two barns, and an outbuilding as it moved through eastern sections of Saline County was rated EF3, according to initial reports from the National Weather Service.

An EF3 tornado has wind gusts 136-165 miles-per-hour, according to the National Weather Service.

The tornado traveled just over 6 miles and stayed on the ground for approximately13 minutes.

A barn at 4869 E. Mentor Road, a house at 6778 E. Schilling Road were totally destroyed, according to Undersheriff Roger Soldan.

A barn and a house at 7572 E. Magnolia Road, and a detached metal building, overhead door and a tractor at 8064 E. Cloud, were all heavily damaged by the tornado, which touched down at about 4:20 p.m.

There were no reports of injuries.

Several power lines were knocked down by the storm.

Westar Energy crews worked throughout the evening to restore power to more than 500 customers.

The storm also knocked out power to more than 700 customers in Dickinson County.

At least one tornado touched also down in that county, but there were no report of injuries or damage.

MANHATTAN – A new business school building that opened for use this semester at Kansas State University was officially dedicated on Friday.

The university broke ground on the project in October of 2013 after garnering $55 million through philanthropic investments from alumni and friends of the college, according to a media release.

The new 160,143 square foot building features tiered classrooms, a large showcase lecture hall, computer labs, a financial research lab and cost $60 million to build.

The college’s senior director of development Darin Russell says officials wanted the building to have a corporate feel, but blend in with the campus.

According to Stacy Kovar, associate dean for academic administration, more space for classrooms was the number one priority.
It has twice as many classrooms as the former facility.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A 32-year-old Missouri man faces more than two years in prison after being convicted of charges stemming from a pipe bomb explosion in Leavenworth.

Simon Nigel Pohl of St. Joseph was sentenced Friday in Leavenworth County court to two years and eight months in prison on charges of criminal use of explosives and possession of methamphetamine.

The Kansas City Star reports that Pohl was arrested in April, along with two other people who were charged after explosive devices damaged two vehicles in Leavenworth on April 18 and May 3. No one was injured.

Joseph Lee Dickey was sentenced to nearly four years, and Amber M. Wood was sentenced to three years in prison.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A recent Wichita State University report says Kansas could see more than 12,000 new non-farm jobs in the coming year.

There are over 1.4 million non-farm jobs in the state this year.

The report from the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at the university’s business school forecasts that most of new jobs are expected to be in the service sector. Financial, education and health services, as well as leisure and hospitality sectors are also expected to grow.

Growth in trade, transportation, manufacturing and utilities jobs are predicted as well, but only by a little more than half of a percent.

The report says there will be a slight decline in federal and state government employment.

BY DAN MARGOLIES

As part of an ambitious $100 million-plus expansion plan, Olathe Medical Center broke ground Thursday on a new $25 million cancer center.

The 25,000-square-foot facility, expected to be completed next year, will consolidate the hospital’s currently fragmented cancer outpatient services in one place.

It’s the latest project in a frenzy of construction at the hospital’s 250-acre medical campus near 151st Street and Interstate 35. The last year has also seen the opening of a new hospice house and the start of construction on a neonatal intensive care unit.

“It furthers our continuum of care on our campus, Olathe Medical Park, so basically our concept is to have a continuum of care from birth to death,” said Frank H. Devocelle, Olathe Medical Center’s president and CEO.

The new cancer center will have plenty of nearby competition. Farther north along the I-35 corridor, Shawnee Mission Medical Center and the University of Kansas Medical Center boast state-of-the-art cancer facilities.

The hospitals are meeting a growing need: The American Cancer Society estimates that nearly half of all males and nearly a third of all females in the United States will develop cancer.

“In our service area — primary and secondary service area — there are at least 3,200 cases annually that are diagnosed, cancer-related, and we feel those people should have the opportunity to be cared for close to home,” Devocelle said.

Olathe Medical Center’s primary and secondary service areas embrace Johnson, Miami, Franklin and Linn counties.

The hospital’s cancer services currently are fragmented among the various medical buildings on its campus. The new building will bring together medical oncology, radiation oncology and chemotherapy suites under one roof.

— Dan Margolies, editor of the Heartland Health Monitor team, is based at KCUR.

 

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Attorneys for a couple accused of laundering drug money for a Mexican cartel at a small southwest Kansas bank say they have negotiated a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

A joint notice filed Friday by George and Agatha Enns of Meade notifies the court of their intention to change their pleas. Their attorneys say they have not yet gotten a copy of the plea agreement, but expect to set the case for a hearing to enter new pleas before the year ends.

The filing comes a day after former Plains State Bank President James Kirk Friend told the court he plans to change his plea. His change-of-plea hearing is Oct. 17.

Prosecutors contend Friend helped the couple launder more than $6.8 million between 2011 and 2014.

———————

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A former bank president accused of conspiring to launder drug money for a Mexican cartel plans to enter a new plea.

A notice filed Thursday says former Plains State Bank President James Kirk Friend notified the court of his intention to change his plea. A hearing is scheduled Oct. 17 in U.S. District Court in Wichita.

Prosecutors contend Friend helped bank customers George and Agatha Enns of Meade launder more than $6.8 million between 2011 and 2014.

An affidavit outlines a federal investigation into drug trafficking and money laundering activities in the U.S. by the Juarez Cartel/La Linea, sometimes referred to as Mexican Mennonites.

The Mexican cartel is suspected of laundering drug proceeds through the small southwest Kansas bank to avoid tighter restrictions on U.S. currency in its home country.