HARVEY COUNTY – First responders are on the scene of a chemical spill in Hesston.

Just after 10:20 a.m. on Thursday, an employee of GVL Poly 8515 Hesston Road in Hesston, reported difficulties in breathing, according to a media release.

Gary Denny, director of emergency management for Harvey County, says a building at the plant was evacuated after a breach of a container with a chemical used in manufacturing coolers. He says the chemical — polymethylene polyphenyl isocyanate — can be hazardous if it’s inhaled. He says it’s unclear how much escaped.

A total of six employees reported medical issues due to the spill. Three employees were transported to Newton Medical Center in serious condition; the other three employees went to Newton Medical Center through private vehicles, were checked and released.

Responding to the incident were Hesston EMS, Newton EMS, Hesston Police Department, Harvey County Sheriff’s deputies and Harvey County Emergency management.

FORD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Ford County are inundated investigating a number of reported clown sightings.

Some of the sightings reported the clowns as being armed with various types of weapons, according to a media release.

Officers responded to these reports but were unable to substantiate them.

Police also received reports that clowns were going to go to the schools and commit acts of violence.

Police investigated each report and determined that the reports were either misunderstandings by students who heard other students talking and misinterpreted what was said about other reports.

We have also tracked one incident where a student heard another student talking about it and made a fake Facebook page to scare the other student.

People who want to create fear in others have instigated the clown incidents in Dodge City, according to police.

Nothing in our investigations have given us any indication that there is a credible threat to any schools in Dodge City by clown attack.

It appears social media has been the fuel that helped spread this hysteria in the community. We are speaking with the Ford County Attorney to determine what charges can be filed against those who create this kind of public fear.

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a Wednesday night shooting.

Just before 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, an unidentified suspect reportedly was walking near a residence in the 3200 Block of Royal and fired a gun at 24-year-old Rachad Austin.

Austin, who was standing on a porch of the residence, pulled out a gun and returned fire at the suspect who fled the area on foot.

Austin was transported to Salina Regional Health Center with a non-life threatening wound to his upper torso, according to Sweeney.

The home was also struck by gunfire, but none of the occupants inside the home were hit.

Police did not release a description of the suspected shooter on Thursday morning.

——–

SALINE COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a shooting in a south Salina neighborhood.

Just before 11p.m. on Wednesday, police officers were sent to the 3200 block of Royal . in response to a report of gunshots, according to Sgt. Scott Hogeland .

One person was transported to the Salina Regional Health Center. Their condition was not available late Wednesday.

More information is expected to be released on Thursday.

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.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Navy seaman’s remains are returning to Kansas, 75 years after he was killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Lewis Lowell Wagoner was 20 when he was declared missing after the Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack that propelled the United States into World War II.

Wagoner was aboard the USS Oklahoma when it and other U.S. warships were hit by torpedoes. The battleship Oklahoma capsized quickly. Thirty-two men were rescued, but 14 Marines and 415 sailors were killed and largely were buried as “unknowns” in a Hawaii cemetery.

Many of those remains were disinterred for modern DNA testing that only recently identified Wagoner and roughly 30 others.

Wagoner’s remains are to be flown Friday to Wichita, with a memorial and interment ceremonies scheduled the next day in Harvey County.

MANHATTAN – Law enforcement authorities in Manhattan are investigating a stabbing.

Police say an aggravated battery that involved an altercation between two students on the Kansas State University campus, resulted in one student being stabbed, according to a media release.

At approximately 2:00 A.M. on Wednesday, two Kansas State University students got into an altercation in their room on the sixth floor of Marlatt Hall.

During the altercation, a Freshman in Microbiology, Christopher Stutler, was injured with a knife.

The Kansas State University Police Department responded to the incident. Stutler was taken to Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan, treated for a wound that was non-life threatening and released.

The suspect, a Freshman in Biology Justin Galichia, was taken into custody and released. He was charged with aggravated battery, according to the university.

RENO COUNTY – A Reno County woman was injured in an accident on Wednesday after she was run over by her own car.

The Reno County Sheriff’s Department reported Beth A. Davis, 58, was driving a vehicle in the 200 Block of Ricksecker Street in Abbyville, southwest of Hutchinson.

Davis told deputies she was driving around looking for her daughter’s dog.

She saw the dog in a driveway, pulled into the driveway of the house and thought she had placed the vehicle into park.

When she stepped out of the vehicle, it traveled in reverse, knocked her to the ground and ran over her right leg.

The vehicle continued in reverse onto the property directly southwest and came to rest against a utility pole. The utility pole was not damaged.

Davis was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.

HUTCHINSON – One of three people charged in a criminal case involving the attack on a Kansas woman in May was sentenced to four years, 10-months in prison for her part in the case.

Michala Cooprider, 20, Haven, entered a plea to aggravated burglary in the case while the state dropped a charge of aggravated battery.

Police say on May 23, she entered a home in the 600 Block of East 7th Street in Hutchinson and battered a woman who was still in bed.

The victim had injuries so severe, she was taken to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center for treatment and had to have 15 staples put in for her wounds.

She was allegedly attacked because she may have given information to law enforcement in McPherson County over a burglary case.

Cooprider was also sentenced to just over two years for two incidents. In one incident, she was convicted of aggravated burglary and theft by deception. These charges stem from stealing from the Kwik Shop at 43rd & Plum on Oct. 29, 2015. Because of prior theft convictions, the crimes were filed as felonies.

The other incident has to do with crimes on Nov. 1, 2015. She was convicted of aggravated burglary and theft for taking items from the same Kwik Shop.

The sentences for these crimes were ordered by Judge Joe McCarville to run concurrent to the sentence in the beating case.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 63-year-old Wichita man has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading no contest in the stabbing death of his wife.

Larry Andres was sentenced Tuesday in Sedgwick County District Court for first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Marilyn Andres. Under a plea agreement, he will be eligible for parole after 25 rather than 50 years.

Prosecutors say Larry Andres stabbed his wife in the chest at least six times after beating her in July in the couple’s home. He called 911 afterward and cooperated with police.

But at the sentencing hearing, he angered her relatives when he said he stabbed but “did not kill her.” He suggested she inflicted the fatal injuries upon herself by hitting her head on a bathtub.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 75-year-old man has died from injuries sustained last month when he was struck by a car while riding a bike in Topeka.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that John Gamber was critically injured after the collision with a car on Sept. 20. Topeka police said he died Wednesday.

Police say investigators are still working to determine if a crosswalk light was activated when the crash occurred.

Once the investigation is complete, the case will be forwarded to either the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office or the Topeka city prosecutor for review.

SALINE COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating an online scam.

Police say they recently received a report of a local house that was fraudulently listed for rent on Craigslist, according to a social media report.

They credit an alert homeowner for notifying police to the online scam attempt.

Police remind the public to never send cashier’s checks, money orders, cash, or any other form of payment to an unknown person and if you are looking to rent a house or apartment, meet the landlord at the residence and conduct business in person.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — President Susan Wagle and other Republican candidates for the Kansas Senate have outlined a broad campaign platform aimed at addressing voters’ anger with state government.

But the 26 senators and Senate candidates who signed onto the platform Wednesday are not publicly breaking with GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.

The platform says the Republican candidates are committed to providing greater oversight of the state budget, making the tax system fairer and working to create new jobs.

It doesn’t specifically call for repealing key tax cuts enacted at Brownback’s urging, though Wagle said “everything is on the table.”

The Wichita Republican said the platform is a response to what Republicans are hearing from voters while they campaign.

But Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka called the platform “a bunch of platitudes.”