WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas farmers are planting winter wheat and harvesting their fall crops in parts of the state where fields are dry enough to do so.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that winter wheat planting is 9 percent complete. That is about the same amount as last year and the five-year average.
Corn harvest is 17 percent finished in the state. Usually 29 percent is done on average by this time.
The condition of corn still out in Kansas fields is rated as 11 percent excellent, 55 percent good and 26 percent pair. About 8 percent is in poor to very poor condition.
About 5 percent of the Kansas sorghum has also been cut.
LINDSBORG – The Lindsborg city council voted unanimously on Monday to
adopt Resolution 14-16 in support of the values of diversity and inclusion after a racist and hateful comments were written in chalk on the sidewalks at Bethany College and directed at the school president Will Jones and his family, according to a social media report.
The resolution also supported Bethany College
Mayor Bill Taylor signed the Resolution and Jones was in attendance.
Prior to the meeting, Jones wrote of the incident on social media
The Jones family at school picnic- courtesy photo Bethany College
“What do you do when a white supremacist writes racist and hateful messages directed at your children and at the students you work to serve? Seriously, what should a person do who desires to follow Christ? What should a college and community do to respond to such hate? These are questions I’ve been wrestling with as a professional and parent for the past two weeks.
Two weekends ago, three to five people claiming to be associated with a hateful organization wrote racially offensive messages with chalk on a few of the Bethany College campus sidewalks. These messages were disgusting and are completely contrary to our core values and intellectual identity. The messages included a chalk outline of a dead body with “rest in peace my friend” and “make Lindsborg white again.”
A few days after the incident a man who is not a student at Bethany and does not even live in Lindsborg (I’m not going to share his name or hateful organization), called my office at the college and stated that he and four other people committed this despicable act. He refused to disclose who his companions were, and no others have admitted to participating. He stated that the chalk messages were written in response to the make-up of my family (I have two adopted, biracial children), to some of the things that have been written and posted online and in the press about my work at the college, and in response to the students of color that Bethany College is recruiting.
That’s right. Think about it. A man called my office to tell me that messages like the outline of a dead body and “make Lindsborg white again” were directed at my family–the love of my life and my sweet children, ages seven to 14 years old. Let it sink into your mind and heart. Dead body outline. Children. Hate. As a parent, how would you feel?
And, the messages were directed at college students who are working to better their lives by getting an education. Bethany students help to produce tens of millions of dollars of economic impact in our community. Students who provide thousands of hours of service in our community, work as student teachers, provide fine arts performances, and they gift us the joy of cheering them on through athletic competition. Our graduates make the world a better place to live. Ponder the messages. Imagine you are the parent of one of our students, working a double shift to help pay for your daughter’s education, and you hear about this. If you were the parent of one of our students of color, what would you think?
This week, this man called again. This time to relish in his “activism,” to threaten to instigate the forces of his “movement” to close our college, and to try and clear the name of his “dear friend.” You see, our college is on probation, primarily for financial issues. This man hopes to gather other bigoted people to keep friends and alumni from supporting our college unless we comply with his demands. He says things to me like “this is what’s going to happen” and “you will” do X and Y during his brief and troubling calls. I am not worried by his threats. His “facts” are wrong. More importantly, I know how much our alumni and friends care for Bethany College.
None of the racist perpetrators of the event on campus know my children. They don’t know my adopted, biracial son, or care how he struggles with a rare, life-threatening kidney disease on a daily basis. Nor do they really care about my youngest daughter who is white. She loves her siblings, all of them (all!), adores pink shirts, and is too scared of flies to hurt one. No, this man doesn’t care about any of those things. He took this deplorable action against my family and me because my family doesn’t have the same skin color.
And the people involved certainly don’t care if their actions have caused fear to creep into my wife’s daily life since this incident. This man doesn’t understand how a parent might feel, especially a mom, when her children are targeted with hate by strangers. He and his small band of troublemakers just write racially offensive and frightening messages in the middle of the night and go on their hateful way.
Even if he reads this, he still will not care. He will think and repeat some of his well-rehearsed, brain-washed lines. You can’t debate such hatred. He and his followers use racist sources like they are scientific studies, or they take bits and pieces and parts of the things we treasure, like holy scripture, as proof of their point of view. They don’t care to look at the overarching message of scripture – God is love, God made all of us from one blood, and Jesus instructed us to love God and each other.
So, who am I writing to? I’m writing to you. What are we (you and I) to do?
As President of Bethany College, I worked with the college’s leadership team and our attorney to ban this man and three others that might have been sympathetic to his cause from our campus. We worked to protect our students. Within 24 hours, we informed our students, faculty, and staff of the incident and our actions. Our campus held a prayer service for a time of reflection. I spoke with our coaches to educate them on the incident and discussed the protection of our students. I met groups of students to discuss the incident. The police are making extra patrols of our area. In addition, we are adding additional layers of security. As President (and as dad of the Jones children), I am working with the authorities.
As a parent, I am writing this to you. Please challenge racism wherever you encounter it. Hurtful, racist actions are not “activism.” Hate language is not blunt talk. Get to know people of other races and cultures. Think about what you post or share online or the jokes you tolerate. Use your imagination to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, kicks, or sandals. Do the simple thing and treat all people the way you want to be treated.
As a Christian, I must turn my anger into love. Jesus wants me to love my enemies (even the ones I didn’t pick, but picked me). Make no mistake, the love I am writing about is not the same affection you feel towards friends or family. Rather, it is the love that allows us to decide to see the people who would seek to hurt us through God’s eyes. It is undeserved love. It is the love that we are taught, as Christians, to show to our fellow human beings. I’m praying that I will find it. And, I’m praying that God will help this man and other racist people to see how sinful they are being and that they will turn away from evil.
As a community member, I hope you will join me. Please pray for my children and wife. Please pray for Bethany College and for protection against those who would hurt us. Please pray that our wonderful town, Lindsborg, doesn’t allow the hate of a couple of people to infect our community. Please pray for emotional and spiritual healing for this man and for anyone who has been corrupted by his hate. Please pray that the organization he has “affiliated” with will fail. And, make time (not excuses) to join with worship services or efforts that promote love, kindness, service, understanding, and community.”
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The League of Women Voters says Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has discarded as of August the registrations of about 6,570 prospective voters under a rule that allows him to toss them after 90 days because they did not prove citizenship.
Those prospective voters likely registered at some place other than a motor vehicle office without providing citizenship documents, so their voting rights are not protected by recent court orders. They would need to register again to vote in November. Kansas requires proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.
The Secretary of State’s office says it could not immediately confirm the number.
The League purchased copies of the Kansas voter suspense list in March and in August, and compared them to calculate the number of missing registrations.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Court documents allege that a man’s blood-alcohol level was double Kansas’ legal threshold when he caused a crash that killed a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy.
The Kansas City Star reports Adrian Espinosa-Flores’ blood-alcohol content measured .160 after the Sept. 11 crash.
Espinosa-Flores is charged with involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of a fatality traffic crash in connection with the accident that killed Master Deputy Brandon Collins.
Collins was conducting a traffic stop on U.S. 69 in Overland Park when authorities say a pickup truck driven by Espinosa-Flores ran into Collins’ parked patrol vehicle from behind.
Adrian Espinosa-Flores told police he had been drinking beer at a friend’s house before the crash and that he was in the country illegally.
His public defender hasn’t returned messages seeking comment.
ELLSWORTH, Kan. (AP) — Federal workplace safety officials are investigating a Kansas grain bin accident in which a worker’s leg got caught in a running auger and was later amputated.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday that the 28-year-old Ellsworth Co-op worker had his left leg surgically removed Monday after the accident.
OSHA says in a statement that the unidentified worker stepped into an open auger well inside a steel grain bin while the auger was operational.
As OSHA’s regional chief in Wichita, Judy Freeman says workers should never enter such bins when an auger is running.
The co-op’s general manager and president, Larry Sheridan, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that OSHA investigators haven’t been to that site since the accident and that he had no comment.
PRATT –– A Pratt man was convicted on Monday of attempted murder in the second degree of a law enforcement officer, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
A Pratt County jury found Bradley Grant Verstraete, 46, guilty of attempted murder in the second degree of Pratt Police Officer Kenneth Wright.
Verstraete also was found guilty of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer concerning Pratt Police Sergeant James Ferbert. Judge Francis E. Meisenheimer presided over the trial. Sentencing is scheduled for November 14 in Pratt County District Court.
The crimes were committed in January 2015. The charges stemmed from an investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Deputy Attorney General Victor Braden and Assistant Attorney General Steve Wilhoft from Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case.
ELLSWORTH COUNTY— A man who was shot and wounded during a central Kansas law enforcement chase continues to recuperate in a Wichita hospital.
Authorities have not released the condition of Alberto J. Garcia-Tapia, 35, or said where on his body he was wounded.
He was charged Friday in Ellsworth County District Court with felony fleeing, felony aggravated assault on law enforcement officers and felony DUI.
No court date has been scheduled.
Three officers from two jurisdictions fired their weapons during the chase Thursday night with Garcia-Tapia, according to a media release from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
Garcia- Tapia will remain in custody in lieu of bond, according to a media release from the Ellsworth County District Attorney.
Garcia-Tapia has previous convictions in Edwards County for Aggravated Battery and Assault and in Stafford County for DUI and Flee and Attempt to Flee and Elude Law Enforcement, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The former president of a troubled union district office in Wichita has been banned from holding an officer position for five years.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the ban affecting Frank Molina follows a union determination of “financial mismanagement.” International Association of Machinists spokesman Frank Larkin says Molina can appeal.
Molina is the former leader of the union’s District 70. It represents 8,000 Machinists members in the Wichita area.
Earlier this year, the IAM took over the operations of the District 70 office under a process it calls trusteeship. Larkin says the trusteeship could be lifted following an election of new officers, but it isn’t clear when that would happen.
Molina and another fired union employee previously sued for wrongful termination, breach of contract and defamation.
KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City man pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to his role in a bank fraud conspiracy in which he operated a flop house where he paid drug addicts for stolen identity information that was used to create counterfeit checks, according to Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Tyler Sutton, 54, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to participating in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud, possession of counterfeit securities, possession of stolen mail, and identity theft. Sutton also pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated identity theft.
Sutton was a property manager residing in the 400 block of Gladstone Boulevard in Kansas City, although he only paid rent for one month and was evicted in October 2014. He used the house to conduct his illegal business by operating it as a flop house where he offered cash and/or drugs to drug addicts who brought him stolen mail, identities, addresses, credit card numbers and bank account information. Sutton often allowed the addicts to stay at the residence.
Sutton also unlawfully obtained identity and account information belonging to other persons and businesses by stealing these items from businesses and from the mail. Sutton and co-conspirators used the stolen identity information to create counterfeit identifications and checks, which were cashed at retail stores and financial institutions.
Sutton did not usually create counterfeit identifications and checks himself, nor did he personally present counterfeit identifications and cash checks. Rather, he instructed others in the making and presenting of counterfeit identifications and checks, and shared the illegal proceeds with his co-conspirators. In this manner, Sutton attempted to insulate himself from liability.
Sutton admitted that the intended loss amount was $83,981.
He has previous convictions for drugs, forgery, and computer crimes.
Another Oklahoma earthquake shook parts of Kansas overnight.
The 4.3 magnitude quake, just before midnight, was centered northwest of Medford, OK, according to the USGS.
No damage or injuries have been reported.
At approximately 5:30p.m. on Monday, a 2.6 magnitude quake was reported in Pawnee, Oklahoma. On September 3, a 5.6 magnitude quake near Pawnee was felt across Kansas and in 5 other states
RENO COUNTY— A Kansas man arrested after a disturbance in Pretty Prairie on September 10, was formally charged with two counts of aggravated assault and battery and domestic violence.
Sheriff deputies along with troopers from the Kansas Highway Patrol responded to the disturbance involving 30-year-old Eric Peirce.
An argument between the victim and Peirce had ensued earlier in the day and the victim left the house.
When she returned, he allegedly pointed a rifle at her and some time during the scuffle, she was allegedly hit over the back of the head with a 9 mm handgun.
Peirce allegedly held officers at bay for a short time until Sheriff Sgt. Matt Tatro was able to finally make contact with Pierce through text messaging and convinced him to come out and give up.
He was initially taken to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center where he was kept for observation and then booked into the Reno County Correctional Facility. He is still in custody.
He has another case pending where he is charged with three counts of aggravated assault where he allegedly pointed a gun at the same victim, including a shotgun twice and a handgun the third time in May of 2016.
Both cases will be scheduled as part of a waiver-status docket.
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect for alleged domestic battery and attempted murder.
Brian Luebbert, 36, Salina, is in custody following an investigation into an incident that occurred on September 14, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney
Luebbert allegedly attempted to strangle a woman in her 30’s after an argument at a Salina residence.
She told police Luebbert punched and kicked her before he forced her into a bathroom, and would not allow her to leave.
Luebbert also allegedly threatened to kill the woman several times before she was finally able to escape to a neighbor’s home and contact police.
By the time officers arrived, Luebbert had fled the scene, according to Sweeney.
He was arrested at his residence on Friday afternoon and faces several charges including attempted 2nd degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated domestic battery, criminal threats, criminal damage to property, stalking, robbery, criminal trespassing and violation of a protection order, according to Sweeney.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas farmers are planting winter wheat and harvesting their fall crops in parts of the state where fields are dry enough to do so.
