MARINETTE, Wis. (AP) — The U.S. Navy has launched a new littoral combat ship in Wisconsin.
The future USS Wichita was christened Saturday at the shipyard in Marinette, where it was built. The ship’s sponsor, novelist Kate Lehrer, wife of former “PBS NewsHour” anchor Jim Leher, broke a champagne bottle across the ship’s bow just before launch. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin was keynote speaker.
The ship will undergo additional outfitting and testing at Fincantieri Marinette Marine before its anticipated delivery next year.
The speedy warship is the nation’s 13th littoral combat ship. The team led by defense contractor Lockheed Martin has six Freedom-class ships — which have a steel monohull — under construction in Marinette, and is procuring materials for three more.
HUTCHINSON -Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson has written a response to an editorial by the Hutchinson Newspaper.
The title of the editorial published on September 13, is “Warning: Security Level at Courthouse at DEFCON 1”.
According to the sheriff, the newspaper is critical of the measures being taken to secure the Reno County courthouse.
Henderson wrote the following on social media: I have been in Law Enforcement 40 years and have a lot of experience with securing venues.
But even if you ignore my qualifications, the Reno County Courthouse and Law Enforcement Center have been assessed by both Homeland Security and the United States Marshal’s Service. Both of those evaluations call for more security than what we are currently proposing.
The original plan for the 1st floor of the Courthouse, after the non-court functions moved out, were that the District Court Offices were going to move there. This would put all the clerks in one spot, allow for a 2nd jury room to be constructed on the 3rdfloor and would limit foot traffic on the 3rd floor where inmates still walk through the public hallway. Unfortunately the County and the Court System could not come to an agreement as to how this could be accomplished, thus it sits vacate for now. I might add that I had been trying to secure the Courthouse for over 10 years, however, the County Commission would not allow that to happen until the non-court functions were moved out.
The Hutch News wants people to believe that just because the non-court functions are gone, no one comes to the Courthouse anymore. They don’t see it because the citizens are usually on the upper floors of the Courthouse and in the Law Enforcement Center. Most citizens now enter through the Law Enforcement Center and not the front of the Courthouse. When the main entrance of the Courthouse becomes the only entrance for both buildings, everyone will be coming in the same door and traffic will greatly pickup in the Courthouse.
In 2017, if the Reno County Courthouse doesn’t have manned/armed security, utilizing electronic security measures, we’ll have to allow guns to be carried into the Courthouse. The Courthouse is a place where some people come because they didn’t follow the rules. You put adversaries in a room together and let them say bad things about each other; you can expect disagreements, disturbances and fights. (Yes this has happened time to time).
Our Courthouse is unique that it is 75,000 square feet, with 5 different Courtrooms housing 6 different Courts. The Courtrooms are spread out from being located in the Law Enforcement Center, to the first floor of the Courthouse, two on the 3rd floor and the Juvenile, Probate and Mental Health cases on the 4th floor. We will have 2 private security persons checking people coming in and scanning bags, briefcases etc. A Certified Sheriff’s Deputy will back them up from a position where he can watch the camera monitors (Hutch News reported they would not be monitored). I have lost a roving officers position that would check doors if persons exited through “Emergency Only” exits. This is to make sure they are not picking up a gun from outside or letting someone in that hasn’t passed through security. This rover would have also be present in courtrooms to take persons sentenced to jail into custody. With the loss of that position, the courts will need to call down to our office and hopefully there is someone available to go to the courtroom and take them into custody. It takes a deputy away from their job and causes a potential issue in the court if the person decides to flee the courtroom or worse yet, act aggressively before an officer can arrive.
The Hutch News seems to downplay the serious incidents that we have had at our Courthouse. Granted these events have taken place over a 40 year period, but there are very few Courthouses around the country that have had these types of issues. I was present for each one of these except the grenade in the Courtroom. I can assure you each one could have ended tragically. WE HAVE BEEN LUCKY.
Past History of Violence at the Reno Co Law Enforcement Center and Courthouse
1975, a Reno Co Jailer was taken hostage at the backdoor of the Law Enforcement Center by an individual with a rifle. The jailer was able to disarm the individual of the rifle but then the subject pulled a handgun on him. He was brought around the front of the LEC and into the Lobby. Then Sheriff’s Deputy Dick Heitschmidt saw what was going on and along with officers from HPD they were able to disarm the suspect. The suspect simply wanted to go to jail and was intoxicated.
April 30th, 1985 – Attorney For Legal Aide was trying to assist a man in the Legal Services office on the 2nd floor of the Courthouse. The man wanted to be sent to the Larned Mental Health Facility. When the Attorney told him that he would have to go to court and have a Care and Treatment done, he jumped up, put her in a chokehold and pulled a penknife on her. Ironically, Tim Chambers, who was working in the County Attorneys office at the time, was nearby and talked the subject down. The suspect went to Larned as he wanted.
June 6th, 1986 – suspect J. D. Jennings – neighbors of Jennings called Law Enforcement and advised that he had been making and setting off explosive devices at his home recently. Jennings was scheduled to appear in Judge Steve Beckers courtroom the next day to be sentenced on theft from a rental apartment. Reno County Sheriff’s Detectives Mike Lucia and Scott Powell met Jennings on the front steps of the courthouse when he came to court. Jennings opened a coat that he had on and showed two pipe bombs on his chest. After several hours of negotiation failed, Jennings was shot and killed by a police sniper. It was believed that if he was sentenced to jail, that Jennings was going to detonate the device in an attempt to kill himself and Judge Becker. Actually, the day before this event, Jennings was sitting in then Judge Buck Lyles office, with his coat on, believing he had court that day, only to find out it was the 6th.
Approximately 2 weeks before that, Jennings was coming to court and was searched in the courtroom because of intelligence information about him. A homemade gun frame was found on him then. It was believed that he was going to try to take the judge hostage in hopes of being killed by suicide by cop.
August 27, 2002 – Individual high on controlled substance had been involved in a disturbance with his ex-wife in another state. A be on the lookout order had been given to area law enforcement because Suspect was making threatening statements when he left his ex. Suspect proceeded to theLaw Enforcement Center and drove his car over the curb directly to the front doors. He ran into the LEC, up the stairs and grabbed a new teacher waiting to get fingerprinted for her teaching certificate. The suspect started yelling that he was going to kill “her” and that he had a bomb. He had a black shaving kit that he was transferring from hand to hand. Several officers from the police dept and our office lined up in both hallways on opposite sides of The suspect and jumped him. He was taken into custody after a scuffle in the lobby. He was charged with Kidnapping and Criminal Threat. No bomb was found.
Dec. 2009 – A Defense Attorney brings a fake grenade into the courtroom and asks the jury if they are intimidated (prior to telling them it was a fake). He even pulled the pin before identifying that it was a fake.
March 2010 – Individual has 2 concealed handguns in his coat, in Judge Chambers Courtroom, during a child custody case. Subject was going to be found in contempt of court and Law Enforcement was alerted to come to Chambers Courtroom. When Deputies entered and Judge Chambers advised that Subject was to be placed in custody and he immediately leaned over reaching inside his shirt. Capt. Scott Powell and Undersheriff Sheldon Steward grabbed The subject who had both hands on two guns in his waistband.
There have been at least 3 other very serious incidents, over the past 6 years, that can’t be disclosed due to security and arrestsnot being made.
The money for the camera system was budgeted for and the voters of Reno County approved the package deal. The addition of the storage for the cameras is being paid for by the District Court.
I totally agree with the Hutchinson News that the new Courthouse Annex needs security as well. The difference is that the people that come to the Courthouse have proven they will break the law or they probably would not be here.
Just some clarification.
Sheriff Henderson
PILSEN, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man whose fighter plane was shot down in North Vietnam in 1965 is finally laid to rest in his native state.
Family and friends gathered in Pilsen Saturday to bury Maj. Dean Klenda.
The Wichita Eagle reports Klenda’s sister, Deanna Klenda, worked relentlessly with The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency until recovery teams from the U.S. and Vietnam found his remains in 2014.
Dean Klenda’s burial came on the 51st anniversary of the day he went missing. His F-105 Thunderchief was helping attack targets east of Hanoi when it was hit by enemy fire, causing him to try to eject. The military says he failed to separate from his ejection seat before it hit the ground.
SEWARD COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just after 5a.m. on Saturday in Seward County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Chrysler 300 driven by Ramiro Palacio-Castillo, 25, Great Bend, was eastbound on U.S. 54 at 8th Street two miles east of Liberal.
Due to heavy fog, the driver failed to see a 2013 Freightliner semi driven by Angel Richardo Garcia-Velazquez, 27, Liberal, slowing down to make a left turn.
The Chrysler ran into the rear of the semi.
Palacio-Castillo was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Kitch Brenneman Funeral Home.
Garcia-Velazquez was transported to Southwest Medical Center.
Palacio-Castillo was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
ELLSWORTH COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Ellsworth County continue to investigate Thursday’s officer involved shooting.
Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in a chase with a suspect identified as Alberto Garcia-Tapia, 35, on Highway 56 between Holyrood and Ellsworth, according to a media release from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation
During the chase, three officers from two jurisdictions discharged their firearms.
No law enforcement officers were injured.
EMS transported Garcia-Tapia from the scene and he was flown to a hospital in Wichita.
Garcia-Tapia faces charges of felony fleeing an officer, aggravated assault and felony DUI, according to Ellsworth County Attorney Joe Shepack .
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) — A federal judge has approved a diversion agreement for a small town bank teller caught up in the prosecution of an alleged conspiracy to launder drug money for a Mexican cartel in Kansas.
The government and the defense for Kathy Shelman asked the court Friday to defer prosecution for 12 months. The former Plains State Bank teller is charged with failing file a report on suspicious banking activity.
Her attorney, Jim Pratt, says the agreement means that if she stays out of trouble a motion will be filed at the end of that time to dismiss the charge.
Trial begins Oct. 26 against former Plains State Bank President James Kirk Friend and customers, George and Agatha Enns of Meade.
The couple deposited more than $6.8 million between 2011 and 2014.
DOUGLAS COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Douglas County are investigating a murder.
Just after 9p.m. on Friday officers with the Lawrence Police Department were dispatched to the 400 block of Ohio Street in Lawrence for a domestic disturbance, which involved weapons, according to a media release.
Upon arrival, officers located a woman who had significant injuries and a man who had died.
The woman was treated for her injuries at Lawrence Memorial Hospital and has since been released.
No further information was released early Saturday.
Photo by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs this month is launching a suicide prevention program known as Reach Vet. The VA also has made changes in its mental health care programs at the Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical Center in Topeka, pictured here, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Center in Leavenworth.
BY MEGAN HART
Michael Fellman says a chance passerby — or, perhaps, divine intervention — kept him alive when the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder became overwhelming.
Fellman, a combat veteran of the Iraq War who spoke September 9, at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs summit in Topeka about mental health care, said he had planned to die on July 31, 2015.
About a month earlier he had gone to the Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical Center in Topeka and was prescribed medication for his condition. But he didn’t realize the medication would take time to work and stopped taking it when he didn’t see improvement after a week.
Fellman’s symptoms soon escalated to the point that even a trip to the grocery store became overwhelming.
“I was tired of the nightmares, tired of the anxiety, tired of the hypervigilance, tired of the depression,” he said.
Fellman said he drove to Lake Shawnee, in east Topeka, and wrote some notes while sitting in his car. No one had gone by for some time, he said, so he stepped out of the car and raised his gun to his head.
It was then that someone happened to walk by and ask if he was OK.
He said he was. The person walked on. But that split second was enough to disrupt his plan.
“That fraction of a second, when I put my pistol down, gave me a chance to think,” he said.
The interruption led Fellman to seek treatment. But the VA hopes to flag other veterans in need of mental health care before they experience a similar crisis and reduce the odds they will get so close to death.
Changes in care
The VA is developing a program called Reach Vet, which will identify veterans who may be at an increased risk of suicide based on any mental health diagnoses and other information that might suggest a mental health need, such as seeking treatment for insomnia, said Stephanie Davis, suicide prevention coordinator for VA Health of Eastern Kansas.
People who receive psychiatric care early tend to have better health outcomes, she said.
“We can provide advance care to people maybe even before they know they’re struggling,” she said.
In 2014, veterans died by suicide at a rate that was 21 percent higher than the general population, Davis said. In Kansas, those who died were more likely to be white males who were younger than 30 or older than 65, she said.
Brian Stephens, group practice manager for VA Health of Eastern Kansas, said the VA medical centers in Topeka and Leavenworth have implemented same-day access for people thought to be at risk for suicide, though people requesting mental health care without an urgent need may have to wait until the next day to be seen.
The two medical centers also are working to integrate their primary care and mental health care providers, Stephens said. If veterans don’t have to come back for follow-up appointments to meet with a mental health provider, he said, they are more likely to start treatment, less likely to harm themselves and generally more satisfied with their care.
The psychiatrists and psychologists know about the change, but the medical centers still are working out how to manage the new workflow, Stephens said. Ideally, they will reach some veterans who may not realize their symptoms come from a mental health problem or who wouldn’t seek care for it because it hasn’t reached a crisis level, he said.
“If we don’t capitalize on that right there in the beginning, we miss that opportunity,” he said. “Most times, asking for help is the hardest thing to do.”
Recognizing warning signs
If VA employees detect someone is at an increased risk of suicide, they can set up mental health appointments and develop a safety plan for that veteran, Davis said.
While some people think about suicide for a long time, the decision to act on those thoughts typically is impulsive, meaning even the brief delay to remove a trigger lock could give the person time to reconsider, she said.
“If we can just interrupt somebody for five minutes, we can save a life,” she said.
Some people have gotten creative, such as one veteran who froze the key to his gun safe into an ice cube so he would have to thaw it before he could harm himself, Davis said.
The safety plans also ask the veterans to recognize warning signs that their mental health may be deteriorating, such as isolating themselves or abusing alcohol or drugs, Davis said, and to come up with coping strategies and safe distractions.
For example, one veteran found that he felt better after doing some people-watching, so he would go and buy a movie ticket — not to watch the movie, but to sit outside a comedy and see the smiling people come out, she said.
While there is no cure for post-traumatic stress disorder or most mental health conditions, people can learn to cope and substantially improve their quality of life with treatment, Davis said.
In Fellman’s case, it took about five months of inpatient treatment through the VA to process his experiences and learn to cope with them. While he said the treatment at times was frustrating, he now feels better equipped to deal with symptoms as they come up. He also is using his experiences to encourage other soldiers who are struggling to seek help.
“I have this giant toolbox and all of these tools have been given to me,” he said.
Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC
A 3.5 Earthquake shook northern Oklahoma and was felt in Kansas just before 7p.m. on Friday
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — The Oklahoma Geological Survey has announced the hiring of a new state seismologist to help study the increase in earthquakes linked to oil and gas wastewater disposal.
Survey Director Jeremy Boak announced Friday that Jacob Walter will assume the post in November. Walter is a research associate at the Institute for Geophysics at the University of Texas. His research interests include tectonic tremor and slow slip; earthquakes; and seismic triggering of earthquakes.
Oklahoma has seen a dramatic increase in seismic activity in recent years, including a 5.8-magnitude quake on Sept. 3 that was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the state. It shook several states, including nearby Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. Scientists have linked the quakes to the underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production.
FINNEY COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating a suspect on weapons charges.
On Friday, Police issued an alert for Scott Sonnenberg, 24, Garden City, on a warrant for 2 counts of criminal in possession of a firearm by a felon. They also reported he was a known meth user.
Just after 4 p.m. on Friday Garden City Police reported they captured Sonnenberg.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A judge has agreed to halt court proceedings against former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle until he receives another mental evaluation.
The Wichita Eagle reports that defense attorney Steven Mank sought the delay Thursday. The prosecution didn’t object.
The 24-year-old Randle was deemed competent in June to stand trial on charges that he hit people with his car during a housewarming party and dodged police trying to serve him with a warrant. He also is charged in two other cases.
A bench trial set for Thursday in one of the cases didn’t happen because of Mank’s request. The other three cases had been set for jury trials next week.
A report from the mental evaluation is expected to be completed within about two weeks.
Lawrence Police Chief Tarik Khatibi at a Friday News Conference
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A former Lawrence police officer is facing a misdemeanor charge after authorities say he punched a man during a domestic disturbance investigation.
Douglas County Attorney Charles Branson announced Friday that he has charged Frank McClelland with misdemeanor battery.
Police Chief Tarik Khatib said Friday that another Lawrence officer reported the incident, which occurred Aug. 16.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports officers were trying to break up a fight between two men when one of the men refused McClelland’s commands to sit on the ground.
Branson says McClelland swept the legs out from under an uncooperative man and then punched him in the face up to four times.
McClelland was placed on administrative leave during an investigation by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. He resigned Aug. 24.
BARTON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Barton County are investigating an aggravated robbery.
Just before 2:30a.m. on Friday, Great Bend Police Officers were dispatched to the area of the 1400 block of 11th Street in reference to a report of an aggravated robbery, according to a media release.
Upon arrival officers made contact with a 36-year old female victim who advised that some personal property had been stolen from her.
She advised that she was at a residence, 1408 11th Street, in Great Bend, when an unknown suspect threatened her with a large knife and took her property.
Police Officers obtained a search warrant for the residence. No additional details were released.
