LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Koch Industries is donating $1 million for scholarships for business and engineering students at the University of Kansas.
The Wichita based petrochemical conglomerate said in a news release Thursday that $600,000 will go toward recruiting, retaining and providing scholarships to underrepresented and first-generation business students. The rest of the money is earmarked for scholarships for juniors and seniors studying engineering and business.
Jeff Gentry, the CEO of the Koch Industries company INVISTA, said in the release that the hope is that the scholarships will “enable promising KU students to develop their innate talents, succeed, and help others do the same.” Gentry has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Kansas.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A woman accused of giving her former boyfriend guns that he used in a shooting at a Kansas lawn equipment factory has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge.
Sarah Jo Hopkins of Newton acknowledged in court Thursday that she didn’t alert authorities that a convicted felon unlawfully possessed firearms.
Prosecutors say Hopkins gave a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun to Cedric Ford, who used those weapons in February in a shooting at the Excel Industries plant in Hesston. Four people, including Ford, were killed and 14 others were injured.
Hopkins will be sentenced Nov. 28 and could face three years in prison. She originally was charged with transferring weapons to a prohibited person.
She told investigators she gave Ford the guns because he had threatened her. They had two children together.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas, tire shop owner has been charged with fatally shooting a man in front of the store.
Celestino Zavala-Ruiz was charged Wednesday in Wyandotte County District Court with second-degree murder in the death of David Burkin.
Prosecutors said in a news release that Burkin was rushed to a hospital late Sunday after he was found in a stolen vehicle that had crashed. Medical staff determined he had been shot, and he died of his wounds.
The release said the shooting happened in front of Zavala-Ruiz’s Zavala Tire Service. The release didn’t say what led up to the shooting.
Zavala-Ruiz is jailed on $150,000 bond. It wasn’t immediately known if he had an attorney.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY -On Thursday afternoon, Deputies were able to confirm the identity of a man involved in a high-speed chase and manhunt pursuit that started on Tuesday as David Dean Dodson, 36, Afton, Oklahoma, formerly of California
Dodson is being held by the Montgomery County Department of Corrections awaiting formal charges.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Southeast Kansas are investigating a suspect involved in this week’s high-speed chase and manhunt.
As of Thursday morning they had not determined his identity, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
On Tuesday evening, the suspect fled officers in Chautauqua County during a chase that reached speeds of 150 miles per hour, according to Sheriff Rich Newby.
Just after 7 a.m. on Wednesday, deputies in Montgomery County responded to a call from
a concerned citizen about a man who came onto his property near CR 4000 and CR1500 asking for gasoline.
After the citizen refused to provide the man with any gasoline the unidentified man left the property in a late 90’s Silver Dodge truck.
Deputies discovered the truck was stolen from Chautauqua County and attempted to stop the vehicle when the driver fled the scene. The Deputies pursued the truck north on Rosser Road entering a field where the unidentified white male crashed the vehicle into a pond.
Deputies were ultimately able to apprehend the driver at the edge of the pond.
He was transported to Coffeyville Regional Medical Center where he was treated for minor injuries and released into the custody of Deputies.
Deputies are working to determine his identity. Officials from The Sheriff’s Office believe the man could be a suspect in other local cases, but that is yet to be determined.
Deputies are suggesting charges of Possession of stolen property, attempt to flee and elude law enforcement, Criminal Damage to Property as well as Driving without a license.
It may require a search of finger print records to learn his identity, according to Newby.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Sentencing has been postponed for a 29-year-old Topeka man accused of helping a would-be jihadist’s unsuccessful plot to bomb an Army post in Kansas.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree said Thursday he is considering whether Alexander Blair’s crime qualifies for the five-year sentence prosecutors want. Blair’s attorney is seeking a sentence of five years’ probation.
Sentencing is now set for Oct. 18.
Court documents say Blair loaned $100 to another man who tried to plant what they thought was an explosive device outside Fort Riley in support of the Islamic State group.
Blair’s attorney said Blair has an unusual genetic condition that made it easy for John Booker Jr. to manipulate him. Booker has pleaded guilty to two felonies under an agreement calling for him to serve 30 years in prison.
NEW YORK (AP) — Regulators are fining Wells Fargo $185 million for illegally opening millions of unauthorized accounts for their customers in order to meet aggressive sales goals.
The San Francisco-based bank will pay $100 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency created five years ago; $35 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and $50 million to the City and County of Los Angeles. It will also pay restitution to affected customers.
The CFPB says Wells Fargo sales staff opened more than 2 million bank and credit card accounts that may have not been authorized by customers.
In a statement, Wells Fargo said: “We regret and take responsibility for any instances where customers may have received a product that they did not request.”
SHAWNEE COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating a case of vandalism and asking the public for help.
On August 23, an unknown white male, wearing glasses and with his face covered, vandalized the ATM machine at the Azura Credit Union in the 600 Block of SW 10th Street in Topeka, according to a media release.
The suspect was driving a red Chevy Cobalt 4-door. Damage to the ATM is estimated at over $1000.
The suspect and vehicle were caught on video surveillance cameras.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police or crimestoppers at 785- 234-0007
SALINE COUNTY – An inmate who refused to the leave the Saline County Jail on Thursday morning is back in custody after causing damage in the jail’s lobby
Just after 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Cody Lott, 33, Salina, was being served dinner when he ran from a holding cell, grabbed a computer monitor and threw it on the floor, according to Saline County Undersheriff Roger Soldan.
The monitor was not damaged and Lott was not charged for the incident.
However, when Lott was released at 2 a.m. on Thursday, he grabbed caused $175 in damage to a jail, lobby vending machine, according to Soldan.
He was then rebooked into the jail on a requested charge of criminal damage to property.
Lott has a long history jail time in Saline County.
He has spent time in jail for alleged, theft, vehicle burglary, criminal trespass, aggravated assault and more, according to Saline County Booking records.
DETROIT (AP) — Mazda is recalling more than 759,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. and Canada because the rear hatches can fall on people and injure them.
The recall covers certain 2010 through 2013 Mazda 3 compact cars, as well as 2012 through 2015 Mazda 5 vans. Also included are certain 2013 to 2016 CX-5 and 2016 CX-3 SUVs.
Mazda says the corrosion protection coating applied to the hatch lift supports at the factory wasn’t sufficient. Over time, water containing road salt can get into the supports, causing them to corrode and break. Mazda says it has no reports of accidents or injuries caused by the problem.
Dealers will replace both lift supports. Customers will be notified in September or October about when to bring their vehicles in for repairs.
Also on Thursday, Ford announced they are adding about 1.5 million cars, SUVs and vans to a recall for doors that can pop open while the vehicles are moving.
The company says it’s adding the vehicles at the request of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The recall expansion includes the 2012 through 2015 Ford Focus, the 2013 to 2015 Ford Escape and C-Max, the 2015 Ford Mustang and Lincoln MKC and the 2014 through 2016 Ford Transit Connect small van.
Ford says a spring tab in the door latches can break, and the doors either won’t close or could pop open. Dealers will replace the latches for free.
The expansion brings the total number of vehicles recalled for the problem to nearly 2.4 million, including just over 2 million in the U.S.
MANHATTAN – Author, world-renowned autism spokesperson Temple Grandin will deliver a Landon lecture on November 29, according Kansas State University.
Grandin, who showed signs of autism at an early age and self describes her unique thought process as thinking in pictures, is an accomplished livestock equipment designer and a successful animal welfare advocate.
She has published several books — including New York Times best-seller “Animals in Translation” — and given many talks about animal welfare and the autistic brain.
Grandin is a consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior and professor of animal science at Colorado State University
In addition, three higher education leaders are participating in a special Landon Lecture panel discussion at Kansas State University on September 26,
The panel participants are Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen Jr., superintendent of West Point Military Academy; David Hall, president of the University of the Virgin Islands; and Bud Peterson, president of Georgia Institute of Technology.
The lecture series is named for former Kansas Gov. Alf Landon, who was the 1936 Republican nominee for president. The series was established in 1966 to bring in speakers to discuss issues facing business, politics and international relations.
STROMSBURG, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska authorities say a Kansas woman has been killed in a rollover crash.
Polk County Sheriff Dwaine Ladwig said in a news release that first responders reached the crash site east of Stromsburg around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Lincoln Journal Star reports that 80-year-old Deloris Marshall, of Kansas City, was pronounced dead at the scene. She’d been thrown from the vehicle. Her husband, Maewethers Marshall, was taken to Osceola for medical treatment.
Ladwig says Maewethers Marshall had been driving. The crash is being investigated.
