KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police in Kansas City, Kansas, have identified a woman found dead with her husband in their home in what investigators suspect was a murder-suicide.

Police spokesman Tom Tomasic said Wednesday that a 17-year-old girl returning home Tuesday afternoon found the bodies of her 45-year-old mother, Jennifer Combs, and her stepfather. The man’s name wasn’t released.

Tomasic said both victims had been shot.

Tomasic says the officer retreated before authorities applied for a search warrant to further investigate the scene.

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police are investigating a possible murder-suicide after a teen found her mother and stepfather dead in Kansas City, Kansas.

Police spokesman Tom Tomasic says the teen found the bodies Tuesday afternoon. The Kansas City Star reports that after being summoned, an officer entered the home and found that the woman had been shot.

Tomasic says the officer retreated before authorities applied for a search warrant to further investigate the scene. Police later confirmed that two people died from gunshot wounds. Their names weren’t immediately released.

DOUGLAS COUNTY – A man who allegedly injured a police officer by dragging him with his vehicle as he fled a traffic stop in Lawrence is in custody.

Aramis Neal Hernandez, 36, was located and arrested on Tuesday by an out-of-state agency on a Kansas warrant for Aggravated Battery of a Law Enforcement Officer, according to a media release.

Just before 5 p.m. on July 5, a Lawrence police officer stopped a white Ford Fusion with a Missouri license plate.

Hernandez fled the area, dragging the officer on the street with his vehicle, according to police.

The officer was treated in a local hospital for injuries that weren’t life-threatening.

The day after the incident, police found the vehicle

HUTCHINSON — A Kansas man bound over for trial in a child sex case was arraigned Tuesday and entered not guilty pleas.

Tanner Ward, 23, is charged with two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, aggravated burglary and criminal threat. The charges involving a child 14 to 16 years of age are alleged to have occurred on January and January 11.

The aggravated burglary is alleged to have occurred on June 23 where he allegedly went into a home in the 100 block of East 5th to allegedly intimidate a victim or for a sexually motivated crime, according to police. The mother of the victim found him in her daughters bed. He was later found inside the garage of that home.

The final charge of criminal threat is alleged to have occurred on February 15, where he allegedly threatened to cut another person’s head off. Saying once all this is over he would go to the victim’s mothers home and take care of her.

Judge Tim Chambers has also scheduled a pretrial hearing for Friday.
Ward has another case where he was originally arrested for burglary after he allegedly stole some copper pipes from the construction site at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, then took the pipes to Midwest Iron and Metal and sold them for cash. In doing so, he apparently signed papers saying the items were his. The state charged him with making false writing.

Ward is also alleged to have made contact with the alleged victim urging her to not show in court to testify telling her she wouldn’t be in trouble if she told them she simply forgot. Schroeder charged him with another count of Intimidation of a witness.

Those cases are still pending a preliminary hearing and is scheduled as part of a waiver-status docket on Wednesday.

FINNEY COUNTY –Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating an alleged kidnapping, robbery and looking for two suspects.

Police reported on September 1, a 57-year old Garden City woman reported that she was approached by a female suspect outside of JC Penny in Garden City and told she was in financial hardship and needed help, according to a media release.

A short time later a male suspect approached them. The female suspect grabbed the victim and would not let her leave.

The suspects told the victim to take them to her house. The victim refused to take the suspects to her home, but did agree to take them to the bank, verbal threats were made towards the victim as they demanded money, according to police.

The victim did transport the suspects to a bank where the male suspect and victim entered the bank and withdrew an undisclosed amount of money.

The victim then drove the suspects back to the shopping area and dropped them off.

There were no injuries or weapons involved. The suspects are described as:

White female, 40-50 years of age, thick brown hair, wearing a black long sleeve shirt and floral print skirt.

White Male, 50 years of age, no facial hair, wearing a blue shirt and khaki pants.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Police say a Kansas man charged with harassing a New Zealand fashion blogger online also sent sexual pictures to other people.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that a recently released arrest affidavit says the social media accounts of 19-year-old Kalim Akeba Lloyd Dowdell had been blocked more than two dozen times. He faces a single misdemeanor charge of harassment by telecommunications device in Douglas County.

The criminal charge was filed eight months after blogger Rachel Gronback contacted police about inappropriate pictures she

had received on her Instagram account. The affidavit says Dowdell would create new accounts when Gronback attempted to stop the pictures by blocking him. Her effort to stop online harassment can be found here.

A Lawrence resident has offered to pay a substantial portion of her travel fees if she needed to come to the U.S. to testify.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors are appealing a decision to overturn the conviction of a man accused of setting a fire that destroyed a Topeka apartment building and killed one tenant.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a Shawnee County judge ruled last month that Frank Jerome “Chicago” Robinson wasn’t fairly convicted and should be retried.

Robinson had been serving a 36-year prison sentence after jurors convicted him of reckless second-degree murder and aggravated arson in the 2006 fire that killed 53-year-old Marvina Washington. Several other people escaped, including a woman who was badly injured while jumping.

Robinson’s attorneys had argued that his trial counsel was ineffective.

Shawnee County District Attorney’s office chief of staff Matt Patterson says efforts are underway to notify surviving victims, witnesses and Washington’s family about the decision.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Four former Kansas governors have launched a bipartisan campaign to retain Kansas Supreme Court justices in November’s election.

The first of three invitation-only events featuring former Republican Govs. Mike Hayden and Bill Graves and former Democratic Govs. John Carlin and Kathleen Sebelius took place Tuesday in Kansas City, Missouri, and are sponsored by Kansans for Fair Courts. That group says it wants to keep the state’s courts independent.

Voters will determine whether five of the seven justices receive another six-year term. They are Chief Justice Lawton Nuss and Justices Carol Beier, Dan Biles, Marla Luckert and Caleb Stegall.

Conservatives are targeting all of them except Stegall. He is Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s only appointee.

FRONTENAC, Kan. (AP) — A former city clerk in southeast Kansas has been charged with misusing public funds and several other felonies.

The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports that Doug Sellars, of Frontenac, was arrested Friday morning. Other felonies he is facing include official misconduct and theft. He has been released on $10,000 bond. His attorney, Rick Smith, declined to comment.

Sellars began working as the Frontenac city clerk in 2004 after more than a decade with the city’s police department. He was appointed interim city manager in 2014. Sellars abruptly resigned from both positions August 2015.

Authorities say the alleged misconduct occurred in 2014 and 2015. The allegations include that he purchased about $8,100 of “personal merchandise” with city dollars.

The charges follow a Kansas Bureau of Investigation probe.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — An eastern Kansas sunflower farm was so popular on Labor Day that law enforcement closed access to it after cars were backed up several miles to get a glimpse of the state’s botanical symbol.

The Kansas City Star reports the Grinter farm in Leavenworth County has drawn huge weekend crowds as the 40 acres of sunflowers reaches its peak, which is in late August and early September.

But with a combination of nice weather and the holiday, so many cars lined up along U.S. 40/24 between Lawrence and Tonganoxie that the county sheriff closed off access in mid-afternoon.

A message left on the farm’s Facebook page apologized for those who drove a long way to see the sunflowers before being turned away. It encouraged visitors to return this week.

But with a combination of nice weather and the holiday, so many cars lined up along U.S. 40/24 between Lawrence and Tonganoxie that the county sheriff closed off access in mid-afternoon.

A message left on the farm’s Facebook page apologized for those who drove a long way to see the sunflowers before being turned away. It encouraged visitors to return this week.

BROWN COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just after 9a.m. on Tuesday in Brown County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1995 Honda Civic driven by Nathan Cortez, 32, Hiawatha, was west bound on U.S. 36 just east of Mallard Road in the east bound lane.

The vehicle hit a semi head-on.

Cortez was transported to Hiawatha Community Hospital where he died.

The semi driver Lucas Keebler, 32, Highland, was also transported to the hospital in Hiawatha.

Cortez was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

The accident remains under investigation.

BARTON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Barton County are investigating a shooting and searching for a suspect.

Just after 9 p.m. on Sunday, officers from the Great Bend Police Department responded to the area of the 300 block of Fruit Street in reference to a disturbance, according to a media release.

Upon arrival, officers located a 36-year old man named Walter Vasquez who had a gunshot wound to his left arm.

During the course of the investigation, officers learned that the gunshot wound was sustained during the course of an argument.

Great Bend Fire/EMS transported Vasquez to Great Bend Regional Hospital.

Officers are currently searching for Ever Olivas, who is believed to be the shooter.

Police indicated anyone with information on Olivas should contact the Great Bend Police Department at 620-793-4120. If you want to stay anonymous, you can call the Crimestoppers hotline at 620-792-1300.

FINNEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in southwest Kansas are investigating a suspect on a variety of charges following a weekend high-speed chase.

Just after 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, deputies in Finney County attempted a traffic stop for a stop sign violation on a 1990 Lincoln Continental driven by Steve Olivarez, 45, Garden City, at the intersection of Farmland and Mansfield, according to Undersheriff John Andrews.

Olivarez refused to stop. He led deputies on a thirty-five mile high-speed chase into western Gray County. A deputy from the Gray County Sheriff’s office assisted with stopping the vehicle at the intersection of 11Road and R Road south of Ingalls.

Olivarez was arrested without further incident and remains in custody on a $40K Bond, according to Andrews.

He faces charges of driving while suspended, fleeing, or attempting to flee and elude, reckless driving, expired registration and no proof of insurance. He was also wanted on a municipal warrant in Garden City.

By JIM MCLEAN

A large section of what used to be Mercy Hospital in Independence has been torn down in the year since it closed.

On a hot August day, a bulldozer prepares the lot where it once stood for construction of a new city garage.

Andy Taylor, editor of the weekly Montgomery County Chronicle, said many residents of the community of about 10,000 still aren’t sure exactly what happened. But he said they believe city and state officials could and should have done more to save the hospital.

“What the average citizen knows is there’s not a hospital here,” Taylor said. “The day in August of 2015 when Mercy Health System said, ‘We’re closing this hospital,’ people woke up and they said, ‘OK, elected officials, where were you?’”

As it turns out, several area lawmakers were among those who, with Gov. Sam Brownback and Republican legislative leaders, blocked something that might have helped: Medicaid expansion.
“The refusal to expand Medicaid is part of the reason (the hospital closed),” said Chuck Schmidt, a Democrat running for the Kansas Legislature seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Jeff King of Independence.

“We know that hospital lost $1.6 million a year as a result of not having Medicaid expansion,” Schmidt said, referring to the amount the hospital would have gained in higher reimbursements under expansion.

Two area lawmakers who were vocal opponents of Medicaid expansion were defeated in the August primary election.

Rep. Virgil Peck, a conservative Republican from Tyro, lost his bid for an open Senate seat to Dan Goddard, a retired businessman from Parsons. Sen. Forrest Knox, of Altoona, an 11-year legislative veteran, fell to Bruce Givens, an educator from El Dorado.

Both Peck and Knox were supporters of Brownback’s 2012 income tax cuts. Those cuts and the budget problems that followed were, Taylor said, the main reasons for their defeat. But he said Peck’s perceived inaction on the hospital issue also was a factor.

“The hospital was in his district,” Taylor said. “And he said absolutely nothing to help the situation.”

Even with Kansas hospital administrators calling for the expansion of KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, candidates approach the issue with care because of its connection to the Affordable Care Act, the federal health reform law that many in this part of the state still refer to as Obamacare.
The campaign card that Schmidt gives to voters when he goes door-to-door doesn’t mention expansion and the fact that it would provide health coverage to tens of thousands of low-income Kansans. Instead, it says he supports “quality rural health care.”

Schmidt said other area hospitals could be at risk without the additional federal dollars expansion would provide.

“Labette County hospital is losing $3 million a year now, and Coffeyville is losing $2 million,” he said, noting that Neosho Regional Medical Center in Chanute would get an additional $2.5 million a year under expansion.

“Those are significant numbers,” he said. “If we don’t get turned around and get Medicaid expansion, we could have other hospitals close as well.”

To date, the Kansas Hospital Association estimates the rejection of expansion has cost the state nearly $1.4 billion in additional federal funds.

It’s not just Democrats who now are amenable to expansion. Goddard, Schmidt’s GOP opponent in the general election, favors it.

Doug Blex is the conservative Republican running for Peck’s old House seat. A retired state employee who now ranches near Independence, Blex said he initially was skeptical of Medicaid expansion as another program that he didn’t think the debt-strapped federal government could afford.

“Quite frankly, before the shock of the hospital (closure) hit me, I was leaning against it,” he said.

But seeing the hospital where he and his children were born close caused him to rethink his position. Now, after “a lot of discussion with other people,” he has concluded that expansion isn’t all that different from other federal programs important to rural America.

“Farmers get federal subsidies,” he said. “And if it takes a federal subsidy (to stabilize rural hospitals) and it’s not costing Kansans a lot of money … I’m leaning to probably support Medicaid expansion.”

The ACA requires the federal government to permanently cover no less than 90 percent of the costs of expansion.

Jean Kurtis Schodorf of Sedan, Blex’s Democratic opponent in the Nov. 8 election, also favors expansion.

The emerging bipartisan support for expansion is an indication that no candidate in southeast Kansas wants to run the risk of the local hospital being the next to shut its doors.

Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.