LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas City man has been sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for trying to kill a Kansas homeless shelter employee by slashing his throat.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that 23-year-old Christopher McCay was sentenced in Douglas County after pleading guilty in January to attempted first-degree murder.
He admitted that in March 2014 he used a steak knife from the Lawrence Community Shelter’s kitchen and stabbed Robert Shaner. The then 46-year-old underwent emergency surgery for injuries to his neck and left hand.
McCay was working as a volunteer cook in the shelter’s kitchen and also had been a guest there. Under the sentence, McCay also must register as a violent offender for 15 years after his eventual release and complete 36 months of post-release supervision.
BALTIMORE (AP) — A Michael Phelps fan who has autism has become an inspiration on his own after sharing his dream of competing in the Olympics one day on the swimmer’s Facebook page.
Austin Levingston’s Aug. 16 post has received more than 3,000 likes. In it, the 21-year-old man, from Great Bend says he’s attending college and hopes to be the first person in his family to get a degree. He also tells Phelps, “I’m hoping to swim in the Olympics just like you someday.”
Levingston also is a doppelganger for Phelps, who grew up outside Baltimore. Levingston included a few pictures of himself which show a strong resemblance to the 23-time gold medalist.
Levingston tells The Baltimore Sun he doesn’t know if Phelps saw his post.
HUTCHINSON – A Kansas man failed to get his bond lowered after he allegedly led Reno County Sheriff Deputies on a chase early Sunday morning.
Christopher Ford, 30, Hutchinson, faces possible charges of felony flee and elude, with five or more moving violations, and driving while suspended.
A Reno County Sheriff Deputy tried to initiate a traffic stop in the 3100 block of East Blanchard, on the frontage road after Ford allegedly crossed the centerline.
As the deputy tried to stop the vehicle, Ford allegedly drove down into the ditch, then accelerated out of it.
He continued traveling east on Blanchard and ran a stop sign at Yoder Road.
During the pursuit, he was driving beyond the speed limit and ran an additional seven stop signs.
The vehicle was eventually abandoned near the intersection of Acres Street and South Elm in Hutchinson.
After a search of who owned the vehicle, deputies were able to find and arrested Ford.
In court, he asked for a bond reduction, which the state opposed. Judge Cheryl Allen decided the bond should stay where it is at $1,750.
Ford is scheduled to return to court on September 6.
Gene Wilder, the star of such comedy classics as “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles,” has died. He was 83.
Wilder’s nephew said Monday that the actor and writer died late Sunday in Stamford, Connecticut from complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
The frizzy-haired actor was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Mel Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in “Young Frankenstein” or bilking Broadway in “The Producers.”
But he also knew how to keep it cool as the boozy sheriff in “Blazing Saddles” and as the charming candy man in the children’s favorite “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”
FINNEY COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 11 a.m. on Monday in Finney County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a GMC CMV driven by Brian E. OKeefe, 40, Garden City, was southbound on U83 twelve miles south of U.S. 50.
The driver lost control of the vehicle. It crossed the centerline of northbound traffic, traveled into the east ditch went into a passenger side skid and rolled.
O’Keefe and a passenger Alberto A. Anguiano, 37, Garden City, were transported to St. Catherine’s Hospital.
O’Keefe was not injured.
Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Photo by Andy Marso/KHI News Service Kelli Ludlum, right, assistant secretary for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, updated members of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition on the upcoming federal inspection at Osawatomie State Hospital. The coalition met Wednesday in Topeka.
The second-in-command at the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services told mental health advocates that Osawatomie State Hospital is well-prepared going into a high-stakes federal inspection on Tuesday.
The Osawatomie hospital is one of two inpatient state facilities for Kansans with severe mental illness. KDADS Secretary Tim Keck visited the other facility in Larned on Wednesday.
That left Kelli Ludlum, assistant KDADS secretary, to update the Kansas Mental Health Coalition on Osawatomie, which is seeking to regain millions of dollars in federal payments lost when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decertified the facility last year.
“We are ready,” Ludlum said during the coalition’s Wednesday morning meeting in Topeka.
She said the facility was nearly ready when it submitted its recertification application earlier this month, but it was waiting on the installation of new baseboards.
“Special plastic, infection-resistant, antibacterial rubber baseboard that is apparently extremely rare and extremely scarce,” Ludlum said. “That is now installed and we are ready to go.”
KDADS is seeking federal recertification for only 60 of the hospital’s 206 beds. The 60 are in an area that has been under heavy remodeling.
Ludlum reiterated comments Keck made last month about the department wanting to make sure federal inspectors look favorably on the current remodeling work before embarking on an expensive revamp of the rest of the hospital.
Ludlum said the agency fears federal officials won’t approach the upcoming inspection with an open mind given the facility’s recent history.
“It’s hard to know what will happen when CMS shows up,” Ludlum said. “Our request is basically just a clean slate.”
After the inspection, KDADS plans to gradually restore the 60 beds to service.
Amy Campbell, the mental health coalition’s lobbyist, said the beds are much-needed.
She distributed a chart that showed the average wait time for a bed at OSH growing steadily in the past year, from less than one day to more than two days.
She emphasized that all those waiting for a bed have been deemed a danger to themselves or others.
“Please remember these are individuals who have actually been screened for involuntary commitment,” Campbell said. “We are not having any voluntary commitments at Osawatomie at this time.”
She said those Kansans often are held in jails or secured spaces within hospitals until a bed comes free and the law enforcement community “is emphatic that this has got to change.”
Campbell said she was “fascinated” that KDADS decided to initially seek recertification for only 60 beds, calling it “almost like a test run at recertification.”
Ludlum said that the differences between the units seeking recertification and those that aren’t would be only facilities-related and largely cosmetic. Staffing levels and treatment quality would be the same.
To that end, Ludlum said Osawatomie has made significant progress in beefing up staff and reducing forced overtime — to the point that she recently received an email from an employee complaining about a lack of overtime.
“In my mind that’s a pretty good problem to have,” Ludlum said, but she added that the state still is looking to fill some slots at Osawatomie and Larned.
Keck has made recruiting and retaining staff a priority since taking over last year — even successfully lobbying the Legislature for more money to raise nursing salaries despite a tight state budget.
Campbell said the successes in that area seem to have Keck more confident about the state’s ability to run the hospitals, while in the beginning he seemed more bullish on privatizing them.
But she said some appetite for privatization remains within the administration, especially if it’s contingent on the new contractor replacing the “extremely outdated” electronic medical records systems at both hospitals.
“That’s a huge part of the discussion,” Campbell said.
Legislators from both parties have said they oppose privatizing the state hospitals and passed a bill last year requiring the Brownback administration to get their permission before pursuing it.
Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating two suspects on theft charges.
Dylan Vessey, 18, and Harold Metzger, 19, both of Salina, were booked into the Saline County Jail on Saturday in connection with the theft of a 2008 Chevy Silverado from the parking lot of Bradley Trucking, 680 E. Water Well Road, just after 4 a.m. on August 22, according to Saline County Sheriff Lt. Mike Ascher.
A parent brought Vessey into the Sheriff’s office on Saturday after a family member picked up both teens in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Metzger later turned himself in.
A Security officer found the pickup in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Colorado Springs, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Brent Melander .
Harold Metzger
Ascher said the two men were both booked into jail on a requested charge of felony theft.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Routine all night-access to Kansas State University’s Hale Library has ended, with the building closing at midnight most nights to save money.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Kansas State said in an email that its libraries lost nearly $1 million over the past two years from a drop in general funds and lower enrollment. The email says the funding reductions come at a time when costs are rising.
Scaling back hours will save $110,000 annually, largely by paring back security and custodial needs. The library also is making staffing and subscription cuts
A notable exception to the new hours for Hale will be finals season. Round-the-clock hours are planned for the week of and the week before exams.
SEATTLE (AP) — A jury has convicted a Russian man of hacking into U.S. businesses to steal credit card information and orchestrating an international online theft scheme that netted him millions of dollars.
Roman Seleznev could face up to 40 years in prison for stealing millions of credit card numbers that he sold on underground internet forums.
Prosecutors say the thefts led to almost $170 million in losses around the world and made him “one of the most prolific credit card traffickers in history.”
After the verdict Thursday Seleznev’s lawyer, John Henry Browne, vowed to appeal.
SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating two phone scams.
They involve someone calling to ask for financial information related to missed jury duty or unpaid taxes, according to a social media report.
The scammers can sound convincing and use actual Shawnee County Sheriff’s officer names as well names of District Attorney personnel.
They will leave messages and a contact phone number. When citizens call the contact number, the scammers identify themselves as law enforcement or the IRS.
Neither the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, nor the District Attorney’s Office, would ever request financial information over the phone to satisfy a warrant.
The sheriff urged citizens to call their office at 785-251-2200, or stop by the department’s lobby at 320 South Kansas, between the hours of 8am to 5:30pm Monday thru Friday if they would like to follow up on a suspected fraudulent phone calls.
LAKE CHARLES, LA – Law enforcement authorities in Lake Charles, Louisiana, are investigating four suspects including former Kansas State University Quarterback Daniel Sam in connection with a home invasion and homicide.
Just after 3:30 a.m. on August 12, the Lake Charles Police Department was notified of a possible shooting in the 1300 block of Lewis Street.
Officers found the front door of the residence kicked in and a man later identified as Aaron Javone Sam, 23, on the floor dead from a gunshot wound, according to a media release.
On Saturday, Lake Charles Police served an arrest warrant on Daniel Sams, 23, in connection with the home invasion and shooting of Aaron Javone Sam, according to Deputy Mark Kraus with the Lake Charles Police Department.
Sams was arrested on a $200,000 bond and faces charges of accessory after the fact to armed robbery, home invasion, attempted first-degree murder and, second-degree murder.
He is the fourth suspect arrested in the case. After a red-shirt year at Kansas State University in 2011, Daniel Sams played in 8 games in 2012 and played in all 13 games in 2013, finishing second on the team with 807 rushing yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns, according to KStatesports.com. He transferred to McNeese State for the 2014 season.
Aaron Javone Sam was a former McNeese State University football player. He was a 2013 and 2014 All-Southland Conference safety and team captain in 2014, according to the McNeese State web site.
Sam Vanochen listens to testimony during the trial pool photo Hutch News
HUTCHINSON -The trial for a Kansas teen accused of the murder of his mother and sister will continue on Monday
Samuel Vonachen is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and aggravated arson after allegedly setting a fire to his family’s home leaving his mother and sister trapped inside. He was 14 at the time of the fire on Sept. 26, 2013.
The defense for Vanochen will continue to call witnesses on Monday. They are attempting to show the teen has a mental defect that caused him set the fatal fire.
Last week a psychologist for the prosecution told the court that his evaluation of the teen indicated Vanochen was capable of forming the intent to commit murder and intentionally poured gasoline in the family’s home and set it on fire.
On Friday, after the state rested their case, the defense asked for a judgment of acquittal, which was denied.
