A bag containing what appears to be ice cubes. This is actually how methamphetamine became to be called “ICE”. The pouch lying on the bag containing the methamphetamine is called a field test kit. These kits allow officers to test the substance prior to sending it into a laboratory such as the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.-photo Pawnee County Sheriff
PAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Pawnee County are investigating several suspects on drug charges.
On August 12, a deputy made contact with a subject traveling through the county from Nebraska to Oklahoma, according to a social media report.
During the investigation it was determined the subject was driving on a suspended driver’s license.
The driver was initially arrested for driving while suspended.
During the tow inventory of the vehicle, 117 grams of methamphetamine was discovered hidden inside the vehicle.
The Deputy also found a digital scale.
The subject was finally arrested for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, felony drug paraphernalia, and driving while suspended and transported to the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office.
This case is currently being looked at by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for possible Federal Charges.
Just after 8 p.m. on Sunday, the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office initiated a drug sting within the City of Larned.
A cooperating individual was able to purchase a large amount of methamphetamine from a subject in Larned.
After the “controlled buy” a search warrant was obtained for a residence in Larned. The search warrant was served without incident, with one individual arrested. Officers from the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office were able to locate nearly 50 grams of methamphetamine with packaging and 90 grams of marijuana with packaging inside the residence.
One subject is currently in custody for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, using a communication device to facilitate a drug transaction, felony drug paraphernalia, and misdemeanor drug paraphernalia.
BUTLER COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Butler County are investigating a reported driveway paving scam.
The potential victim provided deputies with photographs, vehicle tag information and names of those involved with the scam, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office
Information received linked the individual to a group that the Kansas Attorney General’s office has on a watch list.
The sheriff’s office asked the public to keep these guidelines in mind before having any pavement sealing done on your property.
One of the biggest scams in asphalt contracting is the “I have extra material” line.
Any reputable sealing contractor will have very little sealer left after a job is complete.
Also sealer does not go bad as long as it does not freeze.
Any contractor that knocks on your door should only tell you one thing; that he left his shop with nothing to do that day and is now out trying to drum up some work.
Beware of anyone who does not have their truck lettered.
If a deal sounds too good to be true, it is.
Ask for references, exact addresses, tell them to come back after you have had a chance to go look at them… and do go look. ·
If a contractor says that a price is for “today only,” or “working in your area this week only” that usually means that he is what’s called a “Traveler.” Traveler’s or more commonly called “Gypsies” move from state to state and town to town. After they have worn out their welcome, they move to a different state or town. These people usually have out of state license plates, fancy trucks, and a reason you need to do the work right now.
Always just take a moment to see if they are in the phone book, if they say they are new, call directory assistance.
If the contractor you hire will only accept cash or wants the check made out to cash, BEWARE. Never make a check out to “cash” and if they insist on using their personal name ask for a valid driver’s license and copy all their information.
A reputable contractor will always ask for a check made out in the name of the business.
If in any doubt, ask for their contractor’s license number, to see their driver’s license, or certificates of insurance. If they just give you information verbally tell them to return the next business day after you have had a chance to verify their information.
While not every contractor who makes “cold calls” is disreputable many are, often others are brand new, inexperienced, and desperate for work.
If you have information about the scammers or if you yourself have been scammed, please contact the Sheriff’s Office at 316-322-4254 or 800-794-0190.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas lawmaker whose 10-year-old son was killed on the world’s tallest waterslide is thanking supporters and hoping such a tragedy never happens again.
Scott Schwab says in a statement supplied by his lawyer to the Kansas City Star that “words will never convey the appreciation” his family has for the outpouring since Caleb Schwab died Aug. 7 while riding the 168-foot tall “Verruckt” ride at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.
Scott Schwab says the family hopes the investigation provides “answers and assurances that such a tragedy would not strike again.”
As a partner in the law firm hired by the Schwabs, Michael Rader says Schlitterbahn has cooperated with his independent investigation.
Linda Thomas, Warden at Leavenworth Detention Center
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge in Kansas has agreed to appoint a special master to determine whether a private prison violated attorney-client privilege by video recording meetings between inmates and their attorneys.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson on Tuesday asked attorneys to provide her with their thoughts on the special master’s scope.
The master would investigate defense attorneys’ claims that Corrections Corporation of America made video and audio recordings of confidential conversations and passed some on to prosecutors.
Robinson said she didn’t expect to appoint the master until next month.
The practice at CCA — a private, for-profit company that manages dozens of U.S. facilities — surfaced in a case over distribution of contraband at the Leavenworth Detention Center in which audio-less video recordings were subpoenaed by a grand jury.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court has banned the Justice Department from prosecuting medical marijuana cases if no state laws were broken.
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered the federal agency Tuesday to show that 10 pending cases in California and Washington state violated medical marijuana laws in those states before continuing with prosecutions.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but Congress has barred the Justice Department from spending money to prevent states from regulating the use or sale of medical pot.
Federal prosecutors argued unsuccessfully that Congress meant only to bar the department from taking legal action against states and that it could still prosecute individuals who violate federal marijuana laws.
The court ordered trial judges to conduct hearings to determine if prosecutions can continue.
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a suspect in the killing of a man whose body was found in a wooded area of Pittsburg.
Police say the 38-year-old man is jailed in Crawford County on suspicion of second-degree murder in the death of 46-year-old Raymond Cleffman of Pittsburg.
The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports that Cleffman’s body was found Sunday near an automotive salvage business. His death was classified as a homicide after an autopsy.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Crawford County Sheriff’s Department and Pittsburg State University Police Department are assisting with the investigation. Authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward.
State officials have cancelled a series of forums that were to be held next week to allow the public to comment on reduced payments to those who serve patients on Kansas Medicaid, or KanCare.
A letter sent Tuesday expressed regret that the meetings in Overland Park, Topeka, Wichita, Pittsburg and Dodge City would not take place.
“Instead we are using this letter to tell KanCare members more about the provider payment rate reductions and we are asking for your feedback if you would like to let us know you(r) thoughts on this matter,” the letter says.
The letter directs those who want to comment on the reductions to email [email protected].
Angel de Rocha, a spokeswoman for state agencies, said soliciting public comment by letter and accepting it by email would give each KanCare member a greater opportunity to weigh in.
“We believe more of our consumers will receive this information that way, directly, than would be able to attend and hear about it in a public meeting, and that the letter method more thoroughly and effectively meets our obligation to keep them informed and up to date about what is going on with KanCare,” de Rocha said via email.
The nonprofit KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute and a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor reporting collaboration.
LARNED, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has launched an audit of a state mental hospital’s finances a day after the announcement that its chief financial officer no longer was affiliated with the site.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the Larned State Hospital’s superintendent and special counsel announced David Fender’s departure Monday in an email to staff. Fender was hired last year.
A spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, Angela de Rocha, declined to discuss reason’s for Fender’s departure, calling it a private personnel matter.
De Rocha said Tuesday that though the department has “no reason to believe anything is amiss” at Larned, the agency’s internal auditing unit is scrutinizing the hospital’s finances.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A retired Wichita police officer accused of embezzlement has agreed to change his plea in a federal prosecution stemming from a $56,400 contract to train law enforcement agencies on responses to armed engagement.
A court notice posted Tuesday shows Kevin P. Vaughn of Wichita is scheduled for a change of plea hearing on Aug. 23.
Vaughn retired in March 2015 after 28 years with the Wichita Police Department. He is charged embezzling Department of Homeland Security funds, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
Vaughn is accused of falsifying reports to make it look like his company, Red Mist Tactical, had completed 15 eight-hour classes the company agreed to provide last year.
The indictment alleges he fabricated student sign-up sheets for the classes and forged signatures of officers.
Thousands of dresser-chests are under recall due to a serious tip-over hazard, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The recall issued on Tuesday involves four-drawer wooden chests sold under the Storybook brand (model 416407) and sold exclusively at Walmart.
The recalled chests are unstable unless they are properly anchored to the wall, posing a serious tip-over and entrapment hazard that could result in death or serious injuries to children, according to the CPSC.
The white laminated chests have a single white wood pull on each drawer.
The chests were manufactured and sold between April 2016 and June 2016.
A label with the date code in the MM/YYYY format is located on the back of the unit.
The chests measure 42.13 inches high by 29.25 inches wide and 16.25 inches deep.
Consumers should contact Sauder Woodworking at 800-523-3987 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or online at www.sauder.com and click on “Public Notices” at the bottom of the page for more information.
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect for various alleged sex crimes.
Adonis E. Jones, 24, is alleged to have fondled two teen boys at his home between November and July, according to Police Captain Mike Sweeney .
Jones is also accused of sending sexually explicit messages on Facebook to one of the victims.
He is an acquaintance of the boys.
The police began their investigation on August 2nd they were contacted by the Kansas Department of Children and Families.
Jones was booked into the Saline County Jail late Monday morning on requested charges of two counts aggravated indecent liberties with a child, indecent sexual solicitation of a child, unlawful sexual relations with a child, and three counts of electronic solicitation.
Photo by Jim McLean/KHI News Service In a rare, informal conversation with Statehouse reporters late last week, Brownback said the results of the recent primary election aren’t causing him to reconsider his positions on tax cuts, school finance or Medicaid expansion. ]
By JIM MCLEAN
The results of the recent primary election haven’t pushed Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback off his talking points.
In a rare informal conversation with Statehouse reporters late last week, Brownback was asked whether he interpreted the primary results as a rejection of his policies, his controversial income tax cuts in particular.
“I consider them (the results) to be a frustration with the budget, with K-12 (education) funding because those are the things I’m hearing the most about,” Brownback said, conceding that media coverage has led many Kansans to believe that his tax cuts are responsible for the state’s chronic budget problems.
“There’s been very little coverage of positive sides of business growth in the state,” he said, noting that small-business growth had been particularly robust on the Kansas side of the line in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
“It was 100 percent a repudiation of his policies and specifically, the No. 1 was actually tax, not education,” Cox said.
Several conservative lawmakers who helped Brownback pass those tax cuts won’t be back. Some retired rather than face the voters. But others, like Hildabrand, were defeated by challengers who pledged to stop the bleeding and restore stability to the state budget.
“I consider them (the results) to be a frustration with the budget, with K-12 (education) funding because those are the things I’m hearing the most about.”
Kansas hospitals and other provider organizations have been pushing for expansion for three years. But that push has gone nowhere because of opposition from Brownback and conservative legislative leaders.
During his meeting with reporters, Brownback said he isn’t inalterably opposed to expansion but has conditions that must be met: primarily the elimination of waiting lists for KanCare support services.
Brownback has said he is opposed to extending health benefits to approximately 150,000 poor but non-disabled adults until Kansans with disabilities are getting all the services to which they’re entitled.
“You have people who are not able-bodied, who have dependents who are not getting the full set of services,” he said.
“They (the Brownback administration) have set up what we consider at least to be a false choice between the waiting list and KanCare expansion,” said Tom Bell, president and chief executive of the Kansas Hospital Association.
“Those two things have nothing to do with each other,” he said. “It seems to me that it allows the governor to not have to worry about expansion for the rest of his time in office.”
But the governor may be forced to deal with the issue. The gains by moderate Republicans in the primary and anticipated victories by a handful of Democrats in the general election have advocates hopeful they’ll have to votes to send an expansion bill to the governor’s desk when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
“Looking at the dynamic of how the races are shaping up, we see broad support for expanding KanCare,” said David Jordan, executive director of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, an advocacy group funded by several health foundations.
Editor’s note: Many of the health foundations that support the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas also provide funding to the editorially independent KHI News Service.
Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
![Photo by Jim McLean/KHI News Service In a rare, informal conversation with Statehouse reporters late last week, Brownback said the results of the recent primary election aren’t causing him to reconsider his positions on tax cuts, school finance or Medicaid expansion. ]](https://thepost.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2016-08-16-at-11.57.56-AM.png)