WAKARUSA, Kan. (AP) — Investigators have cleared three Kansas sheriff’s deputies in connection with the 2015 death of a man who collapsed after the deputies shocked him with stun guns during a domestic dispute.
Osage County Attorney Brandon Jones released on Wednesday the findings of the probe by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Osage County Sheriff’s Office in the death of 47-year-old Kenneth Schick.
Authorities have said deputies who responded to a reported domestic dispute in October of last year used stun guns and pepper spray to gain control of Schick.
Schick later died at a Topeka hospital.
Wednesday’s report says the investigation of the confrontation found no credible evidence the deputies used unreasonable force on Schick.
The report also says Schick placed two deputies in potentially life-threatening situations.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback CREDIT HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the Kansas primary (all times local):
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s chief spokeswoman says the results of Kansas’ primary election show that the state is experiencing the same “anti-incumbency sentiment” at play elsewhere in the nation.
Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said in a statement Wednesday that the governor looks forward to working with strong Republican majorities after the November election.
Republican moderates had made the election a referendum on the state’s ongoing budget problems and battles over education funding.
At least 11 conservative GOP legislators lost primary races. They included Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce of Nickerson.
Retired Hutchinson Community College President Ed Berger defeated Bruce and made the state’s budget problems the focus of his successful campaign. He said Wednesday that concerns about the budget resonated with voters.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say several shots were fired into an unoccupied patrol car belonging to the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s department says the patrol car was parked in an off-duty deputy’s driveway in Kansas City, Kansas, when the shots were fired early Wednesday. The Kansas City Star reports that no one was hurt.
Someone who lives nearby called authorities to report hearing the sound of gunfire. The sheriff’s office says it appears about a half dozen shots were fired into the car.
SALINE COUNTY – First responders are investigating an accident just after 1p.m. on Wednesday in Saline County.
Drivers were extracted from a semi and a Cadillac Escalade, in the accident at the intersection of Crawford Street and Burma Road, according to Saline County Sheriff’s Deputy Ricky Heinrich.
Burma Road was temporarily closed to traffic from Crawford to K-140 Highway.
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating two suspects on theft and drug charges.
Two people are in the Saline County Jail after using bogus credit cards at a Salina business and attempting to use one at another business early Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday, police were called to Rod’s VIII, 2140 West Crawford for report of a man attempting to use several credit cards to make a purchase, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney.
Store clerks told police the man, later identified as Nicholas Rodish, 20, Denver, came into the store at about 1 a.m. and attempted to use several credit cards to purchase $2,000 worth of Kansas lottery tickets and $451.57 worth of cigarettes.
After several of the cards he attempted to use were declined, Rodish produced a card that was successful in making the purchase. He was also able to withdraw $500 from the card.
Rodish also cashed in $500 worth of winning lottery tickets from the purchase before leaving the store with a woman in a Dodge Dart and a U-Haul.
A short time later, police found Rodish and the woman Jodee Wallace, 48, Winnetka, CA., at the Baymont Inn, 1740 W. Crawford.
Sweeney said Rodish was found inside the U-Haul and in possession of a methamphetamine pipe.
Wallace was inside the hotel, where she had paid cash for a room after first attempting to use a credit card that was declined.
During a search of the Dodge Dart, officers located and seized a credit card embossing machine used to make bogus credit cards, according to Sweeney.
Rodish was booked into jail on multiple requested charges of criminal use of a financial card, felony theft, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Wallace was booked on multiple requested charges of criminal use of a financial card, felony theft, and possession of stolen property.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A pit bull is quarantined after attacking a U.S. postal carrier at a south Wichita home and leaving him with 26 stitches.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the 53-year-old carrier was bitten Friday morning after the dog pushed through a fence weakened by wet soil.
Wichita police Lt. Joe Schroeder, who oversees the city’s animal control operations, says the pit bull had bitten someone in the neighborhood previously, but that person didn’t want to pursue charges.
He says the owner of the dog could face a charge, most likely a misdemeanor, for the bites. The dog will be quarantined for 10 days to determine whether it has rabies. If the pit bull is found to be highly dangerous, the owner could be forced to confine or muzzle the dog.
SEDGWWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in south central Kansas are investigating a person of interest in connection with a murder.
On Tuesday, Wichita Police and United States Marshals arrested Steven Asbury without incident at the Walmart, 501 E. Pawnee in Wichita.
Asbury was booked into jail and is being held for the State of Iowa authorities, according to a social media report.
Last week, officials in Des Moines reported they were investigating the crime and asked officials in Kansas for help to locate Asbury, a material witness in a July 21, shooting death.
He was believed to be in the Kansas driving a 1998 Red Ford F150 extended cab pick up truck with Iowa plates DJX382.
HOLMDEL, N.J. (AP) — It’s one of the most universal recommendations in all of public health: Floss daily to prevent gum disease and cavities.
Except there’s little proof that flossing works.
The federal government has recommended flossing since 1979. Last year, the Associated Press asked the departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture for their evidence.
When the federal government issued its latest guidelines this year, the flossing recommendation had been removed, without notice. In a letter to the AP, the government acknowledged the effectiveness of flossing had never been researched, as required.
The AP looked at the most rigorous research conducted over the past decade, focusing on 25 studies that generally compared the use of a toothbrush with the combination of toothbrushes and floss. The studies found the evidence for flossing was “weak” and “very unreliable.”
Wayne Aldredge, president of the American Academy of Periodontology, acknowledges the weak scientific evidence. Still, he urges his patients to floss to help avoid gum disease.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A student who was sexually battered in the bathroom of a Wichita high school is suing the principal and school board for negligence.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the suit filed in Sedgwick County District Court cites unsafe security practices at Wichita East High School, where the student was assaulted in September. The Eagle and The Associated don’t normally name victims of sex crimes.
Twenty-nine-year-old Guy Harris is awaiting sentencing for sexual battery after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor last month. Police have said Harris groped an 18-year-old female student after entering the school and following her into the restroom while classes were in session.
District spokeswoman Wendy Johnson said in an email that the district is “committed to the safety of all Wichita Public Schools students and staff.”
MANHATTAN – “Kansas Farm Bureau and its members across the Big First congratulate and look forward to partnering with Dr. Roger Marshall.
“Our members in county evaluation committees across the state, and in this case the 1st Congressional District who recommended a candidate, made their choice abundantly clear. We believe Dr. Marshall will fight for hard working Kansans, promote and strengthen agriculture, and forge a positive consensus to move ahead the business of governing.
“We also congratulate Sen. Jerry Moran, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, Rep. Kevin Yoder, and Rep. Mike Pompeo. We will continue to work with these effective leaders through the general election, look forward to positive results in November and teaming with them in the next congress to advance Kansas agriculture.”
In today’s primary election, Kansans made clear that they are ready for change in the state’s leadership, the Kansas Democratic Party said in a statement following Tuesday’s results.
“It’s obvious with the results of tonight’s election that the people of Kansas are paying attention. They’re ready to move away from the failed policies of the Brownback administration and steer the state in a new direction,” said Kansas Democratic Party Executive Director Kerry Gooch. “If Kansans thought tonight was exciting, just wait until November.”
Primary losses by a Senate Republican leader and a slew of Johnson County conservatives Tuesday night will swing the Kansas Legislature back toward the center. Moderate Republicans won eight state Senate races against more conservative opponents, ousting six incumbents.
Photo by Andy Marso/KHI News Service Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce
Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce, a conservative Republican from Hutchinson, had aspirations of being the next Senate president. But former community college president Ed Berger defeated him handily in what was perhaps the most surprising result of the night.
“We’re just a bunch of amateurs putting this campaign together,” said Berger, who took 57 percent of the vote, unofficially. “Nobody really had any experience with campaigns, but people were very dedicated to making it happen and that was the difference right there. They wanted to change Kansas and they were committed to making that happen.”
Sen. Larry Powell, Sen. Tom Arpke, Sen. Forrest Knox, Sen. Jeff Melcher and Sen. Greg Smith also are among conservative incumbents who appear to have lost their seats in election results that still have to be verified by election canvassers. Moderates picked up two other Kansas Senate nominations in open primaries in which conservative senators decided not to run for reelection.
Rep. Barbara Bollier, a moderate Republican from Mission Hills running for a Senate seat, said the voters sent a message to the governor that it’s time to ditch the quest to zero out the state’s income tax and form a plan that ensures Kansas has enough revenue to run a “decent, appropriate government.”
“It’s a huge change,” said Bollier, who was unopposed in Tuesday’s primary but faces a Democratic challenger in the general election. “I think Sam’s going to have to acknowledge that and figure it out.”
Bruce, in a statement to the Wichita Eagle, said, “The voters have spoken and they wanted to go in a new direction.” He then congratulated Berger and thanked his constituents for electing him to three Senate terms.
Tuesday’s moderate Republican victories cut deeply into the Senate’s conservative voting majority and may have reversed it in the House, especially if Democrats pick up a few more seats in November. Moderates and Democrats regularly teamed up to block right-wing legislation until conservative challengers purged the Senate of most of its moderates in the 2012 Republican primaries.
Sen. Vicki Schmidt and Sen. Carolyn McGinn, two moderates who survived that election, both warded off conservative challengers again Tuesday.
Photo by Stephen Koranda/Kansas Public Radio Senate President Susan Wagle
Senate President Susan Wagle, a Republican from Wichita who was unopposed Tuesday, released a statement saying “many of the primaries were hard-fought, but I am confident Republicans will unite this fall to keep Kansas conservative.”
Wagle is generally conservative but had expressed some openness to changing a portion of the governor’s signature tax plan that exempted more than 300,000 business owners from paying any income tax.
Wagle said she heard the “anger and frustration” voters expressed Tuesday.
“I look forward to working with Republican nominees to offer Kansans a vision for the state that includes a return to fiscally-responsible balanced budgeting — something I have long called for, a tax code that is fairer to all Kansans while keeping taxes low and a focus on the state reforms needed to compete for new jobs and opportunities,” Wagle said.
Moderate Republicans this year held out for more wholesale changes to the Brownback tax cuts — what several of them termed “real revenue reform.”
In the House, Rep. Susie Swanson, a moderate Republican from Clay Center, defeated conservative challenger and former state school board member Kathy Martin on Tuesday.
She also predicted serious tax talks in the Legislature’s future after it became clear that several conservative colleagues who resisted rolling back the Brownback tax plan would not be returning.
“It makes me more confident we will sit down and work on a solution,” Swanson said. “We’re going to have people who want to solve the problem there.” Democrats have fielded candidates for all 40 Senate seats and many House races this year, creating a possibility of a further shift away from the conservative majority in the November general elections.
There also was some shakeup at the federal level, where U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp lost his Republican primary race to Great Bend physician Roger Marshall by more than 10 percentage points. Marshall got the backing of large farming and ranching groups after Huelskamp lost his seat on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.
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
WAKARUSA, Kan. (AP) — Investigators have cleared three Kansas sheriff’s deputies in connection with the 2015 death of a man who collapsed after the deputies shocked him with stun guns during a domestic dispute.
