WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Wichita, Kansas-area sheriff’s investigator was briefly hospitalized after being overcome with an unknown substance in a department evidence room.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department says the detective was processing evidence as part of a drug investigation when he opened a plastic bag and was overcome by a strong smell. The investigator then experienced sweating, slurred speech and dizziness.

The department says it’s unclear what the substance is and that it’s being tested. But the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has warned law enforcement agencies about fentanyl, a synthetic opioid said to be 50 times more powerful than heroin.

JEWELL COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 7 a.m. on Thursday in Jewell County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 Chevy truck driven by Billy Roe, 80, Mankato, was making a right turn onto U Road from 240 Road three miles east of Kansas 14.

The truck collided with a 1988 Chevy truck driven by Augustus D. May, 22, Mankato.

Roe was transported to the Jewell County Hospital.

The drivers were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

 

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a report of vandalism and asking for the public’s help.

Just after 3 p.m. on Wednesday, someone threw a rock and shattered a window on a Saline County road grader working in the 3500 Block of West Waterwell, according to Saline County Sheriff Glen Kochanowski

A young black male leaned out the passenger side window of a muddy, red pickup and threw a large rock that shattered the grader’s windshield.

The driver was reportedly wearing a cowboy hat, according to the grader operator.

Damage to the grader is estimated at $1,000.

No injuries were reported.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments in September in an appeal that could affect the voting rights of thousands of voters in Kansas, Georgia and Alabama in upcoming elections.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Thursday set a Sept. 8 hearing date in the case of a U.S. election official who without public notice required documentary proof of citizenship on a national voter registration form used by residents of the three states.

The court a day earlier had set deadlines for July and early August for the parties to submit written filings.

A judge in Washington, D.C., sided last month against voting rights advocates who seek a temporary order overturning the move by Brian Newby, executive director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran released the following statement in response to the Senate’s bipartisan passage of S. 524, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA), by a 92-2 vote.

The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives in May and will now head to the president’s desk to be signed in to law.

“This comprehensive legislation represents a critical step forward in combatting addiction and its devastating effects,” Sen. Moran said. “Far too many Americans suffer from this epidemic or know someone who does. This bipartisan legislative accomplishment will help our communities fight back against this serious health crisis – improving lives and preventing the destruction of many more.”

CARA helps address the national epidemics of prescription opioid and heroin abuse through expansion of drug prevention efforts and access to treatment, support for law enforcement and techniques to combat overdoses.

Drug overdoses currently claim the lives of 129 Americans each day and only about 10 percent of those suffering from addiction are receiving help. This legislation has the support of more than 200 anti-drug groups.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man has been rescued from the Arkansas River in Wichita.

KWCH-TV reports that the rescue happened around 2:15 a.m. Thursday near the Lincoln Street Bridge. Police described the rescued man as a swimmer. He is expected to be OK.

No other information about the rescue was immediately available.

SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating a bank robbery and asking for help to identify a suspect, according to a media release.

Just after 5:30 on Wednesday, police responded to the US Bank 1064 Southwest Wanamaker in Topeka after a robbery. A suspect entered the bank and demanded money from a teller. He did not display a weapon. He left in an older silver car.

A suspect described as a white male, 30-40 years of age, medium height, slender build and wearing a black short sleeve t-shirt over a gray long sleeve shirt, baggy gray pants and white and gray tennis shoes, blue and black ball cap and dark glasses.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Topeka Police.

HUTCHINSON— A Kansas man who managed to post bond in a case where he’s charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy was taken to jail Wednesday afternoon on warrants for failing to register as a sex offender.

Richard Dean McHenry, 55, was in court for a waiver-status docket and the case was continued until Aug. 24, but deputies were waiting to serve the warrant for his arrest.

He was taken to jail for failure to register at least a couple of times according Sheriff Captain Steve Lutz.

McHenry will have to post a bond again.

He has a prior conviction for aggravated criminal sodomy for a case from 2000 in Jefferson County and is required to register as a sex offender.

He is expected back in court next week.

HARVEY COUNTY- Two people were injured in an accident just after 9:30p.m. on Wednesday in Harvey County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1993 Honda motorcycle driven by Christopher Hilger, 29, Wichita, was southbound on Interstate 135 just south of Kansas 196.

The motorcycle had a tire issue. The driver lost control and had to lay the motorcycle over.

Hilger and a passenger Shelli M. Matzek, 34, Wichita, were transported to Wesley Medical Center.

They were both wearing helmets, according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Court records show that a Kansas agency has reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit over the case of a 4-year-old boy fatally beaten by his father in 2013.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Kansas Department for Children and Families has reached the deal with the Naomi Boone, mother of the late Mekhi Boone.

The settlement’s terms weren’t disclosed. The deal must be approved by the State Finance Council, comprised of legislative leaders and the governor.

The boy’s father, Lee Davis, is serving nearly 20 years for second-degree murder.

Naomi Boone has contended the boy shouldn’t have been placed with his father, and that one of the state’s foster care contractors placed the child with Davis while aware that he had a history of domestic violence.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A report says rural and urban schools in Kansas area are struggling to fill teaching positions as applicants opt for jobs in suburban locations and fewer college students major in education.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the report was issued by a task force of academics and educators and was presented to the Kansas State Board of Education on Tuesday. Areas that are having a particularly difficult time include southwest Kansas, Wichita and Kansas City.

The report says 40 percent of the 277 teaching vacancies were in southwest Kansas. Vacancies were clustered in Wichita Unified School District 259 and Kansas City Unified School District 500, which are the state’s two largest, high-poverty urban districts.

According to the report, northeast and northwest Kansas is attracting teachers from other parts of the state.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Flooding that began 65 years ago this week cost 40 Kansas residents their lives.

The National Weather Service says the Kansas River reached its highest level on record in Topeka on July 13, 1951. The Topeka Capital-Journal  reports that high waters caused the river to break through a dike to flood the city’s North Topeka business district.

Topeka was among 186 cities and towns in Kansas and Missouri damaged by the flooding. The flooding came after storms that began in late April dumped 28 inches of rain over the Kansas River basin by July 13.

Afterward, sturdier dikes were built to protect Topeka. Also, the number of reservoirs built to hold water on the lower Kansas River basin expanded from five to 18.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A top Kansas lawmaker is questioning an arrangement that has seen a state agency’s interim leader in the position for more than six months.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Tim Keck has served as interim secretary for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability since Jan. 1.

Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley says a state law appears to prohibit acting secretaries from serving more than six months.

Gov. Sam Brownback’s office said the six-month limit doesn’t apply in this case because Keck in an “interim” secretary, not an “acting” secretary.

Keck began serving as the interim secretary before the legislative session and hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate. He also hasn’t been nominated by Brownback.

Keck took over as secretary after Kari Bruffett resigned to become the Kansas Health Institute’s policy director.