Storm damage in Greenwood County photo Westar Energy via National Weather Service
EUREKA, Kan. (AP) — The National Weather Service says two tornadoes ripped through southeast Kansas late Thursday, causing widespread damage in a small town.
No injuries have been reported.
The National Weather Service said Friday preliminary information shows that an EF2 tornado hit Eureka, a town of roughly 2,600 residents east of Wichita. The tornado damaged about 50 homes and businesses, including the Eureka Nursing Center.
The weather service also says the early data shows that another EF3 tornado hit northwest of Eureka late Thursday.
Levi Vinson, the Greenwood County emergency management director, said everyone has been accounted for, but crews were still “checking on some people.”
He says the weather service alerted Eureka’s residents to the incoming storm at least 15 minutes before the tornado hit.
SALINA -Two men convicted in the 2015 shooting death of a Salina teenager were sentenced to life in prison on Friday
Judge Rene Young sentenced 23-year-old Macio Palacio, 23, who shot 17-year-old Allie Saum, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 50 years
For his role in the crime, 20-year-old Stephen Gentry was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years
According to previous court testimony, Gentry was the mastermind of a plot to seek revenge for an earlier fight in which he was punched.
He gathered a group of people together, and later misidentified a truck as one that had been involved in the fight, and instructed Palacio to shoot.
Saum was struck and killed by the shots as the truck she was riding in with her boyfriend passed through the 500 block of Russell Avenue. She died early the next morning as a result of her injuries.
Three defendants in the case is still have cases pending in Saline County District Court.
Daniel Sims, 20, testified against Palacio and Gentry in exchange for a reduction of his charges.
He is scheduled to plead to charges that include involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. That hearing is scheduled for August.
Andrew Woodring, 18, has already plead guilty to a felony 1st degree murder charge, but since has indicated that he wants to change that plea.
Jerome Forbes, 20, has yet to stand trial for his role in the crime.
Sunday accident scene in Pratt County-Photo courtesy KWCH
PRATT, Kan. (AP) — A federal workplace safety agency says it’s investigating two recent injuries at a southern Kansas wind farm.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a release Friday that it’s investigating injuries involving workers at the Ninnescah Wind Farm in Pratt County.
OSHA says a preliminary report shows a 26-year-old employee of Blattner Energy was struck in the head by a bolt while he was working on a wind turbine at the site near Pratt on Wednesday.
Blattner Energy Inc., which is based in Avon, Minnesota, didn’t immediately respond to a call seeking comment Friday.
Another man was also injured earlier this month when he fell 120 feet while working on a wind turbine at the site. OSHA says he was employed by another company working at the site.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state attorney general says there was a recent “steep decline” in Kansas in the number of applications for concealed carry permits.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Thursday in a release that between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016, the Concealed Carry Licensing Unit received 5,874 applications. The Kansas City Star reports that’s a decrease of more than 40 percent from the more than 9,800 applications filed the previous fiscal year.
The number of applications surged after a legislative change in 2015 that allowed eligible Kansans to carry concealed without a license. More than 93,000 Kansans have active concealed carry licenses.
Kansas licenses are currently recognized in 37 states.
SALINE COUNTY – Three people were injured in an accident just after 9:30a.m. on Thursday in Saline County.
A vehicle driven by Janice Gaeddert, 81, Newton, was northbound on Niles Road east of Salina, according to Saline County Undersheriff Roger Soldan.
The driver lost control of the vehicle at Stimmel Road when she swerved to avoid a puddle in the road. The vehicle traveled into a field and rolled.
Gaeddert suffered a cut to the head. Milton Gaeddert, 86, Newton, complained of back and shoulder pain. Luetta Enns, 82, Hillsboro, did not appear to have any injuries, according to Soldan.
All three were transported to the to the hospital in Salina.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wendy’s says hackers were able to steal customer’s credit and debit card information at 1,025 of its U.S. restaurants, far more than it originally thought.
The hamburger chain says hackers were able to access card numbers, names, expiration dates and codes on the cards. Some customer’s cards were used to make fraudulent purchases at other stores.
In May, it said malware was found in fewer than 300 restaurants starting in the fall of 2015. About a month later, it said two types of malware were found and the number of restaurants affected was “considerably higher.”
There are more than 5,700 U.S. Wendy’s restaurants.
Wendy’s said Thursday it would post a list of affected restaurants on its website. As of Thursday morning, the list wasn’t posted because of “technical difficulties.”
Building flipped by tornado in Greenwood County -photo courtesy KAKE
EUREKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a state of disaster emergency declaration for Greenwood County after a tornado demolished homes in a small town.
Brownback’s office said in a release Friday that the emergency declaration allows the state to use its resources and personnel in response to the tornado that hit the small town of Eureka late Thursday night. No serious injuries were reported.
The governor’s office says the tornado damaged about 50 homes and businesses and left scores without power throughout the county.
The office says the state Division of Emergency Management will coordinate assistance to assess the damage from the tornado and manage debris removal.
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EUREKA, Kan. (AP) — Officials say the southeastern Kansas town of Eureka has been hit by a tornado that has caused significant widespread damage.
The National Weather Service says a tornado warning for Greenwood County was issued just after 9:00 p.m. The tornado hit Eureka around 9:45 p.m.
Greenwood County Emergency Management Director Levi Vinson confirmed at 12:30 a.m. that there were no reports of injuries or deaths.
Vinson says there was a lot of structural damage, including to a local nursing home, mobile homes and a barn. People have been displaced from their homes and have been asked to take shelter at the Eureka United Methodist Church.
Vinson said the American Red Cross was on its way to the scene. Firefighters were going home to home to check on residents.
DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press
MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has approved legislation that for the first time would require food packages nationwide to carry labels listing genetically modified ingredients.
Thursday’s vote was 63-30 for the bipartisan measure. The measure’s fate is uncertain in the House, which has voted to make the labeling voluntary.
The Senate bill would require foods with genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, to carry any of three types of labeling: words, a symbol or an electronic code readable by smartphone.
The food industry supports the Senate bill. Many labeling proponents say the labels should be easily readable by consumers without a smartphone and complain that the measure lacks penalties for not complying.
DALLAS (AP) — The Latest on the shooting of police officers in Dallas (all times local):
8:45 a.m.
Officer Thompson- photo courtesy DART
The Dallas transit police chief says an officer who was fatally shot during a downtown protest was a newlywed whose bride also works for the police force.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit police Chief James Spiller described Officer Brent Thompson on Friday as a “courageous” and “great guy.”
Thompson was among five police officers killed during a Thursday night demonstration to protest police shooting deaths of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.
Spiller says Thompson got married two weeks ago. His wife, Emily, was not on duty at the protest.
The police chief last spoke to Thompson on Tuesday as they passed each other in a hallway. Spiller says he asked how the newlyweds were doing and how things were going with Thompson’s job.
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8:15 a.m.
Mayor Mike Rawlings says a bullet went straight through the leg of one police officer as snipers fatally shot three members of his squad during a protest in downtown Dallas.
Rawlings, who says he spoke to the wounded officer, said Friday that the officer expressed sorrow at his loss and that he felt “people don’t understand the danger of dealing with a protest.”
The mayor says it’s important to uphold the right of people to protest, but that more care needs to be taken to ensure the safety of police officers at such events.
Snipers shot and killed five police officers and wounded seven more at the demonstration Thursday evening to protest the police killing of black men in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and St. Paul, Minnesota. Two civilians were also injured.
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8:10 a.m.
Police Chief David Brown says authorities are still not certain that they have identified everyone involved in an attack on a downtown protest march that killed five police officers.
Brown said Friday that investigators have not ruled out that others may have been involved in the attacks that left a total of 12 officers and two civilians shot.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings says an overnight standoff with one suspect in a parking garage ended when police detonated an explosive about four hours after the attack began. Authorities say the explosive was attached to a robot to protect officers.
Brown would not reveal any details about other potential suspects that have been detained by police and interviewed.
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7:55
Police Chief David Brown says a suspect in the overnight attack that killed five police officers, wounded seven others and wounded two civilians said he was upset over the recent police shootings of black men and wanted to kill white people.
Brown said at a news conference Friday that the suspect made the comments before he was killed by an explosive used by police.
He says his department and their families are grieving and that the divisiveness between police and the public must stop.
Authorities say snipers opened fire on police officers during a peaceful protest in downtown Dallas Thursday night over the recent fatal shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.
Authorities say three other suspects were arrested.
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7:25 a.m.
A man wrongly identified by Dallas police as a suspect in a sniper attack on police says he turned himself in and was quickly released.
The Dallas Police Department put out a photo on its Twitter account late Thursday of a man wearing a camouflage shirt and holding a rifle with the message: “This is one of our suspects. Please help us find him!” The tweet remained on the account early Friday morning.
The man in the photo, Mark Hughes, tells Dallas TV station KTVT that he “flagged down a police officer” immediately after finding out he was a suspect. He says police lied during a 30-minute interrogation, telling him they had video of him shooting.
Videos posted online show Hughes walking around peacefully during the shooting and later turning over his gun to a police officer.
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7:15 a.m.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit officials say three DART police officers wounded by snipers during a protest are expected to recover.
Thursday night’s shootings left four Dallas police officers and one DART officer dead, plus seven other officers wounded. The demonstration was to protest two fatal police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota earlier this week.
A DART statement Friday identified the agency’s three wounded personnel as 44-year-old Officer Omar Cannon, 32-year-old Officer Misty McBride and 39-year-old Officer Jesus Retana. DART spokesman Morgan Lyons did not release details of the injuries, but said all three should recover.
Officer Brent Thompson was the first DART officer killed in the line of duty since the transit agency formed a police department in 1989. Thompson was 43 and had worked as a DART officer since 2009.
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7:05 a.m.
Mayor Mike Rawlings says a total of 12 police officers and two civilians were shot during a protest march in downtown Dallas.
Rawlings said Friday that he does not believe that any of the wounded victims have life-threatening injuries.
He says five officers were killed and seven more were injured when snipers opened fire during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men.
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6:40 a.m.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings says the suspect involved in an overnight standoff with police died after officers used explosives to “blast him out.”
Rawlings said Friday that he was not sure how the suspect died or what weapons were found on him.
He says police have swept the area where the standoff took place and found no explosives.
Snipers opened fire on police officers in the heart of Dallas Thursday evening, killing five officers and injuring six others during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men.
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6 a.m.
People gathered in small groups on Dallas’ tense, police-filled streets before dawn early Friday struggled to fathom the still-unsettled situation.
Resident Jalisa Jackson says: “I think the biggest thing that we’ve had something like this is when JFK died,” evoking the November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy on the city’s streets. She calls it “surreal.”
Police said at least four suspects were involved in the killings of five police officers just hours before. The suspects were not immediately identified.
Downtown, officers crouched beside vehicles, SWAT team armored vehicles arrived and a helicopter hovered overhead.
Eleven Dallas officers were shot Thursday night during a peaceful protest over this week’s fatal police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota in what the city’s police chief characterized as a sniper attack.
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5:45 a.m.
Dallas police say no explosives have been found in extensive sweeps of downtown areas following the fatal shooting of five police officers and the wounding of six others by snipers.
Security was tight Friday morning with numerous streets closed to vehicle traffic in the main downtown Dallas business district hours after Thursday night’s attacks.
The gunfire happened during protests over this week’s fatal police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota of two black men. Police have detained at least three people in the investigation of the Dallas shootings.
Police said a fourth suspect was engaged in a standoff with authorities and had made threats about bombs.
Maj. Max Geron (GAYR’-uhn) tweeted before dawn Friday that primary and secondary sweeps for explosives were complete and no explosives were found.
The gunfire claimed the lives of four Dallas police officers and one Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer. DART serves Dallas and a dozen other North Texas cities. The transit agency operates buses and the state’s largest municipal rail system.
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5:20 a.m.
A memorial group says the slaying of five police officers in Dallas in an attack blamed on snipers was the deadliest day in U.S. law enforcement history since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Four Dallas police officers and one Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer were fatally shot Thursday night. The gunfire happened during protests over this week’s fatal police shootings of two black men, in Louisiana and Minnesota.
Six other officers were wounded in the Dallas attacks.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which monitors the deaths of officers, reports 72 officers were killed as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. The group labels that attack as the deadliest day in U.S. law enforcement history.
4:30 a.m.
President Barack Obama says America is “horrified” over the shootings of police officers in Dallas and there’s no possible justification for the attacks.
Obama is speaking from Warsaw, Poland, where he’s meeting with leaders of the European Union and attending a NATO summit.
Obama says justice will be done and he’s asking all Americans to pray for the fallen officers and their families. He also says the nation should express its gratitude to those serving in law enforcement.
photo Dallas Police
Snipers opened fire on police officers in the heart of Dallas Thursday evening, killing five officers and injuring six others during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men.
Obama said earlier there was no contradiction between supporting law enforcement and making certain biases in the justice system are rooted out.
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Tonight it appears that two snipers shot ten police officers from elevated positions during the protest/rally…. https://t.co/JzHhoMzF5k
Dallas Area Rapid Transit has identified its officer who was fatally shot when snipers opened fire during a downtown Dallas protest.
DART said early Friday morning that 43-year-old officer Brent Thompson was killed in the Thursday night shootings. He’d joined the DART Police Department in 2009.
DART says he’s the first officer killed in the line of duty since the agency formed a police department in 1989. The statement says “our hearts are broken.”
DART says the other three DART police officers shot during the protest are expected to recover from their injuries.
Also killed during the shootings were four Dallas police officers.
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2:10 a.m.
Police say a fifth officer has died after snipers opened fire on police at a rally in Dallas. Six other officers were injured.
The gunfire broke out Thursday night while hundreds of people were gathered to protest fatal police shootings this week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown said Three people are in custody and a fourth suspect was exchanging gunfire with authorities in a parking garage downtown early Friday.
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2 a.m.
A family member says a protester who was shot when snipers opened fire on police at a rally in Dallas was shielding her sons when she was injured.
A sister of 37-year-old Shetamia Taylor says Taylor was at the protests Thursday night with her four sons, ages 12 to 17. Theresa Williams says that when the shooting began, Taylor threw herself over her sons. She was undergoing surgery early Friday after being shot in the right calf.
Police say four police officers were killed and seven injured in the shootings. The shootings happened at a protest over recent fatal police shootings of black men.
Williams says two of Taylor’s sons became separated from their mother in the chaotic aftermath. She says they’re now stuck behind a police barricade at a hotel near a parking garage where police exchanged gunfire with a suspect.
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1:40 a.m.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he’s cutting short an out-of-state trip to go to Dallas after four police officers were killed and seven others injured when snipers opened fire during protests.
Abbott said in a release early Friday morning that he would be heading directly to Dallas. The shootings happened Thursday night in downtown Dallas.
Abbott also says he’s spoken with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to express his condolences and offer any assistance the city needs.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said in a statement that “our thoughts and prayers go out to these officers and their families, and to those who have been injured.” He said his office is in close contact with local authorities and will be offering to provide whatever support they can to help victims and bring the “perpetrators to justice.”
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1:15 a.m.
Dallas police say a person of interest whose picture had been circulated has turned himself in.
Police earlier had circulated a picture of a man in a camouflage T-shirt who carrying a long gun.
Police had no update on whether that person was indeed a suspect. However, Police Chief David Brown said authorities had three people in custody. One is a woman and two are people who were in a car stopped on a road.
A man who identified himself as the brother of the man whose photo was circulated says his brother was not one of the shooters. He told television station KTVT that once the shootings had started, his brother had turned the gun over to a police officer.
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12:50 a.m.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown says three people are in custody after snipers opened fire on police officers during protests and says a fourth person is exchanging gunfire with officers.
Brown said at an early Friday morning news conference that authorities are negotiating with a suspect in a downtown parking garage who has been exchanging gunfire with officials.
The chief says the suspect is not cooperating and has told negotiators he intends to hurt more law enforcement officials.
The shooting attack killed four officers and injured seven others. It came amid protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men.
Brown says authorities are not certain all suspects have been located.
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12:30 a.m.
Dallas police say they are questioning two occupants of a vehicle after an officer saw a person throw a bag into the back of the vehicle and speed off.
Police said late Thursday night that an officer spotted someone carrying a camouflage bag and quickly walking down the street. The person then threw the bag into the back of a black Mercedes and sped off at a high rate of speed.
Police say officers followed the vehicle southbound on Interstate 35 to a point south of Dallas where they performed a traffic stop. Police then began questioning both occupants of the vehicle.
Television footage showed many police cars surrounding a vehicle stopped on Interstate 35.
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11:35 p.m.
Dallas police say a suspect in shooting of officers at Dallas protests is in custody and a person of interest has surrendered.
Dallas police say four officers have died after at least two snipers opened fire during protests downtown Thursday night. Seven other officers were wounded.
Police Chief David O. Brown said snipers shot from “elevated positions” during a protest over two recent fatal police shootings.
The gunfire broke out around 8:45 p.m. Thursday. Live TV video showed protesters marching along a street in downtown when the shots erupted and the crowd scattered, seeking cover.
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10:45 p.m.
The Dallas police chief says it appears two snipers shot 10 police officers during protests, and three of the officers are dead.
Police Chief David O. Brown said in a statement that three of the officers who were injured are in critical condition Thursday night. He says the snipers shot from “elevated positions” during a protest over two recent fatal police shootings.
The gunfire broke out around 8:45 p.m. Thursday. Live TV video showed protesters marching along a street in downtown when the shots erupted and the crowd scattered, seeking cover.
MARION– A Kansas man was sentenced on Thursday to more than eight years in prison for one count of rape of a person under 14 years of age, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.
Gary Dwain Williams, 55, was sentenced in Marion County District Court by Judge Michael Powers to 97.5 months to be served in the Kansas Department of Corrections. The sentence is a result of a downward departure granted by the judge. Williams also was sentenced to lifetime registration as a sex offender and lifetime post release supervision. Williams pleaded no contest to the crime in March. The conviction stemmed from a crime that occurred in 2011.
The case was investigated by the Marion Police Department and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Assistant Attorney General Adam Zentner of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials say a voluntary mentoring program for welfare recipients has attracted few participants and mentors.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the program has had 13 participants since it started six months ago, and 115 people have volunteered to be mentors. The goal is to have 1,100 mentors.
Gov. Sam Brownback announced the program in January as part of a push to lift low-income families out of poverty. Brownback recently questioned at meeting of the Social Services Program Council whether the program was approaching participants early enough.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment secretary Susan Mosier suggests creating incentives for welfare recipients to participate.
The project is being funded by a federal grant and is projected to cost about $350,000 a year.
(AP) A new study finds that insurers’ spending on very expensive prescription drugs nearly quadrupled in the U.S. from 2003 through 2014, while the number of such prescriptions filled tripled over that stretch.
The study, published Wednesday by the journal Health Affairs, indicates spending on expensive “specialty” drugs by commercial insurance plans jumped from 11 percent of prescriptions filled in 2003 to 43 percent in 2014. Meanwhile, the number of prescriptions for specialty drugs rose from 0.6 percent of prescriptions filled in 2003 to 1.8 percent in 2014.
Researcher Stacie Dusetzina of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill found patients’ copayments climbed 46 percent over that period.
Specialty drugs were once defined as injected drugs for cancer and complex chronic conditions, but the term has become shorthand for very pricey drugs.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge says the reason that abortion provider George Tiller was killed is not a legal defense for murder, but could be relevant for jurors in deciding how long Scott Roeder must stay in prison.
Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert said Thursday that Roeder’s state of mind during the May 31, 2009, killing could matter to a jury that’ll decide whether to resentence him to a minimum of 50 or 25 years before being eligible for parole.
Roeder was convicted of first-degree murder and has testified he killed Tiller to stop him from performing abortions.
Roeder’s life sentence with no chance of parole for 50 years was among many vacated after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that juries, not judges, must decide whether to increase punishment.
