FORD COUNTY – A Kansas teen was injured in an accident just before 9:30p.m. on Wednesday in Ford County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Mack Truck with a dump trailer driven by Cesar Alejan Lopez-Delgadillo, 34, Woodward, OK., and a 2004 Chevy truck driven by Austin Lampe, 16, Spearville, were traveling on 127 Road at Foothill one mile east of Spearville.
Both vehicles entered the intersection at the same time.
The Mack truck driver failed to yield to the right of way. He admitted he sped up to beat the Chevy and the vehicles collided, according to the KHP.
Lampe was transported to Western Plains Medical Center.
Lopez-Delgadillo was not injured.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP
Salina -With the departure of Great Lakes Airlines flight #3021 from the Salina Regional Airport Wednesday morning at 7:45, Central Kansas residents again have access to scheduled air service.
“The Salina market looks very promising and we expect to see a quick increase in passenger boardings “stated Great Lakes president Chuck Howell in a media release.
Howell added, “Salina passengers will be pleased with the comfort and speed of our 30 seat Embraer Brasilia regional aircraft.”
For travel beyond Denver, Great Lakes is a United Airlines code share partner, which enables passengers the opportunity to connect with United Airlines flights at the airline’s Denver hub.
FINNEY COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating a suspect following an alleged report of domestic violence and police chase.
Just before 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Officers of the Garden City Police Department were dispatched to the 1700 Block of N. 8th Street for a reported battery in progress, according to a media release.
As officers were responding to the scene the reporting person advised the suspect had left the scene in a white passenger car westbound on Campbell Street.
Officers located the suspect vehicle traveling north on 11th Street and attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle at 11th and Emerson Street.
The suspect vehicle refused to stop and a vehicle pursuit was initiated. The pursuit ended when the suspect, Eli Mendoza, 26, Garden City, lost control of his vehicle in the 1100 Block of Labrador Blvd.
After he struck a dip in the road. The vehicle careened into bushes between the sidewalk and street coming to a stop on Rebel Road.
Mendoza was arrested without incident.
The investigation into the initial battery report revealed Mendoza engaged in a fight in the front yard of an apartment complex in the 1700 Block on North 8th Street.
A witness who was driving by saw the battery in progress so he stopped to intervene, according to police.
The victim ran into the apartment and Mendoza pursued her, pushing his way into the apartment. Once inside the apartment Mendoza battered the victim again, took her cell phone and then fled the scene in the vehicle.
Mendoza is being held in the Finney County Jail and could face the possible charges of:
Aggravated Burglary, Interference with a Law Enforcement Officer, Battery,
Assault, Fleeing and Eluding, Driving under the Influence
Driving While License Suspended and Transportation of an Open Container of Alcohol
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on search for boy dragged away by alligator (all times local):
4:30 p.m.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings says searchers have recovered the body of a 2-year-old Nebraska boy snatched by an alligator at Walt Disney World.
The boy was attacked Tuesday night as he waded in shallow water at the edge of the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney’s Grand Floridian resort.
Demings identified the boy as Lane Graves of Elkhorn, Nebraska.
The search team grew to 50 people Wednesday as trappers and divers searched Disney’s network of man-made canals, ponds and lakes. At least five other alligators were caught and cut open before they found the killer.
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12:20
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings says Walt Disney World has been providing “amazing” support as they search for the body of a 2-year-old boy who was snatched by an alligator.
Experienced alligator trappers, sheriff’s department divers and sonar equipment are being used to search a network of man-made canals, ponds and lakes where the gator may have taken the boy.
The sheriff says that after 15 hours of searching, the attack is “certainly not survivable at this point.”
Demings says Disney has never had anything like this happen in 45 years of operations. He says the theme parks’ wildlife management system works diligently to keep guests safe from dangerous Florida creatures, removing or killing any alligators they find.
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12:10
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings says some 50 people are now “working on recovering the body” of a 2-year-old boy snatched by an alligator at Walt Disney World.
He says the boy’s family “will no question how they could lose a 2-year-old child.”
Some 50 people are now using sonar equipment as they search a system of lakes and ponds linked by canals to the Seven Seas Lagoon where the boy was attacked while wading in about a foot of water at 9 p.m. Tuesday night.
Demings says they are trying to “bring some closure to this family.”
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11:45
Disney is closing all beach areas in its Lake Buena Vista resorts after an alligator dragged away a 2-year-old boy at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.
The company announced Wednesday that it’s closing the beaches in “an abundance of caution.”
Officials say the little boy was wading at the edge of the Seven Seas Lagoon around nightfall Tuesday when an alligator estimated to be between 4 feet and 7 feet long dragged him under.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said the family of five from Nebraska arrived on Sunday in Orlando, where only hours earlier, a gunman’s attack on a gay nightclub left 49 people dead. Two days before that, 22-year-old Christina Grimmie, a contestant on season six of “The Voice,” was killed in Orlando while signing autographs after a show.
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10:40 a.m.
The Nebraska governor says his heart goes out to the family of a 2-year-old boy who was snatched by an alligator while on vacation at a Disney resort in the Orlando, Florida, area.
The Nebraska family’s name has not been released, and Gov. Pete Ricketts’ office said in a statement Wednesday that all they know was what they have seen in media reports.
The Orange County sheriff says the family of five from Nebraska was wading in the Seven Seas Lagoon at Walt Disney World on Tuesday evening when an alligator dragged the child into the water. Authorities are still searching for the child.
Ricketts says “no family should ever have to experience such horror” and that he and his wife are praying for them.
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6:40 a.m.
Authorities in Orlando, Florida, are still searching for a 2-year-old boy who was dragged into the water by an alligator near Disney’s upscale Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and are hoping for the best.
Orange County Sheriff’s spokesman Jeff Williamson said at a Wednesday morning news conference that it’s still being considered a search and rescue operation and additional deputies will be joining the search.
The boy was with his family on vacation from Nebraska. The family of five was wading in the water of the Seven Seas Lagoon on Tuesday night when the alligator came out of the water and attacked.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings says the boy’s father tried to rescue him but was not able to.
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1:30 a.m.
Authorities in Orlando are searching for a 2-year-old boy who was dragged into the water by an alligator near Disney’s upscale Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.
Speaking at a news conference early Wednesday, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings says the family of five from Nebraska was on vacation and wading in a lake Tuesday evening when the attack happened. Demings says the father tried to rescue the child but was unsuccessful.
Demings says more than 50 law enforcement personnel are searching the Seven Seas Lagoon for the boy and will keep looking.
Demings says there have been no other recent reports of similar alligator attacks at the lake.
CHICAGO (AP) — Accidental overdoses aren’t the only deadly risk from using power prescription painkillers. A new study says the drugs may also contribute to heart-related deaths and other fatalities.
The study involved patients given prescription medicines for chronic pain, including persistent backaches and arthritis. Outcomes for patients on other types of painkillers were compared with those on long-acting opioids including controlled-release oxycodone, methadone and fentanyl skin patches.
Among more than 45,000 patients, those on opioids had a 64 percent higher risk of dying within six months of starting treatment compared with the others. There were 185 deaths among opioid users, versus 87 among other patients.
The results bolster previous research linking the drugs with heart risks. The study was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is warning the public to be aware of a drug that has contributed to several accidental drug overdose deaths in the last month.
KBI spokesman Mark Malick says the drug, U-47700, is a synthetic opioid analgesic drug that is nearly eight times more potent than morphine. It causes sedation and respiratory depression, which can be harmful or fatal.
Malick says the KBI is working with the Kansas Board of Pharmacy and several jurisdictions to quickly make the drug illegal in Kansas.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors say a suspended Kansas sheriff’s detective who is charged with three counts of felony perjury worked on more than 600 cases.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office has found that the cases 40-year-old Erin Thompson handled ran the gamut — from traffic infractions to homicide. The newspaper obtained the list of 612 cases after filing an open records request.
Senior assistant Shawnee County district attorney Matt Patterson says the office has an ethical obligation to notify those who currently have or have had cases involving Thompson.
She was charged in May after an investigation into inconsistencies on investigative reports. An affidavit accuses her of repeatedly reporting she talked with people she had never contacted.
HODGEMAN COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Hodgeman County are investigating a suspect on a variety of charges involving a family member.
On Monday, Jerrel Stoudemire, 28, was arrested, according to a social media report from the Sheriff’s Department.
He is being held on a $250,000 bond on charges of aggravated battery, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and criminal deprivation of property.
Stoudemire is the brother of NBA player Amar’e Stoudemire, currently on the roster of the Miami Heat.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say three Wichita men have been charged in the robbery of a local bank.
The Wichita Eagle reports that federal bank robbery and firearms charges were filed Tuesday against 34-year-old Raishat McGill, 29-year-old Andre Bryant and 25-year-old Elijah Shelton.
Authorities say two armed men entered Carson Bank around 10:30 a.m., demanding money from four employees inside. They forced two employees to open a vault.
The two men left with cash and drove away with another man who had stayed in the car.
Officers soon located the car and the men fled on foot until law enforcement caught them. Wichita police Sgt. Nikki Woodrow says officers recovered the money and two weapons.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas secretary of state’s office late Tuesday instructed county officials to put on election rolls the thousands of people who registered at motor vehicle offices without providing proof of U.S. citizenship, but only allow them to vote for federal offices.
The guidelines were issued after the 10th Circuit U.S. District Court of appeals ordered Kansas to begin Tuesday adding more than 18,000 voters whose registrations had been cancelled or suspended.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson’s order strikes a blow to a Kansas law that since January 2013 has required voters to provide proof of citizenship.
About 44 percent of Kansas voters register when getting their driver’s licenses under the federal “motor-voter law.”
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A conservation group has finalized the purchase of about 30,000 acres of lesser prairie chicken habitat in southwest Kansas.
The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies said Monday in a news release that its acquisition of the Sunview Ranch in Hamilton County is a significant conservation development.
The ranch is located in a sand sagebrush area which covers portions of Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma that once contained the highest density of lesser prairie chickens in the country.
The group says the property is one of the largest remaining contiguous tracks of sand sagebrush prairie in the region.
Its spokesman, Bill Van Pelt, declined to disclose the purchase price.
Funding comes from voluntary contributions from “industry partners” enrolled in the lesser prairie chicken conservation plan.
GEARY COUNTY – Three Kansas woman were injured in an accident just before 3:30p.m. on Tuesday in Geary County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Jeep Wrangler driven by Christopher Cody Stapp, 31, El Dorado, was southbound on U.S. 77 six miles south of Junction City.
The driver failed to stop and rear-ended a 2012 Toyota Camry driven by Darlene M. Kleist, 44, Herington, which was stopped in traffic waiting for a pilot car to proceed thru a work zone.
The Camry was spun counterclockwise and collided with 2003 Cadillac CTS driven by Dicy Elizabeth Albrecht, 37, Herington, also stopped waiting in the work zone.
Kleist, Albrecht, and a passenger in the Camry Lois A. Kleist, 71, Herington, were transported to Geary County Hospital.
Stapp and a teen passenger in the Cadillac were not injured.
All were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
NEW YORK (AP) — The government has come up with a plan in case mosquitoes start spreading Zika in the U.S.
Health officials aren’t expecting big outbreaks like in Latin America and the Caribbean. But they do think some local cases in the U.S. are likely.
States can call on a special team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help out under the plan issued Tuesday. The plan also details steps for destroying mosquitoes and breeding sites in the area. That work should last for at least 45 days after the last illness.
The Zika virus causes only a mild and brief illness, at worst, in most people. But it can cause fetal deaths and severe birth defects in the children of women infected during pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood’s midtown Kansas City clinic, MATT HODAPP / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas is abandoning a plan to block 11 people who have provided services such as cancer screenings to Planned Parenthood from continued participation in its Medicaid program, though it still will press to cut those funds from the organization’s affiliates.
A lawyer for the state announced the move in a letter filed Monday with a Kansas City, Kansas federal judge weighing a request by two Planned Parenthood affiliates to block Kansas’ plans to halt Medicaid reimbursements. That cutoff could come as early as July 7.
Arguments over the lawsuit by the providers, and Planned Parenthood affiliates for Kansas and Mid-Missouri as well as another for the St. Louis region were heard last week.
Federal courts have blocked attempts to cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood in other states.
FORD COUNTY – A Kansas teen was injured in an accident just before 9:30p.m. on Wednesday in Ford County.
FINNEY COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating a suspect following an alleged report of domestic violence and police chase.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say three Wichita men have been charged in the robbery of a local bank.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas secretary of state’s office late Tuesday instructed county officials to put on election rolls the thousands of people who registered at motor vehicle offices without providing proof of U.S. citizenship, but only allow them to vote for federal offices.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A conservation group has finalized the purchase of about 30,000 acres of lesser prairie chicken habitat in southwest Kansas.
MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer
