KHP arresting Walton on Tuesday afternoon Photo Kansas Highway Patrol
OTTAWA COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Ottawa County are investigating a suspect who fled the scene of a Monday evening car accident during a chase by the Kansas Highway Patrol.
Just after 9 p.m. on Tuesday, a trooper on patrol attempted a traffic stop for a license plate violation on a 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer.
The driver, traveling westbound on Treaty Road from U.S. 81, nine miles north of Minneapolis, attempted a right turn, entered the west ditch and struck a pole.
Kristen M. Fox, 36, Oak Ridge, TN., and Edward H Anaya, 24, Los Angeles, were transported to Salina Regional Health Center for treatment.
“Since the accident occurred on a dirt road, KHP and emergency responders were delayed in arriving to the scene,” according to Ben Gardner with the KHP.
Officers didn’t initially realize a third person, the driver William P. Walton III, 30, St. Louis, had fled the accident scene.
On Tuesday afternoon, a rural Ottawa County resident notified law enforcement that someone was near a building on their property.
The KHP established a perimeter, brought in their aircraft and a K-9 and located Walton hiding inside a large freezer. “He was cold but was arrested without incident,” said Gardner.
Walton is being held in Ottawa County and could face charges including Flee and Elude and Driving on a Revoked License. The vehicle was also possibly stolen, according to Gardner.
The information gleaned from the survey will lead to more effective strategies for preventing accidents caused by inappropriate firearm safety practices, says Joel Suss, of WSU’s Applied Cognition and Expertise Lab and assistant professor in the Human Factors program.
According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, in 2014 there were 15,928 nonfatal, unintentional firearm-related injuries in the United States.
Yet there has been little research on the relationship between firearm owners’ perceived knowledge of firearms and their ability to tell whether or not a firearm is loaded.
Shedding light on this relationship could help researchers design better firearms safety training programs and inform the design of firearms.
The anonymous survey is open to people with all levels of firearms knowledge and experience. It’s unique, Suss says, because much of the survey is video-based and designed to directly assess people’s ability to tell whether or not a firearm is loaded.
Current and prospective firearm owners who are familiar with firearms may assume that they “know guns” and follow good safety practices. The survey offers people the ability to test their knowledge in an objective manner. Even experienced firearm users have found that the survey helped them identify areas where their knowledge of firearms functioning could be improved.
Goals of the survey include:
• To examine how gun ownership, gun carry and prior experience with firearms is related to performance on an objective test of firearms safety and functioning.
• To examine how people’s self-assessed knowledge of firearms safety and functioning is related to their performance.
• To understand the types of safety breaches – such as accidental discharge – people have experienced and the extent to which deficiencies in knowledge of firearms safety and functioning play a role in those accidents.
• To develop and validate a test of firearms safety and functioning.
• To develop training that can improve people’s understanding of firearm safety and functioning.
Eagle Communications is seeking a Technical Support Representative. Eagle also is seeking a Sales Account Executive for its Eagle TV and digital sales division. Both positions are based in Hays.
For more information on the career opportunities, click HERE.
Eagle Communications is an Employee-Owned company and an EEO employer.
Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute.
“I am America,” Muhammad Ali famously declared. “I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me – black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own. Get used to me.”
And get used to him we did. So much so that when Ali is memorialized this week, millions of people throughout the United States and millions more across the globe will join in honoring the man known simply as “The Greatest.”
At a moment when Americans are deeply divided, it will be tempting to focus on the safe, comfortable Ali as portrayed by the media in his later years: world icon, crippled by illness, lionized by leaders from across the political spectrum, honored by President George W. Bush with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
What we need this week, however, is to be reminded of the passionate, combative Ali: “black, confident, cocky” fighter for civil rights, proud Muslim, conscientious objector, humanitarian and provocateur extraordinaire.
The former is a domesticated Ali, a celebrity we can whitewash without disturbing our self-satisfaction at “how far we have come” toward achieving racial justice, religious freedom for all, and equality of opportunity for every American.
The latter is the authentic Ali, the disruptive, courageous advocate for social justice who used his fame, wit and influence to speak truth to power. This is the hero we need, the hero we cannot and must not forget.
Today Ali is almost universally beloved, including by many who once reviled him.
But when he refused on religious grounds to fight the Vietnam War nearly 50 years ago, he quickly became the most hated man in America. He compounded his political heresy by joining the Nation of Islam and shedding his “slave name” to become Muhammad Ali.
Stripped of his world heavyweight title, convicted for draft evasion, he dedicated his life to fighting for religious freedom, decrying racial injustice and speaking out against the war.
In June 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed his conviction, finding Ali’s conscientious objector claim to have been “religiously based and sincerely held.” Although he paid a high cost, Ali’s defiance strengthened and expanded our nation’s commitment to liberty of conscience.
How ironic, then, to hear words of praise for Ali from those who demonize American Muslims, turn a blind eye to racial inequality and police brutality, and ignore the devastation of poverty.
Ali’s life is not a salve for America’s conscience – it is a sharp prick that should inspire us to action. We don’t have to agree with his politics or share his religion to share his commitment to work for justice, religious freedom and equality for all.
After all, an American is not defined by race, religion or creed. An American is defined by adherence to the principles and ideals that flow from the Constitution with its Bill of Rights.
Liberty of conscience, freedom to dissent, the right to peacefully protest and petition – these are the fundamental, inalienable rights that animated Ali’s lifelong struggle for freedom and justice. Exercising those rights on behalf of the oppressed and marginalized is what makes him a true American hero.
“I am America,” Ali proclaimed.
For the sake of fulfilling the vision of a nation with “liberty and justice for all,” I hope and pray that he was right.
Charles C. Haynes is vice president of the Newseum Institute and founding director of the Religious Freedom Center. [email protected]
First responders on the scene at Lake Shawnee-photo courtesy Phil Anderson Topeka Capitol Journal
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a body was found in Lake Shawnee.
Shawnee County Sheriff Herman Jones says the body was found Tuesday and was recovered by the Shawnee Heights Fire District dive team near the bank. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports authorities haven’t released an identity or cause of death.
The sheriff’s office is leading the investigation.
DOUGLAS COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Douglas County used a robot to assist with an armed, barricaded subject in Lawrence.
Just after noon on Tuesday, an officer with the Lawrence Police Department was flagged down by a citizen in the downtown area. The individual reported a subject that was armed with a handgun inside a residence in the 100 block of Perry Street and was suicidal, according to a media release.
Officers responded to the scene and immediately established a perimeter and began trying to make contact with the subject. Officers were unsuccessful in repeated attempts to establish communication with the subject.
The department’s Rescue Vehicle responded to the scene to assist in evacuating area residents as well as to get close enough to establish verbal contact with the subject. Contact was still not successful. At that time, a small robot was used to enter the residence to make contact with the subject. Upon entry the robot was able to provide a live video feed to officers, who were able to determine the subject was possibly in distress.
A small team of officers were then able to enter the residence and make contact with the individual and secure the area. Paramedics responded to the residence and transported the individual to Lawrence Memorial Hospital for an evaluation.
No injuries were sustained by the subject during the encounter with officers. No additional details were released.
HUTCHINSON — A Kansas man is jailed with a bond of $17,500 after he allegedly got into an altercation with law enforcement after a traffic stop in the 500 block of West 5th Street in Hutchinson on Monday.
William Robertson, 53, Hutchinson, was stopped by Hutchinson Police on traffic issues including driving while suspended.
The incident escalated when Robertson allegedly pulled a knife in a threatening manner, according to court testimony on Tuesday.
Police demanded he drop the knife at least a couple of times and he finally threw it out the window.
Potential charges include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, felony interference with law enforcement, possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Robertson is scheduled to return to court on June 14.
WASHINGTON – A Stillwell, Kansas, man pleaded guilty Monday to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of theft of government funds, according to Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall of the District of Kansas.
Richard Drake, 60, admitted that he obtained more than $2 million from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by filing false tax returns in the names of his clients. Those false returns claimed refunds that Drake directed into accounts he controlled. In his plea agreement, Drake admitted that he used the identities of his clients to perpetrate his fraud without their knowledge. The tax returns that Drake filed caused the U.S. Department of the Treasury to issue large income tax refunds that Drake then converted to his own use.
As part of his plea agreement, Drake has agreed to serve 48 months in prison and to pay $2,432,147 in restitution to the IRS. The sentencing hearing date has not yet been determined.
Acting Assistant Attorney General and Acting U.S. Attorney Beall commended special agents of IRS–Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorney Ryan Raybould of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tris Hunt of the District of Kansas, who are prosecuting the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts’ (R-Kan.) amendment to stop the administration from going around the Congress and the American people by reprogramming funds to transfer the remaining terrorists at Guantanamo Bay to the mainland was included in the National Defense Authorization Act by unanimous consent. The Roberts amendment also prohibits the reprogramming of funds to construct alternative facilities to house the detainees.
“As I have stated time and time again, I will continue to do everything in my legislative power to prevent the administration from sending prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. mainland,” said Roberts. “It has been against the law for years to transfer these prisoners, and I’m proud my language in this bill will go one step further and prohibit the administration from using funds designated for other projects to construct alternative sites on the mainland.
“Americans have made it clear they don’t want terrorists in our communities, yet the administration continues to push to fulfill the president’s campaign promise. The good news for Americans is that the clock has run out, but that will not stop me from taking any action I can to prevent any further action from this administration on this matter.”
“Reprogramming” funding is when an agency seeks flexibility to use funds appropriated to other accounts. Generally agencies must seek the approval of Congress.
Last month, Senator Roberts worked with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) to secure his language in the manager’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes funding for the Department of Defense through Fiscal Year 2017. Roberts’ amendment prohibits the reprogramming of funds for the transfer or release of detainees held at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to an alternative site in the United States.
Roberts has led the charge in the Senate against the Obama administration’s attempts to close Guantanamo Bay and transfer the prisoners to the U.S. mainland, in particular Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, a site that has been surveyed by Department of Defense officials. Ft. Leavenworth is the home to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, which houses U.S. military prisoners, and it is against the law for enemy combatants to be housed with members of the U.S. military. Fort Leavenworth is also home to the Command and General Staff College, the Intellectual Center of the Army, where all Army officers study.
In March, Roberts introduced a Senate resolution formally rejecting President Obama’s plan to transfer prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities to an alternative location in American communities. Last month, the Senate also passed legislation prohibiting the construction of alternative sites for the relocation of Guantanamo Bay.
Senator Roberts is the most senior Marine in the Congress. He was Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 2003-2007. He has visited Guantanamo Bay twice.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Transportation Security Administration says significant progress has been made on shortening screening lines since earlier this spring when airlines reported thousands of frustrated passengers were missing flights.
Peter Neffenger told a Senate panel Tuesday that over the busy Memorial Day weekend, 99 percent of passengers at U.S. airports waited less than 30 minutes and more than 90 percent waited less than 15 minutes.
The agency says it is reducing lines by adding more lanes and increasing staffing, especially at seven of the nation’s busiest airports: John F. Kennedy in New York, Newark in New Jersey, O’Hare in Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles.
Neffenger said TSA also is exploring better screening technology that can speed up lines as much as 30 percent.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten plans to take a form of semi-retirement that will effectively create another vacancy on the federal bench in Kansas.
The 64-year-old chief judge says in an email that he has notified President Barack Obama of his intention to take senior status on May 1, 2017, following 21 years of service. Marten was appointed to the post by President Bill Clinton in 1996.
Marten plans for the time being to keep hearing cases and says the move would help bolster federal judicial resources. Wichita has two federal district judges.
Kansas has one other federal judicial opening created when U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil took senior status in Topeka.
Obama’s nomination earlier this year of Lawrence attorney Terry Campbell to fill that seat is still pending.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Combines are rolling across wheat fields in south-central Kansas.
Elevators in in the Kiowa area as well as those in Cowley and Sumner counties are now receiving grain.
Justin Gilpin, the executive director of the industry group Kansas Wheat, said Tuesday early reports show good test weights. He says people are anxious to get into the field because the sense is that there is a pretty good wheat crop out there — both in quality and bushels.
If the hot, dry weather holds Gilpin expects cutting extending from central Kansas to northern Texas by this weekend.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday 60 percent of the Kansas wheat is in good to excellent condition. About 32 percent is rated as fair and 8 percent as poor to very poor.
TOPEKA- A Kansas woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to taking part in an interstate sex trafficking business, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Rachel Flenniken, 34, Topeka, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and two counts of using an interstate facility in furtherance of prostitution.
In her plea, she admitted working for a male co-defendant who was running a prostitution business in Topeka. At times, as many as 20 females were working as prostitutes in the organization. Flenniken’s employer rented houses where some of the prostitutes were allowed to live. He used Web sites, social media and cell phones to advertise sexual services and to keep track of the prostitutes.
Flenniken admitted she began working for the male co-defendant as a prostitute in 2008. By 2010, he put her in charge of other prostitutes. She was responsible for keeping track of their meetings with clients and collecting the money they received. She arranged interstate travel for the purpose of prostitution, posted on-line advertisements for workers, and maintained communication with prostitutes while they were working.
Sentencing is set for Oct. 17. She faces a penalty of up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.
Co-defendant Frank Boswell, 42, Topeka, Kan., is awaiting trial.
DOUGLAS COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Douglas County used a robot to assist with an armed, barricaded subject in Lawrence.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Combines are rolling across wheat fields in south-central Kansas.
