SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on child sex charges.
Lawrence photo Shawnee Co.
Just after 7:30a.m. Friday, police in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigations served a search warrant at a residence in the 2100 Block of SW Fairlawn in Topeka regarding crimes involving exploitation of children, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel.
Police arrested Antonino Jo Von Lawrence 30, of Topeka, at a separate location without incident and hewas booked into Shawnee Co Department of Corrections on requested charges of sexual exploitation of a child, aggravated criminal sodomy, aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, electronic solicitation and aggravated human trafficking.
Authorities released no additional details Saturday.
Wichita police say the shooting happened around 10 p.m. Friday in the Benjamin Hills neighborhood.
The man had just returned from a trip to the grocery store after work to his home when he was shot. A person with knowledge of the investigation told the newspaper that the victim had been robbed.
Police have not released the victim’s name.
Police are searching for a suspect and have asked anyone with information about the crime to call CrimeStoppers.
Our unclaimed property division at the Kansas State Treasurer’s office takes in millions of dollars in new
property a year. Each piece of property has a story, and it is up to us to use the details we have to help find out who it belongs to. Sometimes, though, that story takes a lot more work to figure out. Money and property can come to us with no name, address, or other important details making it nearly impossible to return the property to the rightful owner. We love it when we can connect the dots and get someone’s property returned to them, whether big or small.
In a case we’ve been working on for the past year, a property came to our office with little identifying
information to help us get it back to its rightful owner.
Last month we received a call from a woman who had been searching for the sale proceeds from her father’s home. It had gone to auction after he passed away, and the money never made it back to her or her brother, both heirs of their father’s estate.
Our unclaimed property division began their skilled work at checking the documentation she had against
county records, last known addresses, and other necessary identifying information.
After a diligent effort on their part, they found the match, and the woman and her brother were successfully reunited with the over $50,000 in cash from the sale of their late father’s home.
Both siblings were very grateful for the work done on their behalf and delighted to finally have the mystery of the missing money solved.
We have over $300-million in unclaimed property still waiting to be claimed and want to encourage Kansans to take a minute to check our website, www.Kansascash.com, and see if any of it belongs to them. Remember, we never charge for searches or returning unclaimed property, so it’s important to be wary of those who do. We’ve returned a record amount to Kansans for the past two years in a row, and would love to have more and more success stories like this one in the year ahead.
TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly appointed Dr. Tiffany Anderson to the Postsecondary Technical Education Authority.
“Dr. Anderson is the right choice for this important assignment,” Kelly said. “She’s highly qualified, driven, and knows education at every level, to include higher education.”
Currently, Anderson serves as superintendent for the Topeka public schools district, USD 501. She also served as a school superintendent in Missouri and Virginia. Since 2003, she’s been an adjunct professor in the Department of Educational Leadership for Kansas State University. Anderson received her doctorate and master’s degree in education leadership and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Saint Louis University, Mo.
Dr. Anderson currently resides in Overland Park. She succeeds Sabrina Korentager.
The authority is composed of 12 members. Four members are appointed by the Kansas Board of Regents. Three members are be appointed by the governor. One member is appointed by the president of the Senate, and one member is appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Regarding the governor’s appointments, one represents Kansas business and industry, and two represent the general public.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — The Reno County attorney says 10 officers who fired at a suspect during a confrontation at a Hutchinson home last month will not face charges.
County Attorney Keith Schroeder announced Friday the officers were acting to defend themselves and others when they fired at least 150 rounds at 21-year-old Brendan Jones. Jones was shot at least eight times but survived.
Hours after a standoff began, Jones agreed to come out of the home. He says Jones walked outside raised a handgun and fired at least 11 shots at officers, who returned fire.
Jones photo Reno Co.
Police say Jones and another man, Tyson Samuels, holed up in the house after shooting another man at a different location. Samuels surrendered before the gun battle between Jones and police.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — A 20-year-old man has pleaded guilty to kicking a cat like a ball on a Kansas City high school football field in an act that was captured on video and posted to Snapchat.
Image courtesy Kansas City Animal Control
Johnathan Taylor, of Kansas City, was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty Thursday to misdemeanor animal abuse. He also was ordered to perform 80 hours of community service and to donate $500 to an animal shelter.
Court records say the cat was found dead in May 2018 at Center High School, where Taylor had been a student.
Police say the person who recorded the video identified Taylor as the man kicking the cat in the video. A voice can be heard on the recording yelling “field goal!”
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) with World Food Program USA
By WORLD FOOD PROGRAM USA
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Throughout our nation’s history, leaders from across the aisle have dedicated their careers to ending global hunger.
Senator Jerry Moran from Kansas is one of those leaders. Senator Moran is chair and co-founder of the Senate Hunger Caucus and a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, and throughout his career, he has worked with the World Food Programme to implement programs and policies that promote food security. We recently sat down with Senator Moran to learn more about his commitment to feeding hungry families across the world.
WFP USA: Why do you personally care about global food security?
Sen. Moran: The call to feed the world has been answered by so many Kansans before me. Each of us is taught at a young age that it is our duty to help those in need. Kansans take that moral responsibility to heart. As individuals, we help our neighbors. Through churches and local organizations, we feed our communities. And as a country, America leads the world in providing food for millions of people in need of assistance around the globe.
WFP USA: Imagine you’re hosting a town hall meeting in Kansas and you’re met with skepticism about global engagement generally or food aid in particular. Why should Kansans and the rest of America care about global food security?
Sen. Moran: American farmers are linked to global markets and, by extension, to the wellbeing of people everywhere. Today, 821 million people around the world suffer from chronic hunger. About 113 million are facing immediate, life-threatening hunger. America’s international food assistance programs build stronger markets and more stable societies. They also provide a reliable market for American farmers right now when they need it most.
Food security also contributes to our national security. When governments cannot feed their own people, chaos and violence often follow. Food assistance provided by the United States leads to greater stability in regions of the world important to America’s strategic interests. When parents have access to food, they can provide a better future for their children. And when hunger no longer impedes a child’s ability to learn, they can remain and thrive in school, leading them down a path to greater opportunities.
While our country’s collective moral convictions make fighting hunger the right thing to do, the benefits we receive as a nation from reducing global food insecurity also make it the smart thing to do.
WFP USA: America has always been a leader in the fight against global hunger. Looking back at our history of hunger relief, what are key U.S. policies and programs that have made a big difference in reducing hunger abroad?
Sen. Moran: Kansans in particular have a long history of leading the fight to end global hunger. Most notably, Senator Bob Dole from Kansas (a Russell native) worked to expand our nation’s efforts to provide food to the most vulnerable populations around the world, including young school girls, through the Dole-McGovern Food for Education Program. It is an honor to continue this tradition and example set by Senator Dole as we continue the fight against hunger.
And, of course, Food for Peace has also been instrumental in fighting global hunger.
WFP USA: Let’s look specifically at the Food for Peace Program. This year marks its 65th anniversary. What role has this program played in addressing global hunger?
Sen. Moran: Since Food for Peace was signed into law 65 years ago by President [Dwight] Eisenhower, a native Kansan (from Abilene), it has reached over 4 billion people in the world. Food for Peace is the cornerstone of U.S. international food aid programs. It provides U.S.-grown food to hungry people in some of the most dangerous and hardest to reach areas in the world, including in conflict zones. From the aftermath of the Korean War to conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia today, Food for Peace continues to provide hope for people who have nowhere else to turn. With several areas of the world facing famine or near-famine conditions today, Food for Peace has never been more important to addressing global hunger.
WFP USA: How are you currently working to fight global hunger? Are there any pieces of related legislation that you’re passionate about passing to advance this cause?
Sen. Moran: As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I work to prioritize funding for our international food aid programs, including Food for Peace and Dole-McGovern. Each year, Congress must decide how to allocate limited funds among many important policies across government. I fight for international food aid programs to be at the top of the priority list because these programs help save lives around the world, contribute to global stability and provide important markets for American farmers.
WFP USA: Sen. Moran, you serve a large agriculture producing state. How do you see food assistance programs creating and expanding markets for U.S. agriculture products?
Sen. Moran: Kansas is a top wheat, sorghum and beef producing state. We also grow corn, soybeans and cotton, and are one of the fastest growing dairy production states in the nation. Kansans’ ability to earn a living in rural areas is by exporting the food and fiber we grow to consumers around the world. Through international food aid programs, we are helping to connect the bounty of food that farmers and ranchers produce in Kansas with people facing starvation around the world.
Good harvests, coupled with a lack of markets, have made large stockpiles of grain a familiar site across the state in recent years. I pulled over to the side of the road to take a photo in Kensington, Kansas of a huge pile of sorghum on the ground because all of the grain elevators were full. I’ve shown that photo to President Trump, Secretary Perdue and others to illustrate the importance of export markets for Kansas farmers and ranchers. The photo has also raised the question – how do we do better at getting the large amounts of food we grow in Kansas to people who are facing hunger and starvation?
WFP USA: What is your hope for the future of America’s role in global food security? What do you think we need to do as Americans to ensure that everyone across the world has the food they need to not only survive, but also reach their full potential?
Sen. Moran: In my lifetime I believe we can end hunger, malnutrition and achieve food security across the world. We can accomplish this if America continues to lead the world in combatting hunger. This is an issue in which the morally correct thing to do is also what’s in the best interest of our country. By continuing to invest in Food for Peace, Dole-McGovern and other international food-aid programs, we will save lives around the world and reduce conflict by promoting greater social and economic stability.
To read the full World Food Program USA Q&A with Sen. Moran, click here.
CALABASAS, Calif. — A Kansas high school skilled trades teacher is among 50 teachers and teacher teams from across the country who were named today as semifinalists for the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence.
Mark Meyer, who teaches agricultural education at Marion High School in Marion, and his skilled trades program are in the running for a share of $1 million in total cash awards.
Meyer was chosen by an independent panel of judges from among a field of 749 skilled trades teachers who applied for the prize. The semifinalists—some competing as individuals and some as teacher teams—hail from 26 states and specialize in trades including manufacturing, welding, construction, automotive and agriculture mechanics.
Meyer has more than 30 years’ experience teaching agriculture and welding. Growing up on a dairy farm gave him early experience with fixing equipment, and his passion for teaching skilled trades comes from his belief that students learn best by applying what they learn.
Meyer’s students pursue activities that reinforce physical science concepts, like studying Bernoulli’s principle before designing wind turbine blades to maximize power production.
Meyer is also a teacher leader, training dozens of teachers nationwide in the Curriculum for Agriculture Science Education (CASE) course in agriculture power and technology and in mechanical systems in agriculture.
“We never cease to be amazed by the talent, creativity and resourcefulness of skilled trades educators,” said Danny Corwin, executive director of Harbor Freight Tools for Schools. “This year’s semifinalists teach more than a dozen trades and have spent a collective 800 years in the classroom—teaching our students critical skills that our country needs—and we couldn’t be more excited to honor their work.”
The full list of the 50 semifinalists is posted here.
The 2019 semifinalists now advance to a second round of competition, where they will be asked to respond to online expert-led video learning modules designed to solicit their insights and creative ideas about teaching practices. The contenders will be asked how ideas from the modules might be used to inspire students to achieve excellence in the skilled trades. Two rounds of judging, each by separate independent panels of reviewers, will narrow the field to 18 finalists and, finally, name the three first-place and 15 second-place winners. Winners will be announced on Oct. 24.
The 18 winners will split $1 million in prizes. First-place winners will each receive $100,000, with $70,000 going to their public high school skilled trades program and $30,000 to the individual skilled trades teacher or teacher team behind the winning program. Second-place winners will each be awarded $50,000, with $35,000 going to their public high school program and $15,000 to the teacher or team. Past winners have dedicated their winnings to modernizing their shops, investing in specialized tools, promoting their programs to families and purchasing equipment to prepare students for higher-level accreditations. Semifinalists whose school, district or state policy prohibits receipt of the individual portion of prize earnings were eligible to apply on behalf of their school’s skilled trades program. If they win, the entire prize will be awarded to the school.
The Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence was started in 2017 by Eric Smidt, the founder of national tool retailer Harbor Freight Tools. The prize recognizes outstanding instruction in the skilled trades in U.S. public high schools and the teachers who inspire students to learn a trade that prepares them for life after graduation. Now, in the third year of the prize, more than 150 teachers have been recognized as winners or semifinalists. Winners are invited to attend an annual convening to share best practices for advancing excellence in skilled trades education.
“Skilled trades teachers help hundreds of thousands of students each year experience the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that comes from learning a trade,” Smidt said. “These teachers, their students and skilled tradespeople everywhere, too often don’t receive the respect and gratitude they deserve. Without them, construction would halt, homes, cars and appliances would fall into disrepair, and our infrastructure would crumble. We are thrilled to be able to honor and elevate the importance of their work.”
About Harbor Freight Tools for Schools
Harbor Freight Tools for Schools is a program of The Smidt Foundation, established by Harbor Freight Tools Founder Eric Smidt, to advance excellent skilled trades education in public high schools across America. With a deep respect for the dignity of these fields and for the intelligence and creativity of people who work with their hands, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools aims to drive a greater understanding of and investment in skilled trades education, believing that access to quality skilled trades education gives high school students pathways to graduation, opportunity, good jobs and a workforce our country needs. Harbor Freight Tools is a major supporter of the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools program. For more information, visit us at harborfreighttoolsforschools.org/ and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
A robot at KU’s School of Medicine takes the vapor from e-cigarettes to test it on human cells from lung donors.
By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN Kansas News Service
KANSAS CITY — Many people figure vaping spares their health because it lets them inhale nicotine in aerosols instead of sucking in smoke from burning cigarettes.
New research from the University of Kansas casts doubt on that, raising the specter that vaping nicotine may cause some of the same respiratory problems that plague and even kill smokers today.
“Vaping is just considered not harmful, even though there are no data to support that statement,” researcher Matthias Salathe said. “There are more and more data to actually oppose that statement.”
Salathe chairs the Department of Internal Medicine at KU’s School of Medicine, where his lab uses a robot that vapes to test the effects on human cells obtained from deceased lung donors.
“Vaping is just considered not harmful, even though there are no data to support that statement … There are more and more data to actually oppose that statement,” Salathe said.
That dysfunction leads to chronic bronchitis — and the coughing, shortness of breath and fatigue that come with it. Scientists such as Salathe worry that means the vaping trend sweeping the U.S. could eventually translate into more people developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The KU researchers found that the aerosols from nicotine e-cigarettes hurt mucus-clearing abilities in sheep, too. (Sheep were used because of similarities between their respiratory system and that of humans.)
Yet the KU research remains at the pre-clinical phase, meaning scientists have more work ahead to answer the question with greater certainty.
Taken in context with other research, though, Salathe sees reason for worry. His lab’s results add to a mounting body of evidence that vaping causes such problems, including evidence from studies on living people who vape.
Getting more definitive answers, though, takes time. Rigorous scientific research can’t move as fast as the vaping craze that now has millions of U.S. teenagers inhaling nicotine. And diseases like COPD play out over years.
“To really know, we need to wait 10 to 20 years, right? To see whether these humans are actually developing the diseases that we predict,” Salathe said. “The question is, now from a policy point of view, is that an acceptable experiment to actually do in the population?”
More than 20 cities and counties across Kansas have banned the sale of tobacco-related products to people under the age of 21 in hopes of preventing them from becoming hooked.
Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @Celia_LJ or email her at celia (at) kcur (dot) org. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita police officer accused of helping a woman with an outstanding warrant has pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanors.
Powell photo Sedgwick Co.
Matthew Powell has been on unpaid leave since he was charged in June with obstructing apprehension or prosecution and two counts of official misconduct.
Investigators allege Powell helped a woman avoid police who were searching for her in May. Details of how and why he helped the woman have not been released.
He entered his plea during a court appearance Wednesday.
Powell’s attorney, Jess Hoeme, said the case involves a failure to communicate and his client is not guilty of the charges. He did not elaborate on the communication problem.
Police spokesman Charley Davidson said Wednesday Powell remains on unpaid administrative leave.
GEARY COUNTY —Interstate 70 between Grandview Plaza and the Chestnut Street exit at Junction City reopened Friday afternoon following an accident involving two semi trucks.
Friay crash scene on I-70 Photo by Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges
The interstate was closed at that location for several hours after one semi-tractor trailer rig hit the rear end of another semi-tractor trailer rig. Haz-mat and then eventually Fort Riley personnel all responded to the scene along with emergency management and law enforcement personnel.
Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges said, “Fort Riley brought out their EOD and also their ammunition expert and they were able to offload using a trailer and loader to unload that wrecked semi that had the trailer damaged onto another trailer. “It was then escorted onto Fort Riley.
Fort Riley also issued a statement saying ammunition handlers / technicians from the post assisted Geary County Emergency Management in response to the vehicle crash. “A semi-trailer transporting military munitions between U.S. Army arsenals was involved and disabled.” Trained technicians from Fort Riley Logistics Readiness Center provided a replacement trailer to safely transfer the load which was transported and will be temporarily stored at the Fort Riley Ammunition Supply Point.
The Army said within three days, the civilian contracted trucking company is scheduled to pick up ammunition from Fort Riley ASP to complete their transport to the original destination.
During the closure of the interstate Berges confirmed there were two other accidents as traffic was diverted through Grandview Plaza and Junction City back to Interstate 70 farther west. He knew of no injuries in those accidents.
The heat made it difficult to work outside, said Berges. “It was hot. We checked, and at one point the heat index was over 103 out there. We had guys in special suits out there, kept everybody hydrated, tried to keep them in the shade and working as teams as much as possible.”
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and asking the public for help to locate a man in connection with the alleged crime.
Wallace Mr. Wallace is usually confined to his wheelchair photo Shawnee Co.
Police want to locate 44-year-old Andre Jerome Wallace in connection with a shooting that occurred in the in the 3300 block of SE Irvingham in Topeka on July 18, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel.
Police advised anyone who knows where Wallace is located, ” do not attempt to apprehend him yourself. Please call 911 to report his whereabouts or you can leave an anonymous tip by calling Shawnee County Crime Stoppers at (785) 234-0007.
If you have information about this crime or any information about Wallace please email DETs Judd ([email protected]) and/or DET Riggin ([email protected])
