OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) — A man convicted of killing two men, a woman and her 18-month-old daughter on a Kansas farm three years ago has been sentenced to death.
Victims’ relatives applauded Wednesday when Franklin County District Judge Eric Godderz announced the sentences against 30-year-old Kyle Flack, of Ottawa.
Jurors convicted Flack of capital murder in the deaths of 21-year-old Kaylie Bailey and her daughter, Lana, at a farmhouse about 50 miles south of Kansas City. They convicted him of first-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Andrew Stout and second-degree murder in the death of 31-year-old Steven White.
Investigators believe Flack killed Stout around April 20, 2013, and killed the other three a little more than a week later.
Kansas hasn’t executed anyone since it reinstated capital punishment in 1994.
————–
OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) — A man is about to learn whether he will be sentenced to death for fatally shooting three adults and an 18-month-old girl on an eastern Kansas farm in 2013.
Jurors have recommended the death sentence for 30-year-old Kyle Flack. A Franklin County judge will announce whether he will follow the recommendation at a sentencing hearing Wednesday.
Flack was convicted in March of capital murder in the deaths of 21-year-old Kaylie Bailey and her 18-month-old daughter, Lana. Flack also was convicted in the deaths of Bailey’s boyfriend, 31-year-old Andrew Stout, and his roommate, 31-year-old Steven White, who lived in a rural farmhouse where Flack sometimes stayed in Ottawa, about 50 miles southwest of Kansas City.
Kansas hasn’t executed anyone since it reinstated capital punishment in 1994.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — More than 4 million U.S. workers will become newly eligible for overtime pay under rules issued Wednesday by the Obama administration.
The policy changes are intended to counter an erosion in overtime protections, which date from the 1930s and require employers to pay 1 ½ times a worker’s regular salary for any work past 40 hours a week.
Vice President Joe Biden announced the changes at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, Ohio.
In the fast food and retail industries in particular, many employees are deemed “managers,” work long hours, but are barely paid more than the people they supervise.
Under the new rules, first released in draft form last summer, the annual salary threshold at which companies can deny overtime pay will be doubled from $23,660 to nearly $47,500.
——————
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 4 million U.S. workers will become newly eligible for overtime pay under rules to be issued Wednesday by the Obama administration.
The policy changes are intended to counter an erosion in overtime protections, which date from the 1930s and require employers to pay 1 ½ times a worker’s regular salary for any work past 40 hours a week.
In the fast food and retail industries in particular, many employees are deemed “managers,” work long hours, but are barely paid more than the people they supervise.
Under the new rules, first released in draft form last summer, the annual salary threshold at which companies can deny overtime pay will be doubled from $23,660 to nearly $47,500.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) honored fallen Kansas City, Kan., Detective Brad Lancaster on the U.S. Senate Floor this week.
Sen. Moran sponsored the Fallen Heroes Flag Act (S. 2755) – introduced by U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) – which was signed into law on Monday. Under the new law, Congress shall provide the immediate family members of fallen first responders with American flags flown over the United States Capitol. Fallen detective Brad Lancaster’s family will be the first to receive this symbolic gesture of the nation’s respect and appreciation.
In his remarks, Sen. Moran also encouraged passage of a bipartisan congressional resolution (S. Res. 468) to establish this week as National Police Week. Passed by the Senate just hours later, the resolution pays respect to the 123 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty last year and honors them and their families for their tireless efforts to make our communities safer.
Lancaster was killed in the line of duty on May 9, 2016. His friends, family and neighbors remember Brad Lancaster’s commitment to community and its extension beyond his nine years of service to the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department. Before joining the police department, Brad served in the U.S. Air Force and completed two tours of duty abroad, including one in Kuwait during Desert Shield.
KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for the armed robbery of Pancho’s Mexican Food, according to Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Jamane J. Smith, 31, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to 25 years in federal prison without parole.
On Nov. 18, 2015, Smith pleaded guilty to one count of robbery and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence. Smith admitted that he robbed Pancho’s Mexican Food, 3540 Main St., Kansas City, Mo., on Feb. 2, 2014. Smith admitted that he used and carried a handgun during the commission of the robbery.
According to court documents, Smith ordered a meal at Pancho’s and attempted to pay with a counterfeit $20 bill. When told the counterfeit bill would not be accepted, Smith pulled a gun hanging from his waist, pointed it at the Pancho’s employee and stated, “Give me the money.” The employee handed him $200 and Smith left the restaurant.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Another lawsuit accuses a former physician assistant at a Veteran’s Administration hospital in Kansas of sexual abuse.
The suit filed Tuesday in federal court alleges that Mark Wisner suggested he would withhold pain medication if the patient didn’t permit unnecessary and improper genital examinations at the Leavenworth VA Medical Center. Wisner, the hospital and the federal government are named as defendants. At least five other lawsuits have been filed against Wisner.
Wisner surrendered his medical license last year after at least seven patients accused him of abuse. Criminal charges that include sexual battery are pending in Leavenworth County.
No attorney is listed for Wisner in online court records for the latest lawsuit. The hospital has said it stopped Wisner from seeing patients and began an investigation after the allegations surfaced.
SHAWNEE COUNTY – A Kansas teen was injured in an accident just after 10 p.m. on Tuesday in Shawnee County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Pontiac Torrent driven by Khalani A. Britt, 35, Topeka, was eastbound on Interstate 70 at Branner Trafficway.
The driver lost control of the SUV and struck the south guardrail.
A passenger Johnson, Julia M. Johnson, 14, Topeka, was transported to Stormont Vail.
Britt and another passenger in the SUV were not injured.
All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Police say a man has been shot multiple times at a park in Topeka.
Topeka police Sgt. Manny Munoz said that the man flagged down a passerby just before 9 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities say the man was taken to a hospital with injuries that are considered to be life-threatening.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A judge says Kansas can’t require people to show proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote for federal elections at motor vehicle offices.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday in a lawsuit over Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship requirements. She put it on hold until May 31 so the state can appeal.
Robinson said that more than 18,000 eligible voters would be disenfranchised in the November federal election under the Kansas law.
The judge says Kansas’ requirements violate a provision in the National Voter Registration Act requiring only minimal information to determine voter eligibility.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says he plans to appeal.
The American Civil Liberties Union says the ruling sends a signal to other states that may be considering similar registration requirements.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) on Tuesday issued the following statement about the Obama administration’s plans to relocate terrorist detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Ft. Leavenworth, KS:
“I have pledged to the people of Kansas that I would do everything in my power to stop President Obama from moving terrorist detainees to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, the intellectual center of the Army. I believe today that I can tell Kansans that the threat from this administration will go unfulfilled.
“Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, who would be responsible for leading the plans to relocate terrorist detainees at Ft. Leavenworth, assured me at a May 10 meeting that, ‘I am the person who would have to execute it [the moving of detainees to the mainland], and the clock has run out.’
“Now I want to be clear that I know this will not change the president’s on-going insistence that he will close the facilities before he leaves office.
“But I take Deputy Secretary Work at his word. He understands the significant and costly changes that would need to be made at Ft. Leavenworth to change the post’s mission. He understands the myriad of challenges that Ft. Leavenworth poses after reviewing earlier analyses. Most importantly, he understands the legal restrictions on funding to move the detainees to Ft. Leavenworth by January 20, 2017.”
In recent years, Congress has withheld funding for all detainee transfers to the mainland. Those same funding prohibitions are moving through the process now as the Congress considers funding for the new fiscal year beginning October 1.
Senator Roberts thanked Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) for working with him to strengthen prohibitions on funding for the transfer of detainees to the mainland in this year’s National Defense Authorizations Act.
“Looking at the task before the administration, it is increasingly improbable that they can jeopardize our national security by bringing high-value terrorists and their associated risks to an American community like Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
“Because of assurances given to me by the Department of Defense and Congress’s continued opposition, today I have lifted my hold on the nomination of Eric Fanning to be the Secretary of the Army.
“I look forward to voting for Mr. Fanning who has always had my support for this position. My hold was never about his courage, character or capability, but rather about our nation’s security if the detainees were moved to Ft. Leavenworth. I believe Eric Fanning will be a tremendous leader for the Army, including those who serve at Ft. Leavenworth and Ft. Riley in my state. I thank Mr. Fanning for his efforts and look forward to working with him.”
“As the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General have testified before Congress, moving detainees to the mainland is prohibited by law and will remain so through the end of this president’s term.”
Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, is the home to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, which houses military prisoners. Enemy combatants may not 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. The post is located in the town of Leavenworth, Kansas.
In March, Roberts introduced a Senate resolution formally rejecting President Obama’s plan to transfer prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities to an alternate location in American communities. The resolution is cosponsored by Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). The full text of the resolution is available here.
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.
John Redmond Dredging project photo Kan. Water Office
BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — Dredging underway at an east-central Kansas reservoir is being touted as important in ensuring that area’s water supply to customers who include a nuclear power plant.
Gov. Sam Brownback on Tuesday directed the dredging of the John Redmond Reservoir near Burlington to begin. He calls it a significant step in preserving the water resource for future generations.
The Kansas Water Office says that since 1964, the reservoir has lost an estimated 42 percent of its conservation pool storage capacity, partly through sediment accumulation. That’s 80 percent more than the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers originally projected when it was first construction.
The water office’s director, Tracy Streeter, says the reservoir serves 19 communities, six industrial users and the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant.
ST. JOHN, Kan. (AP) — The same mindset that has fueled online ride-sharing services like Uber has come to the farm.
The Hutchinson News reports that some farmers are now listing their combines and other machinery on a new sharing website. Kansas City-based MachineryLink has more than 1,300 growers signed up.
MCPHERSON COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 4 p.m. on Tuesday in McPherson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Hyundai Elantra driven by Patrick D. Johnson, 42, Hutchinson, was traveling on Kansas 61 and rear-ended a 2007 Kenworth semi driven by Todd A. Arnold, 48, Hillsboro, that turned from Comanche Road onto Kansas 61 highway.
Johnson was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.
Arnold was not injured.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
