TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is suspending its work on a plan for complying with federal regulations meant to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions from power plants.
Gov. Sam Brownback has signed legislation approved by the GOP-dominated Legislature to put the work on hold because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in February.
The new law takes effect May 19 and is a response to the high court’s 5-4 ruling staying the federal rules until legal challenges are resolved.
Wyoming and Virginia have enacted similar measures.
The Kansas law will prevent state agencies from conducting studies or doing other work for a carbon-emissions plan while the U.S. Supreme Court’s stay is in effect.
Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said Monday that the federal government is attempting an “unprecedented expansion” of its power.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on a shooting that wounded a Kansas City, Kansas, police detective. (all times local):
The KCKPD is attempting to locate Curtis Ayers in regards to the detective shot near 110th and State Ave. Anybody with information contact 816-474-TIPS or KCKPD.
5:20 p.m.
Police say a Kansas City, Kansas, detective was shot and killed, and a man who’d been sought for questioning in that was later wounded and arrested after a shootout with police in neighboring Missouri.
Police say the detective was shot at least twice about 12:30 p.m. Monday while helping respond to a report of a suspicious person near the Kansas Speedway. Police said in a statement that he later died at a hospital. His name wasn’t released.
Police say the shooter fled in the detective’s car, then carjacked a vehicle with two children inside before abandoning that vehicle, leaving the kids unharmed.
Police sought 28-year-old Curtis Ayers for questioning in the shooting. He ultimately was taken into custody in Kansas City, Missouri, when he crashed his car after exchanging gunfire with officers.
4:15 p.m.
A man sought for questioning in connection with a shooting that hospitalized a Kansas City, Kansas, police detective was later wounded after being shot by police in neighboring Missouri.
Police say 28-year-old Curtis Ayers of Tonganoxie, Kansas, was taken into custody Monday afternoon when he crashed his car after exchanging gunfire with officers. A Kansas City, Kansas, police spokesman said that person was in stable condition.
Kansas City, Kansas, police had sought him for questioning in connection with a shooting that wounded a police detective at least twice near the Kansas Speedway.
Police have not released details of the wounded officer’s condition.
Police say the shooter fled in the detective’s car, then carjacked a vehicle with two children inside before abandoning that vehicle, leaving the children unharmed.
2:40 p.m.
Kansas City, Kansas, police say they’re searching for a man in connection with a shooting that wounded a police detective near the Kansas Speedway.
Police spokesman Patrick McCallop says the shooting took place about 12:30 p.m. Monday after the detective, in an unmarked car, helped respond to a report of a suspicious person. McCallop says that’s when the man ran into a field and exchanged gunfire with the detective, wounding him at least twice.
McCallop says the shooter fled in the detective’s car, then carjacked a vehicle with two children inside. That vehicle later was found in nearby Basehor, and the children were unharmed.
McCallop says police are asking for the public’s help in locating 28-year-old Chris Ayers, who is believed to be armed.
2:20 p.m.
Kansas City, Kansas, police say one of the department’s detectives was shot and wounded near the Kansas Speedway by a suspect who later fled the scene.
Police Chief Terry Ziegler says the shooting took place about 12:30 p.m. Monday. Ziegler says the detective later was in surgery, though his medical status was not immediately clear.
investigation near the scene of the shooting- photo courtesy KMBC
It was not immediately clear what led to the shooting.
The FBI and the Missouri State Highway Patrol say they are assisting in the investigation, though they deferred questions about the matter to Kansas City, Kansas, police.
Messages left with a police spokesman were not immediately returned.
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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City, Kansas, police say one of the department’s detectives was shot and wounded near the Kansas Speedway.
Police Chief Terry Ziegler tells KMBC-TV confirmed that the gunfire happened early Monday afternoon, but he offered no immediate details on the detective’s medical condition.
Police near the scene of Monday’s shooting photo courtesy KMBC
It was not immediately clear what led to the shooting.
Messages left with a Kansas City, Kansas, police spokeswoman were not immediately returned.
VAN NUYS, Calif. (AP) — About 180,000 pacifiers have been recalled due to a choking hazard.
The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission says the recall involves Munchkin-brand Latch lightweight pacifiers and clips, which are sold as a set. The commission says the clip cover can detach from the clip itself, creating a choking hazard.
Commission spokeswoman Patty Davis says Munchkin is conducting a voluntary recall in cooperation with the government.
There have been 10 reports of the clip cover coming off in the U.S. and Canada, but no injuries have been reported.
The sets were sold between March 2014 and March of this year at retailers nationwide, including Babies ‘R’ Us, Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Douglas County commissioners are asking a judge to stop a family from dumping junk at an old schoolhouse property south of Lawrence.
The Lawrence Journal-Worldreports that a petition filed in Douglas County District Court requests a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction. The property includes a rural schoolhouse that was built in 1890.
The petition describes the property as a “junk yard” and describes it as “dangerous” and a “nuisance” that could harm the health, welfare and safety of other residents. Junk on the property includes old cars and tires, machinery, vehicle motor parts and yard equipment.
It’s an unusual step for the county, whose code-enforcement philosophy in recent years has been to work with violators rather than to penalize them.
COWLWEY COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Cowley County are investigating a shooting at a local park.
Just before 1a.m. on Monday, officers of the Winfield Police Department were dispatched to the area of Cherry Street Park in Winfield for the report of a gunshot in the area, according to a media release.
As officers were responding to the area, a second call came in, asking the officers to respond to William Newton Hospital for a subject with multiple gunshot wounds.
It was determined that the subject at William Newton Hospital was associated with the earlier gunshot heard at the park.
Investigators processed a crime scene at Cherry Street Park throughout Sunday.
The Cowley County Sheriff’s Department and Blue Line Tracking are assisting with this investigation.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man accused killing two people when he crashed into a van that was transporting people with intellectual disabilities has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and fleeing the scene.
The 56-year-old man is being held on $300,000 bond in the Friday afternoon crash that killed 48-year-old Dirk MacMillan and 25-year-old Leonard Atterbery. No charges have been filed.
Police Sgt. Nichelle Woodrow says the victims were among three Starkey residents who were returning home from a day program when the collision occurred.
The surviving Starkey resident sustained critical injuries, while one staff member was seriously injured and a second staff member was treated at a hospital and released.
Woodrow says the suspect was arrested a couple blocks away from the scene of the crash after he ran.
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating 4 inmates for alleged drug possession inside the county jail.
Corrections officers received information of inmates with drugs, according to Saline County Sheriff’s Investigator Jeremiah Hayes.
Just after 3 a.m. on Sunday, a cell search was conducted around and a couple of small baggies of a white powder substance were found.
Amber Craig, 24, and Abigail Zugg, 35, were charged with trafficking contraband in a correctional facility.
Paige Swank, 21, was charged with distribution of contraband in a correctional facility.
In addition, a 24-year-old Lee Summit Missouri woman, booked jail by the Kansas Highway Patrol on warrants was found to have brought drug paraphernalia into the jail.
Dummitt
Mallory Dummit was being dressed into jail clothing when a corrections officer discovered a zipper bag containing a glass pipe
and syringes were found.
She will also face charges of trafficking contraband in a correctional facility.
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a fatal weekend accident.
The Saline County Sheriff’s office reported a Ford F-250 driven by John Breen, 30, Salina, was eastbound in the 8600 Block of East Kansas 4 southeast of Gypsum.
The truck left the road, rolled, ejected the driver and came to rest in a field, according to Investigator Jeremiah Hayes with the Saline County Sheriff’s Office
Breen was pronounced dead at the scene.
Several beer cans were found around the crash site and speed was a possible factor, according to Hayes.
SHAWNEE COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating a pair of home invasions.
Just after 5:20 a.m. on Monday two while male suspects forced their way into a residence in the 900 Block of Northwest Jackson Street in Topeka, according to a media release.
They attacked the resident Benjamin Bartle, 28, with a machete.
Bartle was transported to a local hospital for treatment. One suspect was described as wearing a black mask and one had a ponytail.
Just after 5 a.m. on Monday a suspect, Alan Turner, entered a residence in the 2500 Block of South Kansas Avenue in Topeka and was shot by the homeowner 20-year-old Christopher Robinson.
Turner was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Police are asking the public for help with more information on the crimes.
Syrian refugee Ahmad al-Abboud (right) tells his story through interpreter Fariz Turkmani at a press conference in Kansas City. photo by ALEX SMITH / KCUR
TOPEKA – Gov. Sam Brownback announced Kansas’ withdrawal from the federal refugee resettlement program last month, but agencies within the state will continue to help.
“Not all states participate in the administration of the refugee resettlement program, and refugee resettlement will continue in Kansas, coordinated by non-profit organizations,” said Mark Weber, a spokesman for the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in Washington, D.C.
Lua Kamal Yuille, a University of Kansas associate law professor, agreed Brownback’s order wouldn’t end refugee resettlement in Kansas since many private and nonprofit organizations conduct programs on their own. The money for those services simply passed through the state of Kansas on its way to the organizations.
“All of the actual services – the English classes, the psychological services – all of that was already being provided by nonprofit organizations,” Yuille said.
Sizable populations of refugees live in Kansas cities, including Wichita, Garden City, Dodge City and Liberal, according to University of Kansas professor Don Stull, who has conducted research on immigration to southwestern Kansas.
According to the ORR, the state of Kansas served 741 refugees through the state-administered resettlement program in 2015. Eight of them were Syrian.
Garden City, Dodge City and Liberal are secondary rather than primary resettlement locations, Stull said. That means refugees seeking to move there do so of their own volition, rather than being directed there by federal or state agencies. Many refugees in those locations hail from Somalia and Burma, as well as Central American countries.
Many are attracted by employment in the region’s meat packing plants.
“They’re coming to find work, and when they find work, they’re gainfully employed,” Stull said.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas is reviewing the impact of the state’s withdrawal from the federal government’s refugee relocation program on its own refugee resettlement work, Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas said in a statement.
President Barack Obama’s administration planned to welcome 85,000 refugees during the 2016 fiscal year, 10,000 of them from Syria. The United Nations has registered 4.8 million Syrian war refugees as of April 25.
Brownback said he didn’t have confidence in the vetting process for refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.
“Because the federal government has failed to provide adequate assurances regarding refugees it is settling in Kansas, we have no option but to end our cooperation with and participation in the federal refugee resettlement program,” Brownback said in a statement.
The Refugee Act, enacted by the federal government in 1980, requires states to provide assistance to refugees without discrimination. Yuille says Brownback’s order prevents Kansas from being charged with discrimination by federal agencies.
Kansas’ pullout from the federal program will cost the state about $1.6 million in grant money, according to the ORR. The grant money goes toward the administration of state refugee resettlement programs.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court plans to hear arguments this week on whether legislators have satisfied a mandate to improve funding for poor schools.
Legislators this year made technical changes in how state aid is distributed without affecting most districts’ share or boosting overall state spending.
Attorneys for four school districts contend the changes don’t fix the problem because poor school districts aren’t getting enough money.
But the state’s lawyers have submitted nearly 950 pages of material from the Legislature’s debate to back up its case that the changes satisfy the high court’s February mandate, which came in a lawsuit filed in 2010 by four of the state’s 286 school districts.
The court plans to hear arguments Tuesday and is expected to rule quickly.
RENO COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Reno County are investigating a theft from a recycling business in South Hutchinson.
On May 3, individuals entered the Silas Enterprises, 501 North Popular, and stole dozens of catalytic converters with a value over $12,000, according to a social media report.
Police are asking the public for help in the investigation.
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact Detective Thompson at the South Hutchinson Police Department at 620-560-6251. Or you may contact Crime Stoppers of Reno County at 620-694-2666 or 1-800-222-TIPS. You may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1000.
JOHN HANNA, Associated Press
