SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County continue to investigate the April 29 shooting near a child-care center.
A person of interest in the case, according to police is Colwin Lynn Henderson III, 18, Topeka.
He left the scene in a gold Chrysler Sebring convertible with extensive front-end damage. He is believed to be armed with a handgun.
Just after 5 p.m. on Friday, police responded to 33rd and Gage Street in Topeka after report that a man was wounded.
The victim was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Several rounds from the weapon were fired, according to police. One bullet also hit a building used as a childcare center. There were no injuries in that facility.
Any information on this suspect please Email the TPD Criminal Intelligence Unit ([email protected]) or TPD DET Victor Riggin ([email protected]) or call #785 368 9503 or Crime Stoppers at #785 234-0007
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — An Arkansas City woman found guilty in the death of her 16-month-old daughter has been sentenced to 18 months of probation.
KAKE-TV reports that 30-year-old Lindsey Abegg was sentenced Thursday. She had pleaded guilty to aggravated endangerment of a child in the August death of Astra Abegg. She also pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and marijuana.
Police say that Astra Abegg was found dead at an Arkansas City apartment when emergency crews responded to a report of a medical emergency involving a child.
The cause of the child’s death is unclear. Prosecutors argued that abuse led to the child’s death.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — National Weather Service branches in Wichita and Tulsa, Oklahoma, are re-enacting a deadly 1991 tornado outbreak on social media a week after the threat of nasty weather forced them to postpone a similar exercise.
The Wichita Eagle reports the Wichita office will focus on conditions leading to an F5 tornado that killed 17 people and injured more than 200 in Andover, south Wichita and McConnell Air Force Base on April 26, 1991.
The first tweets Tuesday will focus on the atmospheric environment on that day. The Wichita branch will then live-tweet the actual event starting with the first tornado warning at 4:36 p.m.
Meterologist Vanessa Pearce says there will be about 60 tweets issued by the Wichita branch.
photo Kansas Department of Corrections shows convicted child sex offender Fernando Neave-Ceniceros plead guilty to stealing the identity of Marcus Calvillo
ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A decades-long ordeal ruined a Texas man, but his life might start to get better now that the sex offender in Kansas who stole his identity has pleaded guilty to misusing a Social Security number.
Fernando Neave-Ceniceros’ plea Monday in federal court in Wichita will help prosecutors begin to repair the havoc left behind for Marcus Calvillo, the Grand Prairie, Texas, man whose identity he assumed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson says he doesn’t know of a case where the theft of an identity had a more devastating impact than this one.
The 41-year-old convicted child sex offender and Mexican national admitted to using Calvillo’s Social Security number to hide his own identity and lack of legal status in the United States. Sentencing is July 25. His attorney declined comment.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Figures from a survey of supply managers in nine Midwest and Plains states have dropped slightly after rising for three months, but they still point to economic growth.
A report issued Monday says the Mid-American Business Conditions Index declined to 50.1 in April from 50.6 in March.
The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests economic growth. A score below that suggests decline.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says “continuing weakness in the region’s agriculture and energy sectors remains an obstacle to improving overall growth.”
The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
HUTCHINSON – A Kansas man, well known for stealing vehicles, was arrested again over the weekend when he allegedly stole a truck in Haven.
Maurice Miles, 36, and Ashley Miles were spotted driving on U.S 50 on Saturday and a traffic stop was made, according to police. They were arrested.
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Miles, who was just paroled for his other convictions in February and according to the Kansas Department of Corrections absconded from that parole.
Miles faces charges of theft or possession of stolen property, driving while suspended, failure to appear and violating his parole.
In court, his bond was increased to $7,500 after District Attorney Keith Schroeder noted that he may have the record for most stolen vehicles in Reno County saying it was more then 25.
Ashley Miles is charged with theft or possession of stolen property and asked for a bond reduction. However, she is facing a probation violation, so the judge decided against any change till she had time to visit with another judge over the probation violation. She told the judge she is supposed to start court ordered drug treatment on Wednesday.
She’ll also be back in court on May 9.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman was spared from going to prison after admitting she helped her husband steal more than $1.2 million from a company which owns assisted living centers in Kansas and Missouri.
U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten sentenced 51-year-old Lori A. Shryock of Augusta to five years on probation. Her husband was sentenced in October to three years in prison. Both pleaded guilty to mail fraud.
Her attorney told the court the wife was motivated less by greed than by fear and love for her husband, but knowingly enjoyed the financial benefits.
The indictment alleges the thefts occurred while Brent Shryock was employed as information systems director for Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, where he was in charge of purchasing equipment.
The couple created fictitious companies to submit fraudulent invoices.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is reporting that its tax collections last month were $2.6 million more than expected, giving state officials a small dose of good news in dealing with ongoing budget problems.
The Department of Revenue reported Monday that the state collected $584.3 million in taxes in April, when the official projection was $581.7 million. The surplus was 0.5 percent.
That’s positive news but revenue projections were slashed only three weeks ago. The tax collections are now being pegged against a more pessimistic forecast.
Still, Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan said there are positive economic signs in personal income and sales tax collections that exceeded expectations.
The report came 12 hours after the Legislature approved a budget-balancing plan that leaves most of the work to Gov. Sam Brownback.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The second of two men who escaped from a southeast Kansas county jail is back in custody.
Crawford County Sheriff Dan Peak announced Monday that Shaun Steven Simpson was arrested without incident while walking in a neighborhood in Olathe.
Simpson and Steven Barnes climbed over a fence at the county jail’s outdoor recreation area in Girard on April 23. Barnes was recaptured Saturday at a Pittsburg motel. The vehicle the men used to escape was found at an apartment complex in Olathe.
The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports Peak says the two will likely be charged with escape from custody and other charges. And he expects charges against others who helped the men after their escape.
Simpson’s mother, Marlene Louise McAfee, of Arma, is charged with helping the two escape.
Members of a coalition asking Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to convene a meeting on gun violence include (left to right) Judy L. Sherry of Grandparents Against Gun Violence; Dennis Dobson of Heeding God’s Call; Rabbi Moti Rieber of Kansas Interfaith Action; and Rep. Barbara Bollier, a Mission Hills Republican. CREDIT JIM MCLEAN / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
A coalition of health care and religious groups is asking Gov. Sam Brownback to convene a conference on gun violence.
“In the immediate aftermath of the tragic attack at Excel Industries in Hesston, you declined questions about gun policy issues because you understandably felt the timing was not appropriate,” reads the first sentence of the request submitted earlier this week. “We the undersigned inferred that you do believe, however, a time and place for such a conversation exists. We think that time should be soon.”
The Feb. 25 shooting in Hesston left four people dead, including the shooter, who worked at Excel.
Loren Stanton, lead member of the Northeast Kansas Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the coalition asked Brownback to convene the meeting and select the participants to increase the likelihood that key people on all sides of the gun debate would attend.
“If we call a conference, we know that people on the other side aren’t going to come,” Stanton said.
Coalition members aren’t asking for the meeting to advocate for gun control, said Judy Sherry, of Grandparents Against Gun Violence. The objective, she said, is to start a more constructive conversation that could lead to some common ground.
“A conversation by definition needs to be a two-way street, otherwise it’s a lecture,” Sherry said.
Rep. Barbara Bollier, a Mission Hills Republican, said gun violence is an urgent public health issue. She said while mass shootings and increasing murder rates are obvious symptoms, recent increases in the number of accidental shootings and suicides also are a call to action.
“We need to do more,” she said.
Eileen Hawley, Brownback’s spokesperson, said the coalition’s letter was received Thursday. She gave no indication when the governor would respond or what his answer will be.
“The governor is currently focused on working with the Legislature to balance the budget and conclude the session in a timely manner,” Hawley said in an email.
Coalition members said they hope to hear from the governor within a week. If they don’t, Stanton said, the coalition will reluctantly start planning its own conference.
“We really don’t want to have to go there,” he said.
Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
Posted muddy road. Photo Saline County Sheriff’s Office.
SALINE COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are reminding motorists to stay off muddy roads or they could get a ticket.
After over 1.5 inches of rain Friday into Saturday, some owners of 4-wheel drive vehicles took to mud roads in Saline County.
Those who got stuck also were cited from driving on roads that are typically closed when roads are muddy, according to Saline County Undersheriff Roger Soldan
Drivers were cited for driving on and getting stuck in the 300 block of East Glanville Road, in the 500 block of Whitmore Road, 3000 block of East Cloud, and the 1800 block of North Tressin.
There are no homes on the roads, which are used primarily by farmers to access fields.
When the roads become wet, they become impassable and it is illegal to drive on them if they are posted.
Soldan said the Sheriff’s Office is asking the County to post more roads as closed when they are wet.
DICKINSON COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Dickinson County are investigating a suspect on various drug charges.
Abilene Police Department and the Dickinson County Drug Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant on Saturday at a residence in the 300 Block of Northwest 10th Street in Abilene, according to a media release.
During a search of the home, officers recovered methamphetamine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.
Officers also arrested 36-year-old Mindy Dickerman.
She is currently being held at the Dickinson County Jail and could face charges that include possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and trafficking contraband into a correctional institution.
Additional arrests are possible, according to the police.
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal lawsuit claims Starbucks regularly overfills its cold drinks with ice instead of using the advertised amount of coffee or other liquid in its plastic cups.
The lawsuit was filed last week in Chicago on behalf of Stacy Pincus, a local woman who accuses Starbucks of misleading consumers. The lawsuit alleges that an iced beverage advertised at 24 ounces contains about 14 ounces of fluid.
Starbucks spokesperson Jaime Riley said Monday that the company considers the lawsuit to be without merit. Riley says customers understand that ice is part of an iced beverage, noting that Starbucks remakes beverages if customers aren’t satisfied.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status, which could allow it to cover customers for the last decade. Among other things, the lawsuit seeks damages, restitution and attorneys’ fees.
