SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating the death of a woman at a home in Wichita.

Just after 6 p.m. Monday, police responded to an unknown call for EMS at a residence in the 2700 block of E. 10th Street, according to officer Kevin Wheeler. The victim’s daughter had arrived at the home and found her mother who, is in her 70s, unresponsive.

Officers were made aware of a possible disturbance inside the residence.

Medical personnel performed life-saving measures on the woman, but she was pronounced dead on the scene. The officers also located another male acquaintance of the woman inside the home.

An autopsy has been ordered to assist with the investigation, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Police released no additional details late Monday.
————–

SEDGWICK COUNTY —  Law enforcement authorities are investigating the death of a woman at a home in Wichita.

Just after 6 p.m. Monday, police responded to an unknown call for EMS at a residence in the 2700 block of E. 10^th Street, according to officer Kevin Wheeler.

Upon arrival, officers were made aware of a possible disturbance inside the residence.  Once inside, they found a woman believed to be in her seventies unresponsive.  

Medical personnel performed life-saving measures on the woman, but she was pronounced dead on the scene. The officers also located another woman and male inside the home. 

Police released no additional details late Monday

MANHATTAN, KS –  Congratulations to Kim Medvid whose design “Little Apple on the Prairie” was selected as the City of Manhattan flag contest design winner.

According to a media release from the city of Manhattan, a total of 3,021 ballots for the new flag were cast through online and in-person voting. The Little Apple on the Prairie design won with 29% of the votes.

“This has been a good process that generated a lot of community interest,” said Assistant City Manager Dennis Marstall. “It’s clear that people embrace the ‘Little Apple’ nickname and want to celebrate the City’s location in the Flint Hills.”

Artists as young as eight years old and as far away as Sweden participated in the contest, submitting 120 designs for consideration. All of the designs had meaningful symbolism that reflected the spirit of the heartland and Manhattan’s unique heritage. The winning design represents Manhattan as a land of growth and opportunity, with the “Little Apple” rising out of the Flint Hills. The colors of the original design were adjusted and represent the following:

GREEN: fertility of the land, opportunity for growth, and the native grasses of the Flint Hills
BLUE: The Big Blue and Kansas Rivers, peace, and the expansive sky over the prairie
WHITE: Manhattan’s limitless future
The next step will be for the City Commission to consider adopting the voters’ choice at the August 20 meeting. The new flag design will pair with the existing City of Manhattan logo and will be used as one of the symbols for the City. Flags will be flown at City Hall and in other locations around the City.

CONCORDIA — Cloud County Health Center announced Monday that it plans to build a new $40,347,000 facility.

It will do so without seeking local tax support for the construction project, and thus will continue to be one of the few critical access hospitals in the state that does not receive tax support, according to Dave Garnas, CCHC administrator.

CCHC plans to approach the Concordia City Commission for an option to secure a tract of land along College Drive for the new facility.

“We are not the same hospital we were five years ago, and for that matter, we’re not the same hospital we were a year ago. I’m proud to report that Cloud County Health Center has enjoyed a financial and operational stabilization,” Garnas told the group assembled on Broadway Plaza Monday.

“Due in no small part to our partnership with Salina Regional Health Center and due largely to the continued high quality of care provided by our doctors, advanced practice providers, and staff. We have added providers. We have added specialists, from, I think, in just the last year, five or six. We’ve added a walk-in clinic to serve you, our community, better. And most importantly, we have done these things with sound financial footing,” Garnas said.

“With our house in good order, our board, Salina Regional, and leadership made a decision in December to start working toward providing a health care facility to match,” he said.

According to Garnas, a group of community and staff members worked with architects and people who provided the health center’s master facility plan.

“This group looked at the cost of remodeling the current facility and the cost to build a new facility,” he said. “The group ultimately decided that building a new facility would be more financially feasible for the long run.”

Garnas noted that the current facility has served the community well for 68 years.

“But health care has changed and our facility needs need to change as well. This team worked to design a space that works best for our patients, staff, and community and a space that can serve us well for the next 40 plus years,” he said.

Garnas said that while the team members sometimes differed on design needs, all agreed that the project should be pursued without seeking local tax dollars.

“Instead, we are pursuing financing through USDA and with the support of our partners at Salina Regional Health Center,” he said. “In the next six months, we will be working with the USDA on all the steps necessary for this new facility. We are hopeful to have a final answer from the USDA in late December.”

Garnas said that the USDA program available to critical access hospitals allows more favorable rates and payback periods than a more conventional loan.

“We estimate that starting after we receive approval from USDA that it will take eight months to design the building with ground breaking no later than early 2021,” he said.

Garnas asked the public for two things: to use the CCHC facilities and to think of ways to contribute toward financing the cost of the new facility.

SHAWNEE COUNTY— Law enforcement and railroad authorities are investigating a fatal accident in Shawnee County.

Just after 6:30a.m. Tuesday, emergency crews responded to a train vs pedestrian accident in the 5700 block of South Topeka Boulevard in Topeka, according to Sgt. Todd Stallbaumer.

An Amtrak train was northbound when a pedestrian identified as William N. Reynolds III, 64, of Topeka, attempted to cross the track.

The train struck and killed Reynolds. BNSF Police and MTAA assisted at the scene.

Authorities released no additional details Tuesday.

BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man for an alleged sex crime.

On Monday, police arrested36-year-old Scottie Ketch on a warrant for aggravated criminal sodomy by force, according to the Barton County sheriff’s department booking report. He is being held on a $500,000 bond.

Authorities have released no additional details and the Barton County Attorney has not been available to answer questions in the case.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —  Law enforcement authorities are investigating an armed robbery and have released a description of the suspect.

Just before 10:30p.m. Monday, police responded to a robbery at a gas station in the 3800 Block of West 21^st Street in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

A 23-year-old female employee told police she had been robbed at gunpoint. While she was outside the business, an unknown suspect approached her with a gun, pointed the weapon at her and ordered her back into the store where he demanded cash.

The suspect described a white male in his late teens, 5-foot-6 inches tall, thin build, blonde hair and wearing silver framed glasses, took cash and fled the business on foot.

The suspect also wore a black hoody, grey sweat pants, white gloves, black shoes and a rubber mask  duct-taped to his face, according to Davidson.

Anyone with information on the crime is asked to contact police.

LOUISBURG, Kan. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas says President Donald Trump’s suggestion that four Democratic congresswomen of color “go back” to where they came was inappropriate because the women are Americans.

At a town hall meeting Monday in Louisburg, Moran says he disagreed with the congresswomen targeted in Trump’s tweets on many policies. But he said there is “nothing to be gained” by personal attacks on elected officials or Americans.

The president on Sunday said on Twitter that the four congresswomen hate America and should go back to their countries, and he continued his attacks Monday and Tuesday. All the women are American citizens.

Moran said “It is inappropriate to suggest they go home to any place – they are home.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taxpayer-funded family planning clinics must stop referring women for abortions immediately, the Trump administration said Monday, declaring it will begin enforcing a new regulation hailed by religious conservatives and denounced by medical organizations and women’s rights groups.

The head of a national umbrella group representing the clinics said the administration is following “an ideological agenda” that could disrupt basic health care for many low-income women.

Ahead of a planned conference Tuesday with the clinics, the Health and Human Services Department formally notified them that it will begin enforcing the ban on abortion referrals, along with a requirement that clinics maintain separate finances from facilities that provide abortions. Another requirement that both kinds of facilities cannot be under the same roof would take effect next year.

The rule is widely seen as a blow against Planned Parenthood, which provides taxpayer-funded family planning and basic health care to low-income women, as well as abortions that must be paid for separately. The organization is a mainstay of the federally funded family planning program and it has threatened to quit over the issue.

Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen said in a statement that “our doors are still open” as her organization and other groups seek to overturn the regulations in federal court. “We will not stop fighting for all those across the country in need of essential care,” Wen said.

HHS said no judicial orders currently prevent it from enforcing the rule while the litigation proceeds.

Clare Coleman, president of the umbrella group National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, said “the administration’s actions show its intent is to further an ideological agenda.”

Abortion opponents welcomed the administration’s move. “Ending the connection between abortion and family planning is a victory for common-sense health care,” Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, said in a statement.

Known as Title X, the family-planning program serves about 4 million women annually through independent clinics, many operated by Planned Parenthood affiliates, which serve about 40 percent of all clients. The program provides about $260 million a year in grants to clinics.

The family planning rule is part of a series of Trump administration efforts to remake government policy on reproductive health. Other regulations tangled up in court would allow employers to opt out of offering free birth control to women workers on the basis of religious or moral objections, and grant health care professionals wider leeway to opt out of procedures that offend their religious or moral scruples.

Abortion is a legal medical procedure, but federal laws prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman.

Under the administration’s rule, clinic staff would still be permitted to discuss abortion with clients, along with other options. However, that would no longer be required.

The American Medical Association is among the professional groups opposed to the administration’s policy, saying it could affect low-income women’s access to basic medical care, including birth control, cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. By law, the family planning program does not pay for abortions.

Religious conservatives see the regulation as a means to end what they call an indirect taxpayer subsidy of abortion providers.

Although abortion remains politically divisive, the U.S. abortion rate has dropped significantly, from about 29 per 1,000 women of reproductive age in 1980 to about 15 in 2014. Better contraception, fewer unintended pregnancies and state restrictions may have played a role, according to a recent scientific report. Polls show most Americans do not want the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion.

The Trump administration’s policy echoes a Reagan-era regulation that barred clinics from even discussing abortion with women. It never went into effect as written, although the Supreme Court ruled it was appropriate.

The policy was rescinded under President Bill Clinton, and a new rule took effect requiring “nondirective” counseling to include a full range of options for women. The Trump administration is now rolling back the Clinton requirement.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Fire fighters in Wichita made a dramatic water rescue over the weekend.

Just before 10: 30 a.m.  Sunday, crews responded to a submersion call in the river at 21st and West Street in Wichita, according Fire Marshal Stuart Bevis.

First arriving units encountered a mother and her small child in a kayak in the river, hanging onto the bridge pillar just above the dangerous low head dam.

Coordinated efforts of all crews on scene, including Special Operations, led to the rescue of the mother, child and a small dog from the river. There were no injuries, according to Bevis.

He reminded the public that activities near low head dams are very dangerous and citizens are reminded to be wary of these hazards.

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas City, Kan., woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to her role in crashing a car into a Cabela’s store to steal guns, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.

Brenda Tosh, 27, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to steal guns from a federally licensed firearms dealer. In her plea, she admitted that she and a co-defendant crashed a car into a Cabela’s store in Kansas City, Kan. They took long guns from the firearms section of the store and placed them into a shopping cart. According to court records, the guns included two 12-gauge shotguns, a .22-caliber rifle, a .308-caliber rifle and a .223-caliber rifle.

 Law enforcement officers arrived and arrested Tosh before she could leave the store. The co-defendant was arrested later, after fleeing the store and stealing a car from a nearby dealership.

 Tosh is set for sentencing Sept. 30. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of a year and a day in federal prison.

Co-defendant Kyle Mendez, 29, Kansas City, Kan., is scheduled for a change of plea hearing Aug. 19.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Kansas felon faces new criminal charges after his weekend arrest for alleged distribution of drugs.

Terry Gant, 29, was arrested in the Walmart parking lot after an officer spotted him and knew he had warrants to Hutchinson Police and the Reno County Sheriff’s office.

A K-9 officer smelled the presence of drugs and a search of his vehicle led to the discovery of a backpack which contained a clear bag. Inside that bag were 15-smaller bags with a crystal substance which field tested for methamphetamine. They also allegedly found a scale, a grinder and marijuana.

Potential charges include distribution of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute and for personal use.

His bond is set at $18,500 and he’ll be back in court on July 22.

Gant has previousr convictions for aggravated battery, drugs, theft and making false writings, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Attorney General Derek Schmidt says the U.S. Supreme Court’s fall docket includes three Kansas cases.

Schmidt announced Monday that it is the first time in modern Kansas history the state has three cases before the court at one time. Schmidt’s office will represent the state in all three cases.

The first Kansas case to be heard this fall involves an appeal filed in a capital murder case filed by James Kraig Kahler, who killed four relatives in Burlingame in November 2009. Kahler argues Kansas law unconstitutionally prevented him from using an insanity defense.

A second case arises from an identity theft case out of Johnson County and the third involves a Douglas County traffic stop. The Kansas Supreme Court overturned convictions in both cases, and the state is appealing.