TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — History buffs and those with fond memories the Kansas Statehouse will be able to own a piece of the building.
The state is planning to auction off thousands of items salvaged from the renovated Kansas Statehouse in Topeka. The online auction is scheduled May 2-9. See the complete list of items here.
The Kansas City Star reports bids will be taken on items ranging from brass hinges and door knobs to large desks and winding staircases.
Dave Webb of Stillwell, a former state representative and senator who now runs an auction house, will conduct the event. He says the highlight of the auction is the copper door that protected the staircase leading to the Statehouse dome.
The salvage comes after a 13-year, $325 million renovation that was completed last year.
NEWTON- Law enforcement authorities in Harvey County continue to search for a suspect in connection with gunshots in a residential area.
The Harvey County Emergency Response Team (SWAT) was working a scene in the 700 block of East 8th Street in Newton on Sunday.
Authorities received a 911 report of gunshots at the house, according to a social media report from Newton Police.
Law enforcement authorities surrounded the house, where an armed suspect was believed to be inside and worked diligently to make contact with a suspect.
Just after 12:30 p.m., police cleared the house did not find the suspect inside.
No injuries have been reported and no additional details released.
— Kansas ForestService (@KSForestService) April 14, 2016
The fire destroyed at least 41 structures in both states. Authorities in both states determined 16 residential structures and 25 minor structures were destroyed in the blaze.
Nine homes in Barber County were destroyed in the wildfire, according to Ben Bauman, spokesman for the Kansas Adjutant General’s Office.
HUTCHINSON— A Kansas man was bound over for trial Thursday on drug-related charges following a unique arrest
Christopher Villela, 35, is charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute, felony interference with law enforcement and battery of a law enforcement officer.
The arrest occurred at a home in the 1700 block of East Blanchard in Hutchinson.
On December 22, police were sent to the address because of a 911 hang-up call.
They could hear in the background a female yelling for someone to get up and a male speaking with slurred speech.
When police arrived, they asked if everyone in the house was OK. They found the suspect in a bedroom and he was initially unresponsive.
They also found drugs, a scale and a rifle in the bedroom where Villela was sleeping.
He eventually woke up and started struggling with officers and kicked one of them.
The hearing had been continued a couple of times because of the state having trouble locating witnesses, but that was resolved
Syrian refugee Ahmad al-Abboud (right) tells his story through interpreter Fariz Turkmani at a press conference Monday morning in Kansas City. ALEX SMITH / KCUR 89-THREE
By ALEX SMITH
Despite an intense week getting his bearings, Ahmad al-Abboud smiled and expressed his gratitude at a press event Monday morning in Kansas City.
“God bless Kansas City!” he said through an interpreter.
The 45-year-old former construction worker, his wife and five children are the first Syrian family to be resettled in the United States as part of a refugee “surge operation.” They arrived last Wednesday evening.
The family, from the Syrian city of Homs, had been living in Jordan for the previous three years after escaping the turmoil and war that have torn their country apart.
Al-Abboud still bears a deep scar across the bridge of his nose from a bomb blast in Syria that sent shrapnel tearing through his body.
“Since he put his foot on American soil, he’s felt safe,” said Al-Abboud’s Arabic interpreter, Fariz Turkmani.
President Obama announced in September that the U.S. would admit 10,000 Syrian refugees this year, fast-tracking the extensive screening process they’re required to undergo for security and health reasons.
Al-Abboud and his family are being hosted by Della Lamb Community Services, an outreach program of the United Methodist Church based in northeast Kansas City.
Judy Akers, Della Lamb’s executive president, says her organization has been inundated with pledges of support for the family since the news of their resettlement.
“Mostly it’s furniture. Some of it’s financial. There’ve been some offers of jobs,” Akers says. “Many of the offers have been, ‘You tell us what’s needed, and we’ll help get it.’”
Akers says Della Lamb has also heard a handful of negative reactions from those who associate the refugees with terrorism. She says Della Lamb will keep refugees’ personal information, such as their home addresses, confidential.
She says she’s not sure whether and when Della Lamb will be receiving more Syrian refugees.
During his years in refugee limbo in Jordan, Al-Abboud said he’d become discouraged about getting asylum, but his interpreter said that entering the fast-track process changed everything.
“He was shocked that it happened,” Turkmani said. “He thought it was going to be a constant struggle, appointment after appointment, and he would never come here. But when the decision was to come over here, it was much happiness.”
Alex Smith is a reporter in partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @AlexSmithKCUR
WICHITA – The Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission will conduct a public meeting in Wichita at the Great Plains Nature Center, 6232 E. 29th St. N, on Thu., April 21, 2016. The afternoon session of the meeting will begin at 1 p.m. and recess at 5 p.m. The evening session will convene at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend both sessions and time is set aside at the beginning of each for discussion of non-agenda items.
The afternoon session will begin with Secretary Robin Jennison’s report on the agency and state fiscal status and a review of the 2016 Kansas legislative session. The General Discussion portion of the meeting will include a Tourism Division update, discussion on park and fishing regulations, and a Law Enforcement program by director Kevin Jones. The afternoon will conclude with a Workshop Session covering regulations concerning guiding on public lands and threatened and endangered species.
The evening portion of the meeting will convene at 6:30 p.m. for the Public Hearing. The commission will hear final discussion before voting on migratory bird hunting regulations.
Time will be available during the afternoon and evening sessions for public comment on non-agenda items. If necessary, the commission will reconvene at the same location at 9 a.m., April 22, to complete any unfinished business. Information about the Commission, as well as the April 21 meeting agenda and Briefing Book, can be downloaded at ksoutdoors.com/KDWPT-Info/Commission/Upcoming-Commission-Meetings.
Live video and audio streaming of the meeting April 21 meeting will be available at ksoutdoors.com. If notified in advance, the department will have an interpreter available for the hearing impaired. To request an interpreter, call the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at 1-800-432-0698. Any individual with a disability may request other accommodations by contacting the Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission secretary at (620) 672-5911.
The next Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism commission meeting is scheduled for June 23, 2016, in Fort Scott.
POTWIN, Kan. (AP) — An 82-year-old Kansas woman never knew why strangers kept calling or showing up at a property she owns in rural Kansas.
But she gained some clarity recently when Fusion.net published a story about a Massachusetts company, MaxMind, which helps companies learn where their Internet traffic comes from. MaxMind inadvertently used the same geographic coordinates for its default IP address as Joyce Vogelman Taylor’s family home.
An IP address helps tell computers where to send information and where information is coming from.
The Wichita Eagle reports the mix-up led some of MaxMind’s customers to Taylor’s property, claiming that the IP address for their complaints was associated with the property.
MaxMind has since changed the IP address. It says it also intends to apologize to Taylor.
OSAWATOMIE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas hopes to bring one of its mental hospitals back in line with federal standards by July so the state doesn’t keep losing up to $1 million a month in federal funds.
But legislators in both parties worry that the short-term focus on meeting federal standards means the state isn’t dealing enough with the question of whether it has enough hospital beds for the mentally ill.
The federal government decertified Osawatomie State Hospital in December. It cited a “systemic failure” to protect suicidal patients, adequately supervise care and perform required safety checks at the hospital about 45 miles southwest of Kansas City.
The state recently increased the pay for nurses, and it has filled nearly 60 positions since mid-January. The state also has hired consultants to help improve operations.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police say a 28-year-old man has been arrested after bite marks were found all over his 4-year-old daughter’s body.
The Wichita Eagle reports the man was arrested just after 7:15 p.m. Thursday on suspicion of child abuse. Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza said that a staff member at Irving Elementary School noticed bite marks on the girl’s arm earlier that day and notified authorities.
Espinoza said that investigators discovered marks consistent with bites on the girl’s body.
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Wesleyan University President Matt Thompson says he is optimistic the school’s nursing program will regain accreditation this fall.
Wesleyan withdrew its accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing in March 2015, days before the organization was likely to vote not to continue the nursing program’s accreditation.
The Salina Journal reports the Wesleyan had applied for accreditation to the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, which most nursing programs in Kansas use.
Thompson says representatives of the CCNE and the Kansas State Board of Nursing visited the school in February. He says a preliminary report was positive, with only a few lingering issues.
CCNE is scheduled to vote on Wesleyan’s accreditation in November. Thompson says if it’s approved, the accreditation will apply for this May’s graduates.
WASHINGTON – A Kansas business owner was convicted this week of tax fraud following a month-long jury trial, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Barry R. Grissom of the District of Kansas.
The jury found Kathleen Stegman, 58, guilty of four counts of tax evasion relating to her evasion of corporate income taxes for the years 2008 and 2009 and individual income taxes for the years 2007 and 2008. Stegman and her husband, Christopher Smith, 51, were both acquitted on the charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States and Stegman was acquitted on one count of tax evasion.
Stegman owned Midwest Medical Aesthetics Center in Leawood, which provided aesthetic services including microdermabrasion, laser hair removal and anti-aging procedures and products. Smith owned Encompass Construction Group in Independence, Missouri.
“The verdict is a reminder to business owners that they cannot use their companies as their personal piggy banks,” said Acting Attorney General Ciraolo. “All taxpayers must file true and accurate returns with the IRS to report their income and expenses. Those that fail to do so face significant consequences, including criminal prosecution, prison and monetary penalties.”
According to the evidence at trial, Stegman under-reported her company’s gross receipts and overstated her company’s expenses on the corporate tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Stegman also diverted income from the company for her personal use and failed to report the income on her tax returns. The government also presented evidence that Stegman and Smith agreed to fabricate a repairs and maintenance contract between Smith and Midwest Medical in order to increase the company’s business deductions and divert money from the company to their personal use. In December 2010, Stegman wrote a check in the amount of $50,575 to Encompass Construction, which was drawn on Midwest Medical’s bank account. Smith used the money to buy gold coins that were shipped to Stegman’s business address in Leawood. On Midwest Medical’s 2010 corporate tax return, Stegman fraudulently deducted this payment as a business expense for repairs and maintenance.
“Today’s verdict is an important victory for America’s taxpayers who play by the rules and have no tolerance for those who make up their own rules,” said Special Agent in Charge Karl Stiften of IRS-Criminal Investigation. “There is no such thing as free money and there are no awards or incentives for creativity when it comes to crime.”
Stegman faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count of tax evasion. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Grissom thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Ryan R. Raybould and John T. Mulcahy from the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari B. Wamble of the District of Kansas, who prosecuted the case.
DICKINSON COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before noon on Sunday in Dickinson County.
KDWPT
