FINNEY COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating a suspect in connection with an alleged aggravated battery between students at a dorm, according to a media release.
Just after 1 p.m. on Sunday, officers of the Garden City Police Department and Officers of the Garden City Community College Campus Police (GCCC Police) were dispatched to a report of an assault that had just occurred at the Garden City Community College dorms.
The investigation revealed the victim, Kayla Jackson-Wallace, 19, Victoria Texas and the suspect, Donesha Ruffin, 21, of Orlando Florida engaged in a verbal argument that turned into a physical altercation.
During the altercation Jackson-Wallace received injuries to her face. Later in the day Jackson-Wallace responded to St. Catherine Hospital were she was treated and released for a cracked nasal bone.
On Monday, after further Investigation Ruffin was arrested and could face the possible charges of Aggravated Battery.
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The owner of an electric company was found dead in a water well near Arkansas City.
The Arkansas City Traveler reports (https://bit.ly/260fm9Q ) 46-year-old Jim Graham’s body was found in the well south of Arkansas City early Wednesday. He has been reporting missing Tuesday after he didn’t return home from work.
Cowley County Undersheriff Jeff Moore says the man has been working on an electrical system on pumps for a well belonging to Cowley County Rural District #1.
Moore says it’s unclear if he died from health issues or was electrocuted. Foul play is not suspected. An autopsy will be performed.
Moore says the electrical systems on the well were operational and the pump was functional when it was turned back on.
LARNED–Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) Interim Secretary Tim Keck announced today that he has appointed Chris Mattingly to serve as Interim Superintendent of Larned State Hospital (LSH), effective Monday, April 11.
“Chris has extensive experience in hospital executive management, including the NeuroPsychiatric Hospital of Indianapolis, and most recently El Dorado Hospital in El Dorado, Kansas,” Secretary Keck said. “We believe he will be a great asset to Larned State Hospital and assist us in addressing the most pressing concerns there.”
KDADS Behavioral Health Commissioner Bill Rein, who has been Interim Superintendent at the hospital for several weeks, will remain at the hospital for a period of time while Mr. Mattingly transitions into the job. Mr. Mattingly’s appointment is an interim position by design, until a permanent hospital superintendent is named, and he is expected to be at LSH for approximately six months.
“Chris will build on the work that Commissioner Rein has done at the hospital and move us forward,” Secretary Keck said.
SALINA – A mother and her two children who had not been seen since they left their Salina home last month have been found safe, according to law enforcement authorities in Saline County.
Rebecka L. Lorentsen and her two children, 15-year-old Donald Lorentsen and 7-year-old Ember Schultz were last seen leaving for Salina South High School on March 31.
Police reported they were going to ride a bus to the school, but they didn’t arrive at the school and didn’t return home.
Ellsworth Correctional Facility- photo Kan. Dpt. of Corrections
HUTCHINSON- Longtime Corrections employee Rex Pryor is retiring from his position as Warden at the Lansing Correctional Facility effective June 18 and replacing him is Sam Cline, current warden at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility, while Dan Schnurr, Warden at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility will move to Hutchinson, according to a news release from the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Pryor, a 36-year veteran of the department started as a Corrections Officer and rose through the LCF ranks to serve as Deputy Warden of Operations in 1999 and then to Warden in 2013.
Cline was named Warden at Hutchinson Correctional Facility in June 2007 after serving as Warden at Ellsworth Correctional Facility for four years. Cline received a bachelor’s degree in religion from Conception Seminary College in Conception, Mo., with an additional two years of graduate studies at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md.
Schnurr began his career in corrections at Hutchinson Correctional Facility in 1985 as a corrections officer and received several promotions before moving to Ellsworth Correctional Facility in 2010 to serve as Deputy Warden. He was named Warden in June 2011. Schnurr earned his bachelor’s degree from Sterling College in Sterling.
The Ellsworth Correctional Facility Warden will be named at a later date.
Just after 3 a.m. on Monday, security cameras at Reed Company, LLC in Wamego, took video of a man in what appears to be a brand new White Chevy Crew Cab Dually pickup take a Mustang 2500 track skid steer, Titan 16 foot Dump Trailer, and an attachment that was on the skid steer from their business parking area, according to police.
The machine was loaded backwards in the trailer, and the trailer’s tailgate was bent on the right side. Loss is estimated at over $69,000
Police in Wamego are asking the public for help with information on the theft.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A former suburban Kansas City high school teacher has been ordered to serve 30 days in jail as part of her probation for having sex with a 16-year-old student.
The Kansas City Star reports that 33-year-old Jeana Marie Fleming was sentenced Tuesday in Johnson County District Court for unlawful sexual relations. Fleming also will be required to register as a sex offender.
Fleming and the boy had sex in December 2014 while she taught in the Olathe school district’s alternative education program for high school students.
Under Kansas law, it is illegal for a teacher to have sex with a student at the same school, even if the student is above the age of consent. In Kansas, the age of consent is 16.
NEWTON – Law enforcement authorities in Harvey County are investigating an accident involving a joy ride by two young children, according to a social media report.
Just before 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, police officers in Newton were called to the scene of an injury accident in the 200 block of Columbus Avenue.
Two 6-year-olds had driven their mother’s truck three blocks.
During their drive, the vehicle struck five other vehicles and two mailboxes. The children were not seriously injured.
Police used their unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to investigate due to the unique nature of the case, and the accident scene encompassing such a large area.
An aerial view where locations of vehicles could be quickly documented via GPS, and their relationship recorded via video camera greatly assisted the investigation.
The use of the UAV notification is made in accordance with the commitment to transparency by Newton Police.
GUERRA, SERGIO Photo Kansas Department of Corrections
MANHATTAN – A Kansas man made his first court appearance on Tuesday in Riley County in connection with an alleged attempted abduction.
Sergio Guerra, 38, of Wichita, spoke to the judge via a video connection.
He was arrested following an incident on March 24 where he allegedly attempted to abduct a 19-year-old woman.
She sustained significant non-life threatening injuries after being dragged by her vehicle for approximately 800 feet while attempting to flee an attacker, according to a police report.
Officers found that an unknown Hispanic male approached the woman while she attempted to start her car in the 500 block of Richards Drive in Manhattan.
The suspect entered her vehicle and attempted to drive off with her inside. She attempted to escape, however, was unable to completely exit through the passenger side door and fell to the ground while a portion of her body was still inside. The suspect fled the scene and law enforcement later recovered the vehicle.
On March 26, detectives with the Riley County Police Department Investigations Division identified the suspect and with the assistance of the Wichita Police Department were able to locate and arrest Guerra.
He is being held for aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and aggravated battery on a bond of $500,000.00
The Kansas Supreme Court has agreed to review an appeals court decision finding that the Kansas Constitution creates “a fundamental right to abortion.”
The decision by the high court was expected after the Kansas Court of Appeals, in an evenly divided vote, upheld a trial judge’s decision to block a Kansas law banning the second-trimester abortion method known as “dilation and evacuation.”
Seven appeals court judges in January voted to affirm the finding that the law was unconstitutional and seven voted to reverse. When an appeals court is equally divided, the trial court’s ruling is upheld. The state then asked for expedited review of the appeals court decision.
The ruling was a major victory for abortion rights advocates, who argued that the Kansas ban increases the complexity and risk of second-trimester abortions. The case marked the first time a Kansas appeals court had found a right to abortion in the Kansas Constitution.
In its request for review, the state said that the evenly divided decision demonstrated “the compelling need for resolution” by the Kansas Supreme Court.
The law, which was passed in 2015, was challenged by two Overland Park physicians, Herbert Hodes and his daughter, Traci Nauser, who operate one of three abortion clinics in Kansas.
Kansas is one of two states that ban the D&E procedure, by far the most common second-trimester abortion procedure. Oklahoma passed a similar law shortly after Gov. Sam Brownback signed the Kansas ban into law in April 2015.
The state argues federal case law allows it “to voice its profound respect for life and human dignity” by regulating or even limiting some abortion methods “that society finds inhumane and objectionable when safe alternatives exist.”
Opponents of the law say that it intrudes on the doctor-patient relationship and that the alternatives to D&E are invasive and medically unnecessary.
“I think the decision to review the case at this point is a recognition by the court that this challenge raises a really fundamental question, which is whether or not the Kansas Constitution protects the right to abortion and, if it does, what level of protection will women be able to get under the Constitution,” said Janet Crepps, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented Hodes and Nauser.
The Kansas Supreme Court is not expected to issue its ruling until late this year or early next year.
Dan Margolies, editor of the Heartland Health Monitor team, is based at KCUR. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
RENO COUNTY –Fire crews in Reno County were called to contain a controlled burn in the 5200 Block of East 6th that was out of control on Tuesday, according to a media release.
The controlled burn of approximately 10 acres started just before 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
Fire crews were called to help put the fire out just after 3:30 p.m. when it appeared the fire would spread to Sand Hills State Park.
Hutchinson Fire Department initially responded 4 units. The first arriving crews made the initial report, the fire had jumped 56th Avenue.
A total of 12 units, to include staff vehicles, and a Tender from Buhler Fire were added to the call.
Fire crews were able to contain the fire that jumped the road then began extinguishment of the perimeter of the remaining fire.
Several large trees in the area had been overcome by the fire front and, with the assistance of a local arborists, were cut down to prevent any further spot fires.
Crews spent approximately 5 hours on scene, with no injuries reported.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police say that graffiti that was spray-painted on the side of a Wichita mosque is gang-related and does not appear to be aimed at Muslims.
The Wichita Eagle reports that Lt. Jeff Gilmore said Tuesday that he was confident that whoever vandalized the building “had no idea” it was a mosque, but found the south side of the building and a board fence to be a “large canvas” for gang-related symbols that included stars and pitchforks. Damage was estimated at $500.
The mosque, owned by the Islamic Association of Mid-Kansas, was the site of an arson fire in November 2011, causing $150,000 in damages. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the arson.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Three people fatally shot by a white supremacist at two Jewish sites in suburban Kansas City are being remembered with a memorial at one of the shooting sites.
Family and friends gathered Tuesday for a private dedication of the memorial at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas.
That’s where 69-year-old William Corporon and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Underwood, were killed in the April 2014 attack. Fifty-three-year-old Terri LaManno was the killed at the nearby Village Shalom retirement home.
The sculpture is attached to an outside wall and features three waves of intertwined steel strands that cast different reflections as the sun moves. It also includes a plaque with pictures of the three victims.
Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., of Aurora, Missouri, was sentenced to death in the shootings.
FINNEY COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating a suspect in connection with an alleged aggravated battery between students at a dorm, according to a media release.
