FINNEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged sexual assault in Garden City and, after asking the public for help, have identified a person of interest.
The woman told police on Oct. 30 that at approximately 9:30 p.m. she was at her vehicle parked near Garden City Community College and was approached from behind by an unknown male suspect who forced her into the vehicle and sexually assaulted her, according to Police Sgt. Lana Urteaga.
The person of interest was known to the victim and did not occur as originally reported or near the college, according to Urteaga. It was not a random incident. Police have not reported an arrest.
———————–
FINNEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities investigating an alleged sexual assault and asking the public for help to locate a suspect.
Just after 9:30p.m. Wednesday, police were called to St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City for a reported rape, according to Sgt. Lana Urteaga. The woman told police that she was at her vehicle parked near Garden City Community College and was approached from behind by an unknown male suspect who forced her into the vehicle and sexually assaulted her, according to Urteaga.
The suspect at the time of the attack was described as wearing black sweat pants, a grey hooded sweat shirt, a black t-shirt and a dark baseball cap. He was approximately 6-feet tall with an athletic build with black, messy, curly hair, according to Urteaga.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact police.
RILEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating alleged child sex crimes in Manhattan.
Just before 1:30p.m. Tuesday, officers filed a report for aggravated indecent liberties with a child and electronic solicitation of a child, according to the Riley County Police Department activity report. Officers listed multiple female juveniles as victims and a known 14-year-old boy as the suspect.
Police have not made an arrest and reported no additional details Wednesday morning.
First responders on the scene late Friday photo courtesy WIBW TV
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a gas leak that left a woman dead and have made an arrest.
Just after 8p.m, Friday the Topeka Fire Department was dispatched to possible gas leak at a residence in the 900 block of SW Warren in Topeka, according to Lt. Shane Hilton.
Topeka Police were requested to assist with forcing entry into the home. Once inside, first responders found a woman later identified as 36-year-old Brandi Prchal. She was pronounced deceased by medical personnel.
Lardner photo Shawnee Co.
A second person identified as 36-year-old Jeremy E. Lardner of Topeka, was taken to the hospital in serious condition. On Tuesday, police arrested Lardner and booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges for Murder in the 1st degree and Criminal Threat.
———–
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a gas leak that left one dead and have identified the victim.
Just after 8p.m, Friday the Topeka Fire Department was dispatched to possible gas leak at a residence in the 900 block of SW Warren in Topeka, according to Lt. Shane Hilton.
Topeka Police were requested to assist with forcing entry into the home. Once inside, first responders found a woman later identified as 36-year-old Brandi Prchal. She was pronounced deceased by medical personnel.
A second person was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
Due to suspicious circumstances witnessed by the responding officers, the residence was secured and Crime Scene Officers and Detectives were investigating the scene, according to Hilton.
Authorities have not released the cause of Prchal’s death or additional details.
MARYSVILLE – The former Marshall County Clerk has been convicted of felony misuse of public funds, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Sonya Stohs photo Marshall Co.
Sonya L. Stohs, 44, of Marysville, today pleaded guilty in Marshall County District Court to one count of felony misuse of public funds. District Judge John L. Weingart accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for January 7 at 11 a.m.
The charges stemmed from an investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service that showed between May 2013 and April 2019, Stohs used funds belonging to Marshall County to pay for various personal items, in excess of $100,000.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., criticizes the process Democrats in the United States House have used in their impeachment probe of President Donald Trump.
House Democrats used their majority numbers to push through impeachment rules without any support from House Republicans.
Blunt, a Republican, calls it an unfair process.
“They didn’t even pretend that there was a fair structure put in place on the House side,” Blunt tells KFEQ News in an in-studio interview. “And, you know, there’ll be some national news people that will says, well, these senators only want to talk about process, because they don’t want to talk about the actual problem. That’s really not true.”
Blunt says the vote casts a shadow over the impeachment proceedings.
“I think you saw a very partisan vote there; all the Republicans and two Democrats voting not to go forward and all the other Democrats and one independent voting to go forward,” Blunt says. “It was a party-line decision, which makes it look even more political than it otherwise might.”
Blunt declines to address directly whether President Trump committed an impeachable offense during his phone call to the Ukraine president. He says the Senate will have to deal with whatever charge the House makes if it follows through with impeaching Trump.
Trump has denied doing anything wrong during his July 25th call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy when he first asked for “a favor.” Trump asked that the Ukrainian government investigate whether Democrat Joe Biden, then Vice President, and his son Hunter pushed Ukraine into alleged interference in the 2015 U.S. election. Trump seems to have tied release of U.S. military aid to Ukraine to following through on his request.
Biden could well be the Democratic nominee to challenge Trump’s re-election in 2020.
Hunter Biden has resigned from the board of Burisma, one of Ukraine’s largest natural gas companies since the controversy surfaced. Hunter Biden told ABC News he made a mistake in not calculating the political ramifications of joining the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company while his father had official business in the country as vice president, but denied doing anything improper.
Blunt suggests Congress would be better off dropping impeachment proceedings and let the 2020 presidential election play out.
“Whatever information is out there, whatever facts are out there, the American public can look at and they can decide if this is someone they want to see continue and to see his policies, which on the economy have been extraordinary and on regulation have been extraordinary, whether they want to see the president continue to do that,” Blunt says. “Election day seems like to me the best place to make that decision.”
If the House impeaches Trump, the Senate would hold the trial.
Nearly 70,000 young people recently attended the National FFA convention in Indianapolis. I could write a book about all of the awesome things that happen at this event and how it changes lives.
One of the main purposes for the convention is to host the national competitive events for the organization. Students compete to be national champions in public speaking, agronomy, meat evaluation, entrepreneurship, the agriscience fair and several hundred other contest areas.
In recent years, these competitions have become a source of pride and excitement for me as I have watched two of my nieces vie for national championships. Last week my niece, Madi, and her teammates, Zach and Brooklyn, earned first place in the marketing plan competition, which challenges each team to write a marketing plan to increase sales for a real ag-related business. The students present and defend their plan to panels of industry and academic experts from across the country.
This competition, like all of the national competitive events, requires months (or years) of preparation, skill development, sacrifices of time, energy and so much more to be ready to compete. These students have more preparation and experience than many industry professionals do by the time they are done.
One of the judges made an interesting observation. She said in her experience people at this level are so driven that completion colors their interactions and makes them aggressive toward each other. However, she said in FFA members have a culture of cooperation even among competitors. They acted courteous and helpful even to their competitors. She wanted to know how that was possible.
The judge was right, as odd as it seems, it is common to see FFA members in the same competition share words of encouragement or lend a needed piece of equipment to another team who forgot something or had a breakdown.
The reason for this behavior is simple. FFA has a culture that emphasizes the importance of values like honesty, hard work and courtesy to others.
Helping another person in need is a simple and expected courtesy. Sure, it may give you an advantage if your competition is injured, but that is not an honest or fulfilling way to win. We teach our students to win because they earn it and to respect the effort and skills of their competitors. Another person competing at their best makes you work even harder to be your best.
In a world so full of experiences and activities, it can be easy to forget about the importance of values. Out of all the investments we can make, instilling these values is the activity that rises to the top. Young people, who understand what values are expected, develop solid character and often grow to become trusted community contributors and leaders.
How are young people in your community being raised? Do you have programs like FFA, 4-H, Boy and Girl Scouts that emphasize values? Are expectations being modeled in their schools and sports programs? Is someone teaching why values are important?
These investments in the next generation are crucial. If we teach young people important values and have high expectations of their character, I am confident that no matter their goal, they will rise to the top.
“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — An inmate serving a life sentence for killing a Kansas teacher has been sentenced to an additional 19 ½ years for attempting to sexually assault a prison counselor.
The extra time was ordered last week for 42-year-old Tanner Green. He already is serving a “Hard 50” life term for the 2000 murder of Janice Vredenburg in her Goddard home.
Green said during the hearing that he doesn’t “deserve to be in society.”
Green wrote his wife before the attack, saying he saw a woman in the Hutchinson prison that looked like her and he was going to “give himself up completely to his innermost cravings” for his birthday. The prison counselor was able to fight him off and trigger a panic alarm on her belt.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 20-year-old Wichita man who intentionally ran over a dog several times has been sentenced to a year in jail.
Cole Carter -photo Sedgwick Co.
Cole Ford Carter was sentenced Monday after earlier pleading guilty to cruelty to animals, criminal threat and a misdemeanor criminal carrying of a weapon.
Carter killed 13-year-old Benji in December 2018 after the dog escaped through a fence while his owners were visiting Wichita.
Video showed Carter hit the dog, got out of his car and slammed Benji to the ground before stomping on him. Carter than ran over the dog several times. The motive for the attack is unclear.
An affidavit says Carter later threatened to hurt a neighbor who reported him to police.
Benji was a mix Bichon-Frise and Maltese and weighed about 15 pounds.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has ended an unusual practice for redrawing the lines of legislative districts that has cost university communities political clout.
Voters on Tuesday approved an amendment to the Kansas Constitution eliminating a requirement for the state to adjust federal census figures when the Legislature redistricts itself every 10 years.
The adjustment counts college students and military personnel not where they’re living but in a “permanent” home elsewhere. For thousands of people, that’s outside Kansas.
Kansas is among only a few states that adjust federal census figures for redistricting, and before the practice started in the 1990s, the state did its own census for decades.
Secretary of State Scott Schwab called the adjustment archaic and said it would have cost the state $835,000 ahead of redistricting in 2022.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas woman on theft charges after a chase and crash.
Simmer photo Sedgwick Co.
Just after 11:30p.m. Monday, police observed a 2017 Honda Civic with an illegal license tag near 13th and Harding in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.
Police attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver later identified as 22-year-old Makenzie Simmer of Wichita accelerated and sped away. Police began a short chase until the Honda struck a pole and a tree. Simmer than ran from the crash and jumped into a nearby pond, according to Davidson. Police removed her from the pond and took her into custody without further incident.
Police confirmed the vehicle was stolen. There were no injuries reported, according to Davidson.
Simmer is being held on requested charges of evade and elude police, resist arrest, auto theft and numerous traffic charges.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic state Rep. Brandon Whipple has defeated the incumbent mayor in Wichita after a contentious race marked by partisan meddling.
Brandon Whipple courtesy photoWichita Mayor Jeff Longwell
Mayor Jeff Longwell lost his bid in Tuesday’s election to keep the office he has held since 2015.
Unofficial results show Whipple received 46 percent of the vote to 36 percent for Longwell. Less than 18 percent wrote in a candidate for mayor.
The race was inflamed by an online ad that falsely suggested Whipple had been accused of sexual harassment at the Statehouse. Republican leaders linked a GOP lawmaker to the ad and called for his resignation. Wichita mayoral candidates do not run representing political parties.
Whipple emphasized his budgeting experience in the state Legislature and criticized Whipple’s 2017 vote in favor of rolling back former Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts.
Whipple was elected to the House in 2012 and is a lecturer at Wichita State University.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Kansas City voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved removing Dr. Martin Luther King’s name from one of the city’s most historic boulevards, less than a year after the city council decided to rename The Paseo for the civil rights icon.
photo courtesy Save the Paseo
Unofficial results vote showed the proposal to remove King’s name received nearly 70% of the vote, with just over 30% voting to retain King’s name.
The debate over the name of the 10-mile (16.1 kilometer) boulevard on the city’s mostly black east side began shortly after the council’s decision in January to rename The Paseo for King. Civil rights leaders who pushed for the change celebrated when the street signs went up, believing they had finally won a decades-long battle to honor King, which appeared to end Kansas City’s reputation as one of the largest U.S. cities in the country without a street named for him.
But a group of residents intent on keeping The Paseo name began collecting petitions to put the name change on the ballot and achieved that goal in April.
The campaign has been divisive, with supporters of King’s name accusing opponents of being racist, while supporters of The Paseo name say city leaders pushed the name change through without following proper procedures and ignored The Paseo’s historic value.
Emotions reached a peak Sunday, when members of the “Save the Paseo” group staged a silent protest at a get-out-the-vote rally at a black church for people wanting to keep the King name. They walked into the Paseo Baptist Church and stood along its two aisles. The protesters stood silently and did not react to several speakers that accused them of being disrespectful in a church but they also refused requests from preachers to sit down.
The Save the Paseo group collected 2,857 signatures in April — far more than the 1,700 needed — to have the name change put to a public vote.
Many supporters of the Martin Luther King name suggested the opponents are racist, saying Save the Paseo is a mostly white group and that many of its members don’t live on the street, which runs north to south through a largely black area of the city. They said removing the name would send a negative image of Kansas City to the rest of the world, and could hurt business and tourism.
Supporters of the Paseo name rejected the allegations of racism, saying they have respect for King and want the city to find a way to honor him. They opposed the name change because they say the City Council did not follow city charter procedures when making the change and didn’t notify most residents on the street about the proposal. They also said The Paseo is an historic name for the city’s first boulevard, which was completed in 1899. The north end of the boulevard is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The City Council voted in January to rename the boulevard for King, responding to a yearslong effort from the city’s black leaders and pressure from the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights organization that King helped start.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a minister and former Kansas City mayor who has pushed the city to rename a street for King for years, was at Sunday’s rally. He said the protesters were welcome, but he asked them to consider the damage that would be done if Kansas City removed King’s name.
“I am standing here simply begging you to sit down. This is not appropriate in a church of Jesus Christ,” Cleaver told the group.
Tim Smith, who organized the protest, said it was designed to force the black Christian leaders who had mischaracterized the Save the Paseo group as racist to “say it to our faces.”
“If tonight, someone wants to characterize what we did as hostile, violent, or uncivil, it’s a mischaracterization of what happened,” Smith said. “We didn’t say anything, we didn’t do anything, we just stood.”
The Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Kansas City chapter of the SCLU, told The Associated Press that the King street sign is a powerful symbol for everyone but particularly for black children.
“I think that only if you are a black child growing up in the inner city lacking the kind of resources, lacking the kinds of images and models for mentoring, modeling, vocation and career, can you actually understand what that name on that sign can mean to a child in this community,” Howard said.
If the sign were taken down, “the reverse will be true,” he said.
“What people will wonder in their minds and hearts is why and how something so good, uplifting and edifying, how can something like that be taken away?” he said.
But Diane Euston, a leader of the Save the Paseo group, said that The Paseo “doesn’t just mean something to one community in Kansas City.”
“It means something to everyone in Kansas City,” she said. “It holds kind of a special place in so many people’s hearts and memories. It’s not just historical on paper, it’s historical in people’s memory. It’s very important to Kansas City.”
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Four Kansas high school students face charges for armed robberies on Halloween, including one that was recorded on video and posted on social media.
Image from the robbery on Snapchat
A video shared on social media was related to the robberies. The suspects are students at Olathe High School in suburban Kansas City.
All four suspects have been taken into custody. They are charged in juvenile court, each with two felony counts of aggravated robbery.
Victims of both crimes told police that the robbers took clothing and electronics. The suspects were arrested later that night.
