KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The director of the Kansas City Sports Commission says the city could lose more than $50 million if voters approve a constitutional amendment that would allow Missouri business owners to cite their religious beliefs when refusing services for same-sex weddings.
Kathy Nelson, commission president and CEO, says the “religious freedom” amendment could hurt Kansas City for at least the next 10 years.
The amendment that would create legal protections for religious business owners who refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings. It has passed the state Senate. If approved by the House, it would be on the ballot later this year.
The Kansas City Star reports the NCAA has expressed concerns about the proposed amendment and suggested it could cost Missouri future opportunities to host athletic events.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal scientists say the chance of damaging earthquakes hitting east of the Rockies has increased significantly, much of it a man-made byproduct of drilling for energy. Oklahoma now has a 1 in 8 chance of damaging quakes in 2016, surpassing California as the state with the highest probability.
In a first-of-its-kind effort, U.S. Geological Survey Monday released a map for damaging quakes in the current year.
USGS seismologists said 7 million people live in areas where the risk has dramatically jumped for earthquakes caused by disposal of wastewater, a byproduct of drilling for oil and gas. That is mostly concentrated in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado and Arkansas.
Natural earthquake risk also increased around the New Madrid fault in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Illinois.
HUTCHINSON– A former Reno County Sheriff’s Jail Deputy convicted on charges associated with unlawful sexual relations with inmates inside the old Reno County Jail and sentenced to over five years in prison is seeking relief from that sentence.
Jonathon Diaz, 33, had waived his right to a preliminary hearing and entered guilty pleas to three counts of unlawful sexual relations and two counts of bribery. He then entered no contest pleas to two counts of aggravated intimidation of a witness.
He has a civil filing pending action by the court seeking relief from that sentence. An evidentiary hearing was held on the civil case where the defendant took the stand and complained that his attorney at the time didn’t do what he asked and filed a motion to suppress his confession.
Diaz also alleged that he felt intimidated when questioned by investigators because they were carrying their weapons and that he felt he couldn’t leave.
He says that he felt others he worked with in the jail could tell authorities that what the state says happened could not have, considering the size of the jail.
Diaz claims that his attorney did not bother to investigate and also speak with those co-workers. Plus, he says his character wouldn’t allow that sort of behavior.
He also claims the he was told if he didn’t enter the plea, additional charges could be added. He says he felt coerced into entering the plea.
On cross-examination the state questioned him about being a law enforcement officer and that he also carried a gun.
District Attorney Keith Schroeder also questioned him over the evidence that showed on video some of the alleged conduct.
District Judge Tim Chambers noted that he handled the sentencing, but wasn’t present when the actual plea was entered. He wanted time to read over what happened there as well as the decision over the appeal in the case. He took the matter under advisement.
The case against Diaz was filed in 2013 by the state after a nearly two week internal investigation ordered by Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson. Some inmates complained of the allegations of Diaz touching them and also requesting that they expose themselves to him, and also that they engage in sexual activity while he watched.
Judge Chambers said he would have his decision over the civil case by the end of the week
MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the wildfire that has burned at least 620 square miles of land in Kansas and Oklahoma since last week.
4:40 p.m.
Kansas officials have identified more Barber County homes destroyed in the wildfire that hit the region last week.
Ben Bauman, spokesman for the Kansas Adjutant General’s Office, said Monday it appears that nine homes in Barber County were destroyed in the wildfire. Earlier estimates showed anywhere from two to six homes destroyed in the county.
Bauman says three other homes were destroyed in wildfires elsewhere in Kansas last week.
He says assessments of the damage are just beginning, and the numbers will likely change.
He also says Kansas National Guard helicopters dropped an estimated 68,000 gallons of water on the fire over the weekend.
The fire, which started last week in Oklahoma, before spreading into southern Kansas, has reportedly been largely contained.
1:40 p.m.
At least one section of the wildfire that has been burning in southern Kansas since last week has been extinguished.
John Lehman, emergency manager for Comanche County, told The Wichita Eagle (https://bit.ly/1UXzXX4 ) Monday that the portion of the fire in Comanche County is out. The fire, which burned about 620 square miles in Oklahoma and Kansas, hit about 93 square miles of land in Comanche County.
Lehman says snowfall Sunday brought enough moisture to the burned area in Comanche County to declare the fire 100 percent controlled in that county by Sunday evening. He said firefighters no longer need to monitor for hot spots there.
The fire in neighboring Barber County was considered about 81 percent contained earlier Monday.
12:05 p.m.
Oklahoma Forestry Services officials are still investigating the cause of a wildfire that consumed an estimated 620 square miles of mostly rural land in Oklahoma and Kansas since last week. Fire personnel are focused on containing its spread.
Forestry Services spokeswoman Hannah Anderson said Monday firefighters have contained about 90 percent of the fire in both states, although significant areas continue to burn. Officials flew a plane over the fire Monday morning seeking a reliable estimate of the burn area.
Weather conditions are expected to worsen Monday as humidity drops and temperatures rise. Officials expect wind speeds up to 22 mph and gusts up to 30 mph in the northwest part of Oklahoma.
The agency plans to release a new fire-containment estimate Monday evening.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democrats in the Kansas Legislature have filed a formal protest against a bill passed last week to address spending for public education in the state.
Republican supermajorities in the Statehouse quickly passed the bill in response to a state Supreme Court ruling that the current school finance formula was inequitable. The court threatened to close down public schools if the funding problems weren’t addressed by the end of June.
In their protest, Democrats say the bill benefits wealthier districts over poorer districts and doesn’t consider the actual cost of public education.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Monday the Democrat’s formal protest puts their objections to the bill in records that the Supreme Court will likely use to determine if the new law is constitutional.
OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors are calling the crimes of an eastern Kansas man convicted in a quadruple homicide “extremely wicked, shockingly evil and vile.”
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the sentencing phase of Kyle Flack’s trial began Monday. The jury is hearing testimony to determine if the 30-year-old should be sentenced to death.
Flack was found guilty last week of capital murder in the 2013 deaths of Kaylie Bailey and her toddler daughter, Lana. Flack also was convicted in the deaths of Bailey’s boyfriend, Andrew Stout, and his roommate, Steven White, at a rural Ottawa farmhouse.
Senior assistant attorney general Vic Braden says the killings of mother and daughter were done in an “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel manner.” The defense hasn’t yet made its case for life imprisonment.
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a Kansas man in connection with a Sunday evening altercation in the 200 Block of East Pacific in Salina.
Just after 6 p.m., Eric Moman, 37, Salina, was involved in an argument with an acquaintance Edward Burns, 31, when Burns struck Moman in the left arm and head with a 2-foot long wooden club, according to Police Captain Mike Sweeney
Moman had no visible injuries and he declined medical treatment at the scene.
Burns was arrested and booked into the Saline County Jail on a requested charge of aggravated battery.
GREAT BEND -The Great Bend Police Department is conducting a trading card program for children in the community, according to a social media report.
The program challenges children of all ages to collect a complete set of 32 Great Bend Police Department trading cards.
The set of cards includes all 21 police officers assigned to patrol, the detective K9 officer, a Special Service Team card, a DARE card, a police vehicle fleet card, the K9’s, a bike patrol unit card, and a Chief of Police card. The complete set of cards is a total of 32 different ones to collect.
The project started as the result of a call from a citizen who was wondering if the police department still had Kansas City Royals and Chiefs cards that were offered to kids by officers.
The Great Bend Police Department had success with that project several years ago and it was decided to look at it again.
After initially making trading cards for the K9’s, Kia and Lazer, the department saw the overwhelming response from youth and thought that by expanding the project they could further bonds between the two.
The trading card contest is designed to help officers break the ice when talking to children, and the cards encourage children to interact with the officers.
“I believe that it is important for the youth of the community to feel comfortable enough to come into the police department or contact any officer if they need help,” said Chief Cliff Couch. “The challenge provides the opportunity for the children to have a positive experience with the officers and for them to realize that they are regular people, just like their families.”
Gov. Sam Brownback and Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli, Kansas Adjutant General’s Department, meet with 1st Battalion, 108th Aviation Regiment Soldiers fighting the wildfire-photo Kan. National Guard
MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the wildfire that has burned at least 620 square miles of land in Kansas and Oklahoma since last week.
10:30 a.m.
Some costs of battling the largest wildfire in Kansas history have so far been tallied at more than $1 million.
Barber County Attorney Gaten Wood told The Wichita Eagle that full damage estimates from the fire haven’t been totaled. But he says the cost of resources from outside fire departments and the use of Kansas National Guard Black Hawk helicopters to dump water on the fire had mounted to more than $1 million.
Wood says that estimate doesn’t include Barber County’s costs, some state costs or damage to homes, property and livestock.
The Kansas Forest Service says crews will patrol areas Monday hit by the wildfire that has burned at least 620 square miles in Oklahoma and Kansas since last week.
The service says the fire was 90 percent contained Sunday, and 81 percent contained in Barber County, Kansas, where most of the damage has occurred.
Kansas Army National Guard Soldiers cleared nearly three inches of snow from Black Hawk helicopters March 27 to prepare them for more reconnaissance and fire suppression missions throughout the day.-photo Kan. National Guard
The National Weather Service says winds up to 30 mph, with 40 mph gusts, are expected to hit the sparsely populated fire zone Monday and Tuesday. However an increase in humidity Tuesday coupled with 4 inches of snow that fell Sunday could help firefighters.
The Kansas Adjutant General’s Office says six homes were destroyed. No one has been seriously injured.
TOPEKA – The Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) wants to reduce the number of continuing education hours for emergency workers.
Curt Shreckengaust, deputy director of the Kansas Board of EMS, proposed the new regulations for review by the legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations.
The changes would require that:
emergency medical responder (EMR) continuing education hours would be reduced from 20 hours to 16;
emergency medical technician (EMT) continuing education hours would be reduced from 40 to 28; and,
intermediate and advanced-level EMTs would see a reduction from 50 hours to 44.
“The EMS community received a few comments from larger fire-based EMS organizations in the state and other small departments explaining that it costs more money to provide those extra hours,” Shreckengaust said.
Shreckengaust said the organizations did not specify costs, but he explained costs vary around the state.
If an individual currently works for EMS in the state of Kansas, he or she is required to recertify every two years by going through continuing education. This includes Advanced Emergency Medical Technicians (AEMTs), EMTs, EMRs, and paramedics.
Sen. Tom Hawk, D-Manhattan, who sits on the state’s EMS Board, said he is comfortable with the change.
“Sometimes we overkill in requiring more than we need to, but I want to make sure we don’t require too little,” Hawk said.
Most states have some form of prescribed continuing education plan, Shreckengaust said.
“(We) would still focus on what the board of EMS believes are the essential needs of daily practice in the field,” Shreckengaust said.
The next public hearing is scheduled April 26. The Kansas Board of EMS will vote on the changes on June 3.
SHAWNEE COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating a violent domestic disturbance.
Just after 12-noon on Saturday, police in Topeka responded to a local hospital in reference to a domestic disturbance, according to a media release.
Police interviewed a 29-year-old woman. She reported the father of her children, Lyle J. Beaty, 29, Topeka, had beaten her.
The victim received extensive injuries during the altercation at a residence in the 400 Block of Clay in Topeka, according to police.
An attempt to locate bulletin was issued for Beaty and just before 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, deputies located and arrested him on requested charges of attempted second-degree murder.
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A central Kansas judge has ruled that a supposed confession by one of five people accused in the killing of a teenager is admissible as evidence during his scheduled May trial.
The Salina Journal reports a Saline County judge rejected 22-year-old Macio Palacio Jr.’s claim that his statements to investigators were improperly obtained.
Palacio is accused of fatally shooting 17-year-old Allie Saum of Salina in May of last year.
Prosecutors have said Saum was shot as she rode in a pickup truck that drove past a group of men who mistakenly thought the driver had been involved in an earlier confrontation.
Saline County Attorney Ellen Mitchell argued that all five men accused in the killing were equally responsible, even though two of the men have claimed they weren’t present.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The director of the Kansas City Sports Commission says the city could lose more than $50 million if voters approve a constitutional amendment that would allow Missouri business owners to cite their religious beliefs when refusing services for same-sex weddings.
