Brandon Dowd was arrested Feb. 8 under a warrant from Kansas. He’s seen here in a common area of a bunkhouse at the Malheur Wildlife Reuge, on Jan. 14. photo by Thomas Boyd courtesy Portland Oregonian
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man who had been with the armed occupiers at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has been arrested on an unrelated warrant.
The Oregonian reports that 31-year-old Brandon Dowd is being held in the Harney County Jail under a warrant from Kansas in connection to a theft case. He was not arrested for anything he might have done while on the refuge. He was arrested Monday.
Dowd was seen about three weeks ago guarding the main entrance to the refuge. He is not among the last four holdouts still occupying the space.
A Riley County Police Department spokesman says Dowd is accused of stealing a firearm worth about $600 from a 65-year-old man last May.
Cancer survivors Amy Holdman, left, and Marcie Kelly were among the supporters of a bill prohibiting the use of tanning beds by minors who packed a Tuesday hearing at the Kansas Statehouse. JIM MCLEAN / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
By JIM MCLEAN
A legislative hearing Tuesday on a bill to prohibit Kansans under 18 from using commercial tanning beds produced emotional testimony from cancer victims and sharp exchanges between lawmakers and the proposal’s lone opponent.
And it seemed clear by the hearing’s end that the bill had the support of several lawmakers who normally would be troubled by the prospect of regulating private businesses.
“Just listening to the questions, you pretty well get where everybody is coming from,” said Rep. Dan Hawkins, the Wichita Republican who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee. “So, I would say it will probably pass out in fine fashion.”
Hawkins and other members of the panel said testimony from two cancer survivors helped make the case for the bill, which would make it illegal for salon owners to allow anyone under 18 to use their ultraviolet beds. He said the testimony delivered by melanoma survivors Amy Holdman of Overland Park and Marcie Kelly of Wichita “touched the hearts” of members.
“It’s hard to discredit testimony like that,” he said.
But Joseph Levy tried.
Levy is the “scientific adviser” to the American Suntanning Association, a group formed by salon owners in 2012 to fight efforts to regulate the industry due to increasing health and safety concerns. He’s also executive director of the International Smart Tan Network.
“The case that’s been made (against indoor tanning) goes well beyond the facts,” Levy said, referring to information compiled by the American Cancer Action Network, the lobbying arm of the American Cancer Society, as well as the testimony given by doctors and cancer victims in support of the Kansas bill.
Levy questioned the legitimacy of studies that show the use of tanning beds, particularly by teenagers and young adults, greatly increases the chances of developing skin cancer. He said because the studies included high-intensity tanning devices used by doctors and hospitals, they overstated the risks of using salon beds. He said many doctors agree that moderate use of tanning beds to acquire a “base tan” can help protect people from the real health hazard: sunburn.
“Sunburn prevention is what we should be focusing on,” he said.
Several members of the committee pushed back. Rep. Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, said Levy’s testimony reminded him of the “specious” arguments made by the tobacco companies.
Dr. Roy Jensen, director of the University of Kansas Cancer Center, said in an interview after the hearing that Ward “nailed it” when he compared Levy’s arguments to those used by the tobacco industry.
“It just drives you crazy when somebody devotes their life to spewing out a bunch of garbage,” Jensen said. “And it’s even worse when it harms people.”
Marcie Kelly said she routinely tanned to get ready for big dances in high school, logging hours in tanning beds before each one.
Fifteen years later her doctor noticed a suspicious mole on her back. Tests confirmed it was metastatic melanoma, skin cancer that had spread to her lymph system.
Surgeons acted quickly to remove the cancer from her back.
“It looked like somebody had taken a shark bite out of my back,” she said, before going on to describe the chemotherapy she endured to kill the cancer in her lymph nodes.
Now, two years from diagnosis and treatment, Kelly worries that one of the full-body scans that she gets every three months will show that the cancer is back. She described her life as “holding my breath and living scan to scan.”
“Melanoma has robbed me of who I was,” she said.
Several members of the committee thanked Kelly and Holdman for sharing their stories. But a few said they were troubled by the bill.
Rep. Brett Hildabrand, a Shawnee Republican, said he worried that prohibiting teenagers from using commercial facilities might prompt them to engage in unsupervised use of tanning beds in their homes or those of friends and neighbors. He asked Jensen of the KU Cancer Center if instead of prohibiting minors from tanning, the bill could require them to get written consent from their parents.
“I always have a problem with government acting as the parent and taking parental decisions away,” Hildabrand said.
Jensen said that any parent who consented would essentially be guilty of child abuse.
“If you’re allowing your child to be in a tanning bed, that’s pretty much the definition of physical abuse,” he said.
In addition, Jensen said, parental consent laws don’t work well because they put the enforcement burden on business owners.
Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged a former tribal casino employee with embezzlement in a scheme involving fake “players cards” at a casino in northeast Kansas.
A criminal information filed Tuesday charges 32-year-old Donald M. Collins of Wetmore with one count of embezzling tribal funds. Collins worked at the time as players club manager at the Sac and Fox Casino, which is owned by the Sac and Fox Nation of Kansas and Nebraska.
His defense attorney did not immediately return a message left seeking comment.
Collins is accused of making counterfeit cards valued at about $13,326. The cards allow bearers to play various casino games.
Prosecutors allege that about $17,443 was fraudulently won by people using them.
Collins was issued a summons to appear in federal court in Wichita on Feb. 24.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, made the following statement after reviewing President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget request to Congress, which includes legislative proposals to cut the federal crop insurance program by $18 billion.
“As farmers and ranchers are faced with the daily uncertainties of weather and volatile market conditions, the Obama Administration has once again chosen to attack America’s agriculture producers and their ability to manage risk. The President is hitting rural America where it hurts most, and all of this is occurring at a time when farm income is projected to decline 56 percent in the past three years.”
“Budget cuts are nothing new to agriculture. Farmers and ranchers have been forced to become experts at doing more with less. Yet, the President’s budget does nothing to tackle our nation’s debt crisis.
“Farm country is tired of overzealous regulations and persistent attacks on rural America. While the budget proposals are essentially dead on arrival, we must hold USDA and the Administration accountable for their actions and be vigilant in protecting the interests of our hardworking farmers, ranchers, and business owners in rural America.”
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man convicted in a 2014 killing in Freedom Valley Park has been sentenced to 14 years and eight months in prison.
Prosecutors say 25-year-old Jourdan Mickel Hunt shot at 20-year-old Germaul Rayton, Ahmad Rayton and Anthony Marshall III on May 31, 2014. Germaul Rayton was fatally wounded. Hunt was sentenced Tuesday on a charge of intentional second-degree murder.
He was also convicted of two counts of aggravated battery in the shootings of the two other men, who were injured in the incident. Hunt was sentenced to a total of six years and 10 months in prison on the battery charges.
NEWTON – Law enforcement authorities in Harvey County are investigating a suspect in connection with arson, burglary, and criminal threat.
After a tip from members of the community, police in Newton arrested Brian Edward Smith, 25, on Tuesday evening, following a brief standoff, according to a social media report from police.
Smith was also wanted on an active warrant for felony theft.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 31-year-old man has been arrested in Missouri in the 2006 death of a 2-year-old boy in Topeka.
Johnathan Davion Mango was arrested Monday on a second-degree murder warrant in Florissant, Missouri, and is being held on $500,000 bond.
Authorities say 2-year-old Eli Clemens died on March 11, 2006, at an apartment complex. His death was ruled a homicide four months later. Topeka police have not said how the boy died.
Officials said the suspect is expected to be extradited to Topeka following a hearing in St. Louis.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A California company has agreed to pay $110,000 in penalties and fees for violating the No-Call Act and Kansas Consumer Protection Act.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says Judson Enterprises Inc., doing business as K-Designers of Gold River, California, agreed to a consent judgment that was approved Monday by a Shawnee County district judge.
The attorney general’s office started investigating K-Designers in 2013 after receiving a complaint from a Manhattan resident who was on the no-call list. In all, four people filed complaints with Schmidt’s office and 34 filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission.
Schmidt says the company’s telemarketers were calling Kansas residents on the no-call list and failing to end the call when the consumer declined its offer.
TOPEKA–E-cigarettes were invented in China more than 10 years ago and nearly 500 brands exist today worldwide. The U.S. vaping industry alone is estimated to hit $10 billion in sales by 2017.
Many e-cigarette brands are owned by large tobacco companies that market them as glamorous, safer and healthier than traditional tobacco cigarettes. These claims, along with increased popularity, have caused many health-related organizations (i.e. American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association) to call for increased regulation and discouragement of use among youth.
The Kansas Health Institute has released the first of three issue briefs on the topic: E-Cigarettes and Their Use in the U.S. and Kansas.
Key points of the brief include:
E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices used to inhale vapor—normally containing nicotine—and they are sold in many different styles, colors and flavors.
The number of teens who have ever tried e-cigarettes has risen significantly across the U.S. between 2011 and 2014. However, Kansas data has not shown a similar increase for teens.
Current tobacco smokers are most likely to have tried or currently use e-cigarettes.
The number of adults who have tried e-cigarettes has risen significantly in Kansas: 14.3 percent in 2013, up from 8.6 percent in 2012. E-cigarette users are more likely to be younger and less educated than non-users.
“The goal of this e-cigarette series is to inform policymakers about what e-cigarettes are and who is using them, to help explain the potential health effects of e-cigarette use, and to discuss local, state and federal regulation of e-cigarettes,” said Linda Sheppard, KHI senior analyst and strategy team leader.
The other briefs in this e-cigarette series are: Health Effects of E-Cigarettes (February 10, 2016) and E-Cigarette Policy, Regulation and Marketing (February 16, 2016).
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is appealing a judge’s ruling that the state must release candidates’ applications for two county commission openings filled by Gov. Sam Brownback.
The state has filed a notice of appeal in the lawsuit brought by The Salina Journal and The Associated Press seeking the disclosure of information on more than two dozen applicants for newly created Saline County Commission seats.
Saline County residents voted in November 2014 to expand the commission from three to five members.
The AP and the newspaper argued that applicants’ names and other details are public information. Brownback’s office argued they are personnel records exempt from the state’s open records law.
Shawnee County District Judge Rebecca Crotty ruled in December in favor of AP and the newspaper.
NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — He’s not a “loser.” Billionaire Donald Trump has his first political victory, the GOP nomination from New Hampshire.
Early exit polls showed he drew support from voters looking for an outsider and from those who made up their minds a while ago.
The win comes days after Trump’s second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Trump has used the unconventional tactic of using large, rambunctious rallies and sharp criticism of opponents.
Sen. Bernie Sanders has taken a commanding victory in the New Hampshire primary over Hillary Clinton.
The win comes after a narrow loss to Clinton in Iowa.
Sanders garnered a majority of support from men, women and independents and surged past Clinton in a state she won eight years ago against then-candidate Barack Obama.
The turnout — as Sanders would say — was “huge.” Polls indicated Sanders, from neighboring Vermont, was substantially favored heading into the contest.
His win will likely prompt rank-and-file Democrats — and some major campaign donors — to give his candidacy a second look as the race shifts to contests in Clinton-friendly states like Nevada and South Carolina.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is recalling more than 473,000 trucks and SUVs in the U.S. and Canada because the brake pedals can come loose and fail to work properly.
The recall covers certain 2015 and 2016 Chevrolet Silverado HD, GMC Sierra HD and Chevrolet Tahoe police vehicles.
GM says a nut on the brake pedal pivot mechanism can come loose, causing the pedal to loosen and possibly become inoperative.
The company says it has no reports of crashes or injuries due to the problem.
GM says the recall should begin shortly.
Toyota’s youth-oriented Scion brand is recalling about 28,000 FR-S sports cars in North America because drivers can take the keys out of the ignition without the car being in park.
The recall covers cars with automatic transmissions from the 2013 through 2016 model years.
Toyota says in some cases, the mechanism that holds the key until the ignition unless the cars are in park may not have been connected before delivery. That makes it possible to remove the key while the cars are in gear, which could increase the risk of cars rolling away unexpectedly.
Toyota wouldn’t say if the problem has caused any crashes or injuries. The company says dealers will check the key lock mechanism. If it doesn’t work, they’ll activate it.
NEWTON – Law enforcement authorities in Harvey County are investigating a series of burglaries.
Numerous tips have come to police in reference to the surveillance photos from the burglaries, according to a report on social media.
One suspect has been identified as Corey Michael Youngblood.
Police want to find him for questioning. They are asking for the public’s help to locate him.
photos Newton police
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NEWTON – Nine burglaries and a stolen car are now among the crimes committed in Newton on Friday night, according to a social media report from Newton Police. The car has been recovered after a member of the community saw the report on social media and called it in.
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NEWTON – Law enforcement authorities in Harvey County are investigating a series of burglaries and searching for a suspect.
Police in Newton say the crimes were reported the area around 8th and Logan Streets where at least 5 houses and 2 vehicles were broken into and property stolen.
Witnesses describe a silver, gold Dodge truck and a 2-door passenger car involved.
According to a social media report by police, the offenders were kind enough to pose for surveillance video. They stole the cameras but didn’t understand the information is recorded in another location.
The first suspect with beard and short hair is in the light jacket with the hood and the second suspect is in the black jacket.
Police asked the public for their help to identify the suspects.
