WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say someone deposited 22 dead rabbits on individual driveways in a neighborhood on the city’s east side, but they don’t know much else about the incident.
Police spokesman Lt. James Espinoza told The Wichita Eagle it looked like the rabbits were thrown onto the driveways, rather than strategically positioned. He said the rabbits looked like they had been shot with more than a pellet gun.
Officers think the incident happened early Wednesday morning, and that the rabbits were wild. Espinoza says he hasn’t seen any cases like it.
He says Wichita Animal Control is in charge of investigating the incident, but the lieutenant who oversees animal control was out of the office Wednesday.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita television station says one of its reporters has been defamed by a county commissioner who refused to be interviewed by her because he believes she is an advocate for people living in the country illegally.
The Wichita Eagle reports Beatriz Parres is a bilingual television reporter who covers news for both Spanish-language KDCU and English-language KWCH. On Monday she approached Sedgwick County Commission chairman Richard Ranzau to ask him about a recall effort in which a pro-immigrant group and others want him removed from office.
Ranzau told her he wouldn’t talk to her but would allow a reporter who works only for KWCH to interview him.
KWCH news director Brian Gregory said Parres is a reporter and it is unfortunate an elected official would make such baseless comments.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An immigrant who changed the legal name of his identity theft victim to his own was spared from federal prison in a case even the federal judge called remarkable.
U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren sentenced 82-year-old Ramon Perez-Rivera on Wednesday to the one night in jail he had already spent when arrested.
Prosecutors say Perez-Rivera also changed the victim’s birth record to his own name and used the identity to obtain food stamps and Medicaid, a U.S. passport and a driver’s license.
His defense attorney says his client is uneducated and received some very bad advice from a California notary about changing the victim’s name.
Perez-Rivera told the court that he thought he was legal.
He pleaded guilty in August to possession of unlawfully obtained documents and other charges.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An immigrant living illegally in the United States for decades faces sentencing in an identity theft scheme so ingenious that prosecutors say a California court unwittingly changed the name of the U.S. citizen whose identity he assumed to his own real name.
Wednesday’s hearing for 82-year-old Ramon Perez-Rivera brings to a close one of the most unusual identity theft cases in the country.
Prosecutors say that armed with that court order, Perez-Rivera then also changed the victim’s California birth record to his own name. He was indicted in December with using the identity to obtain food stamps and Medicaid, a U.S. passport and a driver’s license.
He pleaded guilty in August to charges including possession of unlawfully obtained documents and illegal re-entry under a deal sparing him from federal prison.
Vice President Biden during a White House Rose Garden statement on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden says he won’t run for president in 2016.
His decision finalizes the Democratic Party’s field of White House candidates and sets Biden on a glide path toward the end of his decades-long political career.
Biden spent months deliberating with his family and political advisers about a potential late entry to the Democratic primary.
.@VP is a good friend and a great man. Today and always, inspired by his optimism and commitment to change the world for the better. -H
SCOTT CITY, Kan. (AP) — A committee has been formed to help preserve and develop Lake Scott State Park in western Kansas.
The Hutchinson News reports that Gov. Sam Brownback and and the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Secretary Robin Jennison announced the formation of the Scott State Park Historic Preservation and Development Committee earlier this week.
The remains of the northernmost Native American pueblo are a defining feature of the park, which is located north of Scott City.
Authorities say that funding challenges have constrained efforts to preserve and interpret the site. One of the goals of the committee will be to raise funds to build an interpretive center over the ruins to help preserve them.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police in Kansas City are investigating the discovery of a body on highway.
The Kansas City Star reports the body was found early Wednesday on eastbound I70 in the downtown area.
Police say a motorist alerted police, and that it appeared that a vehicle struck the man after he jumped. Traffic in the area was diverted while crime scene investigators gathered evidence, but the roadway reopened a few hours later.
In separate incident, a tractor-trailer hauling sausages overturned early Wednesday along Interstate 670 in nearby Kansas City, Kansas, causing a traffic backup. The crash closed a section of eastbound I-670 while crews cleared debris.
The Wichita Eagle reports Good Jobs First says most of the money spent on the state’s Promoting Employment Across Kansas program from 2010 to 2014 went to companies with more than 100 employees or at least 10 locations.
The program allows companies to retain 95 percent of their state payroll withholding tax for up to seven years.
State Commerce Department spokesman Dan Lara questions the group’s methodology labeling firms with more than 100 employees as large. He says the federal government uses 500 employees as the threshold for what constitutes a small business, and an audit shows the PEAK program adds $57 to the economy for every $1 spent by the state.
Daylight Saving Time begins November 1, and as Kansans prepare to “fall back” one hour, the Office of the Kansas State Fire Marshal urges residents to practice fire safety by testing their smoke alarms and changing the batteries. Alkaline batteries should be replaced at least once a year, and a good rule of thumb is to change the batteries when you change your clocks.
Kansas Fire Marshal Doug Jorgensen stresses the importance of replacing outdated smoke alarms with newer models featuring 10-year sealed lithium batteries.
“Ensuring you have working smoke alarms in your home is the single most important step you can take to increase your family’s safety from a home fire,” explained Jorgensen. “Purchasing and installing smoke detectors with batteries that don’t need to be changed annually is one of the most affordable ways to protect your family.”
According to the National Fire Protection Association, almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in properties without working smoke alarms. A working smoke alarm significantly increases your chances of surviving a deadly home fire.
To protect your home, follow these smoke alarm safety tips:
· Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of your home, including in the basement.
· If the alarm chirps, warning that the battery is low, replace the entire smoke alarm right away.
· For smoke alarms without the long-life lithium batteries, be sure to replace batteries at least once a year. If that alarm chirps, replace only the battery. Date each unit when they are installed and replace them after ten years – or sooner if they do not successfully pass the test by sounding the alarm when the test button is pressed.
In addition to changing smoke alarm batteries, it is also a good idea to practice a family escape plan:
· Plan and practice two escape routes out of every room in your house.
· Designate an outside meeting place.
· In case of fire, call 9-1-1 once you are safely outside your home.
· Once outside, stay outside and don’t return for anything – not even a pet.
OSAGE CITY- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 12:30a.m. on Wednesday in Osage County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2009 Nissan Altima driven by Elijah D J Savage, 20, Osage City, was westbound on Kansas 31 three miles east of Osage City.
The vehicle left the roadway and overturned in a field.
A private vehicle transported Savage to the hospital in Topeka. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man has been charged in the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old man in Wichita.
Emmanuel E. Crosby was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the death of David Ingram. Prosecutors say Crosby shot Ingram Thursday afternoon when the victim and his girlfriend picked up Crosby and another man for a drug deal. Police say Crosby and the other suspect were in the backseat of a vehicle and Ingram was in the front passenger seat at the time of the shooting.
Ingram was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
Crosby said in court in Tuesday that he plans to hire an attorney. His next hearing is set for Nov. 3.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man has been sentenced to 24 years and one month in prison in the death of a concrete company worker.
The Wichita Eagle reports that 35-year-old Donnie Lalonde was sentenced Tuesday in the February 2014 shooting of 44-year-old Efren Antonio Villarreal-Alvarado. He had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated robbery.
Authorities say co-workers found Villarreal-Alvarado in his car in the parking lot of Santana Concrete with a gunshot wound to the chest. He later died at a hospital.
Deon Nolan Hale faces first-degree murder and aggravated robbery charges in the case. His trial is set to begin Nov. 2.
