ATCHISON COUNTY–One person died in an accident just before 7:30p.m. Friday in Atchison County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Mack Truck driven by Dana A. Jenkins, 52, Omaha, was northbound on U.S. 73 at 286th Road.

The vehicle struck a westbound 2013 Ford F150. The driver of the Ford 81-year-old Gerald K. Parker died as a result of the crash.

Jenkins was not injured. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident. The KHP did not release any additional details on Parker.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on numerous charges after a chase and crash into a home.

Just after 11:00p.m. Thursday, a deputy attempted a traffic stop on an older model Ford F-150 near SE 10th and California Avenue in Topeka for a registration violation, according to Sgt. Todd Stalbaumer. The driver failed to stop, and the Ford pickup fled the scene.

Deputies located the pickup behind a business in the 2300 SE 6th Street. A deputy attempted another car stop, but the driver aggressively reversed the Ford, nearly striking the deputy.

The Ford pickup then accelerated from the scene and struck a house in the 500 block of SE Burr. An adult male was sleeping in the residence and was injured by the Ford pickup striking the house. Injuries were not considered serious but the resident was transported to a local hospital.

The driver of the Ford then fled the vehicle and a foot pursuit ensued. With the assistance of a Topeka Police K9 Unit, the suspect was located behind a residence on SE Gray Street.

Jose L. Castenedo-Montellano, 18, Topeka, was taken into custody and booked into the Shawnee County Dept. of Corrections on requested charges that include, Aggravated Assault LEO, Reckless Driving,  Flee or Attempt to Elude, Aggravated Battery Reckless, Felony Criminal Damage and Traffic and Registration Violations.

KANSAS CITY(AP) — Two Mexican nationals have been sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy that distributed more than 14 kilograms of heroin in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Federal prosecutors say 46-year-old Julian Felix-Aguirre was sentenced Wednesday to 24 years and seven months in prison without parole. And 38-year-old Martin Missael Puerta-Navarro was sentenced to 14 years and eight months without parole.

The two are among 26 people charged in the case, with 16 of them now sentenced.

Prosecutors say the drug ring worked with the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico to establish stash houses, build hidden compartments in vehicles, and receive and sell black tar heroin.

Court documents say 66-year-old Dennis McLallen, of Overland Park, Kansas, was the direct contact with Mexico-based drug suppliers. He is serving 15 years without parole.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a car theft and looking for two suspects.

Just after 8:15p.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to the 8900 Block of East Harry to check for a reported stolen vehicle from Andover, according to officer Kevin Wheeler. On-Star contacted Sedgwick County Dispatch that a Chevy Malibu was possibly in that area.

An officer was able to locate the vehicle at an apartment complex, according to Wheeler. Two men were in in the car.  As the officer approached in a patrol vehicle the driver put the car in reverse striking the patrol car.  The officer was not injured. The vehicle was able to drive from the apartment complex and police chased eastbound on Harry.

The officer quickly terminated the pursuit because of the erratic driving of the suspect. On-Star disabled the vehicle and police located it near 31st and Greenwich.  They did not locate the suspects who were described as Hispanic males wearing white t-shirts, according to Wheeler.

By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — New, tougher regulations on exposure to lead have been implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency.

EPA Region 7 Administrator, Jim Gulliford, tells reporters at a St. Joseph news conference research has proven even small amounts of lead can prove harmful to young children.

“And that’s why today EPA is announcing significantly new and more strict standards for lead dust in homes built before 1978 along with schools and child care facilities as well to protect, again, children in those early developmental years from exposure to lead,” Gulliford says.

The EPA states the United States has greatly reduced the risk of lead exposure to young children, from birth to age six, since the 1970s. New studies though indicate there is no real safe level of lead for such young children. The EPA is lowering the dust-lead hazard standards from 40 micrograms of lead per square foot to 10 on floors and from 250 micrograms to 100 on window sills in buildings built prior to 1978, when lead was banned from paint.

The EPA will work with St. Joseph city officials to educate the public on the threat of lead contamination, especially to the growth and development of children. The EPA reports lead-contaminated dust from chipped or peeling lead-based paint can lead to elevated blood lead levels in children.

Gulliford says the standards have been tightened to protect the very young.

“So, infants and young children especially vulnerable to lead paint exposure because their growing bodies absorb more lead than us as adults and their developing brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead,” according to Gulliford.

Gulliford says the EPA is working with contractors on the issue, especially those who work in renovation of older homes. He says the agency is also attempting to help homeowners who do their own work on how best to prevent lead exposure.

SALINA — On June 16, law enforcement in Saline County began receiving calls from residents who reported their bank accounts were showing withdraws the residents had not made.

The commonality was they were either Sunflower Bank Customers or had used a Sunflower Bank ATM.

As of June 20, 2019, 8 a.m., Saline County law enforcement agencies had identified 147 possible victims. Many victims had multiple withdrawals. The vast majority of the usages of debit cards were outside of Saline County.

Only four of the 147 events have occurred within the county.

Law enforcement heard from residents of Manhattan, Minneapolis, and Kanopolis, Kansas, as being victims as well.

Locations of card usage have been:

• Hutchinson, South Hutchinson, Newton, Burrton, Andover, and Wichita, Kansas
• Spencer, Springer, Ardmore, Norman, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Denton and Houston, Texas
• Kansas City, Missouri

Detectives in those jurisdictions have been contacted and are investigating the crimes that have occurred in their jurisdictions. Saline County law enforcement investigators are seeking information as to the source of the data breach.

If you have any information concerning this event, call Crimestoppers at 825-TIPS, text SATIPS to CRIMES (274637), or visit www.pd.salina.org and follow the Crimestoppers link to submit a web tip. You may receive a cash reward of up to $1,000 and you are not required to give your name.

BOURBON COUNTY — Two people died in an accident just after 5:30 a.m. Friday in Bourbon County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Mercury Sable driven by Brenton T. Handly, 29, Nevada, Mo., was eastbound on U.S. 54 just east of Fort Scott.

The driver attempted to pass another vehicle and struck a 2013 Chevy Malibu driven by Adam W. Bancroft, 48, Fort Scott, head-on.

Handly and Bancroft were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has approved a disaster declaration covering more than half of the Kansas’ 105 counties.

The federal assistance approved Thursday will provide service and funds to help recovery from severe weather that began on April 28 and included tornadoes and flooding.

The declaration provides funding for emergency work, repair and replacement of damaged facilities and mitigation of hazards.

Kansas received 10.26 inches of rain in May, more than double the 30-year average of 4.12 inches.

And an EF-4 tornado that hit May 28 caused substantial damage in parts of Douglas and Leavenworth counties.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that videos from white officers’ body cameras do not show conclusively that a black suspect reached for a gun in a pocket of his shorts before Topeka police shot him to deathin September 2017.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree said this week that the video footage was “equivocal, at best” in a ruling that allows attorneys for suspect Dominique White’s family to question two officers.

White’s father filed a civil rights lawsuit in June 2018 on behalf of himself and White’s four young children against the city, Officers Michael Cruse and Justin Mackey and five unnamed officers. The family contends that White’s shooting wasn’t legally justified.

The city has asked to have the lawsuit settled in its favor and dismissed before a trial, arguing that the officers’ use of deadly force was reasonable, so that neither they nor the city can be sued for damages. The local district attorney declared the shooting justified, and an internal police review said the officers followed department procedures.

“But, a reasonable jury could conclude that Mr. White momentarily lost his balance after spinning out of Officer Cruse’s grasp, then moved his hand consistent with a running motion, but did not reach for his pocket,” Crabtree wrote in his decision.

Police were responding to reports of gunfire near a park when they confronted the 30-year-old White. He was armed and just months out of prison after being prosecuted for burglary and illegal gun possession. Officers shot him as he fled.

Attorneys for the city and the officers argued that Cruse and Mackey did not need to be questioned by the White family’s lawyers because the body camera footage showed that White reached for a gun in a pocket.

But Crabtree disagreed, saying in his decision that “the videos alone” from Cruse and Mackey’s body cameras do not establish that White reached for a gun. The judge said he would have to rely on Cruse’s and Mackey’s statements to reach that conclusion.

“The court has viewed both videos multiple times and finds the videos equivocal, at best, on whether Mr. White reached for his gun,” Crabtree wrote.

The judge also said lawyers for the White family could seek information from the city about statements Cruse and Mackey made about their decisions to fire their weapons.

Salina Post

SALINA — Salina Police are warning the public to be aware of an incident involving a person posing as a gas utility worker.

Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said Friday that police recently received a report from someone in south Salina who said a man dressed as a utility worker came to her door and asked whether her house had gas. The woman thought it odd that there was no utility truck around the neighborhood at the time. The timing of the incident is in line with recent burglaries in the area, he said.

Forrester encourages people to make sure people are who they claim to be. He said to ask for identification and make sure there is a truck matching the company the alleged utility worker claims to represent. Additionally, if you are still unsure, call Westar and Kansas Gas Service, as they will let you know if they have workers in your area, Forrester said.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri’s health department has declined to renew the abortion license for the state’s lone clinic, but a court order allows the St. Louis Planned Parenthood affiliate to perform the procedure — for now.

The state notified the clinic of its decision Friday morning before a court hearing. St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer said a preliminary injunction he previously issued to allow the clinic to continue perform abortions would remain in place for now.

Stelzer said he would issue a written order outlining next steps, but he was not sure if the order would come on Friday.

Missouri’s health department allowed the clinic’s license to perform abortions to lapse effective June 1. Rulings by Stelzer allowed the clinic to continue to perform abortions temporarily after the clinic took the state to court over the dispute.

Stelzer had told the state it couldn’t simply let the license lapse but had to renew or deny it.

“The Court does not believe that an ‘official action’ can include non-action,” Stelzer wrote in a June 10 ruling granting a preliminary injunction.

He gave the health department until Friday to decide.

According to Planned Parenthood, no state has been without a functioning abortion clinic since 1974, the year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Health department officials have cited concerns at the clinic, including that three “failed abortions” required additional surgeries and another led to life-threatening complications for the mother, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing a now-sealed court filing.

Planned Parenthood leaders say top-level care is provided at the clinic, and the license fight is just part of an effort by an anti-abortion administration to eliminate the procedure in Missouri.

Missouri is among several conservative states, emboldened by new conservative justices on the Supreme Court, to pass new restrictions on abortions. Officials in those states are hopeful that federal courts will uphold laws that prohibit abortions before a fetus is viable outside the womb, the dividing line the high court set in Roe.

Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation on May 24 to ban abortions at or beyond eight weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest.

Planned Parenthood appeared to escalate its fight with Missouri on Thursday when it stopped performing one of two state-mandated pelvic exams for women seeking abortions. The health department requires a pelvic exam during a consultation at least 72 hours before the procedure, and a second exam at the time of the abortion.

Dr. Colleen McNicholas, an abortion provider at the clinic, said the preliminary exam is invasive and unnecessary.

The number of abortions performed in Missouri has declined every year for the past decade, reaching a low of 2,910 last year. Of those, an estimated 1,210 occurred at eight weeks or less of pregnancy, according to health department data.

In fact, more Missouri women are getting abortions in Kansas than in Missouri. Information from the state of Kansas shows that about 3,300 of the 7,000 abortions performed there last year involved Missouri residents.

Kansas has an abortion clinic in Overland Park, a Kansas City suburb just 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the state line.

The nearest clinic to St. Louis is in Granite City, Illinois, less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) away. Illinois does not track the home states of women seeking abortions so it’s unknown how many Missouri residents have been treated there.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A  Kansas man is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his mother.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced Thursday that David Wood Jr., 43, Topeka, is charged in the death of 69-year-old Kyong “Carol” Wood. He is also charged with felony interference with law enforcement.

Investigators say the victim was found dead Sunday inside her home. Kagay says she died from blunt force trauma.

David Wood was arrested after a nearly five-hour standoff. He surrendered when police fired tear gas into the house.

Wood is being held in the Shawnee County Jail and on $1 million bond.