JUNCTION CITY -An investigation into the cultivation of marijuana has led to three arrests, and the seizure by the Junction City – Geary County Drug Operations Group of an active indoor marijuana grow consisting of 15 marijuana plants, marijuana, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, ammunition, two rifles, and one handgun.
Junction City Police Chief Tim Brown reported that the Drug Operations Group assisted by the Junction City / Geary County SWAT team executed a search warrant at 527 West Pine Street after a two-month long investigation.
Arrested were:
Lawrence Nielson
–Lawrence Daniel Nielson II, 46, Junction City, and Mandy Elizabeth Coffey, 34, Junction City on suspicion of Sale / Cultivation of Marijuana, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana With Intent to Sell Within 1000′ Feet of a School Zone, No Kansas Drug Tax Stamp, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
–Richard Bruce Payne Jr., 44, Kansas City, on suspicion of Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Bond was set at $2,500 for Payne. Nielsen and Coffey were confined without bond at the Geary County
Payne
Detention Center pending their first appearance in Geary County District Court.
COWLWEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Cowley County are investigating the death of a baby.
On Monday, sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to the 1000 Block of 211th Road for a medical call regarding a 3 month old baby that was not breathing, according to a media release.
The baby was pronounced deceased at the scene by medical personnel.
The coroner was notified, responded and arrived at the scene. Due to the age of the child and by state statute an autopsy has been ordered and the case.
Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Poona Infections Linked to Imported Cucumbers-CDC image CLICK to ENLARGE
A Kansas woman is suing a San Diego-based produce distributor after she was hospitalized with Salmonella poisoning linked to tainted cucumbers.
Monica Rios of Sedgwick County said she bought a Fat Boy brand cucumber in August at a Wal-Mart store, washed it thoroughly and ate it in a salad. Within a couple of days, she was hospitalized with abdominal cramping and pain. “I would call my sister, like, every day, just to ask her, ‘Am I gonna die?’
Because the pain wouldn’t go away,” Rios said in a telephone interview. More than 670 people in 34 states have been sickened in the latest Salmonella outbreak, including two in Kansas.
The victims range in age from just 8 months to the elderly, and as of Sept. 29 three people had died. The case count could go higher, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates that Salmonella causes 1.2 million illnesses annually in the United States and 450 deaths.
People are typically sick for four to seven days, and most recover without treatment. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. Rios said doctors tried several medicines in an attempt to control her pain.
The intestinal symptoms were soon followed by intense headaches, and she became too weak to walk to the bathroom without assistance. Rios was hospitalized at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita for nearly a week. When she went home in mid-August, she said she was prescribed 10 medicines.
Rios described her recovery as slow and said she’s only now getting back to full strength. Rios is represented by Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who specializes in food safety issues. Marler said Rios tested positive for the same strain of Salmonella found in cucumbers recalled by Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce.
How the cucumbers became contaminated remains under investigation, but Marler said he suspects the water used to wash them contained Salmonella. “When you have something that’s this large of a contamination event, it usually has to do with water contamination,”
Marler said in a phone interview. “The idea is to catch the Salmonella before it leaves the manufacturing plant. With current regulations, high levels of bacteria can slip through the cracks, and it results in hundreds of really sick people. We can prevent it, for the most part, but legislation needs to change for that to happen.”
The Rios suit is the 12th Marler has filed against Andrew & Williamson, according to a release from his law firm, Marler Clark. Rios said she has incurred medical expenses of more than $52,000, but that’s not the main reason she filed suit.
“I feel like these companies need to make sure what they’re doing, so these people don’t get sick,” she said. “I didn’t think I was going to live, and anybody could die from this.”
Bryan Thompson is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers have agreed to pay a firm about $2.6 million to perform a government efficiency study although another firm offered to do the job for less than $1 million.
The Wichita Eagle reports lawmakers signed a contract Monday with Alvarez & Marsal, which would be paid $2.6 million to perform the study.
Another firm, McGladrey, bid the job for less than $1 million. Another firm, Deloitte, submitted a bid for $2.5 million, and the Boston Consulting Group submitted a bid for $2.8 million.
Rachel Whitten, spokeswoman for House Speaker Ray Merrick, says lawmakers considered expertise before cost when choosing the firm and that McGladrey’s bid was not as thorough.
The Kansas contract includes an analysis of the state’s budget and an evaluation of the state’s budget process.
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – The former city attorney of Manhattan is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., Tuesday on charges of distributing child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Bill D. Raymond, 53, Andover, Kan., is charged with three counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. The crimes are alleged to have occurred in November 2014, February 2015 and May 2015 in Butler and Riley counties.
A federal grand jury indicted Raymond on Sept. 30, 2015.
If convicted, he faces a penalty of not less than five years and not more than 20 years on each distribution count, and a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the possession charge. The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting.
COLDWATER – Law enforcement authorities have made an arrest in connection with a murder in Comanche County.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation reported in a media release just after 11p.m. on Friday, the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office and Coldwater Police Department received a call regarding a man with a gunshot wound.
They discovered that forty-three year old Garden City resident Lelyn P. Betts had been fatally shot.
Throughout the weekend members of the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office, Coldwater Police Department, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation developed information that identified Frank D. Asebedo, Jr. as the suspect in the shooting.
With the cooperation of the community and a major, coordinated effort by the law enforcement community, Asebedo, a 42 year old from Protection, Kansas, was arrested without incident in Protection for 1st Degree Murder and Criminal Possession of a firearm.
Asebedo is being held in the Ford County Detention Center pending a first appearance in the Comanche County District Court.
SALINA — Cox Bros. BBQ, which had only been open since April, abruptly closed its doors over the weekend.
No official reason for the closure of the restaurant, which was located at 1000 E. Crawford, has been given, but Cox Bros. Marketing Manger Cody Tenbrink did release the following statement to Salina Post on Monday:
“We are very disappointed that we have had to close our doors in Salina. Due to unforeseen complications, we are no longer able to provide our guests with the quality of food and service that our guests had come to expect from us. It is unfortunate that we will not be able to serve our loyal guests and the great people of Salina. The Salina closing is permanent.”
Tenbrink said Cox Bros. would continue to operate their Junction City and Manhattan locations.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two same-sex couples say Kansas has refused to issue birth certificates listing them as parents of their children conceived through artificial insemination.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports the women contend the state is refusing to comply with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that said states must give full recognition to same-sex marriages.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas filed affidavits Monday from women who said the state was not granting issuing birth certificates listing both women in their marriages as parents of children conceived through artificial insemination.
The ACLU also filed a federal lawsuit in 2014 seeking to end Kansas’ ban on same-sex marriage. That case was pending when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in June.
WICHITA- Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating the death of another inmate at the Sedgwick County Jail. The fourth in custody death at the jail this year.
Officials reported in a media release the inmate was found unresponsive in his cell on Sunday evening.
At approximately 11:45 p.m., after medical aid was administered, the inmate was pronounced dead.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office Investigation Division were notified.
The 55-year-old man was booked into the Sedgwick County Detention Facility on September 30, 2015 on felony charges. The identity of the inmate is being withheld at the request of the family.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is set to outsource vehicle title work for automobile dealers next year to save about $200,000.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports officials said Monday that the bulk of dealer transactions handled by the Kansas Department of Revenue’s office in Topeka would be managed by the Kansas Automobile Dealers Association.
General title services will continue to be available to individuals in county offices.
The trade organization set up a limited liability company to begin processing thousands of transfers in January. Lisa Kaspar, the state’s director of vehicles, says the five-year contract won’t result in layoffs at the revenue department.
The Kansas Automobile Dealers Association says a processing fee of no more than $10 will be woven into transaction costs assessed by dealers to consumers.
GARDEN CITY – Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating a student who brought a weapon to school on Monday.
Police in Garden City reported in a media release that just before 3p.m. on Monday Kenneth Henderson Middle School Administration was notified by an elementary school principal that a middle school student was likely in possession of a weapon.
The building was locked down and police were notified.
Law enforcement made contact with the student in question and found him to be in possession of a pellet/BB gun.
The student was taken into custody without incident and safely removed from the school. The school was in lock-down mode for approximately 30-40 minutes until the investigation deemed it to be safe for all concerned.
