KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Republican candidate in a Kansas congressional race is making impeachment an issue against one of her GOP primary opponents.

Sara Hart Weir has accused GOP rival Amanda Adkins of remaining “eerily silent” on opposing the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

They are seeking the 3rd District seat in the Kansas City area held by freshman Rep. Sharice Davids. Republicans have criticized Davids for supporting the inquiry even though her 2018 victory was seen as a repudiation of Trump by suburban voters.

Weir opposes the impeachment inquiry and suggested Thursday that Adkins is “waiting to see where the wind blows.”

Adkins called the criticism “irrational.” She issued a statement praising Trump and criticizing the “DC circus since Trump’s election” without specifically mentioning impeachment.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A man who caused panic at a Missouri Walmart when he walked inside wearing body armor and carrying loaded weapons in what he described as an effort to test his Second Amendment rights has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

20-year-old Dmitriy Andreychenko pleaded guilty Friday to an amended charge of making a false report. He will likely face two years of probation. He initially was charged with making a terrorist threat.

Police arrested Andreychenko on Aug. 8 after he filmed himself walking through the store with the weapons, prompting shoppers and employees to leave. The incident came just days after 22 people were killed during an attack at another Walmart in El Paso, Texas.

An off-duty firefighter held Andreychenko at gunpoint until officers arrived.

By BRIAN GRIMMETT
Kansas News Service

WICHITA — The water coming out of your tap might meet legal standards, but that doesn’t mean that it’s safe to drink — at least according to the Environmental Working Group, an environmental advocacy nonprofit.

EWG found that nearly all of the 870 water utilities in Kansas tested for at least one contaminate above what it considers safe, though most water utilities in the state meet federal standards, which are different than EWG’s.

The nonprofit’s latest update to their tap water database comes from testing data submitted to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Generally, the number of contaminants that EWG considers safe is much lower than EPA standards. EWG bases its limits on independent scientific research and public health goals set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

EWG senior scientist Tasha Stoiber said more than half of the contaminants detected in U.S. tap water aren’t regulated by the federal government, things like PFAS (a so-called forever chemical that can accumulate in the body and lead to cancer) and cyanotoxins found in harmful algae blooms. Plus, she said, contaminants that are tracked haven’t been updated in 20 years.

The science that details health impacts of contaminants in drinking water has moved forward during the past two decades, but experts say the political environment has made it difficult to get some policies passed, especially at the EPA.

“One contaminant after the other rises up, but it doesn’t mean we have a strategic, proactive approach for dealing with it,” according to Kristine Kirchoff, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Connecticut.

‘Each one has its own story’ 

Generally speaking, most water utilities in the state of Kansas meet federal safety standards. Most of the worst offenders — those with contaminant levels higher than the legal limits — are smaller rural water providers.

“Each one has its own story, each one has its own situation that we bring all those tools to bear to try to bring them back into compliance,” said Tom Stiles, who is KDHE’s director of the Bureau of Water.

KDHE is responsible for enforcing the federal Safe Water Drinking Act. Stiles said when the state discovers a higher-than-legal limit for a contaminant, it offers technical assistance, helps find a new place to put a water well and, when able, provides money to update infrastructure.

Safe water violators

In Kansas, 22 utilities have tested above the legal limit for total trihalomethanes. — cancer-causing contaminants that are a byproduct of the disinfection process. EWG noted that the small town of Elmdale, Kansas, near Cottonwood Falls, had the fifth-highest levels of the contaminant in the U.S.

Dealing with the issue is a balancing act: If the source water is of poor quality to begin with, more disinfectant is used in the water treatment process. The more disinfectant that’s used, the more likely a utility is to exceed the legal and safe levels of trihalomethanes.

“The best way, in an ideal world, to improve water quality would be to prevent contaminants from entering source water and needing treatment in the first place,” Stoiber said.

Studies have shown that trihalomethanes increase the risk of developing bladder cancer. It’s also associated with an increased risk for problems during pregnancy.

In Kansas, 791 utilities reported tests with total trihalomethane levels above EWG’s health guidelines (.15 parts per billion, or ppb), which represents a one in 1 million lifetime cancer risk level. The federal guidelines of 80 ppb were established in 1998.

Another major issue in Kansas’ drinking water is nitrate, a chemical fertilizer that’s often a problem in water sources where there’s lots of agricultural production.

Six utilities in Kansas exceed the legal limit for nitrate.

Pretty Prairie, Kansas, which serves about 681 people, has one of the highest average concentration of nitrates in the U.S. at 21.1 parts per million (ppm). The federal legal limit is 10 ppm, and EWG recommends the limit should be .14 ppm.

The small towns of Ford in western Kansas, Norwich in south central Kansas, and Elmdale all exceed federal limits too.

One way to reduce the amount of nitrates in a system is to install an expensive reverse osmosis filtration system. But most small towns just struggling to survive can’t afford that.

Ford City Clerk Penny Mcallister said they’ve been working with KDHE to try and solve the issue in other ways that don’t involve spending half a million dollars on reverse osmosis.

But until then, she said, “I’ve learned that it doesn’t pay to worry. Especially on something that I can’t control.”

Brian Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett or email him at grimmett (at) kmuw (dot) org. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life.

HARVEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man for alleged sex crimes.

Ted Mueller, 84, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his North Newton home on Aug. 1, 2018, according to Police Chief Randy Jordan.

She contacted the North Newton Police Department in January about the incident. Police investigated, submitting their information to the Harvey County Attorney’s Office in February.

“I understand how difficult and traumatizing these incidents are for the individual, but I urge any victim of abuse, please reach out to law enforcement. There are organizations and advocacy groups right here in Harvey County dedicated to helping you. You do not have to do this alone,” said  Jordan.

The Harvey County Attorney’s Office charged Mueller with two counts of sexual battery and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct. Mueller has no previous criminal record. Following his arrest, Mueller bonded out of jail, according to online jail records.

JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — No one was injured when the pastor of a Colorado church crashed the small plane he was flying in Kansas.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says emergency crews were called around 10 a.m. Thursday to Freeman Field Airport in Junction City. Investigators determined the accident happened when landing gear malfunctioned on the 1968 Beechcraft 95-B55 that was flown by 55-year-old John Burgess, of Colorado Springs. The report says Burgess and his passenger suffered no apparent injury.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s N-number registry shows the fixed-wing, multi-engine plane is owned by Heritage Pentecostal Church in Colorado Springs. Burgess is the pastor of the church.

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GEARY COUNTY —A small plane was involved in an accident just after 10a.m. Thursday in Geary County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported the landing gear malfunctioned on a 1968 Beach 95-B55 piloted by John E. Burgess, 55, Colorado Springs, CO., at the Freeman Field Airport in Junction City.

Burgess and a passenger Matthew D. Watson, 30, Port Aurthur, Texas, were not injured. The accident remains under investigation.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Prosecutors have dismissed charges against a Kansas City area woman accused of beating another woman to death with a baseball bat because of a technical issue.

Courtney Hackney, 35, Independence, Missouri was released from jail this week.

Jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict during her second-degree murder trial in the May 2017 killing of 57-year-old Holly Barnett. Several issues then arose scheduling a retrial. Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges, with the intention to refile them later, because a key witness wasn’t available.

The issue was that Hackney, who had already been subjected to trial, did not affirmatively consent to the refiling. Prosecutors determined that made the case subject to a legal doctrine that protects defendants from being tried twice for the same charge.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Every dog has his day, just not at the White House.

President Donald Trump tweets that the military working dog injured in the raid last weekend that killed the Islamic State leader will leave the Middle East for the White House sometime next week.

And the president appears to have declassified the dog’s name: Conan. That had remained a military secret because of the classified nature of the mission in which Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died.

In announcing the impending visit, Trump again posted an altered image of him presenting a medal to the dog. The Daily Wire had created the image by taking an Associated Press photo of an actual medal presentation by Trump and replacing the human recipient with the canine hero.

“Thank you Daily Wire,” Trump tweeted after midnight Wednesday. “Very cute recreation, but the ‘live’ version of Conan will be leaving the Middle East for the White House sometime next week!”

Conan was hurt after being exposed to live electrical cables but has returned to active duty, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, who leads U.S. Central Command, told reporters the dog was injured when it came in contact with the cables as it pursued al-Baghdadi in a tunnel underneath a compound in northwestern Syria.

McKenzie said the dog has worked with special operations forces for four years and taken part in about 50 missions. He said such working dogs are “critical members of our forces.”

When Trump first posted the altered image on Twitter of him presenting a medal to the dog, it came with an all-caps tweet of “AMERICAN HERO.”

The image was derived from a photo taken at a 2017 East Room ceremony to present retired Army medic James McCloughan with the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of 10 men during the Vietnam War. The Medal of Honor is the most prestigious military decoration awarded to U.S. service members.

FINNEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities investigating an alleged sexual assault and asking the public for help to locate a suspect.

Just after 9:30p.m. Wednesday, police were called to St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City for a reported rape, according to Sgt. Lana Urteaga.  The woman told police that she was at her vehicle parked near Garden City Community College and was approached from behind by an unknown male suspect who forced her into the vehicle and sexually assaulted her, according to Urteaga.

The suspect at the time of the attack was described as wearing black sweat pants, a grey hooded sweat shirt, a black t-shirt and a dark baseball cap. He was approximately 6-feet tall with an athletic build with black, messy, curly hair, according to Urteaga.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact police.

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A Roman Catholic diocese in Kansas City says three people who accuse a former Wyoming bishop of sexual abuse are credible.

The three have raised allegations against Bishop Joseph Hart over the past year.

Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, spokesman Jack Smith says two allege abuse in Wyoming but a review board considered only alleged abuse in Missouri.

Hart was a priest in Kansas City, Missouri, before moving to Wyoming in 1976 and eventually becoming bishop. Several people allege Hart sexually abused them as children.

Hart has denied the allegations and his attorney, Tom Jubin, did not return a message Wednesday seeking comment.

The Missouri diocese has reached legal settlements with at least 10 alleged victims. The Wyoming diocese says it has substantiated six allegations.

 

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Two people have been arrested in connection with the phony $100 bills that have been passed in Hutchinson, according to a media release.

Authorities took 50-year-old Brian Conrad into custody Tuesday on suspicion of distributing counterfeit money. He is currently free on bond.

They also arrested 31-year-old Cody Langley Wednesday. He is being held without bond suspicion of three counts of distributing counterfeit money and several drug possession charges.  He has previous convictions for forgery, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Several of the $100 bills were passed at the two South Hutchinson liquor stores and others have been passed elsewhere in Hutchinson including Cox cable.

Authorities warn that more of these counterfeit bills could still be around and warn businesses to be aware of the currency they receive.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A 50-year-old Kansas City woman has admitted selling heroin to a Kansas man who later died of an accidental overdose.

Valerice Ealom pleaded guilty Thursday to distributing heroin. She admitted that she sold heroin two days in a row in June 2016 to a man identified in court documents as “J.B.” The man’s body was found the next day in his Overland Park home. Investigators found heroin and drug paraphernalia near his body.

An autopsy concluded J.B. died from an accidental heroin overdose.

Ealom was on supervised release when she sold the heroin, after serving a 10-year sentence for distributing controlled substances.

The plea agreement recommends that Ealom be sentenced to 15.5 years in federal prison without parole.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is renting permanent office space for two of its research agencies in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, despite the union concerns that relocation from the nation’s capital has left the agencies critically understaffed and lacking vital expertise.

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a news release Thursday that the agencies had been “hard at work” at a temporary site in the city for the past month and that the signing of a permanent lease was “an important next step to facilitate their long-term efficiency, effectiveness, and service to our customers.”

The USDA announced plans in June to move roughly 550 employees of the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture by the end of September to the Kansas City area. Congressional delegations and the governors of Kansas and Missouri heralded the high-paying jobs and economic boost the relocation would bring to the region, as well as the benefits to the nearby producers the agencies serve.

“The region is not only a hub for agriculture in America’s heartland, but it is also proving to be a diverse talent pool in proximity to many land-grant and research universities,” Perdue said.

The USDA will also be partnering with the University of Missouri and Kansas State University to host a joint career expo at Kansas State Olathe on Nov. 6.

“It is a great way to introduce our agencies to the communities there,” USDA spokeswoman Tara Weaver-Missick said.

But critics complain that the relocation has hollowed out years of specialized experience and that the pace of hiring at the Kansas City site has been too slow.

Laura Dodson, an agricultural economist and union representative at the Economic Research Service, said USDA fired three-quarters of its highly trained research staff who refused to relocate. The department’s hiring efforts in Kansas City can’t fill that expertise gap in a few months or even in five years, she said.

“These are jobs that always required a national job search, even when we were in D.C.,” Dodson said. “There are a handful of experts in each of these fields in the country and convincing somebody to take these jobs when you are still in the crosshairs of this administration is not an easy task. I don’t think we will get restaffed to full levels in any reasonable time span.”

USDA data suggests hiring has been slow so far. As of the pay period ending Oct. 12, the Economic Research Service had only 30 employees onsite in Kansas City — including 17 new hires — with 69 employees permanently remaining in Washington, D.C. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture had 62 employees, including nine new hires, in Kansas City with 18 employees remaining in the capital.

The department said it is the process of recruiting more than 100 new staffers for both agencies in Missouri. It has extended relocation dates for some existing workers and brought in retirees, short-term contractors and employees from other federal agencies to help with the transition.

“The workload right now is unsustainable — we have people that are doing four or five times as much work as they were doing previously,” said Tom Bewick, a union representative at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and national program leader for horticulture.

Among those who were pleased with the selection is U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas who praised it as a positive development for the regional economy and said he was committed to working with his colleagues in a bipartisan way to secure the resources necessary for USDA to complete the move.

“Bringing these two important ag research agencies closer to the people they serve and the leading research institutions that support their mission is the right move,” said U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly called it a victory for the Kansas City region and both states, saying “we are pleased to welcome the economic impact of these high-paying jobs in our communities and state.”

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said, “USDA’s investment will benefit both Missouri and Kansas for years to come.”

Great Bend Post

BARTON COUNTY —Police are investigating an alleged sex offense reported from a student at Great Bend Middle School.

According to a media release, the report came Wednesday morning, when the student made her report to School Resource Officer Ethan Thomas. It says there is still a long process of investigation ahead after receiving the report.

“When we receive a report like this and it involves a minor child, there is a process that takes place,” said Great Bend Police Lt. Heather Smith. “There is an interview, a process through the child advocacy center, and support and counseling.”

Police arrested 34-year-old Nicholas Schwerdtfeger of Great Bend. He was booked for an aggravated indecent liberties with a child warrant, according to the Barton County Sheriff’s report and is being held on a $1,000,000 bond.

Schwerdtfeger is a registered sex offender and was convicted in 2010 of attempted aggravated sexual battery and attempted indecent solicitation of a child under the age of 14, according to the KBI offender registry.

As interviews and counseling take place, the case will be handed over to the Barton County Attorney’s Office.

“It is a long process, but is something we take very seriously because of the nature of the crime,” said Smith.