Just before 11 a.m. May 2, a police officer was alerted to a theft in progress at Zach’s Carwash, 5340 E. 21st Street North in Wichita, according to a media release.
Upon arrival, the officer located 47-year-old Marc Neugebauer of Wichita attempting to break into a coin-operated device inside the business.
The officer arrested Neugebauer and he was booked into jail. Neugebauer was also found to be in possession of a stolen drill, which was reported stolen in an April burglary, according to release.
The investigation led to the later arrest of Neugebauer’s son, 20-year-old Kyle Neugebauer of Wichita for his participation in the April burglary.
Marc Neugebauer remains jailed on requested charges of theft, criminal damage to property, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, burglary, possession of stolen property and obstruct, according to the online jail records.
Kyle remains jailed on requested charges of burglary, theft, possession of marijuana, possession of controlled substance and interference with law enforcement.
Steve Gilliland
One of my favorite ’60s bands was Credence Clearwater Revival. The first line of their song “Who’ll Stop the Rain” goes “Long as I remember the rains been coming down.”
Who’d have thunk that we Kansans would ever be complaining about too much rain? Then when it finally stops raining and the sun comes out, the humidity is so high you feel like it’s raining again! Even though I know how high rivers and streams get around here when we’ve had big, hard rains, I can take solace in the fact that we live well above sea level, and don’t get hurricanes.
I’ll always remember a picture I saw on Fox News a few years back of a casket floating down the street in Louisiana after a hurricane. I just don’t think I could live somewhere that was below or barely above sea level.
Wildlife are greatly affected by floods too as it temporarily drives some from their homes. And severe flooding this time of year can be especially harmful as it can easily drown fawns and destroy nests or young chicks of wild turkeys, pheasants and quail. It’s quite common to see more snakes, rats, mice and rodents during and after a flood, as animals that would normally not dream of parking themselves in your yard this time of year are suddenly there in abundance.
So if you suddenly see more critters around your home and buildings after an extended time of heavy rain don’t worry; the Ark has not suddenly unloaded in your backyard! As the water recedes they’ll be gone. So with that in mind, here are some zingers I came up with that play on our recent glut of rainy weather.
It’s been so wet that the other day I watched some rodeo cowboys practicing calf roping from seahorses.
I noticed a fire hydrant near the dog park yesterday that was so tired of getting wet it had on a raincoat. Another hydrant up the street was actually chasing dogs away.
It’s rained so much lately that last night the ducks in the park were all wearing floaties and carrying canoe paddles.
The other day I was walking along a creek where I trap beavers and heard a strange sound coming from the weeds ahead. It’s rained so much lately it was a beaver trying to blow up a life raft, but his teeth kept getting in the way.
I got stopped for speeding the other night, and it’s rained so much lately that the officer also gave me a citation for not having the specified number of life jackets in my pickup.
It’s rained so much lately that all the “crabgrass” in my lawn is pulling itself out of the ground and heading for drier land.
It’s rained so much lately that now when our dogs have to go out to do their business I strap each one to a pool noodle and just toss them off the deck.
I heard on the news that it’s been so wet lately the walking catfish at the zoo are wearing boots and carrying umbrellas.
It’s been so wet lately that a fish I caught the other day actually climbed into the boat on its own and thanked me for finally pulling it from the lake.
During the summer we pick up unwanted apples and feed them to the deer by scattering them on the ground around our deer feeders where we have trail cameras. It’s rained so much lately that we actually have pictures of deer bobbing for apples.
Mosquitoes love wet weather, but it’s rained so much lately that our Kansas mosquitoes are flying around with protest signs.
A bull frogs call sounds like a deep base “harum, harum, harum,” but it’s been so wet lately that the other night I would swear one frog was saying “enough, enough, enough.”
As the saying goes here in Kansas, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change.” Today it’s nice and sunny, but when it gets hot I’m sure I’ll complain about that too. I guess it all boils down to which I dislike the most, but at least hot sunny days won’t cause the local ducks to wear floaties and carry canoe paddles….Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
BEIJING (AP) — Deepening a trade battle and sending financial markets spinning, China announced Monday it was raising tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods in retaliation for the latest hike in U.S. tariffs on its exports.
The Finance Ministry said Monday the new penalty duties of 5% to 25% on hundreds of U.S. products including batteries, spinach and coffee will take effect June 1.
That followed Trump’s increase on Friday of duties on $200 billion of Chinese imports from 10% to 25% after charging that China had backtracked on commitments it made in earlier negotiations in a dispute over Beijing’s technology ambitions and perennial trade surplus.
Resuming his messages over Twitter early Monday, President Donald Trump warned Chinese President Xi Jinping that China “will be hurt very badly” if it doesn’t agree to a trade deal.
Trump tweeted China “had a great deal, almost completed, & you backed out!”
Trump insisted the tariffs the U.S. has placed on Chinese goods don’t hurt American consumers, saying there is “no reason for the U.S. Consumer to pay the Tariffs.”
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow acknowledged Sunday that U.S. consumers and businesses pay the tariffs. “Both sides will pay,” he told Fox News.
China had vowed “necessary countermeasures” on Friday against Trump’s escalation of the tariff conflict.
Frazzled by the uncertainty, shares sank Monday across the globe. Futures contracts for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down 2 percent before markets opened on Wall Street.
Beijing is running out of U.S. imports for penalties due to the lopsided trade balance between the world’s two largest economies. Regulators have targeted American companies in China by slowing down customs clearance for shipments and processing of business licenses.
The new tariffs are likely to hurt exporters on both sides, as well as European and Asian companies that trade between the United States and China or supply components and raw materials to their manufacturers.
The increases already in place have disrupted trade in goods from soybeans to medical equipment and sent shockwaves through other Asian economies that supply Chinese factories.
Forecasters have warned that the U.S. tariff hikes could disrupt a Chinese recovery that had appeared to be gaining traction. Growth in the world’s second-largest economy held steady at 6.4% over a year earlier in January-March, supported by higher government spending and bank lending.
The tensions “raise fresh doubts about this recovery path,” Morgan Stanley economists Robin Xing, Jenny Zheng and Zhipeng Cai said in a report.
The latest U.S. charges could knock 0.5 percentage points off annual Chinese economic growth and that loss could widen to 1 percentage point if both sides extend penalties to all of each other’s exports, economists say. That would pull annual growth below 6%, raising the risk of politically dangerous job losses.
The latest talks ended with no word of progress on Friday. Chinese officials said they hoped that the U.S. side would meet them halfway, describing the standoff as just a “setback.”
Trump might meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, during next month’s meeting of the Group of 20 major economies in Osaka, said Kudlow, his economic adviser.
Chinese officials have invited the top U.S. envoys – Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin -to Beijing, Kudlow said on Fox News. But he said there were no “definite plans.”
China’s state media has sought to reassure businesses and consumers that the ruling Communist Party has the resources and policy tools to respond to the dispute with Washington.
“There is nothing to be afraid of,” said the party newspaper People’s Daily. “The U.S.-instigated trade war against China is just a hurdle in China’s development process. It is no big deal.”
Trump started raising tariffs last July over complaints China steals or pressures companies to hand over technology.
Washington wants Beijing to roll back government support for Chinese companies striving to become global leaders in robotics and other technology. The U.S. and other trading partners say such efforts violate Beijing’s free-trade commitments.
A stumbling block has been U.S. insistence on an enforcement mechanism with penalties to ensure Beijing carries out its commitments. Economists say Chinese leaders probably reject that as a violation of Chinese sovereignty.
The abruptness of Trump’s announcement on May 5, just days before the last round of talks, about raising tariffs to 25% made companies see doing business in China as more uncertain, said Jake Parker, vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council, an industry group.
No matter what Washington and Beijing decide, “there is an enormous risk in the background that tariffs could come back into play at any moment,” he said.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Doris Day, the honey-voiced singer and actress whose film dramas, musicals and innocent sex comedies made her a top star in the 1950s and ’60s and among the most popular screen actresses in history, has died. She was 97.
Courtesy Doris Day Foundation
The Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed Day died early Monday at her Carmel Valley, California, home. The foundation said she was surrounded by close friends.
“Day had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death,” the foundation said in an emailed statement.
With her lilting contralto, wholesome blonde beauty and glowing smile, she was a top box office draw and recording artist known for such films as “Pillow Talk” and “That Touch of Mink” and for such songs as “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)” from the Alfred Hitchcock film “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”
But over time, she became more than a name above the title: Right down to her cheerful, alliterative stage name, she stood for a time of innocence and G-rated love, a parallel world to her contemporary Marilyn Monroe. The running joke, attributed to both Groucho Marx and actor-composer Oscar Levant, was that they had known Day “before she was a virgin.”
Day herself was no Doris Day, by choice and by hard luck.
In “Pillow Talk,” released in 1959 and her first of three films with Rock Hudson, she proudly caught up with what she called “the contemporary in me.” Her 1976 tell-all book, “Doris Day: Her Own Story,” chronicled her money troubles and three failed marriages, contrasting with the happy publicity of her Hollywood career.
“I have the unfortunate reputation of being Miss Goody Two-Shoes, America’s Virgin, and all that, so I’m afraid it’s going to shock some people for me to say this, but I staunchly believe no two people should get married until they have lived together,” she wrote.
She never won an Academy Award, but Day was given a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004, as George W. Bush declared it “a good day for America when Doris Marianne von Kappelhoff of Evanston, Ohio decided to become an entertainer.”
In recent years, she spent much of her time advocating for animal rights. Although mostly retired from show business since the 1980s, she still had enough of a following that a 2011 collection of previously unreleased songs, “My Heart,” hit the top 10 in the United Kingdom. The same year, she received a lifetime achievement honor from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Friends and supporters lobbied for years to get her an honorary Oscar.
Born to a music teacher and a housewife, she had dreamed of a dance career, but at age 12, she suffered a crippling accident: a car she was in was hit by a train and her leg was badly broken. Listening to the radio while recuperating, she began singing along with Ella Fitzgerald, “trying to catch the subtle ways she shaded her voice, the casual yet clean way she sang the words.”
Day began singing in a Cincinnati radio station, then a local nightclub, then in New York. A bandleader changed her name to Day, after the song “Day after Day,” to fit it on a marquee.
A marriage at 17 to trombonist Al Jorden ended when, she said, he beat her when she was eight months pregnant. She gave birth to her son, Terry, in early 1942. Her second marriage also was short-lived. She returned to Les Brown’s band after the first marriage broke up.
Her Hollywood career began after she sang at a Hollywood party in 1947. After early stardom as a band singer and a stint at Warner Bros., Day won the best notices of her career with “Love Me or Leave Me,” the story of songstress Ruth Etting and her gangster husband-manager. She initially balked at it, but the 1955 film became a box-office and critical success.
She followed with another impressive film, Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” starring her and James Stewart as an innocent couple ensnared in an international assassination plot. She sings “Que Sera, Sera” just as the story reaches its climax and viewers are beside themselves with suspense. The 1958 comedy “Teacher’s Pet” paired her with an aging Clark Gable as an idealistic college journalism teacher and her student, an old-school newspaper editor.
But she found her greatest success in slick, stylish sex comedies, beginning with her Oscar-nominated role in “Pillow Talk.” She and Hudson were two New Yorkers who shared a telephone party line and initially hated each other.
She followed with “The Thrill of It All,” playing a housewife who gains fame as a TV pitchwoman to the chagrin of obstetrician husband James Garner. The nation’s theater owners voted her the top moneymaking star in 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1964.
Her first musical hit was the 1945 smash, “Sentimental Journey,” when she was barely in her 20s. Among the other songs she made famous were “Everybody Loves a Lover,” ”Secret Love,” and “It’s Magic,” a song from “Romance on the High Seas,” her first film.
Critic Gary Giddins called her “the coolest and sexiest female singer of slow-ballads in movie history.”
“Romance on the High Seas” had been designed for Judy Garland, then Betty Hutton. Both bowed out, and Day, recommended by songwriters Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, won the role. Warner Bros. cashed in on its new star with a series of musicals, including “My Dream Is Yours,” ”Tea for Two” and “Lullaby of Broadway.” Her dramas included “Young Man with a Horn,” with Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall, and “Storm Warning,” with Ronald Reagan and Ginger Rogers.
Her last film was “With Six You Get Eggroll,” a 1968 comedy about a widow and a widower and the problems they have when blending their families.
With movies trending for more explicit sex, she turned to television to recoup her finances. “The Doris Day Show” was a moderate success in its 1966-1973 run on CBS.
Disillusionment grew in the 1960s when she discovered that failed investments by her third husband, Martin Melcher, left her deeply in debt. She eventually won a multimillion-dollar judgment against their lawyer.
She had married Melcher, who worked in her agent’s office, in 1951. He became her manager, and her son took his name. In most of the films following “Pillow Talk,” Melcher was listed as co-producer. Melcher died in 1969.
In her autobiography, Day recalled her son, Terry Melcher, telling her the $20 million she had earned had vanished and she owed around $450,000, mostly for taxes.
In 1974, Day won a $22.8 million judgment against Jerome B. Rosenthal, her lawyer and business manager, for mishandling of her and Melcher’s assets.
Terry Melcher, who died in 2004, became a songwriter and record producer, working with such stars as the Beach Boys. But he was also famous for an aspiring musician he turned down, Charles Manson. When Manson and his followers embarked on their murderous rampage in 1969, they headed for the house once owned by Melcher and instead came upon actress Sharon Tate and some visitors, all of whom were killed.
Day married a fourth time at age 52, to businessman Barry Comden in 1976. She lived in Monterey, California, devoting much of her time to the Doris Day Animal Foundation.
Washington, DC—The names of 371 U.S. law enforcement officers including four from Kansas who have died in the line of duty will be formally dedicated on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial during the 31st Annual Candlelight Vigil held on the National Mall in Washington, DC, at 8:00 pm on Monday, according to a media release from the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr will deliver special remarks and lead in reading the names of the fallen officers.
Deputy Robert Kunze
The names of Sedgwick County Deputy Robert Kunze, Wyandotte County Deputies Patrick Rhorer and Theresa King and Jefferson County Undersheriff George Burnau and 367 other officers added to the Memorial this year include 158 who made the ultimate sacrifice in 2018, in addition to 213 officers who died earlier in history but whose sacrifice had not been previously documented.
With these additions, there are 21,910 officers’ names engraved on the Memorial, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, federal law enforcement, and military police agencies.
A convicted felon on a crime spree shot and killed Deputy Kunze in September 2018. Deputy Sheriff Theresa King and Deputy Sheriff Patrick Rohrer were shot and killed as they transported a prisoner to court in Wyandotte in June of 2018. In March of 2019, Undersheriff George Burnau suffered a fatal heart attack while involved in a foot pursuit of a mental subject
Each May 13, an estimated 30,000 people assemble for the Candlelight Vigil, a signature event of National Police Week. For the 11th year, the ceremony will be streamed live over the Internet so that everyone can witness this annual tribute to America’s law enforcement officers. Individuals interested in the free webcast can register online at www.nleomf.org/vigil.
“The annual Candlelight Vigil allows us to honor the officers who sacrificed their lives for the protection of ours,” said Lori Sharpe Day, Interim Chief Executive Officer of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. “By attending the ceremony in person or by viewing it online, we are able to show support for the families of these brave men and women who serve.”
Ignorance may well have been bliss to 18th-century English poet Thomas Gray, but in 2019, widespread ignorance of our core freedoms and how our government functions is just plain dangerous.
A just-released Survey of Civic Literacy, conducted by the American Bar Association (ABA) and released May 1 to mark national Law Day, finds many of us do not know much about either subject.
The survey’s theme and the ABA’s Law Day focus was on “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society.” The survey findings are generally in line with the Freedom Forum Institute’s annual State of the First Amendment survey, conducted since 1997: Many — sometimes a majority — of us get our rights “wrong.” History tells us that if we are not aware of our freedoms, it is that much easier to lose them.
There is some good news in the results, particularly in strong support for free speech: More than eight of 10 respondents of the 1,000-person sampling said we should be able to publicly criticize a president or any other government leader and that we should have the right to ask for government records and information. Three of four agree the government should not be able to restrain the press in reporting on political protest.
Then there are these findings:
18 percent don’t know freedom of the press or the freedom of assembly are elements of the First Amendment;
30 percent of respondents believe freedom of speech applies only to U.S. citizens rather than correctly to all in this nation;
23 percent said Ruth Bader Ginsburg is chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; just 49 percent correctly said it’s John Roberts;
18 percent thought the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution are called the Declaration of Independence; 75 percent correctly identified them as the Bill of Rights.
It is reassuring that 88 percent of respondents know that the government does not have the “right to review what journalists write before it is published,” but that means more than 10 percent wrongly believe government does have a right to censor.
Again, it is good that a strong majority sees no problem in openly criticizing public officials. But nearly 20 percent are opposed or unsure whether or not we should have that right, which is more than unsettling — it’s sizeable doubt about a core principle of what it means to be an American.
Sometimes the ignorance shown in the survey concerns current law: 54 percent said there is no free speech right under the First Amendment to burn a U.S. flag in political protest. In fact, in a 1989 decision, Texas v. Johnson, the U.S. Supreme Court said just the opposite, setting up flag burning as a demonstration to the world of our commitment to freedom of expression.
The ABA’s survey is just the latest demonstration of the need for a new national campaign by schools and civic and professional groups to educate our citizens about the meaning and importance of the role and purpose of First Amendment freedoms and, beyond that, how our government works — and why it works.
Without that effort, the warning signs are in – thanks to the ABA’s survey and others – that we could lose our basic freedoms, our representative form of self-government and undermine the basic rule of law for simply the sorrowful, sad, embarrassing reason that many of us simply will not know, or perhaps even care, that they are gone.
Gene Policinski is president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute and an introductory speaker at the May 1 release of the ABA’s Survey on “Free Press, Free Speech, Free Society.” He can be reached at[email protected], or follow him on Twitter at@genefac.
RENO COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating an attempted robbery and the four suspects allegedly involved are expected to be in court this week.
Kerrah Shulze, Blaine White, Kaleb Beard and Richard Fenters photos Reno Co. Sheriff
Just after 4:30p.m. Friday police were dispatched to the Kansas State Fairgrounds for an active shooter with a “machine gun.”
Armando Castillo Jr, of Mineral Wells, Texas reported being confronted by four individuals while inside his 5th wheel camper. He was battered but was able to grab a firearm he had hidden in the camper. Castillo fired several shots to try and get the neighbors to call 911.
Everyone involved was still on scene when officers arrived. No injuries were reported due to gunfire. During the investigation, it was discovered that the suspects came to Castillo’s camper to get cash.
Police arrested four suspects identified as 22-year-old Kaleb Schyler Beard, 23-year-old Kerrah Schulze, 20-year-old Richard Fenters and 22-year-old Blaine White all of Wichita. They were jailed on requested charges of attempted aggravated robbery, according to the release. Three had bonded out of jail. Fenters was still in custody, according to online jail records.
WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas man pleaded guilty to trying to get out of a traffic ticket by pretending to be an FBI agent, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Andra photo Sumner Co.
Jarrod M. Andra, 36, Milan, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of impersonating an agent. In his plea, he admitted that on Nov. 30, 2018, he was stopped for speeding in Sumner County by a Sumner County Sheriff’s Deputy. Andra claimed he was a special agent for the FBI and presented what appeared to be an FBI identification card with his photo.
Sentencing is set for July 31. Both parties are expected to recommend a sentence of probation and a $1,000 fine.
ST. PETERS, Mo. (AP) — A man is charged with felony animal abuse after authorities say he killed and dismembered cats he found in online want ads.
Louzader photo St. Charles Co.
20-year-old Kaine Louzader was charged Friday. Prosecutors say more charges are expected.
Court documents say dead cats have been turning up on or near Louzader’s street outside St. Peters since January. Police contacted Louzader after someone reported seeing him dump a dead cat near his house.
St. Charles County police Sgt. Jeff Ochs says Louzader told police he would scour Craigslist ads for free cats, then would take them home and stomp or strangle them. Police say he dismembered some cats before dumping their remains.
Louzader is being held on $50,000 bond and could not be reached Saturday for comment. No lawyer is listed for him in online court documents.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita boy who was wounded in a road rage shooting last fall has been named the hero of the year at the children’s hospital where he recovered from a stray bullet that shattered his hip bone and lacerated his liver and kidney.Wesley Children’s Hospital held a ceremony Tuesday that honored Andres Arambula as Kids Wish Network’s hero of the year.
“A very special hero, (Andres) is a courageous little boy who has been through the fight of his life,” said Josh Santiago, marketing manager of Kids Wish Network. The national nonprofit serves children with exceptional medical circumstances.
Today @chieframsay had the great opportunity to take part in recognizing Andre Arambula as Kids Wish Network’s 2018 Hero of the Year. Andre suffered a gunshot last year in a road rage incident. He has shown bravery and resilience in his road to recovery!! pic.twitter.com/alAg0uUMNL
Police said Andres was among six children inside a sports utility vehicle that was shot at twice by 19-year-old Tylin Atkinson in downtown Wichita on October 17. Investigators determined that the shooting stemmed from a road rage incident.
Atkinson and Ramonyka Smith, 21, have been charged with criminal discharge of a firearm in the shooting. Atkinson also faces an aggravated assault charge. They both remain in Sedgwick County Jail.
Andres, who was 4 at the time, was taken to the hospital in critical condition and had to undergo surgery to remove the bullet and repair his diaphragm and organs. He also went through pain management and physical therapy to help him walk again.
“Andres is not just a hero, but (also) a miracle, because he survived this and dealt with this pain,” said his mother, Lucero Arambula.
The Kids Wish Network gave Andres gifts and a $5,000 check. The organization also donated a pallet of toys worth $20,000 in his name to the Kansas Children’s Foundation.
We all owe a debt of gratitude to three Kansas law enforcement officers who sacrificed their lives for the safety and protection of others.
National Police Week is May 12 to May 18.
The names of Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Kunze and Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Deputies Theresa King and Patrick Rohrer will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., during a ceremony May 13.
“We must never forget these brave officers,” McAllister said. “We will strive to be worthy of the sacrifices they made for us and to carry on their dedication to law enforcement. I invite the public to join our office in showing support for their families and their fellow officers.”
King and Rohrer were shot to death June 15, 2018, in Kansas City, Kan., while transporting prisoners between jail and court. Kunze was shot to death Sept. 16, 2018, during an arrest in western Sedgwick County.
According to the FBI, 55 law enforcement officers died in 2018 from injuries received during felonious incidents
Victim officer profile:
Average age: 37 years old
Average length of service: 10 year
Gender: 52 male, 3 female
For more information, see of the FBI report Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2018 at https://ucr.fbi.gov/leoka/2018/.
Stephen McAllister is the U.S. Attorney for Kansas.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A fifth farmer has pleaded guilty to his role in an organic grain fraud scheme that involved at least $140 million in sales of grain.
John Burton, of Clarksdale, Missouri, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
Burton, 52, admitted that grain grown on his non-organic fields was marketed and sold as organic and that unapproved substances were used on fields certified as organic. Federal prosecutors are seeking to require that he forfeit $2.2 million that was traced to the scheme.
Burton’s plea comes months after one of his associates, 61-year-old Randy Constant of Chillicothe, Missouri, pleaded guilty to charges alleging he masterminded the scheme.
Constant made many of the fraudulent sales through an Iowa grain brokerage that he owned. Three other Nebraska farmers have also pleaded guilty in the case.
