OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after a child in her home day care was injured so badly he was left blind and with brain damage.

Paige Hatfield, 27, Olathe, was sentenced Thursday for aggravated battery and operating an unlicensed day care.

Hatfield was found guilty in January of injuring 4-month-old Kingston Gilbert in January 2017.

Doctors at Children’s Mercy Hospital diagnosed the infant with abusive head trauma. Court records said a doctor told police the type of injuries are caused only by “violent non-accidental physical trauma.”

Hatfield testified at her trial that she did not hurt the child.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas House has rejected a move to repeal part of a state law allowing concealed carry of firearms on college campuses.

Lawrence Democratic Rep. Barbara Ballard on Thursday offered an amendment to an unrelated gun bill that would have added college campuses to a list of places exempt from the state’s concealed carry law. The law requires that most government-owned buildings allow people to carry concealed firearms unless there is adequate security to prevent anyone from bringing in a weapon.

Lawrence is home to the University of Kansas, and Ballard told lawmakers that some parents have decided to send their children to out-of-state or private institutions that do not permit concealed carry of firearms.

Ballard’s amendment failed on a 43-75 vote.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Congressional investigations over voter irregularities expanded Thursday with Democratic lawmakers requesting information from state officials in Kansas and Texas.

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform sent letters seeking communications related to the decision by Ford County, Kansas, to move the only Dodge City polling site outside of city limits for the 2018 midterm elections. It also is seeking communications about efforts in January by the Texas secretary of state’s office to purge voter rolls amid disputed claims that registered voters may not be U.S. citizens.

The four letters were signed by Rep. Elijah Cummings, chairman of the Oversight Committee, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

The spokeswoman for Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said in an email they have acknowledged receipt of the request and “will respond accordingly.”

Jeff Mateer, first assistant attorney general in Texas, said in an emailed statement that they are reviewing the letter and “look forward to providing the committee with information that demonstrates our compliance with the law while ensuring free and fair elections.”

Spokespeople for Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox in Kansas and Secretary of State David Whitley in Texas did not immediately return messages seeking comment Thursday.

For about two decades, the only polling site for Dodge City’s 13,000 registered voters was the Civic Center in a mostly white part of town. Cox decided to move the site to the county Expo Center located outside of town and more than a mile from the nearest bus stop the month before the midterms. County officials have said the move was prompted by a planned construction project at the Civic Center, although work had not started by the time of the November election.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas sued Cox, arguing that moving the only polling site in Dodge City outside the city limits will make it more difficult for the city’s majority Hispanic population to vote because they tend to have less access to transportation and flexible work schedules. A federal judge refused to order the county to open a new polling location just days before the election, finding it was not in the public’s interest because it would likely create more voter confusion.

The letter to Cox from Democratic lawmakers acknowledges that Ford County recently settled a lawsuitand agreed to open additional polling sites in the city for future elections. However, it said they remained concerned that the decision to move the polling site last year may have impacted the voting ability of Dodge City residents. Their letter to Schwab seeks to determine the role of the Kansas secretary of state’s office in moving the polling site.

Texas’ bungled search for illegal voters began in January when state election officials released a deeply flawed list of 98,000 registered voters flagged as potential noncitizens. But it became almost immediately clear that the list wasn’t vetted and that the U.S. citizenship of tens of thousands of Texas voters had been wrongly questioned.

A federal judge in February called Texas’ scouring of voter rolls for noncitizens “a solution looking for a problem” and prohibited the state from removing any voters following lawsuits by civil rights groups.

Paxton had originally amplified the January announcement as a “VOTER FRAUD ALERT” in campaign fundraising emails before problems with the list emerged. President Donald Trump had also used the reports to renew his unsubstantiated claims of rampant voter fraud.

The fallout has put Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s hand-picked elections chief in jeopardy. Whitley was appointed in December but still needs confirmation in the Texas Senate, where Democrats signaled they have enough votes to reject him.

The letters from lawmakers ask that the requested communications be produced by April 11.

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SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and have a teen suspect in custody.

Just after 11p.m. March 22, police responded to a shooting call at a residence in the 7900 Block of East Indianapolis, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Upon arrival, offices located a 29-year-old victim with multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported for treatment and remains hospitalized, according to Davidson.

Through an investigation, police learned a disturbance took place between the suspect identified as 19-year-old Treyvaun L. Griffin and the victim at the home on Indianapolis. During the disturbance, Griffin pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots that seriously injured the victim.

On Wednesday, police located Griffin at a residence in the 1900 Block of East 47th Street South and made an arrest. They also recovered a handgun inside residence. Griffin is being held on requested charges that include attempted first-degree murder, criminal possession of a firearm, aggravated assault and aggravated robbery, according to Davidson.

The case will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A former Douglas County sheriff’s deputy has pleaded no contest to aggravated battery as part of a plea deal that dropped a charge of engaging in sexual activity with a female inmate.

47-year-old Mario Godinez entered a no contest plea to the felony charge on Wednesday. A judge ordered Godinez to immediately register as a sex offender because the crime was “sexually motivated.”

Godinez was charged in September with engaging in consensual sexual activity with a female inmate at the Douglas County Jail. An affidavit last year says Godinez admitted to having sex with the prisoner in his office at the jail and in his personal car.

Godinez was in charge of an inmate work release program at the jail. He resigned last April.

Godinez will be sentenced May 10.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A Kansas City man who threatened President Donald Trump and sped to the White House with a gun had driven 13 hours without stopping before he was pulled over along a West Virginia highway Wednesday, a trooper said.

Eric Leonardo Charron of Kansas City was arraigned in Preston County Magistrate Court on Thursday in Kingwood on charges of reckless driving and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

State police said Charron was going 130 mph — nearly twice the speed limit — on Interstate 68 when he was pulled over near Bruceton Mills. The incident prompted the interstate to be closed for nearly four hours.

Trooper D.W. Satterfield said in a criminal complaint that Charron, 42, indicated he was traveling to the White House and that he was running late to a dinner he was invited to by Trump. The suspect also said he had to travel to the Pentagon “to meet with the leader of the Army to return a phone,” according to the complaint.

Charron later said he had “special hearing” that “would tell him to do bad things once he arrived at the White House or The Pentagon,” Satterfield said, adding the “special hearing” also told Charron to remove Satterfield’s gun from its holster while being transported from the traffic stop.

Satterfield said a vehicle search turned up a handgun, 300 rounds of ammunition and gunpowder. In addition, manuscripts written by Charron contained “subjects ranging from time travel, levitating watercraft, and mythical creatures such as the ‘Chupacubra.’”

The trooper said Charron admitted using methamphetamine recently and his pupils were dilated despite bright conditions outside. Charron had driven through the night from his hometown, authorities said. The trooper didn’t notice any luggage in the vehicle.

Satterfield asked Charron why the vehicle’s remote key would not open the trunk, and Charron stated he had tampered with the fuses in an effort to “keep the CIA from listening to him through the radio.”

According to the court, Charron was ordered held either on $10,000 cash bond or upon Trump’s signature. Charron was remanded to the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.

It wasn’t immediately known whether Charron has an attorney who could comment on the charges.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two top leaders of the Kansas Highway Patrol are leaving the agency.

Gov. Laura Kelly announced Thursday in a news release that Col. Mark Bruce, the patrol’s superintendent, and Lt. Col. Randy Moon, an assistant superintendent, have resigned.

Kelly said Shawnee County Sheriff Herman Jones will take over the agency on Wednesday. Maj. Jason De Vore will be acting superintendent until Wednesday.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the governor’s spokeswoman, Ashley All, said she couldn’t comment on the departures because they were personnel matters.

Kelly said in December that she would retain Bruce because he was an effective leader and a strong advocate for law enforcement officers.

Jones led the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department since 2012 and was a highway patrol employee for more than 20 years.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City school district has agreed to apologize to three students who alleged their free speech rights were violated during a national classroom walkout for gun control.

The apologies are part of a settlement that the Shawnee Mission School District reached earlier this month with the American Civil Liberties Union. Training also is part of the settlement, whose terms became public Tuesday.

Issue arose last April when students across the country gathered to protest on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting in Colorado.

In the Shawnee Mission district, administrators confiscated a high school journalist’s camera. The lawsuit said they also forced an eighth-grader from a speaking platform and sent her home after she said that “The real issue is gun violence.”

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the abuse and murder of her 3-year-old son, whose body was found encased in concrete in the family’s Wichita home.Miranda Miller was sentenced Thursday in the 2017 death of Evan Brewer. She pleaded guilty in late 2018 to second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, child abuse and aggravated endangering a child.

Prosecutors allege Miller and her boyfriend, Stephen Bodine, abused Evan for months, including forcing him to stand naked in chains for hours with a belt around his neck.

As part of her plea, Miller testified against Bodine, who was sentenced in December to more than 100 years in prison for Evan’s death.

Police believe Evan died in May 2017. His body was found that September after Miller and Bodine moved out.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal accident that occurred just before 7p.m. Wednesday in Sedgwick County.

According to Lt. Tim Myers of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department, Herbert Lawrence, 69, Derby, was standing outside of a disabled red Chevy truck at 63rd Street South and Grove in Wichita.

An eastbound white Chevy Silverado driven by John Fanning, 35, Derby, rear-ended the red truck forcing it over the curb and through a fence line.

EMS transported Lawrence, a passenger in the red Chevy Virginia Lawrence, 72, Derby, and Fanning to Wesley Medical Center. Herbert Lawrence was pronounced dead at 7:31 p.m., according to Myers.

 

 

 

By JOHN HANNA

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers have blown several informal deadlines for boosting funding for public schools to satisfy a court mandate because Republicans who control the Legislature are at odds over how to allocate the new dollars and what policy strings should be attached.

The state’s attorneys must file a written report with the Kansas Supreme Court by April 15, telling the justices how legislators responded to the high court’s ruling last yearthat spending on public schools is insufficient. The Legislature is set to start its annual spring break April 6 and not return to the Statehouse until May 1.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly urged legislators to pass her plan for an education funding increase of roughly $90 million a year by the end of February. Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, told lawmakers they should finish their work by March 15.

The Senate approved Kelly’s plan March 14. Top House Republicans back a plan to target new dollars to programs for at-risk students but wouldn’t bring it up for a debate this week because it did not have enough votes to pass. The House and Senate plan to begin negotiations next week on the final version of a school funding bill anyway — without a clear sense of their path forward.

“We’ve got to have an answer to the court by the time we go home next week,” Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine, a moderate Emporia Republican, said Wednesday. “Time is of the essence.”

Four local school districts sued the state over education funding in 2010, and the Supreme Court has issued six rulings directing legislators to increase education funding, now more than $4 billion a year. The high court said a 2018 law promising to phase in a $548 million increase by the 2022-23 school year wasn’t sufficient because it did not account for inflation in recent years.

Educators have argued that legislators should just increase the state’s total aid to its 286 school districts, and Kelly’s plan does that.

Top Republicans in the House have argued that new funds should target helping struggling students, including children with behavioral and mental health problems. Their proposal actually would spend $14 million more than Kelly proposes during the budget year that begins in July — but it includes grants for school safety upgrades and other specific programs.

“Why wouldn’t we target it?” said House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a conservative Wichita Republican. “What’s the purpose of doing this? It’s to move the needle. It’s to make education better.”

Many Republicans, particularly conservatives, also want to tie the money to education policy changes. The strategy worked well for them in 2014, when they successfully repealed a state law guaranteeing tenure to teachers who’d been in the classroom at least three years.

House conservatives initially pushed an education bill that included a proposal to give parents of children in public schools state-funded scholarships so that their children could move to other schools, including private ones. But they backed off that proposal and others, and the House passed a narrower policy bill this week on a 63-61 vote.

Democrats and many moderate Republicans contend that a straightforward funding bill is the best approach and that lawmakers ought to leave decisions about how new dollars are spent to local school boards.

“I think the best way to do it is to stick with what I proposed initially and what the Senate passed, with a clean, simple deal-with-inflation factor and move on,” Kelly told reporters Wednesday.

Trooper Ben Gardner of the Kansas Highway Patrol today issued a plea for car owners to check their vehicles for recalled Takata airbags. The recall affects between 65 million to 70 million airbags that need to be recalled, he said. For more information on the recall or to check your vehicle’s VIN number, click HERE.

Please listen and please retweet….https://t.co/y0bzsqtgOi#ProtectThePeopleYouLove #Takata pic.twitter.com/VxqVTeLm0y

— Trooper Ben (@TrooperBenKHP) March 28, 2019

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and asking the public for help to locate suspects.

Early Wednesday, police responded to a home near the 1800 block of SW Fairlawn Road in Topeka, on a report of a burglary, according to a media release.

Upon arrival and after speaking with the victim of the burglary, it was discovered that sometime during the evening hours on Tuesday, March 26 at least one suspect entered the victim’s home and stole over 30 firearms. These firearms were comprised of pistols, rifles and shotguns.

Police are seeking the public’s help in this case and ask that if anyone with information on the crime should contact investigators.

Police also reminded, “Anytime even a single firearm is stolen, there is concern that the firearm could end up in the hands of a criminal and be used to commit a crime. We would like to remind the public of the importance of securing your firearms properly and keeping their location private.”