LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s short-staffed corrections department has announced a new $10,000 hiring bonus to try to lure new workers into jobs in the state’s three largest male prisons.
The Department of Correctional Services announced the bonuses Thursday for new corporals at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution and the Lincoln Correctional Center/Diagnostic and Evaluation Center.
New employees previously received a $3,000 bonus.
The Nebraska State Penitentiary is also switching to 12-hour work shifts until the workforce stabilizes. Corrections Director Scott Frakes says he has declared a staffing emergency, a procedural move required under state labor contracts to put the changes into effect immediately.
The department is also offering $10,000 referral bonuses.
Staffers currently employed at the Nebraska State Penitentiary will receive an automatic $500 bonus at the year’s end.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Court documents say a man who is charged with a felony was driving drunk with a 2-, 4- and 10-year-old in his vehicle as he sped down a Missouri highway at 110 mph.
Pike photo Buchanan County Jail
Thirty-three-year-old Justin Pike, of St. Joseph, was charged this week with child endangerment. He was stopped for speeding Sunday on Interstate 29 in Buchanan County. Court documents allege that Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers smelled alcohol on his breath and administered a sobriety test, which he failed.
He has been released on bond. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.
ELROY, AZ —A group of inmates being relocated to provide relief for the Kansas prison system arrived safely in Arizona, the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) announced in a media release Wednesday.
Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona (Photo courtesy CoreCivic)
The group of 120 medium- and maximum-custody inmates were transported to the Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Ariz., by secure air transport, paid for by CoreCivic under the terms of a contract with the State.
Specific details about the transportation of inmates to Arizona will not be disclosed due to security and safety concerns.
“The KDOC has sought to relocate offenders who will be successful and most likely to benefit from the programmatic opportunities available through Saguaro Correctional Center”, said KDOC Deputy Secretary of Facilities Management Joel Hrabe.
KDOC used a screening process that identified offenders who have at least 24 months until release, low frequency of visitation, a need for education/vocational programming, and are medically able.
The KDOC has also posted information for family members athttps://www.doc.ks.gov/facilities/out-of-state-inmates which includes specifics on visitation, mail and other essential information. A staff member in KDOC Central Office has also been designated as a resource for families who have questions about their family member or processes.
The KDOC Office of Victim Services (OVS) has also notified registered victims of those transferred.
“The plan we announced on August 9, 2019 was to move inmates sooner, and in larger numbers,” said KDOC Secretary Jeff Zmuda. “We have been exploring all available options to avoid sending anyone out of state, but ultimately concluded this is the appropriate course. It is my hope that this will be a short-term solution and that we will not have to move additional inmates.”
On October 17, 2019, the KDOC had an inmate population of 9,027 male offenders, which the Kansas Sentencing Commission projects will increase to 10,399 by the end of state fiscal year 2029.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans briefly brought the Democrat-led impeachment investigation to a halt when around two dozen GOP House members stormed into a closed-door deposition with a Defense Department official. Democrats said the move compromised national security because some of the Republicans took electronic devices into a secure room.
Keeping Members of Congress out of impeachment hearings comes after I was locked out from seeing testimony by former Ukrainian envoy Kurt Volker last week.
Instead of a partisan and secretive impeachment process, we need transparency to get to the facts and get back to work.
The protest by Republican lawmakers on Wednesday captured national attention, drawing the focus away from the testimony of a top U.S. diplomat who told lawmakers just a day earlier that he was told President Donald Trump was withholding military aid from Ukraine unless the country’s president pledged to investigate Democrats.
The maneuver delayed a deposition with Laura Cooper, a senior Defense Department official who oversees Ukraine policy, until midafternoon. The interview began roughly five hours behind schedule, after a security check by Capitol officials, and ended after roughly four hours.
As a series of diplomats have been interviewed in the impeachment probe, many Republicans have been silent on the president’s conduct. But they have been outspoken about their disdain for Democrats and the impeachment process, saying it is unfair to them even though they have been in the room questioning witnesses and hearing the testimony.
“The members have just had it, and they want to be able to see and represent their constituents and find out what’s going on,” said Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform panel. That committee is one of three leading the investigation, and its members are allowed into the closed-door hearings.
Lawmakers described a chaotic scene. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said she had just walked into the room when the Republican lawmakers blew past Capitol police officers and Democratic staffers. The staff member who was checking identification at the entrance was “basically overcome” by the Republicans, she said.
“Literally some of them were just screaming about the president and what we’re doing to him and that we have nothing and just all things that were supportive of the president,” Wasserman Schultz said.
Later when the deposition began, Cooper answered questions from lawmakers and staffers in response to a subpoena, an official working on the impeachment inquiry said. She explained to lawmakers the process of distributing military aid and was asked whether the appropriate steps were followed on Ukraine, according to a person familiar with the interview.
The official working on the impeachment inquiry and the person familiar with the interview spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door testimony.
“The president’s allies in Congress are trying to make it even more difficult for these witnesses to cooperate,” said Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee.
Democrats deny that Republicans are being treated unfairly, noting they have had equal time to question witnesses and full access to the meetings. Schiff says closed-door hearings are necessary to prevent witnesses from concealing the truth and has promised to release the transcripts when it will not affect the investigation.
They also said the Republicans — several of whom do not sit on one of the three committees — compromised security at Wednesday’s closed-door deposition. The interviews are being held in what is called a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, which is a secure room where members can hear classified information.
Several lawmakers leaving the facility said that some of the Republicans had their cellphones, even though electronics are not allowed. All members of Congress are familiar with the protocol of the SCIF, since they are often invited to classified briefings, and there are several such rooms around the Capitol.
Several Republicans appeared to be tweeting from the secure room. North Carolina Rep. Mark Walker tweeted: “UPDATE: We are in the SCIF and every GOP Member is quietly listening.”
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, alleged that Republicans “intentionally brought their electronic devices” into the secure area, violating congressional rules and the oath they take to gain access to classified information.
The “unprecedented breach of security raises serious concerns” for committee chairs who maintain secure facilities in the Capitol, Thompson wrote in a letter to the House sergeant at arms asking for action to be taken against members of Congress involved in the breach.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., criticized his Republican colleagues for the tactic, calling them “nuts” to make a “run on the SCIF.”
“That’s not the way to do it,” he said. Graham later tweeted that he initially believed Republicans had taken the room by force and that it was actually a “peaceful protest,” adding his House GOP colleagues had “good reason to be upset.”
The Republicans who took part in the protest were unbowed. Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said Democrats are running a “Soviet-style process” that should “not be allowed in the United States of America.”
“We’re not going to be bullied,” he said.
The standoff came the day after William Taylor testified that he was told Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine until the country’s president went public with a promise to investigate Democrats. Trump wanted to put Ukraine’s leader “in a public box,” Taylor recalled.
Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California said Republicans did not want to hear from Cooper because they were “freaked out” by that testimony.
“They know more facts are going to be delivered that are absolutely damning to the president of the United States,” Lieu said.
WICHITA— President Trump’s daughter and senior advisor Ivanka Trump arrived in Kansas late Wednesday with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Senator Jerry Moran.
Landed in Wichita w/ @SecPompeo and @JerryMoran!
Brilliant innovators such as Walter Beech & Clyde Cessna established this city as the hub for aircraft making during the early half of the 20th Century. 100 yrs later, Wichita remains a leader worldwide in aviation manufacturing! pic.twitter.com/KeEa6S9V8T
Trump and her traveling companions are in Wichita for a roundtable on workforce development, according to a media release from the White House.
The trip will include a tour of WSU Tech and Textron Aviation where a group of Wichita-based aviation companies will sign the Pledge to America’s Workers. The pledge is an initiative that boasts pledges from over 360 companies who have so far committed to over 14 million new or enhanced career and job training opportunities for American workers, according to the release.
( Some might find the details in the story graphic and disturbing)
KANSAS CITY (AP) — A man accused of mutilating a cat in a fast-food restaurant restroom is facing animal abuse and property damage charges.
Maggard photo Jackson Co.
Court documents show 19-year-old Tanner Maggard had worked at an Arby’s in the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit but was fired in June. Police say Maggard entered the restaurant Saturday, placed an order and went into the men’s restroom. They say that when Maggard came out, he said to the manager, “Oh, I see you remodeled the bathroom.”
Police say the manager found the remains of a cat that had been mutilated and decapitated on a changing table for infants.
Maggard does not have an attorney listed who could comment on his behalf.
WICHITA, KAN. – A Wichita-area pharmacist was sentenced Wednesday to 150 months in federal prison for unlawfully dispensing opioid prescription drugs, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Ebube Otuonye photo Butler County
Ebube Otuonye, 47, Bel Aire, Kan., was convicted on charges of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute prescription drugs, unlawfully distributing prescription drugs and health care fraud.
The crimes occurred while Otuonye owned and operated Neighborhood Pharmacy at 2810 E. 21st in Wichita, where he filled prescriptions for patients of Dr. Steven R. Henson. In October 2018, Henson was convicted of unlawfully distributing prescription drugs outside the usual course of professional medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. In March 2019, Henson was sentenced to life in federal prison.
During trial in July, prosecutors presented evidence that Henson’s patients had difficulty filling Henson’s prescriptions at pharmacies other than Neighborhood Pharmacy. Otuonye’s pharmacy charged more than other pharmacies and he set up a system requiring Henson’s patients to fill three non-narcotic prescriptions when filling a narcotic prescription.
A sign in the pharmacy said: “You may use another pharmacy if all you want to fill is (a) narcotic prescription.”
Evidence at trial showed Henson’s patients took their prescriptions to Otuonye himself because another pharmacist at Neighborhood Pharmacy refused to fill them. Prosecutors argued that Otuonye failed to perform his professional responsibilities by continuing to fill prescriptions for Henson’s patients despite warning signs including: Large numbers of prescriptions for highly addictive drugs, customers paying cash, multiple patients coming in at once with Henson’s prescriptions and patients from the same family presenting identical prescriptions.
Otuonye filled prescriptions for more than 21,600 tablets of oxycodone, more than 48,600 tablets of methadone, more than 18,000 tablets of hydromorphone and more than7,800 tablets of alprazolam.
Prosecutors also presented evidence that Otuonye submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid for filling Henson’s prescriptions.
BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspects on drug charges after a traffic stop.
Just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, a Great Bend Police Department detective stopped a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan in the 900 block of 2nd Street in Great Bend for a traffic violation, according to a media release.
During the course of the traffic stop, the Great Bend Police Department K-9 Menta was deployed to do an exterior sniff of the vehicle. Upon completion of the sniff, it was determined a search of the vehicle would be completed.
Glenn photo Barton Co.
During the search of the vehicle, authorities found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
They arrested Cheslea Purcell, 23, for a requested narcotics violation, obstruction and multiple warrants. She is being held without bond, according to police.
Police also arrested Gwen Finnigan, 37, and Lacy Glenn, 28, on a requested charges that include a narcotics violation and both were booked on a $10,000 bond.
Purcell has previous convictions for drugs and battery, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections. She was listed as an absconder, according to the KDOC.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on charges filed against a Missouri farmer in the killing of two brothers from Wisconsin (all times local):
5p.m.
Search poster Caldwell Co. Sheriff
An employee of two slain Wisconsin brothers says he believes a Missouri cattleman promised to give the men money to lure them to his farm so he could kill them.
Twenty-five-year-old Garland Nelson, of Braymer, was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 35-year-old Nick Diemel and 24-year-old Justin Diemel, of Shawano County, Wisconsin.
Rob Chubb managed the feeder cattle side of the business operated by the brothers.
Chubb says he is angry, but that he knew from the day the brothers went missing that Nelson was involved. He says the brothers had done business with Nelson in January, and that Nelson owed them money.
Court documents indicate Nelson owed the Diemel family $250,000. Authorities haven’t said the brothers were lured to the property.
Chubb says he “just can’t believe somebody is so selfish, so cruel.”
12:05 p.m.
Court documents say a Missouri cattle farmer fatally shot two Wisconsin brothers who drove to his business to collect a $250,000 check, then burned their bodies.
Twenty-five-year-old Garland Nelson, of Braymer, was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Nick and Justin Diemel of Shawano County, Wisconsin. Their father reported them missing July 21 after they didn’t board a homebound flight.
The probable cause statement says Nelson abandoned a pickup truck the brothers had rented. He then used a skid loader bucket to move the large metal barrels containing the brothers’ bodies to a pasture, where he burned them. He said he dumped what was left of the remains on a manure pile and used the skid loader to crush the barrels.
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11:10 a.m.
A Missouri sheriff says the investigation into the disappearance of two slain Wisconsin brothers was very challenging.
Caldwell County Sheriff Jerry Galloway spoke briefly with reporters Wednesday after 25-year-old Garland Nelson, of Braymer, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Nelson is accused in the deaths of Nick and Justin Diemel of Shawano County, Wisconsin, who were reported missing July 21.
The charges carry a possible sentence of life imprisonment or the death penalty. Garland is jailed without bond.
Galloway says multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in the months-long investigation, including the FBI and the U.S. Postal Service.
The brothers were involved in cattle business with Nelson and had been visiting his northwestern Missouri farm when they were reported missing. Human remains were found at the property but have not been publicly identified as the Diemel brothers.
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KANSAS CITY (AP) — A northwest Missouri cattle farmer was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two missing brothers from Wisconsin.
Garland Nelson photo Caldwell Co.
Garland Nelson, 25, of Braymer is also charged with two counts of abandonment of a corpse, two counts of tampering with physical evidence in felony prosecution, two counts of armed criminal action, tampering with a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to documents filed in Caldwell County.
Brothers Nick Diemel, 35, and Justin Diemel, 24, of Shawano County, Wisconsin, were reported missing July 21 . They had been visiting Nelson’s farm in northwestern Missouri while on a trip related to their cattle business.
Human remains were found on the farm, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of Kansas City, Missouri, but have not been publicly identified.
Nelson was charged in July with tampering with a vehicle rented by the brothers. Authorities said he drove the brothers’ rented truck from his farm to a commuter parking lot, where it was found abandoned.
Nelson was involved in a business arrangement with another farmer that included calves owned by the brothers, people involved with the deal told the Kansas City Star in August.
Kansas dairy farmer David Foster told the newspaper that he purchased 131 calves from Nelson in November. Nelson was to raise the calves and the farmers would split the cost after the animals were sold. Foster said 100 of the calves belonged to the Diemel brothers.
Nelson’s mother, Tomme Feil, said the calves became ill shortly after arriving at the farm. She blamed the illnesses on a bad winter and weakened immune systems. She said many died even though they followed the advice of veterinarians and gave the cattle medications and feed.
Feil said her son returned the remaining calves when Foster’s bank claimed them as collateral.
Foster said only 35 calves were returned to him and that Nelson owed him more than $151,000, though Feil disputed the amount. She said several people owe her son money and that he planned to pay Foster back when others paid their debts to him.
Nelson was sentenced in 2016 to two years in prison for selling more than 600 head of cattle that did not belong to him. Nelson pleaded guilty to cattle fraud that caused more than $262,000 in losses. He was released from prison in March 2018. He also pleaded guilty in August 2015 to two misdemeanor counts of passing bad checks.
Nelson also faces charges in Kansas of endangering the food supply. Prosecutors there said Nelson didn’t have proper health papers in May when he took 35 calves from his family’s farm to a farm in Fort Scott, Kansas.
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KINGSTON, Mo. (AP) — A Northwest Missouri prosecutor and sheriff will give an update Wednesday into the disappearance of two Wisconsin brothers missing since July north of Kansas City and presumed dead.
Caldwell County Maj. Mitch Allen told said that new charges will be filed against Garland Nelson, the Missouri man already charged with tampering with a vehicle rented by Justin and Nick Diemel of Shawano County, Wisconsin. Officials with the sheriff’s and prosecutor’s offices would say only that a news conference is planned at the courthouse.
The brothers were reported missing July 21. They had been visiting Nelson’s farm while on a trip related to their cattle business.
Human remains were found on the farm but had not been identified.
A message left Tuesday with Nelson’s attorney was not immediately returned.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated robbery that sent a teen to the hospital.
Rico Brown photo Sedgwick Co.
Just after 7p.m. Tuesday, police responded to report of a shooting in the parking lot of Dillons in the 1900 Block of West 21st Street North, according to officer Charley Davidson.
At the scene police located shell casings and damage to a vehicle. A short time later Rico Brown, 20, Wichita, and a 16-year-old boy arrived at a local hospital. The teen had been wounded and treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Davidson.
Investigators learned that the16-year-old, Brown and an 18-year-old boy met a group of others in the parking lot over an alleged drug deal. During the meeting several shots were fired and wounded the teenager, according to Davidson.
Police arrested Brown on requested charges that include aggravated battery and felon in possession of a firearm for an October 14 shooting at Schweiter Park, 900 S. Chautauqua in Wichita, according to Davidson. He is being held without bond, according to online jail records.
The Kansas Supreme Court this week will hear the appeal of a former Ellsworth Correctional Facility employee seeking to avoid being tried for murder.
Freddie Alec Thomas claimed immunity on the basis of self-defense in the 2015 Barton County shooting death of Jeremy Alan Saldana, 36. That claim was overruled by the Kansas Court of Appeals in 2017.
Thomas filed a petition for a review by the Kansas Supreme Court.
Issues on review are whether: 1) the district court correctly applied the law on self-defense immunity from prosecution; and 2) the Court of Appeals erred by reversing and remanding by finding the district court’s failure to make specific findings of fact precluded appellate review.
Thomas, a former Ellsworth Correctional Facility officer, was dating Saldana’s ex-girlfriend at the time of the 2015 shooting. It happened after Thomas went to visit the woman’s daughter and her husband, not knowing that Saldana was living with the couple. An unarmed Saldana was shot during a pushing match.
Thomas told a detective he’d heard Saldana was known to carry a weapon and could be violent.
The hearing is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, in Topeka.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Dyche Hall is home to the University of Kansas Natural History Museum
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Police in Lawrence are investigating after three fossils were stolen from a display case at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum.
The fossils were reported missing Monday but were believed to have been stolen Friday or Saturday.
The university police crime log says someone pried hooks from a display case to open it and take the fossils. It’s not clear what kind of fossils were taken or how much they’re worth.
Barton County Deputy Sheriff Nicholas Katzenmeier and K9 Maxx
Barton County Sheriff’s Office
The Barton County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce the addition of a new K9 and handler to the office.
Deputy Sheriff Nicholas Katzenmeier has been assigned the duty of K9 handler with his new partner Maxx. Maxx is an 18-month-old Belgian-Malinois imported from Poland.
Maxx
Katzenmeier and Maxx attended training in Little Rock, Arkansas and were certified in drug detection, tracking, item searches and patrol work. Katzenmeier and Maxx are assigned to the patrol division of the Sheriff’s Office.
Total costs for training and equipment are approximately $12,000. No tax dollars were used for this purchase. The Sheriff’s Office routinely seizes money and other assets from drug dealers. This money is put into a special account to be used for non-budgeted items. In essence, local drug dealers paid for our K9.
In addition to Maxx, Detective Adam Hales still maintains Kia (pronounced Ki) as a working drug detection dog. This arrangement allows for more coverage and dogs being assigned to two different divisions of the Sheriff’s Office.
