SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for criminal damage to property after an alleged incident in Salina.
Bale -photo Saline Co.
Just after 11:30p.m. Tuesday, police responded to Salina Billiards, 1215 West Crawford.
Kiel Bale, allegedly broke a flower pot ashtray on the patio area of the establishment after he reportedly propositioned a bartender, according to police captain Paul Forrester.
Bale was asked to leave the establishment. As he exited, he allegedly threw a shopping cart through the window.
Bale was arrested a short time later in the parking lot on requested charges of criminal damage to property, unlawful assembly, and interference with a law enforcement officer
Damage to the window was estimated at $800 and damage to the flower pot ashtray was estimated at $10.
COWLEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with multiple vehicle burglaries that occurred in January.
Brown -photo Cowley Co.
Officers investigating a rash of vehicle burglaries in Arkansas City identified a suspect as 23-year-old Trevor Scott Brown, according to a media release.
A search warrant was obtained and executed at his residence in the 400 block of North Second Street. Several stolen items were located inside the residence, as well as marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Brown was located in the home with meth and paraphernalia in his pocket.
Through investigation, police were able to recover several stolen items and return them to owners.
Officers arrested Brown on suspicion of four felony counts of burglary of a motor vehicle, as well as one felony count each of possession of methamphetamine and no drug tax stamp.
He also was arrested on suspicion of seven misdemeanor counts of possession of stolen property, plus one misdemeanor count each of criminal trespass, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.
Brown has made a first court appearance, according to Undersheriff Christina McDonald. He is being held in the Cowley County Jail in Winfield in lieu of $22,250 bond through Cowley County District Court in Arkansas City.
POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY—One person died in an accident just before 7a.m. Wednesday in Pottawatomie County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 Chevy Blazer driven by Ann Marie Lochner, 67, Manhattan, was southbound on Elbo Ridge Drive.
Due to snow and ice, the vehicle left the road at the intersection of Elbo Ridge View landed on its top in a ravine.
Lochner was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics. She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
A medical group that provides anesthesia services to Kansas City metro hospitals has notified 3,472 patients that some of their personal information may have been compromised after surgery schedules were stolen from an employee’s car.
A nurse anesthetist left a backpack containing surgery schedules in his vehicle. CREDIT BIG STOCK
Anesthesia Associates of Kansas City posted a notice on its website that the surgery schedules may have included some patients’ names, dates of birth, types and dates of surgery, and the name of the patients’ surgeons.
Patient addresses, Social Security numbers, insurance and financial information were not included on the schedules.
“We had an employee that was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing,” said Mark Meisel, Anesthesia Associates’ CEO.
Meisel said the employee, a nurse anesthetist, put his backpack containing surgery schedules in a visible part of his car – a violation of the medical practice’s data security protocols.
“Unfortunately, you can tell people what the rules are, but this person didn’t follow the rules,” Meisel said.
Meisel declined to say whether the employee had been fired or disciplined.
The theft, which occurred in December, did not affect all of Anesthesia Associates’ patients. But Meisel said that out of “an abundance of caution,” it notified patients who underwent surgery between April 4, 2018, and Dec. 4, 2018.
The theft was reported to police but the backpack and its contents have not been recovered.
Anesthesia Associates, which is based in Overland Park, Kansas, provides anesthesiology services to Children’s Mercy Hospital as well as hospitals owned by HCA Midwest Health, including Belton Regional Medical Center, Lee’s Summit Medical Center, Menorah Medical Center, Overland Park Regional Medical Center and Research Medical Center.
With about 240 anesthesiologists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, pain management specialists and other clinicians, it’s the largest anesthesiology practice in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
The data breach is one of several that have occurred in the last few months at local and regional health care practices. Last month, Sunflower Health Plan, one of the managed care organizations that insures Kansas Medicaid patients, reported a data breach affecting 1,625 plan members after it sent ID cards and welcome packs to the wrong recipients.
Also last month, Valley Hope Association, which operates drug and alcohol rehab clinics in Kansas, Missouri and five other states, said that an unauthorized individual accessed the email account of an employee and may have viewed patients’ health information. That breach affected 70,799 individuals.
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), along with the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office, and the Chanute Police Department, have identified the remains of a woman who was found last August in a field near Ford Rd. and 50th Rd. in Neosho County.
Marissa Craft – photo courtesy Chanute Police
According to a media release from the KBI, the remains are those of Marissa M. Craft, who went missing from her home in Chanute, and was 39-years-old at the time she disappeared. Craft was last seen Dec. 15, 2017 leaving her mobile home with three men in a white, Dodge pickup truck.
The investigation into Craft’s death continues. Anyone with information about the circumstances of her disappearance or death is asked to contact the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME, or the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office at (620) 244-3888. Callers may remain anonymous.
PHARR, Texas (AP) — Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted nearly $13 million worth of methamphetamine inside a truck carrying frozen strawberries that crossed into the U.S. from
Mexico.
The agency on Tuesday said officers working at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge cargo facility in Texas used imaging equipment and dogs to inspect the truck on Feb. 16.
Officers discovered 350 packages concealed within the trailer and seized 906 pounds of meth.
The 42-year-old Mexican citizen who was driving the truck was arrested and turned over to Homeland Security agents.
Port director David Gonzalez called it an “outstanding interception.”
TOPEKA — A recent bill requiring a $500 annual stipend for teachers to buy supplies was introduced to the House Education Committee during a hearing on Monday.
Rep. Cheryl Helmer
“Why do teachers have to spend their own money to educate our children?” Rep. Cheryl Helmer (R-Mulvane) said during her introduction of the bill. “Teachers struggle on their salary. We are losing teachers every day because of behavior, societal problems, student debt and better job opportunities. Let’s take this burden away from them.”
House Bill 2233 would affect about 34,700 teachers and was met with strong opposition during the committee meeting. The estimated annual cost of the bill is around $17,350,000 and would come from the 286 school districts across the state instead of the state’s general fund.
On average teachers in the state of Kansas make $50,531 and rank 42nd in teacher salary, according to the 2017 rankings and estimates report from NEA.
“In a small school, where I retired from, it would cost us pretty close to around $40,000,” Jerry Henn, former Wellsville superintendent, said on behalf of the Kansas School Superintendents Association.
The bill stated that stipend money must only be spent on educational materials that are “intended to be fully used within the current school year,” This excludes the purchasing of products intended for multiple-year use as well as any food products.
“This bill provides little support for the innovative and creative teacher,” said Mark Desetti, Director of Legislative and Political Advocacy for the Kansas National Education Association, in his testimony.
The bill also met opposition from the Kansas Association of School Boards and other education-focused entities.
“We would like to file this bill under the category of best intentions,” Desetti said. “Unfortunately, we believe the idea behind this bill needs to be explored more deliberately.”
The committee will vote on HB 2233 on Thursday, Feb. 21.
Grant Heiman is a University of Kansas junior from Wichita majoring in journalism.
HODGEMAN COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just after 12:30p.m. Tuesday in Hodgeman County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Peterbilt semi driven by Fraire Moises Espino, 61, Garden City, was eastbound on Kansas 156 seventeen miles west of the U.S. 283- Kansas 47 junction.
The semi traveled left of center and collided on the driver’s side of a westbound 2019 Peterbilt semi driven by James A. Depping, 54, Juniata, Nebraska.
Depping was transported to the hospital in Garden City. Espino was not injured. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former treasurer has been sentenced for stealing from the Jewish Federation of Lincoln.
Federal prosecutors say Jennifer Rosenblatt, of Overland Park, Kansas, was sentenced Tuesday in Lincoln to six months in a residential re-entry center and six months of home confinement. She also was ordered to pay nearly $107,000 in restitution.
Prosecutors say Rosenblatt, formerly of Lincoln, was treasurer of the federation from 2009 through June 2016. They say Rosenblatt made payments to her personal credit card accounts from funds in the federation’s bank accounts.
SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and asking the public for help to locate a suspect.
Just after 11:30p.m. Tuesday, police responded to an attempted aggravated robbery to the Kwik Shop, 1700 SW Topeka Blvd. in Topeka, according to Lt. John Trimble.
A store employee told police a suspect described as a black male wearing a black and white hooded sweatshirt, standing approximately 6-foot-2, and weighing 285 pounds, entered the store and indicated to the clerk he had a gun under his shirt.
He then demanded money from the clerk. The clerk refused to give him any money so the suspect then stole merchandise and fled on foot in an unknown direction. Officers searched the area but were unsuccessful in locating the suspect.
Anyone with information regarding this crime is encouraged to contact the Topeka Police
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Washburn professor says in a lawsuit that the university retaliated against her after she filed a sex discrimination complaint.
Leslie Reynard-photo courtesy Washburn University
Leslie Reynard, who teaches in the communication department, said in her lawsuit the retaliation began after she told her department chair in April 2018 that she intended to file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Reynard said the university tried to place her on a performance improvement plan in September. She refused because she said the plan was used to find small mistakes that would allow the school to fire her.
In November, she filed a claim of retaliation. The lawsuit seeks back pay and damages.
School spokesman Patrick Early said Tuesday the university’s counsel wasn’t aware of the lawsuit and wouldn’t comment.
TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) recently released the report Selected Special Statistics: Stillbirths and Infant Deaths, Kansas, 2017. Despite having the lowest number of infant deaths ever in Kansas, the state’s infant mortality rate (IMR) edged up by one-tenth of a point in 2017. The 2017 IMR was 6.0 infant deaths per 1,000 live births compared to the 5.9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2016.
“In 2017 217 resident infant deaths occurred, six less than 2016,” said KDHE Acting Secretary and State Health Officer Lee A. Norman, M.D. “However, when combined with a 4.2 percent decrease in the number of births in 2017, the infant mortality rate went up.” said Dr. Norman.
(Click to enlarge)
Other key findings of the report include:
Prematurity was the leading cause of death for Black non-Hispanics, accounting for 27.2% of the infant deaths in to this population group doe 2013 to 2017, Congenital anomalies were the leading causes for White non-Hispanics and Hispanics any race.
For 2013-2017 infant deaths, over two thirds (68.7%) died in the neonatal period.
Of linked birth-infant deaths during 2013-2017 where birthweight was known, almost one fourth (23.4%) of infants weighed less than 500 grams, slightly over a fourth (25.1%) of infants weighed 500-1499 grams, and 16.4% of infants weighed 1500-2499 grams.
Of the linked birth-infant deaths during 2013-2017 where gestation was known, almost four out of five infants (79.8%) were born premature or early term.
COWLEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a report of ATM skimming in Kansas and waiting for one of the suspects to be extradited from Texas.
Vasile Serban photo Caldwell Co. Texas, is held on a $100,000 bondSecurity camera image courtesy Arkansas City Police
A Houston, Texas, man is being held on a Cowley County District Court warrant stemming from three incidents reported to the Arkansas City Police Department in November and December of 2018.
Vasile Serban, 18, Houston, Texas, was served with a Cowley County District Court warrant while he was in custody in Texas for three incidents involving ATM skimming reported to the Arkansas City Police Department in November and December of 2018 and also an immigration hold, according to police.
Among the charges are three counts of theft by deception, one count each of criminal damage to property and theft, and more than 100 counts of identity theft. Police still are gathering information for the identity theft charges while they wait for Serban to be extradited back to Kansas for prosecution.
Police were notified in December 2018 that credit and debit card-skimming devices had been located on two automated teller machines (ATMs) in Ark City. Local banks notified affected customers.
Further investigation determined that the suspect had also successfully skimmed credit card information the and “cashed out” cloned credit cards in the Wichita area for nearly $18,000.
Also on Dec. 20, 2018, later in the day, officers took a report from Walmart that a male suspect had broken into the store’s iPhone display, removed an iPhone X Max and left the store without paying.
Surveillance video confirmed the description of the person who allegedly stole the iPhone matched that of a suspect from the credit card skimming incidents. The suspects were driving a maroon four-door Volkswagen Jetta, with a model year between 2006 and 2010.
A call to the police department reported that one of the skimmed accounts from Dec. 19, 2018, was used Dec. 31, 2018, at a convenience store in Houston
The department requests that anyone whose information was compromised as a result of these incidents please call ACPD Capt. Eric Burr at (620) 441-6601 or email him at [email protected].
Anyone who has any information about this crime or any other suspects in the case is asked to call ACPD Sgt. Jason Legleiter at (620) 441-4444.
Those wishing to remain anonymous may contact Cowley County Crime Stoppers, which offers rewards of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest.
