OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a suburban Kansas City woman has died from injuries sustained when she crashed into a pond.

Police in Olathe, Kansas, say 61-year-old Helen Riddle apparently suffered a medical emergency last week before her sport utility vehicle struck a car and went off the side of a road. She then crashed through a fence before the SUV became submerged in the pond.

Police announced Tuesday that she died after she was rescued and rushed to a hospital with critical injuries. Divers also searched the water after the crash to make sure no one else had been in the SUV.

RENO COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects after a traffic stop west of Hutchinson.

On Monday, a Reno County Sheriff’s Deputy stopped a vehicle  in the 14,000 block of West 4th. The vehicle was traveling 67 mph in a 55 mph zone.

Deputies arrested 40-year-old Kerri Simmons for driving on a suspended license, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

They also arrested 31-year-old Ashley Smith, 31, for more serious charges including possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, with intent to distribute and possession of a narcotic drug. She has five previous convictions that include forgery, obstruction and drug charges.

Simmons was able to post bond while Smith remains jailed on an $18,000 bond.

SUMNER COUNTY — A third earthquake measuring 3.9 or greater in less than 24 hours shook portions of Kansas.

Just after 9:30p.m. Tuesday, a 4.0 magnitude quake rattled residents east of Caldwell in Sumner County, according to the Kansas Geological Survey. It follows quakes measuring 3.9 and a 4.4 at 7:28 a.m. Tuesday approximately one hour south of Caldwell near Perry, Oklahoma.

There are no reports of damage or injury, according to the Sumner County Sheriff’s Department.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. –– A Kansas nurse has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to Medicaid fraud and related charges, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Erin Grae Whitlow, 29, of Lansing, pleaded guilty in November to one count of Medicaid fraud, one count of felony possession of a controlled substance and two counts of felony mistreatment of a dependent adult. Wyandotte County District Judge Jennifer L. Myers on Thursday sentenced Whitlow to 21 months in the Department of Corrections. Convictions such as this one may also result in a period during which the defendant is prohibited from being paid wages through a government health care program.

The charges stemmed from an investigation by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division and the Bonner Springs Police Department, which revealed that Whitlow stole morphine from vials during a time she was employed as a nurse by a Bonner Springs nursing facility. The crimes occurred between July and August 2017.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Ed Brancart of Schmidt’s office. The Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office also assisted with the investigation.

This was the first conviction stemming from a statewide sweep by the attorney general’s office cracking down on illegal and harmful activity in Kansas facilities that receive Medicaid funding, which was announced in September. Charges against nine additional defendants remain pending.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Federal authorities say two homicides in northwest Missouri last year were linked to a large methamphetamine trafficking ring based in Kansas City.

A search warrant affidavit filed in U.S. District Court cites the death of James Hampton, whose body was found in the trunk of a burned-out car in August in Lafayette County. It also cites the death of 28-year-old Brittanie Broyles, who was shot to death in Kansas City.

Authorities have charged a dozen people in the alleged drug ring led by 29-year-old Trevor Scott Sparks.

Investigators say Hampton and Broyles were associates of some of those people but no one has been charged in the homicides.

Federal charges allege the trafficking ring sold more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine and made $8.5 million.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Somali immigrants can testify at the sentencing this month of three militia members convicted of plotting to bomb their apartment complex in a southwest Kansas city, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Defense attorneys had hoped to block the 20 short videos of victim testimony from being played at the Jan. 25 sentencing hearings. In a 34-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren also allowed sentencing enhancements for hate crimes and terrorism.

Patrick Stein , Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen were each convicted in April of one count of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and one count of conspiracy against civil rights. Wright was also found guilty of lying to the FBI.

The weapon of mass destruction charge carries a possible maximum sentence of life in prison, while the civil rights violation could add a decade more behind bars. Prosecutors are seeking life terms for all three. The sentencing enhancements for terrorism and hate crimes bolster the government’s recommendations.

The attack , planned for the day after the 2016 general election in Garden City, was thwarted by another member of the group who tipped off authorities about escalating threats of violence. Garden City is about 220 miles west of Wichita.

Prosecutors said the men formed a splinter group of the right-wing, anti-immigrant militia Kansas Security Force that came to be known as “the Crusaders.”

Defense attorneys argued that the Somalis weren’t victims because no one was hurt. Prosecutors countered that the defendants are trying to de-personalize their crimes and that federal law guarantees every victim the right to be heard at sentencing.

Melgren found that their testimony is relevant at sentencing to determine the overall impact of the crimes, saying he would not be unduly influenced by them since he heard all the evidence at trial. He said the intended victims are entitled to have their statements heard.

“Defendants have not demonstrated that, even if the residents are not entitled to testify, that the Court is stripped of its discretion to hear the testimony,” according to the ruling.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 20-year-old Wichita man has been convicted in the shooting death of another man in what police say was a botched marijuana deal.

Mark Holley III was found guilty Monday of first-degree felony murder in the death of 18-year-old D’Shaun Smith. He was also convicted of six other charges.

Holley will be sentenced March 13.

Police have said Smith and an 18-year-old woman connected with Holley met him in a residential neighborhood to buy drugs. Smith later was found dead in the woman’s car.

Holley is facing life in prison on the murder charge.

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SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a murder of a teenager and have a suspect in custody.

Just after 1p.m. Monday, police responded to the 6200 Block of East Orme Street in Wichita after report of a shooting, according to Wichita Police Lt. Todd Ojile during Tuesday’s online media briefing.

Officers found a wounded 18-year-old identified as D’Shaun Smith in a vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators learned that Smith and a woman in the vehicle had gone to the location to meet an unknown suspect to purchase marijuana.

During the transaction, the suspect attempted to rob the victim, fired a gun, and fled on foot.

Police developed a suspect in the case, set up surveillance at a residence in the area and made an arrest. A suspect identified in the Sedgwick County arrest report as Mark Lewis Holley III, 18, was booked into jail on requested charges of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery, according to police.

Investigators expect to present the case against Holley to the district attorney on Wednesday, according to Ojile.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ new Democratic governor on Tuesday reinstated a ban on anti-LGBT bias in state agencies’ employment decisions that a Republican predecessor had repealed, and she also expanded the policy to cover government contractors.

As my first official act as Governor, I am reinstating protections to state employees who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. EO 2019-02 restores rights that were taken away in recent years.

Discrimination of any kind has no place in Kansas. It will not be tolerated. pic.twitter.com/MAi7mFzuYN

— @GovLauraKelly (@GovLauraKelly) January 15, 2019

Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order was her first official action since taking office Monday and fulfilled a promise she made repeatedly during her successful campaign last year. It bars state agencies from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity when hiring workers or deciding whether to promote, discipline or fire them.

The move came after a historic wave of victories by LGBT candidates across the nation. In Kansas, Sharice Davids won a congressional seat and state Reps. Susan Ruiz and Brandon Woodard were elected as the Legislature’s first openly lesbian and gay members. All three are Kansas City-area Democrats.

Kelly’s order will apply to departments under Kelly’s direct control, which have about 19,000 employees. But she also extended the policy to companies that have contracts with the state, telling reporters later that if they do work for the state, they ought to follow its rules.

“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need executive orders like this,” Kelly told reporters during a Statehouse news conference. “It’s important that, until we become a perfect world, that we make sure that we’ve got the kinds of things in place that move it towards perfection.”

Kelly’s move instantly drew praise from national LGBT-rights groups. It came after new Democratic governors in Michigan and Wisconsin issued such orders, as well as Ohio’s new GOP governor.

“They can be open an authentic about who they are, about who their families are and who their loved ones are without fear of retribution of losing their employment,” said Tom Witt, executive director of the LGBT-rights group Equality Kansas, saying he personally knows of seven state workers who lost jobs after previous protections were rescinded.

But extending the anti-discrimination policy to government contactors could prompt a backlash in the Republican-controlled Legislature. House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a conservative Kansas City-area Republican, said lawmakers will probably review the order because it applies to private businesses.

“I absolutely think that is a decision the Legislature should be making,” said conservative Rep. Blake Carpenter, a Wichita-area Republican.

Kelly reinstated a policy against anti-LGBT bias in state government that Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius imposed in 2007 through an executive order.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, rescinded Sebelius’ order in 2015, arguing that state lawmakers should set such a policy. It was clear at the time that the GOP-dominated Legislature and its conservative leaders would not.

The Kansas law barring discrimination in housing and private employment doesn’t cover bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Half a dozen local governments have enacted their own anti-LGBT bias policies, including two Kansas City-area suburbs in December, but the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA’s law school focusing on sexual orientation and gender identity policy, said only 12 percent of Kansas residents fall under them.

Woodard and Ruiz said after Kelly’s news conference that they are drafting a bill that would expand the state’s anti-discrimination law.

But expanding the state’s anti-discrimination laws is likely to be a hard sell in the Legislature.

Some conservatives have argued that such an expansion would be used only as a legal club against conservative people of faith. They’ve also questioned whether such a law is necessary and whether anti-LGBT bias is pervasive in employment and housing.

State Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, a conservative Kansas City-area Republican, called Kelly’s order “anti-liberty” and said it is “degrading to reduce individuals” to their “sexual inclinations.”

“These laws cause divisions in communities and can have serious detrimental and unintended consequences because of their subjective nature,” she added.

Former Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer replaced Brownback last year when Brownback resigned to become U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom and signed a measure providing legal protections to adoption agencies that cite faith-based reasons for refusing to place children in homes that violate their religious beliefs.

The legislative debate centered on agencies that won’t place children in LGBT homes. Supporters saw it as religious liberties measure, but Kelly has called it an “adoption discrimination law” and has said she will see whether she legally can avoid enforcing it.

Demonstrating social conservatives’ influence, the Kansas Republican Party adopted a platform last year that declares, “We believe God created two genders, male and female.” The platform also called for an amendment to the U.S constitution barring same-sex marriage, drafted so “judges and legislatures cannot make other arrangements equivalent to it.”

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ new Democratic governor has reinstated a ban on anti-LGBT bias in hiring and employment decisions by state agencies and extended it to state government contractors.

Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order Tuesday fulfills a promise she made repeatedly in her successful campaign last year and restores a policy that had been rescinded by a conservative Republican predecessor. It was Kelly’s first official action since taking office Monday.

In 2007, Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius issued an executive order against anti-LGBT bias in state government. In 2015, conservative Republican Gov. Sam Brownback rescinded Sebelius’ order and argued that state lawmakers should set such a policy.

Kelly’s order applies to state agencies under her direct control, which have about 19,000 employees. But it’s broader than the Sebelius policy because it applies to contactors.

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge blocked the Trump administration Tuesday from asking about citizenship status on the 2020 census, the first major ruling in cases contending that officials ramrodded the question through for Republican political purposes to intentionally undercount immigrants.

In a 277-page decision that won’t be the final word on the issue, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that while such a question would be constitutional, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had added it arbitrarily and not followed proper administrative procedures.

“He failed to consider several important aspects of the problem; alternately ignored, cherry-picked, or badly misconstrued the evidence in the record before him; acted irrationally both in light of that evidence and his own stated decisional criteria; and failed to justify significant departures from past policies and practices,” Furman wrote.

Among other things, the judge said, Ross didn’t follow a law requiring that he give Congress three years notice of any plan to add a question about citizenship to the census.

The ruling came in a case in which a dozen states or big cities and immigrants’ rights groups argued that the Commerce Department, which designs the census, had failed to properly analyze the effect the question would have on households where immigrants live.

A trial on separate suit on the same issue, filed by the state of California, is underway in San Francisco.

The U.S. Supreme Court is also poised to address the issue Feb. 19, meaning the legal issue is far from decided for good.

“We are disappointed and are still reviewing the ruling,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kelly Laco said in a statement.

In the New York case, the plaintiffs accused the administration of Republican President Donald Trump of adding the question to intentionally discourage immigrants from participating, which could lead to a population undercount — and possibly fewer seats in Congress — in places that tend to vote Democratic.

Even people in the U.S. legally, they said, might dodge the census questionnaire out of fears they could be targeted by a hostile administration.

The Justice Department argued that Ross had no such motive.

Ross’ decision to reinstate a citizenship question for the first time since 1950 was reasonable because the government has asked a citizenship question for most of the past 200 years, Laco said.

When Ross announced the plan in March, he said the question was needed in part to help the government enforce the Voting Rights Act, a 1965 law meant to protect political representation of minority groups.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office was among those that litigated the lawsuit, called the decision a win for “Americans who believe in a fair and accurate count of the residents of our nation.”

Ross said politics played no role in the decision, initially testifying under oath that he hadn’t spoken to anyone in the White House on the subject.

Later, however, Justice Department lawyers submitted papers saying Ross remembered speaking in spring 2017 about adding the question with former senior White House adviser Steve Bannon and with then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Ross from being deposed, but let the trial proceed, over the objections of Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch.

In a dissent on one of two Supreme Court orders related to the case, Gorsuch wrote there was “nothing unusual about a new cabinet secretary coming to office inclined to favor a different policy direction, soliciting support from other agencies to bolster his views, disagreeing with staff, or cutting through red tape.”

“Of course, some people may disagree with the policy and process,” he wrote. “But until now, at least, this much has never been thought enough to justify a claim of bad faith and launch an inquisition into a cabinet secretary’s motives.”

The constitutionally mandated census is supposed to count all people living in the U.S., including noncitizens and immigrants living in the country illegally.

The Census Bureau’s staff estimated that adding a citizenship question could depress responses in households with at least one noncitizen by as much as 5.8 percent. That could be particularly damaging in states like New York or California, which have large immigrant populations.

Justice Department lawyers argued that the estimate was overblown and that, even if they were true, that didn’t mean Ross exceeded his legal authority in putting the question on anyway.

The administration faces an early summer deadline for finalizing questions so questionnaires can be printed.

COWLEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas teen after a hit and run crash.

Just after 2:30a.m. Saturday, police responded to report of an accident in the 1200 Block of North A Street in Arkansas City, according to a media release.

Investigators determined a 2001 Ford pickup truck that was northbound on A Street had struck a parked 2004 Dodge Ram pickup truck in that block. The Ford’s 17-year-old driver was taken into custody.

Later that morning, officers responded to Wilson Park, 701 N. Summit Street, for a report of criminal damage to property. A vehicle had driven over the curb in the 100 block of West Birch Avenue, striking a trash container, grill, picnic table and light-pole fixture within the park. The vehicle then left the scene of the accident.

The possibility that the accident was connected to the prior incident in which a vehicle drove through Wilson Park, damaging multiple pieces of City equipment in the park, remains under investigation.

The teen arrested is accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the relase. He also had no driver’s license, no proof of insurance, was in possession of tobacco by a minor and was transporting an open container of alcohol, according to the release.

 

HUTCHINSON — Hutchinson USD 308 has its new Superintendent. During Monday’s School Board meeting the board approved on a 7-0 vote to hire Clay County School District Superintendent Mike Folks.  Folks is the district’s 33rd superintendent in its 147-year history. He will begin his new job on July 1 and replaces Gary Price, who has been superintendent for the past two years. Price is on his second tenure in the district and did not desire the position on a long-term basis.

Folks has been superintendent at Clay County Schools, in Clay Center, since July 1, 2005. Clay County Schools has high schools in Clay Center and Wakefield in north central Kansas. Prior to that, he was superintendent at Central Heights USD 288 in Richmond, Kan.

He received a master’s from Pittsburg State University in educational leadership and administration in 2000 and a master’s in higher education/high education administration from Fort Hays State University in 1997.

Board President Kail Denison was pleased to have Folks as the next superintendent.

“We had an excellent candidate pool,” Denison said. “After listening to what the community said they wanted in a superintendent, we feel that Mike is a great match with what the community has asked for.”

He received a masters from Pittsburg State University in educational leadership and administration in 2000 and a masters in higher education/higher education administration from Fort Hays State University in 1997.

“My wife and I are excited to be part of the USD 308 team,” Folks said Monday. “There clearly is a lot of passion in the district. The educational opportunities in Hutchinson are excellent, and we will work together to showcase those opportunities to the community.”

Folks won out over local Haven Superintendent Clark Wedel, Moundridge Superintendent George Leary and Cheney Superintendent David Grover.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — The mother of a suburban Kansas City teenager who was shot to death by police as he backed a minivan out of his family’s garage has reached a $2.3 settlement.

The settlement agreement obtained Monday through an open records request makes no admission that Overland Park, Kansas, broke the law in the January 2017 death of 17-year-old John Albers. He was killed after officers responded to a report that he was making suicidal comments on social media.

Police say Albers backed toward an officer, who told the teen to stop before firing 13 times. Albers mother, Sheila Albers, says “there is nothing that can ever excuse such an unreasonable use of force.”

The officer resigned after the shooting, but prosecutors declined to file charges.