KANSAS CITY (AP) — Records show there have been dozens of wrecks on a northern Kansas City road where a 4-year-old was killed.
Fatal crash killed a 4-year-old girl photo courtesy KCTV
Data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol shows there had been at least 43 crashes since 2009 within the roughly one-fifth of a mile stretch of Northeast Parvin Road in Kansas City where the girl was killed Monday.
The girl died when the sport utility in which she was riding went off the road, struck several trees and overturned. Records show a longer stretch of the road has seen at least 173 accidents in the last decade.
Public records show that Kansas City’s Public Infrastructure Advisory Committee has been petitioned at least four times since 2014 for funds to improve the road. Each was rejected.
SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect after an altercation with police.
Ferrell photo Sedgwick County
Just after 6p.m. Tuesday, police responded to a 911 call and a report of shots fired in the 1700 Block of South Yale in Wichita, according to officer Paul Cruz.
An investigation revealed a 30-year-old female victim was getting out of a vehicle and was approached by 26-year-old Alexander Ferrell. He began to yell at the woman and fired a handgun.
Officers were nearby and responded quickly to arrest Ferrell after a brief struggle that resulted in minor injuries to an officer, according to Cruz.
Ferrell is being held on requested charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault and battery on a law enforcement officer and obstruction, according to the Sedgwick County jail records.
A private rocket launch of a satellite is just one thing that the partial federal government shutdown might delay. Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran also worries about how it complicates efforts to avoid a trade war with China. SPACEX
As President Donald Trump prepared to address the nation about the partial shutdown of the federal government, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran huddled with staffers this week talking about rocket launches.
They fretted over whether the furlough of workers at NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration could force the delay of satellite and experimental rocket launches.
That shutdown also delays a planned Senate vote on the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA, the North American Free Trade Agreement replacement negotiated by the Trump administration.
“Getting those answers isn’t easy because the people who normally answer me and my staff’s questions aren’t at work,” Moran said told the Kansas News Service.
Moran, a Kansas Republican, chairs the appropriations subcommittee that handles the budgets of NASA, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and scores of other agencies.
He said trade negotiations with the Chinese appear headed toward a conclusion, but staffers supporting the U.S. officials conducting the talks fall among the ranks of furloughed federal workers. The same is true, he said, of workers at the FAA and NASA who license and schedule launches of experimental rockets and those carrying new satellites into orbit.
One of the missions likely delayed by the shutdown is a planned Jan. 17 launch of an unmanned capsule to the International Space Station by SpaceX, a company founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk.
The shutdown has also halted work at the U.S. Department of Commerce on two reports that Congress needs before the Senate can vote to ratify USMCA.
“This will delay our ability to consider a trade agreement that is of significant importance to Kansas,” he said. Mexico and Canada are the top two purchasers of Kansas farm and manufacturing exports.
Beyond those specific issues, Moran said he’s concerned that the shutdown will make it harder for the federal government to recruit the kind of workers it needs, particularly those with technical skills such as cybersecurity.
“They’re in great demand,” he said. “Many of them are very important to our national security.”
But he said when the government can’t guarantee those people will be paid, “they start looking for work elsewhere.”
Ending the stalemate will require compromise on all sides, Moran said. That could mean a deal that gives the president the additional money he’s demanding for border security — including a wall — in exchange for broader immigration reforms. Those could include renewing protection for immigrants covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, who face potential deportation after being brought into the country illegally as children.
“That is something we could go to that I think would bring Republican and Democrat support,” he said. “The question is: Would it be something the president would sign?”
Negotiations prove even harder, Moran said, when two sides can’t agree on key facts.
Trump’s speech from the Oval Office drew criticism for its characterization of a border “security crisis.” Leading up to the speech, administration officials made disproven claims that thousands of terrorists are sneaking into the country from Mexico.
“We need to get to the point in this country where facts are agreed to and they don’t change from one day to the next,” Moran said. “We can have the negotiations, but those negotiations can only be successful if we’re all talking about the same set of facts.”
Other members of the state’s congressional delegation continue to defend the president’s claims.
Tweeting after Tuesday night’s speech, Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Estes said the president made a clear case for “why we need to address the crisis on our southern border.”
“Democrats must come to the table to negotiate a solution to protect our border and reopen government,” Estes said.
Moran agrees border security is a priority, but he said the threats extend well beyond the U.S. Mexico border.
“It’s all of our borders,” he said. “It’s our ports of entry. It’s our coastline.”
Jim McLean is the senior correspondent for the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks.
RENO COUNTY — A Kansas man was arrested around 2:20 a.m. Wednesday after he failed to stop for a Hutchinson police officer.
Allen -photo Reno Co.
William Allen, 51, McPherson was driving his pickup in the 800 block of North Maple in Hutchinson, according to police.
The officer began to follow when Allen ran a stop sign at 9th and Maple. The officer turned on his lights and Allen eventually crashed into a parked vehicle, then ran from the scene.
He was found hiding from officers and taken into custody.
Officers then searched his vehicle and allegedly found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
According to police, Allen faces charges that include attempted felony flee or elude, felony interference with a law enforcement officer, possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, driving on a suspended license, having an expired tag, no proof of insurance, and leaving the scene of an accident.
Allen is scheduled for another court appearance January 16.
BARTON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a central-Kansas man on new drug charges.
Just before 1:15 p.m. January 4, police executed a narcotics-related search warrant in the 200 block of South Center Street in Hoisington, according to a social media report.
Police found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Officers arrested 33-year old Cori Galliart on requested charges that included possession of meth, possession of drug paraphernalia, and an outstanding arrest warrant for parole violation.
He has a previous drug conviction, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
The Hoisington Police Department was assisted by the Great Bend Police Department, Barton County Sheriff’s Office, and a parole officer with the Kansas Department of Corrections.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The former owner of an Olathe barbecue restaurant was sentenced Wednesday to serve one year and one month in prison for using customers’ credit cards to fund spending sprees.
Sander-photo Johnson Co.
Matthew Sander, former owner of Smokin’ Joe’s Bar-B-Q, pleaded guilty in November to seven counts of identity theft, four counts of theft and one count of criminal use of a credit card.
Court documents filed by Sander’s attorney say he had a “significant drug and alcohol problem” that he has since addressed.
Prosecutors said Sander went on spending binges with credit cards that customers left behind at the restaurant. In one case, Sander used a debit card from a purse he took at an Overland Park restaurant.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farmers already reeling from low prices and uncertainty amid the nation’s trade dispute with China are welcoming a decision to extend a deadline for federal aid because of the partial government shutdown.
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Tuesday announced the Agriculture Department would extend a Jan. 15 deadline for farmers to apply for payments to offset losses they had incurred due to the trade dispute, which led to new tariffs that lessened demand and lowered crop prices. About $9.5 billion in direct payments have been set aside for growers of soybeans, corn, wheat and other commodities.
Many farmers already have received the first of two payments to offset some of their losses, but others haven’t been able to apply for aid because snow and rain delayed their harvest. Farmers can’t apply for federal payments until they can specify the size of their crop. It’s unclear how much of the federal money has been spent.
“People didn’t have time to get all this done, and then the government shutdown happened,” said John Newton, chief economist with the American Farm Bureau. “This is very, very welcome.”
Farmers can apply online for the aid, but Perdue noted they couldn’t complete the application because the USDA’s Farm Service Agency has been closed since Dec. 28. Under Perdue’s new order, the application deadline will be extended by an equal number of days to the business days the government was partially closed.
Newton said the shutdown also meant growers who had questions about the process couldn’t reach out to USDA employees.
“I’ve been waiting 19 days to get a call returned from the USDA,” Newton said.
Perdue’s announcement was welcomed by Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a farmer who earlier had said he’d seek the federal aid.
“Farmers who haven’t been able to apply for trade assistance would’ve missed the deadline through no fault of their own,” Grassley said in a statement. “It’s worth recognizing that farmers applying for assistance in the first place are hurting because of a trade war they didn’t start.”
The government shutdown comes as farmers were already enduring a fifth year of low prices even as the cost of land, fertilizer, chemicals and seed have remained high, leading to a drop in net income. As they make plans for this year’s crop, farmers have been left guessing about the market and other issues because the shutdown has forced the USDA to delay the release of crop reports providing key information about global demand.
Brian Duncan, a farmer and vice president of the Illinois Farm Bureau, said the trade dispute and shutdown are difficult for growers, but most are taking it in stride.
“Farmers generally are pretty level-headed and used to being thrown some curve balls,” Duncan said. “As we get closer to planting season, their patience will ebb.”
LACLEDE COUNTY, MO-The five month search for missing 6-year-old has ended.
Ferguson -photo Camden Co.
Just before 5p.m. Tuesday, detectives acting on information received by the United States Marshals Service Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force, were able to obtain a search warrant for a residence on Highway N in Laclede County, Missouri, according to media release from the Camden County Sheriff.
The task force has been working with the Camden County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies for several months in hopes of getting a lead that would assist them in finding missing Braedence Jones.
After the search warrant was executed, deputies arrested the boy’s mother Aubrey Ferguson of Camdenton, and her boyfriend 41-year-old Woodrow Ziegler.
They were hiding the child in an attic crawl space that had been nailed shut and concealed. Deputies found him in the crawl space.
The boy was returned to his father, who had court-ordered custody of the boy.
Ferguson was charged in August with child abduction. She is being held on a warrant for child abduction as well as a Capias Warrant out of Crawford County, according to the sheriff’s department. Additional charges are being sought in Laclede and possibly Camden Counties.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Court documents say a man facing charges after he was wounded by a Kansas sheriff’s deputy had fired a handgun near a child welfare office.
Gore-photo Sedgwick County
The affidavit released in the case against 63-year-old Richard Gore says he appeared intoxicated and was “waving around and firing” the gun before he was shot in the upper shoulder in November in Wichita. Gore is jailed on $100,000 bond on charges that include aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer.
A sheriff’s detective alleged in the affidavit that Gore first “fired in the direction” of three Wichita police officers and an Eastborough officer before a sheriff’s sergeant “decided to neutralize the threat of the gunfire.” The Kansas Department for Children and Families building was locked down during the melee.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has once again been tapped to lead the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, during the 116th Congress.
“I am honored to be chosen to lead the Agriculture Committee for another two years,” said Chairman Roberts. “We just succeeded in passing the bipartisan, bicameral 2018 Farm Bill, and I look forward to overseeing the Agriculture Department’s implementation.”
“As I said when I first became Chairman of this Committee in 2015, my first priority is the American farmer and rancher. That laser focus has not changed one bit. We will continue to hold hearings, consider legislation in a fair and transparent manner, and consider nominations.”
“I’m pleased that Senator Stabenow will also continue her important role in the Agriculture Committee as Ranking Member. Working with Senator Stabenow on past Farm Bills, and various legislation in between, we have proven that we are the least partisan Committee, reaching across the aisle where we can to deliver results for rural America.”
Republican members of the Senate Agriculture Committee include:
Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
John Boozman, Arkansas
John Hoeven, North Dakota
Joni Ernst, Iowa
Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi
Mike Braun, Indiana
David Perdue, Georgia
Chuck Grassley, Iowa
John Thune, South Dakota
Deb Fischer, Nebraska
“I welcome Senator Mike Braun from Indiana to the Agriculture Committee,” said Chairman Roberts. “I know he is guided by the best interests of his rural constituency and will be a valuable member of the Committee.”
“My goal from day one in the U.S. Senate is to put my real world experience to work finding solutions for Hoosiers, and the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee will be an excellent place to put my skills as a farmer and timber-ground manager to work for Indiana,” said Senator Braun. “Agriculture is the foundation of our state, and I’m excited to get to work and get results for Hoosier farmers on the Ag Committee.”
Roberts is the only Member of Congress to hold the titles of both Senate and House Agriculture Committee Chairman and Ranking Member. As the House Agriculture Committee Chairman during 1995-1997, then Congressman Roberts led the reform of outdated federal farm policies. He also reformed the federal food stamp program, reducing waste, fraud, and abuse. His advocacy for farmers and ranchers continued in the Senate as a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee since 1997. In 2000, he wrote sweeping reforms to the federal crop insurance program. He also has called for a more aggressive U.S. trade policy and has fought to regain access to overseas markets for U.S. beef exports.
During 2011-2013, Senator Roberts served as the Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. In 2012, with then Chairwoman Stabenow, Roberts passed a Farm Bill through the Committee, which was later approved by the full Senate.
During 2014-2016, Senator Roberts served as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Under his leadership, the Committee held more than 25 hearings and business meetings, passing bipartisan legislation, including Child Nutrition Reauthorization, Agriculture Biotechnology Disclosure Solution, and the Agriculture Reauthorizations Act of 2015. The Committee also passed emergency wildfire legislation and reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, protected the current Farm Bill from changes and cuts, and took action to resolve the Country-of-Origin Labeling trade dispute.
During 2017-2018, Chairman Roberts authored his second farm bill. Under his leadership, the Agriculture Committee held dozens of hearings, listened to more than 90 witnesses, and received thousands of public comments to develop the 2018 Farm Bill. He shepherded the Farm Bill through the Senate with the most votes ever received by a single farm bill, and it was signed into law on December 20. Roberts also was instrumental in providing more flexibility for harsh and unworkable school meal standards; dismantling the disastrous Obama ‘Waters of the U.S.’ rule for a clearer rewrite; rolling back two Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration rules that would’ve dealt a billion dollar blow to American agriculture; and cutting red tape on organic livestock and poultry regulations that would have jeopardized the livelihood of those producers.
While shooting aerials of Arrowhead Stadium, KCTV-5 was surprised to find an enormous game of “Mario Kart” being played on the Crown Vision board at Kauffman Stadium.
Check out the Tweet from KCTV-5 and the response from Royals Charities 🙂
we sent our helicopter out to get aerials of Arrowhead Stadium and on its way there it noticed a game of Mario Kart had broken out on the Crown Vision board at Kauffman Stadium?? 😂 pic.twitter.com/rOy0icieVi
Sabrina Frock died in May at the home of a Lawrence man she met online.
The man identified as 33-year-old Shane Allen currently is in prison after violating probation for abusing another woman he met online two years ago. He is being held in the El Dorado Correctional Facility, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Frock’s mother, Denise Slaughter, of Brookfield, Missouri, says she suspects foul play and is frustrated with the police investigation.
Police are investigating Frock’s death as suspicious but say they have no new leads.
Frock’s autopsy report has not been released.
Slaughter said police told her Frock died from a brain injury but the coroner’s ruling on whether the death was a homicide or an accident was undetermined.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A Maryland-based solar contractor is facing nearly $40,000 in fines after an employee died from electrocution at Fort Riley.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday it cited Power Factor LLC for four serious violations after the employee died in July while installing solar panels at the fort.
The agency says the employee was hoisting a metal rail that came into contact with overhead power lines.
OSHA cited the company for exposing workers to electrical hazards, including live and uninsulated power circuits. The agency says the company also didn’t regularly inspect the job site or train workers to avoid hazards.
The employee’s name hasn’t been released.
Power Factor, LLC. has 15 days to pay the fine or contest the findings.
An official with Power Factor was not immediately available to comment.
