WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say two people are dead after a vehicle fire at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita.

A base official says a “fatal vehicle accident” happened around 11 p.m. Sunday at the west gate of the base. Base fire personnel responded and found two people dead. The base says it is working with Wichita police and the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office to investigate.

No other information was immediately released, including the names of the victims.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas medical board has directed a doctor and chiropractor to temporarily stop working at a suburban Kansas City clinic that gives intravenous infusions of vitamins and minerals.

The Board of Healing Arts issued emergency orders this month saying the Overland Park, Kansas, clinic’s advertising overstated the health benefits of such infusions and it didn’t have procedures that ensure the IVs are safe.

Chiropractor Tara Zeller and medical doctor Angela Garner cannot practice at IV Nutrition or any similar IV therapy clinic until further hearings can be held. The board set one for Jan 18.

Their attorney, Brian Niceswanger, said allegations of unsafe clinic conditions are false and he hasn’t seen any advertising materials like the ones the board alleges the clinic used improperly.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Nineteen of the 26 Kansas state parks are offering guided New Year’s Day hikes as part of a nationwide initiative.

Most of the First Day Hike events will traverse a 1-mile or 2-mile, family-friendly path with park staff leading the way. Many will be along the shores of large lakes, rugged woodlands or broad native prairies. The hikes are free, but participants will need a vehicle permit.

Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism state park director Linda Lanterman said in a news release that it’s “an amazing way to get things stared for a New Year.” She says many participants return to do more hiking throughout the year.

The First Day Hikes initiative began 25 years ago in Massachusetts.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Lawrence man who claims he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot an acquaintance has rejected a plea deal that also would have resolved two other cases.

22-year-old Steven Drake III said Thursday that he was “absolutely” opposed to the deal.

Prosecutors say they would have recommended a 15 ½ year sentence in exchange for him pleading guilty to three charges — second-degree murder in the September 2017 shooting of 26-year-old Bryce Holladay, vehicular homicide in the November 2016 crash that killed 24-year-old Taylor Lister and aggravated battery in the July 2017 beating of a teenage boy.

Drake is currently charged with first-degree murder in Holladay’s death, which carries a possible sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for 50 years.

BARTON COUNTY — One person died in an accident early Saturday in Barton County.

Just after 8:45 a.m., sheriff’s deputies responded to the 10 block of Southwest 140 Avenue twelve miles west and one mile south of the city of Great Bend on the Pawnee County line, according to Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir.

Initially deputies believed it was a routine stuck vehicle call, but upon arrival they discovered the body of a man identified as Ronald Reuber, 68, Nickerson, lying near the vehicle.

Investigation at the scene indicates the 2018 Ford Escort became stuck approximately 50 yards south of 10 Road in the east ditch.

Barton County Coroner Dr. E. L. Jones was called to the scene to assist with the investigation. Examination of the scene indicates Reuber died due to health related issues compounded by hypothermia, according to Bellendir.

The Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by Great Bend Fire Department EMS and the Kansas Highway Patrol. Foul play is not suspected.

RILEY COUNTY — A Kansas felon is back in custody just hours after his release from prison.

Terry Canfield, 25, had spent time in the correctional facilities in Lansing, El Dorado and Hutchinson since 2015 after convictions for theft and a long list of disciplinary issues, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

He was released from the Hutchinson Correctional Facility on Friday, according to the KDOC.

At 11a.m. Friday, police arrested Canfield in Manhattan for alleged aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and aggravated battery, according to the Riley County Police Department arrest report.

He is being held without bond.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting during a robbery and have confirmed the death of a 16-year-old suspect.

Just after 2:45 p.m, Friday, police responded to a shooting at the B & H Fast Trip, 2796 S. Seneca in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Police located a suspect with a gunshot wound. The investigation revealed three unknown male suspects including 16-year-old suspect entered the store, pointed handguns at an employee and customers, demanding money.

The suspects took money and cigarettes. During the robbery, an armed 42-year-old male customer pulled out his firearm and fired multiple shots toward the suspects, striking the 16-year-old. The other three suspects fled the business.

In addition, the incident is believed to be related to an earlier robbery at 12:10 p.m. on Friday at the Family Dollar Store, 936 S. Woodlawn in Wichita.  A 59-year-old female employee reported three unknown suspects entered the store, pointed handguns at her and demanded property. The suspects who then fled the business took money and cigarettes. 

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma official says a man sought in the deaths of two people in eastern Kansas has died after he shot himself as law enforcement officers approached him.

Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office spokeswoman Amy Elliott confirmed Saturday that

Ben Converse had died and that his organs were being harvested for donation before an autopsy was conducted.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said Friday that Converse had been located in Tulsa and shot himself with a handgun as officers closed in on him.

Kansas authorities say Converse was a person of interest in the shootings deaths of 36-year-old Molly Wilson and her father, 69-year-old John Tadlock, in Iola, Kansas. The two were found Thursday in their home in Iola, which is about 95 miles (150 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City.

UPDATE 9 p.m. Friday: The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), and the Iola Police Department, announced that Ben Converse, the person of interest connected to the murders of Molly Wilson and John Tadlock of Iola, Kan., was located in Tulsa, Okla. this evening.

The KBI, the Tulsa Police Department, and the Broken Arrow Police Department located Converse at approximately 5:15 p.m. on Friday evening. Once located, he fled law enforcement on foot. As law enforcement officers approached him near 66^th Street and Mingo in Tulsa, he turned toward them and shot himself with a handgun.

Converse was transported to a Tulsa hospital, where he is currently being treated for a life threatening, self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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ALLEN COUNTY– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Iola Police Department, and the Allen County Sheriff’s Office are investigating after an Iola man and his daughter were discovered dead in their home Thursday evening.

According to a KBI media release, just after 5 p.m. on Thursday,  the Iola Police Department responded to 114 S. Kentucky in Iola, and discovered the victims who had died from apparent gunshot wounds. Special agents and the KBI Crime Scene Response Team responded to the scene.

The woman who died was identified as 36-year-old Molly E. Wilson. The man was identified as 69-year-old John Tadlock.

A person of interest has been identified as 38-year-old Ben Converse.

Converse is described as a white male, 5-foot-9 and approximately 175 pounds. He has hazel eyes. Converse may be driving a maroon 2011 Kia Forte with Kansas license plate 509 KZS.

He may be in the Oklahoma area. If you see Converse or the vehicle, please do not approach, but contact police.

 

ULYSSES, Kan. (AP) — A 16-year-old Kansas boy will soon earn his high school diploma — and a few days later he’ll travel to Harvard to collect his bachelor’s degree.

Ulysses High School senior Braxton Moral will attend both commencement ceremonies in May, becoming the only student to successfully pursue a four-year high school degree and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard at the same time.

Harvard has changed the rules, Braxton’s father Carlos Moral said, so his son will “the one and only” reaching that milestone. Braxton Moral will be 17 when he gets his diplomas.

Carlos Moral said they began to realize their son was special when he was in the third grade.

“They told us: ‘You need to do something. He’s not just gifted. He’s really, really gifted,'” he said.

Braxton Moral skipped the fourth grade.

The Ulysses school district allowed him to take some high school classes while he was still in middle school. Before high school he took a class offered at Fort Hays State University. Then he was admitted into Harvard.

Braxton Moral simultaneously studied at the high school and the Harvard Extension School. The program typically serves adults who work and can’t attend classes on campus full time.

Ulysses High School math teacher Patsy Love served as the proctor for the Harvard program, administering Moral’s tests in Kansas. Moral spent the summer before his junior year at Harvard’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“We constantly are monitoring Braxton to make sure he is not too overwhelmed,” said Julie Moral, Braxton Moral’s mother. “No achievement is worth him being unhappy.”

Braxton Moral is on track to graduate from the Bachelor of Liberal Arts program, with a major government and a minor in English, said Harry Pierre, associate director of communications for Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education.

Braxton Moral said he hopes to attend Harvard Law School next.

“Politics is end game for me,” he said, though he’s still too young to vote.