BOSTON (AP) – The Transportation Security Administration says smoke pouring from a suitcase caused a temporary disruption at Boston’s Logan International Airport over the holiday weekend.
The agency in a statement Wednesday said the checked baggage screening area was evacuated for 49 minutes on Saturday morning to allow authorities, including the state police bomb squad, to investigate.
When @TSA comes across a smoking suitcase, it’s always suspicious. This checked bag resulted in the evacuation of the checked baggage screening room at @BostonLogan until officials could ensure that it was safe. What caused the scare? An e-cigarette’s lithium battery. pic.twitter.com/taptFJRqqS
The cause was determined to be a lithium battery in an e-cigarette that ignited.
The passenger, who was heading to Kansas City International Airport, was contacted by authorities and his flight was delayed until the situation was resolved. His name wasn’t released.
The TSA screened nearly 57,000 passengers plus their checked and carry-on bags that day.
WICHITA— A Kansas man charged with the death of his two month old son pled guilty as charged, according to a media release from the Sedgwick County Attorney.
Kempton-photo Sedgwick County
Kyle Kempton, 34, Wichita pled guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and four counts of endangering a child.
He was scheduled for a bond modification hearing Wednesday afternoon before Judge David Dahl when he pled guilty. There is no plea agreement.
Kempton and the mother of his children, Christy Rollings, 39, Wichita, were each charged with involuntary manslaughter and four misdemeanor counts of endangering a child following the death of two month old Patrick Kempton on August 30th in a west Wichita motel room.
Kempton rolled over onto the baby, smothering him, while both were in bed. Rollings and Patrick’s twin brother were asleep on the floor. Both Kempton and Rollings were highly intoxicated.
On October 20th, Rollings pled guilty as charged to involuntary manslaughter and four misdemeanor counts of endangering a child. There was no plea agreement with the State in Ms. Rollings case either. On October 31st, Judge John “Joe” Kisner sentenced Rollings to probation for the manslaughter charge and 24 months in jail on the misdemeanors.
Kempton is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Dahl on January 22nd at 1:30p.m., according to the release.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal officer involved shooting and aggravated battery to a law enforcement officer and continue to ask the public for help to locate one of two women wanted for questioning.
On Thursday morning, police located and arrested 29-year-old Misty Lynn Maspero.
RetanaMaspero -photo Shawnee Co.
Master and Chelsee Ann Retana, 26, were last seen running southbound from a silver SUV from NE Grant and NE Madison following the fatal-shooting and aggravated battery of two law enforcement officers, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel.
Just after 10:45a.m. Tuesday, a police officer witnessed a maroon passenger vehicle stalled out in the intersection of NE Grant and NE Monroe in Topeka, according to Beightel. The Officer went to make contact with the occupants of the vehicle.
At that time, a Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper responded to the area, because a Trooper attempted to stop that vehicle earlier in the morning, but the driver of the vehicle later identified as Jarmane Dyane Logan, 35, Topeka, fled and evaded the Trooper.
As the Trooper and Officer were speaking to the occupants of the vehicle, a silver SUV approached them at a high rate of speed, almost striking them.
The occupants of the maroon passenger car attempted to flee and get into the SUV.
Law enforcement on the scene of the investigation Tuesday in Topeka -photo courtesy WIBW TV
As the Trooper and Officer tried to intervene, the Trooper and Officer were dragged by the SUV. The trooper shot and injured the Logan. He was transported to a local hospital by ambulance and died, according to Beightel.
Retana is described as a white female 5-foot-8, 175 lbs., last seen wearing a brown heavy coat.
Masparo has seven previous convictions that include forgery, theft and burglary, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Retina has previous convictions for fleeing or attempt to elude a law enforcement officer, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Anyone with information on the women or regarding this crime is encouraged to contact police.
SALINE COUNTY — Three people were injured in an accident just after 11:30a.m. Wednesday in Saline County.
Damage to the front end of the Taurus.
A 2004 Jeep Liberty driven by Margie Blaske, 75, Salina, was northbound on Simpson Road. The driver attempted to turn left onto Crawford and struck a southbound 2016 Ford Taurus driven by Susan Davis, 61, New Cambria, according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan.
The collision trapped Blaske in the Jeep until first responders were able to extricate her, according to Soldan.
Blaske, Davis and a passenger in the Ford Keith Davis, 67, New Cambria, were transported to the hospital in Salina. All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to Soldan.
SEDGWICK COUNTY —The suspect wounded in connection with a Tuesday afternoon shooting is out of the hospital and in jail.
Gore-photo Sedgwick County
Just before 3pm Tuesday, deputies responded to report of a man later identified as 61-year-old Richard Gore, firing a handgun behind the DCF building in the 3100 block of S. Oliver in Wichita, according to Sheriff Jeff Easter.
At 3:06 pm, law enforcement arrived and spotted the Gore North of the DCF building in a creek area waving a handgun. Law Enforcement deployed behind cover in different locations and was able to observe the Gore fire at least 4 rounds in the direction of traffic that was traveling on George Washington Boulevard and towards the DCF building, which was open and occupied, along with the DCF parking lot that had an employee next to their car.
Law Enforcement gave verbal commands to drop the weapon and Gore fired two rounds towards the DCF building and then started to swing the weapon towards law enforcement. At 3:23 pm, a deputy, who was equipped with a Sheriff’s Office issued rifle fired 2 shots at the Gore striking him one time in the shoulder area.
A short time later an S.W.A.T. vehicle was used to approach the suspect and safely taking him into custody.
EMS transported Gore to Wesley hospital and he was treated for his injury. The suspect appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the incident. He was released and booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on Wednesday afternoon.
Through an investigation deputies recovered 18 shell casings in the area where the suspect was located and other evidence indicates he had the ability to fire more rounds. The handgun was recovered as well. The DCF building was struck along with at least one light pole. It does not appear that DCF was the target of the shooting at this point in our investigation.
Gore is being held without bond on 5 counts of Aggravated Assault LEO, 1 count of Aggravated Assault and 1 count of Criminal Discharge of a Weapon, according to the Sedgwick County Jail records.
WICHITA— Keller Williams Hometown Partners, LLC, Associate Broker in Wichita, Stephanie McCurdy, and her clients will be in a House Hunters episode that was filmed in Wichita.
The episode, “High Flying in Wichita,” premieres on HGTV Thursday night at 9 and again on Friday morning, according to the network’s website. The program is available on Eagle Communications Channel 51 and 651 in HD.
The episode features clients Alex Novotny and Christopher Roberson in their search for a Wichita home.
According to HGTV, Season 154 — Episode 3, features “Two acrobat enthusiasts [who] bring their high-flying antics to their house hunt in Kansas. While they both want a big yard to set up their circus ring, one wants a modern house with a media room and the other is more focused on proximity to Mexican restaurants.”
“Filming for HGTV’s House Hunters was such a unique experience. It was incredibly difficult to not reveal to colleagues, friends and family, the outcome of Alex and Christopher’s house purchase,” Stephanie McCurdy said. “We had a great time filming our episode while viewing houses together, it was sad when the filming wrapped.”
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 39-year-old Lawrence man who molested a girl with mental disabilities was sentenced to just over 10 years in prison.
Capps -photo KBI Offender Registry
Steven Capps was sentenced Wednesday after previously pleading no contest to two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The girl was 14 when the abuse occurred.
Capps must register as a sex offender and be supervised for the rest of his life after he’s released from prison.
Prosecutor Mark Simpson said the victim’s family supported the plea agreement, in part because it kept the girl from having to testify.
Capps was arrested in July after another adult caught him in a room with the girl and called police.
WASHINGTON COUNTY— Authorities are looking for a deer poacher who illegally hunted a deer, taking the head and leaving the meat to waste on Thanksgiving morning.
According to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Game Wardens, the deer was poached in Washington County, between the towns of Hanover and Hollenberg. Thhe poacher likely showed the antlers to others and might take the taxidermist for a European mount.
Game wardens previously said two other deer were illegally killed by poachers on Thanksgiving morning.
JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating the circumstances that allowed a Kansas man being extradited from a Kansas City, Missouri Jail to Topeka on multiple Shawnee County warrants and tried to escape from a private inmate transport officer Wednesday afternoon, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.
Kull -photo Shawnee Co.
Shortly before 1 pm the transport company arrived at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Holton, Kansas to pick up an inmate being held on multiple Shawnee County warrants.
One of the private transport officers entered the jail awaiting the transfer of an inmate to their custody, while a second private transport officer escorted a second inmate 38-year-old Jacob Daniel Kull who was in their custody to a public restroom in the lobby of the jail.
Kull allegedly removed his handcuffs while in the restroom and assaulted the second private transport officer and fled the jail lobby.
Sheriff’s Deputies and Correction Officers subdued the him in the Sheriff’s Office parking lot.
He was arrested by Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputies for aggravated escape from custody and battery. Bond was set at $50,000.
Kull who waived extradition from Missouri was wanted out of Shawnee County for burglary, theft and forgery charges.
Kull also has previous convictions for burglary, theft, forgery and identity theft, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
GEARY COUNTY—Milford Lake will be a Cabela’s King Kat Championship Qualifier lake in 2019, according to an announcement from The Junction City/Geary County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“We are excited to have a Cabela’s King Kat Tournament at Milford Lake. This event will highlight the fishing at Milford Lake, provide positive exposure for our area and increase the economics of Geary County,” said Michele Stimatze, Director of the CVB.
The tournament is set for March 30, 2019 and is a two-person team event. The competition will provide the opportunity for a team to win a spot at the national championship. The tournament will be headquartered at Acorns Resort.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl unsuccessfully argued that he should not be charged with taking advantage of a child because she was actually 16 under a Kansas law that says life begins at fertilization.
Jordan Ross-photo Douglas Co.
Defense attorney Cooper Overstreet argued in a motion that Jordan Ross, 21, of Topeka, could not be convicted of aggravated indecent liberties with a child because, under the state’s definition of life, the alleged victim would be 16, rather than 15. The age of consent in Kansas is 16.
“Because of recent statutory amendments establishing that life begins at fertilization, the alleged victim in this case should be considered by this court as nine months older than her date of birth,” according to Overstreet’s motion. “Because of this, at the time of the alleged incident, the alleged victim would have been 16 years old and thus a charge of aggravated indecent liberties is factually impossible.”
Douglas County District Court Judge James McCabria rejected Overstreet’s motion, The Lawrence Journal-World reported .
In arguing against Overstreet’s motion, Prosecutor Alice Walker cited a Kansas Court of Appeals opinion that said the state’s law defining life as beginning at conception applied to public health codes, not to criminal codes. Age is calculated by birth date, and redefining that to equate with “life beginning at conception” would “introduce an unacceptable uncertainty into the criminal law,” according to the opinion.
“Courts must construe statutes to avoid unreasonable or absurd results,” the appeals judges wrote.
Ross was scheduled to go to trial Monday but McCabria delayed the trial after Overstreet said he needed time to change his defense plan.
Ross was charged a year ago with raping the girl at a Lawrence party in August 2017, when Ross was 19 and the girl was 15. Overstreet had planned to argue the sex was consensual.
Recently, prosecutors added the alternative charge of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, which does not consider consent as a factor. The state needs to prove only that the victim was 14 or 15 when the sex occurred and that the defendant acted “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly,” Walker said in a court filing.
When the judge allowed the charge to be added, Overstreet filed the “life begins at fertilization” motion.
Stacey Donovan, the chief public defender in Shawnee County District Court and an adjunct professor at the University of Kansas School of Law, said she’s had sex crime defendants ask her to try the “conception” argument but she never did.
A hearing to set Ross’ new trial date is scheduled for Jan. 3. He remains free on $20,000 bond.
MARYSVILLE, Kan. (AP) — An inmate has been sentenced to 47 years in prison for setting a fire and shooting at officers while escaping from a Kansas jail with another inmate.
Matson Hatfield -photo Marshall County
Matson Zane Hatfield, 31, was sentenced Tuesday for attempted murder and other charges for the October 2017 escape from the Marshall County jail, near the state’s border with Nebraska.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says Hatfield fled to a nearby home and later surrendered. A pickup truck also was stolen at gunpoint from a county employee. The KBI says 47-year-old Jeffrey Guenther was arrested after rolling the truck in Gage County, Nebraska.
The KBI says shots were fired at a Kansas fire department truck and at a man in front of a home. Charges are pending against Guenther.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A man whose abduction of a 10-year-old Kansas girl sparked a massive manhunt before she was found dead in Missouri has lost his appeal of his conviction and death sentence.
Pamela Butler-file photo courtesy KCTVButler is being held in the Federal Prison in Terre Haute, IN -file photo courtesy KCTV
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected the claims of 44-year-old Keith Nelson that his attorney had provided ineffective assistance. Nelson snatched Pamela Butler in 1999 as she was roller-skating near her Kansas City, Kansas, home.
A witness to the abduction got Nelson’s license plate, but he managed to get away. Pamela’s strangled body was found later in a wooded area in Grain Valley, Missouri.
Among the issues the appeal raised was his attorneys’ advise that he plead guilty. The court denied the appeal on each count.
