Manhattan, Kan. – Dennis Butler, the current Chief of the Ottawa Police Department, has been selected as the next Director of the Riley County Police Department. Butler was selected after an extensive nationwide search conducted by the Riley County Law Enforcement Agency Board in coordination with McGrath Human Resources Group. 

According to a media release, Butler will begin serving the citizens of Riley County when current Director Brad Schoen retires at the end of December. Butler is the 5th Director since the RCPD was established in 1974.

“I am thrilled to be selected as the next Director of the Riley County Police Department. Once I was offered this position I have remained excited for this day and the years that will follow,” Butler said. “My commitment to the department’s employees and the citizens they serve was strengthened during my interactions with people involved with the selection process. My wife and I wish to express our sincerest gratitude to all of them for their belief in me.”

Butler has served as the Chief of the Ottawa Police Department since 2004. Prior to his current position, Chief Butler served 25 years with the Alexandria, Virginia Police Department, retiring in 2004 at the rank of Captain.

Lawboard Chair Craig Beardsley said he was impressed by Butler when he went through the search and interview process.

“His experience and demonstrated abilities as the Chief of Police in Ottawa, and a Captain at the Alexandria Police Department, were very much in line with what we desire in the next Director,” Beardsley said.  We feel that Chief Butler is an excellent fit for Riley County Police Department and the communities we serve.”

Chief Butler has a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration of Justice from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. In 2004 he earned a Graduate Certificate in Administration of Justice from the MPA program at George Mason University. He is a graduate of the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Certificate program for Professional Executive Leadership and the FBI National Academy.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on a defense request to bar victim impact statements from Somali immigrants whose mosque and apartment complex was targeted (all times local):

12:15 p.m.

A federal judge says he won’t immediately decide whether to allow testimony from Somali immigrants at the sentencing hearing for three men convicted of plotting to bomb a mosque and a Kansas apartment complex where the immigrants lived.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren said during a court hearing Monday that he couldn’t recall ever denying someone the right to be heard. He said he’d issue a decision later.

A defense attorney argued that no one was harmed by the plot and questions the accuracy of the testimony translation. A prosecutor says harm to the community should be considered during sentencing.

Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen were convicted of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiring to violate civil rights. Their attorneys have asked that the Somalis’ victim impact statements be barred.

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge is due to hear arguments about whether to allow victim impact statements from Somali immigrants at the sentencing hearing for three Kansas militia members convicted of plotting to bomb a mosque and an apartment complex where the immigrants live.

The hearing is scheduled to take place Monday before U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita.

Attorneys for Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen contend that the immigrants aren’t victims because no one was hurt. Prosecutors say the defendants are trying to de-personalize their crimes and that federal law guarantees every victim the right to be heard at sentencing.

The defendants were convicted of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiring to violate civil rights. Wright was also convicted of lying to the FBI.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Seven school districts in Kansas that were given special status through the state’s “Coalition of Innovative School Districts” program now say it’s not worth the effort.

The districts last week asked the Kansas Board of Education to release them from the program that began in 2013.

Districts that join have the freedom to ignore some state oversight in exchange for pursuing novel approaches for improving student achievement. The seven participating districts say they want to continue to collaborate, but as an informal network.

The coalition uses the program to loosen teacher licensure and state assessment requirements. Some unions and education advocates argue that the regulations are needed to maintain high standards.

Blue Valley USD #229, Concordia USD #333, Fredonia USD#484, Hugoton USD #210 , Kansas City USD #500, Marysville USD #364 and McPherson USD #418 are the schools included.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with alleged home invasion robbery, kidnapping and arson.

Just after 9:30p.m. Friday, police responded to report of a hit and run accident that included a Lincoln Navigator striking another vehicle at Harry and Southeast Boulevard in Wichita and leaving the scene, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Later that evening, police responded to Antler to assist Wichita Fire Department crews and found the Lincoln Navigator that had been set on fire. Witnesses indicated a suspect identified as 26-year-old Taylor Kremer pulled a bicycle from the back of the SU, firing multiple gunshots in the air and fleeing the scene, according to Davidson.

While authorities were investigating the vehicle fire, five people told police Kremer had entered their home in the 500 Block of East Zimmerly, displayed a knife, indicated he had a gun, took their cell phones and a 2005 Dodge Stratus from the residence.

Officers responded to the address, located the vehicle, attempted a traffic stop but the driver sped away. Officers began a pursuit. The suspect vehicle stopped near the intersection of 13th and Shadyway and Kremer fled on foot. Officers chased and took him into custody.

Kremer is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail on requested charges of kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, arson, possession of a firearm by a felon, aggravated weapons violations, a Kansas Department of Corrections warrant, according to Davidson.

In October Kremer was paroled from Coffey County after two convictions for burglary, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

By NOMIN UJIYEDIIN

The Kansas Legislature agreed to pay education nonprofit Teach For America more than $500,000 this year for a pilot program to recruit 12 teachers to the state.

But the national organization only recruited three teachers for the state in 2018.  All of them were placed in Kansas City, Kansas, where the local school district pays their salaries and benefits on top of another $3,000 per teacher per year to Teach For America.

Meanwhile, the state is still on the hook to pay the nonprofit $270,000 for training and recruiting teachers with no guarantee they will work in Kansas schools.

Mischel Miller, director of teacher licensure and accreditation at the Kansas State Department of Education, said the contract was intended to help fill a teacher shortage in the state.

“Our intention,” Miller said in an interview, “is that those dollars would be used for Kansas teachers.”

Yet the Kansas City, Kansas school district says it only hired three Teach For America instructors this year. Two other recruits started teaching in the district last year before Kansas hired the organization.

The state education department says Teach For America told the department it recruited all five of those teachers this year. The department is currently drafting a $270,000 contract to pay the organization.

A budget document from the Kansas Legislative Research Department dated Oct. 10 states, “Teachers will be paid a salary of $36,000.” But that money actually goes just to recruiting, training and placing each teacher.

That totals $180,000 from the state for recruiting five teachers, plus $80,000 to pay for the salary, benefits and travel expenses of a recruiter and $10,000 for one day of professional development. The rest of the money appropriated during the legislative session, totaling $250,000, will go back to the state’s general fund to be appropriated for the next fiscal year.

Such funding arrangements with the group are common across the country. Tax filings show that Teach For America received $45.2 million in government grants in fiscal year 2016, about 16.6 percent of its revenue. States such as Texas, Arkansas and Missouri have also appropriated education funds for the nonprofit.

At a meeting of the Legislative Budget Committee on Wednesday in Topeka, state lawmakers expressed disappointment in the low number of recruits and the fact that the program only placed teachers in the far eastern corner of Kansas.

“That’s the best they can do so far?” asked committee chair Sen. Carolyn McGinn, who represents a district in south-central Kansas. “I don’t recall during that appropriation process that we said, ‘Just stay in the Kansas City area.’”

In an interview, Teach For America Kansas City executive director Chris Rosson said the organization had originally presented its pilot as an extension of its program in Kansas City, Missouri, “with the opportunity for us to explore the possibility of looking westward, but with clearly no direct promises.”

Rosson said his organization planned to encourage teachers to become more familiar with other parts of Kansas. Events like an alumni reunion in Lawrence and a trip to western Kansas are scheduled for upcoming months.

But the money hasn’t been allocated yet, and will not come out of the training and recruiting budget that the state has agreed to pay this year.

“We’re eager to do those things to try to support the work that’s happening in the state of Kansas,” Rosson said. “But we are also a (nonprofit group) that has to be very deliberate about and intentional about how we are allocating our resources.”

Rosson said the vast majority of Kansas City metro placements had ended up on the Missouri side because Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools took longer to hire Teach For America recruits than Missouri schools.

A KCKPS employee confirmed that the process was slow because the district needed to make sure Teach For America candidates met a state requirement of being enrolled in a master’s degree program.

Other parts of the state’s agreement with Teach For America drew questions from lawmakers at the Legislative Budget Committee meeting on Wednesday, including the $80,000 allocated for a full-time national Teach For America recruiter based in Lawrence.

State Sen. Rick Billinger expressed skepticism about a one-day professional development program in Topeka with a price tag of $10,000.

“I’d personally like to see a little breakdown on that,” Billinger said. “It just looks kind of out of line.”

Rosson said this year’s training has not yet taken place, but the budget request was based on the cost of doing the training in previous years. The event entails busing 120 Kansas City Teach For America corps members, the vast majority of whom teach in Missouri, for a tour of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. Other costs include food and a speaker who leads “cultural responsive teaching and instruction,” according to a document provided by the state education department.

Rosson said he hoped the event would increase interest in teaching in Kansas after the Teach For America placements are completed.

“It’s typically a very powerful experience to have that type of content delivered in a place that has that level of historical significance,” he said.

Rosson said there were 13 Teach For America alumni currently working in Kansas — nine working as teachers and four working in school leadership positions.

Teach For America’s Lawrence-based recruiter, he said, is the first in the state. He said the recruiter is responsible for attracting applicants for Kansas, but also for the organization’s nationwide pool of potential teachers, who then rank which areas in which they’d like to be placed.

He said he wasn’t sure, but it’s possible that the Lawrence recruiter may have recruited Kansas applicants who were then assigned to schools outside of the state.

“Somebody who is from Sacramento and is going to Wichita State may choose that really what they want to do is go back to California and teach,” he said.

According to data from the state education department, there were 612 vacant teaching positions in Kansas schools this fall.  Many were concentrated in the state’s population centers of Wichita and Kansas City, but schools in rural western Kansas also struggled to find qualified teachers.

At the Capitol on Wednesday, Rep. Steven Johnson said he had hoped the amount of money allocated for Teach For America would lead to more hires.

“The five teachers, I think, we’re excited about — just disappointed we don’t have more,” he said.  “That ratio just doesn’t feel very good as we look at results.”

Nomin Ujiyediin is a reporter for the Kansas News Service.You can reach her on Twitter @NominUJ.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a car theft and have a suspect in custody.

Just after 9:30 p.m. Saturday, police responded to the area of 20th and SW Clay in Topeka on the report of a stolen car, according to Lt. John Trimble.

While there, officers saw the suspect identified as 38-year-old Larry James drive by in a stolen car.

Officers on scene then attempted to stop the suspect and stolen car. The suspect initiated a slow-speed pursuit that  lasted approximately 4 minutes until he crashed into a parked car near 16th and SW Buchanan.

Police took James into custody without incident. He was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Felony Theft of a Motor Vehicle, Felony Fleeing and Eluding, 2 Felony Warrants for Burglary, 1 Misdemeanor Warrant and 6 Traffic Offenses, according to Trimble.

MCPHERSON COUNTY —A small earthquake shook central Kansas Monday morning.

The quake at 1:44a.m. measured a magnitude 2.7 and was centered approximately 7 miles west of Lindsborg, according to the Kansas Geological Survey.

Monday’s quake follows a pair of small quakes in Harper County Sunday and a 2.8 magnitude quake southeast of Salina on Sunday.

There are no reports of damage of injury from Monday’s quake.

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man whose DNA was found on a handgun was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Jason M. Trevillion, 33, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction. The investigation began when members of the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department’s Violent Crime Task force heard shots fired in the area of 8th and Parallel Avenue. Police attempted stop a Dodge Caravan but the vehicle fled. When police blocked the car from the front and behind, the van rammed both police cars. Trevillion was one of the defendants who eventually got out of the van.

In the van, police found a .40 caliber pistol with a 50-round drum magazine, two .223 caliber pistols, a 9 mm pistol, and a .45 caliber pistol, as well as spent shell casings and live rounds. Trevillion’s DNA was found on the 9 mm pistol. He had a 2015 conviction in Wyandotte County for aggravated assault.

Co-defendant Ernest A. Jones was sentenced to 12 months and a day. Co-defendant Taurez L. Adams is set for sentencing Nov. 13.

Kansas Department of Education

WICHITA – Whitney Morgan, an English language arts and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher at Wyandotte High School, Kansas City, Kansas, Unified School District 500, was named the 2019 Kansas Teacher of the Year on Saturday, Nov. 17, during a special ceremony in Wichita.

Kansas Commissioner of Education Dr. Randy Watson made the announcement at a gathering of 400 people during the Kansas Teacher of the Year Banquet at the Marriott Hotel, 9100 E. Corporate Hills Drive, in Wichita.

“It is my honor to present the 2019 Kansas Teacher of the Year designation to Whitney,” Watson said. “She is truly a remarkable teacher and very deserving of this honor. Whitney uses collaborative learning to engage students from all backgrounds and abilities. She has demonstrated strong leadership skills at Wyandotte High School and is working closely with her colleagues on school climate. Whitney is a great example of the quality teachers we have in Kansas. I want to wish Whitney and the members of the 2019 Kansas Teacher of the Year team success as they represent Kansas education in the coming year.”

Morgan was named the 2019 Kansas Teacher of the Year from a field of eight finalists.

Throughout the coming year, all of the finalists will work as a team to advocate for education and teaching.

Selected from a pool of more than 100 nominations, the other 2019 finalists are: Signe A. Cook, a fifth-grade teacher at Park Elementary School (Great Bend USD 428); Jennifer S. Brown, a first-grade teacher at Sheridan Elementary School (Geary County USD 475); Nicole L. Corn, a kindergarten teacher at Sunset Hill Elementary School (Lawrence USD 497); Sharon L. Kuchinski, a social studies teacher at Leavenworth Senior High School (Leavenworth USD 453); Megan Clark, an art teacher at Clear Creek Elementary School (De Soto USD 232); Lan T. Huynh, a third-grade teacher at Christa McAuliffe Academy (Wichita USD 259); and Tim “T.J.” Warsnak, a social studies teacher at Halstead High School (Halstead-Bentley USD 440).

Morgan began her career as an English and ESOL teacher at Wyandotte High School in 2013. She received her bachelor’s degree in secondary education with a minor in nonprofit leadership in 2012 from Kansas State University. She currently is working on obtaining her master’s degree in English from the Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English in Middlebury, Vermont.

Morgan is involved in several leadership roles and professional organizations, and she is a Stanford Graduate School of Education Hollyhock Fellow.

Mary Stewart, principal of Wyandotte High School, called Morgan an “exemplary educator” who “develops effective relationships with students by working to understand their interests and cultural backgrounds.”

“On a daily basis, Mrs. Morgan – both verbally and nonverbally – shows her students that she cares,” Stewart said. “She is firm in holding all students to a high level of performance expectation, yet interacts with each of them with a calm and nurturing approach. She knows each of her students as individuals. She values their uniqueness and sees their potential.”

Kurt Auleta, senior vice president of distribution and sales operations for Security Benefit Corp., presented Morgan with a $4,000 cash award.

In addition, Morgan will receive the Kansas Teacher of the Year Lifelong Learning Scholarship to attend participating universities free of charge as long as she continues teaching in Kansas; and The Hubbard Foundation Kansas Teacher of the Year Ambassadorship. The ambassadorship provides funds for travel and other necessary expenses incurred by the Kansas Teacher of the Year.

Morgan also will receive the use of a rental car from Enterprise Rent-a-Car for Kansas Teacher of the Year travel. Jostens Inc. also provided Morgan with a Leader in Education ring.

All eight members of the 2019 Kansas Teacher of the Year team received a $2,000 cash award from Security Benefit and a red marble apple from the Master Teacher in Manhattan. In addition, each will receive Capturing Kids’ Hearts training from The Flippen Group, of College Station, Texas, and a one-year membership in the Kansas State Teachers of the Year organization.

The Teacher of the Year program has state and national competitions. The national program, presented by Voya Financial, is a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers. The Kansas program is sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education.

Morgan is now a candidate for National Teacher of the Year.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Food safety officials are stressing the importance of proper handling and cooking practices amid a nationwide outbreak of drug-resistant Salmonella found in raw turkey, with Thanksgiving approaching.

The Centers for Disease Control last week said the number of reported illnesses has nearly doubled since July to 164. Minnesota has the most cases at 16. There’s been one reported death  linked to tainted turkey.

The USDA hasn’t named the suppliers associated with the tainted meat or identified a single, common source.

In addition, Jennie-O Turkey recalled ground turkey as part of the salmonella outbreak, and regulators say additional products from other companies could be named as their investigation continues.

The products being recalled include 1-pound packages of raw, ground Jennie-O turkey and were sold nationwide. The more than 91,000 pounds of turkey had use-by dates of early October and shouldn’t be in stores anymore, but could still be in freezers. Regulators say it should be thrown away.

Hormel said in a statement that government agencies have found the strain in the outbreak in 29 manufacturing plants from 19 companies.

Officials say consumers should always wash their hands and all surface areas where turkey is prepared, never leave it to thaw on the counter, and use a meat thermometer to cook it to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

University of Kansas Athletics

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Les Miles, a national championship-winning former coach at Louisiana State and Oklahoma State, has been named the new head football coach at the University of Kansas, Kansas Athletics Director Jeff Long announced Sunday.

Miles will be formally introduced at a press conference today at 5 p.m.  He will then do a special “Hawk Talk” radio show at 7 p.m. from Johnny’s West restaurant in West Lawrence.

With Miles’ hiring, Kansas becomes the only university in the country that can boast a current men’s basketball coach with an NCAA Division I Championship and a football coach with an FBS Championship.

Miles will receive a five-year contract that will pay him $2,775,000 annually, with additional retention bonuses due in Nov. 2020 and Nov. 2022.

“Since the beginning of our search, we focused on identifying and recruiting an experienced head coach with a strong track record of success on and off the field,” Long said.  “Les Miles is exactly what we need for our program right now.  His national reputation as a great recruiter and as a coach who student-athletes love playing for will enable us to break the cycle and return a winning tradition to the Kansas Jayhawks.  We are thrilled to have Les and his family as Jayhawks.”

Miles brings to Lawrence 142 victories, a BCS national championship and two SEC titles in 15-plus seasons as a head coach, the most career wins of anyone who has coached football at Kansas in the modern era.

Most recently, Miles served as the head coach at LSU (2005-16), where his teams averaged 10 wins per year in his 11 full seasons.  He led LSU to bowl games in each of those 11 seasons (winning seven), and won 42 games against Top-25 teams and 16 over Top-10 teams.  Miles’ teams won 10 or more games seven times, reached the SEC title game three times (winning twice) and led LSU to five Top-10 and three Top-5 finishes.

“I am humbled by the opportunity to lead the KU football program and I am grateful to Chancellor Girod and Jeff Long for the opportunity,” said Miles.  “We will bring Jayhawk Football back and we will do it with outstanding coaches, tremendous student-athletes of character and ability and an unrelenting drive for excellence.  My family and I cannot wait to be a part of the KU family!”

During his tenure at LSU, Miles coached an SEC-leading 69 NFL draft picks, 13 of them first-round selections. He coached 22 first-team All-Americans and 11 players who won national awards. He is the second-winningest coach in LSU history in overall wins (112) and SEC regular-season wins (63).

In the classroom, more than 240 players earned degrees under Miles and during his tenure, LSU Football’s graduation rate ranked as high as No. 2 in the SEC multiple times.  As part of LSU’s Project Graduation established in 2010, more than 30 players who had left school without a degree returned to earn their college diploma before Miles left in 2016.  Nearly 190 LSU players were named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll during Miles’ time there.

“I want to thank Jeff Long for his outstanding work and leadership of our Athletics’ program. I also want to thank the student-athletes in our football program for the mature way in which they have handled this challenging circumstance. I have no doubt that Coach Miles will have an immediate impact on our football program, and on our university,” Chancellor Girod said.  “Together as Jayhawks, we will rebuild our football program the right way, winning championships and continuing to graduate young men of character.  Today is an exciting day for the KU Family.”

Miles went to LSU after a four-year tenure as head coach at Oklahoma State. The OSU program he took over in 2001 had registered only one winning season since 1988. The Cowboys went 4-7 his first year, then had three-straight winning seasons (8-5, 9-4, 7-5). He led OSU to three-straight bowl games, a first for the program since 1983-85.

Miles’ four-year winning percentage of 57 percent is the best career winning percentage for an OSU coach since 1949. OSU was the only team in the nation to beat Oklahoma twice during Miles’ four-year tenure there.

Prior to OSU, Miles spent three years as tight-ends coach with the Dallas Cowboys (one divisional title, two playoff appearances).  He went to Dallas after serving as offensive coordinator at OSU for three seasons (8-3, Alamo Bowl berth in 1997).

Miles served two stints (total of 10 seasons) as an assistant coach at Michigan, several of them under legendary head coach Bo Schembechler. During Miles’ second tenure there, from 1987-94, Michigan won 71 games, made eight-straight bowl appearances, including four Rose Bowls, and finished no lower than No. 21 in the final Associate Press national rankings.

Between tenures at Michigan, Miles spent four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Colorado.

Miles graduated from Michigan in 1976 with a degree in economics. He was a two-year football letterman, playing on two Big Ten championship teams.  He earned all-state honors in football at Elyria High School in Ohio, where he also earned letters in baseball and wrestling.

Miles’ wife, Kathy, was a point guard at Central Michigan University and later an assistant basketball coach at Michigan. They have two daughters, Kathryn (nickname “Smacker”), a former swimmer at Texas and currently a TV sports personality who hosts Les’ podcast), and Macy, a youth softball pitching standout. They also have two sons, Manny, a quarterback at North Carolina, and Ben, who won a high-school football state title in 2015 and is currently a fullback at Texas A&M.

SHAWNEE COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and have suspects in custody.

Just after 3p.m. Thursday, police were summoned to 106 SW Clay in Topeka after witnesses reported someone kicking in the back door of the residence, according to Lt. Aaron Jones.

As officers entered the area the witness reported seeing the suspect truck, a red Dodge Ram, leaving the case address after loading items from the house into the truck.

Police stopped the truck  in the 900 block of SW Wayne.

Andrew C. Akard 29, and Catrien A. Van Petten 30, both of Topeka were located in the truck along with two handguns and items from the reported burglary.

Police booked Akard  into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections under suspicion of open container, possession of a stolen firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell, possession of stolen property, theft and burglary.

Van Petten has been booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections under suspicion of possession of stolen property, theft and burglary.