OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City massage therapist faces sentencing Jan. 3 after admitting that he secretly recorded video of a woman while she undressed.

32-year-old Daniel Gorski pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony count of breach of privacy. He previously worked as a massage therapist at a chiropractic clinic in Gardner, Kansas.

An investigation began in 2016 after Gorski’s girlfriend reported finding a computer flash drive containing images of women undressing or nude. Prosecutors eventually charged Gorski with crimes involving several women, but the additional charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement on Thursday.

Gorski also pleaded guilty earlier this year in Jefferson County, Kan., to possession of child pornography.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A white county commissioner in northeast Kansas said he belongs to “the master race” as he critiqued a land-use proposal by a black city planner at a board meeting.

Leavenworth County Commissioner Louis Klemp cited the Nazi ideology of Aryan supremacy Tuesday in response to the presentation by Triveece Penelton on road development options in Tonganoxie, just west of Kansas City.

Klemp told Penelton : “I don’t want you to think I’m picking on you because we’re part of the master race.”

Commissioner Robert Holland said he was shocked by the comments and that he wants Klemp to resign before his term ends Jan. 15.

Klemp told KSHB-TV off camera that his comment was a joke.

Klemp, who once ran for governor, has come under criticism in the past for making racist comments.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A Kansas City nurse decided to donate a kidney to a patient, triggering a series of events that led to three people getting new organs in the first kidney donation chain collaboration between Children’s Mercy and University of Kansas hospitals.

Children’s Mercy nurse Christa Jordan wanted to donate to her patient and friend Victoria “Dayshanae” Hosman, but better matches were found and a kidney donation chain began.

Donation chains start when a donor wants to give to a person but they aren’t a good match. The donors can then give to someone they match with but don’t know.

Jordan and Hosman met the other donors and recipients at Children’s Mercy Wednesday following the six surgeries conducted on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Schwan’s Co, a food distributor with deep roots in Minnesota known for its gold home-delivery trucks, has been sold to South Korea’s largest food manufacturer.

Seoul-based CJ CheilJedang will pay $1.8 billion for an 80 percent stake in Schwan’s and gain control of its businesses that serve restaurants, grocery stores and other retailers, the companies said in a statement Thursday. The deal which includes facilities in Salina is expected to close early next year.

The Schwan family will retain 20 percent ownership in the businesses being sold to CJCJ. The family will keep 100 percent ownership of Schwan’s Home Service Inc., the home-delivery business that Marvin Schwan began in Marshall in 1952.

The companies said Schwan’s will keep its name and its Minnesota offices in Bloomington and in Marshall. Schwan’s CEO Dimitrios Smyrnios will continue to lead the company.

Paul Schwan, a Schwan’s board member and son of Marvin Schwan, said it was important to find a partner who would honor the family’s legacy.

“We are not expecting any change,” Schwan said.

Smyrnios said other Schwan’s executives also will stay.

“Obviously there’s a certain amount of nervousness with a sale,” Smyrnios told the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Wednesday night. “We are going to operate business as usual in Marshall, business as usual in Bloomington, business as usual in Minnesota.”

Schwan’s has about $3 billion in annual sales and employs about 12,000. The company offers frozen and ready-made products, including Red Baron, Freschetta and Tony’s pizzas, Mrs. Smith’s pies, Edwards desserts and Pagoda Asian-style snacks. Schwan’s also has a food service business that sells to schools, hospitals and other institutions.

Smyrnios said Schwan’s wants to grow. “This is not a cost-cutting exercise,” he said.

CJCJ is the largest unit of the CJ Group, a conglomerate of food and related companies that was originally part of the Samsung Group. CJCJ had $14.5 billion in sales last year and is the largest food producer in South Korea. The company also sells rice, noodles and Korean sauces and spices in U.S. stores under the CJ, Annie Chun, Bibigo and Omni labels. The company also runs the Bibigo chain of Asian fast-food restaurants in California.

CJCJ said it expects to gain scale and cost efficiencies in U.S. stores with the Schwan’s acquisition. Company officials also hope Schwan’s distribution system will bring their Korean products into more U.S. groceries and restaurants.

“CJ will accelerate the globalization of Korean food culture,” CJCJ chief executive Shin Ho-kang said in a statement.

When the deal closes, Schwan’s will become a unit of CJ Foods America Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of CJCJ. CJCJ currently has five U.S. manufacturing and distribution sites and will pick up 17 food manufacturing facilities and 10 distribution centers across the United States with Schwan’s.

 

 

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ attorney general contends that Secretary of State Kris Kobach shouldn’t be held personally liable for exposing sensitive personal information about hundreds of voters and that the voters have no constitutional right to their data being kept private.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office has in recent weeks filed documents outlining the state’s defense of Kobach in a lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union. The sensitive information exposed by Kobach’s office for 945 Kansas voters included partial Social Security numbers.

The ACLU’s lawsuit alleges “reckless maintenance” by Kobach of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, which compares voter registration lists among participating states to look for duplicates. The program, which Kobach administers, is aimed at cleaning voter records and preventing voter fraud but has drawn criticism for its high error rate and lax security.

Kobach, a conservative Republican, lost this year’s race for governor and served as vice chairman of President Donald Trump’s short-lived commission on voter fraud. He has called the lawsuit baseless.

Schmidt’s office argues that the U.S. Supreme Court “has never held that there is a constitutional right to prevent government disclosure of private information” and that Kobach is legally immune from a lawsuit. The ACLU is suing Kobach as an individual and in his official capacity as the state’s top elections official.

Lauren Bonds, the legal director for the ACLU of Kansas, said even if sensitive information isn’t constitutionally protected from disclosure, its release “was still reckless and extremely harmful to the voters who have had their information exposed.”

The lawsuit contends that it isn’t known how many voters had their information exposed, but that in a single communication in 2017, Florida election officials released the names, dates of birth, addresses and partial Social Security numbers of 945 Kansas voters in responding to an open records request.

Crosscheck compares registration lists and analyzes voters’ first names, surnames and dates of birth to determine whether a person is registered in multiple states. The lawsuit contends that most of the hits are false matches.

Kobach has encouraged states to provide voters’ partial Social Security numbers and other confidential information to narrow the list. The lawsuit alleges that Kobach regularly sent voter signatures as well as the Crosscheck computer server’s address and passwords by unencrypted email.

The program was started in 2005 and had only four participants when Kobach took office in 2011. By 2017, 30 states were participating and more than 100 million voter records were added to the database, according to the lawsuit.

Eight states — Florida, Alaska, Kentucky, Washington, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts — have left the program over security and data reliability concerns since Kobach began managing it.

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By ROXANA HEGEMAN

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Attorneys for three Kansas militia members convicted of plotting to bomb a mosque and apartment complex housing Somali immigrants in a western Kansas meatpacking town have asked the court to bar at sentencing any victim impact statements, arguing no one was actually hurt in the plot.

Federal prosecutors have countered that the men are trying to “minimize their actions and de-personalize their crimes.” They say that “runs directly afoul” of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

“Despite the overwhelming evidence that led a jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants conspired to commit a hate-motived mass murder, the defendants now make the extraordinary claim that the targets of their plot — the defendants’ would-be murder victims — are not in fact ‘victims’ and should not be heard at sentencing,” prosecutors said Tuesday in a filing.

The dispute has derailed the two-day sentencing hearing that had been scheduled to begin Monday, with the judge now instead planning to hear oral arguments Monday about whether to consider victim statements. U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren is expected to set a new sentencing date after conferring with attorneys Thursday.

A federal jury convicted Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen of one count of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and one count of conspiracy against civil rights in April. Wright was also found guilty of lying to the FBI. 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 220 miles (354 kilometers) west of Wichita.

The government has argued that the men formed a splinter group of the rightwing, anti-immigrant militia Kansas Security Force that came to be known as “the Crusaders.” The testimony and recordings at trial indicated the men tried to recruit other members of the Kansas Security Force to join them.

Conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction carries a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, while the sentence for the civil rights violation carries no more than 10 years. Prosecutors are seeking life terms for all three, while defense attorneys are variously pleading for shorter terms of 15 years, 10 years or even time served.

The issue arose after the government informed the men that it planned to present at the sentencing hearing 20 videos, each about five to seven minutes, from Somali residents of the Garden City apartment complex targeted in the plot.

Defense attorneys balked and asked Melgren to not even look at those videos until the victim impact issue is resolved and he rules on whether to consider them, arguing the videos’ content will have no bearing on whether they should be shown.

The defense said prosecutors are seeking the opinions of the Somali residents about a crime even though they have no firsthand knowledge, without giving the defense an opportunity to cross-examine them. They also argued that the government’s desire to play multiple videos is “burdensome and unfairly prejudicial and unnecessarily and unfairly lengthens the sentencing hearing.”

Prosecutors pushed back on the defense notion the victims are not “reliable” and should be subject to cross-examination.

“To allow cross-examination of the victims would serve only to traumatize and re-victimize people whom the defendants have already harmed through the conspiracy to kill them in their homes and in their place of worship,” the government said.

Prosecutors also argued federal law guarantees every victim the right to be reasonably heard at sentencing, including their views on what punishment would be fair.

Melgren prohibited prosecutors from presenting testimony from the Somali residents during the trial itself because anything they could have said would have been based solely on what the government told them about the evidence.

Prosecutors argued in a court filing that things are different for sentencing because the “voluminous evidence” is now part of the public record and the victim statements are based on their reactions to the men’s proven criminal efforts to murder them.

Country star Roy Clark, the guitar virtuoso and singer who headlined the cornpone TV show “Hee Haw” for nearly a quarter century and was known for such hits as “Yesterday When I was Young” and “Honeymoon Feeling,” has died. He was 85.

Publicist Jeremy Westby said Clark died Thursday due to complications from pneumonia at home in Tulsa, Okla.

Clark was “Hee Haw” host or co-host for its entire 24-year run, with Buck Owens his best known co-host. The country music and comedy show’s last episode aired in 1993, though reruns continued for a few years thereafter.

“‘Hee Haw’ won’t go away. It brings a smile to too many faces,” he said in 2004, when the show was distributed on VHS and DVD for the first time.

"The next chance you get, do somethin' nice for somebody – say 'good day,' hold a door open – and don't wait around for a thank you… you don't need it." — Roy Clark

Roy, thank you for always spreading laughter, kindness, and positivity. We'll keep it goin' for ya! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Gs3AdJSKQd

— Grand Ole Opry (@opry) November 15, 2018

Clark played the guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica and other instruments. His skills brought him gigs as guest performer with many top orchestras, including the Boston Pops. In 1976 he headlined a tour of the Soviet Union, breaking boundaries that were usually closed to Americans.

And of course, he also was a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

His hits included “The Tips of My Fingers” (1963), “Yesterday When I Was Young” (1969), “Come Live With Me” (1973) and “Honeymoon Feeling” (1974). He was also known for his instrumental versions of “Malaguena,” on 12-string guitar, and “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”

He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009, and emotionally told the crowd how moving it was “just to be associated yourself with the members of the Country Music Hall of Fame and imagine that your name will be said right along with all the list.”

In his 1994 autobiography, “My Life in Spite of Myself,” he said “Yesterday, When I Was Young” had “opened a lot of people’s eyes not only to what I could do but to the whole fertile and still largely untapped field of country music, from the Glen Campbells and the Kenny Rogerses, right on through to the Garth Brookses and Vince Gills.”

Clark was guest host on “The Tonight Show” several times in the 1960s and 1970s when it was rare for a country performer to land such a role. His fans included not just musicians, but baseball great Mickey Mantle. The Yankees outfielder was moved to tears by “Yesterday When I Was Young” and for years made Clark promise to sing it at his memorial — a request granted after Mantle died in 1995.

Beginning in 1983, Clark operated the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre in Branson, Missouri, and was one of the first country entertainers to open a theater there. Dozens followed him.

He was a touring artist as late as the 2000s. Over the years, he played at venues around the world: Carnegie Hall in New York, the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo, the Grand Palace in Brussels and the Rossiya Theatre in Moscow.

Clark was born in Meherrin, Virginia, and received his first guitar on his 14th Christmas. He was playing in his father’s square dance band at age 15.

In the 1950s, Clark played in bands in the Washington, D.C., area. In 1960, he got the chance to front the band of country singer Wanda Jackson. He also performed regularly in Las Vegas. He got his first recording contract, with Capitol Records, in 1962.

He appeared on Jimmy Dean’s TV show “Town and Country Time” and took over the show when Dean left.

In 1997 he released “Roy Clark’s Christmas Memories.”

Clark and Owens worked together for years, but they had very different feelings about “Hee Haw.” Owens, who left the show in 1986, later referred to it as a “cartoon donkey,” one he endured for “that big paycheck.” Clark told The Associated Press in 2004 that “Hee Haw” was like a family reunion.

“We became a part of the family. The viewers were sort of part owners of the show. They identified with these clowns, and we had good music.”

Clark said the hour-long program of country music and corny jokes capped off his career.

“This was the icing on the cake. This put my face and name together

HARVEY COUNTY — A Kansas teen remains in jail accused of rape following an arrest on November 7, according to Newton Police Lt. Scott Powell.

The crime allegedly involved a 15-year-old in a vehicle on the Newton High School parking lot during lunch break, according to Powell.

Police picked up 18-year old Samuel Loomis at the school, took him to the police station for questioning and made the arrest.

In addition to rape, Loomis is charged with unlawful voluntary sexual relations and aggravated indecent liberties with a child between 14 and 16, according to the Harvey County inmate report.

The high school senior made a first court appearance Tuesday, according to the Harvey County Attorney.   Loomis is scheduled back in court November 26.

NOTE: Kansas state law allows law enforcement to release the names of juveniles age 14 and older involved in criminal cases

EMPORIA — After she wrote what some consider a controversial statement on social media, a vice president of the Associated Student Government at Emporia State University won’t face impeachment.

According to the university’s Associated Student Government’s Facebook page, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee planned to begin an impeachment effort against Michaela Todd after she wrote in support of GOP gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach, “put Kansans first not illegal aliens. The millions of dollars spent on public welfare for illegal aliens in Kansas hurts Kansas taxpayers every day.”

The term illegal aliens offended many on campus and prompted calls for her to resign from her position with ESU student government.  Todd refused to step down.

The university issued a statement that “encouraged Associated Student Government to study the issue and determine appropriate next steps. Associated Student Government has resources at its disposal to make an informed decision, understand the ramifications of its actions and plan a constructive path forward.”

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on numerous charges after an arrest.

Just after 4 p.m. Wednesday, police responded to Motel 6 at 709 SW Fairlawn in Topeka to locate a subject with outstanding warrants, according to Lt. John Trimble.

During the investigation, officers discovered a gun, ammo and narcotics.

They also took 20-year-old Jatavious Darr  and 41-year-old Allan Burgess  into custody. They are convicted felons and were in possession of a firearm, according to Trimble.

In addition, police removed 3 children from the room and put them police protective custody.

Both Burgess and Darr were booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on the following charges for Criminal Possession of a Firearm, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana, 3 counts Aggravated Child Endangerment and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Darr was also booked for a Felony Pottawatomie County Warrant and a Topeka City warrant, according to Trimble.

KANSAS CITY  – A Kansas City man who wore a skeleton mask while disrupting traffic was indicted by a federal grand jury today for illegally possessing a sawed-off shotgun, according to the United State’s Attorney.

Daniel A. Robertson, 54, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City. Tuesday’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Robertson on Oct. 29, 2018.

The indictment charges Robertson with being a felon in possession of a firearm and with possessing an unregistered firearm.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Kansas City police officers responded to a call at 152 Highway and N. Indiana on Oct. 28, 2018. A caller had reported a suspicious man (later identified as Robertson) walking on the entrance ramp of the highway wearing a black skeleton mask over his face. The caller said the man walked toward her car, causing her to nearly hit him.

When officers arrived, they contacted Robertson. Robertson allegedly was carrying a loaded sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun concealed in the front of his jacket. He had additional ammunition in his jacket and pants pockets, the affidavit says.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Robertson has prior felony convictions for burglary, possession of a controlled substance, endangering the welfare of a child, child molestation, failure to appear in court, and failure to register as a sex offender.

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

KIOWA COUNTY — Three people died in an accident just before 7a.m. Wednseday in Kiowa County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2019 International semi driven by Gary Allan Heald, 55, Fergus Falls, MN., was westbound on U54 at Orange Street.

The semi crossed left of center and collided with a 1995 Peterbilt semi driven by Justin Wise, 38, Arkansas City, and both trucks caught fire.

Heald, Wise and a passenger aboard the International Cheryl Marie Thomas, 56,Fergus Falls, MN., were transported to the hospital in Dodge City where they died.

The KHP had no information on seat belt usage.

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WELLSFORD, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Highway Patrol says three people have died in a crash involving two semi-trailer trucks.

The head-on crash occurred early Wednesday on Highway 54 near the town of Wellsford in Kiowa County.

The patrol says both trucks caught fire. The highway was closed for several hours after the crash.

One truck was empty and the other was carrying pork products.

The names of the three people killed have not been released.