TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the midterm election in Kansas (all times local):
Republican Rep. Ron Estes has won a full term in Congress representing a Wichita-area district he first won in a tight special election last year for the seat formerly held by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Estes defeated Democrat James Thompson in a heavily Republican district that President Donald Trump won with 60 percent of the vote in 2016. Pompeo won re-election that year by 31 points. Pompeo’s resignation to join Trump’s administration led to a special election in which Estes defeated Thompson, a civil rights attorney.
Republicans have represented the 17-county southcentral Kansas district since 1994. Estes was the state’s former two-term state treasurer.
The campaign was marked by personal attacks, with Estes pushing stories about Thompson’s previous brushes with the law and Thompson slamming Estes for accepting donations from political action committees.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the midterm election in Kansas (all times local):
Scott Schwab-courtesy photo
Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab has won the Kansas secretary of state’s race two years after his 10-year-old son died in an accident at a water park.
Schwab defeated Democrat Brian McClendon in Tuesday’s election. Schwab had been favored because Democrats have not elected a Kansas secretary of state in 70 years.
Schwab, from Olathe, is the Kansas House speaker pro tem and a former House Elections Committee chairman. He backed tough voter identification policies championed by Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
Schwab’s son, Caleb, died in August 2016 on a giant waterslide at the Schlitterbahn park in Kansas City, Kansas.
McClendon is former Google and Uber executive who returned to his hometown of Lawrence last year.
Kobach gave up the secretary of state’s office to run for governor.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans held onto an eastern Kansas congressional seat Tuesday they had been in danger of losing because of questions about their novice candidate’s public statements.
Steve Watkins defeated Democrat Paul Davis in the 2nd District and will replace retiring five-term GOP Rep. Lynn Jenkins.
Davis was better known as a former Kansas House minority leader and he had carried the district in an unsuccessful run for governor in 2014.
But the district leans Republican: Trump carried it by nearly 17 percentage points in 2016, and Watkins had the president’s endorsement.
Watkins, a former Army officer and government contractor, emerged from a bruising seven-person primary that saw one opponent label him a “fraud” and some local leaders question his commitment to the Republican Party.
Watkins told his supporters that he would work to bring conservative values and military leadership to Congress.
“You took a leap of faith in me,” he said. “I won’t let you down.”
He told WIBW-TV in a short interview that he will focus on immigration and economic issues.
Davis conceded defeat in the race and told a Lawrence crowd that he is done seeking public office. Davis said he called Watkins and congratulated him on his victory.
“He has served our country and I wish him well,” Davis said in remarks at the Douglas County watch party for the Democratic Party in downtown Lawrence.
Topeka voter Tuffy Radford, a 37-year-old Republican, said he voted for Watkins because was confident enough about the economy earlier this year to start his own tile-setting business after struggling to find work a few years ago.
“I need to keep the economy going in my direction,” he said. “The economy’s booming.”
Watkins himself emerged as an issue despite his attractive profile as a political outsider and a West Point graduate who served in Afghanistan and then worked there, in Iraq and in Central Asia as a government contractor. He’s run the famed Iditarod dog sled race twice in Alaska and attempted to scale Mount Everest in 2015.
But he was caught exaggerating his role in a small business in the Middle East and removed a quote about his “heroic leadership” during the Mount Everest expedition attributed to his guide, after the guide told The Associated Press that he’d never said it.
Even before, Republican critics noted that the Topeka native had spent most of his adult life living outside Kansas and had not voted in the state until a municipal election in November 2017, after he’d decided to run for Congress.
Also, Watkins’ father, a Topeka physician, was heavily involved in the race as the almost-exclusive source of funding for a political action committee, Kansans Can Do Anything, boosting his son’s candidacy. The elder Watkins contributed more than $765,000 to the PAC.
One former GOP foe, ex-state Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, called him “a charlatan, a fraud and an opportunist,” days before the August primary, though he later wouldn’t criticize Watkins. Some GOP leaders also were wary of him after three Democrats said publicly that he met with them last year about running as a Democrat — something he strongly disputed.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A former employee of a suburban Kansas City youth mental health facility has been placed on probation for sex charges.
Willis -photo Johnson County
27-year-old Dijon Willis will have to serve 30 days in jail as a condition of probation. He also was ordered Monday to undergo sex offender treatment and be placed on the state’s sex offender registry for 25 years.
Willis pleaded no contest in August and was found guilty of indecent liberties with a child and attempted sexual exploitation of a child. The charges stemmed from incidents in 2013 and 2014, when Willis worked at KidsTLC in Olathe.
Several residents, both current and former, alleged that Willis touched them inappropriately.
JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a series of burglaries and have three suspects in custody.
Witmer -photo Jackson Co.Haire -photo Jackson Co.
Just after 1p.m. Monday, a resident saw a red Chevy passenger car leaving their residence at 18075 98thRoad in southeastern Jackson County and discovered the home had been broken into, according to Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse. The resident then found the red Chevy broken down near 98th and V.4 Road and parked in the roadway.
KHP Troopers and sheriff’s deputies scoured the area looking for the suspects. It was later determined that a passerby had picked up the vehicle’s three occupants and drove them to a residence in the 9000 block of Topeka Blvd. in Shawnee County.
A Shawnee County Deputy saw two subjects west of the address in a wooded area. A KHP aircraft also assisted with the search. One of the suspects was taken into custody following being apprehended by a KHP K-9 unit.
Two more suspects were taken into custody west of the address in the 8900 block of Rochester Road. All three subjects were transported to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for questioning.
Jackson County Deputies impounded the red Chevy passenger car along with property believed to have been taken from the residence.
Taken into custody was 21-year-old Ty Daniel Haire, of Mayetta and 20-year-old Robert Anthony Witmer, of Topeka and a 17-year-old male, of Hoyt.
Witmer was booked into the Jackson County Jail on charges of aggravated burglary and theft. Haire was booked into the Jackson County Jail on charges of aggravated burglary and theft. The juvenile was booked on the same charges. The trio allegedly wore masks during the burglary and are also suspected of allegedly committing another half dozen burglaries in the surrounding counties.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the midterm election in Kansas (all times local):
A Republican voter in Topeka has cast his ballot for GOP nominee Steve Watkins in the 2nd Congressional District because he worries that Democrats are just too liberal.
Dane Kenney said Tuesday after voting that he has some misgivings about President Donald Trump’s public statements and his tweeting. Kenny is a 46-year-old heating and air-conditioning systems repairman.
Trump endorsed Watkins, a former Army officer and government contractor. Kenney said he likes the president’s policies on taxes and immigration.
Kenney said he voted against Democrat Paul Davis because, in his words, “Honestly, I can’t do liberal.”
Davis has pitched himself as a moderate, but Watkins and other Republicans have portrayed him as a liberal. Kenney said ads for both campaigns were too negative.
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1:15 p.m.
A western Kansas town that was sued after moving its only polling site to a facility outside city limits is giving rides to voters that show up at the old site.
The Wichita Eagle reports that drivers were on hand Tuesday to drive people from the old Dodge City voting location to the new one, which is more than a mile from the nearest bus stop. The ACLU lost a lawsuit to force a second Dodge City polling site.
Among those catching rides in the City’s Convention and Visitors Bureau van were Mohamed Yaaqoub and Ezedeen Younes. They came to America from the Sudan and work at a meatpacking plant.
But at the polls, both had to vote provisional ballots. Yaaquoub didn’t have the proper ID and Younes had changed his address since he registered.
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Republican Kansas Secretary of Kris Kobach says voter turnout appears to be heavy.
Kobach talked to reporters Tuesday in Lecompton as he cast his own ballot for governor. He is running for the seat against Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly. She is wooing GOP moderates who are put off by Kobach’s hardline stances on issues such as immigration, while Kobach expects his conservative base to turn out to counter enthusiasm on the left.
A wild card is Independent candidate Greg Orman, a Kansas City-area businessman, who Democrats fear could take enough votes to hand the election to Kobach.
Lines have been reported in locations that include Salina.
Kansas Democrats are also hoping to flip two GOP held U.S. House seats in the eastern part of the state.
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7:05 a.m.
Voters have started casting ballots in Kansas’ closely watched governor’s race and in two hotly contested U.S. House seats.
The race for governor between Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly was a toss-up in the campaign’s final weekend. Kelly is wooing GOP moderates who are put off by Kobach’s hardline stances on issues such as immigration, while Kobach expects his conservative base to turn out to counter enthusiasm on the left. A wild card is Independent candidate Greg Orman.
In eastern Kansas, incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder is facing a formidable challenge from Democratic newcomer Sharice Davids, who would be the nation’s first LGBT Native American in Congress. And Republican Steve Watkins and Democrat Paul Davis are battling for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Rep. Lynn Jenkins.
WICHITA– Calling their crimes, “horrific beyond imagination” and the “depth of depravity,” District Judge Bruce Brown sentenced Jeff and Heidi Hillard to the maximum penalties for the torture and murder of Scottie Goodpaster Jr. in Valley Center, according to a media release from the Sedgwick County District Attorney.
Jeff HillardHeidi Hillard -photo Sedgwick County
Judge Brown gave Jeff Hillard, 51 of Valley Center, life with no parole eligibility for 50 years. For other crimes ranging from aggravated kidnapping and rape to aggravated battery, Judge Brown sentenced Hillard to 330 months to run consecutive to the Hard 50 sentence.
Hillard’s wife Heidi Hillard, 44 of Valley Center, was also sentenced to the Hard 50 with an additional 534 months.
Attorneys for both defendants say they will appeal the sentences to the Kansas Supreme Court.
Mr. Goodpaster was kidnapped two years ago today over an alleged $185-dollar debt owed for methamphetamine. The 33 year old Goodpaster was attacked with an ax, knife and staple gun. Jumper cables were attached to his genitals. His body was found hanging from a tree in Harvey County.
Brian Bussart, 41 of Wichita, is scheduled for trial later this month in Goodpaster’s death while Alexandria Scott, 28 of Wichita, is awaiting sentencing. Bussart and Scott testified against the Hillards in their trial.
A fifth defendant, Willie Morris, was sentenced last May to the Hard 50 plus 280 months.
WICHITA, KAN. – A convicted felon arrested after he ran from police in Salina was indicted Tuesday on federal drug and gun charges, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Briscoe is being held in Butler County
Jason P. Briscoe, 41, Minneapolis, Minn., is charged in a superseding indictment with one count possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine (count one), one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking (count two), one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking (count three), two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction (counts four and five) and four counts of unlawful possession of ammunition following a felony conviction (counts six through nine).
Documents filed in the case allege Briscoe got out of a 2004 Chevrolet Impala and ran when police stopped the car in March for a traffic violation. During the chase, he discarded a 9 mm Beretta handgun and a nylon bag containing a 9 mm Taurus handgun, brass knuckles, methamphetamine and marijuana.
If convicted, he faces the following penalties:
Count one: Not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $4 million. Count two: Not less than seven years and a fine up to $250,000. Count three: Not less than five years and a fine up to $250,000. Counts four through nine: Up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal motorcycle accident and have identified the woman who died.
Fatal Sunday accident scene -photo courtesy KWCH
Just after 4p.m. Sunday, officers responded to an injury accident at Third Street and Washington in Wichita
A 2012 Chevy Sonic driven by a 26-year-old woman was northbound on Washington and turned left onto Third Street in front of several southbound motorcycles.
A 2009 Harley Davidson Blackhawk motorcycle driven by a 25-year-old man and a 26-year-old passenger identified as Sarah Schnake of Wichita struck the front of the Chevy.
They were thrown from the motorcycle and suffered critical injuries, according to Davidson. They were transported to a local hospital where Schnake died of her injuries.
A 30-year-old driving another Honda motorcycle also clipped the back of the Chevy. He was not injured.
Police will present the case to the Sedgwick County District Attorney, according to Davidson. Impairment does not appear to be a factor in the collision. It is the 23rd fatality accident for 2018 in Wichita.
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SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal accident in Sedgwick County.
Fatal Sunday accident scene -photo courtesy KWCH
Just after 4p.m. Sunday, officers responded to an injury accident at Third Street and Washington in Wichita
A 2012 Chevy Sonic driven by a 26-year-old woman was northbound on Washington and turned left onto Third Street in front of several southbound motorcycles.
A Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by 25-year-old and a 26-year-old passenger struck the front of the Chevy. They were thrown from the motorcycle and suffered critical injuries, according to Davidson. They were transported to a local hospital where the woman died of her injuries.
A 30-year-old driving another Honda motorcycle also clipped the back of the Chevy. He was not injured.
Police will present the case to the Sedgwick County District Attorney, according to Davidson. Impairment does not appear to be a factor in the collision.
Police have not released the name of the victim. It is the 23rd fatality accident for 2018 in Wichita.
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — An Oregon man is charged after he allegedly rammed a Leavenworth County sheriff deputy’s car twice.
Derek Kelley -photo Leavenworth County
Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said Monday that 42-year-old Derek Kelley, of Rainier, Oregon, is charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and three other counts. Kelley is jailed in Leavenworth County.
Leavenworth County Undersheriff James Sherley said when the deputy was out of his vehicle after stopping a pickup truck between Leavenworth and Atchison, the pickup reversed and hit the patrol vehicle before taking off. Sherley says during the ensuing chase, the truck suddenly stopped and reversed into the patrol vehicle a second time.
The deputy suffered a knee injury.
The truck was found abandoned. Kelley and a passenger in the truck fled into a nearby home before being arrested.
Nearly six months after ordering a cult leader and his group to pay almost $8 million in damages to a woman they’d effectively enslaved for 10 years, a federal judge has ordered the cult leader’s arrest.
Royall Jenkins, as he appears on the United Nation of Islam’s Wikipedia page. CREDIT CREATIVE COMMONS
Royall Jenkins was the founder and leader of The Value Creators Inc., formerly known as The United Nation of Islam. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree issued a bench warrant for his arrest after finding that Jenkins had ignored numerous court orders.
In May, Crabtree found that Jenkins and The Value Creators, which is based in Kansas City, Kansas, had forced Kendra Ross to work without pay for various businesses run by the group from the time she was 11 years old.
“Here, with reckless disregard for plaintiff’s health and safety, defendants intentionally and maliciously trafficked and forced her to work in their residences for excessive hours – all with no pay or benefits,” Crabtree wrote in his 57-page ruling.
Crabtree’s damage award was believed to be the biggest verdict ever awarded in a human trafficking case. Neither Jenkins nor lawyers representing him or The Value Creators appeared at the May hearing.
Jenkins is thought to reside in Arizona but listed a Kansas City, Kansas, telephone number on the docket in Ross’ case. A person who answered the phone at that number claimed to be Jenkins’ “liaison” and said he would forward a request for comment to Jenkins.
Jenkins, a long-distance trucker, declared himself to be Allah four decades ago.
“At the end of the testing period (1978 ½), two scientists (angels) actually came physically and took me on a small craft around the universe to acquaint me with who I am and what already exists, to ensure my success in being myself, Allah, The Supreme Being,” Jenkins wrote on his website, according to a detailed investigation by The Pitch magazine in 2003.
In Kansas City, Kansas, The Value Creators operated a variety of businesses with the word “Your” in their names: Your Diner, Your Supermarket, Your Service Station and Your Colonic Center.
Jenkins was a member of the Nation of Islam, the group founded by Elijah Muhammad, but after Elijah Muhammad’s death, Jenkins left the organization and founded the United Nation of Islam.
In her lawsuit, Ross, who is now in her late 20s, alleged that Jenkins had at least 13 wives and 20 children. She said she was forced to cook, clean, babysit and work without pay or benefits for them and businesses owned by the group around the country. She also said she was subjected to physical and emotional abuse, and was rarely given time off.
In ordering Jenkins’ arrest, Crabtree noted that Jenkins had not responded to requests by Ross’ attorneys to determine the extent of Jenkins’ assets.
“The court thus concludes that a bench warrant calling for the United States Marshal to apprehend Royall Jenkins is the appropriate sanction for his demonstrated civil contempt for the court,” Crabtree wrote on Friday.
Ross’ lawyer, Betsy Hutson with the McGuire Woods law firm, said that Jenkins had not shown up for any of the court proceedings and apart from two court filings, had not participated in the case.
“He hasn’t otherwise showed up or made any attempt to follow the court’s orders or otherwise respond timely to the things that we’ve filed,” Hutson said.
“It’s been a challenge to serve him personally and I imagine that the (U.S.) marshals are going to find it challenging to track him down as well,” she added.
Hutson said that while lawyers have not recovered the full $8 million, “we have made significant progress in terms of garnishing on some of the bank accounts, and we’ve identified a lot of the properties and businesses that they own. It just takes time.”
Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas voters will decide Tuesday whether to promote to governor Kris Kobach, a strong ally of President Donald Trump, who wants to crack down on immigrants living in the state illegally and resume conservative tax-cutting policies from earlier in the decade that critics labeled a failure.
October gubernatorial candidate debate -photo courtesy Kobach for governor campaign
Republican Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, says if elected he would slash spending and seek tax cuts like those championed by unpopular former Gov. Sam Brownback.
His Democratic opponent, state Sen. Laura Kelly, has made her opposition to the ill-fated 2012-13 experiment in slashing state income taxes the centerpiece of her campaign in a tight race. She was part of a bipartisan effort in 2017 that reversed most of the tax cuts to drag state finances out of a gaping hole.
“By then, Kansans understood the damage that was done,” Kelly said between last-minute campaign stops. “And they wanted nothing more to do with that.”
A wildcard in the race is Independent candidate Greg Orman, a Kansas City-area businessman, who Democrats fear could take enough votes from Kelly to hand the election to Kobach.
Kansas is considered a deep red state with party registration 44 percent Republican and 25 percent Democratic. But its dominant Republican party sometimes splits between moderates and conservatives, leaving an opening for a Democrat to peel off disaffected GOP voters. In recent decades the state has alternated between Republican and Democratic governors.
That GOP rift emerged this year with the nomination of Kobach, who has concentrated on motivating his conservative base rather than wooing moderate voters.
“The way we win is, we rack up our numbers,” Kobach told a get-out-the vote rally in Topeka. “If Republicans vote in big numbers, we win a statewide election. It’s just that simple.”
Kobach has built a national profile as an advocate of tough immigration policies and strict voter identification laws. He has advised Trump and served as vice chairman of Trump’s since-disbanded commission on voter fraud. He narrowly defeated Gov. Jeff Colyer in the GOP primary in August after Trump ignored some of his advisers and tweeted an endorsement of Kobach.
Trump carried the state by 20 percentage points in the 2016 presidential race and had a rally to help Kobach’s campaign in October. Donald Trump Jr. had two fundraising events for him.
Kobach delights in provoking critics with stunts such as using of a red-white-and-blue jeep with a replica machine gun mounted on top in community parades to emphasize his support for the 2nd amendment to the Constitution.
Despite the painful experience of the Brownback tax cuts, he has promised to shrink the size of government so that the state could resume cutting taxes. He has bristled at Kelly’s suggestion that he would revive the Brownback tax experiment and top it, arguing that he would be more aggressive about reducing government spending.
Kelly wants to increase spending, not reduce it, saying more money is needed for higher education, early childhood education and mental health services.
She also embraced a plan this year from the Legislature to phase in a $548 million increase in spending on public schools in response to Kansas Supreme Court decisions in an education funding lawsuit filed in 2010. Kobach criticized the court and suggested that lawmakers had paid a “king’s ransom” to comply with the court order.
Like Trump, Kobach has stressed immigration issues in the run-up to the election. He wants policies designed to push immigrants living in Kansas illegally out of the state. Kelly said Kobach’s immigration policies would hurt the state’s economy, particularly in western Kansas which depends on immigrant workers for the meatpacking industry.
Orman had hoped to build on an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2014 as an independent candidate that brought him national attention. But his campaign for governor never gained enough traction to make him more than a spoiler.
