SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on numerous charges following an afternoon standoff.
Quinton Bame -photo Shawnee Co.
Just after 1:30 Thursday, police responded to 630 SE Chester in Topeka after report of a domestic disturbance, according to Lt. Jerry Monasmith.
As officers arrive, the suspect later identified as 23-year-old Quinton Michael Bame, ran inside and barricaded himself inside the residence.
Officers attempted to have the suspect exit the residence through several forms of communication, for several hours, without any success.
After a search warrant for the residence was served, police were able to take the suspect into custody without incident.
Detectives and Crime Scene investigators responded to process the scene and gather evidence. Police reported no additional injuries as a result of the incident.
Bame was transported to the Department of Corrections for charges of Aggravated Battery and Aggravated Assault.
Democrat Sharice Davids walloped incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder in fundraising last quarter.
Democratic candidate Sharice Davids raised $2.7 million in the last quarter in her bid to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder in the Kansas 3rd District. CREDIT SAM ZEFF -Kansas News Service
The Davids campaign says the first-time candidate raised $2.7 million between July and September. In that same period Yoder, running for a fifth term in the Kansas 3rd District, raised almost $1.3 million.
Yoder’s campaign charged that most of the challenger’s money comes from outside Kansas. It pointed to a story on Axios.com that showed only about 30 percent of Davids’ individual contributions came from within Kansas. However, that is based on last quarter’s Federal Election Commission finance report.
“Sharice has been completely non-existent in the district because she’s raising liberal money around the country,” Yoder spokesman C.J. Grover said in a statement. “She’s skipped important local events for swanky New York fundraisers,” referring to an event at the Stonewall Inn last month.
Davids responded by saying “momentum continues to build” for her campaign. “So many people have made small-dollar investments in this campaign because they know I’ll work for Kansas families, unlike Congressman Kevin Yoder, who looks out for his special interest donors,” Davids said in a statement to KCUR.
Davids has been on a bit of a roll the last two weeks. Over the weekend, the National Republican Congressional Committee reportedly pulled a million dollars in advertising support from Yoder, Inside Elections moved the race to “tilt Democratic” and a New York Times poll has Davids up by eight points.
New FEC reports are due on Oct. 15.
Sam Zeff is a metro reporter in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can follow Sam on Twitter @samzeff
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 2-year-old boy was killed and his sister was injured when wind tore a giant inflatable from its moorings and tossed it 30 feet into the air before depositing it, with the toddler wrapped up inside, more than 100 feet away, authorities said Friday.
Image -JK’s Pumpkin Patch
The Lancaster County, Nebraska sheriff’s office said Caleb Acuna suffered severe head trauma in his ordeal Wednesday evening at JK’s Pumpkin Patch, just north of Lincoln. Caleb was taken off life support Thursday afternoon.
His 5-year-old sister, Arra, suffered a broken arm.
“It’s certainly a tragic situation,” said Lancaster County Sheriff’s Capt. Tom Brookhouser. “The sheriff’s office has never worked an incident like this in the 28 years I’ve been here.”
The siblings were playing on the bounce pillow — similar to a bounce house, but without any walls — around 6 p.m. Wednesday when an estimated 59 mph (95 kilometers per hour) wind gust tore it from its moorings.
Raymond Fire Safety Officer Nick Monnier told the Lincoln Journal Star that the children’s parents had just climbed off the inflatable when the wind swept it up. Monnier said Arra was thrown about 30 feet, but that the pillow folded over on top of Caleb Acuna and carried him more than 100 feet.
A nearby bounce house was also blown away by the same wind gust, he said.
Brookhouser said authorities are still investigating, and that an autopsy is planned.
The National Weather Service had issued a wind advisory for Wednesday afternoon, warning of gusts up to 60 mph. Winds throughout the day consistently exceeded 20 mph (32 kph).
The large, pillow-shaped inflatables are common at county fairs and on lakes. Manufacturers commonly warn that they should not be used when winds exceed 20 mph.
The Lancaster County Board of Commissions in August approved an amusement license for the pumpkin patch, according to the Journal Star.
Owners of the pumpkin patch haven’t responded to a phone message from The Associated Press. According to the company’s voicemail, the pumpkin patch had been closed the previous weekend because of concerns about the weather.
HOUSTON (AP) — Mattress Firm, Inc., the nation’s largest mattress retailer, is filing for bankruptcy protection and plans to close up to 700 stores around the country.
The Houston-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday in federal court in Delaware.
According to court documents, Mattress Firm has more than $1 billion in liabilities and has more than 50,000 creditors. It owes its largest creditor, mattress maker Simmons Manufacturing Co., nearly $65 million.
In a statement, CEO and president Steve Stagner says the bankruptcy filing will allow the company to “strengthen our balance sheet” and close stores in certain markets with “too many locations in close proximity to each other.”
The company has more than 3,000 stores in the U.S. and in recent years had been aggressively expanding as it purchased competitors.
RENO COUNTY — A Kansas man on parole after convictions for rape, indecent liberties with a child, aggravated robbery and burglary, theft and aggravated sodomy and jailed in Reno County for new charges of alleged sexual exploitation of a child has been found dead.
Robbins -photo Reno Co.
Gary Robbins, 58, was found dead inside the Reno County Correctional Facility Friday morning, according to Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder.
It was around 5:40 a.m. Friday when the staff at the jail facility were alerted to an unresponsive inmate. Staff performed lifesaving measures, but were unsuccessful in reviving Robbins, who was pronounced dead at 6:20 a.m.
Robbins had been in the facility since his parole violation on Sept. 19. On Oct. 1, Robbins was charged with sexual exploitation of a child and possession of media of a child under 18.Robbins was accused of having sexually explicit photos of children.
A preliminary investigation performed by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation suggests the injuries to Robbins were self-inflicted. No one was in the vicinity of Robbins at the time of his death.
An autopsy will be performed at the Wichita Forensic Center.
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RENO COUNTY — A Kansas man on parole after convictions for rape, indecent liberties with a child, aggravated robbery and burglary, theft and aggravated sodomy is jailed in Reno County for new charges of alleged sexual exploitation of a child.
Gary Robbins, 58, is now accused of having sexually explicit photos of children, according to Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder.
Schroeder says he will also file the charges and list Robbins as an aggravated sex offender under the habitual sex offender rule, which could mean a life sentence with no chance of parole. The crime occurred on Sept. 19.
Robbins is also wanted for a parole violation for the previous conviction. He was paroled in 2017.
He’s expected in court Friday for the formal reading of the charge.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
A tense Senate chamber during Friday morning’s vote-image CSPAN
The Senate has pushed Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court past a key procedural hurdle.
The chamber voted 51-49 to move forward with President Donald Trump’s nominee.
A final vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination could occur over the weekend.
There’s no guarantee that the senators who supported moving forward will back Kavanaugh on the final vote. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who voted to advance Kavanaugh, said she will announce her decision on confirmation later Friday. Also voting to move the nomination forward was Arizona Senator Jeff Fland and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who had been undecided. But Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted against moving the nomination forward.
Kavanaugh’s nomination has been imperiled by accusations of sexual misconduct. He forcefully denied the allegations.
FRANKLIN COUNTY — A third child has died from injuries in accident just after 8:30p.m. Monday in Franklin County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Ford Focus driven by Clytie D. Bowden, 31, Wellsville, was southbound on Tennessee Road four miles west of Kansas 33.
The driver failed to yield right of way at Kansas 68 and entered the intersection. A westbound 2003 Subaru Baja driven by Crag R. Evans, 40, Ottawa, struck the Ford on the passenger side.
Briana Sobba,11, and Becham Klemen, 3, both of Wellsville were pronounced dead at the scene.
The KHP reported 12-year-old Elle Bowden died early Friday.
She and Lillian Klemen, 6, both of Wellsville, were transported to the hospital in Ottawa and then transferred to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City.
Bowden was transported to Research Medical Center. Evans was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Only Lillian Klemen was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
TOPEKA — President Donald Trump is coming to Kansas on Saturday. The MAGA Rally is just a month before the November election and allows the President to campaign for gubernatorial candidate Sec. of State Kris Kobach, 2nd district congressional nominee Steve Watkins and other GOP candidates.
photo courtesy President Trump/the White House
The rally in the Landon Area at the Kansas Expocenter is scheduled to begin at 6:30p.m. Tickets are required to attend the rally and are available here.
The President will arrive at Topeka’s Forbes Field on Air Force One Saturday afternoon and travel to the Expocenter. Police are not disclosing route information or road closures for security and safety reasons.
The areas in YELLOW are open to peaceful dissenters and demonstrators, according to Police -click to enlarge
Those with contradicting views of President Trump can exercise their 1st amendment right on the public sidewalks on either side of SW Topeka Blvd, from 17th to 21st street. In addition, the grass areas at the Expocentre will be open to the public.
Those who do not demonstrate peacefully could be citied and or arrested for disorderly conduct or unlawful obstruction, according to police.
Those who engage in demonstrations in areas not in yellow on the map will be asked to move to the yellow areas. If they refuse, they could be cited or arrested for the violations.
According to the Expocenter, those attending the rally are prohibited from bringing the following items inside the area.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is poised to take a crucial vote Friday on whether to advance Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court as key Republican senators remain undecided amid allegations of sexual misconduct and intense protests that have divided the nation. Late Thursday, Kansas Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran issued new statements on Kavanaugh.
The 53-year-old judge made what were in effect closing arguments by acknowledging that he became “very emotional” when forcefully denying the allegations at a Judiciary Committee hearing last week.
“I said a few things I should not have said,” he wrote in an op-ed published Thursday evening. But he said he remains the same “hardworking, even-keeled” person he has always been. “Going forward, you can count on me,” he wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
The op-ed, as well as a late boost from President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Minnesota, appeared aimed at winning over the three wavering senators from the slim GOP majority — Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — and one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has yet to announce his position.
Ahead of Friday’s voting, Republicans emerged confident that an FBI investigation into the allegations unearthed no new corroborating details, they said. But a level of uncertainty lingered as Collins and Flake spent hours Thursday pouring over confidential FBI documents in the secure basement briefing room long after others had left seemingly satisfied with the findings.
Even without locking in support, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed ahead with trying to move Trump’s nominee forward in what would be an election year win for his party. The Republican leader has little room for error with his party’s slim 51-49 hold on the Senate, even if Vice President Mike Pence is called in to break a tie. A final vote is expected Saturday.
Tensions have been high at the Capitol with opponents of Kavanaugh, including survivors of sexual assault, confronting senators in the halls and holding vigil across the street at the Supreme Court. Supporters of Kavanaugh also turned out.
Trump said the protesters’ “rage-fueled resistance is starting to backfire at a level nobody has ever seen before.” He was referring to polling that shows some improvement for Republicans heading into the midterm election.
Friday’s vote is a procedural one to end the debate, and some fence-sitting senators could conceivably vote to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination but still hold out their support ahead of a final confirmation roll call over the weekend.
Two of the undeclared Republicans emerged from the secure briefing facility Thursday accepting the FBI report as “thorough,” bolstering GOP hopes for confirmation.
Flake told reporters that “we’ve seen no additional corroborating information” about the claims against Kavanaugh.
Collins also expressed satisfaction, calling it “a very thorough investigation.” She paid two visits to the off-limits room where the document was being displayed to lawmakers.
Murkowski said she was “still reviewing” her decision.
Democrats complained that the investigation, running just six days after Trump reluctantly ordered it, was shoddy, omitting interviews with numerous potential witnesses. They accused the White House of limiting the FBI’s leeway.
Those not interviewed in the reopened background investigation included Kavanaugh himself and Christine Blasey Ford, who ignited the furor by alleging he’d molested her in a locked room at a 1982 high school gathering.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, said while her party had agreed to a weeklong FBI probe with a finite scope, “We did not agree that the White House should tie the FBI’s hands.”
A hefty police presence added an air of anxiety, as did thousands of anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators. U.S. Capitol Police said 302 were arrested — among them comedian Amy Schumer, a distant relative of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, issued a statement late Thursday that said the FBI reached out to 11 people and interviewed 10. Six of the witnesses involved Ford’s claims, including an attorney for one of them, and four were related to Deborah Ramirez, who has asserted that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when both were Yale freshmen. Grassley said the FBI concluded “there is no collaboration of the allegations made by Dr. Ford or Ms. Ramirez.”
Senators said the documents they examined totaled about 50 pages.
The underlying material from the FBI included text and Facebook messages, said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., including screenshots that “were very helpful” in understanding the communications between various people discussing the situation.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said nine of the pages were about Mark Judge, the Kavanaugh friend who Ford said also jumped on her while Kavanaugh assaulted her. Judge has said he doesn’t recall the incident.
White House spokesman Raj Shah rebuffed Democrats’ complaints, saying, “What critics want is a never-ending fishing expedition into high school drinking.”
Barring leaks, it was unclear how much if any of the FBI report would be made public.
SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and have a suspect in custody.
Just after 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, police responded to a burglary-in-progress call at a residence in the 2400 block of north Shelton in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.
Ornelas -photo Sedgwick Co.
A 44-year-old neighbor called 911 and reported seeing suspicious activity at a nearby residence.
Through the help of the alert citizen, police were able to find evidence of a burglary at the home, and arrest 26-year-old Daniel Ornelas at a nearby residence. Ornelas was booked into jail for burglary. Stolen property from a burglary earlier in the day was recovered and returned to the victim.
A great example of “see something, say something.” The alert citizen was helpful in making an arrest in this case.
TONGANOXIE, Kan. (AP) — Body camera video shows an officer handcuffing a black man who was attempting to move a large-screen television into his new Kansas home in the dark.
61-year-old Karle Robinson said, while watching the video, “If I’d been a white man, you know that wouldn’t happen.” He was in handcuffs for eight minutes.
A Tonganoxie police officer encountered Robinson around 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 19. Robinson understood why the officer would be suspicious. But he said he had identification and offered to go inside with the officer where there was paperwork proving his new ownership.
Tonganoxie Police Chief Greg Lawson says the officer kept the right balance of courtesy and respect. The video ends with an officer helping Robinson carrying the TV inside the home.
FORD COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are asking for the public’s help in locating 27-year-old Lorenzo De La Cruz-Chiquiaj, AKA Louis Escoto, according to Dodge City Police.
Lorenzo De La Cruz-Chiquiaj Photo courtesy Dodge City Police
Authorities have issued a warrant for his arrest for alleged rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, aggravated intimidation of a witness / victim and aggravated indecent liberties with a child.
Police reported they believe there is a chance he fled the area but his whereabouts are unknown.
Please use caution if you see him and contact the DCPD at 620-227-4646 or call 911 if it is an emergency.
A former emergency room nurse at Lawrence Memorial Hospital has lost her whistleblower suit alleging the hospital falsified patient records to obtain higher Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.
Lawrence Memorial Hospital CREDIT SUSIE FAGAN -Kansas News Service
A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that Megen Duffy failed to prove an essential element of her claims, namely that the allegedly false data had an effect on how much the government paid the hospital.
Duffy worked as a registered nurse at the hospital from August 2009 until she was fired in October 2013 for allegedly threatening another employee. In her lawsuit, she alleged her termination was fabricated.
Lawrence Memorial Hospital termed her lawsuit “baseless” and claimed it violated the terms of a settlement the hospital reached with Duffy after she was fired.
Russell W. Johnson, the hospital’s president and CEO, told KCUR that the lawsuit’s outcome “reflects what we’ve known all along – that we do follow Medicare guidelines and that we do provide services in ways that are consistent with those guidelines.”
Johnson said the lawsuit “was really more a result of a personnel issue than a real transgression by the hospital. And that came out in this judgment.”
The hospital, he added, had spent more than $500,000 in legal fees and expenses – over and above its insurance coverage – defending the suit.
“In fact, I’ve got a legal bill in my inbox this month, and for the Duffy case it was $48,900,” Johnson said.
Lawrence Memorial Hospital was founded in 1921 and is licensed for 176 beds. The not-for-profit hospital is led by a nine-member board of trustees appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the Lawrence City Commission. Although it’s community owned, it gets no tax subsidies from the city of Lawrence or from Douglas County.
Sarah A. Brown, one of Duffy’s attorneys, said she was assessing her client’s options, including a possible appeal.
“We believe there was evidence in the record that showed how these manipulations affected reimbursement rates,” Brown said. “So we’re going to need to evaluate whether we want to point that out to the court or point it out on appeal.”
In her lawsuit, Duffy alleged that emergency room personnel at Lawrence Memorial were instructed to alter the arrival times of possible heart attack patients to coincide with timestamps automatically generated when patients were connected to electrocardiogram monitors.
That would have significantly improved the hospital’s performance data and qualified it for higher incentive payments from the government.
In his ruling tossing out the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Sam Crow found that Duffy failed to show the allegedly inaccurate arrival time data had affected the government’s reimbursement decisions.
Duffy’s lawsuit, which sought triple damages under the federal False Claims Act, was filed under seal in May 2014. The Justice Department declined to intervene and the case was unsealed in 2015.
Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can bring lawsuits on behalf of the United States if they have reason to think the defendant knowingly submitted fraudulent claims to the government.
The Department of Justice is required to investigate the allegations and then decide whether to intervene in the case, decline to intervene or, in rare cases, seek the case’s dismissal.
The Department of Justice intervenes in fewer than a quarter of all False Claims Act cases, sometimes because it doesn’t have the resources to pursue them. Once the department declines to intervene, the person who brought the case can pursue it on his or her own, although the government often asks that it be kept apprised of filings in the case. The plaintiff is entitled to anywhere between 25 percent and 30 percent of any recovery.
Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies
