Washington, DC — More than 1,600 women were murdered by men in 2015 and the most common weapon used was a gun, according to the new Violence Policy Center (VPC) study When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2015 Homicide Data.

This annual report is released in advance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. The study uses 2015 data, the most recent year for which information is available. The study covers homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender, and uses data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Report.

The study found that nationwide, 93 percent of women killed by men were murdered by someone they knew and that the most common weapon used was a gun.

“Women killed by men are most often killed by someone they know and more than half were killed by an intimate partner,” says Legislative Director Kristen Rand. “Much more must be done to identify and implement strategies to prevent these tragedies. More resources are needed at the federal, state, and local levels to help keep women safe.”

The Violence Policy Center has published When Men Murder Women annually for 20 years. During that period, nationwide the rate of women murdered by men in single victim/single offender incidents has dropped 29 percent — from 1.57 per 100,000 in 1996 to 1.12 per 100,000 in 2015.

Below is a list of the states with the 10 highest rates of females murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2015:

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an attempted armed robbery and looking for a suspect.

EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) — The state corrections department says it will continue 12-hour shifts for its officers at El Dorado Correctional Facility for another 90 days.

The department said an emergency status started earlier this year will continue because of a staffing shortage. The agency says the extended shifts will be reviewed on or before Dec. 22.

Corrections Secretary Joe Norwood notified the union representing prison workers of the decision on Monday. The letter was provided to the media on Friday.

Norwood said the corrections department is working to hire and train more staff at the prison.

Three inmate-led disturbances were reported in May and June at the El Dorado prison.

Critics have said the unrest was caused in part after the state shifted some inmates from Lansing Correctional Facility to El Dorado.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Court documents filed in a dispute between former Kansas Commerce Secretary Antonio Soave and his business partner say Gov. Sam Brownback forced Soave to resign.

Soave resigned in June and announced earlier this month that he was running for Congress.

His resignation came two weeks after business partner Paola Ghezzo sued Soave in Johnson County, alleging fraud and other financial misdeeds.

Ghezzo, who was a consultant at the Commerce Department, alleges that Soave used funds from their consulting business for personal bills and expenses related to state business.

The Kansas City Star reports court documents show Soave’s business was intertwined with the Commerce Department and say Brownback’s chief of staff knew about the fraud allegations in February.

Brownback denied forcing Soave to resign.

RENO COUNTY — A Kansas couple is free on bond after being arrested Thursday for alleged animal cruelty.

On September 14, officers worked an animal welfare case and found a large number of new puppies in unsanitary living conditions and saw signs of neglect.

Darrell J. Francis, 62, and Delores Eileen Jenkins Francis, 55, both of Nickerson were booked into the Reno County Correctional Facility on 10 counts of animal cruelty.

During an investigation, a Reno County deputy responded to a home in Nickerson and discovered horrible living conditions and obvious animal abuse for the puppies. The animals were transported to a vet in Lyons and later shipped by volunteers to Pawsitive Tails Rescue in Kansas City.

Deputy Chris Shields adopted one puppy and named it “Ammo.”

Two adult dogs were also neglected and reportedly had little food, water or shelter.

WASHINGTON — The Latest on the Republican effort to end the Obama-era health overhaul and replace it with a new law (all times local):

Sen. John McCain says he won’t vote for the Republican bill repealing the Obama health care law. His statement likely deals a fatal blow to the last-gasp GOP measure in a Senate showdown expected next week.

A study finds this latest GOP effort to end “Obamacare” would take federal dollars away from states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The study says the states including Kansas that didn’t expand Medicaid would initially get more federal dollars under the Republican Graham-Cassidy bill.

The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation study came out Thursday. It estimates the states that didn’t expand Medicaid would get an average of 12 percent more.

The study says states that expanded Medicaid to serve more low-income adults would face a cut of around 11 percent from 2020-2026.

The biggest winners are Kansas, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, South Dakota, and Tennessee. However, the study says those gains could vanish over time.

The biggest losers, percentage-wise are New York, Oregon, Connecticut, Vermont and Minnesota. California would be the biggest loser in dollars.

A group that represents state officials who administer Medicaid programs is telling Senate Republicans to slow down and rethink the bill.

The board of the National Association of Medicaid Directors says its members are concerned that the Senate is rushing to make major changes in health programs for low-income people — with far-reaching consequences for state budgets that aren’t fully understood.

The group wants Congress to revisit Medicaid changes.

RENO COUNTY — A Kansas man died in an accident just before 2p.m. Friday in Reno County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Mercedes Benz passenger vehicle driven by Zachary T. Mears 30, Hutchinson, that was northbound on Haven Road twelve miles east of Hutchinson at a high rate of speed. The driver failed to stop at the stop sign at U.S.50 and struck an eastbound semi.

Mears was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the Sedgwick County Forensics Center. The driver of the semi Becker, Carlin Becker, 32, Wharton, Texas, was not injured.

Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

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RENO COUNTY — The Kansas Highway Patrol, with the assistance of Reno County Sheriff’s Deputies
are on the scene of a fatality accident in the county.

Dispatchers confirm they’re working the crash east of Hutchinson along U.S. 50 and Buhler/Haven Road. According to preliminary reports, a car was going north of Buhler/Haven Road just before 2 p.m. when it pulled into the path of an eastbound semi. The collision pushed the car into the northeast ditch where it caught fire.

No names have been released at this time.

 

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 20-year-old man who is charged in a deadly Lawrence shooting told a judge that he’s “not a criminal.”

Steven Drake III said during his first appearance Thursday on a first-degree murder charge that he came home to someone trying to steal from him. Drake was initially arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after 26-year-old Bryce Holladay was found dead Tuesday night at a home.

Court records show that Holladay was free on bond when he died, awaiting trial in an unrelated auto burglary and theft case. When Drake began talking about what happened via video from jail, the judge cut him off, suggesting it wasn’t in his best interest to continue speaking.

The judge set bond at $750,000 and appointed an attorney to represent Drake.

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DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have made an arrest.

Just before 10p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the 2000 block of W. 27th Terrace in Lawrence for reports of a shooting, according to a media release.

Responding officers located 26-year-old Lawrence resident Bryce Holladay with fatal injuries.

Police questioned Steven Austin Drake III, 20, in relation to this incident and took him into custody. He has been booked in to the Douglas County Jail on one count of Voluntary Manslaughter.

Anyone with more information on this incident is asked to contact the Lawrence Police Department at (785)832-7509, or Crime Stoppers of Lawrence and Douglas County at (785)843-TIPS. Tips to Crime Stoppers can be anonymous.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Wyandotte County officials have charged a man with murder in the death of a woman who died in a traffic crash while she was fleeing from an alleged rape.

Prosecutors filed the felony first-degree murder charge Friday against 35-year-old Orlando Taylor, of Kansas City, Kansas, in the death of 39-year-old Shannon Keithley.

The Kansas City Star reports Keithley died Aug. 18 when the car she was driving hit a concrete pillar less than mile from her home while she was calling 911.

Taylor was arrested that day while hiding under the deck of Keithley’s house. He was originally charged with rape and burglary.

District Attorney Mark Dupree said in a statement Friday that Keithley died as a result of Taylor committing underlying felonies of rape and burglary.

SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and asking for help to locate suspects.

Just before 6:30 p.m. Thursday, a homeowner returned to his residence in the 700 Block of Scott Street in Salina. As he pulled into the driveway, two suspects ran from residence, according to Police Captain Paul Forrester.

The homeowner got back into his pickup and attempted to track down the burglars but was unsuccessful.

The suspects are described as white males, around 5-foot 8-inches tall and they wore white shirts.

Police say that the suspects damaged the French doors at the rear of the house and ransacked two bedrooms.

Over $5,000 in cash was reportedly stolen from the home, according to police.