TOPEKA— A Colorado man already serving time for a bank robbery in Arkansas was indictedWednesday on charges he robbed a bank in Manhattan, Kan., according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Kenneth Wayne Fisher, Jr., 41, formerly of Colorado Springs, Colo., is charged with one count of bank robbery. The indictment alleges that on Aug. 26, 2015, Fisher robbed Sunflower State Bank at 2710 Anderson Ave. in Manhattan.
A few months after the Manhattan robbery, Fisher was arrested in California. He was extradited to Arkansas to face charges of robbing a bank in Bentonville, Ark., on Aug. 28, 2015. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced earlier this month to more than eight years in federal prison for the Arkansas robbery.
Deputies located the teen and he is in custody, according to the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Department.
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GREENWOOD COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are looking for a teen who skipped out of a Kansas sheriff’s office.
Just after 1p.m. Wednesday a teen taken into custody in Greenwood County earlier in the day walked out of the sheriff’s office in a southeasterly direction, according to a social media report.
Deputies arrested the teen for an offense and he was held as a juvenile offender until his parents could pick him up. He left prior to his parents arrival. He was last seen wearing a white shirt and blue jeans.
Deputies asked anyone with information on the teen please call the Sheriff’s office at 620-583-5568
Tyler Ruzich -photo courtesy Shawnee Mission North
PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. (AP) — A second Kansas teenager says he wants to run for governor next year.
Tyler Ruzich, of Prairie Village, who will turn 17 next week, filed campaign papers with the state this week. He is a junior at Shawnee Mission North High School.
Ruzich considers himself a moderate Republican but says he is still developing specific policy positions.
Another 16-year-old, Jack Bergeson of Wichita, is running for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Ruzich says he contacted Bergeson, who encouraged him to run.
Ruzich says the young candidates agree that having two teenagers in the race is an opportunity to get young people involved in politics and government.
Kansas has no age requirement for running for governor.
RENO COUNTY— A Kansas woman has been formally charged with three counts of animal cruelty.
Following an investigation, police arrested her September 13, and took the dogs after reports indicated she hit them.
Cheyenne Rippy, 19, Pretty Prairie, is accused in one of the charges with failing to provide food, water, protection from the elements and opportunity to exercise or other care for the well-being of several dogs in her care.
The final two counts accuse her of causing injury to her dogs.
One of the charges, according to the state, occurred on Aug. 31, while the other two occurred between Sept. 1 and Sept. 13.
Rippy is free on bond and entered not guilty pleas to the three misdemeanor counts. She was assigned an attorney and she’ll be back in court on Oct. 5.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities continue their investigating of the Tuesday afternoon shooting of an employee the Kansas Department of Revenue office in Wichita.
Officer Charley Davidson confirmed Wednesday morning that the suspect Ricky Wirths, 51, Wichita, is being held for attempted first-degree murder.
Just after 2:30p.m. Tuesday police responded to report of a shooting at the Department of Revenue Taxation office near the intersection of 21st Street and Amidon in Wichita, according to Davidson. Officers found a 35-year-old employee of the office with multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. Davidson reported Wednesday that the victim is improving and in stable condition.
On Tuesday morning, the Department of Revenue and the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s office had been at a home in the 900 Block of West 31st Street North following up on a Department of Revenue investigation. The shooting victim has been part of this investigation, according to Davidson. Tax records indicate Wirths has two tax warrants totaling almost $400,000 related to his construction business, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue.
At 2:30p.m. Tuesday, Ricky Wirths, the individual who is the object of the Department of Revenue investigation, walked into the Department of Revenue office and asked for the victim by name. The victim came to the front of the business to meet with Wirths. As they discussed the investigation, Wirths pulled a handgun and shot the victim multiple times, according to Davidson.
The victim fled back into the office area and the suspect fled in a pickup truck. Officers found the suspect and arrested him without incident near the intersection of 31st North and Arkansas. Police have interviewed multiple witnesses to the crime and have recovered a gun.
Wirths is being held without bond, according to the Sedgwick County Jail booking report.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police say a man under investigation by the Kansas Department of Revenue is suspected in a shooting that critically injured an employee at the agency’s Wichita office.
Wichita Police spokesman Charley Davidson told reporters that a 35-year-old employee was shot multiple times Tuesday before the gunman fled the scene. The suspect was arrested about a half hour later and is in custody.
Davidson says there was a Revenue Department investigation involving the suspect earlier in the day, but he did not have details.
Police were called at about 2:40 p.m. to the shopping center where the office is located.
The investigation is ongoing. No names or other details were immediately released.
Gov. Sam Brownback released a statement asking for prayers for the victim. The statement also said the office where the shooting occurred will be closed the rest of the week.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police say a man under investigation by the Kansas Department of Revenue is suspected in a shooting that critically injured an employee at the agency’s Wichita office.
Wichita Police spokesman Charley Davidson told reporters that a 35-year-old employee was shot multiple times Tuesday before the gunman fled the scene. The suspect was arrested about a half hour later and is in custody.
Davidson says there was a Revenue Department investigation involving the suspect earlier in the day, but he did not have details of its nature.
Police were called at about 2:40 p.m. to the shopping center where the office is located.
The investigation is ongoing. No names or other details were immediately released.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A father and daughter have been charged with attacking the girl’s ex-boyfriend inside a Kansas City high school, leaving the 18-year-old in critical condition.
Thirty-eight-year-old Josiah Wright, of Kansas City, is charged with first-degree assault and his 17-year-old daughter, Jonay Wright, with domestic assault in the Tuesday attack in Ruskin High School in the Hickman Mills School District. The prosecutor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a phone message asking whether they had attorneys.
District spokeswoman Ruth Terrell-Lee says the parent got a visitor badge before going with his daughter to the counselor’s office, where the fight erupted. Court records say the girl and her father kicked the victim and hit him in the head. The records say the father held people back so his daughter could continue hitting her ex-boyfriend.
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KANSAS CITY (AP) — Kansas City school officials say a student was critically injured when a parent and her child came into a school and began beating the student.
The fight happened Tuesday inside Ruskin High School.
Police said the parent assaulted the other student during the fight. No weapons were involved.
Off-duty officers and school security were able to break up that fight.
Ruskin High School is in the Hickman Mills C-1 School District.
FAIRVIEW, Okla. (AP) — Federal marshals say the last of two inmates who overpowered guards, stole a prison transport van and escaped from northwest Oklahoma last month has been apprehended in Missouri.
The U.S. Marshals Service says authorities apprehended 37-year-old Darren Walp Wednesday at a truck stop in Norwood, Missouri, after a standoff that lasted several hours.
The second inmate, 32-year-old Andrew Foy, was apprehended on Friday at a hotel in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania.
The inmates escaped near Fairview, Oklahoma, on Aug. 22 during a multi-state inmate transfer by a private transportation company. The van was later found abandoned and the men were last seen on Aug. 24 driving a stolen tractor-trailer rig in northeastern Oklahoma.
Authorities said they were taking Walp to Kansas to face charges for nonviolent offenses.
Police on the scene of Wednesday domestic violence attack and stolen vehicle- photo courtesy WIBW TV
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a report of domestic violence and a stolen vehicle.
Just before 5 a.m. Wednesday, police were flagged down in the 1300 Block SW 37th Street in Topeka by a victim who reported being battered by her husband who then left the area, according to a media release.
The victim went by private vehicle to a local hospital where she was treated and released for minor injuries.
A report of a stolen vehicle, a silver Ford, was reported at the same time from the same apartment complex area. The victim of the stolen vehicle advised the alleged person was the same as the man reportedly involved in the report of domestic violence.
At 5:15 a.m., a vehicle fitting the description initiated a vehicle pursuit with Capital Area Police in the 1200 Bock SW Boswell but the vehicle was lost soon after.
Just before 6 a.m., the police were notified of an injury accident in the 2800 Block South Kansas Avenue in Topeka involving two vehicles, one rolled over into a ditch.
The rolled over vehicle was identified as being the stolen silver Ford. The Topeka Fire Department arrived and extricated the driver of the Ford who was then transported to a local hospital in stable condition.
JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on child sex charges.
Following an investigation, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office arrested Chaz Aaron Zibell, 19, Holton, on a 7 count District Court Warrant.
He is charged with 6 counts of sexual exploitation of a child and 1 count of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child.
The complaint alleges between July 2015 and November 2015 that Zibell possessed child pornography and solicited a child for child pornography pictures. The alleged victims in the case are reported to be all minors.
SEWARD COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects in connection with forgery.
Just after 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, police served a search warrant at a residence in the 900 block of East Second Street in Liberal, according to a Captain Patrick McClurg.
The search warrant was obtained in furtherance of an ongoing counterfeiting investigation. Investigators seized a number of counterfeit bills as well as equipment used to make the counterfeit bills.
Investigators arrested a 23 year old man and a 21 year old man without incident. They were booked into the Seward County Jail on forgery charges. Affidavits will be submitted to the Seward County Attorney’s Office seeking formal charges.
TOPEKA – The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 created the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover uninsured, low-income children who are not eligible for Medicaid. All states, including Kansas, have expanded children’s coverage through the program. Congress last reauthorized CHIP in 2015, but funding was approved only through September 30, 2017.
On September 12, 2017, Senate Finance Committee leadership announced a bipartisan plan to extend CHIP for five more years. However, if the reauthorization deal falters in either the Senate or the House, CHIP funding could still expire.
The Kansas Health Institute has published an issue brief that examines how Kansans could be impacted by federal decisions regarding CHIP.
Unless Congress acts soon, authorization for federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program will end on September 30, 2017, impacting approximately 38,000 low-income children in Kansas.
If funding is not reauthorized, states with separate CHIP programs, such as Kansas, could choose to wait before terminating their programs, or they could plan to transition children to other coverage options.
If CHIP is not reauthorized, states can spend carryover and redistributed funds in federal fiscal year 2018. Kansas’ federal funds likely
would be exhausted by the end of March 2018.
The Senate proposal to extend CHIP five years would preserve an additional 23 percent in federal match rate for CHIP through 2019.
The Kansas Health Institute delivers credible information and research enabling policy leaders to make informed health policy decisions that enhance their effectiveness as champions for a healthier Kansas. The Kansas Health Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy and research organization based in Topeka, established in 1995 with a multiyear grant from the Kansas Health Foundation.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man faces a sentence of up to 20.5 years in prison after he was found guilty in the stabbing death of another man.
A Shawnee County jury on Monday convicted Caleb John Kanatzar of voluntary manslaughter in the death of 24-year-old Terrin Holloway. Holloway’s body was found in December 2015 in a car stopped in the middle of a street in Topeka.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Kanatzar testified last week that he stabbed Holloway in self-defense because he thought Holloway had a gun.
Kanatzar said before the stabbing, he heard that Holloway fired shots during a drive-by shooting that wounded Kanatzar’s cousin. The shooting apparently was over the theft of Holloway’s lawn mower.
Kansans spent a week in China this August on an agricultural trade mission to expand export market opportunities. From left: Lynne Hinrichsen, KDA; Chase Larson, Grandpa’s Best Hay; Celine Larson, Grandpa’s Best Hay; Suzanne Ryan-Numrich, KDA; Adam Robertson, Best West Fabrication; Mike Kasl, Best West Fabrication.
KDA
MANHATTAN — The Kansas Department of Agriculture led a trade mission to China in August 2017 to provide an opportunity for Kansas small businesses to research new markets. Chase and Celine Larson of Grandpa’s Best Hay LLC in Belleville, Mike Kasl and Adam Robertson of Best West Fabrication in Belleville, and Will Henry and Michael Cheng of Extru-Tech Inc. of Sabetha joined KDA staff members Suzanne Ryan-Numrich, international trade director, and Lynne Hinrichsen, agribusiness development director, on the trade mission.
The purpose of the mission was to attend Petfood Forum China and participate in the trade show at Pet Fair Asia. In addition to participating in the trade show, the delegation had meetings with the Agricultural Trade Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture where the team gained useful insight on industry issues in the China market.
“Valuable lessons were obtained from this trade mission to China. Grandpa’s Best found a lively market in Asia with opportunities to form long-term, trusting business relationships — the kind only face-to-face dialogue can give,” said Larson. “Our team is grateful for the chance to have made a lasting presence in a region full of great opportunities.”
Global trade is a key economic engine of U.S. agriculture and rural America, including Kansas. China is one of the state’s top five trade partners, and in 2016, Kansas exported over $207 million in agriculture commodities to the Chinese market.
“In China, guanxi — or relationships — are key. This trade mission allows us to provide Kansas companies not only the chance to explore market opportunities but also the opportunity to start building relationships with potential trade partners,” said Suzanne Ryan-Numrich. “The Chinese market can be challenging but it offers a lot of potential for those willing to put in the effort.”
The trade mission was funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration using a State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) grant.
KDA strives to encourage and enhance economic growth of the Kansas agriculture industry by exploring and expanding both domestic and international marketing opportunities. If you are interested in participating in upcoming trade missions, please contact Ryan-Numrich at [email protected] or call 785-564-6704.
