BARTON COUNTY— Two new female lions have arrived at Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo.

After a year-long search, the zoo staff finally located the pair of six-month old sister cubs, Sauda and Amana at a small zoo in Florida, according to a social media report. They are expected to be excellent companions for the zoo’s lone lion Luke.

The girls are currently living in the Brit Spaugh Tiger Building and yard until they have grown large enough to be able to be introduced to Luke.

They currently weigh around 75-pounds. Luke weighs 425-pounds, so it will be a year or two until they are big enough for them to safely be introduced to each other. The young pair currently do not have access to the yard while zoo staff “baby proofs” the area.

In July, Mumbasa, affectionately known as “Boss” the African Lion that has called Great Bend home for 19 years died.

Zoo Supervisor/Curator Sara Hamlin said, “I’ve been searching for a female to provide companionship for Luke before Mumbasa (Boss) had even passed away but there weren’t any available. We are really fortunate to find a zoo looking to place two!”

A public debut is planned for some time in early September.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a drive by shooting.

Just after 11:30p.m. Thursday police responded to report of gunshots in the 300 Block of SE Arter in Topeka, according to a media release.

They located a man and woman who told officers that 2 men in an unknown brown 4-door passenger vehicle pulled up in front of their home and fired six shots at the house.

Fortunately, no one was hit and no injuries reported. The occupants also reported the vehicle sped south on SE Arter. Police searched the area. They have not made an arrest.

HASKELL COUNTY — A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 10p.m. Thursday in Haskell County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2009 Honda motorcycle driven by Vicki L. Proffitt, 55, Garden City, was northbound on U.S. 83 nine miles north of Sublette.

The front tire of the motorcycle dropped off an uneven surface on the side of the roadway causing the motorcycle to go out from underneath the rider.

The motorcycle entered a side skid and came to rest facing south on the southbound shoulder.

Proffitt was transported to Via Christi in Wichita. She was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

RENO COUNTY– Two people from Salina arrested in October of 2016 at the dorms at Hutchinson Community College for suspicion of drug distribution were scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday, but that was continued when one was a no show in court. 

Police arrested Rheim D. Guerrero, 22, and Savannah Smith, 23, both of Salina, at 1501 North Ford in Hutchinson after they allegedly found a back pack in room 220 that contained a jar with the suspected marijuana inside as well as a small scale.

They were charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within a thousand feet of Graber Elementary School and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Judge Joe McCarville issued a warrant for the arrest of Guerrero with a $10,000 bond.

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — Lenexa police say a Catholic school was briefly locked down after a suspected burglar fell through the ceiling.

The Holy Trinity Early Education Center closed down just before noon Thursday.

KMBC-TV reports fire personnel were called first but when they arrived, the man became combative and police were called.

Authorities say the man ran from police and fire personnel and tried to hide in the church chapel.

Police say because the man had no connection to the church or school, they believe he was committing a burglary when he fell.

That man was taken into custody about 20 minutes after first responders were called.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Court records say a black man suspected of fatally shooting five white men, all but one of them along south Kansas City hiking and biking trails, threatened in 2014 to shoot up a school and “kill all white people.”

The Kansas City Star reports that a municipal court citation for harassment said Fredrick Demond Scott made the statement in January 2014 at an alternative school. Scott, who’s 22, was charged Tuesday in two killings and named as a suspect in three more.

Scott’s mother said in an interview with The Star that he refused to get treatment for his paranoid schizophrenia but didn’t show any hatred toward white people.

Scott is jailed in Jackson County. A phone call to a public defender listed in online court documents wasn’t immediately returned.

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. (AP) — A nonprofit railroad that provides excursions between Baldwin City and Ottawa won’t be able to provide the trips to Ottawa because of damage caused by recent floods.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports Midland Railway will still offer a 4.5 mile excursion to a site about 4.5 miles south of Baldwin City.

Allen Kinsley, Midland Railway treasurer, said a flash flood on Aug. 22 washed out a quarter mile of track in northern Franklin County about five miles south of the Baldwin City depot and left a nearly 10-foot gully through the line.

A preliminary damage estimate was $50,000 but that was if Midland volutes do the repairs. Kinsley says the repair bill could be as high as $100,000 and the railroad can’t afford that cost.

GEARY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on various drug and driving charges.

Just after 2a.m. Wednesday, sheriff’s deputies stopped a vehicle in the 5800 Block of Rucker Road in rural Geary County for alleged DUI, according to the Geary County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies arrested William Fune, 52, McCook, Nebraska on suspicion of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Improper Driving on a Laned Roadway, Failure to Dim Headlights, White Light to the Rear and Driving Under the Influence.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office has filed two new criminal election fraud cases, including one alleging an attempt to vote by a non-citizen.

The three felony counts filed Aug. 17 in Johnson County against Sergio Salgado-Juarez mark the second time Kobach’s office has filed charges alleging that a non-citizen voted since being given the power to prosecute election fraud allegations in 2015.

Most of the other ten cases involved voting in two states. Such double voting is the focus of four felony charges filed the same day in Franklin County against David Haddock. Kobach’s office alleges he voted in Kansas and Colorado in the November election.

Telephone listings for Salgado-Juarez in Olathe and Haddock in Wellsville were disconnected. It wasn’t clear from court records whether they had attorneys.

CLOUD COUNTY — A small earthquake shook north-central Kansas on Thursday afternoon. The quake at 12:21p.m. measured a magnitude 2.6 and was centered approximately 24 miles northwest of Concordia, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

This the second earthquake in Kansas today and third this week.

Just before before 2:30 a.m. Thursday a quake that measured a magnitude 3.4 was centered approximately four miles southeast of Cheney, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The agency reported a 2.9 quake at 10:01a.m. on Sunday in Sumner County.
There are no reports of damage or injuries but Thursday’s quakes.

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SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Thursday morning earthquake shook Kansas.

The quake just before 2:30 a.m. measured a magnitude 3.4 and was centered approximately four miles southeast of Cheney, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

It is the second quake in Kansas this week. The USGS reported a 2.9 quake at 10:01a.m. on Sunday in Sumner County.

There are no reports of damage or injuries but Thursday morning’s quake did wake residents in areas of south central Kansas.

NEWTON, Kan. (AP) — A southeast Kansas couple will be sentenced in December for abusing three orphans they adopted from Peru.

James and Paige Nachtigal, of North Newton, entered Alford pleas Friday to several counts of child abuse. The plea means they maintain their innocence but acknowledge prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction.

Harvey County Attorney David Yoder said James Nachtigal entered the pleas to three counts of child abuse and his wife of two counts. Several other charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.

The Nachitgals were arrested in February 2016 after an 11-year-old boy was found walking barefoot in a field and told authorities he feared returning home.

The Wichita Eagle reports a doctor diagnosed the boy and his 11- and 15-year-old sisters as being victims of child torture.