SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects jailed after a high speed chase and crash.
Just after 7:00 a.m. Wednesday, police were dispatched to a man attempting to get into vehicles in the 800 block of Quail Street in Valley Center, according to a social media report.
Officers found a white truck leaving the area with a man matching the description of the suspect and a second man in the passenger seat.
Officers attempted to pull the vehicle over and a pursuit began south on Meridian and East on Ford to the interstate.
They exited the interstate at 61st street. The pursuit ended at 61st and Air Cap Drive where the suspects rammed a Valley Center patrol car.
Police quickly took the suspects into custody and booked them into the Sedgwick County Jail. There were no serious injuries.
Park City Police Department, Bel Aire Police Department, Kansas Highway Patrol and the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the chase.
TOPEKA–Registration is now open for the 2017 Kansas Energy Conference, which will be held Sept. 26 and 27 in Wichita. The 2017 conference is co-sponsored by the Kansas Department of Commerce and the Clean Energy Business Council.
WHAT: The Kansas Energy Conference will highlight the latest developments in the state’s renewable energy sector, focusing on how technology will accelerate the move to a clean energy economy and the role that Kansas can play to lead this transition. The day-and-half conference will feature three general sessions and several breakout sessions focusing on public sustainability programs, wind, solar, green efficiency programs, renewable energy storage, and oil and gas.
A new optional offering this year is a Pre-Conference Wind Farm Tour, enabling conference attendees to experience wind energy production up-close. For a nominal fee, attendees will participate in an engaging tour of the Kingman Wind Energy Center.
Another bonus with this year’s conference is a post-conference Distributed Generation Workshop, ideal for those who are unable to attend the full conference. This workshop will kick-off the Clean Energy Business Council’s “Around the State” initiative, which will include a total of four community workshops aimed at increasing exposure about market opportunities in renewable energy within Kansas. The workshop is free to conference attendees and available to others for a nominal cost.
WHEN: The conference will be held September 26, 8:30 a.m. – 4:45 p.m., and September 27, 8:00 a.m. – noon. Exhibits will be open from 9:45 a.m. – 6 p.m. on September 26 and 8:00 a.m. – noon on September 27. A reception is planned from 4:45 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. on September 26. The Pre-Conference Wind Farm Tour will be held on Monday, September 25, from Noon – 4:00 p.m., while the Post-Conference Distributed Generation Workshop will be held Wednesday, September 27, from noon – 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: DoubleTree by Hilton Wichita Airport, 2098 S. Airport Road, Wichita, Kansas.
REGISTRATION INFO: A complete itinerary and online registration is available through the Kansas Energy Conference web page at KansasCommerce.gov/EnergyConference. Early bird registration is available for $75 per person through August 23. Regular registration is $100 and is available through September 6.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the DoubleTree by Hilton Wichita Airport for September 12 and 13. For more information about reserving a room, please visit KansasCommerce.gov/EnergyConference, or call (316) 945-5272 and reference the Kansas Energy Conference. The cut-off date to reserve a room is August 29.
KANSAS CITY – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging a Kansas City, Kan., man with producing child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Ronny D. Peters, 39, Kansas City, Kan., is charged with two counts of producing child pornography. According to court records, the investigation began when Peters’ former employers called the FBI to report finding child pornography on a company cell phone Peters turned in after he was fired. The phone belonged to Pop-A-Lock, a locksmith company based in Lafayette, La. The company has franchise operations across the United States and Canada, including Kansas City.
The indictment alleges Peters sexually exploited a minor child to produce videos that investigators found on the phone.
If convicted, he faces not less than 15 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. Peters has previous convictions for drugs, aggravated battery domestic battery, theft and burglary.
TOPEKA – A longtime, popular Kansas zoo gorilla had an important medical evaluation Wednesday.
Tiffany, 49, who came to the Topeka Zoo originally in 1968 was evaluated at the Morrison Veterinary Hospital at the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center, according to a media release.
During the procedure, a medical team evaluated all of Tiffany’s organ systems in an effort to determine why the gorilla is reluctant to eat.
Early afternoon Wednesday, Tiffany returned to her home at the zoo to recover fully from anesthesia. She continues to be closely monitored.
Last Friday, zoo staff reported that Tiffany wasn’t acting like herself. Staff thought that a storm the previous night might have upset her. Over the following days, she has lost more and more of her appetite. While she is still drinking fluids, she needs the nutrients of her balanced diet to be able to live a healthy life. “We are at the point where a diagnostic exam under anesthesia is indicated,” said Staff Veterinarian Dr. Shirley Llizo.
Tiffany is one of the oldest female gorillas in a global database which shows age distribution of gorillas from many zoos around the world. Because of her geriatric status, staff at the zoo is taking a number of precautions to make sure that Tiffany’s procedure goes as smoothly as possible.
Tiffany has made a great impact on millions of zoo visitors over the years. Longtime residents still remember well the stories about Max and Tiffany. Tiffany’s fondness of children has continued her status as a zoo favorite through the years. Tiffany came to the Topeka Zoo in 1968. She spent some time at the Buffalo Zoo in the eighties before moving back to Topeka.
Wednesday crash-image courtesy Overland Park Police
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Police say a fiery crash of a semi-trailer truck will close one direction of Interstate 435 near Kansas City through mid-morning Thursday.
Overland Park police say the crash occurred about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday when the truck went into a median and erupted in fire.
The driver suffered only minor injuries but the crash damaged a safety device used to reduce damage in a crash. Repairs to that device aren’t expected to be complete until about 10 a.m. Thursday.
The crash is the latest of several wrecks along the same stretch of highway, where a major repair project is under way.
Willie “Darryl” Wilson died last weekend of burns he suffered in a fiery, chain-reaction crash July 17 in the eastbound lanes near Wednesday’s crash.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – KidsAndCars.org and The Center for Auto Safety filed suit in federal court today to compel the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to implement a law passed by Congress in 2012, and issue a standard requiring a rear seat safety belt warning system.
The law, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), required DOT to issue a final safety standard no later than October 2015, which would amend the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) to provide a safety belt reminder system for rear seats. No rule has yet been proposed, let alone issued in final form.
Nearly 1,000 unrestrained rear seat passengers were killed in 2015 alone. Children are particularly at risk. At least 343 children age 15 and under who were not using seat belts were killed in 2015, the last year for which data is available at NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts 2015 (DOT HS 812 384).
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recognizes the value of seat belts, stating on its website that 13,941 lives were saved in 2015 by these safety devices. NHTSA has even created and distributed public service announcements stating that, “Parents need regular and salient reminders to consistently ensure seat belt compliance for themselves and their tween children” at DOT Traffic Safety Marketing website. Yet, when given the statutory directive to require that every new car has a “regular and salient reminder” (for example: an audible warning) about rear seat safety belts for passengers, NHTSA has failed to act.
“To have to bring a lawsuit in federal court to compel NHTSA to simply write a regulation required by law – one that is widely recognized as having significant lifesaving potential – is, to use a word, sad,” said Jason Levine, the new executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. “Instead of fulfilling its job as an expert safety agency on behalf of all consumers, NHTSA has spent five years hitting the snooze button. Hopefully, this action spurs a sense of urgency for something so noncontroversial.”
“The importance of seat belts in saving lives is indisputable. This is one area where the government, auto industry and safety groups completely agree. Everything possible should be done to ensure that all passengers are correctly restrained all the time, on every ride,” said Janette Fennell, KidsAndCars.org founder and president. “As the NHTSA safety campaign states, Never Give Up Until They Buckle Up, we too cannot give up until this law passed by Congress is implemented,” she added.
A recent report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) confirmed the need for such a warning system. IIHS found up to 28 percent of adults surveyed admitted not wearing their seat belt in the rear seat all the time and of those, 4 out of 5 say that when they take short trips or travel by taxi or ride-hailing service, they frequently do not wear a seat belt. The same report noted that unrestrained passengers in the rear seat were almost 8 times as likely to sustain a serious injury in a crash as restrained rear seat occupants at IIHS Rear Seat Belt Survey.
The complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief was brought in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and is titled Kids and Cars, Inc., and the Center for Auto Safety vs. Chao and NHTSA.
The organizations are being represented in the case by the Washington, D.C. public interest firm, Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks.
TOPEKA —Kansas Insurance Department officials said Tuesday that initial rate revision information for the 2018 federal individual health insurance marketplace will be published on Sept. 1 following an announced delay on rate filings last week from the federal government.
The United States Department of Health and Human Services released guidance on Aug. 10 saying that the final rate submission date for all states has been pushed back to Sept. 6. Because of the current uncertainty of the federal guidelines for the marketplace, Ken Selzer, CPA, Kansas Commissioner of Insurance, said he requested the new Kansas publication date to keep the public from being confused.
“With all the uncertainty in Washington, D.C., regarding the cost share reduction reimbursement for insurance companies, we think it is best for the rates not to be published prematurely,” Commissioner Selzer said.
Commissioner Selzer did say that he expected the three companies that indicated their 2018 participation on the Kansas marketplace — Medica, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, and Sunflower State Health Plan (a subsidiary of Centene Corp.) — will continue to offer plans for 2018.
Approximately five percent of Kansans purchase individual health insurance plans. In 2017, there were 98,780 Kansans who purchased plans on the federal exchange.
MEADE – A Kansas man was convicted Wednesday of three child sex crime-related charges, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
A Meade County jury found Jose Alvino Trevino, 49, guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.
Judge Sidney Thomas presided over the trial. Sentencing has not yet been set.
The crimes were committed in November 2012. The charges stemmed from an investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Assistant Attorney General Lyndzie Carter of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case.
SALINE COUNTY —Authorities believe a lightning strike ignited an oil storage tank Northeast of Salina Wednesday morning. Rural residents reported seeing the smoke for miles.
Just after 6:30 a.m. fire crews were called to the intersection of East North Street and Holmes Road after someone called in the fire, according to Saline County undersheriff Brent Melander.
Rural Fire District #5, Saline County Emergency Management and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment responded.
Fire crews decided to allow the fire burn itself out and finished cleanup just before 9:30 a.m., according to Melander.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A top Kansas lawmaker has named a campaign treasurer in an ethics filing that lists the office he is seeking as governor.
The Wichita Eagle reports House Democratic Leader Jim Ward of Wichita made the filing Tuesday, naming former Kansas Democratic Party chairman Lee Kinch to the post. The form enables Ward to begin fundraising.
Ward plans an announcement Saturday.
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is serving his second term and couldn’t run again. President Donald Trump has nominated him to serve as U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. The timing of a U.S. Senate vote on his nomination is uncertain.
Democrats in the race are former Wichita mayor Carl Brewer and former state representative Josh Svaty. GOP candidates are Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer.
RENO COUNTY — A Kansas man arrested by the Reno County Sheriff’s Office on a charge of sexual exploitation of a child made a first court appearance Wednesday morning in Reno County.
Samuel Ross Seck, 31, who has a prior conviction for attempted sexual exploitation of a child, apparently had numerous pictures on his phone of underage children, according to Capt. Steve Lutz with the sheriff’s office.
In court, Lutz indicated the case is still under investigation.
Seck is a registered sex offender in the county, according to Lutz, and has a prior conviction for attempted sexual exploitation of child out of Geary County from 2012.
He’s jailed on a $25,000 bond and should be back in court next week for the formal reading of charges.
The overview map depicts the proposed route of the Grain Belt Express Clean Line in Kansas- Image Clean Line Energy Partners.- click to expand
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri utility regulators have rejected a proposed high-voltage power line to carry wind power across the Midwest to eastern states.
The decision Wednesday by the Missouri Public Service Commission creates a significant hurdle for Clean Line Energy Partners, which wants to build one of the nation’s longest transmission lines.
All the other states along its route already have granted approval. The line would run from Kansas through Missouri and Illinois to Indiana, where it would connect with a power grid for eastern states.
Missouri regulators initially rejected the project in 2015, while questioning its benefits and burden on landowners.
This time, the regulatory commission cited a recent state appeals court ruling that said utilities must first get consent from affected counties before state approval can be granted.
Clean Line lacks local approval from several counties in its path.
EDWARDS COUNTY— A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 5:30a.m. Wednesday in Edwards County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 semi driven by Eric Hernandez, 52, Ulysses, was eastbound on US. 50 one mile east of Belpre.
The semi crossed the center line into the westbound lane. The truck traveled off the north shoulder. The driver overcorrected and rolled the semi onto the driver’s side.
Hernandez was transported to the hospital in Kinsley. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
