TOPEKA – Significant portions of the Scrap Metal Theft Reduction Act have been suspended by the Kansas Legislature, Attorney General Derek Schmidt said today. But some of the law remains in effect.

“People buying and selling scrap metal should be aware that the Legislature has suspended part of the law but not all of it,” Schmidt said. “Some of the requirements have been set aside, at least temporarily, but others remain in effect, and I encourage scrap metal dealers to remain mindful of their ongoing obligations so they do not run afoul of the law.”

In 2015, the Legislature enacted the Scrap Metal Theft Reduction Act in response to a wave of scrap metal thefts throughout the state. In general, the act sought to make it harder for thieves to profit from selling stolen scrap metal by requiring scrap metal dealers to register with the attorney general’s office and to carefully document every individual purchase of regulated scrap metals. The bill also strengthened various criminal provisions related to the theft of scrap metal.

Some scrap metal dealers objected to the new registration and tracking requirements as being too onerous, and in response the Legislature earlier this year temporarily suspended some of the act’s requirements.

This year’s amendments to the act, which now are in effect, are as follows:

• The office of the attorney general is not required to establish and maintain a database collecting information on the sale of regulated scrap metal until January 1, 2019.

• The previous requirement that every scrap metal dealer shall forward information required for the database to the attorney general is suspended until after January 1, 2019.

• The requirement for the attorney general to prescribe or collect a registration or renewal fee is suspended until after January 1, 2019.

• The previous requirement that a person filing a scrap metal dealer registration be subject to a criminal history records check or fingerprinting is suspended until January 1, 2019.

However, some requirements of the act remain in effect. In particular, the attorney general may continue to assess a civil penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $5,000, until January 1, 2019, for each failure of a scrap metal dealer, employee, or agent:

• to obtain a copy of an identification card or document containing such identifying number from any person selling regulated scrap metal;

• to photograph the item or lot of items being sold at the time of purchase or receipt of any item for which such information is required to be presented and to maintain such record; and

• to comply with the provisions of K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 50-6,111, which imposes various specific restrictions on scrap metal dealers such as prohibiting the purchase of certain items, imposing requirements on the purchase of junk vehicles, and setting obligations for keeping records.

Persons who have done business with a scrap metal dealer and believe these requirements may have been violated can file a complaint on the attorney general’s website at www.InYourCornerKansas.org.

SEDGWICK COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated battery that sent a Kansas man to the hospital.

Just after 11p.m. Sunday, police responded to report of a shooting in the 800 Block of South Topeka in Wichita, according to office Charley Davidson.

When officers arrived, they found a 55-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds.  The victim told police he was asleep in his apartment and woke up due to the shooting. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment of critical injuries.

Police have no suspects and no description to work with to find a suspect. Police did release the name of the victim.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump Jr. has shared a new doctored video of his father attacking CNN.

Trump Jr. tweeted a video of a doctored clip of the 1986 military thriller “Top Gun” Saturday. In it, President Donald Trump’s face is superimposed over Tom Cruise’s character as he shoots down a Russian jet with a CNN logo on it. Trump is seen in the clip repeating his “you’re fired” catchphrase before launching a missile.

Trump Jr. called the video, “one of the best I’ve seen.” The source of the doctored video wasn’t immediately clear.

One of the best I’ve seen. 😂🇺🇸😂🇺🇸 https://t.co/rqCplijJ57

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 8, 2017

President Donald Trump tweeted a video earlier this month of a doctored clip from a pro wrestling appearance that shows him pummeling a man whose face is covered by the CNN logo. The tweet became Trump’s most-shared tweet.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say two people died when a stolen pickup truck crashed in Kansas City, Kansas, and a survivor then fled after stealing a vehicle from a good Samaritan.

The Kansas City Star reports that at least five people were inside the truck when it crashed into a tree shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday. Police said that when a motorist stopped to help, a surviving passenger in the pickup stole the woman’s vehicle. The thief remains at large, although the woman’s vehicle has since been recovered.

Two other people in the stolen pickup were taken to a hospital with critical injuries. The names of the people killed weren’t immediately released.

The wreck remains under investigation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy have announced a revamped plan to merge after Kansas regulators scuttled an earlier deal.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the deal announced Monday morning would form a utility with a combined equity value of about $14 billion. The move comes after the Kansas Corporation Commission denied the $12.2 billion sale of Topeka-based Westar to Kansas City, Missouri-based Great Plains Energy in late April. Regulators cited concerns about a high price, the capital structure, merger savings and Kansas job retention, among other issues.

Under the new deal, each share of Westar Energy could be exchanged for a share in the new company. Great Plains shares would be worth about 60 percent of a share in the new company.

No transaction debt would be incurred.

OSAGE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities reported Sunday that search crews found the body of a missing Kansas man.

On Saturday, the Osage County Sheriff asked for assistance to find 65-year-old Leroy L. Fouts of Overbrook, according to a media release. He had last been seen at 2p.m. on July 5 near 205th and Shawnee Heights.

He was leaving his residence and heading to an unknown destination in a red 1998 Jeep Cherokee with Kansas tag 385GFH. The Jeep has a KSU wildcat front plate and rust spots on back passenger door.

The sheriff released no additional details.

HUTCHINSON – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Sunday accident.
Just after 6:30 p.m. first responders were dispatched to the area of 8th Avenue and Main Street in Hutchinson on the report of a vehicle vs. pedestrian accident, according to a social media report from police.

Officers determined that a vehicle traveling west on 8th Avenue struck a 10-year-old girl who was in the roadway. The collision occurred about mid-block and it is currently unknown if the child was playing in the street or if she was crossing the street.

The driver of the vehicle spoke with an investigator of the Police Traffic Bureau. The child was transported to HRMC by Reno County EMS and was transferred to Wesley Medical Center by Eagle Med helicopter.

WARD, Colo. (AP) — Wildlife officers are searching for a black bear that attacked a Colorado camp staffer and bit him on the head as he slept outdoors near campers.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill says the 19-year-old woke up at around 4 a.m. Sunday to a “crunching sound” with his head inside the mouth of the bear, which was trying to pull him out of his sleeping bag.

She says the teen punched and hit it and other staffers at Glacier View Ranch 48 miles (77 kilometers) northwest of Denver yelled and swatted at the bear, which ran away. The staffer was treated briefly at a hospital.

Black bears aren’t usually aggressive but they recently attacked a woman in a popular hiking area in Idaho and killed two people in Alaska.

KANSAS CITY – An attorney was sentenced in federal court Friday for his role in a fraud conspiracy in which he and his former law partner stole more than $1.2 million from St. Luke’s Health System, a client of their former law firm, according to  Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Mark J. Schultz, 57, of Lake Lotawana, MO., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Schultz to pay $400,500 in restitution to St. Luke’s.

On Feb. 10, 2017, Schultz pleaded guilty to participating in a wire fraud and mail fraud conspiracy. His former law partner, Alan B. Gallas, 65, of Kansas City also pleaded guilty in a separate but related case and was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Gallas to pay $1,224,264 in restitution to St. Luke’s.

Schultz and Gallas were attorneys and partners in the law firm of Gallas & Shultz in Kansas City, Mo., which specialized in collection work for corporations. Schultz and Gallas have each surrendered his license to practice law.

Gallas admitted that he engaged in a scheme from 2009 through July 2015 to defraud a client, St. Luke’s Health System, of monies collected by his law firm totaling $1,224,264. Schultz admitted that he participated in the conspiracy from January 2014 through July 2015.

Gallas was the attorney responsible for the St. Luke’s account at the law firm. After attempting to collect on patient accounts for a period of time, St. Luke’s would transfer its larger outstanding patient accounts to Gallas & Shultz for collection. As payments on patient accounts were received, the payments were logged into the case management system for the appropriate patient account. The monies were then deposited into the law firm’s trust account. On a periodic basis, often monthly, the firm would remit the patient payments collected to St. Luke’s.

Gallas admitted that he caused personnel at the law firm to withhold money from payments made to St. Luke’s by placing thousands of payments on “hold” status, then directing those funds be transferred from the trust account to the firm’s operating account. The pattern of not remitting some payments to St. Luke’s escalated significantly from 2012 to 2015. According to court documents, the firm withheld 601 payments totaling $211,391 in 2012. The firm withheld 699 payments totaling $266,696 in 2013. The firm withheld 625 payments totaling $227,892 in 2014. Through the month of July 2015, the firm withheld 625 payments totaling $216,845.

Schultz admitted that he agreed with Gallas and others to transfer funds from the trust account into the law firm’s operating account. According to court documents, Schultz was informed by his office manager in January 2014 that she was going to quit because she could no longer agree to move money out of the trust account. Schultz nevertheless continued to profit from the diversion of funds from the trust account until the discovery of the scheme in July 2015.

RENO COUNTY – One person died in an accident just after 4p.m. Saturday in Reno County.

A Farm Patriot Sprayer driven by Heath Bergkamp of Arlington was traveling northbound on Bone Springs Road and failed to yield at the posted Stop Sign just south of Kansas 61.

The vehicle entered the intersection and struck the passenger side of a 2013 Chevy Equinox driven by 76-year-old Robert E. Lee, Hutchinson, according to the Reno County Sheriff’s Department.

Both the driver and passenger Janice Lee, 76, Hutchinson, were trapped in the Equinox until Fire and EMS were able to extricate them.

Janice Lee was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center.

Robert Lee was transported with serious injuries by Reno County EMS to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. Bergkamp was not injured.

The driver and passenger in the Equinox were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the sheriff’s department.

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RENO COUNTY – One person died in an accident just after 4p.m. Saturday in Reno County.
A Farm Patriot Sprayer traveling northbound on Bone Springs Road failed to yield at the posted Stop Sign just south of Kansas 61.

The vehicle entered the intersection and struck the passenger side of a 2013 Chevy Equinox, according to the Reno County Sheriff’s Department.

Both The driver and passenger in the Equinox were trapped in the vehicle until Fire and EMS were able to extricate them.

The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center.

The driver was transported with serious injuries by Reno County EMS to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the sheriff’s department.

The driver of the farm sprayer was not injured. The sheriff’s department did not release names of those involved.

JEFFERSON COUNTY – One person died and three other were injured in an accident just before 4p.m. Saturday in Jefferson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Harley Davidson driven by Timmy E. Elling, 59, Kansas City, was westbound on Kansas 92 two miles east of Ozawkie.

The motorcycle rear-ended a 2015 Harley Davidson driven by Donald P. Shalz, 61, Kansas City, and slid into the ditch on the westbound side of the highway.

Elling, Shalz, a passenger on the 2014 Harley Debra L. Elling, 57, Kansas City, and a passenger on the 2015 Harley Cindy K. Shalz, 62, Kansas City, were transported to Stormont Vail.

Debra Elling died from her injuries. All four were wearing helmets.

Former Kansas Senator Bob Dole issued a statement Saturday congratulating President Donald Trump on a successful trip to Poland and the G20 Summit in Germany.

As you might expect, Trump used his Twitter account to thank Dole.

Thank you @SenatorDole, very kind! pic.twitter.com/cXrYiK46Qq

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017