WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man who drowned at a southern Kansas lake has been identified has been identified.
Authorities say 21-year-old Javon Barber of Wichita drowned Saturday night in Lake Afton. Divers found his body more than two hours later.
Officials say Barber and an acquaintance had been swimming out to a buoy when they decided to turn around and swim back to shore. That’s when Barber began struggling and disappeared under the water’s surface.
RENO COUNTY – Three juveniles were injured in an accident Sunday in Reno County.
Just after 2:30 p.m., an ATV driven by 12-year-old Bryant Sipe and passenger 14-year-old Alec Meier were on a trail on private property at River Creek Campground, 4819 E. Eales Road, according to a media release.
The ATV collided with another ATV driven by 15-year-old Emilee Meier and a passenger 11-year-old Kenna Real.
EMS transported Sipe to Hutchinson Regional Medical center with complaints of head and stomach pain, according to the sheriff’s department.
A personal vehicle transported the Meier children to the hospital. Emilee had a cut on her leg that required stitches, according to the sheriff’s department. Real was not injured. They were not wearing seat belts, according to Deputy Jeremy VanWey.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Investigators are trying to determine what sparked a weekend blaze in a southern Kansas horse stable, killing a pregnant mare.
C-Arrow Stables owner Barry Cole reported that he managed to save eight of the nine horses from the barn in Maize near Wichita after finding the structure on fire about 6:30 a.m. Saturday.
But Cole says a mare named Midnight did not escape the fire that destroyed the barn, the tack inside and a tractor.
The property offers riding lessons, training and horse rentals along with boarding services, as well as youth camps each spring and summer. Cole says a rodeo camp scheduled to take place later this month will go on.
SHAWNEE COUNTY– Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and searching for a suspect.
Just before 10:30 p.m. Sunday police responded to the 1200 Block of SW Lincoln in Topeka, according to a media release.
Upon arrival at the residence, officers found a man with multiple gunshot wounds on the porch of the home. EMS transported him to a local hospital. The circumstances of what led to the shooting are unclear, according to police.
The suspect is described as a black male with tan pants and a white shirt. Anyone with information is asked to call police.
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on television personalities, journalists and political rivals feel like something straight out of the pro wrestling circuit. And that may not be a coincidence.
Trump has long been associated with the game. And wrestling aficionados say he has borrowed its time-tested tactics to cultivate the ultimate antihero character. That’s someone who wins at all costs, incites outrage and follows nobody’s rules but his own.
On Sunday, Trump’s apparent fondness for wrestling emerged again. He tweeted mock video that shows him pummeling a man in a business suit outside a wrestling ring. The man’s face is obscured by the CNN logo.
#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017
The video appeared to be a doctored version of Trump’s 2007 appearance on World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An atheist group is raising questions about prayers at high school basketball games in Western Kansas, but school officials are defending their practices.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent letters to the Cheylin and Weskan school districts complaining about basketball players praying after games in January with coaches participating.
Weskan Superintendent Dave Hale says the coaches did not lead the prayer. It was student driven, but he will make sure his coaches are not in the area in the future.
Chris Line with the foundation says the group considers the issue resolved. Both districts said they would ensure that staff members don’t participate in or encourage future prayers.
MANHATTAN – Law enforcement authorities have identified the victim of a fatal Saturday afternoon accident in Manhattan.
Just before 12:15p.m. Saturday, first responders were dispatched to the intersection of Seth Child Road. and Tuttle Creek Boulevard in Manhattan after report of an injury accident involving 2 vehicles, according to a media release.
When officers arrived on scene, they found that a blue 2009 Toyota Camry, driven by Gayla Fief, 53, Manhattan, had been struck by a black 2006 Chevrolet Silverado, driven by Romelia Sutton, 52, Marysville.
Fief was entrapped in her vehicle, and was extracted by Manhattan Fire Department before being transported by Lifestar to Stormont Vail in Topeka where she died.
Both Sutton and her passenger, Jazmin Vera-Galvan, 39, Marysville, were transported by EMS to Via Christi in Manhattan for treatment of their injuries.
During the course of the accident investigation, it was determined that Fief pulled out in front of Sutton, who did not have time to avoid the collision.
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MANHATTAN – A 53-year-old woman injured in an accident in Manhattan on Saturday was flown to a hospital in Topeka where she died, according to the Riley County Police Department.
The crash briefly closed Seth Child and Tuttle Creek Boulevard.
Details on the accident that involved a pickup and a sedan and name of the victim were not released.
Police are expected to release additional details on Sunday afternoon.
Check Hays Post for additional details as they become available.
KANSAS CITY –Four additional defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to use online escort and massage ads to lure robbery victims, according to Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Rodney E. Brock, 20, of Blue Springs, Mo., Melissa C. Cummins, 23, and Daphne J. Fruean, 37, both of Independence, Mo., and Michele R. Shatto, 34, of Kansas City,, were charged in a 12-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. The second superseding indictment replaces a Nov. 1, 2016, superseding indictment and contains additional defendants and charges (bringing the total number of defendants to 10). The second superseding indictment also includes Kenneth W. Sexson, 33, of Sugar Creek, Mo., Ray J. Mahurin, 34, of Blue Springs, Serina M. Campos, 23, of Independence, with the same charges contained in the previous indictment, but does not include three co-defendants who have pleaded guilty.
The indictment alleges that Sexson, Brock, Cummins, Fruean and Shatto participated in a conspiracy to commit armed robbery from April 1, 2015, to June 7, 2016. They allegedly used several websites (including craigslist.org, backpage.com and skout.com) to make connections with their victims and arrange meetings at local hotels, residences and apartments. When customers arrived for the meetings, the indictment says, conspirators would be lying in wait, armed with firearms, and rob the customers.
The indictment specifically refers to seven armed robberies that occurred in September and October 2015 at various locations in Kansas City, Mo., Independence, and North Kansas City, Mo. Six of the robberies in October 2016 were included in the earlier indictment. A Sept. 26, 2016, robbery at an Independence hotel is added in the current indictment.
In one of those robberies, a victim jumped from his moving vehicle on the highway in fear of his life and was transported to the hospital. According to court documents, conspirators lured a victim to meet Cummins at a Kansas City, Mo., apartment on Oct. 9, 2015. When he arrived at the apartment, court documents say, he was greeted at the door by Cummins. Sexson, Brock and a third person, armed with handguns, allegedly pulled him into a room and threw him on the bed. They demanded his phone and money, then took him to his vehicle (a Chevrolet Silverado pickup) and searched it. Afterwards, Brock directed the victim into the passenger seat and drove off in the vehicle. While driving, Brock allegedly demanded the title to the vehicle and threatened to shoot the victim, who jumped from the moving vehicle in the area of I-670 and 71 Highway in fear for his life.
Brock was arrested on Nov. 5, 2015, when an Independence police officer saw him driving a stolen vehicle. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but Brock began to flee at a high rate of speed, driving into opposite lanes of traffic to avoid stop sticks. After a lengthy pursuit into Kansas, Brock bailed from the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot. He entered a nearby body of water, and was later recovered from that body of water. Inside the stolen vehicle, officers discovered a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun.
The indictment charges Sexson, Mahurin and Campos together in one count of being unlawful users of a controlled substance who aided and abetted each other to possess firearms and ammunition. The indictment alleges they were in possession of a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, a Marlin 30-30 caliber rifle, a Glock 9mm pistol, a Springfield 9mm pistol, and ammunition.
In addition to the conspiracy, Sexson, Brock and Cummins are charged together with one count of aiding and abetting an armed robbery. Sexson and Brock are charged together with one count of aiding and abetting an armed robbery. Sexson and Fruean are charged together with one count of aiding and abetting an armed robbery.
Sexson is also charged with three additional counts of aiding and abetting an armed robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Brock is also charged with one count of carjacking (related to the Oct. 9, 2015, armed robbery) and one count of being an unlawful user of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm. Brock allegedly possessed a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol when he was arrested on Nov. 5, 2015.
Larson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt.
OGALLALA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say four people died after another vehicle crossed the center line of a Western Nebraska highway and struck the motorcycles they were riding on.
The Nebraska State Patrol is trying to determine what caused the crash on U.S. Highway 26 south of Lake McConaughy around 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
The four people who died were riding on two motorcycles. The driver of the other vehicle was taken to a Colorado hospital for treatment of injuries.
Fifty-four-year-old Sheila Matheny and 61-year-old James Matheny, who are from Bedford, Iowa, were on one motorcycle. The other riders were 58-year-old Michal Weese and 59-year-old Jerolyn Weese from Council Bluffs, Iowa.
By STEPHEN KORANDA
Lawmakers approved a $1.2 billion income tax increase to close a projected $900 million budget gap for the next two fiscal years.
The new law raises income tax rates and reinstates income taxes on thousands of business owners.
“We’re encouraging everybody to just think about it,” said Kansas Revenue Secretary Sam Williams.
Williams recommends that employees who are paid at an hourly rate check their paychecks in July to make sure the income tax withholding has been increased.
Under current law, there are two income tax brackets with rates of 2.7 percent and 4.6 percent. The new law creates a third bracket, and has rates of 2.9 percent, 4.9 percent and 5.2 percent.
The new law also eliminates an income tax exemption created in 2012 for more than 300,000 businesses owners. That means many businesses will have to start making quarterly tax payments.
“Businesses that were created in that time, they haven’t been in the habit of making any estimated tax payments,” Williams said.
The tax changes are retroactive to the beginning of 2017.
Andy Phillips, with The Tax Institute at H&R Block, agreed that it’s a good idea for individuals to make sure their withholding amount has increased. For businesses, he said it’s important to see if tax payments need to be updated.
“Visit with your tax adviser, even on your own do an online tax calculator. Determine what this means to you,” he said.
Phillips said workers or business owners who don’t make changes could face a larger-than-expected tax bill next April.
“It’s extremely important to have that midyear checkup and determine if you need to take some proactive steps and not have a surprise waiting for you,” he said.
Kansans will not face late penalties or interest as long as all taxes due are paid by April 2018.
The new law also will reinstate some tax deductions and credits, but those won’t begin phasing back in until next year.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR a partner in the Kansas News Service.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House’s top legislative liaison insists the Senate is “getting close” to an agreement on a GOP health bill to repeal and replace the health care law.
Marc Short says President Donald Trump spent the weekend making calls to lawmakers to “get the Senate package across the finish line.”
Kansas Senator Pat Roberts has stated he favors the current bill while the Junior Senator from Kansas Jerry Moran does not.
Short says the Congressional Budget Office has two versions of the bill to score. Sen. Ted Cruz is pushing a conservative version that aims to aggressively reduce costs. The other could bolster health care subsidies for lower-income people.
Short told “Fox News Sunday” the White House’s hope is to pass a repeal-and-replace bill. But he reiterated that Trump believes Republicans should consider an option of immediately repealing “Obamacare” and replacing it later, if senators can’t reach agreement.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Federal officials say the Kansas City Zoo was not at fault when a chimp died.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture inspected the zoo’s chimpanzee program after a 31-year-old chimpanzee died June 21.
The chimp, Bahati, died after falling from a tree and being attacked by other chimpanzees.
Zoo officials say other chimps had chased Bahati up the tree and he fell. The chimpanzees beat Bahati and he died of internal injuries. A zoo spokeswoman said chimpanzees often skirmish to maintain social hierarchy.
The Kansas City Star reports the federal agency said it found the zoo was compliant with the Animal Welfare Act, which covers the treatment of zoo animals.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Some state lawmakers want Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to explain his claim that corruption exists at the Statehouse.
Kobach said recently he is running for governor to end the “culture of corruption” in the Legislature. He suggested term limits for legislators.
House Speaker Pro Tem Scott Schwab, a Republican from Olathe, on Friday said Kobach’s comments insult the Legislature. He says he gets nervous when someone with prosecutorial power accuses others of violating the law without being specific.
Schwab suggested the Legislative Coordinating Council, a seven-member group of the top leaders from both parties in the House and Senate, write a letter to Kobach asking him to explain his remarks.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports Kobach’s office said he would respond when he sees the letter.
