There were a series of Jewell County earthquakes in April- image Kansas Geological Survey
JEWELL COUNTY – A small earthquake shook north-central Kansas Saturday afternoon.
The quake just before 3:30 p.m. measured a magnitude 3.0 and was centered approximately 3 miles southeast of Mankato.
It is the sixth quake reported in Kansas in the past two days. The other 5 were in Sumner and Harvey Count and measured 2.6- to 3.3, according to the USGS.
The agency recorded numerous quakes in Jewell County in April and this is the first since a 2.8 quake on May 23.
The USGS reported 9 Kansas earthquakes in May, nearly a dozen in April, seven in March and six in February.
There are no reports of damage or injury from Saturday’s quake, according to the Jewell County Sheriff’s Department.
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SUMNER COUNTY – A fifth earthquake in two days shook Kansas on Friday afternoon. The quake just after 6p.m. measured 2.6 and was centered northeast of Caldwell, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake at 2a.m. measured a magnitude 2.7 and was centered approximately 9 miles northwest of Bell Plaine.
The USGS also reported quakes in Sumner County at 2 a.m. Friday and just after 7p.m. Thursday.
Just before 1:30p.m. Thursday, a 3.3 magnitude quake was centered approximately 6 miles southeast of Harper, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The agency reported 9 Kansas earthquakes in May including two quakes in Sumner County over the Memorial Day weekend. They measured 2.5 and 2.6 and were centered near Belle Plaine.
The USGS recorded nearly a dozen Kansas earthquakes in April, seven in March and six in February. They measured from 2.5. to 3.3.
There are no reports of damage or injury from Friday’s quake, according to the Sumner County Sheriff’s Department.
Rep. Clay Aurand, a Republican from Belleville-photo KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A proposal to restore guaranteed tenure for some Kansas public school teachers has become part of legislative talks on education funding.
Republican Rep. Clay Aurand of Belleville outlined the proposal Friday as the House negotiated with the Senate over a plan to boost spending on public schools.
Negotiators said they would review it.
Lawmakers adjourned Saturday afternoon and are expected back Sunday.
They are looking at phasing in an increase in spending of at least $230 million over two years in response to a Kansas Supreme Court ruling in March that education funding is inadequate.
Republican legislators stripped teachers of guaranteed tenure in 2014. Teachers have been pushing to get it back.
Aurand’s proposal would restore tenure to teachers who had it in 2014. They would lose those job protections in 2019 unless lawmakers passed a new tenure law.
Alex Deaton courtesy of Ellsworth County Sheriff’s Office
PRATT, Kan. (AP) — A man accused of killing and wounding people in Mississippi, New Mexico and Kansas in February has waived a hearing.
Alex Deaton is charged in Kansas with attempted murder, aggravated robbery, theft, fleeing and attempting to elude an officer.
KSNW-TV reports that a Pratt County judge bound Deaton over after he waived Friday’s hearing. The stepfather of Pratt store clerk Riley Juel, whom Deaton is accused of shooting, says a recovering Juel has resumed work.
Deaton is indicted in Rankin County, Mississippi, for murder, auto theft and drive-by shooting, accused of strangling his girlfriend, stealing her car, and shooting a jogger.
Scene of Deaton’s crash in Ellsworth Co.-photo courtesy KHP
Authorities also say he killed a woman in Neshoba County, Mississippi.
Deaton then allegedly drove to New Mexico, carjacked a couple and shot one, before capture in Kansas.
The Kansas Senate and House voted Thursday to allow public health care facilities to continue banning concealed weapons. The 24-16 Senate vote and 91-33 House vote send the bill to Gov. Sam Brownback for consideration.
A state law taking effect July 1 will allow people to carry concealed guns into any public building that is not secured by armed guards and metal detectors.
A bill approved Thursday by the Kansas Legislature would exempt public health facilities, including the University of Kansas Health System, from a law allowing people to carry concealed guns. The bill now goes to Gov. Sam Brownback. UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HOSPITAL
During debate, Republican Sen. Carolyn McGinn said it doesn’t make sense to allow guns in places like state psychiatric hospitals.
“These are individuals who are severely ill. They could take a gun away from an employee, and then we have a problem,” McGinn said.
The bill also would exempt public hospitals and the University of Kansas Health System.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning said allowing guns at the KU Health System would make it harder to attract staff. He said it also would be difficult to install security at the facility so the hospital could continue barring guns.
“Just think of the TSA when you fly. Ten thousand humans walk through the KU door every day,” Denning said. “It makes no sense from just a practical matter.”
Critics of the bill said if security isn’t in place to bar all guns, law-abiding citizens should be able to carry a weapon for self-defense.
“You’re just taking away the right for someone to protect themselves legally in these facilities,” said Republican Sen. Rob Olson, who added that a gun ban won’t stop people who are intent on breaking the rule.
“The only people we’re empowering here are the people who are going to do bad things,” he said.
Reporters asked Brownback before Thursday’s debate if he would veto or sign the bill.
“I’m not going to articulate anything. I’m going to watch the debate. It’s an important one,” the governor said.
Senate President Susan Wagle offered an amendment backed by the National Rifle Association that would have narrowed the bill to only bar guns in some areas of mental facilities and the KU hospital. She said narrowing the bill would mean a likely signature from the governor.
“This is the best solution that we can come to that protects the Second Amendment rights that we have already enacted in the state of Kansas and yet gives flexibility,” Wagle said.
The chamber rejected Wagle’s amendment. Threats of a veto didn’t sway some lawmakers who want a wider exemption, including Republican Sen. Barbara Bollier.
“I refuse to be held hostage to the governor’s pen, and thus will be voting no,” Bollier said.
Kwanequa Jones is a Washburn University graduate who was at the Statehouse for a rally. She wanted lawmakers to expand the firearm discussion to include an exemption for universities, so those buildings could continue barring guns after this summer.
“I am happy they are working on not allowing guns in medical facilities,” Jones said. “I think guns not being allowed in all facilities would be great.”
Even lawmakers who want to exempt universities from the concealed carry law decided not to pursue it as part of the bill. They were concerned adding an exemption for universities would garner a veto from the governor and mean losing the health care facility exemption as well.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for kcur.org a partner in the Kansas News Service.
DICKINSON COUNTY- One person was injured in a small plane crash just after 3p.m. Friday in Dickinson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Sky Arrow LSA piloted by Michael Farley, 54, Port Orange, FL., was taking off on runway 23 four miles south of Chapman.
The aircraft was approximately 15 feet off the ground and encountered cross winds. The right wing tipped and struck the ground and the aircraft rolled.
Farley was transported to Geary Community Hospital.
PRATT – Once common across the Kansas prairies, antelope, or pronghorn, now only inhabit the far western third of the state with a few remnant populations in the Flint Hills and the Red Hills. In the western counties, the population is healthy where suitable shortgrass prairie is found and numbers support limited hunting seasons. It is a popular and unique big game hunting experience for Kansas hunters, who must enter a lottery drawing for firearm and muzzleloader permits. The online application deadline is June 9, 2017.
Three management units are open to antelope hunting, Units 2, 17 and 18 with 180 firearm permits and 50 muzzleloader permits available to Kansas residents and nonresident tenants only. Demand is high and preference points, which are awarded to unsuccessful applicants, are required to draw general resident permits.
Applications can be made online by visiting www.kshuntfishcamp.com or by calling (620) 672-0728. Hunters may apply for either a general resident permit, a landowner/tenant permit, a youth permit, or purchase a preference point.
Firearm and muzzleloader permit prices (including application and online convenience fees) are as follows: General Resident Application – $62.50, Resident Landowner/Tenant Application – $37.50, Resident Youth Application (age 15 and under) – $22.50, Nonresident Tenant Application – $97.50, Preference Point only –$11.50.
Antelope archery permits are sold over the counter and are available to residents and nonresidents: General Resident – $52.50, Resident Landowner/Tenant – $27.50, Resident Youth (age 15 and under) – $12.50, Nonresident Tenant – $87.50, Nonresident – $302.50, Nonresident Youth (age 15 and under) – $102.50.
The 2017 Archery Season is Sept. 23-Oct. 1 and Oct. 14-31. Muzzleloader Season is Oct. 2-9, and the Firearm Season is Oct. 6-9.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 36-year-old Topeka man will undergo a psychiatric evaluation before trial in the 2014 death of an 8-year-old boy in a traffic collision.
A Shawnee County District judge on Thursday ordered the evaluation of Marvin Leroy Tibbs III. He is charged with alternate counts of reckless second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter in the death of Trenton Feliciano.
Tibbs was giving Feliciano a ride on his moped when it crashed in October 2014. A police report said witnesses reported that Tibbs was speeding and passed a stop sign before colliding with a vehicle.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports it could be two months before the evaluation because of a lack of beds at Larned State Hospital.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An 82-year-old woman from Texas was arrested and booked into jail after scuffling with a security agent at the Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita.
Law enforcement and Transportation Security Administration reports say the Lila May Bryan became verbally abusive early Wednesday when agents tried to confiscate an oversized bottle containing a liquid hand product. The reports say she struck the TSA agent after trying to walk around an X-ray screening machine.
The woman spent nearly two hours in the county jail’s booking area and was photographed and fingerprinted before she was freed.
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett says his office authorized her release without bond after finding out about her arrest.
She was taken back to the airport and left on another flight with her husband.
Law enforcement authorities have located the three children in connection with Friday’s Kansas Amber Alert.
The suspect, Dane Wright is also in custody. No additional details were released.
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SEDGWICK COUNTY – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation issued an amber alert on Friday afternoon for 3 children reported missing after a house fire.
Just before 12:30 Friday fire crews responded to just a home in the 300 block of North Ash in Wichita.
Crews found the body of a woman in the home. Wichita Police consider the death suspicious, and think three children associated with the deceased are missing and with a
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person they consider a suspect.
Authorities are looking for Dane A. Wright, 29, who was last seen leaving the scene of the fire 2001 in a 4-door White Ford Focus with Kansas plates 718 JHX.
The missing children are 12-year-old William J. Thompson III, 5-year-old Ethan A. Thompson, and 2-year-old Damien A. Wright
The public is asked to Call 911if you see the missing children, the suspect, or the vehicle.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita lawmaker is brushing aside criticism after he tweeted that about two dozen guns were on the House floor during a debate over concealed weapons.
Republican Rep. John Whitmer sent the tweet in response to Republican Rep. Stephanie Clayton. The outspoken opponent of campus carry had tweeted that she was “so scared” because lawmakers were about to take up a gun measure.
Whitmer responded with, “Nothing to be scared of, there’s at least 25 guns on the floor of the House right now!” Lawmakers ultimately approved a bill to keep concealed guns out of public hospitals and mental health centers.
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley said Whitmer’s tweet was “disgraceful.” Whitmer responded that the peaceful debate showed there was nothing to fear.
MANHATTAN — The Kansas dairy industry is a valued member of Kansas agriculture, and contributes to the economy both locally and statewide. The Kansas Department of Agriculture is pleased to celebrate our hard-working dairy farmers during the month of June as Governor Sam Brownback has proclaimed it Kansas Dairy Month.
“Kansas dairy farmers are an important part of the economic growth of the agriculture industry,” said Jackie McClaskey, Kansas Secretary of Agriculture. “Their success is a reflection of their hard work and commitment to improving the industry through innovations in dairy farming and milk processing.”
In 2016, the value of milk produced in Kansas was $530 million, and Kansas dairy farms increased milk production by more than 4.8 percent. There are 290 family-run dairy farms with more than 152,000 dairy cows, and growth in the Kansas dairy industry means economic growth for local communities and the state, and more safe and nutritious dairy products for families in Kansas and across the region.
Kansas dairy farms are becoming more progressive, by adding new advanced technologies like robotic milking machines. As the Kansas milk production grows, milk processors too are making significant investments in new milk processing facilities so that more of that Kansas milk stays in Kansas for processing, and contributing to the economic growth of the state.
KDA’s dairy and feed safety program is committed to serving the dairy farmers in our state by supplying resources to help their farms and processing operations grow and thrive. The dairy inspection team helps them stay on the forefront of the dairy industry by providing information and education and by advocating for the dairy industry both locally and nationally.
Follow KDA on Facebook and Twitter to learn more about Kansas dairies and to celebrate Kansas Dairy Month this June. For more information about KDA’s dairy program, go to agriculture.ks.gov/dairy or dairyinkansas.com.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a 21-year-old man in the deadly shooting of his roommate during a Wichita party.
Wichita Police Lt. Jason Stephens says 18-year-old Joseph Seabolt died at a hospital where he was driven early Thursday. Stephens says Seabolt was shot in the lower abdomen during a birthday celebration that spanned two duplexes. Seabolt and his roommate lived in one of the duplexes.
His roommate Manuel Lee Trotter is jailed in Sedgwick County on suspicion of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, and discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling.
