SUMNER COUNTY – Another small earthquake hit Kansas Monday. The quake at 11:45p.m. measured a magnitude 2.5 and was centered approximately 10 miles west of Belle Plaine in Sumner County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey

This is the ninth quake in Kansas this month and the third in Sumner County in the past five days.
An earthquake on Sunday afternoon and Thursday night measured 2.6, according to the USGS.

A 2.8 magnitude quake hit near Mankato in Jewell County on May 23. A 3.4 quake was reported in the same area on Saturday, May 20.

A pair of small earthquakes were reported in Harper County early Friday, May 19. A 2.7 magnitude quake hit 10 miles northwest of Conway Springs on May 10.

The agency reported a 3.5 magnitude quake in Harper County on May 5.

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 Monday’s quake, according to the Sumner County Sheriff’s Department.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A prison inmate who was eligible for release in July will instead spend more time in prison after attacking a guard at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility.

Eddie Nunez was sentenced Friday to four years and seven months in prison for attacking the guard in January 2013.

Nunez was serving time for a 2005 second-degree intentional murder conviction out of Seward County when he attacked officer Holly Seaver on his prison cellblock.

Seaver testified during Nunez’s trial that the attack was unprovoked and unexpected. She suffered a black eye and numerous bruises.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Records showing that Kansas officials investigated claims of child abuse for several years before a boy was killed and fed to pigs may be strengthening some lawmakers’ desire for increased oversight of the child welfare system.

Records released last week show that the Kansas Department for Children and Families investigated claims of child abuse over several years and had contact with Adrian Jones’ father, Michael Jones, and stepmother, Heather Jones. The department said it could not substantiate the abuse claims.

The two are now serving life sentences connected to the boy’s death.

Some lawmakers are hoping to create a task force to review the foster care system. Adrian was never placed in foster care, but his family got services from a contractor that provides support services and foster care placement.

WASHINGTON (AP) —President Donald Trump expressed the nation’s “boundless and undying” gratitude to Americans who have fallen in battle and to the families they left behind.

Trump hailed heroes in his first Memorial Day remarks as president at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday.

He told the stories of two soldiers who died in Afghanistan, Green Beret Capt. Andrew D. Byers of Colorado Springs and Christopher D. Horton of the Oklahoma National Guard. He also hailed Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator who suffered lifelong injuries in World War II and attended Monday’s ceremony.

Moving ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery with @POTUS remembering those brave souls who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. pic.twitter.com/kXiu6uz5zl

— Vice President Pence (@VP) May 29, 2017

And Trump singled out his homeland security secretary, John Kelly, for whom military sacrifice is close to home.

Kelly led the U.S. Southern Command and lost his son, Robert Kelly, who stepped on a land mine on a Marine patrol in Afghanistan. John Kelly’s other son, Johnny, is preparing for his fifth military deployment. And Kelly’s son-in-law Jake is a wounded warrior.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Homeland Security Department says nearly 740,000 foreigners who were supposed to leave the country during a recent 12-month period overstayed their visas.

The count includes people who arrived in the U.S. by plane or boat but does not include ground border crossings.

Countries with the highest visa overstays during the period from October 2015 to September 2016 were Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China and India.

The number of visa overstays was about 200,000 higher than the previous 12-month period.

That’s largely because this year’s report adds students, who overstayed visas at a much higher rate than business travelers and tourists. Students were not included in last year’s report.

An estimated 40 percent of the roughly 11 million people in the United States illegally have overstayed their visas.

SHAWNEE COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are looking for the driver who fled a Monday morning chase.

Just before 1:30 a.m., police responded to a report of a Chrysler 300 traveling near the intersection of 17th and Belle in Topeka with a flat passenger side front tire, according to a media release.

The driver failed to stop at two red lights. Police located the vehicle at 17th and Gage and attempted a traffic stop. The vehicle sped away and police, considering the driver had already run two red lights and could be a danger to the public, decided to pursue the vehicle.

Further south on Gage, the driver fled the vehicle on foot. The suspect is described as a black male wearing khaki pants and a blue and white tank top. A K-9 unit was unable to locate the suspect.

An investigation indicated the vehicle was stolen, according to police.

BY STEPHEN KORANDA

The Kansas Senate Ways and Means Committee has advanced a bill that would allow public health care facilities to continue to ban concealed guns.

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.

The bill that advanced May 23, would allow guns to be banned at state-run psychiatric hospitals, publicly owned medical facilities and the University of Kansas Health System.

This bill is similar to a measure that was debated and amended last week, then sent back to committee for more work. During Tuesday’s committee meeting, some lawmakers have agreed not to offer amendments to the bill in order to increase its chances of becoming law. However, the plan still faces a hurdle because the powerful National Rifle Association is not on board.

Republican Sen. Carolyn McGinn, chairwoman of the committee, hopes that leaving the bill focused on health care facilities and state psychiatric hospitals will reduce opposition. She said it would be expensive to install security at large medical facilities.

“This is specifically tied to saving the state dollars on security at campuses that do not have just one entrance. They have multiple entrances,” McGinn said.

Democratic Sen. Tom Hawk would like to also exempt colleges and universities from the concealed weapons law, but he has agreed not to propose that if other people also do not suggest amendments.

“I’m willing to play nice with my colleagues to get this bill through,” Hawk said.

The concern for lawmakers like Democratic Sen. Laura Kelly is that expanding the bill to include college campuses could mean the plan fails or faces a veto from Gov. Sam Brownback.

“This is the most we can get,” Kelly said. “I’m not interested in having something else go down and take the hospital exemption with it.”

Kelly hopes there will be future efforts to exempt college campuses from the law but suspects that won’t happen this session.

Although the bill is being pushed as an agreement that could become law, the powerful National Rifle Association is not on board. Former Republican House member Travis Couture-Lovelady is now a lobbyist for the NRA, and he had a hand in efforts to find a compromise.

He said the NRA would agree to ban guns in select areas of the state’s psychiatric hospitals and KU health facilities. But he said the organization opposes the bill that advanced out of committee because it allows too many buildings to block people from carrying guns for self-defense.

“If you’re going to restrict law-abiding citizens’ ability to defend themselves in that building, you should provide the security to show that nobody in that building is carrying,” Couture-Lovelady said.

Simply banning guns in the health care facilities won’t stop people who are intent on violating the rule, he said.

“We believe that just putting a sticker on the door and hoping folks don’t carry in there isn’t enough. You need some kind of security,” said Couture-Lovelady.

The full Kansas Senate could take consider the bill in the coming days.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for kcur.org, a partner in the Kansas News Service.

SUMNER COUNTY – Another small earthquake hit Kansas Sunday. The quake at 3:17p.m. measured a magnitude 2.6 and was centered approximately 8 miles west of Belle Plaine in Sumner County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey

This is the eighth quake in Kansas this month.

On Thursday May 25, the USGS reported a 2.6 quake ten miles west of Belle Plaine.

A 2.8 magnitude quake hit near Mankato in Jewell County on May 23. A 3.4 quake was reported in the same area on Saturday, May 20.

A pair of small earthquakes were reported in Harper County early Friday, May 19. A 2.7 magnitude quake hit 10 miles northwest of Conway Springs on May 10.

The agency reported a 3.5 magnitude quake in Harper County on May 5.

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 Thursday’s quake, according to the Sumner County Sheriff’s Department.

SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating an armed robbery and asking for help to find suspects.

Just before 2a.m. Sunday, police responded to report of a robbery on Shunga Trail near SW 29th and Gage Avenue in Topeka, according to a media release.

Five juveniles told police they were walking the trail near McDonald Field when two men on BMX-style bikes pulled up behind them and robbed them at gunpoint.

One suspect is described as a Hispanic male, 5 foot 7 in tall height and wore a maroon or purple shirt with a flat billed cap and something covering his face.

The victims described the second suspect as an approximately 40-years-old white man with missing teeth. He wore a green shirt and saggy pants.

Officers searched the area and continue to look for the suspects. There were no injuries reported.

FINNEY COUNTY – Seven people were injured in an accident just after 3p.m. Sunday in Finney County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Hyundai Sonata driven by Michael Murphy, 57, Dumas, TX., was westbound on Kansas 156 just west of Farmland Road.

The Hyundai went left of center and collided with an eastbound 2011 GMC Sierra driven by Heinrich Neufeld, 20, Rolla, Kansas. The Sierra rolled into the south ditch.

Murphy, Neufeld and passengers in the GMC Ana Friesen, 28, Satanta; Cornelius Wiebe, 21, Moscow; Johnny Wiebe, 19, Hugoton; Eva Friesen, 17, Satanta and Jessica Luepqui, 20, Montezuma, were transported to the hospital in Garden City.

Ana Friesen and Luepqui were not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.