WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A south-central Kansas man has been convicted of causing a 2015 crash that killed two men as they walked near their home.

KAKE-TV  reports that a Sedgwick County jury on Monday convicted Myles Evans of two counts of involuntary manslaughter related to the August 2015 wreck.

Authorities said Evans was driving under the influence when he struck 72-year-old Paul LaBrue and 70-year-old David Bell in a residential area of Goddard. LaBrue’s dog also was killed.

A sentencing date was not immediately set.

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect on drug and driving charges.

On Friday evening, Mahala Shepherd, 24, Salina, was driving a 2001 Chevy Tahoe without permission in the 3000 Block of Foxboro Drive, according to Salina Police Capt. Paul Forrester.

The vehicle jumped the curb, hit a decorative planter and crashed into a tree.
Forrester said Shepherd then climbed out of the driver’s side window and fled the scene.

An eyewitness saw her run to a residence on Crescent Street.

Salina Police arrived at the residence to find Shepherd in the yard. Capt. Forrester said she was transported to the Salina Regional Health Center for treatment before being booked into the Saline County Jail shortly after 9:30 p.m.

Shepherd faces possession of methamphetamines, possession of drug paraphernalia, deprivation of property, driving without a license, driving without insurance, three counts of improper driving on a laned roadway, five counts of failure to report an accident and driving under the influence.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in southern Kansas’ Sedgwick County say human remains have been found in a farm field just outside of Wichita’s city limits.

Sheriff’s Lt. Lin Dehning says the remains were found shortly before 3:30 p.m. Monday by the property owner while he was mowing.

Dehning says that it’s too early to tell the age and gender of the person whose remains were found, or whether any foul play was involved.

Dehning says the effort to identify the remains continues.

No additional details were available.

RENO COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities investigating an injury accident in Reno County.

Just after 2a.m. Monday deputies were dispatched to an accident involving a vehicle and pedestrian on Kansas 96 at Kent Road, according to the Reno County Sheriff’s Department.

Upon arrival deputies found a man identified as Daniel Earl Newburn, 30, Hutchinson, lying in the center of Kansas 96.

He had been walking across the highway when he was struck by a vehicle traveling south on K-96.

The driver identified as Edward Syres, Hutchinson, stated that he did not see the man in the roadway until it was too late. The driver attempted to swerve to miss him but struck him with the front driver side of the vehicle.

K-96 north and south were both shut down to allow for Life Team to land. They flew the victim to Wesley Medical Center.

Both the driver and his passenger were wearing their seat belts during the time of the accident. Neither of them sustained any injuries and were able to drive the vehicle from the scene of the accident.

Officials had no new information on Newburn’s condition late Monday.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Former NBA player Drew Gooden has graduated from the University of Kansas, 14 years after leaving early to play professional basketball.

The Kansas City Star  reports the 35-year-old graduated Sunday after completing his bachelor’s degree in communication studies.

The forward left school as a junior in 2002, and was chosen fourth overall in that year’s draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. He last played for the Washington Wizards in 2015-16. He averaged 11 points and 7 rebounds per game during his career.

Gooden says finishing his degree “is something I said I’d do and something I really wanted to do.” Gooden says he’s looking into getting his master’s degree and plans to send a copy of his diploma to former university head coach Roy Williams.

Several athletics department officials greeted Gooden on Sunday, including head basketball coach Bill Self. Some of his former college teammates also attended.

By SAM ZEFF

When Kansas lawmakers started this legislative session in January, most agreed that comity was back, partnerships would be forged and work would get done.

That was then and this is now.

A trio of challenges remain as the Legislature on Sunday passed the 90-day mark in its session: a budget, a tax plan and a school funding formula.

But school funding is a special problem because anything the Legislature comes up with must pass muster with the Kansas Supreme Court. Educators and many lawmakers hoped most of the work on a new school funding plan would be done by now or even before first adjournment a month ago.

“I think I was optimistic at first adjournment,” says Democratic Rep. Brett Parker, a freshman legislator from Overland Park who teaches in the Olathe school district. “The last week was a little disheartening.”

Disheartening because the K-12 Budget Committee, which has been working all session on a plan, has yet to kick out a bill. Chairman Larry Campbell, a Republican from Olathe, promised a bill before the Legislature’s three-week break in April.

The committee twice has failed to pass out a bill since lawmakers returned May 1, with its latest attempt failing Friday. Campbell again promises a completed bill and vote Monday.

But school funding has a long, hard road ahead.

In its current form, the plan would add $750 million in new money over five years. Many, but not all, members of the committee think that would be enough to satisfy the high court.

The measure also restores much of the old formula that was scrapped for the block grant scheme that the courts found unconstitutional.

After the bill leaves committee, it will head to the House floor where a long and perhaps contentious debate awaits it. Some members are expected to try to get more money to school districts sooner.

For example, while many educators and lawmakers seem mostly content with an additional $750 million, they think the state Supreme Court would have trouble with the five-year time frame. Debate may focus on providing that extra money over two or three years.

The House as a whole generally is seen as a bit more progressive than the K-12 Committee.

“If we get it on the floor, there’s a strong coalition to get a bill that’s acceptable” to moderates and Democrats, says Parker.

Indeed, Jeff King, a lawyer and former senator from Independence hired to advise the Legislature, has said the justices will see more money as better.

King also has stressed that whatever amount the Legislature provides, it might be more important to make sure it’s backed by a reliable funding stream.

“Funding that occurs today, next year, two years is more certain by definition than funding that occurs in five or six years,” King told the K-12 Committee in early May.

That’s something he also has said to state Senators who are writing a funding plan. So far they’ve made little progress and seem to be waiting for a final House bill to come over.

However, Senate leaders have suggested that the Legislature could put a lot less money into the formula and still have it gain the court’s approval.

Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning from Overland Park floated an idea Friday that would add more than $150 million in the first year and then increase every year according to the Midwest Consumer Price Index.

Denning also has suggested a surcharge on utility bills that would raise about $150 million a year.

But that reliable source of funding King has talked so much about has so far been elusive.

“I have not seen a tax plan, or heard of a tax plan, that is that robust,” Sen. John Skubal, a Republican from Overland Park, said on the Statehouse Blend Kansas podcast. “We have to have a source to make these payments.”

A couple of other sources also have been suggested, including tax increases on tobacco and alcohol.

That doesn’t sit well with many senators, including Republican Sen. John Doll from Garden City.

“Any time you take a subset of people and put the burden of them funding education, I can’t support that,” he said on Statehouse Blend Kansas.

Sam Zeff covers education for KCUR.org and the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @SamZeff. 

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect on alleged child sex crimes.

On Saturday, Salina Police arrested 32-year-old Jeremy Barr of Salina after an eyewitness called authorities regarding a possible sex crime with a 15-year-old boy.

Police Capt. Paul Forrester said that the eyewitness became suspicious after walking into Barr’s residence and seeing the two together. They alerted authorities who made contact with the alleged victim.

The boy told police of nine sexual encounters with Barr since the end of March, according to Forrester.

Barr was taken into custody and faces three counts of criminal sodomy, nine counts of indecent liberties with a child, two counts of promoting obscenity to a minor and one count of electronic solicitation.

SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal motorcycle accident.

Just after 7p.m. Saturday, a Sedgwick County Deputy Sheriff attempted to make a traffic stop on a man driving a reportedly stolen 2005 Yamaha motorcycle near the intersection of Lincoln and Market in Wichita, according to Wichita Police Department Sgt. Nikki Woodrow.

The rider refused to stop and continued westbound and crashed in the 800 Block of West Lincoln.

The man on the motorcycle identified as Bryce Reed, 27, Wichita, was pronounced dead at the scene.

It is the 11th fatal traffic accident in Wichita this year, according to Woodrow.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say an arson fire has killed a dog and caused an estimated $18,000 in damage to a Topeka house.

Fire officials said a passerby notified an officer about the fire late Saturday while police were investigating a report of a shooting in which a vehicle was struck by shotgun pellets.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that besides the dog that was killed, another was treated for smoke inhalation. The fire was contained to the house where it started.

A preliminary investigation indicates the blaze was intentionally set. The fire started in the first-floor living area in the southwest area of the home. It wasn’t immediately known if the fire was related to the shooting.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Legislature’s annual session has reached its 91st day with leaders having budgeted for 100 days.

The session’s 90th day was Sunday. That’s considered the traditional length.

But the Kansas Constitution allows lawmakers to extend sessions past 90 days in even-numbered years and doesn’t limit them in odd-numbered years.

Session lengths have varied widely over the past decade. A 73-day session last year followed a record 114-day session in 2015.

Only six sessions have lasted 100 days or longer, starting with 1990’s 100 days. Sessions were 103 days in 1991; 100 in 1992; 107 in 2002 and 100 in 2012 before 2015’s record.

The 100th day this year is May 24.

Lawmakers this year must close budget shortfalls and respond to a Kansas Supreme Court ruling on education funding.

WILSON COUNTY – Two people died in an accident just after 11:30p.m. Sunday in Wilson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Honda Accord driven by Bryan Mitchell
Adkins, 34, Dearing, was eastbound on U.S. 400 five miles west of Kansas 47.

The vehicle went left of center and struck a 2004 Honda CR-V driven by Heather Roxanne Weigert, 41, Fall River, head-on.

Adkins and Weigert were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to First Call.

Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

ANDOVER, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say it appears that a man was run over in rural Kansas and his body dumped six miles away.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet says two people delivering newspapers early Saturday found the Butler man’s body in the middle of a road. It had no socks, shoes or pants.

Detectives later found the missing clothing items and a cell phone in a ditch near the Andover YMCA. Herzet says the man was last seen alive walking away from a nearby Arby’s restaurant just after midnight Friday.

The victim was in his late 30s but his name wasn’t immediately released. The coroner says his injuries were consistent with being hit by a car.

Investigators have no suspects and are asking the public for help.