TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas judges are backing off an effort to shield jurors’ names in a compromise with transparency advocates who hope to avoid court secrecy.

The Kansas District Judges Association will still seek to keep jurors’ addresses secret under its compromise with the Kansas Press Association. Lawmakers had approved the original bill, but the measure can still be changed before getting final legislative approval.

Transparency advocates had warned that the original effort was part of what they see as a growing trend across the U.S. toward anonymous juries. States where courts don’t have to release jurors’ names include California, Indiana and Oklahoma.

Kansas judges said they want to protect jurors from harassment and stop a “chilling effect” potential jurors’ feel when they have to disclose their information for the public record.

SEDGWICK COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a fatal stabbing and have made two arrests.

Police booked an 18-year-old woman for murder and robbery and a 28-year-old man for murder, robbery, forgery, and resist, according to a social media report from police.

Investigators are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with this homicide. No additional details were released early Sunday.

Just before 4p.m. Friday, officers were dispatched to a home in the 800 block of N. Chautauqua in Wichita.  They found the home owner Otto Meyer, an 86-year-old male from Wichita dead from multiple stab wounds, according to a social media report.

At the time, police needed help in locating the victim’s stolen 1989 Chevy, two toned, maroon top and silver on bottom extended cab long bed pickup with Kansas tag 320JWN.

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SEDGWICK COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a fatal stabbing and need help to locate a vehicle.

Just before 4p.m. Friday, officers were dispatched to a home in the 800 block of N. Chautauqua in Wichita.  They found the home owner Otto Meyer, an 86-year-old man from Wichita dead from multiple stab wounds, according to a social media report.

Police need help in locating the victim’s stolen 1989 Chevy, two toned, maroon top and silver on bottom extended cab long bed pickup with Kansas tag 320JWN.

If you see the stolen truck, please contact 911.

By STEPHEN KORANDA 

 

Gov. Sam Brownback kicked off the Kansas legislative session by drawing lines in the sand on taxes, spending and Medicaid expansion, and he has defended those positions with his veto pen.

The question when lawmakers return Monday to Topeka is whether those vetoes will hold up.

In January Brownback stood before Kansas lawmakers packed into the House chamber for the State of the State address. He took a preemptive strike against Medicaid expansion, saying the Obama-era health care law was in trouble.

“It would be foolish to endorse Obamacare expansion of Medicaid now, akin to airlifting onto the Titanic,” he said. “Kansas was right. We should stay the course.”

On taxes, Brownback defended his income tax exemption for businesses, saying it had grown jobs. His budget plan would keep it.

“The days of ‘tax first, cut never’ have come to an end,” the governor said.

Fast forward a month, and lawmakers were stepping across the line Brownback had drawn in the sand. They voted to roll back many of the 2012 tax cuts.

Brownback fired back during a Kansas Chamber of Commerce dinner.

“I won’t sign it. I will veto this bill. This is bad policy,” Brownback said to a cheering crowd of business officials.

A veto override attempt fell three votes short in the Senate.

‘Tired Of Giving’

Republican Sen. Barbara Bollier said lawmakers may come back with another plan to raise revenues, this time with more supporters.

“For me it looks more that we’re going to have to go to an override, which means some people are going to have to change their position,” she said.

Bollier, a moderate Republican from Mission Hills, admits that in recent years it has been moderates who have given in to the will of conservatives like the governor. Will they again?

“The answer is hell no. We’re not giving. We’re tired of giving,” Bollier said. “We’ve given and given and given; we’ve had cuts and cuts and cuts and cuts. We have to be the ones to stand up and save the state.”

The top Democrat in the Senate, Anthony Hensley of Topeka, is making a pitch to get lawmakers on board for veto overrides. On taxes, he said anything the governor will agree to won’t be enough to fix the projected budget shortfall, which amounts to almost $900 million over the next two fiscal years.

“I don’t think we want him to be relevant to this process. Up until now, he really hasn’t brought much to the table in the way of tax reform,” Hensley said.

But not everyone is pushing back against Brownback’s use of his veto pen.

“That’s a normal part of the process. He’s elected statewide and he has that right,” said Republican Senate President Susan Wagle of Wichita.

Wagle has been negotiating with the governor on a new tax plan. Republican Rep. Dan Hawkins of Wichita would like those talks to be productive. If legislators must go for a veto override, he said, maybe that means they haven’t found the best solution.

“If we continually are looking at nothing more than veto overrides, what are we doing?” Hawkins asked. “We’re really not trying to put something together that will work for the state. We’re trying to put something together that will work for that faction that has the control.”

Downplaying Tension

Last year’s election put more legislative control in the hands of Democrats and moderate Republicans. Brandi Fisher, of the Mainstream Coalition, told a group of voters in Leawood recently that they should be calling the shots.

“The one holdup that we’re having is this governor’s veto. What that tells us is that we need a new governor,” Fisher said.

Among those at the Leawood meeting was physician Bill Jennings, who said he was disappointed by the governor’s veto of Medicaid expansion. To Jennings, it’s an issue of health and economics.

“If patients don’t have coverage for their care, they will get care in emergencies and those who have insurance are going to pay for that,” he said.

The governor has downplayed the tension surrounding his vetoes. He said the back-and-forth so far is normal on a tough issue like taxes.

“We’ll keep doing it. That’s part of the process,” Brownback said. “The last few years, any time you talk about taxes, the normal process is you end up with 100 runs before you find one that they’re comfortable enough with to vote for.”

Brownback said recently that he might accept a repeal of the business tax exemption under certain conditions, showing he may be willing to be flexible as lawmakers work to approve a budget and end the session.

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

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Leavenworth woman has pleaded not guilty to in the death of her mother.

Victoria Smith entered the plea Friday and will go to trial July 17. She is charged with first-degree murder in the July 2016 death of her 85-year-old mother, Anna Higgins.

The Leavenworth Times reports Higgins died at Smith’s home. A probable cause statement alleges Smith told police she hit her mother with a hammer.

Police said they went to Smith’s home after receiving several 911 calls.

Smith remains in custody at the Leavenworth County Jail.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Three western Kansas men accused of plotting to attack Somali immigrants in Garden City are asking for a delay in their federal trial.

Attorneys for Curtis Wayne Allen, Patrick Eugene Stein and Gavin Wayne Wright jointly filed the motion Friday. Federal prosecutors joined in the request.

The Hutchinson News reports (https://bit.ly/2pshW8F ) U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren did not immediately act on the motion. The trial is currently scheduled to begin June 13.

The three men, all members of a small regional militia group, are accused of conspiring to detonate truck bombs at an apartment complex where about 120 Somali immigrants live in Garden City.

The motion notes the case is complex, one of the defendants was recently appointed a new attorney and the large amount of evidence to be reviewed.

PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — A fifth person charged in the shooting death of a Pittsburg State University student pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

Darius Rainey agreed to the plea deal Friday in the October 2014 death of 20-year-old Taylor Thomas.

The Joplin Globe reports District Attorney Michael Gayoso said Rainey will be sentenced to life in prison with no parole for at least 25 years. Sentencing was scheduled for June 19.

Thomas was a 20-year-old junior at the school when he was killed during a planned robbery at his home. Authorities allege the intruders were seeking drugs and money, with the drugs belonging to Thomas’ roommate.

The other four suspects have all pleaded guilty to various charges in the case.

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY –Five people were injured in an accident just before 10:30a.m. Saturday in Chautauqua County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Kuboa Tractor driven by Jackie L. Rutledge, 73, Sedan, was southbound on county road 19 five miles south of Sedan.

The driver stopped at the stop sign at U.S.166 but failed to yield and collided with an eastbound 2006 Lexus SUV driven by, Glenn L. Lygrisse, 74, Wichita.

Lygrisse and passengers Dianne L.  Lygrisse, 74, Wichita; Lori Dawn Albertsonson, 48, and Abbriel Dawn Lygrisse Hadley, 16, both of Benton were transported to the hospital in Sedan.

A private vehicle transported Rutledge to the hospital in Sedan.

All were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The maternal grandmother of a 7-year-old Kansas boy whose remains were found in a pigsty says she has seen videos that detail gruesome abuse the boy suffered at the hands of his father and stepmother.

Judy Conway, of Emporia, says the videos came from more than 30 security cameras placed throughout the home in Kansas City, Kansas, where her grandson, Adrian Jones, lived with Michael and Heather Jones and six girls before he died in 2015. The Kansas City Star reports  some photos also came from social media sites.

Michael Jones is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday after he pleaded guilty in March to first-degree murder in Adrian’s death. Heather Jones was sentenced in November to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating an armed robbery are asking for help to identify suspects.

Just before 2a.m. Friday, two men entered a fast food restaurant in the 1900 Block of SW 10th Street in Topeka, according to a media release.

The suspects, one white and one black used a handgun in the robbery and left the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to police.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Topeka police.

By SAM ZEFF

Just because Kansas had an election a few months ago doesn’t mean people aren’t already thinking about 2018 legislative campaigns.

Grassroots organizations in Johnson County are multiplying and starting to plot how they will elect more moderate Republicans and Democrats to the Kansas Legislature.

In November the Legislature took a swing into the political middle, in no small part because of a group called Stand Up Blue Valley that worked to elect candidates willing to pour more money into public education.

Stand Up campaigned for many new lawmakers, but its members want more votes in the Legislature that they hope will lead to even more school funding.

So Stand Up already is recruiting candidates for 2018.

“When you say 2018 it’s, like, exhausting to think about,” says Elizabeth Arnold of Leawood, a Stand Up Blue Valley founder.

Pressures From Topeka

Arnold has been giving some advice to the newest grassroots organizations in Johnson County: Save Olathe Schools and Education First Shawnee Mission.

“We’re facing, and have been for years, lots of pressures coming from Topeka,” says Tiffany Johnson of Prairie Village, an Education First founder. “We want people who will be standing up and advocating for our kids.”

At the top of the Education First agenda, Johnson says, is to elect some new members to the Shawnee Mission school board in November when three seats are up. That’s even more important to the group now that Superintendent Jim Hinson has said he’s retiring.

Hinson’s support of block grant funding and coziness at times with Gov. Sam Brownback made him unpopular with some teachers and parents in the district.

But always looming in the background is the next election, for the Kansas House.

“We wanted to get organized so we can also have an impact on the legislative races coming up in 2018,” Johnson says.

More Voices In The Discussion

If a march or protest is happening somewhere near Olathe, Nikki McDonald is likely to be there. She organized Save Olathe Schools with the aim of defeating conservatives at the polls.

“The powers that be are not listening very well. So it’s time for us to speak up and advocate for our children,” McDonald says.

State Sen. Molly Baumgardner of Louisburg is among the fiscally conservative lawmakers these groups are looking to replace in upcoming elections.

“I’m a conservative woman. I always have been. I don’t hide that,” Baumgardner says.

During a recent Saturday morning forum in south Overland Park, Baumgardner says she welcomes groups like Stand Up and Save Olathe Schools into the political fray.

“I am never opposed to having more people at the table for discussion, because I think it really brings back a more rich discussion and better ideas,” says Baumgardner, whose term runs through 2020.

So after one election cycle and most of a legislative session, how does Stand Up Blue Valley think its candidates have done?

Arnold says so far, so good.

“What we have seen is a willingness for them to show up and listen and communicate back to their constituents what’s happening, and that’s just such a great feeling,” she says. “We know that some of them may not always vote the way we like, but for the most part we see them working hard.”

Working hard is one thing, and results are another.

Lawmakers have yet to close a $900 million budget hole for the next two fiscal years and haven’t passed a school funding formula — two big issues that await them when they return Monday to Topeka.

Will the lawmakers supported by Stand Up deliver?

It likely will be close to summer before that question is answered.

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

CLAY COUNTY- Three people were injured in an accident just before 10p.m. Friday in Clay County.

The Kansas Highway patrol reported a 2016 GMC Sierra driven by Alva C. Ditmars, 61, Washington, was northbound on Kansas 15 at the intersection of Kansas 80.

The GMC collided with a 2017 Ford F150 driven by Mark A. Pauley, 49, Omaha, that was eastbound on Kansas 80 and failed to stop at the stop sign.

The GMC caught on fire, according to the KHP.
Ditmars, Pauley and a passenger in the Ford Benjamin Pauley, 15, were transported to the Clay County Hospital.

All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a burglary and asking for help to identify possible suspects.

Just before 10 a.m. Monday, March 13, a staff member making the rounds at Public Storage in the 1100 block of South Rock Road in Wichita noticed the lock had been cut off one of the storage units.

From the business’s security video and video from neighboring properties, detectives determined that the suspects were driving a red truck. They made two trips early that Monday morning.

The stolen items included patio furniture and several paintings.
The paintings were landscapes by Marco Sassone, landscapes with birds by Milford Zornes and animals by John Ruthven. Two paintings of ships by John Stobart also were taken.
If you have any information, police ask that you call Crime Stoppers at 267-2111.