SUMNER COUNTY – A seventh earthquake in March shook Kansas on Thursday morning.
The quake just after 3:30 a.m. measured 2.9 and was center approximately eight miles southwest of Belle Plaine, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A 2.5 quake and was centered approximately 21 miles east of Caldwell on March 23, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The organization reported two quakes the week of March 13 and three quakes in Kansas the week of March 6, including two in Sumner County and one in Harper County. They were approximately all the same strength, according to the USGS.
In February, the agency recorded six Kansas earthquakes. They measured from 2.5-3.3 magnitude.
A 4.1 magnitude quake was recorded at 10:37 a.m. Wednesday in Grant County about 95 miles north of Oklahoma City. The USGS initially rated the temblor at magnitude 4.4.
There have no reports of damage or injury from Thursday’s quake.
GEARY COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 7p.m. on Wednesday in Geary County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1990 Nissan Skyline driven by Elijah D. Lewis, 25, Fort Riley, was eastbound on Interstate 70 at the Fort Riley exit.
The driver lost control of the vehicle when it hydroplaned. It struck a guardrail, re-entered the roadway and was hit by a Mack truck.
Lewis and a passenger Kody M. Seiler, 19, Wilton, CA., were transported to Geary Community Hospital.
The truck driver from Missouri was not injured. All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
SALINE COUNTY – Officials are working to determine the cause of a Wednesday evening fire at a home in Salina.
Just after 7p.m. fire crews were dispatch to the residence at 1125 E. Beloit, according to Fire Marshal Roger Williams.
They found heavy smoke rolling from the house upon arrival, prompting crews to make a quick attack on the interior.
They entered to find visible flames and heavy smoke.
“From what crews have told me, the fire made it all the way into the attic space,” Williams said. “It sounds like there will be pretty extensive fire damage to the house.”
The only resident was able to escape without assistance or injury.
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A 22-year-old Kansas man will be sentenced in June in the killing of a Lincoln, Nebraska, man at a Salina motel.
The Salina Journal reports DiAntre Lemmie was found guilty Wednesday in Saline County of first-degree murder and five other charges in the April 2016 death of 32-year-old Adonis Loudermilk at the Starlite Motel. Lemmie will be sentenced June 19.
Loudermilk’s body was found at the north Salina motel parking lot.
Prosecutors say Loudermilk was shot during a botched robbery committed by Lemmie and a co-defendant, Amber Nicole Craig.
Craig pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.
TOPEKA – The Kansas Cold Weather Rule ends this Friday, March 31. That means Kansans who are behind on electric and natural gas utility bills will be subject to disconnection of service unless they contact their utility company to make payment arrangements.
The Cold Weather Rule, in effect November 1 through March 31 each year, provides protection to residential customers who cannot fully pay winter utility bills from companies under the Kansas Corporation Commission’s (KCC) jurisdiction. That protection ends on Thursday. Failure to make arrangements or failure to adhere to an already established payment plan could result in service disconnection. Reconnection may require payment in full.
The Cold Weather Rule requires utilities to set up 12-month payment plans for customers who cannot afford to pay their full bill. As part of this arrangement, the customer must make an initial payment of 1/12 of the overdue amount, 1/12 of the bill for current service, the full amount of any disconnection or reconnection fees, plus any applicable deposit owed to the utility. The balance will be billed in equal payments over the next 11 months in addition to the regular monthly bill.
The KCC adopted the Cold Weather Rule to protect customers during cold winter weather by providing a reasonable and organized method of paying past due and current bills. The Cold Weather Rule applies only to residential customers of electric and natural gas utility companies under the KCC’s jurisdiction. For a complete list of utilities regulated by the KCC visit: https://www.kcc.ks.gov/pi/jurisdictional_utilities.htm.
More information about the Cold Weather Rule is available at: https://www.kcc.ks.gov/pi/cwr_english.htm. Kansans may also contact their local utility company or the KCC’s Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at (800) 662-0027.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been ordered to spend 22 years in prison for running over a woman after an argument, though that’s not the sentence he had recommended to the judge.
The Wichita Eagle reports that 61-year-old Randal Keesling told the judge during Tuesday’s sentencing hearing in Kansas’ Sedgwick County that “if there was justice, I should be taken out back and stoned or shot.”
The Derby man already had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death last November of 32-year-old Amber Lehman, a Wichita mother of two women.
Lehman’s father, Craig Lehman, told the judge on Tuesday he regrets that he didn’t grab a deputy’s gun and kill Keesling that day for running over his daughter.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The American Royal Barbecue contest will return to the Kansas Speedway this year but it’s moving to an earlier date.
American Royal officials say the barbecue, which attracts more than 50,000 people, is scheduled for Labor Day weekend. It was held in October last year.
The national contest moved to the Speedway last year, where it had substantially more room than in previous venues.
The Kansas City Star reports organizers hope moving the contest to the holiday weekend will attract even more barbecue fans and cooks.
The agreement with the Speedway is for one year. American Royal officials say the venue and the dates may change in coming years, depending on the need for more space and scheduling around Kansas City’s sports teams.
WICHITA – A Kansas woman was indicted Tuesday on federal charges of embezzling more than $5 million from a credit union that was declared insolvent and liquidated, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Nita Rae Nirschl, 64, Parsons, Kan., is charged in an 81-count indictment including 22 counts of embezzlement, 37 counts of money laundering, 18 counts of interstate transportation of stolen property and four counts of attempting to evade taxes. The indictment alleges the crimes took place while Nirschl worked for the Parsons Pittsburg Credit Union based in Parsons.
Following an audit that found the credit union was insolvent, the credit union was placed in conservatorship and ultimately liquidated in March 2014. The audit revealed that from 2010 to December 2014 Nirschl embezzled more than $5 million from the credit union. The indictment alleges she deposited money stolen from the credit union into her personal accounts. She withdrew the funds as cash from ATMs at Harrah’s North Kansas City casino, the Buffalo Run casino in Miami, Okla., the Stables casino in Miami, Okla., the Downstream casino in Quapaw, Okla., Harrah’s News Orleans casino and Harrah’s Lake Tahoe casino.
Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:
Embezzlement by a credit union employee: Up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million on each count.
Money laundering: Up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.
Interstate transportation of stolen property: Up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.
Attempt to evade taxes: Up to five years and a fine up to $100,000.
The FBI and the Internal Revenue Service investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch is prosecuting.
GRAY COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just before noon on Wednesday in Gray County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Dodge pickup driven by Koll T. Graybill, 23, Satanta, was westbound on U.S. Highway 56 three miles west of Ensign.
The driver attempted to pass a semi pulling a trailer.
The pickup struck an eastbound 1995 Ford passenger car driven by Richard L. Hixson, 27, Ensign, in the eastbound lane.
Graybill and Hixon were transported to the hospital in Dodge City where Hixson died.
Two children in the pickup were not injured.
Both drivers were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the Kansas Legislature’s debate the state’s budget problems and increasing taxes to address them (all times local):
3:50 p.m.
The Kansas Senate has decided to short state contributions to public employee pensions under the state’s 2018 and 2019 budgets to give lawmakers more options in raising taxes to make the books balance.
But senators expect to revisit the pension issue later.
They gave first-round approval Wednesday to proposed budgets for the 2018 fiscal year starting in July and the 2019 fiscal beginning in July 2018.
The Senates’ voice vote on the single “mega” budget measure for two years advances the measure to a final vote Thursday. The House is working on its own bill.
Senators decreased state contributions to public employee pensions by a total of $330 million over two years. The move lowers the amount of new revenue needed from higher taxes to $545 million for the period.
11:10 a.m.
Republican legislators in Kansas are working on multiple proposals for raising personal income taxes that would move the state to a single rate for all filers.
The House Taxation Committee planned to vote Wednesday on a bill imposing a “flat” personal income tax of 5 percent for all filers. The state has two tax brackets, with a lower rate of 2.7 percent and a top rate for higher-income filers of 4.6 percent.
Supporters believe the proposal would raise $871 million in new revenue over two years, starting in July. The state is facing projected budget shortfalls totaling more than $1 billion through June 2019.
In the Senate, the Assessment and Taxation Committee is working on its own proposal for a single, 5 percent personal income tax rate.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are considering a new proposal to raise personal income taxes that would move to a single rate for all filers.
The House Taxation Committee reviewed a measure Tuesday for a so-called flat income tax favored by conservative Republicans. The panel plans to vote on it Wednesday.
Kansas faces projected budget shortfalls totaling more than $1 billion through June 2019. Lawmakers have considered rolling back past personal income tax cuts championed by GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.
The House committee’s bill would move Kansas from two income tax brackets to a single tax rate of 5 percent. Supporters say it would raise $871 million over two years.
The measure would offset higher income taxes for poor and middle-class families by doubling standard deductions and lowering the sales tax on groceries.
LYON COUNTY – Roads are closed due to heavy rain is some of Kansas. Fire crews rescued a delivery driver attempting to drive in the 1200 Block of 210 Road north of Emporia on Wednesday.
“He misjudged the rapidly rising water on the road,” according to Lyon County Sheriff’s Detective Jacob Welsh.
The driver was not injured.
An additional 2 inches of rain fell of portions of southeast Kansas Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka and more rain is in the forecast.
WASHINGTON – Kansas Senator Jerry Moran met with U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch at the White House Tuesday.
Moran wrote on social media, “The meeting allowed me to learn more about his judicial philosophy and commitment to the Constitution. We discussed a number of the rulings he made presiding in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which gave me a better understanding of his decision-making process.
Judge Gorsuch is undeniably qualified and fully prepared for the responsibilities bestowed on the justices of the highest court in the land, and I look forward to supporting his confirmation.”
Democrats announced they are going to filibuster Gorsuch’s nomination during floor debate next week, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to lead an effort to change Senate rules to permit Gorsuch to be confirmed by a simple majority vote. Current rules set a 60-vote threshold.
TOPEKA – A bill that would lower penalties for owning drug paraphernalia and give harsher penalties to those convicted of domestic aggravated assault was unanimously passed in the House on Tuesday, after being consolidated with several other bills.
Originally, Senate Bill 112 focused on matching the penalty for possession of paraphernalia, objects for ingesting or using drugs, to the penalty of owning drugs.
Last year, legislators dropped marijuana to a slightly lower offense. Now SB 112 includes what used to be four separate bills, but all relate to crime.
Kim Parker, the prosecutor coordinator of the Kansas County and District Attorney Association, said the legislation needed to be updated.
“Last year when they changed possession of marijuana classes they essentially kind of forgot about paraphernalia and left it higher than possession of marijuana, which was unintended,” Parker said. “For prosecutors, it was very unusual to start thinking about prosecuting people for a higher class than the drug itself.”
Rep. Blaine Finch (R-Ottawa) said the bill is not an effort to decriminalize marijuana use.
“I wouldn’t characterize it as a step in decriminalization; I would characterize it as a step in proportionality,” Finch said.
The bill also classifies strangulation of a partner as aggravated domestic assault. The new definition would include any people who are or were in a dating relationship, not just couples living together.
“Oftentimes [choking] doesn’t leave physical marks; because of that it becomes a different type of proof than what you’re normally used to,” Parker said.
It already is a crime if a person attempts to strangle a partner but the new bill would give it a higher penalty.
The bill would also require audio recording of police interrogations and reclassify the felony charge on home burglaries to reflect the personal nature of a home burglary.
Parker also said the association supported all the bills separately and still does after being added together to SB 112. The bill now needs to be approved by the Senate with the additions before it can be sent to Gov. Sam Brownback’s desk.
Deanna Ambrose is a senior studying journalism at the University of Kansas from Frankfort.
