LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — The former owner and operator of a Kansas City-area lab is accused in a federal indictment of illegally storing radioactive material that tainted a building at an industrial park, costing U.S. taxpayers $760,000 to clean up.

The indictment returned Thursday alleges 61-year-old Ahmed el-Sherif’s Beta Chem Laboratory in Lenexa, Kansas, was licensed by Kansas to use radioactive Carbon-14 and solvents. But he eventually lost that permission after an inspection found extensive radioactive contamination in the lab.

After the state seized the lab, federal environmental investigators in 2014 found containers with hazardous wastes and tainted with radiation.

The indictment alleges el-Sherif submitted bogus tax returns as part of the government’s efforts to assess his ability to pay for cleanup costs.

Online court records don’t show whether el-Sheriff has an attorney.

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect on criminal threat charges.

Just after 5 p.m. Thursday, police were called to the 500 Block of Kirwin Avenue in Salina for report of an intoxicated man attempting to enter a co-worker’s home, according to Police Capt. Paul Forrester.

When the man identified as Jason Duffy, 31, Salina, wasn’t allowed to enter the home, he allegedly smashed a drinking glass on the front porch and threatened to kill the residents.

He fled the scene just before police arrived. Officers ultimately found him hiding nearby in a bathroom in the library on the campus of Kansas Wesleyan University.

Police arrested Duffy and he faces possible charges of criminal threat; cause terror, evacuation or disruption.

BOURBON COUNTY- A Kansas woman died in an accident just before 10a.m. on Friday in Bourbon County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Ford Explorer driven by Austin E Farulkner, 16, Kansas City, was southbound on U.S. 69 ten miles north of Fort Scott.

The driver lost control over the vehicle when the driver’s side rear tire blew out.

The SUV traveled into went into the west ditch, rolled two times and the passenger Jennifer Shaw, 38, Pleasanton, was ejected.

Shaw was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics. She was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

Faulkner was not injured.

WASHINGTON – Diego Martinez, 28, pleaded guilty Thursday to making false statements to the FBI during a federal hate crime investigation arising from a June 19, 2015, bias-motivated assault of three black Somali men in Dodge City, Kansas.

Martinez pleaded guilty in the District of Kansas to one count of making materially false statements to the FBI during an October 2015 voluntary interview.

During the plea hearing, Martinez admitted that, during the interview, he had provided the FBI with a false alibi for the time of the assault—specifically, that although he had told the FBI that he had been with an unknown woman at the time that the Somali men were attacked, this alibi was false.

He further admitted that he falsely told the FBI that his cell phone had stopped working shortly after the assault, when, in fact, Martinez had used his phone to contact, and to attempt to contact, one of the men who perpetrated the attack. Martinez admitted that he knew these statements were false at the time he made them to the FBI, and that they were material to the FBI’s investigation into the attack.

“Hate violence not only harms individuals but also threatens the diversity of our society and the well-being of our communities,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute hate crimes, and to pursue defendants who, like Mr. Martinez, obstruct the investigations into those crimes.”

Martinez will be sentenced on June 1, 2017, and faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.

By MEG WINGERTER

The leader of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services wants the state’s two psychiatric hospitals to be exempt from a concealed carry law set to take effect in July.

KDADS Secretary Tim Keck told a legislative committee this week that the department is seeking authorization to continue banning concealed guns in Osawatomie and Larned state hospitals. The two hospitals treat people with mental health conditions who are considered a danger to themselves or others.

The Legislature passed a bill four years ago to allow visitors and people working in public buildings to carry concealed handguns. The only exemption to the law that will take effect July 1 would be for buildings with metal detectors and armed guards at every entrance.

Keck, who testified Wednesday before the House Appropriations Committee about efforts to improve the two hospitals, emphasized that he supports the right to bear arms. But he said allowing guns in the state-run psychiatric hospitals could place patients and employees at risk.

“It’s not a safe environment to have weapons available,” he said.

Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, a Kansas City Democrat, asked Keck about the cost of hiring security guards and installing metal detectors so Osawatomie and Larned state hospitals could continue restricting guns.

The department estimated that could cost about $25 million, but Keck said that may be higher than the actual cost.

The projected costs include $12.7 million for equipment and construction at both hospitals, according to KDADS. It also includes annual costs of about $11.9 million for security officers, assuming each officer’s pay and benefits total about $60,000.

Download the KDADS cost estimate for allowing concealed carry at Osawatomie and Larned state hospitals.
The department still is determining the cost of securing the Kansas Neurological Institute and Parsons State Hospital and Training Center, which treat people with severe developmental disabilities.

Angela de Rocha, a KDADS spokeswoman, said the department isn’t seeking a bill exempting the hospitals but would like to add an amendment to do so. The most likely candidate is House Bill 2220, which would prohibit higher education institutions from restricting concealed carry on their campuses.

Kansas already is facing a budget hole, so it would be a challenge for lawmakers to find millions more for security at the state psychiatric hospitals, Wolfe Moore said. Both hospitals have struggled to maintain their staffing levels, and allowing guns might deter potential employees, she said.

“I can’t imagine how much worse (the staffing situation) is going to get if we allow guns,” she said.

Wolfe Moore said she hopes lawmakers also would consider exempting other public hospitals and mental health facilities. A separate bill, which would have exempted the University of Kansas Hospital from the requirement to allow guns on university campuses, failed to get out of committee in February.

“I think public hospitals across the state are very interested,” she said. “It’s about being fair competitively.”

KU Hospital officials had asked for the exemption because they believed allowing concealed weapons could place them at a disadvantage compared to privately owned hospitals, which can still ban guns. They estimated it would cost more than $1 million to install metal detectors and post armed guards at every entrance.

Concealed carry proponents argue that law-abiding citizens may have to defend themselves if a facility doesn’t offer security.

“If you’re not going to do that, you need to allow everyone an equal playing field. You need to allow law-abiding citizens the opportunity to defend themselves,” said Travis Couture-Lovelady, a National Rifle Association lobbyist and former legislator, during a hearing earlier this year.

Meg Wingerter is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of kcur.org, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics in Kansas. You can reach her on Twitter @MegWingerter.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers agreed unanimously on a bill giving a sales tax break to people rebuilding fences on agricultural land after wildfires burned more than 1,000 square miles of the state.

The Kansas House voted to agree with the Senate’s amendments Friday that clarify the tax break goes to rebuilding fences, not new construction. The bill will go to Gov. Sam Brownback.

The bill gives a sales tax exemption on supplies bought to rebuild or repair fencing after the wildfire. Lawmakers passed a similar proposal after wildfires in two counties last year.

Brownback declared a state of emergency March 5 and signed an executive order four days later to help bring relief supplies.

SEWARD COUNTY – A woman died in an accident just after 5a.m. on Friday in Seward County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1991 Mercury Cougar driven by Natosha Michelle, Garcia, 29, Pueblo, Co. was southbound on U.S. 83 three miles north of Liberal.

The vehicle crossed the center line and struck a Peterbilt semi driven by Leonard Earl Jameson, 60, Jones, Oklahoma.

The semi jackknifed and came to rest in north bound lane.

Garcia was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Miller Mortuary.

She was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

Jameson was not injured.

PLANO, Texas – J.C. Penney announced in February they would close up to 140 stores as well as two distribution centers over the next several months.

Five stores in Kansas are now on a list of the stores it will close, according to the company web site.

The store in Great Bend, the Hutchinson Mall, Lawrence, Winfield and Chanute will close as early as June, according to the news release. Liqudation will begin in mid-April.

JCPenney says the closures are a part of a continuing effort to advance sustainable growth and long-term profitability.

Approximately 5,000 positions will be affected by nationwide closures.

CRAWFORD COUNTY –A school bus driver was injured in an accident just before 2p.m. on Thursday in Crawford County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a USD 250 Freighliner School bus driven by Edward L. Eichenberger, 49, Pittsburg, was westbound on Kansas 47 two miles west of Girard.

The bus hit a large turkey that flew across the roadway from the north ditch.

Eichenberger was treated at the scene of the accident and not transported to a hospital.

One additional teen student was possibly injured, according to the KHP.

Thirteen students and one other adult on the bus were not injured.

The driver was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

HODGEMAN COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in southwest Kansas are investigating a suspect for alleged child sex crimes.

On March 10, Hodgeman County Sheriff’s Deputies with the help of Dodge City police located and arrested Tyler Setzkorn at a motel in Dodge City, according to a social media report.

He was transported to the Ford County Sheriff’s Office and is still being held without bond on a Hodgeman County warrant for Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child.

Setzkorn was expected to make a court appearance this week.

The Hodgeman County Attorney has not responded to requests for information in the case.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A man originally charged with attempted capital murder of a police officer pleaded no contest to reduced charges after a jury couldn’t reach a verdict in his trial.

The Salina Journal reports 36-year-old Michael Ryan, of Salina, accepted the plea Thursday to attempted voluntary manslaughter of Salina detective Crystal Hornseth. He also pleaded no contest to aggravated assault of his daughter and one of her friends, and criminal discharge of a firearm.

Prosecutors say Ryan went to a home where his daughter was visiting friends. He pointed a rifle at 17-year-old and made his 15-year-old daughter go with him. Later, he fired 10 shots at Salina police who had surrounded his house.

A Saline County jury was dismissed Thursday after attorneys announced a plea was reached.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators have little appetite for cutting spending immediately to get the state through June without a budget deficit until it can collect new revenue from higher taxes.

Late Thursday the State Senate approve a bill to balance the current budget after after voting 33-7  against a proposal from its top leader, President Susan Wagle, to reduce spending by $105 million before June 30.

Senators also overwhelmingly rejected two proposals for smaller, across-the-board cuts from another senator.