Police on the scene of Tuesday’s shooting in Topeka-photo WIBW-TV
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Topeka man has been arrested after his father was killed and another person was wounded in an exchange of gunfire.
Police said in a news release that gunfire erupted Tuesday morning after the father Brian Wahweotten, 45, and his son Logan Wahweotten, 21, both of Topeka, threatened and attempted to rob another man.
Brian Wahweotten was struck by multiple rounds of gunfire and died at a hospital.
The victim of the attempted robbery was in “stable and non-life threatening condition” at a Topeka hospital.
The release said the father and son had a “history of past disputes” with the wounded person, but no details were provided.
The son was booked into jail on suspicion of attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated battery. Police say no additional arrests are anticipated.
PAWNEE COUNTY- A Kansas man was injured in an accident at 8a.m. on Wednesday in Pawnee County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Dodge Stratus driven by Michael D. Ringo, 39, Great Bend, was westbound on Trail Street just south of U.S. 56 in Larned.
The vehicle traveled left of center and hit a 2006 Ford F150 driven by Margarita Basilio-Ramirez, 38, Garden City, head-on.
Ringo was transported to the hospital in Larned
Basilio-Ramirez was not injured.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say an Alabama man, Jacob Perry, suspected in a kidnapping and robbery in eastern Kansas has been arrested after fleeing from law enforcement in a stolen pickup truck.
The Lyon County, Kansas, sheriff’s office said in a news release that Perry surrendered Tuesday after ditching the truck and fleeing on foot.
He is being held on various Kansas charges, including kidnapping, burglary, robbery, multiple counts of theft, possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a firearm. The release says there also are warrants for him from Alabama.
The release says the kidnapping and robbery occurred in nearby Coffey County, Kansas. The release provided no details about the crime.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman was placed on probation for stealing more than $34,000 from the parent teacher organization of an Overland Park middle school.
Christine Glover, 45, Olathe, was sentenced Monday for the theft from the organization at Pleasant Ridge Middle School in the Blue Valley School District.
The thefts occurred while Glover was treasurer of the parent-teacher group between August 2014 and February 2016.
She pleaded guilty in November to felony theft.
The Kansas City Star reports Glover has made restitution of $34,660. She also was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and write an apology letter.
Glover also was taken into custody after Monday’s hearing to serve seven days in jail as a condition of her probation.
TOPEKA – The Kansas Senate has approved Governor Sam Brownback’s three cabinet nominees, Tim Keck as Secretary of Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services, Joe Norwood as Secretary of Kansas Department of Corrections and Richard Carlson as Secretary of Kansas Department of Transportation.
“I’m pleased the Senate confirmed these nominees, seeing in them the same experience, qualifications, and leadership I do,” Governor Brownback said. “Each of these secretaries will serve Kansas well in our shared mission of making this the best state in America to raise a family and grow a business.”
Tim Keck, Secretary of Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services
Keck has been instrumental in bringing Osawatomie State Hospital to the point of applying for federal recertification, and is addressing the chronic staff shortages at both Osawatomie State Hospital and Larned State Hospital. Previously, Keck served as Chief Counsel for the office of the Lt. Governor, and the Deputy Chief Counsel at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). As a member of the leadership team at KDHE, he worked closely with KDHE Secretary Susan Mosier on a variety of issues impacting the aging and disability communities. Keck received his Juris Doctor from Washburn University School of Law in 1991.
Joe Norwood, Secretary of Kansas Department of Corrections
Norwood began his career with the Bureau of Prisons in 1984 as a correctional office at the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan., and has held increasingly responsible positions across the nation. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Accounting from the University of Kansas. He completed the Harvard Senior Executive Fellows Program – Bureau’s Leadership Enhancement in August 2007.
Richard Carlson, Secretary of Kansas Department of Transportation
Carlson served in the Kansas House of Representatives for 10 years beginning in 2004, representing the 61st District of Pottawatomie County and northern Wabaunsee County. He was the Chairman of the House Taxation Committee for six years and served on the Appropriations Committee and Commerce and Labor Committee. Most recently Carlson was the legislative liaison for the Kansas Department of Revenue.
KANSAS CITY -Officials are looking for 20-year-old Toni Marie Anderson. The former Wichita high school student was last reported seen in Kansas City at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning.
She told a friend a police officer was stopping her.
Police reported they pulled her over as she drover her black 2014 Ford Focus with Kansas license plate 989 GAX.
If you have information on Toni, contact police it at 816-234-5136.
FORD COUNTY – Crews working to restore power to central and western Kansas are making progress.
Melting ice created complications and additional outages in some areas, according to officials with Victory Electric.
Midwest Energy reported 6,300 customers without power late Tuesday. Crews were restoring individual homes and streets in Kinsley, removing tree limbs from lines and reattaching service lines to homes. There crews made great progress on transmission pole replacement, and on downed poles near Offerle and in Hodgeman County.
Schools in Dodge City and Burden were among those closed Wednesday due to the power outages.
GEARY COUNTY – A Mexican national accused of raping a 13-year-old girl on a Greyhound bus on I-70 in Kansas waived his preliminary hearing in Geary County District Court on Tuesday.
The court scheduled Tomas Martinez-Maldonado, 38, for arraignment on February 3.
Martinez-Maldonado has been deported 10 times and voluntarily removed from the U.S. nine other times since 2003.
Three U.S. Republican senators recently demanded in a letter that the Department of Homeland Security provide immigration records for 38-year-old Tomas Martinez-Maldonado.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators have given final approval to a bill rewriting rules for special congressional elections so military personnel overseas have more time to vote.
The Senate approved the measure on a 40-0 vote Tuesday. The House passed the bill last week. It goes to Gov. Sam Brownback and he is expected to sign it.
The measure arose from congressman Mike Pompeo’s nomination by President-elect Donald Trump as Central Intelligence Agency director.
If Pompeo is confirmed, the 4th District in south-central Kansas would have the state’s first special congressional election since 1950.
State law says a special election must occur from 45 to 60 days after the governor declares a vacancy. The bill would make the window from 75 to 90 days to give people overseas more time to return ballots.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A $1 million bond was cut in half for a Missouri woman charged in the 1989 killing of a Kansas teenager.
Carolyn Heckert, of Smithville, was charged last year with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of 18-year-old Sarah DeLeon after the investigation into the case was reopened.
DeLeon was found stabbed to death along railroad tracks in Kansas City, Kansas, in December 1989.
The Kansas City Star reports Heckert has been in custody since she was charged in October. Investigators haven’t said how she was linked to the crime.
During a hearing Monday, her bond was reduced to $500,000 after her attorney argued no evidence linked Heckert to the killing and she was not a risk to flee.
Heckert will be on house arrest if she makes bond.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A conservative Kansas House member says he’s drafting a bill to require transgender students in public schools to use bathrooms associated with their genders at birth.
Republican Rep. John Whitmer of Wichita said Tuesday his bill also would impose the same policy for locker rooms and accommodations for students on overnight trips.
Whitmer said he plans to introduce the measure soon. He said it will not apply to private schools or higher education, and it won’t allow people to sue for damages if a school violates the policy.
He and other supporters of such a policy believe it would protect students and their privacy.
But LGBT-rights advocate Tom Witt says transgender students shouldn’t be singled out because it will make them targets for bullying.
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Labrador retriever who brought comfort to mourners at a Kansas funeral chapel has died.
The Leavenworth Times reports that the dog, named Windsor, frequently went to work with his owners, Davis and Debbie Moulden, at their Davis Funeral Home in downtown Leavenworth. Davis Moulden says he observed “pain melt away” from mourners when Windsor put his nose or paw on them.
Davis said he didn’t train Windsor to be a comfort dog and that Windsor “did it on his own.” Windsor died earlier this month at the age of 10 of cancer.
The Mouldens also have a 5-month-old yellow Lab who already is making the rounds. His name is JC, which stands for James Collier. James Collier Davis was Davis Moulden’s grandfather and former Leavenworth mayor.
President Obama and Earnest during Tuesday’s press briefing.-courtesy photo
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to the final daily press briefing on Tuesday with White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.
Obama praised Earnest for “his smarts and his maturity,” but added that one of his best qualities has been his integrity.
In May of 2014, Earnest replaced Jay Carney as the White House Press Secretary.
Earnest attended Rice University, where he majored in political science and policy studies. He joined then-Senator Obama’s presidential campaign in March 2007 as his Iowa Communications Director.
He attended the private Barstow school in Kansas City.
Obama says Earnest is “tough and didn’t always give you guys what you wanted,” but that he tried to make sure to share as much of the administration’s vision and policy as possible.
