By John P. Tretbar

Kansas Republicans have elected a woman to lead a legislative chamber for the first time. In leadership elections, senators elected Susan Wagle of Wichita as Senate President.

Wagle defeated Steve Abrams of Arkansas City.

Johnson County Republican Ray Merrick is the new speaker of the Kansas House. Merrick won on a second ballot Monday over fellow Johnson County representative Arlen Siegfried.

When the session begins in January, Republicans will outnumber Democrats 32-8 in the Senate and 92-33 in the House.

Party primaries in August saw the conservative wing of the Republican Party oust several moderates, including Senate President Steve Morris.

In the House, Speaker Mike O’Neal retired after 28 years in the chamber, including two terms as speaker.

Democrats re-elected Anthony Hensley, of Topeka, as Senate minority leader and Paul Davis, of Lawrence, as House minority leader.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback issued the following statement Monday regarding the election of the Kansas Legislature leadership.

“Congratulations to the newly-elected leaders of the Kansas Legislature. The upcoming session offers us great opportunities to continue our work to grow the Kansas economy, create jobs and improve education. I look forward to working with Senate President Susan Wagle, the state’s first woman senate president, House Speaker Ray Merrick, Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, House Minority Leader Paul Davis and their leadership teams.”

The Kansas Legislature reconvenes on January 14, 2013.

A local corporation has pleaded guilty to an immigration charge after a federal investigation showed that the manager of one of its McDonald’s restaurants in Wichita was an undocumented worker who provided identification documents the company knew were false, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom announced today.

McCalla Corporation, a McDonald’s franchisee with offices at 9342 E. Central that operates six restaurants in Wichita, pleaded guilty to one felony count of knowingly accepting a fraudulent identification document offered as proof that an employee was eligible to work.

As part of the plea agreement, the corporation agreed to pay a $300,000 fine, and an additional $100,000 forfeiture judgment.

The case is the second time this year that a Kansas company has been charged with knowingly employing undocumented workers. In the other case, the owners of two hotels in Overland Park, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo., were charged with knowingly hiring undocumented workers for housekeeping jobs.

“Any employer who knowingly or negligently hires undocumented workers is violating federal law and contributing to the problem of illegal immigration,” Grissom said. “Kansas employers should be on notice that they have a responsibility to monitor their hiring practices and to help us safeguard this nation by hiring and maintaining a lawful workforce.”

Employers that try to cut costs and gain an economic advantage over competitors by means of unlawful hiring practices are causing problems in Kansas and across the nation, Grissom said.

“We are all at risk when businesses knowingly hire falsely-documented workers,” Grissom said. “Such practices create a marketplace for unauthorized workers who may resort to obtaining and presenting false documents, completing applications for fraudulent benefits and stealing identities of legal U.S. workers.”

In the guilty plea, McCalla Corporation admitted that it knowingly employed an undocumented worker. McCalla Corporation owns McDonald’s restaurants in Wichita at 1630 S. Hillside, 11989 E. Kellogg, 501 E. Pawnee, 1219 S. Rock Road, 2418 S. Seneca and 1645 S. Webb Road. The company admitted that in March 2011 the company’s director of operations became aware that one of its store managers was using a Social Security number not assigned to her. The director of operations told the McDonald’s store manager she needed to provide him new documents to confirm her eligibility to work.

Two days later, the store manager presented a resident alien identification card. The director of operations knew the new card was not genuine. He knew that it takes weeks, not just two days, for a foreign national to obtain a resident alien card. Nevertheless, he updated the store manager’s paperwork and McCalla Corporation took no further action concerning her employment. The store manager continued working as a store manager from May 2009 to September 2012.

According to court records, investigators learned that five of the six McCalla Corporation McDonald’s store managers were unlawfully in the United States at the time they were employed, as were many other employees. The count of conviction was representative of McCalla’s hiring and employment practices, Grissom said.

“Any attempt to minimize or excuse this kind of conduct is unacceptable,” Grissom said. “We know these practices are widespread, and investigations similar to the McCalla case are under way.”

The presiding judge in a Kansas school finance lawsuit has told attorneys in the case not to expect a ruling until around the first of the year.

Shawnee County District Court Judge Franklin Theis has sent a letter to attorneys representing school districts and a Wichita attorney defending the state to update them on his timetable for a decision.

The judge says it was initially thought a decision could come by Dec. 1, but the amount of material to review and the time it is taking to write a ruling has pushed the deadline back.

The school districts are asking the judges to rule that the state is failing to fulfill its constitutional duty to adequately fund public school districts.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is accepting applications for small grants to help schools reduce solid waste and increase their recycling.

The department is taking applications online until Feb. 15. KDHE will award grants ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 for projects that seek to reduce waste through education, composting and recycling.

But the projects must be integrated into classroom instruction.

KDHE Bureau of Waste Management Director William Bider says one goal is to teach students and school workers habits that can be applied in their homes or other places.

Two employees of a Garden City manufacturing plant that makes fiberglass tanks suffered smoke inhalation after a fire consumed much of the building.

The Garden City Telegram reports firefighters were called to Palmer Manufacturing just after 10 a.m. Monday. Fire Chief Allen Shelton says about 50 percent of the plant was on fire when crews arrived.

He says the two unnamed employees were reported in good condition after being taken to a local hospital.

Shelton says winds of 31 to 41 mph made the blaze difficult to contain. Investigators had not yet determined what caused the fire as of Monday afternoon. More than two dozen firefighters from Garden City and Holcomb responded to the scene.

No damage report was immediately available.

A Jamaican woman who was convicted of marriage fraud has been sentenced in federal court and now faces deportation proceedings, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Monday.

U.S. District Judge Monti L. Belot sentenced 28-year-old Shannakay M. Priest to two years of probation. She also was ordered to pay $300 to the federal crime victims fund and $2,600 in restitution to the United States Army for receipt of medical services to which she was not entitled.

In August, a federal jury convicted Priest on one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, one count of marriage fraud and one count of making a false statement to an agent of Homeland Security Investigations. During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Priest had overstayed her visitor visa when she entered into a sham marriage with co-defendant Joshua Priest, who was a private in the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Riley, Kan. The two made the agreement so he could obtain additional benefits to married soldiers, and she could get a green card, regain legal status in the United States and receive military benefits and health care for herself and her two children. The marriage was never consummated and the two never lived together.

Joshua Priest pleaded guilty in the case to marriage and wire fraud. He was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison followed by two years supervised release.

Grissom said Homeland Security Investigations had initiated civil immigration proceedings that are likely to lead to the removal of Shannakay Priest, who resides in Bronx, New York, to her native Jamaica. Shannakay Priest made multiple trips from New York to Fort Riley and Junction City, to make the marriage appear legitimate, Grissom said.

by Neil Ochs ~ Great Bend Post

A Hoisington man was killed in a motorcycle accident this past weekend, southwest of Hoisington.

The Barton County Sheriff’s Office Reports that between 8:00 p.m. on Sunday and 2:40 a.m. Monday, 51-year-old Marlin Hughes of Hoisington was driving his 1997 Kawasaki Motorcycle in the 700 block of NW 30 Avenue.

Hughes was traveling south when he entered the West Ditch, and lost control of the motorcycle. The bike came to rest on the driver, and Hughes was pronounced dead at the scene. Hoisington Emergency Medical Services assisted with the accident.

Lenexa police say a quick-thinking 11-year-old boy escaped an attempted abduction.

Police say the boy was riding his bicycle Sunday afternoon when a white car drove past slowly and turned around. The boy says a passenger in the car pointed a gun at him and told him to get into the car.

Lenexa police officer Dan Friesen says in a news release that the boy knew he couldn’t get into the car under any circumstances. So he ran to a nearby liquor store, and police were called.

The vehicle was a dirty, white four-door passenger car of an unknown make. The man with the gun was white with a dark complexion, with a small amount of facial hair. The boy didn’t get a look at the driver.

The U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth is on lockdown after two separate fights broke out.

Penitentiary officials say in a news release the lockdown was declared Sunday evening after a fight in one of the housing units. Another fight occurred earlier in the day in the recreation yard.

Both fights were quickly contained and involved only a few inmates.

Officials say security was never breached during the fights. No staff members were injured and two inmates suffered only minor injuries.

No programs will be held and no visiting will be allowed until the lockdown ends.

Police say a 19-year-old man is jailed as a suspect in the fatal shooting of two people at a Wichita discount store.

The suspect was arrested Sunday afternoon. He had been sought since the shooting Friday at a Dollar General store.

The victims of the shooting were 79-year-old Henry Harvey, a customer at the store, and 22-year-old Zachary Hunt, a store employee.

The suspect is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail facing two charges of first-degree murder.

Bond has not yet been set.

The state Revenue Department says Kansas collected $2.6 million more in taxes than expected in November.

The agency said Friday that the state collected about $441 million in taxes this month, when a fiscal forecast predicted it would take in less than $439 million.

The difference is less than 1 percent, but Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan said the numbers contain solid signs that the state’s economy is improving.

The report was the first since officials issued a new fiscal forecast earlier this month.

Legislative researchers project a budget shortfall of $328 million by June 2014, although that figure is likely to be recalculated next month.

Kansas enacted massive income tax cuts this year to stimulate the economy. Critics contend the reductions have led to budget problems.

A 12-year-old Wichita boy is in protective custody after police say his father tried to remove a BB from his skull with a utility knife.

No charges have been filed, but The Wichita Eagle reports police want to know why the 57-year-old father waited a day before taking the boy to a hospital.

Lt. Doug Nolte, a police spokesman, says the boy accidentally shot himself in the head while playing with a BB gun Wednesday.

The father’s attempt to dig the BB out with a knife was unsuccessful, and he took the boy to Via Christi Hospital about 24 hours later. Nolte says the injury was not life-threatening, and the boy was taken into protective custody after leaving the hospital.