A Salina man was indicted Wednesday, for failing to report over $500,000 in income.

Kirk Roberts, 49, is charged with failing to report $537,942 in income for tax years 2006, 2007 and 2008 and underpaying his taxes by $153,519. The indictment alleges Roberts owned Wild Wild West, Inc., a strip club in Salina. He collected $3 to $5 cash per night per customer for door cover charges, $25 to $50 per night in cash for house fees paid by dancers for the ability to dance on the stage and $35 per half hour in cash for fees charged to dancers for use of private rooms or “champagne rooms.”

The cash from the fees was not recorded on the business’ cash register. Rather than depositing the cash into the business’ bank account, Roberts deposited the money into a personal account.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Internal Revenue Service investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney is prosecuting.

A 37-year-old Wichita man accused of beating his 44-year-old stepson, was officially charged with aggravated battery Tuesday.

Police were called to Wesley Medical Center a little before 9 p.m. Friday where the victim, who has Down syndrome, was being treated for broken fingers, and a hematoma to his head after allegedly being beaten with a hammer and a pair of pliers.

The stepfather, 37-year-old Motohaur Takeda appeared in court for the first time Tuesday and was charged with aggravated battery. Takeda remains in jail on a $50,000 bond.

A new report shows Kansas students performing about the same on the ACT college entrance exam this year as they did in 2011.

Data released Wednesday for the class of 2012 show the state’s composite score was 21.9, compared to 22 the year before. The highest score possible is 36. Nationally, the average score was 21.1.

The percentage of Kansas graduates earning scores indicating readiness for college was highest in English at 73 percent and lowest in science at 35 percent.

Eighty-one percent of Kansas’ 2012 graduates took the exam, compared to 79 percent last year.

A federal appeals court has sided with Kansas and overturned what Attorney General Derek Schmidt says is an unlawful EPA regulation on power plants.

In a 2-1 decision Tuesday, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the Environmental Protection Agency’s cross-state air pollution rule exceeded the agency’s statutory authority. Last year, Kansas was the first state to sue the EPA to block the proposed new regulations. The court Tuesday faulted the EPA for imposing “massive emissions reduction requirements” on upwind states without regard to restrictions imposed by law and blocked implementation of the proposed new regulation unless EPA reconsiders and revises it.

“This decision will help hold down the cost of electricity for Kansans,” Schmidt said. “The Court has made it clear that the federal bureaucracy cannot disregard the law and ignore the states in developing new regulations. This is a victory for Kansas ratepayers.”

The Petition for Review that Schmidt filed last year asked the court to reject the new EPA regulations that would have required Kansas utilities to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in new emissions control equipment before January 1, 2012 – a time-line the state’s utilities said would be impossible.

The rule was published by EPA in the summer of 2011. EPA claimed the rule was intended to prevent air pollution from states like Kansas from contributing to air-quality problems in downwind states in the northeast. The Court’s ruling requires the EPA to engage in new rule-making if it wishes to revisit the subject.

Deputy Attorney General Jeff Chanay, together with outside counsel, represented the state’s interests in the case. Kansas’ case was consolidated with more than 40 separate challenges to the law under the name EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA.

by Fred Gough ~ Hutch Post

Two Hutchinson men escaped injury in fiery crash Monday when the semi they were in was struck in the rear of their vehicle.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, 50-year-old Timothy M. Lakey of St. Joseph, Mo., was eastbound on U-S 50, pulling a grain hopper. He says he looked down to get his cup of coffee and then looked up to see a vehicle driven by 22-year-old Trent D. Jordon of Hutchinson. He says he couldn’t avoid striking the rear of Jordon’s International truck. Lakey’s vehicle caught fire as he escaped the truck on the passenger side, within minutes his vehicle was fully engulfed in flames.

Neither Jordon nor his passenger were injured, however, Lakey was taken to the Edward’s County Hospital for treatment.

The accident occurring on 50-highway in Edwards County about a mile west of Kinsley.

A La Crosse man has pled guilty to killing a golden eagle while he was hunting coyote near Cedar Bluff Reservoir earlier this year.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says 35-year-old Chad Irvin, of La Crosse, entered the plea today in federal court in Wichita. He was sentenced to 50 hours of community service and assessed $8,000 in fines and restitution.

Irvin admitted firing at the eagle twice after spotting it Jan. 9 in Trego County. The injured bird was recovered and sent to the Great Bend zoo for veterinary care.

Officials said the eagle’s legs were paralyzed from the shooting, and it had to be euthanized. Irvin’s sentence also includes three years of probation, during which he’s barred from hunting, fishing, trapping and guiding.

Eagles are protected under federal law.

by Randy Picking ~ Salina Post

A 19-year-old WaKeeney man arrested Monday evening on charges of reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and not reporting an accident and minor in consumption of alcohol.

Ronald Rummel was northbound on the viaduct on Broadway near the intersection with Ash about 5:15pm Monday afternoon when the 1994 Porsche 994 he was driving clipped the left end of a 2007 Nissan pickup driven by 57-year-old Richard Turner of Salina that was also northbound.

Turner’s pickup spun sideways into the southbound lanes and was struck by a 2010 Dodge Challenger driven by 55 year old Michael Bothwick also of Salina. Turner was taken to Salina Regional Health Center with non life threatening injuries. Bothwick was not injured.

Rummel was arrested about an hour later, after walking back to near the scene of the accident, carrying a beer. The police report does not indicate where Rummel’s car was found, but the car was found and impounded.

Supporters and opponents of a new anti-discrimination ordinance in Hutchinson have presented dueling petitions to the county clerk.

The Hutchinson City Council approved an ordinance June 5 that prohibits people from being fired or evicted because they are gay, lesbian or bisexual.

Opponents seeking to repeal the ordinance delivered petitions to the clerk last Thursday. Supporters who are seeking to expand the protections submitted their petitions on Friday.

The county clerk office has three business days to determine whether the petitions have enough signatures to require action by the Hutchinson City Council. If the petitions are certified, the council will have 20 days to adopt changes in the anti-discrimination ordinance or schedule a public vote within another 90 days.

Kansas Attorney Derek Schmidt plans to tour the state this week to announce a new anti-gang initiative.

The Wichita Eagle reports Schmidt will start his tour at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Kansas City, Kan., followed by stops at 11:30 a.m. in Topeka and 4 p.m. in Wichita.

On Thursday he’ll be in southwest Kansas, with stops in Dodge City at 9 a.m., Garden City at 11:30 a.m. and Liberal at 3 p.m.

Schmidt will conclude the tour Friday with a 9 a.m. presentation at the Kansas Highway Patrol auditorium in Salina.

All of the attorney general’s appearances will be open to the public.

A federal magistrate judge is allowing four more former cadets to join an abuse lawsuit against a Kansas military school.

The decision Monday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth Gale brings to 11 the number of plaintiffs in the lawsuit against St. John’s Military School in Salina.

Gale rejected a request to name the school’s principal as a defendant. He also refused to allow a separate damage claim for alleged destruction of evidence.

Among the new plaintiffs are a Colorado boy who was branded on his arm and a Texas boy allegedly beaten for not cleaning his room.

A California boy claims he was swatted multiple times with a saber while taking a shower, and a Texas teen contends he was injured after strenuous physical training.

A 23-year-old Ellinwood man was injured after wrecking his motorcycle north of Claflin Monday afternoon.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, at around 2:45, Shane Link was riding a 2006 Suzuki southbound on NE 130 Avenue, about a mile north of Claflin, when he lost control and laid the motorcycle onto its side, eventually coming to a stop in the west ditch.

Link, who was wearing a helmet, was transported to Clara Barton Hospital with disabling injuries. Further details on his condition were not released.

Three people were injured in a rollover a mile west of Oakley around 11:50 Monday morning.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Mohammad Zabarmwi, 63, of Aurora, Colorado, was eastbound on I-70 when he fell asleep at the wheel and entered the median. Zabarmwi then overcorrected and when back across the eastbound lanes of traffic before entering the median a second time and rolling the vehicle one and a half times.

Zabarmwi and his two passengers, 34-year-old Amani Zabarmwi and 26-year-old Yuosra Zabarmwi, were transported to Logan County Hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Only the driver was wearing a seat belt.