By Fred Gough ~ Hutch Post

One man is dead, and two others were taken to area hospitals after a two vehicle accident Friday night near Abbyville.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, 49-year-old Brian Bush of Plevna was westbound on U-S 50 when his vehicle was struck head on by a vehicle driven by 42-year-old Trevor John Mietler of Hutchinson, who crossed the center line of the two lane highway.

Bush along with his 50-year-old wife Annette Bush were both taken to the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, where Brian Bush was pronounced dead. A 2-year-old boy in their vehicle was not injured.

Meitler was taken to Via-Cristi St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Wichita for treatment of his injuries.

A former vice president of Heritage Bank in Topeka has been charged with bank fraud for allegedly falsifying loan applications from otherwise unqualified buyers who were purchasing real estate from her as the seller.

A criminal information filed Friday in U.S. District Court charges Jennifer Hughes-Boyles with bank fraud and seeks forfeiture of property and money connected with the crime.

Prosecutors alleged the 40-year-old Topeka woman falsified tax return information, credit scores and other information to qualify buyers who were purchasing real estate property from her. The fraud caused the bank to fund about $2.8 million in loans. The charges allege her profit from the sales of real estate was more than $500,000.

Her defense attorney, Ben Swinnen, declined to comment on the case.

by Fred Gough ~ Hutch Post

A 31-year-old man led a car chase with speeds reaching over 100 mph across three counties Thursday.

According to police, it started with the report of a car being stolen in Wichita, and was apparently spotted on Main Street in South Hutchinson. Attempts to stop the driver led to the chase starting with several law enforcement agencies involved.

The chase traveled through South Hutchinson to U-S 50, where the suspect then continued west going through Stafford County, and then into Edwards County. Authorities attempts to use stop sticks were unsuccessful. But, the chase did finally stop in Edwards County near Kinsley.

Speeds topped 110-miles-per-hour according to officials.

Arrested was 31-year-old Timothy Hartsell. He’s currently being held in the Edwards County jail on numerous charges.

By Fred Gough ~ Hutch Post 

The KBI is investigating a possible case of child abuse involving the child of a McPherson County Detention Officer.

According to McPherson Police Chief Rob McClarty, officers were dispatched to a home in McPherson on Thursday for an unresponsive child. The 5-month-old was subsequently taken by air-ambulance to Wesley Medical Center for treatment.

McClarty says they received additional information Friday that leads them to believe there is a possibility of abuse in the case. He says his department did the initial investigation, with the assistance of Wichita Police, and the child has now been placed in protective custody.

Due to the potential abuse, and the father being a detention officer at the McPherson County Jail, McClarty requested the assistance of the KBI to investigate, and they are now handling the case.

No arrest have been made thus far according to the chief.

A leading anti-abortion legislator is blocking a push to enact a constitutional amendment that would ban on abortion in Kansas.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lance Kinzer’s decision highlights a split among abortion opponents over tactics, and it frustrated the group advocating the “personhood” proposal.

Kinzer, an Olathe Republican, said Friday he won’t have a Judiciary Committee hearing on the proposed constitutional amendment, which is sponsored by 25 fellow House members.

He said he doesn’t believe the proposed constitutional amendment would withstand a court challenge and could lead to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could hamper abortion opponents’ attempts to enact new restrictions.

But the Personhood Kansas Committee, the Wichita-area group promoting the proposed amendment, strongly disagrees. Chairman Bruce Garren said he’s surprised Kinzer won’t agree to a hearing.

About 220 troubled young Kansans who have been diverted from psychiatric residential treatment facilities were the subject of a joint hearing before two House committees.

The diversions occurred after the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services began reviewing the screening process for the residential facilities last spring.

SRS acting deputy secretary Gary Haulmark said 25 of the 220 youths diverted from residential care from July 2011 to February appealed their diversions. 12 of those diversions were overturned.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that all but 33 of the rest of the youths received some community-based mental-health service.

But Linda Davis, of Manhattan, testified that her grandson attacked her after he was twice denied admittance to a residential treatment facility in favor of home-based services.

A federal judge has found a Kansas man competent to stand trial on charges of threatening the president of the United States.

U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten made the ruling following a competency hearing Thursday for Michael Scott Ramsey.

Ramsey is charged in a two-count indictment with making threats in 2009 and 2011 against Barack Obama.

The hearing comes after Ramsey underwent a psychological examination and evaluation at a federal medical center. Officials determined he had the ability to understand the proceedings against him and assist in his own defense.

Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service says Sumner County was tops in Kansas for winter wheat production and acreage last year.

The agency’s report on wheat county estimates released Thursday shows Sumner County led the state in production with 10.5 million bushels. McPherson County was second with 8.9 million bushels, followed by Sherman County with 7.4 million bushels.

Sumner County also led the state in harvested acres with 329,000 total acres. Harper came in second with 225,000 and Reno was third with 218,000 acres.

However, the best yields came out of Miami County where growers were getting average yields of 57.6 bushels per acre. The worst average yields were in Morton County with 16.3 bushels per acre.

Statewide, Kansas produced 276.5 million bushels of wheat last year, down 23 percent from 2010.

A proposal from Gov. Sam Brownback to post teacher evaluations on school district websites has been trimmed from a House education bill.

The Topeka Capital Journal reported that Republican House Education Committee Chairman Clay Aurand decided to take the action after a hearing Thursday.

Under the proposal, the formula for the rankings would be based 50% on student achievement growth, 40% on input from supervisors, peers, parents and students and 10% on the teachers’ contributions to the profession. The State Board of Education would define the exact criteria.

Teachers rated ineffective two years in a row would not be allowed to teach and schools could fire them if professional development opportunities had been provided. The proposal would also offer $5,000 bonuses for some highly rated teachers.

Kansas Democrats are offering an alternative to Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan for rewriting the state’s school funding formula.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka shared his proposal Thursday with the Senate Education Committee to increase school funding by $180 million over the next three years. The plan would add $45 million to K-12 budgets in each of the next two years and $90 million in the third. It also includes a companion bill to give cities and counties some $45 million in property tax relief.

Earlier this week the committee began taking testimony on Brownback’s plan, which would rewrite the funding formula, giving local districts more authority and responsibility for raising education dollars locally through property taxes.

Brownback’s plan also makes changes to teacher evaluation systems and technical education.