SALINE COUNTY —A Kansas man recently evicted was arrested Sunday for allegedly attempting to burn down the rental property while his dog was still inside.

At 11:30 a.m. Sunday, police responded to report of a possible burglary at a residence in the 1400 Block of Arapahoe in Salina, according to Salina Police Capt. Paul Forrester. Officers arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the residence.

Fire crews were dispatched and began clearing the building. They made contact with 41-year-old Billy Dean Martin who took refuge in a room, holding the door shut so firefighters could not get in.

Martin told them that he started the fire because he wanted to kill himself and burn the place down, according to Forrester.

The firefighters forced their way into the room and removed Martin and his dog.

Capt. Forrester said that Martin had put paper on the stove to start the fire. It caused about $5,200 in damage before fire crews extinguished it.

Martin had been evicted from the residence on Sept. 16 and was supposed to remove his belongs by Sept. 20.

Police arrested Martin for felony aggravated arson, burglary, animal cruelty, possession of marijuana and interference with fire crews.

WACO, Texas (AP) — The husband and wife team behind HGTV remodeling show “Fixer Upper” have announced that the popular series will end after its upcoming fifth season.

In a blog post Tuesday announcing the decision, Joanna and Chip Gaines write that they need to catch their breath for a moment.

The couple says their family is healthy and their marriage “has honestly never been stronger.” They say they plan “to take this time to shore up and strengthen the spots that are weak, rest the places that are tired and give lots of love and attention to both our family and our businesses.”

Launched in 2013, “Fixer Upper” follows the couple as they redo houses near their Waco home. Its final season premieres in November.

MAIZE, Kan. (AP) — Maize police are asking for the public’s help as they continue to try and find a woman who’s been missing for more than four months.

Police say 30-year-old Kendra Leigh Nystrom was last seen around on the morning of May 4 when she left her parents’ house with her dog, a black and white Chihuahua.

She left on foot and left all her personal belongings behind, including her cellphone. The house was near Cowskin Creek, which was running high that day.

She is 5-feet-4-inches tall and weighs between 100 and 120 pounds. She is white, has reddish-brown hair and the initials “R.J.” tattooed on her left ring finger.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka high school student was arrested after reportedly making social media threats against the school.

The student at Seaman High School was arrested Monday night. The student was taken to juvenile intake for making a criminal threat but it wasn’t clear if the person was detained or released to his parents.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the threat was sent via Snapchat and contained a reference to Columbine, the infamous 1999 high school shooting in Colorado that left 15 people dead and more than 20 injured.

Shawnee County sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Stallbaumer said the threat did not target specific people at the school.

An email sent to parents Tuesday said the school contacted law enforcement immediately after learning of the threat and the student was arrested at his home.

SEDGWICK COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating an armed robbery and looking for a suspect.

Just after 6p.m. Monday, police were dispatched to an armed robbery at the EZ stop in the 900 block of south Woodlawn in Wichita, according to a media release.  Upon arrival officers made contact with a 23-year-old employee who stated an unknown suspect entered the business, approached the counter, and demanded money and cigarettes.

The suspect displayed a black handgun from his right-side waist area.  Money and cigarettes were taken by the suspect and he left on a black BMX style bicycle.  There were no injuries in this case.

The suspect is described as a 6-foot-tall, 20-year-old black male weighing approximately 120-pounds.  He was unshaven, wore a black overcoat and black pants.

Anyone with additional information on this case is asked to call Wichita Police

WICHITA— A Missouri man pleaded guilty Monday to robbing a bank in Osage City, Kansas, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Hunter Lee Prewitt, 28, Mountain Grove, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery. He admitted he robbed the Landmark National Bank at 106 South 6th Street in Osage City. Prewitt gave a teller a note saying: “This a robbery. Give me all one hundreds, fifties and twenties.” He left the bank with cash and drove away in a white pickup truck.

Starting with a description of the truck, investigators obtained video surveillance photos and followed Prewitt’s movements including a stop at a gas station in Osage City before the robbery and a pawn shop in Lyndon, Kan.

The Missouri Highway Patrol used that information to identify a 2003 Ford F-150 pickup registered to Prewitt. A crime intelligence analyst with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation conducted a search of law enforcement tag readers and he found more information on Prewitt and the truck. Prewitt was arrested outside Springfield, Mo.

Sentencing is set for Dec. 18. Bank robbery carries a penalty of up to 20 years in a federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

By SAM ZEFF

The Olathe School District says students who used anti-LGBT language at a homecoming parade last Thursday will be punished. However, the district suggests the incident at Olathe Northwest High School may not have been as bad as first reported.

The most egregious reported chant was “Make Olathe Northwest straight again.” But Assistant Superintendent Erin Dugan says the district has “no credible evidence” confirming the chant was uttered.

“There’s lots of stories and rumors about different things that were said, whether or not mobs of kids were chanting,” Dugan told Steve Kraske on KCUR’s “Up to Date” program on Monday.

Still, she said, the offenders will be punished.

“They’ll face consequences for certain,” Dugan said.

At least one veteran teacher at the school suggested the parade may have lacked supervision. Dugan, however, said the same number of teachers supervised the parade as in the past.

While the parade occurred on Thursday, it continues to generate buzz on social media. A new Twitter account popped up over the weekend called Onw_slanders (Onw stands for Olathe Northwest.) One tweet Monday afternoon blamed the Gender Sexuality Alliance student organization for the tension.

 

We do not have a hatred for the GSA, we have a hatred for them pushing a personal agenda that we don’t practice ourselves.

— Onw_slanders (@onw_slanders) September 23, 2017

 

“The self entitled bigots are the gsa, they believe they should be treated special, when I believe everyone should be treated the same,” the tweet stated.

The district immediately addressed the parade incident. Principal Chris Zuck emailed parents on Friday, saying, “I want to reassure you that we are taking this situation very seriously and that derogatory language and action is absolutely not acceptable … While we continue the investigation, our focus will be to make sure all of our students feel safe.”

Teachers at Olathe Northwest and in other schools in the district say the bitter divide in national politics has made it more challenging this year in the classroom, which might have played a role in the homecoming incident.

“I think we would be remiss if we thought the climate nationally hasn’t had an impact down to the school level,” Dugan said.

Sam Zeff  covers education for KCUR and is co-host of the political podcast Statehouse Blend. Follow him on Twitter @SamZeff.

SHAWNEE COUNTY—  Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal stabbing and have identified the two victims.

Just after 6p.m. Sunday, police responded to an apartment building at 800 SW Polk in Topeka in reference a stabbing and a fire at from the same address, according to a media release.

Upon arrival officers located a man with life threatening injuries who was transported to local a hospital where he died. Officers located a second victim inside the building who was dead.

On Tuesday, police identified the victims Thomas P. O’Conner, 61 and Chance C. Crank, 22 both of Topeka.

Police found suspect Maximo Campillo-Echevarria, 62, on foot in the area. He was transported to the Shawnee County Department of Corrections where he was booked for two counts of First-Degree Murder