HUTCHINSON – The grandstand lineup for the 2017 Kansas State Fair is set. The new acts incuding Charlie Daniels, Josh Turner, Smash Mouth, Los Lonely Boys and Chevelle were announced Friday morning, according to a social media report.

 

 

 

Josh Turner – Saturday, Sept. 9, 7:30 p.m. – Tickets $65/$40/$25*

Multi-platinum MCA Nashville recording artist Josh Turner is one of country music’s most recognizable hit-makers. With a rich, deep voice and distinctive style, Turner has sold more than 12 million units, is a disciple of traditional country music and one of the youngest members of the Grand Ole Opry.

From his 2003 platinum-selling debut “Long Black Train” to his most recent 2012 Billboard No. 1 release “Punching Bag,” Turner has garnered multiple GRAMMY, CMA and ACM nominations. Turner’s hits include “Your Man,” “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” “Firecracker,” “Would You Go with Me,” “All Over Me” and “Time Is Love,” the most played country song of 2012.

Josh has been songwriting and performing since he was a young child, and in support of music education, created The Josh Turner Scholarship Fund to assist students interested in pursuing a future in arts and music. As a high school student, Turner had very little access to music education, therefore realizes first-hand the importance of arts education in schools.

For more information on Josh Turner, visit www.JoshTurner.com.

Los Lonely Boys – Sunday, Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m. – Tickets $40/$30/$20*

Lots of musicians compare their careers to roller-coaster rides, but Los Lonely Boys have had so many close-your-eyes-and-hang-on moments in the 14 years since they recorded their self-titled debut, they should buy an amusement park. Their strong brotherly bond helped them through those rough spots.

Their melodic mix of bluesy rock ’n’ roll and rootsy soul has long endeared Los Lonely Boys to their fiercely loyal fans. Flawless harmonies and soaring solos remain trademarks, but in these songs, they explore rhythms from conjunto “Blame It On Love” to reggae “Give A Little More,” along with rustic acoustic textures “It’s Just My Heart Talkin” and baroque pop shadings “There’s Always Tomorrow”. No. 1 single, “Heaven,” wound up selling over 2 million copies, spending 76 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 album chart and earning them a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.

For more information on Los Lonely Boys, visit www.loslonelyboys.com.

The Charlie Daniels Band – Tuesday, Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m. – Tickets $55/$35/$25*

From his Dove Award winning gospel albums to his genre-defining Southern rock anthems and his CMA Award-winning country hits, few artists have left a more indelible mark on America’s musical landscape than Charlie Daniels.

Charlie recorded his self-titled solo album in 1970 for Capitol Records. Two years later he formed the Charlie Daniels Band and the group scored its first hit with the top ten “Uneasy Rider.” Since then the CDB has populated radio with such memorable hits as “Long Haired Country Boy,” “The South’s Gonna Do It Again,” “In America,” “The Legend of Wooley Swamp” and of course, his signature song, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” which won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1979 as well as single of the year at the Country Music Association Awards.

Over the course of his career, Charlie has received numerous accolades, including his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame (2016), the Musicians Hall of Fame and becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He was presented the Pioneer Award by the Academy of Country Music and was honored as a BMI Icon in recognition of his songwriting. He also received a star on the Music City Walk of Fame.In August 2016, Charlie Daniels new album, Night Hawk, was released. Night Hawk is a reflection of stories from the trail told by cowboys around the campfire through the years.

For more information on the Charlie Daniel’s Band, visit www.charliedaniels.com.

Smash Mouth – Thursday, Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. – Tickets $45/$30/$20*

Multi-platinum and Grammy-nominated band Smash Mouth is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut, smash-hit album “Fush Yu Mang”. Released on July 8, 1997, “FYM” was a shocking — and industry-changing — success. Out of nowhere, the single “Walkin’ On The Sun” was an immediate international sensation. Quickly shooting to #1 on the Billboard charts, and eventually boosting “FYM” sales to over 3 million copies in the U.S. alone. In the two decades since, Smash Mouth has not slowed down. In fact, they are as vital and vibrant as ever.

Most consider their masterpiece album, “Astrolounge,” boasting three top-ten hits “All-Star,”

“Then The Morning Comes,” and “Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby,” sales are nearly double those for their debut, approaching quadruple platinum status.

Smash Mouth’s third release features the first single “Pacific Coast Party” and the smash hit “I’m a Believer”. Around this time, Smash Mouth crosses over into the film world by providing the musical heart of the soundtrack for “Shrek,” and even making a cameo appearance in the movie “Rat Race.”

For more information on Smash Mouth, visit www.smashmouth.com.

Chevelle – Saturday, Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m. – Tickets $60/$40/$25*

Winter can feel as ominous as it does endless. The blistering cold and unpredictable curtain of snow teeter between brutal and beautiful. Chevelle—brothers Pete Loeffler [guitars, vocals] and Sam Loeffler [drums] and Dean Bernardini [bass, vocals]—work well under these conditions. “The North Corridor” is sometimes how we describe the area we live in, Chicagoland,” Pete elaborates. “A lot of people joke about how the winters are so long and cold. It’s just where we live. It’s where we grew up. There’s a reason we write the way we do. I’m digging up some dark subjects within that.”

It’s also the next natural step for the trio, continuing a journey that began in 1999 with their full-length debut “Point No. 1”. Since then, their 2002 platinum-certified “Wonder What’s Next” spawned hits including “The Red” and “Send The Pain Below,” and 2004’s gold-selling “This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In” yielded “Vitamin R (Leading Us Along).” Following the acclaimed “Vena Sera” in 2007 and 2009’s “Sci-Fi Crimes.” The single “ Hats Off to the Bull” bowed at #9 on the Billboard Top 200 in 2011 bolstered by the smash “Face to the Floor”. Most recently, 2014’s “La Gárgola” earned the band’s highest debut on the Billboard Top 200 at #3, and garnering features from Billboard, Chicago SunTimes, Rolling Stone, Premier Guitar, DRUM! Magazine and more.

For more information on Chevelle, visit www.getmorechevelle.com.

Tickets go on sale April 28 at 8 a.m. and can be purchased at the Kansas State Fair Ticket Office or by calling 800-362-3247 or go www.kansasstatefair.com. Unless otherwise noted, Grandstand tickets include gate admission when purchased through Aug. 20.

Want to buy your tickets before everyone else? Join the Fair Fan Club to purchase tickets prior to the public on-sale date. In addition, Fan Club members receive advance notification of concert announcements. Memberships are on sale now and can be purchased online; by phone at 800-362-3247 or 620-669-3600; or at the Administration Building on the Fairgrounds. Fair

Fan Club members can purchase concert tickets first, starting at 8 a.m. on April 24. For more information on joining the club, visit https://bit.ly/FAIRFAN.

Gold Level Memberships are $100 per fair and include the opportunity to purchase up to six tickets to each concert prior to the public on-sale date, one coupon book with over $500 worth of savings and Fan Club parking right across the street from the Nex-Tech Wireless® Grandstand. One parking pass per membership for each concert purchased.

Diamond Level Memberships are $75 per fair and include the opportunity to purchase up to six tickets to each concert prior to the public on-sale date, one coupon book with over $500 worth of savings.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A woman shot to death in Kansas City, Kansas, has been identified as the sister of a girl who was kidnapped 17 years ago while playing outside, driven to Missouri and killed.

The Kansas City Star reports that police said Thursday that 34-year-old Casey Eaton was the person shot to death late Wednesday night. Her body was found in a vehicle.

Her sister was Pamela Butler, who was 10 in 1999 when she was kidnapped while roller-skating near her Kansas City, Kansas, home. Her body was later found east of Kansas City in a wooded Grain Valley, Missouri, field. Keith Nelson was later prosecuted in federal court and sentenced to death for Pamela’s killing.

Police are investigating Eaton’s death and urging anyone with information to call a tips hotline.

RILEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Riley County continue to investigate a hit and run accident that sent a Manhattan woman to the hospital April 17, in critical condition.

Following Thursday’s  release of a video of the truck believed involved, a suspect has been identified, according to a media release.

A man identified himself to police as the driver of the vehicle that struck Amber Wilhelm.

Police did not arrest the suspect and his name was not released.

Amber’s family has been notified of the development.

Police and the Wilhelm family want to thank the thousands of people that shared this story from the beginning.

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Just before 2a.m. April 13, police responded to a report of a hit and run injury accident that at the intersection of 12^th Street and Bluemont Avenue in Manhattan, according to a media release.

First responders found a pedestrian identified as Amber Wilhelm, 21, Manhattan, suffering from severe injuries after being struck by a vehicle.

Witnesses on scene described a light in color 2011 to 2016 Chevrolet or GMC extended cab pickup truck that hit her and then fled the scene headed westbound on Anderson Avenue.

Wilhelm was transported to Via Christi and then flown to Stormont Vail where she remains in critical condition.

 

RILEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Riley County continue to investigate a hit and run accident and asking the public to help find a vehicle.

Just before 2a.m. April 13, police responded to a report of a hit and run injury accident that at the intersection of 12th Street and Bluemont Avenue in Manhattan, according to a media release.
First responders found a pedestrian identified as Amber Wilhelm, 21, Manhattan, suffering from severe injuries after being struck by a vehicle.

On Thursday Riley County Police released security camera video of the truck believed to be responsible for the accident.

Witnesses on scene described a light in color 2011 to 2016 Chevrolet or GMC extended cab pickup truck that hit her and then fled the scene headed westbound on Anderson Avenue.

Interviews with witnesses lead officers to believe there is a chance that the suspect vehicle will only have slight damage to its front end.

Wilhelm was transported to Via Christi and then flown to Stormont Vail where she remains in critical condition.

Anyone with information on a vehicle matching the description is encouraged to call police at 785-537-2112.

 

HOLTON, Kan. (AP) — Jurors have acquitted a northeast Kansas man of charges that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in a rural cemetery.

Jurors in Kansas’ Jackson County on Thursday found 22-year-old Jacob Ewing not guilty of charges of aggravated indecent liberties and aggravated criminal sodomy with a child under 14 years old.

Ewing still faces trials on charges alleging that he sexually assaulted five women. Ewing has entered not guilty pleas in those cases.

During the trial that ended Thursday, the teenager testified that Ewing sodomized her in 2014 while she pleaded for him to stop. A defense witness testified that the girl later bragged about the experience.

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HOLTON, Kan. (AP) — Jurors are deliberating the case against a northeast Kansas man charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in a rural cemetery.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 22-year-old Jacob Ewing also is charged with sexually assaulting five women, with the allegations dividing the small Kansas town of Holton. Ewing has entered not guilty pleas in all the cases.

The first case to go to trial involves the teen, who testified that Ewing sodomized her in 2014 while she pleaded for him to stop. A defense witness testified that the girl later bragged about the experience.

Jurors began their deliberations Thursday after hearing closing arguments. Ewing faces charges of aggravated indecent liberties and aggravated criminal sodomy with a child under 14 years old.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the new fiscal forecast for Kansas state government (all times local):

5:12 p.m.

Kansas has seen its budget picture improve slightly after officials and university economists issued a new fiscal forecast that was a little more optimistic than the previous one.

The state’s forecasting group on Thursday increased projections for tax collections by a total of $156 million through June 2019.

The new forecast is the first positive one in three years and some good news for Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and the GOP-controlled Legislature.

The new forecast replaces a pessimistic one from November assuming that economic slumps in agriculture and energy production would continue through 2018. The state had been left with budget shortfalls totaling about $1 billion through June 2019.

But tax collections since then have been better than expected.

With the new forecast, the budget gaps now total $889 million.

GEARY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Geary County are investigating two suspects on child endangerment and drug charges.

Just after 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, police arrived at a mobile home in the 12,000 Block of Clarks Creek Road.

Deputies arrested Dwayne Taylor and Desire Southland, both of Junction City on suspicion of Felony Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute, Possession of Cocaine with the Intent to Distribute, Possession of Methamphetamine with the Intent to Distribute, and Aggravated Child Endangerment.

Taylor was also arrested on suspicion of Criminal Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Southland on suspicion of Criminal Use of a Weapon.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The police chief of an eastern Wichita town says he’s received death threats over an officer’s fatal shooting of a service dog.

A vigil for the dog, Midnite, was scheduled for Wednesday. The vigil was described by event organizers as a “protest” in response to an officer’s killing of Midnite April 13.

Augusta Police Chief Tyler Brewer says people made death threats to him and his family last week. He says the officer who shot the dog has also received death threats.

Police say the officer and an animal control officer went to Alan Fitzgerald’s house investigating a report of his dog attacking a neighbor’s dog. When Midnite charged at the animal control officer, the police officer shot the dog.

Fitzgerald disputes that recounting and wanted the vigil to be “a peaceful event.”

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka woman has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison for committing health care fraud while operating a business that was licensed to provide day and residential services to developmentally disabled adults.

The U.S. attorney’s office says in a news release that 45-year-old Kristina Hansel also was ordered Wednesday to pay more than $480,000 in restitution.

The release says she billed Medicaid for services that weren’t provided and made false statements to obtain and renew her license. Prosecutors say she also admitted withholding medical treatment from a patient in one case and directing others to help her cover up medication overdoses so licensing authorities wouldn’t learn of the problem.

Prosecutors say the crimes occurred while she owned Achieve Services.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Missouri man has pleaded guilty in a Kansas wreck that killed a couple as they headed to church.

The Kansas City Star  reports that 37-year-old Harold Benton Cyphers III pleaded guilty Tuesday in Johnson County District Court to two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors say the Independence man was driving under the influence of methamphetamine in July when he ran a red light in Leawood, Kansas. His vehicle than collided with the car of 69-year-old Donna Manning and her 71-year-old husband, William Manning, of Overland Park.

Cyphers also admitted to identity theft and possession of methamphetamine.

As part of the plea agreement, attorneys will recommend a sentence of 14 years and seven months in prison. Sentencing is set for May 23.

FINNEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Finney County are investigating multiple reports of criminal damage to vehicles that had recently occurred in Garden City.

The investigation revealed thirty-four vehicles damaged by having slashed tires.
With the cooperation of almost 25 different victims and witnesses, officers were able to identify three juvenile suspects.
Police arrested one suspect. Kenyatta Bounds, 17, could face the possible charge of Felony Criminal Damage.
The total estimated loss from the damage to vehicle tires was $9942.00.