HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Fire officials say smoldering cigarettes and burning candles accidentally sparked the southern Kansas house fire that killed an Arizona man.
The Hutchinson Fire Department said firefighters found 44-year-old Jason Conrad of Tucson dead inside the first-floor apartment shortly after the fire early Saturday.
The city’s interim fire chief, Doug Hanen, said Monday that the fire began a couch, and that Conrad’s body was found to be partially blocking the entrance door.
GREENWOOD COUNTY – Two people died in an accident just before 6:30a.m. on Monday in Greenwood County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Scion XB driven by Haynie, Bambi J. Haynie, 38, Herington, was eastbound on U.S. 400 just west of Z Road.
The vehicle crossed the center line hit a westbound 2004 Chevy Avalanche driven by Tanner W. McMullen, 17, Fall River. The Avalanche caught fire and came to rest in the West bound ditch.
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GREENWOOD COUNTY -The Kansas Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal head-on crash
Just before 6:30 a.m., a 2008 Scion XB was eastbound on U.S. 400 just west of Z Road.
The vehicle crossed the center line hit a westbound vehicle head-on.
The westbound vehicle caught fire and came to rest in the West bound ditch.
Additional details on the accident were not released.
Wichita civil rights lawyer James Thompson is the Democratic candidate for the 4th Congressional District seat. CREDIT COURTESY OF THE THOMPSON CAMPAIGN
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Democratic candidate James Thompson says the special election to fill the congressional seat left vacant by CIA Director Mike Pompeo in Kansas will be a referendum on the policies of the state’s Republican governor and those of President Donald Trump.
His comments came Monday during his first news conference in a race that is playing out amid a backlash in Kansas against the ultra-conservative agenda championed by Gov. Sam Brownback.
Thompson portrayed his Republican opponent, State Treasurer Ron Estes, as a “Brownback clone” who wants to take those failed economic policies and nationalize them.
Estes did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
Thompson called the news conference to urge a crackdown on human trafficking â an issue he says is consistent with his campaign of fighting for families.
SEDGWICK COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a burglary and asking for help to identify suspects.
Just after 4a.m. Sunday, residents in Clearwater experienced several auto burglaries. The subjects attempted to use a credit card stolen in one of the burglaries at the Walmart.
They appear to be driving a larger black SUV, possibly a Ford Expedition, with a large New England Patriots sticker in the rear window.
Anyone recognizing either of these subjects, or the SUV, is encouraged to call the Clearwater Police Dept. at 620-584-2312
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on a deadly shooting at a Kansas bar that some witnesses said was racially motivated (all times local):
2 p.m.
The man jailed following an apparently racially motivated bar shooting last week waived a formal reading of the charges Monday and was appointed a public defender.
Adam Purinton, 51, of Olathe, appeared by closed-circuit TV before a Johnson County District Court judge on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder. According to witnesses, Purinton yelled “get out of my country” at two 32-year-old Indian men, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, before he opened fire at Austin’s Bar and Grill in the Kansas City suburb on Wednesday evening.
Kuchibhotla was killed and Madasani injured. A third patron, Ian Grillot, 24, was wounded when he tried to intervene.
Public defender Michael McCulloch declined to comment. Purinton’s next court appearance is set for March 9.
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10:30 a.m.
A Missouri bartender told a 911 dispatcher that a patron said he killed “two Iranian people” just hours after a shooting 70 miles away at a suburban Kansas City bar left one Indian man dead and another hurt.
In a recording of the 911 call made early Thursday, the bartender at the Applebee’s in Clinton, Missouri, is heard saying the man made her promise she wouldn’t call police.
Fifty-one-year-old Adam Purinton was arrested soon afterward. He’s charged with murder and attempted murder in the shooting in Olathe, Kansas, that some witnesses said was racially motivated.
The bartender tells the dispatcher that the man initially said the shootings occurred at a gas station, not a bar.
She says the man asked if he can stay with her and her husband.
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8:40 a.m.
A man who was wounded while trying to intervene in a suburban Kansas City bar shooting that left an Indian man dead and another wounded says he’s “grateful” the attack is bringing the community together.
The University of Kansas Health System released a video Sunday of an interview with 24-year-old Ian Grillot, of Grandview, Missouri, who is recovering after a bullet went through his right hand and into his chest. Some witnesses described the Wednesday night shooting in Olathe, Kansas, as racially motivated.
Grillot said he had to do something because there were families and children in the bar when the gunfire erupted. Grillot, who is white, also says it is “awesome honestly to be able to give people a hope that not everybody hates everybody.”
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12:50 a.m.
One of three men shot at a bar in suburban Kansas City spoke at a weekend vigil, saying “I wish it was a dream.”
The Kansas City Star reports (https://bit.ly/2mkJVIS ) 32-year-old Alok Madasani told a crowd of hundreds at the Ball Conference Center in Olathe, Kansas, on Sunday that “what happened that night was a senseless crime and that took away my best friend.”
Madasani’s friend and co-worker, 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was killed in Wednesday night’s shooting at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe. Another patron, 24-year-old Ian Grillot, also was wounded in the shooting.
Madasani said the shooting was “an isolated incident that doesn’t reflect the true spirit of Kansas, the Midwest and the United States.”
Fifty-one-year-old Adam Purinton is scheduled to appear in court Monday to face charges of murder and attempted murder.
SALINE COUNTY – Police are investigating a second suspect in connection with a Thursday afternoon shooting in Salina.
Police arrested Maddilynn J. Small, 18, in McPherson early Monday morning on drug charges following a traffic stop, according to Captain Paul Forrester. She also had a gunshot wound to her arm.
Authorities believe Small was a passenger in the maroon Chevy truck that 22-year-old Tyler Reinbold was in when he was shot in the parking lot in the 1500 Block of East Iron.
Witnesses described a white female with blonde hair and wearing dark clothing fleeing the scene.
Capt. Forrester says Small was also shot during the incident. She traveled to Topeka before being picked up in McPherson, according to Forrester.
Friday afternoon, Police picked up 19-year-old Brooklyn McKnight in connection with the shooting.
Authorities believe McKnight, Reinbold and Small were all passengers in the vehicle when McKnight shot Reinbold twice, once in the stomach and once in the calf.
Reinbold was originally hospitalized in critical condition. He recovered enough to provide police with information on McKnight and Small.
McKnight faces attempted first-degree murder charges for the shooting.
Police are also looking for a fourth suspect, according to Forrester.
NORTON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Norton County completed a rescue that included dozens of dogs on Sunday.
After numerous had been received by the City of Norton, a joint investigation was initiated at a home in the 500 block of West Washington Street in Norton. Authorities determined that a large number of dogs and puppies were being housed at this residence.
Fifty-one adult dogs; including a large number of pregnant females, and 12 puppies were recovered from the home, according to police.
National Mill Dog Rescue took custody of the animals and will assess their health and temperament for eventual placement thru their large rescue facility in Peyton, Colorado.
According to Norton City officials, the City will continue to investigate the incident in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture Inspectors and will determine what further action will be necessary.
The names of parties involved are not being released at this time pending the completion of the
WINFIELD, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in southern Kansas’ Cowley County say the body of a man’s body has been found in a pond more than a month after he was last seen. Cowley County Sheriff David Falletti said in a news release that the body of 32-year-old Cole Hartung last Thursday. He’d gone missing Jan. 18.
Big First Congressman Marshall sent this survey mailer to 50,000 residents of his district.
The Republican majority in Congress is intent on repealing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Freshman Kansas 1st District Rep. Roger Marshall is on board. So he’s gathering input from constituents on how to proceed with repealing and replacing the ACA with what he calls needed “free-market reforms.”
The Great Bend Republican recently mailed a survey to 50,000 households in the Big First.
“The purpose of this survey was to let me have some science behind my feelings that everywhere I go, health care is a big concern,” says Marshall. “Based upon this survey, we’ll see specifically how ‘loud’ of an issue this is for my constituents.”
However, the three-question survey designed by Marshall and his staff is not likely to produce scientifically valid results, according to Mike Walker, of the Docking Institute for Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University. Walker, who designs and analyzes surveys regularly, says the questions could lead people to certain responses.
Walker says the first question is especially problematic. It asks, “Have you seen your healthcare premiums or healthcare costs rise since the passage of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act?”
“That should be broken down into maybe three or four questions,” says Walker. “Some of my health care costs may have gone up since the time ACA was passed. That’s a whole ‘nother issue of whether or not the ACA caused them to go up.”
Walker also notes that the survey is accompanied by a letter from Marshall declaring the Affordable Care Act a failure.
“That kind of raises the red flag right there, that it’s really more of a public relations ploy, I think, instead of an actual survey,” Walker says.
The Director of the Docking Institute, Gary Brinker, says it’s impossible to say for sure what Marshall’s motives are, but the survey looks to him like a “push poll”.
“People use these survey tactics when the purpose of the survey is to support an agenda, not to collect valid data on the way people truly feel about an issue,” says Brinker.
Nonetheless, Marshall thinks his survey is worthwhile.
“I’m not an expert on questionnaires like this. I’m open to suggestions, but I think there will be some valuable data out of this when it’s all said and done,” says Marshall.
His staff says thousands of responses have been received already, and more are pouring in daily. The deadline for returning the survey is the end of March. Marshall’s office promises to post the results of the survey through social media, a press release, and their weekly newsletter.
Marshall got an unexpected response to his survey mailer from constituents who showed up at a ribbon-cutting for his new field office in Salina Friday.
“Your first postcard is just Republican crap, to be quite blunt,” said Manhattan resident Christopher Renner. Instead of asking if premiums have gone up under the Affordable Care Act, Renner asserted the survey should have asked whether constituents now have healthcare coverage.
Bryan Thompson is a reporter for kcur.org‘s Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics in Kansas.
