DENVER (AP) — Scientists say they have more evidence that an increase in earthquakes on the Colorado-New Mexico border has been caused by wells that inject wastewater from oil and gas production back underground.
It’s the latest report to link wastewater injection wells to earthquakes. Quakes in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas also have been linked to the practice.
A paper published last week by researchers at the University of Colorado concludes the wastewater increased underground pressure enough to make rock formations slip along fault lines.
Most oil and gas wells produce at least some wastewater that’s too salty to use, so regulators allow energy companies to pump it back underground to get rid of it.
The Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth published the University of Colorado study.
RENO COUNTY — Two people were arrested after a Hutchinson woman reported her pickup was stolen just before 11 p.m. Thursday.
Police were able to recover the truck and arrested 31-year-old Stephen Ratzlaff of McPherson.
Potential charges against him include felony theft, felony interference, possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, illegal transportation of alcohol and driving while suspended.
In addition, 24-year-old Marie Bowley of McPherson was also arrested for felony interference.
Ratzlaff was jailed on a $10,000 bond. Bowley has two previous drug convictions from McPherson County, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting.
Just after 2a.m. Saturday, officers were dispatched to a shooting in the 300 Block of south Ida in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson. Multiple shell casings were located in the area of Lewis and Laura.
Two 19-year-old men drove another 19-year-old man to an area hospital. They told police they were going to a party in the 300 Block of south Ida with a third 19-year-old man, and upon parking their vehicle an unknown suspect fired multiple times at their vehicle.
One man was struck in the head and taken by the other two others to an area hospital where he was treated for his injuries and released. The suspect is described as an unknown black man wearing dark clothing, according to Davidson.
Anyone with additional information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 316.267.2111 or WPD Detectives at 316.268.4407.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials are proposing a new version of the state’s privatized Medicaid program that would require about 12,000 adults to work.
The proposal was unveiled Friday as the state considers changes to a program that serves more than 400,000 residents.
Kansas currently has no work requirement for Medicaid recipients and it would be the first state in the country to do so.
Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration says requiring some people to work will improve their lives. Officials note that of the 12,000 people that would be affected, most already are required to work because they receive welfare assistance.
Advocates for Medicaid recipients say work requirements are illegal and were not allowed before President Donald Trump’s administration.
The proposal must be approved by the federal government.
SALINE COUNTY — A Kansas man died in an accident just after 1:30 a.m. Saturday in Saline County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Kia Optima driven by Kristin R. Heald, 35, Minneapolis, was westbound on Interstate 70 and exited northbound on U.S. 81.
The vehicle struck a pedestrian Jerry D Hurde Jr., 26, Salina, in the middle of the road. He was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics.
Heald was not injured and was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP. Law enforcement released no additional details on the accident early Saturday.
Newly unsealed testimony given by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach suggests he knew that the federal motor voter law might have to be amended for states to require proof of citizenship for voter registration.
In a sworn deposition in a lawsuit challenging Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship requirement, Kobach acknowledged drafting proposed amendments to the National Voter Registration Act, the formal name of the motor voter law, after courts blocked the requirement for Kansas voters registering at DMV offices.
Read Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s deposition from Aug. 3, 2017
Kobach has resisted handing over documents that he brought to then president-elect Donald Trump, including the draft language, and fought to keep them under seal. But the ACLU, which filed the lawsuit, successfully argued that the changes Kobach proposed showed he didn’t think the Kansas requirement was in line with federal law.
A redacted document unsealed earlier in October shows how Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach proposes amending the federal motor voter law to allow states like Kansas to require proof of citizenship for voter registration.
The state’s Secure and Fair Elections Act, pushed by Kobach, requires new Kansas voters to provide proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate or passport to complete their state voter registration. The ACLU alleges the law violates the motor voter law, which only requires an attestation of citizenship under penalty of perjury.
One of Kobach’s proposed amendments was nearly identical to hypothetical language used by the ACLU in court documents to show how the motor voter law could be amended to allow states to require documentary proof of citizenship.
In his deposition, Kobach ridiculed the idea that the similarity in language was anything but a coincidence.
“I think it is inconceivable that I would have had your brief in my hand when drafting this,” Kobach said in response to questioning by ACLU attorney Dale Ho.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ordered excerpts from Kobach’s deposition unsealed Thursday. The excerpts show a sometimes combative Kobach responding to Ho’s questions about his proposals to amend the motor voter law, which Kobach said would have been necessary if the ACLU prevails in the case.
In response to Ho, Kobach, a Republican, denied that he drafted the proposed amendments in preparation for his meeting with Trump in November. Kobach insists that his proposal was a “draft of a draft” and that he wrote it in late summer or early fall of 2016, ahead of a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in the case, and well before the presidential election.
“I’m telling you flatly that I did not know I would ever be meeting with the president-elect when I drafted this because he was not (yet) elected.”
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld Robinson’s order blocking the proof-of-citizenship law in Kansas.
Kobach was photographed at his November 2016 meeting with Trump clutching a document with a list of priorities for the Department of Homeland Security. At the time, Kobach was a candidate to lead the department, which he acknowledges in his deposition.
The unsealing of portions of Kobach’s deposition came after Robinson earlier this month ordered the unsealing of heavily redacted portions of the documents he shared with the Trump transition team.
One document, which was mostly blacked out, listed 23 points. The third, under the heading “Stop Aliens from Voting,” says “Draft Amendments to the National Voter Registration Act to promote proof-of-citizenship requirements.”
Kobach contends that noncitizen registration is a pervasive problem, but one of Kobach’s own expert witnesses in the ACLU case said that no more than .07 percent of Kansas’ 1.8 million registered voters were noncitizens.
Kobach is vice chairman of the White House’s election integrity commission, which was established by Trump after he claimed that millions of people voted illegally last November — a claim widely discredited by election officials and experts.
Kobach also refers in his deposition to conversations he had with “a friend of mine,” Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican known for his hard-line views on immigration.
The congressman, Kobach said, had agreed to introduce legislation to amend the National Voter Registration Act as a contingency plan if the ACLU prevails in their lawsuit.
“If we lost this lawsuit … if it were necessary to amend the NVRA to restore the original meaning of the NVRA because you (the ACLU) had succeeded in changing it through litigation,” Kobach testified that he asked King, “would he be willing to carry an amendment if I ever gave one to him, and he said yes.” Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor for the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
KANSAS CITY, KAN.– A Kansas City man was indicted this week on federal charges of robbing a bank in Overland Park, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Ryan Michael Cothern, 41, Kansas City, is charged with an Oct. 3, 2107, robbery at US Bank at 9900 West 87th Street in Overland Park.
It is alleged Cothern handed a clerk his cell phone on which he had written a memo saying, “Put the 50s and the 100s in the bag.
Do not put the dye pack in the bag. You follow these instructions and no one gets hurt and we can all go home.” Cothern was arrested shortly after the robbery when an Overland Park police officer stopped him in the 8300 block of Melrose Street.
If convicted, Cothern faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Overland Park Police Department and the FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Catania is prosecuting.
RILEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a battery involving teen students in Manhattan.
On Friday morning police were made aware of an incident involving several juveniles that occurred Thursday in the 3300 block of Robinson Drive in Manhattan, according to a media release from police.
The location near the Bishop Stadium indicates student athletes were involved.
Officers are in the process of filing a battery report from the information they received.
Officers list a 15-year-old male and a 16-year-old male as the victims and it was reported multiple teenage suspects kicked and hit the victims.
Officers are still in the process of interviewing the multiple parties involved. Police released no additional details on Friday afternoon. USD 383 did not issue a formal statement on the incident. Manhattan hosted a game with Wichita East Friday night.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Experts are saying the Kansas economy is heavily dependent on global free trade and immigrant labor at a time when both are considered charged political issues in the U.S.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the University of Kansas’ Institute for Policy and Social Research sponsored the annual Kansas Economic Policy Conference on Thursday.
Alexandre Skiba is a former economics professor at the university and spoke at the conference. He says the dependence on immigrant labor and foreign trade is especially true in rural western Kansas, where the meatpacking industry depends on immigrant labor and the entire agriculture industry generally depends on access to foreign markets.
Olathe-based Garmin International official Laurie Minard says the current U.S. political climate is hard on her business that’s dependent on access to an international workforce.
SALINE COUNTY —Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan is advising drivers be extra careful when traveling the county in the early morning or evening after the Sheriff’s Office worked seven deer related accidents in just three days.
Tuesday morning between 6:40 and 7:15 a.m., deputies worked three deer crashes. Those accidents occurred near the intersection of Magnolia and Simpson, Kansas Highway 4 and Old 81, and Crawford and Holmes.
Wednesday at 10:55 a.m., a deputy was dispatched to Interstate-70, near the Halstead exit, for another deer versus vehicle crash.
Deputies worked three more deer related accidents Thursday, two of which were shortly before 8 a.m. near Donmyer and Mariposa, and Water Well and Link. Sheriff Soldan said that deer also become more active at dusk. The final accident occurred at around 7:15 p.m. at Kansas Highway 4 and Cunningham.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol’s website, “Because deer-breeding season runs from October and into December, law enforcement officers routinely investigate a large number of vehicle-deer crashes this time of year. The Kansas Highway Patrol advises all motorists to be aware of this potential danger and to use extra caution. The following defensive driving techniques could ensure your safety this fall and winter:
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol’s website, “Because deer-breeding season runs from October and into December, law enforcement officers routinely investigate a large number of vehicle-deer crashes this time of year. The Kansas Highway Patrol advises all motorists to be aware of this potential danger and to use extra caution. The following defensive driving techniques could ensure your safety this fall and winter:
Stay alert, pay more attention to the road and roadside, and intentionally look for deer. Be especially alert at dawn and dusk, the peak movement times for deer and when visibility is low.
Slow down at deer-crossing signs, which are posted where deer-vehicle collisions have repeatedly occurred, and near woods, parks, golf courses, and streams or creeks. At a reduced speed, you have a better chance of avoiding a deer.
Deer usually travel in groups. When one deer crosses the road, there may be others about to cross. Slow down and watch for others to dart into the road.
Slow down when approaching deer standing near roadsides. They have a tendency to bolt, possibly onto the roadway. Use emergency flashers to warn oncoming drivers after you see deer near a roadway.
Always wear your seat belt. Statistics show that most people injured or killed in deer-related collisions were not wearing seat belts.
The most serious crashes occur when drivers lose control of their vehicles trying to avoid an animal. Do not take unsafe evasive actions. It is usually safer to strike the deer than another object such as a tree or another vehicle.
Motorcyclists need to be especially careful; fatality rates are higher in deer-motorcycle accidents than in deer-car crashes.
If you hit a deer, pull over onto the shoulder, turn on your emergency flashers, and watch for traffic before exiting your vehicle. Do not try to remove a deer from the roadway unless you are sure it is dead; an injured deer could hurt you. If you have a cellular phone, dial *47 (*HP) for the nearest Highway Patrol dispatcher or *KTA for assistance on the Kansas Turnpike.
Anyone involved in a vehicle-deer crash that results in personal injury or property damage that totals $1,000 or more is required to immediately report the crash to the nearest law enforcement agency. Failure to report any traffic crash is a misdemeanor and may result in suspension of driving privileges.”
DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press
