SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an armed robbery and asking for help to locate suspects.

Just after 8 p.m. Thursday, police responded to the 1100 Block of East Crowley in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

A 26-year-old pizza delivery driver told police he had completed a delivery to a residence when a dark SUV drove up and two suspects got out. One suspect had a gun and demanded money.  The suspects took the delivery driver’s cash and drove away. There were no injuries.

One suspect is described a 6-foot tall black male wearing blue jeans and a red shirt. The other black male suspect was skinny, 6-foot tall and wore a black shirt.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Wichita Police.

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN

Fewer than 40 percent of Kansas students are on track to be academically prepared for college, community college or technical school as measured by their scores on the state’s standardized math and English tests.

Scores on English language arts tests went down for the second year in a row. About 38 percent of students scored proficient in that subject in spring 2017.

Math results dropped slightly after seeing a gain the year before. About 34 percent of students hit the state’s targets, according to results released Tuesday.

“If it remains that way, then it’s a serious concern,” said Jim Porter, chairman of the Kansas State Board of Education. “If it starts going up, which I anticipate that it will, then that just shows the trend is in the right direction.”

Kansas students take the state’s tests in third through eighth grades and again in 10th grade.

Education Commissioner Randy Watson said during the board’s meeting Tuesday in Topeka that the movement in scores is “not in the right direction.” In addition to not making gains in the rate of students scoring on track to be ready for college, the rate of students at the bottom of the four-tier scoring scale increased.

Watson said he expects to see gradual progress in coming years.

“We will not see, if we do this correctly, a dramatic increase like we saw under No Child Left Behind,” he said. “Because we don’t want to teach to the test.”

No Child Left Behind refers to a bygone federal law that Congress replaced in 2015. It fueled a rise in the prominence of standardized test scores to gauge school performance in an effort to shed light on and resolve systemic academic achievement gaps among certain student groups, such as children from low-income families and racial and ethnic minorities.

The law was unpopular because it set lofty goals tied to punitive measures for schools that failed to meet them. The new federal law is viewed as a step away from that punitive approach.

Kansas’ 2030 targets

The news that Kansas’ test scores are sagging comes just one month after the state submitted a school accountability plan to the federal government that sets aggressive targets for boosting math and reading scores by 2030.

Those goals would require schools to more than double proficiency rates by that year, which is when this year’s kindergarten class will graduate.

The proficiency rates for some groups of students — such as African-American children and English language learners — would need to triple by 2030 to hit the targets. That would require annual increases of more than 3 or 4 percentage points per year in the rate of kids scoring proficient.

The Kansas Association of School Boards, while calling the goal of boosting academic outcomes a moral imperative, has expressed concern that no state has achieved such high levels as measured by standardized testing.

Watson emphasized Tuesday that state math and English test scores are just one measure of student outcomes. The state is also looking at ACT scores, Advanced Placement scores, dual-credit enrollment among high school students and higher education continuation rates, among other figures, to try to piece together a portrait of how Kansas schools and their students are faring.

About half of Kansas high school graduates attain college or career credentials or are enrolled in college in their first two years after leaving school, according to the state education department.

Test scores used to be higher

In 2014, Kansas switched to more rigorous state tests, reflective of a change in state standards that raised the bar for what concepts students should master in math and English classes at each grade level.

State education officials have expressed hope that improving academic rigor in math and English language arts will reduce the rates of students who need remediation once they reach college. They also hope to better prepare students for careers, regardless of whether they plan to pursue college after graduation.

As predicted by state education officials, the switch to the new standards, called the Common Core, led to a steep drop in the rates of students hitting the higher targets. The Common Core targets were designed to indicate whether a child or teenager is on track for being academically prepared for college by the time he or she graduates high school.

Prior to the more rigorous state tests, about four out of five students scored proficient.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.

 

SHAWNEE COUNTY — A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 3p.m. Friday in Shawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Peterbilt semi driven by Patrick B. Schafer, 29, Perry, was westbound on U.S. 24 at Kaw Valley Road in the left lane.

The semi rear-ended a 2007 John Deere Combine driven by Andrew Joseph Voegeli, 25, Tecumseh, that was westbound in both lanes. The combine left the roadway to the west and fell into the creek.

Voegeli was transported to the hospital in Topeka.  Schafer was wearing a seat belt and not injured, according to the KHP.

U.S. 24 remains closed at K-4 and the inside lane of U.S. 24 starting at Happy Hollow Road are closed due to the collision over Soldier Creek

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated battery and have a suspect in custody.

Just after 6:30p.m., police were dispatched to a walk-in shooting at the fire station 15, 7923 East Lincoln in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Police made contact with a 27-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her chest and a 21-year-old man with a non-life-threatening stab wound to his arm.

Both were transported to a local hospital. The woman was reported in serious condition, according to Davidson.

An investigating revealed that the two had an argument at a nearby apartment. She cut him on the arm with a knife and he shot her. They went to the fire station for help.

Police arrested the man identified as Kody Wade Bacon, according to the Sedgwick County Booking report and booked him for aggravated battery, domestic violence and marijuana possession, according to Davidson.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has refused to release pending trial a Kansas man accused of plotting to bomb a mosque and an apartment complex housing Somali refugees.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren ruled Friday that Gavin Wright is a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Wright and co-defendants Patrick Stein and Curtis Allen are charged with conspiring to detonate truck bombs at an apartment complex in the meatpacking town of Garden City in western Kansas. Wright also faces a separate count for allegedly lying to investigators.

They’ve pleaded not guilty.

Melgren says the evidence suggests Wright was deeply involved in planning these atrocities and intended to carry out the plan to fruition. He says few charges are more serious than that of planning to commit an act of terrorism.

By JIM MCLEAN

The four teenagers running to be the next governor of Kansas were tested Thursday at a forum organized by their peers at Lawrence Free State High School.

Standing at the center of the Free State gym, they fielded questions on gun control, race, drugs, abortion and a host of other divisive issues.

They answered forthrightly. Honestly. Not by pivoting to talking points like more practiced politicians.

“There’s the art of not answering questions, but what good does that do for voters and our democracy?” asked Tyler Ruzich, a 17-year-old Shawnee Mission North student from Prairie Village who is determined to be on the Republican primary ballot.

Candidates have a “moral and ethical” responsibility to share their true beliefs so that voters can make informed choices, Ruzich said.

“That’s something I think is pretty important,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for. We’re here for change. Younger people want answers.”

The Free State students certainly did.

They pushed the high-school hopefuls for their positions on issues that many politicians are reluctant to discuss.

In addition to Ruzich, Jack Bergeson and his lieutenant governor running mate, Alexander Cline, both students at The Independent School in Wichita, participated in the forum along with Ethan Randleas, a student at Wichita Heights High School, and Dominic Scavuzzo, who lives in Leawood but attends Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo.

A question about gun control touched off a lengthy debate.

Randleas, a Libertarian, said he was opposed to stricter gun control laws. Instead, he said decriminalizing drugs would reduce gun and gang violence “exponentially.”

Bergeson, the first of the four teen candidates to announce, said he differed with most other Democrats on the issue.

“I am very much for Governor (Sam) Brownback’s conceal-carry law,” Bergeson said. “But I am for banning automatic weapons and semi-automatic weapons.”

Cheers erupted when Ruzich, a self-described moderate Republican whose parents are Bernie Sanders Democrats, said he favored “getting guns off of campuses and universal background checks.”

That’s what Free State senior Paul Jesse wanted to hear. He’s strongly opposed to recent changes in state law that allow students, faculty and visitors to carry concealed handguns on university campuses.

“I’ve lived in Lawrence my whole life, and one of the reasons I’m not going to KU is because of that,” Jesse said. “It has definitely changed my point of view on the state itself.”

Varied policy priorities

As he did throughout the forum, Randleas held fast to his Libertarian views.

“There’s a lot of trigger words here like guns off of campuses,” he said, arguing that it’s “asinine” to suggest that someone’s Second Amendment rights are suspended when they step onto a college campus.

The role of government also proved to be a point of contention, with Randleas arguing for smaller government and the elimination of individual income and corporate taxes and the others calling for increased investment in education, health care and infrastructure.

“I understand the idea of hands-off, laissez-faire economics, but it’s just not realistic,” Ruzich said. “We tried it in this state and it has miserably failed.”

Reducing political corruption and improving access to health care topped Bergeson’s list of priorities. In addition to calling for implementation of a single-payer “Medicare for all” health care system, he said campaign finance reforms are needed to curb the corrupting influence of “big corporate donors”

“I support publicly financed elections but believe that system will only work if there is a national framework behind it,” he said, pledging to set an example by accepting only individual donations of $500 or less for his campaign.

There was relative harmony on some issues, including LGBT rights.

“I think this is something we all agree on, and that’s pretty cool,” Randleas said.

Scavuzzo, a Catholic, said his religious beliefs make it difficult to support laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, but he said he is personally opposed to it.

“People just need to be more accepting,” Scavuzzo said, adding that he would “try to appoint” members of the LGBT community to his Cabinet if elected.

Likewise, the candidates were in lockstep on the need to legalize, or at least decriminalize, marijuana. Several promised if elected to release inmates serving time in state prisons for non-violent drug offenses.

Bergeson said he would push to add Kansas to a growing list of states that have legalized medical marijuana.

“In my opinion, it is despicable that the law in this state forces people with certain illnesses to choose between abiding by the law … or living a healthy life,” he said.

‘There was no fear’

Ella Keathley, the Free State student who organized the forum, said the event exceeded her expectations, particularly the level of student involvement.

“That was the thing I was worried about,” Keathley said. “Are they going to feel like this was a waste of time? But I really do feel like they got very interested.”

The teacher who helped Keathley pull the event together also was pleased.

“I thought it came off great,” said Blake Swenson, who teaches government, history and social studies at Free State.

In particular, Swenson said he was struck by the maturity of the candidates and their direct answers to tough questions

“I was impressed. When the questions came, there was no fear,” he said.

Kansas is one of a handful of states that doesn’t require candidates for governor to be of a certain age.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach wants to change that.

“I think it’s both amusing and encouraging that high school students are throwing their name into the governor’s race, but it is appropriate to have minimum ages for the governor’s office,” Kobach told the Kansas City Star in September.

But Keathley said there is no reason that Kobach, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, or anyone else should be threatened by the wave of teen candidates.

An effort to impose an age requirement now that Kansas teens have engaged in the political process would “just show that they’re cowards,” she said.

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service,  You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks.

 

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on felony charges involving a child and more.

According to a media release, Wichita State University learned Friday that the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department had arrested a WSU student on a felony warrant.

The student identified as 28-year-old James Dayvault, according to the Sheriff’s Department booking report, was charged with exploitation of a child under 16, lewd and lascivious behavior and four counts of breach of privacy. He was jailed pending a $75,000 bond.

None of these alleged acts are believed to have occurred at WSU.

However, according to the University Police Department, it was also discovered after the accused was arrested that he was in possession of photos and / or videos taken under women’s skirts.

These photos / videos appear to have been taken on campus sometime in the past two years.
If you have information about one of these alleged on-campus acts or believe that you may have been a victim, contact WSU Police Detective Jeff Rider at 316-978-3450 or jeffery.rider@wichita.edu.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Relatives of man who died at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility are alleging that a fungus infected his brain and slowly killed him while his pleas for help were ignored.

The lawsuit claims Marques Davis died in April after suffering for four months while his vision blurred, his speech slurred and he became so disoriented that he drank his own urine.

The Kansas City Star reports that the lawsuit was filed on behalf of Davis’ mother and his daughter, who live in Wichita. The lawsuit names private prison health care contractor Corizon, 14 company employees, three doctors and 11 nurses.

Corizon provides health care throughout the Kansas prison system.

Corizon spokeswoman Martha Harbin said the company sympathizes with Davis’ family but cannot discuss the details of care he received in prison.

Davis had convictions for attempted first-degree murder, drugs, burglary, battery and assault, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government is urging that large, personal electronic devices like laptops be banned from airline checked luggage because of the potential for a catastrophic fire.

The Federal Aviation Administration says in a paper filed recently with a U.N. agency that its tests show that when lithium-ion batteries used in laptops, cellphones and other devices overheat in close proximity to an aerosol spray, they can cause explosions capable of disabling an airliner’s fire suppression system. The U.N. agency sets global aviation safety standards.

Tests of overheating batteries packed in luggage containing other consumer products like nail polish remover and hand sanitizer also resulted in large fires.

The FAA says permitting passengers to carry larger personal electronic devices only in the cabin is the most effective way to protect safety.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – An Ohio man is facing charges alleging he defrauded five NFL players in a charity scam.

Thirty-eight-year-old Camario Richardson, of Maple Heights, Ohio, was arrested Friday in Ohio on a five-count indictment. Prosecutors allege he claimed to have contacts with Nike and agreed to deliver merchandise to the players for charity events.

The players, who were not named in the indictment, allegedly paid Richardson a total of $25,000.

Players from the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals reportedly paid Richardson to provide backpacks for charity events but the merchandise was never delivered. Prosecutors say the players all bought backpacks from another source for their events.

Prosecutors say Richardson told a San Diego Chargers player he would provide athletic shoes for an event but didn’t deliver.