SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating after they determined two suspicious devices located on Monday in a third floor hotel room at WoodSpring Suites 725 West Taft in Wichita were pipe bombs and explosive devices, according to Officer Charley Davidson in a media release.

The Wichita Police Department Bomb Unit successfully removed both devices from the room. No other devices were located in the hotel.

On Monday at approximately 10:30 am, WPD officers were called to the west-side hotel where the two pipe bombs were located. The area surrounding the room with the pipe bombs was evacuated, and the WPD Bomb Unit, also known as the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team (EOD) responded.

The latest known occupants of the room checked out of the hotel on Sunday, Sept. 10, according to hotel management.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City prosecutor has found that law enforcement officers were justified in fatally shooting a woman.

KMBC-TV reports that District Attorney Steve Howe made the decision after reviewing the Aug. 23 shooting of 26-year-old Ciara Howard in Olathe. He found that two Olathe police officers and a Johnson County Sheriff’s deputy acted reasonably.

Police said deputies and police were trying to serve an arrest warrant at a home when a standoff ensued. When officers and deputies entered the home several hours later, authorities said Howard threatened them with a weapon, and the officers opened fire. No officers or deputies were injured.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A wooden cross on the roof of a church in Lawrence has been found sawed off in a recent act of vandalism.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that church member Esther Harjo found the cross on the ground outside the Lawrence Indian United Methodist Church on Sept. 7. Harjo says the cross and its metal flame punctured the roof, causing damage to a gutter.

Police say the vandalism occurred sometime between the night of Sept. 6 and the morning of Sept. 7. The investigation is ongoing.

The motive behind the destruction is unclear. Although the church serves mostly Native Americans, congregant Frances Gerty thinks the vandalism wasn’t because of hate toward indigenous people but because of religion.

The church says it’s thankful for the support from other Lawrence congregations.

WICHITA – A Kansas man was sentenced Monday to 28 months in federal prison for using stolen identities to obtain car loans, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said. The sentence is in addition to 20 months he has already served.

Reu Charles Chamberlain, 31, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. In his plea, he admitted he used a stolen identity at Eddy’s Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Wichita to qualify for a $48,902 loan to buy a 2016 Dodge Challenger. At Midway Motors in Wichita, he used a stolen identity to qualify for a $44,746 loan to buy a 2015 Dodge Challenger.

 

Beall commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger for their work on the case.

MCPHERSON COUNTY — Fire crews are working to determine the cause of a fire at the Roxbury elevator in McPherson County.

Multiple agencies responded to Roxbury to aid in extinguishing efforts, according to the McPherson County Sheriff’s Department. Roxbury is located approximately 18 miles east of Lindsborg.

Several roads in the area were closed, including Smokey Valley from the west city limit to 27th Avenue.

Traffic may go south on Blaine Street at the city limit but be advised this is being used as a staging area for fire units and may not be passable.

Drivers may travel on 27th Avenue, with caution, but will not be permitted to turn westbound on Smokey Valley Rd. Smokey Valley Rd is open East of Roxbury.

Officials reported no injuries.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a weekend shooting and have made an arrest.

According to the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s daily booking report deputies booked Tyler Wayne Lyon, 25, just before 5p.m. on Monday for Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon, Aggravated Endangering a Child and Criminal Possession of a Firearm.  Lyon has a previous conviction for Aggravated Burglary in Butler County.

Just after 9p.m. Saturday, police responded to report of a shooting at an apartment in the 2200 Block of South Oliver in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson. A 25-year-old man lives at the apartment with a 24-year-old girlfriend.

The 25-year-old and his 23-year old brother got into a fight. One issue reportedly involved a dispute over fruit snacks, according Davidson.

During the fight the 25-year-old hit his brother on the head with a hand gun. The weapon discharged and wounded the brother in the shoulder and the bullet also hit the leg of a 36-year-old man also at the apartment.

Both were transported to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, according to Davidson.

The 25-year-old later identified as Lyon fled the scene.

MANHATTAN — The Veterinary Health Center at Kansas State University is warning the public to be on the lookout for raccoons, especially those showing up in the daytime, as they could be a health threat to dogs.

In a media release, the center’s exotic, wildlife and zoo animal medicine service reported they have seen a large number of raccoons in the clinic recently that are suffering from canine distemper.

“While we may see raccoons on a fairly regular basis, there seems to be a recent uptick in cases,” said James Carpenter, professor of exotic pet, wildlife and zoological medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine. “The raccoons are often found out during the day, showing abnormal behavior such as incoordination, difficulty in walking and aimless wandering.”

“They either are just sitting back or some of them can be aggressive,” said George Sears, animal control officer for the city of Manhattan. “Or they’ll walk for a couple of feet, then they stumble, they fall down and sit right back up, giving us what’s called the ‘thousand-yard stare’ — like they’re staring out into nothing. That’s when we usually apprehend them.”

Canine distemper is a highly contagious viral disease and can spread from infected raccoons to susceptible dogs. Although not a common disease in pets, Carpenter said that the recent increase in raccoons with distemper demonstrates how the virus continues to circulate.

Because there is no way of controlling distemper in wild animal populations, Carpenter said it is important that dogs be vaccinated against this disease at 6 weeks of age and then every three to four weeks until 18-20 weeks of age. Then vaccinations should be every one to three years, depending on the recommendations of your veterinarian. The public also is advised not to permit their dogs to roam free and come in contact with wild raccoons.

In addition, Carpenter said that raccoons have the potential to carry many other diseases, including rabies, which can affect humans as well as dogs. Any abnormally acting raccoon should be reported to the local animal control office.

Starting in August, Sears said about two or three raccoons have been picked up each week in Manhattan.

“When an outbreak occurs in a raccoon population, the highest incidence is generally in late summer,” Carpenter said. “The young are leaving their mothers and have more opportunity for exposure to other wild animals that are distemper-infected.”

Because rabies can be clinically confused with canine distemper, the public should not attempt to capture or handle these animals.

“We try to deter the public from making any kind of engagement with the raccoons,” Sears said. “We encourage them to call animal control. That way we can take proper precautions, and then we can take them away from the area. It’s a safety issue.”

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s voter fraud commission meeting in New Hampshire (all times local):

11a.m.

A meeting of President Donald Trump’s commission on election fraud opened with New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner defending his role and the panel’s existence.

 

Kobach welcomes “his good friend” Bill Gardner. #nhpolitics pic.twitter.com/tPwUecyxJK

— NH Voting Rights ⚖️ (@NHVotingRights) September 12, 2017

Gardner has faced calls to resign from the commission since its vice chairman, Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, alleged last week that thousands voted illegally in New Hampshire because they registered using out-of-state licenses, though state law allows college students and others to do so.

As the meeting got underway Tuesday, Kobach said he will address that issue further, as will Gardner.

The Democratic Gardner says New Hampshire citizens have a proud tradition of civic participation, and he isn’t about to turn away from that now.

Gardner says the group’s ability to reach consensus is threatened by the partisan reaction it has evoked.

___

9:45 a.m.

California’s secretary of state says the meeting of President Donald Trump’s voter fraud commission is just the latest insult in an ongoing quest to suppress voting rights.

The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity is meeting Tuesday in New Hampshire and has spurred controversy since it was established in May. Critics say the Republican president is using the commission to support his unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud that cost him the popular vote during the 2016 election.

Democratic California Secretary of State Alex Padilla says he’s disappointed but not surprised that the panel won’t hear any testimony from women or people of color.

A spokesman for the commission didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democrat Hillary Clinton got more than 60 percent of the vote in California.

___

9:15 a.m.

Protesters holding “Vote Free or Die” signs are greeting members of President Donald Trump’s commission on voter fraud in New Hampshire.

The signs are a riff on New Hampshire’s “Live Free or Die” motto, and protesters from the New Hampshire Campaign for Voting Rights say the commission is a sham designed to promote voter suppression.

The panel is holding its second meeting Tuesday at Saint Anselm College to investigate the Republican president’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 elections.

Joining the protesters was former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, a Democrat and founder of Let America Vote. He says the commission was created to substantiate the biggest lie ever told by a sitting president and should be dismantled.

___

12:35 a.m.

A commission created by President Donald Trump to investigate his allegations of voter fraud is scheduled to meet in New Hampshire.

The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity has spurred controversy since it was established in May. Critics say the Republican president is using the commission to support his unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud that cost him the popular vote during the 2016 election.

There have been isolated cases of voter fraud in the U.S. But there’s no evidence of it being a widespread problem, as Trump suggests.

The New Hampshire chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP say they plan to call for the commission’s dismantling. Tuesday’s meeting is the commission’s second but its first outside Washington, D.C.

The vice chairman of the commission is Republican Kris Kobach, who’s Kansas’ secretary of state.

OSAGE COUNTY —  Officials are investigating the cause of a weekend boat fire in Osage County.

On Sunday evening, Kansas Game Wardens responded to a boat fire on Pomona Reservoir, according to a social media report.

The two occupants avoided injury after putting on lifejackets and entering the water before the boat became fully engulfed in flames.

Kansas Game Wardens said the incident is an excellent reminder how important it is to keep your life jackets out and accessible if not worn while on the water.

The lake is located approximately 25-miles south of Topeka.