By Steven Koranda

Tyson Foods Inc. and Kansas officials unveiled plans Tuesday for a $300 million chicken facility outside Tonganoxie, a town about 15 miles northeast of Lawrence. The project will include a hatchery, feed mill and plant capable of processing more than 1 million birds per week.

Doug Ramsey, Tyson’s group president for poultry, said the complex will employ about 1,600 people and will produce trays of chicken sold at grocery stores.

“So why Tonganoxie? It’s the perfect place if you look at the grain, the plenty of farmland and the great pool of talent that is ready to work,” Ramsey said.

Gov. Sam Brownback hailed the economic investment and job growth that the project will bring to the area.

“This is a step in the right direction to further diversify and grow our state’s economy,” Brownback said. “I think this is a great project and a great day for Kansas.”

Local governments have promised infrastructure improvements and bonds for the facility. The state also will offer tax incentives for the project.

Some Tonganoxie area residents were not happy with the announcement for the plant, which Tyson plans to build on about 300 acres south of town. A presentation about the project was stopped briefly when some members of the audience said, “We don’t want it.”

After the announcement, some residents said news of the plant came as a surprise and they had no chance to weigh in on the project. Tana Walker said she contacted some local elected officials before the announcement who told her they couldn’t talk about the project because they signed non-disclosure agreements.

“NDAs should not have a place in public policy when public funds are involved,” Walker said.

Ramsey said that comes with the territory when developing this type of project.

“Part of the process in searching for a location is you do have to keep things under wraps … to make sure everything is lined up and appropriate before we move,” he said.

Walker recently moved to Tonganoxie, a town of 5,300 in Leavenworth County, and said she’s concerned that the massive plant will lead to pollution, odor and a lower quality of life.

“We really wanted to raise our kids in a small town that would give them a good upbringing and afford them the type of life that we both had,” she said. “We moved here in April to give them that, and now we regret moving here.”

Mary Gergick said she’s concerned the project will affect the “country living” that attracted some residents to the area.

“What is this poultry plant going to bring us?” Gergick asked. “Jobs are great, but at what cost? At what cost to the environment?”

Tyson officials said they will schedule town hall meetings so they can meet with residents to concerns about the project and how to address them.

Brownback said he understands why some residents are upset and he’s encouraged by the response from Tyson, which operates facilities in six Kansas communities that employ about 5,700 people.

“They’re going to comply with every state law and regulation we have. They are a corporate citizen here and have been for 50 years. We’re very familiar with Tyson,” the governor said.

The Tonganoxie plant is scheduled to open in 2019 with starting wages of $13 to $15 per hour.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an armed robbery.

Just before 4:30 a.m. police responded to a convenience store in the 5700 Block of SE 21^st Street in Topeka after report of an armed robbery, according to a media release.

The store employee told police a black male described as 5-foot 6-inches tall and weighing approximately 150-pounds, wearing black clothing, a mask and carrying a knife entered the business and demanded money.

The suspect then fled the business on foot.  There were no injuries. A police K9 team responded to the scene to assist with a search for the suspect.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Shawnee County Sheriff’s detective will spend four days in jail and be on two years’ probation for interfering with law enforcement.

Erin Thompson, who was a sheriff’s deputy for more than 15 years, pleaded guilty and was sentenced Wednesday on two counts of misdemeanor interference with law enforcement. She also was ordered to pay $5,000.

Prosecutors say Thompson lied in 2014 about two interviews she conducted, claiming she talked to or tried to talk to people involved in cases she was investigating. At a preliminary hearing in January, witnesses testified they never talked to Thompson.

Thompson’s last day with the sheriff’s office was Aug. 30, after she served nearly two years of paid administrative leave.

Thompson was originally charged in May 2016 with three counts of felony perjury.

GEARY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on drug charges after traffic stop on Interstate 70.

On Tuesday, police stopped a vehicle on Interstate 70 approximately 10-miles east of Junction City for speeding and no turn signal, according to a media release.

They arrested Melanie Asantewa Obeng, 41, and Jerry Antoine Jones, 41, both of Seattle on suspicion of Possession with Intent to Sell, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and No Drug Tax Stamp.

Jones also faces allegations including suspicion of Speeding and No

Turn Signal. They are being held in the Geary County Jail.

TOPEKA– A Kansas  man pleaded guilty Tuesday to driving the getaway car during an armed robbery, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Jermaine Tyrell Patton, 29, Topeka, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting a commercial robbery and one count of aiding and abetting an armed robbery.

In his plea, Patton admitted taking part in a Nov. 5, 2016, robbery at Oakmark Convenience Store at 2518 N.E. Seward Avenue in Topeka. Patton’s accomplice, who was carrying a firearm, entered the store and demanded money. Patton was behind the wheel of a blue PT Cruiser when he and the robber fled the scene. When police stopped the car, both men fled on foot. Patton was quickly arrested.

The other man, Christopher Curtis Harris of Topeka, was arrested and charged in Shawnee County District Court with shooting Topeka Police Detective Brian Hill when Hill tried to arrest him.

Patton is set for sentencing Nov. 27. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of not less than five years and not more than 15 years. Beall commended the Topeka Police Department, the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Maag for their work on the case.

HARVEY COUNTY — A Kansas man facing three counts of capital murder and three counts of first-degree murder waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday morning in Harvey County District Court.

Jereme Nelson, 35, is accused in the October 2016 shooting deaths of 37-year-old Angela Graevs, 33-year-old Travis Street and 52-year-old Richard Prouty in rural Harvey County.

Arraignment is set for Nov. 3 in front of Judge Joe Dickenson.

Nelson’s co-defendant Myrta Rangel, 31, had similar charges dismissed in Harvey County and faces federal charges related to the case including possession of a firearm, obstruction and providing a firearm to a felon.

After the alleged murders, Nelson and Rangel fled to Mexico. They were arrested in January and returned to the U.S.

NORTON, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on a disturbance at a state prison in northwestern Kansas (all times local):

4 p.m.

A Kansas Department of Corrections spokesman is confirming that part of a building for housing inmates at a prison in the state’s northwest is not livable following a disturbance.

Spokesman Samir Arif also said the department increased the number of inmates it transferred out of the Norton Correctional Facility on Wednesday to 100, up from 90 earlier.

But Arif said the inmates were transferred for security reasons, not because part of the housing building was damaged.

The disturbance occurred Tuesday night. Arif said it began when an inmate or inmates set fire to a mattress and about 250 spilled into the yard. Windows were smashed in several buildings and inmates broke into a tool shed.

The low-security prison is about 320 miles (515 kilometers) west of Kansas City.

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11 a.m.

A Kansas Department of Corrections spokesman says it has transferred 90 inmates from a prison in the state’s northwest following a disturbance there.

Spokesman Samir Arif said Wednesday that the inmates were moved from the Norton Correctional Facility to other Kansas prisons.

Arif says the disturbance at Norton began Tuesday night when an inmate or inmates set fire to a mattress in a housing unit and as many as 250 inmates spilled into the yard. He said inmates broke into a tool shed and smashed several prison windows.

Arif says two staff members suffered minor injuries that required no medical attention.

The disturbance drew law enforcement officers and firefighters to the prison just south of the Nebraska state line and about 320 miles west (515 kilometers) west of Kansas City.

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NORTON —The inmate disturbance at Norton Correctional Facility has been brought under control, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections.

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NORTON, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Department of Corrections has confirmed that an inmate disturbance occurred at a state prison in western Kansas and that local law enforcement officers are on the scene.

Department spokesman Samir Arif provided no other details about the disturbance Tuesday night at the Norton Correctional Facility.

Norton City Administrator Chad Buckley says all of the town’s firetrucks and his entire police department responded to the scene to assist corrections officials.

The Norton prison housed 848 inmates as of Friday, with another 125 at a satellite unit in Stockton, to the east. Most of the inmates are either “low” medium-security inmates or minimum-security inmates. The prison is about 320 miles west of Kansas City.

Rec’d call from @KSCorrections cancelling union visit to Lansing b/c 50 inmates from Norton are transferring to Lansing b/c of riot. #ksleg

— KOSE Union (@KOSE_Union) September 6, 2017

The state saw multiple inmate disturbances in recent months at its maximum-security prison in El Dorado in southern Kansas.

DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in an aggravated assault and after a week made an arrest Tuesday night.

According to a social media report officers jailed 27-year-old John Robert Berry in connection with a Wednesday August 30, disturbance with weapons at a mobile home in the 100 Block of Maple Street in Lawrence.

Berry was barricaded inside the home with a gun. A second individual was inside and unable to leave due to health reasons. Officers set up a perimeter and attempted to contact the suspect.

Officers ultimately deployed an investigative robot into the residence and determined Berry had escaped. He is wanted for aggravated assault and has previous convictions for criminal threat, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An Army veteran from Reno County was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $70,000 in restitution for benefits he received by pretending to be blind.

U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said 62-year-old Billy J. Alumbaugh, of Turon, was sentenced Wednesday for conspiracy to defraud the government.

His ex-wife, 52-year-old Debra Alumbaugh, also of Turon, was sentenced to a year on probation for helping with the scheme.

While pleading guilty in June, Alumbaugh admitted he told the Veterans Administration that he was blind and homebound in order to receive monthly pension benefits. In fact, he was able to drive and engage in other routine activities without assistance.

His wife accompanied him to medical visits, where they pretended he was blind and depended on her for help.

TOPEKA —The Kansas Highway Patrol released data from its Labor Day Weekend holiday activity. The reporting period for the holiday weekend ran from 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 1, 2017, through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, September 4, 2017, according to a media release.

Two fatal crashes were worked during this reporting period, which killed two people (Stanton County and Allen County). Neither of the crashes was alcohol-related.

Information in the table is compared to data from both 2015 and 2016. The reporting period for the Labor Day holiday always runs from 6:00 p.m. the Friday prior to the holiday, through 11:59 p.m. the Monday of the holiday.