TOPEKA -Sears confirmed Thursday they were closing an additional 28 Kmart stores by mid-November. The list of stores includes a Kmart in Kansas. The store at 1740 SW Wanamaker Road in Topeka is on the list.

Eligible associates impacted by these store closures will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores, according to a media release from the company.

Since December of 2016 the company has announced the closing of over one hundred stores nationwide including Kmart in Leavenworth, Wichita and a Sears stores in Salina and Garden City.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Jurors have rejected a former employee’s claim in a federal lawsuit that religious discrimination was key factor in her firing from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office.

The jurors sided Thursday with the office and chief Kobach deputy Eric Rucker against former employee Courtney Canfield. They had argued that performance issues led to Canfield’s firing in November 2013 after 9½ months in the office.

Canfield learned of her firing through her grandmother, who was a friend of Rucker. The grandmother testified that Rucker told her that Canfield’s lack of regular church attendance was a reason for her firing.

Rucker testified church attendance was not a factor and the subject came up only when Canfield’s grandmother mentioned it in telling him that Canfield’s life was a mess.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A conservative state senator is the latest Republican to enter the race to succeed retiring GOP U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins.

Sen. Caryn Tyson of Parker announced her candidacy Thursday for the 2nd Congressional District seat that Jenkins has held since 2009. Tyson and her husband own and operate a ranch in eastern Kansas’ Linn County. Tyson said in a news release that it was crucial to “embrace the President’s call to repeal and replace Obamacare, secure our borders, and pass comprehensive tax reform to cut taxes.”

Other Republicans in the race are state Rep. Kevin Jones of Wellsville, state Sen. Steve Fitzgerald of Leavenworth and Basehor City Councilman Vernon Fields. On the Democratic side, former Kansas House member Paul Davis of Lawrence and Neosho County resident Kelly Standley are running.

LYON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating the discovery of human remains and have found a digital watch that may help identify the victim.

On April 29, an individual located a skull in a grassy area on the east bank of the Neosho River just outside of Neosho Rapids, Kansas.

Law Enforcement further located additional remains approximately 20 feet north of the skull.

The skeletal remains were wrapped in a fitted bed sheet and comforter which was placed within a black lawn and leaf bag.

An autopsy showed that the remains are those of a male, predominately white heritage with black/African

American traits (possibly mixed race), 5-foot-4 -5-foot-6 in height, possibly middle to late aged, and longer hair (6-8-inches) that is blonde, white, or grey in color. The individual also had scoliosis.

A digital watch was found in the bedding with the remains.
If you have any information, please contact myself or the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office at 620-341-3353.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting.

Just before 11p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to a Topeka hospital in reference to a shooting victim who had just arrived by private vehicle, according to a media release.

The adult male victim told police he was walking in the 700 Block of SW Fairlawn. An unknown male suspect approached and shot him.

The victim, who suffered a non-life-threatening wound, was not able to provide a description of the suspect at this time.

K-9 detectives and crime scene investigators were on the scene to gather evidence in the case, according to police. They have made no arrests.

POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged robbery and asking the public for help to identify a suspect vehicle.

Just after 9:30p.m. Monday, the victim was loading groceries into her vehicle at the Wal-Mart parking lot, 100 Bluemont in Manhattan when a white female with brown hair got out of a dark colored passenger car and grabbed the victims purse from her shopping cart.

The victim tried to get her purse back, jumping partially into the passenger side of the suspect vehicle. The suspect vehicle, left the Wal-Mart parking lot at a high rate of speed. The victim who remained partially inside the car hung onto the car until she was eventually dropped off in the vicinity of the 8000 block of Highway 24, Manhattan.

The suspect vehicle then drove off in an unknown direction. The 44-year old female victim reported that she suffered minor injuries during the altercation.

Evidence collected at the scene and witness statements indicate that the suspect vehicle is believed to be driven by a white female with blonde hair, possibly wearing a purple shirt. The passenger in the suspect vehicle was also described as a white female having with brown hair. The vehicle appears to be a dark colored 4-door passenger car with a sun roof, the exact make of the car is unknown at this time. Total loss was reported to exceed $800.00. Anyone able to identify the vehicle or suspects is asked to call police.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas City, Kansas, woman whose speeding car hit a group of teenagers, killing one, has been sentenced to five years and four months in prison.

The Kansas City Star reports that 41-year-old Tamika Pledger was sentenced Wednesday for involuntary manslaughter in the January 2015 death of 16-year-old Tierra Smith.

The victim was with a group of teenagers in Kansas City, Kansas, involved in a confrontation when Pledger’s car hit them while going more than 30 mph in a 20 mph speed zone.

Pledger contended her car’s brakes didn’t work properly. She said she was responding to a call from a teenage relative that other girls were bothering her.

Pledger was also found guilty of three counts of aggravated battery for injuring three other teens.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Robbery charges have been filed in Nebraska against a man suspected of being the “AK-47 bandit,” whom investigators believe robbed banks in five states.

Court records show 39-year-old Richard Gathercole was indicted Tuesday for an August 2014 bank robbery in Nebraska City, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Omaha. His attorney didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press.

FBI officials have been looking for years for the man they believe robbed banks in California, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska and Washington state typically while carrying an AK-47 rifle.

Gathercole, of Montana, was arrested June 20 near Lexington, Nebraska, after a sheriff’s deputy spotted a pickup truck that Kansas authorities had reported stolen by a man who fired at a state trooper.

Gathercole also faces weapons charges.

CINCINNATI (AP) — A former Barack Obama administration Cabinet member is returning to her native state to rally opposition to Republican efforts to repeal his health care overhaul.

Cincinnati-born Kathleen Sebelius is joining a bus tour campaign for press conferences Wednesday in Cincinnati and Dayton. Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, both Democrats, are among officials joining her in their cities.

The former secretary of Health and Human Services says Republicans should stop trying to “sabotage” Obama’s Affordable Care Act and work with Democrats to improve it.

She and two Republicans who also headed HHS say President Donald Trump and Congress should make stabilizing health insurance marketplaces their immediate goal.

Sebelius is the Democratic former governor of Kansas. Her late father, Democrat John Gilligan, served as Ohio’s governor.

ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press

WICHITA, Kansas (AP) — A conservative firebrand promoting President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud oversees a Kansas election system that threw out at least three times as many ballots as similarly sized states did. That is fueling concerns about massive voter suppression should its practices become the national standard.

Data collected by the bipartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission shows only six states — all among the top 10 in population — discarded more votes during the 2016 election than the 33rd-largest state of Kansas.

Kansas’ 13,717 rejected ballots even topped the 13,461 from Florida, which has about seven times as many residents.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is co-chairman of Trump’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. He is the architect of policies requiring voter ID and proof of citizenship.