KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two U.S. senators from Kansas and Missouri say an emphasis on protecting the nation’s food supply has waned since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and it’s time to make the issue a priority again.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri, and Sen Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, met Friday with government, education and private officials involved in ensuring the nation is prepared to protect food, agriculture and livestock from terrorism and infectious diseases.

Glad to join @AgBizKC @McCaskillOffice & @DHSgov for a bipartisan roundtable on #agroterrorism & our efforts to keep our food supply safe. pic.twitter.com/4seoLLYCff

— Pat Roberts (@SenPatRoberts) August 18, 2017

McCaskill and Roberts stressed that the nation’s food supply is still the safest in the world and they were not reacting to any imminent threat. But Roberts, who leads the Senate Agriculture Committee, says the nation and media’s focus often shifts to other problems and it’s important to “ramp up” agriculture protection efforts again.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say one person has died in an industrial accident at a building demolition site in north Wichita.

The incident happened around 1:40 p.m. Friday when debris fell on the worker. Firefighters responding to the call say the dead worker was trapped under the debris. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Further details were not immediately available.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an attempted robbery and fatal shooting and are asking the public for help to identify possible suspects.

Early Sunday morning July 16, an unknown intruder entered the home of Arthur Goebel and his wife at the Lamplighter Mobil Home Park in the 2300 block of E. MacArthur in Wichita, according to police detective Wendy Hummel.

Goebel apparently heard the intruder and briefly confronted him. The intruder shot Goebel twice and immediately fled the home. Goebel died of his injuries shortly after arriving at a local hospital.

According to Hummel, the intruder is described as a medium sized man in height and weight.
Goebel was a veteran of the Vietnam War a devoted father and grandfather and a valued member of his community and church.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 267-2111.

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN

Residents of the Flint Hills this week took a fight against an oil company to Kansas energy regulators as part of their broader battle to stem wastewater disposal in the area.

They fear that a request from Quail Oil and Gas to jettison up to 5,000 barrels a day of brine near Strong City and the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve brings a risk for earthquakes or contamination of local groundwater — claims that the company disputes.

An hours-long hearing in Topeka saw the two sides pit their lawyers and geologists against each other in hopes of winning over the three members of the Kansas Corporation Commission.

The commissioners will likely issue their decision within a couple months.

Fossil fuel companies churn up saltwater in the course of oil and gas production and dispose of it in wells by pouring or pumping it downward with pressure.

The vast majority of saltwater disposal wells are not linked to earthquakes, but Oklahoma and south-central Kansas have suffered temblors for years that stem from the high volume of saltwater injection in that area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Since 2009, that area has seen thousands of earthquakes strong enough for people to feel, and some have caused damage.

Part of the controversy over Quail Oil’s request in Morris County is whether the central Kansas Flint Hills are susceptible to quakes, too. Flint Hills residents who oppose Quail Oil’s application fear companies could turn increasingly to their region, opting to dig wells there since the KCC has placed caps on daily injection rates in counties farther south and west in an effort to curb the temblors.

Researchers say it’s impossible to know for certain whether a given well could cause quakes but that a wide range of factors — such as disposal volumes, pressurization and proximity to faults in the earth — come into play. Higher disposal volumes appear more closely linked to earthquakes.

Quail Oil argued Wednesday that the daily disposal volume it seeks is significantly lower than the injection rates allowed in the quake-prone south-central Kansas counties where the KCC has imposed restrictions. Additionally, the company argued that Morris County doesn’t have a history of seismic activity.

“In the area that we are, there’s been no earthquakes, and there’s been injection for a very long period of time,” Quail Oil manager Wray Valentine testified.

Valentine’s company has finished building the 2,700-foot-deep well where it plans to inject wastewater, but it needs permission from the commissioners to begin its dumping.

An unexpected moment came late in Wednesday’s hearing when KCC staff, who previously had recommended that commissioners approve the application, walked back from that position, calling instead for lower disposal volumes and pressurization than Quail Oil requested.

The new recommendation would halve the permissible pressure to 250 pounds per square inch and cut daily wastewater dumping to 2,000 barrels.

Bob Eye, an attorney representing the Flint Hills residents who oppose the project, asked the commissioners to reject the application or consider barring the company from using any pressure in wastewater disposal.

Relying on testimony from Emporia State geology professor emeritus James Aber, Eye warned that the area around Quail Oil’s newly built disposal well is “riddled with faults.”

Quail Oil’s attorney, Robert Vincze, put on the stand geologist Lee Shobe, an industry consultant who helped the company prepare its original application. Shobe testified that the geological characteristics in the Morris County area are well-suited for safe saltwater injection.

Most of the saltwater disposal wells in Morris County and its surrounding counties are not pressurized, according to data from the KCC. There are about 120 saltwater disposal wells in that region.

Cindy Hoedel, a resident of Matfield Green in neighboring Chase County, was among the Flint Hills residents asking the commissioners to reject Quail Oil’s request.

Hoedel recalled feeling her bed shaking and lifting from the floor during an Oklahoma quake that struck early one morning in September 2016 and shook the earth hundreds of miles away.

“My husband and I both moved toward the center of the bed,” she said. “It was really frightening.”

Hoedel said she worries about much stronger effects if saltwater injection operations eventually begin triggering epicenters closer to her home.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.

SALINE COUINTY—  Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on alleged child sex charges.

On August 16, a Salina woman told police of an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship between a 20-year-old and her 12-year-old son, according to Police Captain Paul Forrester.

The suspect sent photos on Facebook to entice the boy, according to Forrester. Their encounter allegedly occurred at the suspect’s apartment in the 2300 Block of Chapel Ridge in Salina.

An investigating led police to 18-year-old Lenora Dyke. Police arrested her Thursday. She is jailed on requested charges of electronic solicitation, promoting obscenity to a minor and rape.

RENO COUNTY —  Siemens announced Friday layoffs of 140 employees at their assembly plant 1000 Commerce Street, Hutchinson.

In a media release, the company reported business volume in Hutchinson through the 2018 fiscal year does not support the existing workforce level.

“While we remain strongly committed to the long-term viability of the U.S. wind market, a difficult decision has been made to adjust the workforce by about 140 employees, to be carried out in the fall.

As a reflection of the importance of Hutchinson to our business strategy moving forward, we announced our intention to pursue a capital investment at the plant that involves retooling an existing production line.”

Workers at Siemens’ 300,000-square-foot plant in Hutchinson assemble nacelles, which sit atop the wind tower, supporting the rotor and housing components for electric power generation, including the gearbox, the drive train and the control electronics. The plant opened in 2010.

OSAWATOMIE, Kan. (AP) — The head of the agency that oversees a troubled state mental hospital is making the case for a new facility.

The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services announced in a news release Thursday that Secretary Tim Keck will make presentations in coming weeks in Wichita, Independence, Topeka and Kansas City.

The announcement came after the agency rolled out a proposal Tuesday from Correct Care Recovery Solutions to build a new hospital at the current location of Osawatomie State Hospital and take over operations. Legislative approval would be required.

Federal officials decertified the hospital in 2015 after a series of inspections uncovered problems. The decertification has cost the hospital about $1 million monthly in federal funding, although a recent successful inspection has moved the facility closer to regaining certification.

CLINTON, Mo. (AP) — A man accused of providing the weapon used to kill a western Missouri police officer is facing new charges, and prosecutors also charged his wife.

Henry County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Shields announced Thursday that William Noble, of Clinton, is charged with hindering prosecution, fraudulent purchase of a firearm and four counts of endangering a child. He already was charged with tampering with physical evidence. Prosecutors contend he bought the rifle Ian McCarthy allegedly used to kill Clinton police officer Gary Michael Jr. on Aug. 6.

Brandie Noble was charged with hindering prosecution and four counts of endangering a child.

Prosecutors say McCarthy was in the Nobles’ home for a time while police were searching for him. The couple’s four juvenile children were in the home.

A call to William Noble’s attorney was not answered.

RENO COUNTY — A Kansas woman was in court Thursday and charged with the theft of very valuable gold and silver coins. The alleged crimes occurred last year.

Donna Sue Boggs is accused of stealing 60 gold coins on Aug. 22, 2016, with a value between $25,000 and $100,000 and two gold coins and 10 silver coins with a value of more than $1,500, but less than $25,000 on March 29, 2016.

She’s jailed on a bond of $3,000. Her case now moves to a waiver-status docket on Aug. 23.