EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has issued boil water advisories for 12 public water systems in Lyon and Coffey counties.
The advisories were issued Thursday after a major water main break in Emporia left that city nearly without water on one of the hottest days of the year.
The break has been repaired. The water system will be slowly turned back on and will take several hours to be restored late Thursday or early Friday
The health department says the line break caused a loss of pressure that could result in bacterial contamination in Emporia and other systems.
The city of Emporia also is under a boil advisory. Others involved in the advisories include Admire, Allen, Coffee County Rural Water District 2E, Hartford, Lyon County water districts 1-5, Olpe and Park Place Communities Management in Lyon County.
The advisory will be in effect until the line break issues can be resolved.
———-
EMPORIA- Officials are working to determine the cause and fix a large water main break in Emporia. The break reported just after 4 a.m. has left nearly all of Emporia without water, according to a social media report from police.
The Lyon County Communications Center is being overwhelmed with calls about no water.
They asked residents not to call the police or 911 to inquire about this situation as street crews work to repair the problem.
Simpson-photo courtesy Nevada Dept. of Corrections
NEW YORK (AP) — Television networks returned to the scene of an old obsession Thursday with blanket coverage of O.J. Simpson’s parole hearing Nevada. The former football star is now set for release this fall.
The biggest broadcast networks, news networks and even ESPN and CNBC set aside regular programming for the odd spectacle that NBC’s Savannah Guthrie dubbed “the parole hearing of the century.”
It was 22 years after Simpson’s trial for the 1994 murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, became a television soap opera.
Commentators harshly criticized Simpson and his lawyer for their performance at the parole hearing. CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin called it “an absolute disgrace.”
A Nevada parole official says if O.J. Simpson is cleared to be supervised in Florida, he would report to a Florida parole officer.
Capt. Shawn Arruti of the Nevada Division of Parole and Probation told reporters Thursday after Simpson was granted parole that if he violated the terms of release, he would come back to Nevada to have his parole revoked.
Arruti says Florida parole officials will decide whether to accept Simpson, but it’s common when an inmate has family in the area like he does.
RENO COUNTY — A Kansas man convicted of sex crimes and serving a 22-year prison term saw the sentence reduced Wednesday.
Reno County District Judge Tim Chambers called Robert Dwerlkotte, 48, Hutchinson, a persistent sex offender after convictions of aggravated burglary and aggravated sexual battery. He has previous convictions in the 90s for Aggravated Indecent Solicitation of a Child and burglary.
In May of 2007, police reported Dwerlkotte broke into his ex-wife’s home, laid down on the floor beside her bed while she slept and then jumped on top of her. He held her down and tried to convince her to have sex.
At sentencing, the defendant filed an appeal over the scoring of his criminal history.
The appeals court ruled that his criminal history score was improper even though the state had put in the complaint that the burglary involved a dwelling. So, his case came back to District Court for re-sentencing. The judge reduced the sentence to 14-years.
Even with the lower sentence, that doesn’t mean he will be set free at the end of that sentence. There is apparently a hold where he could be deemed a sexually violent offender. That would extend his time in custody.
The ACLU of Kansas wants Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to change the wording about voter registration on the Kansas Secretary of State’s website. STEPHEN KORANDA / KPR
By Stephen Koranda
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas says wording on a state website might leave voters confused about whether they’re eligible to cast a ballot. The group wants Secretary of State Kris Kobach to make changes.
At issue is information about Kansas’ requirement that new voters prove their citizenship with a document such as a birth certificate or passport. Court rulings say that requirement currently doesn’t apply to people who register to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles or use the federal voter registration form.
The secretary of state’s office revised wording on the site after Kansas Public Radioand the Kansas News Service raised questions about inconsistencies.
ACLU of Kansas Legal Director Doug Bonney says those revisions are not enough. The ACLU has sent Kobach a letter asking for further action.
“They’re going in the right direction, but it’s still not adequate,” says Bonney. “It’s misleading and doesn’t take into account the court orders we have from both state and federal judges.”
In particular, the ACLU has a problem with a notice on the website. It says language included in the notice is strikingly similar to wording a federal judge previously said should be stricken from the page.
In October, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ordered that this language be removed from the secretary of state’s website:
“For elections that take place after the November 8, 2016, general election, it is at this time unknown whether you will be registered to vote depending on subsequent court rulings and should provide an acceptable form of proof of citizenship to your local county election office or to the Secretary of State to ensure future registration.”
As of Wednesday, a notice on Secretary Kobach’s site included the following language:
“In future elections, it is unknown whether you will be registered to vote depending on subsequent court rulings and should provide an acceptable form of proof of citizenship to your local county election office or to the Secretary of State to ensure future registration.”
Bonney says that language is too similar to what the judge ordered removed.
“It still makes it seem like no matter how you register you have to provide proof of citizenship,” Bonney says. “That’s inconsistent with our federal court rulings.”
The ACLU also is asking for changes on forms mailed to people who have registered to vote but who have not provided a proof of citizenship document.
Samantha Poetter, a spokeswoman for Kobach’s office, says it has received the ACLU letter but has no comment.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service.
SEDGWICK COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities are investigating an incident involving an officer-involved shooting of a dog.
Just after 7pm, police responded to a call at a residence in the 500 Block of North Ash in Wichita, according to Officer Paul Cruz during Thursday’s police briefing.
When they arrived at an alley, a dog charged one of the officers. The officer fired his weapon. When the dog charged a second time, the officers shot and killed the animal.
The officer was not injured. Police released no additional details.
SEWARD COUNTY – A woman died in an accident just before 10p.m. Wednesday in Seward County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Chevy Trailblazer driven by Eddie E. Estes, 39, Liberal, was westbound on Road 13 three miles southeast of Kismet.
The SUV struck a deer in the roadway and traveled into the north ditch. The driver over-corrected across the center line and entered a field on south side of roadway.
When the driver attempted to pull back onto roadway, the SUV rolled once, flipped end over end, rolled two more times and a passenger identified as Lorrie D. Honea, 44, Turpin, Oklahoma.
Honea was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Miller Mortuary. Estes was not injured. Honea was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say an inmate has been stabbed numerous times during a fight at a south-central Kansas prison.
Kansas Department of Corrections spokesman Todd Fertig said in a prepared statement that the victim received “several puncture wounds in an inmate-on-inmate altercation” around 7 p.m. Wednesday at the El Dorado Correctional Facility. The prison also was the scene of an hours-long disturbance last month in which emergency log books suggest inmates fought and that there was a fire.
Fertig says the inmate who was hurt Wednesday received initial treatment at the prison before being transferred to an outside medical facility for “further evaluation and treatment.” No other staff or inmate injuries were reported.
The state’s prison system has been grappling with significant staffing shortages.
SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for armed robbery and asking the public to help with additional details.
Just before 10p.m. Wednesday, police responded to a fast-food restaurant in the 1100 Block of South Kansas Avenue in Topeka after report of an armed robbery, according to a media release.
Police saw two suspects running from the business and caught one of them. Police booked Brendon Randell Thompson, 30, Topeka, for requested charges of Aggravated Robbery and Aggravated Assault. He has a previous drug conviction in Shawnee County.
A second person of interest was located a short time later and it was determined he was not involved. Police are still searching for a second suspect.
There were no injuries reported.
Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call police.
——-
Police on the scene of Thursday night armed robbery-photo courtesy WIBW- TV
SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for armed robbery and asking the public to help with additional details.
Just before 10p.m. Wednesday, police responded to a fast-food restaurant in the 1100 Block of South Kansas Avenue in Topeka after report of an armed robbery, according to a media release.
Police saw two suspects running from the business and caught one of them. A second person of interest was located a short time later and it was determined he was not involved. There were no injuries reported. Police did not release the name of the suspect arrested
Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call police
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has given her approval to a deal in a lawsuit filed against the Wilson County sheriff over his jail’s policy of allowing inmates to receive and send only postcards in the mail.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson preliminarily approved on Wednesday the class action settlement that would allow inmates to receive letters at the southeast Kansas jail. The jail houses an average of 40 people daily.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and the Social Justice Law Collective sued Sheriff Pete Figgins last year alleging the policy violated the free speech and due process rights of prisoners and the people who write to them.
A fairness hearing on the settlement is set for Oct. 25 in the federal courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas.
