MCPHERSON COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects for the burglary.

The owners of CK Pharmacy, 200 Block of North Main Street in McPherson reported a burglary June 5, according to a media release from police. The suspects took approximately 2000 prescription pills including Morphine, Oxycodone and others valued at over $6700.

On Monday June 19, police and sheriff’s deputies executed search warrants in the 200 Block of North Locust in Inman and the 500 Block of Anna in McPherson.  The collected clothing and other items used in the burglary and 1200 prescription pills.

Law enforcement arrested Micah Dennett, 31, McPherson, and Adley Feltman, 33, Inman.

He was booked for burglary, theft, criminal damage to property and unlawful distribution of a controlled substance.

She is being held for conspiracy to commit burglary, theft criminal damage to property and unlawful distribution of a controlled substance.

Dennett has previous convictions for drugs and aggravated battery, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

HARPER COUNTY – A fourth earthquake this week jolted portions of Kansas Thursday morning. The quake at 7:44 a.m. measured a magnitude 3.7 and was centered approximately 7 miles southeast of Harper, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Just after 5p.m. Tuesday in Harper County measured 3.1.

A pair of quakes shook portions of Kansas Monday. Just after 2.am. a 2.9 quake hit 6 miles northwest of Mankato in Jewell County. At 10:15 p.m. Monday, the USGS recorded a 2.6 quake three miles south of Rose Hill in Butler County.

The USGS has recorded 14 quake in Kansas in June.

They reported 9 Kansas earthquakes in May, nearly a dozen in April, seven in March and six in February.

HESSTON, Kan. (AP) — Excel Industries in Hesston says it is reorganizing its operations and will lay off about 270 employees, effective immediately.

Excel announced the layoffs Thursday in a letter sent to employees.

The plant was the scene of a shooting that left four dead and 14 wounded in 2016.

Company officials said in a news release that demand for the turf care products it makes grew rapidly in the last three years but returned to more normal levels this year. They say Excel continues to grow but the overall market for turf care products is flat or down, in part because of weather and economic conditions in some areas.

Excel is Hesston’s second-largest employer.

SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a pair of purse thefts and asking the public for help to identify suspects.

A victim’s purse was stolen from Pawnee Prairie Park and her debit card was used at multiple locations.

Police also reported several handbags and purses were taken at Town East Mall in Wichita.

Security cameras took photographs of a person of interest in each case.

If you know the identity of these individuals, please call Crime Stoppers at 316.267.2111 or Wichita Police.

RENO COUNTY-  Democrats on Wednesday selected Jason Probst to fill vacant 102nd Kansas House seat.

Probst, who describes himself as an antagonistic columnist and pot stirrer, was elected over three other candidates on the first ballot. He is a newspaper editor and opinion writer in Hutchinson.

He replaces Patsy Terrell who died June 7, at a Topeka hotel during the final week of the 2017 legislative session.

Probst said he is strongly against Governor Sam Brownback and Secretary of State, governor candidate Chris Kobach.

He also said that he will try to follow in Terrell’s footsteps but also be his own legislator in Topeka.

After his nomination Probst signed paperwork, and the matter will now go before Governor Brownback for his approval followed by a swearing in ceremony next week in Topeka.

Terrell’s two-year term ends in January 2019, but Probst could run for a full term next year. He is expected to resign his newspaper job, according to a report by the Associated Press.

SEWARD COUNTY – A Kansas teen died in an accident just after 7p.m. Wednesday in Seward County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Polaris ATV driven by Seth Fitzgerald, 16, Liberal, was westbound in the 9800 Block of Road 9 north of Liberal at a high rate of speed,

The driver lost control of the vehicle. It started to fish tail, entered a skid, tripped in the dirt and came to rest on the passenger side facing east.

A passenger Brett Michael Cunningham, 14, Liberal, was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Kitch Brenneman Funeral Home.

Fitzgerald was not injured.

SEWARD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a wanted felon after an arrest.

Just after 3p.m. Wednesday, the Liberal Police Department Special Response Team served a search warrant at a residence in the 1000 block of Calvert Avenue, according to a media release.

The search warrant was obtained for the apprehension of Rodrigo Cano-Alvarado. He was wanted in Texas County, Oklahoma as well as Liberal and Seward County.

After a short standoff, Cano-Alvarado and two other occupants of the residence were taken into custody. No injuries were reported.

Cano-Alvarado is being held in the Seward County Jail on warrants for probation violation, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, criminal possession of a firearm, eluding officers and criminal deprivation of property. A 20-year-old male and a 24-year-old female were taken into custody for aiding a felon.

MCCOOK, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 10-year-old Kansas boy died after the bicycle he was riding collided with a pickup truck in southwest Nebraska.

The accident occurred around 1:20 p.m. Tuesday on the southwest side of McCook. The Nebraska State Patrol says the boy rode his bike from a private driveway onto a roadway, where it was struck by the pickup.

The patrol says the boy was pronounced dead later at Community Hospital in McCook. He was identified as Peyton Fife, who lived in Oberlin, Kansas.

The pickup driver was identified as 37-year-old Jason Stephens, of McCook. He was not injured.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Lawrence woman has been sentenced to three years of probation for forging her ex-husband’s signature on official documents and fleeing to Europe with her two daughters.

Thirty-four-year-old Samantha Elmer was ordered Tuesday to serve six months home confinement as part of her sentence for aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors say Elmer used the forged documents to obtain passports for her 9- and 11-year-old daughters.

Authorities say Elmer took the girls in October 2015 and boarded a flight from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago to Vienna, via Istanbul, ahead of a custody hearing and a trial on theft charges in Missouri. The girls’ father called police when the girls missed six days of school.

The girls were reunited in December 2015 with their father, who lives in Smithville, Missouri.

RILEY COUNTY -A Kansas man has been sentenced to over 50-years in prison for the March 2016 kidnapping a 19-year-old woman in Manhattan.

Sergio Guerra, 39, Wichita, was sentenced Monday on charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery, according to the Riley County Attorney’s Office.

Guerra was found not guilty on a count of Attempted Rape.
Police say Guerra approached the victim while she attempted to start her car in the 500 Block of Richards Drive in Manhattan.

He entered her vehicle and attempted to drive off with her inside. She attempted to escape, however, was unable to completely exit through the passenger side door and fell to the ground.

She sustained significant non-life threatening injuries after being dragged by her vehicle for approximately 800 feet while attempting to flee, according to police.

Officers with the Riley County Police Department Investigations Division identified the suspect and with the assistance of the Wichita Police Department were able to locate and arrest Guerra.