DOUGLAS COUNTY – A Kansas man died just before 8p.m. Saturday in Douglas County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1993 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by Derek S. Fenton, 45, Lawrence, was westbound on N1400 Road just southeast of Eudora.
The vehicle drifted off roadway to the right and rolled into the ditch.
Fenton was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shelley D. Fenton, 46, Lawrence, a passenger on the motorcycle was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.
They were not wearing helmets, according to the KHP.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas native has hiked the length of the Continental Divide, canoed the Missouri River and biked from South America’s Andes through tropical forests and deserts into Texas.
The Kansas City Star reports 32-year-old Sara Dykman now is trying to add another 10,000-mile bike trip to her list of adventures.
Make this the law of the land! Pollinator paradise alongside roads.
Great benefits for people, pollinators, and… https://t.co/GXzP8fpOZo
Dykman, formerly of Johnson County, is 2,200 miles into her trek meant to draw attention to the monarch butterflies, which each year make their own cross-country migrations.
Some 95 percent of the monarch population has been lost over the past two decades, largely because millions of acres of milkweed plants on which the caterpillars feed have been destroyed.
Dykman left Mexico in March, will be in Kansas City in coming days, and venture to Canada before biking back.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Some Kansas lawmakers and animal welfare advocates are holding up a bill increasing fees on pet stores, breeders and kennels in hopes that they can also pass more stringent oversight of breeders.
House and Senate negotiators couldn’t agree last week on a bill increasing fees and oversight. They moved forward with only the fee increase. But House members rejected that Thursday and sent the bill back to the negotiating committee.
At issue is a measure to require surprise inspections of breeders, a move supporters say would help address problem breeders, or “puppy mills” that mistreat animals.
Those who oppose surprise inspections say alerting breeders about an inspection ensures someone will be at the facility when inspectors arrive, but doesn’t allow breeders time to hide wrongdoing.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City man was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on additional charges related to the armed robbery of a Jimmy John’s restaurant and a carjacking, according to Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Terry K. Rayford, 54, of Kansas City, was charged in a five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City. The indictment replaces a criminal complaint that was filed against Rayford on April 28, 2017, and includes additional charges.
The federal indictment contains the original charge of being a felon in possession of firearms. Rayford is also charged with one count of carjacking, one count of armed robbery and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to the federal indictment, the charges stem from two incidents that occurred on Wednesday, April 26, 2017. Rayford allegedly robbed the Jimmy John’s restaurant, located at 3900 Broadway Blvd., Kansas City, Mo., at gunpoint. Rayford is also charged with brandishing a Witness-P .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun during that robbery.
Rayford allegedly stole a 1998 Ford Econoline E350 van at gunpoint on the same day. Rayford is also charged with using or brandishing a Witness-P .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun and a Jimenez 9mm semi-automatic handgun during the carjacking.
Caught on camera: robbery at Jimmy Johns, 39th & Broadway, last night. VERY clear video. Can you help ID suspect? https://t.co/AlbgmPFe0n
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Rayford has 13 felony convictions for robbery and he was on parole at the time of the alleged offenses.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, the firearms were found in Rayford’s vehicle after he was stopped by Independence, Mo., police officers at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 27, 2017. Officers received information about a person matching the description of the suspect in the Jimmy John’s restaurant the day before. A retired major with the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department had seen video of the robbery broadcast on the news and saw Rayford – who appeared to be the robbery suspect – driving in the area of 40 Highway and Crysler in Independence.
Independence police officers responded to the area and stopped Rayford’s vehicle. When they ordered him to get out of his vehicle, officers found the Witness-P .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun lying on the driver’s side floorboard. Rayford was arrested and his vehicle towed. During an inventory of the vehicle, the Jimenez 9mm semi-automatic handgun was found in the back pouch of the front passenger seat.
Rayford told investigators he had stolen both of the handguns from his source of supply for crack cocaine, to whom he owed money.
BROWN COUNTY- A Kansas man died in an accident just after 12:30a.m Sunday in Brown County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Buick Century driven by Bruce A. Duncanson, 51, Sabetha, was southbound on U.S.75 three miles north of Sabetha.
The vehicle drifted left of center off of the roadway to the east. It struck a guardrail and vaulted into the creek bed.
Duncanson was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
Jeff King, former Kansas Senate vice president, spoke Thursday to a House committee that is developing a school finance proposal. The Legislature hired King for $50,000 to help write a bill and present its case for constitutionality to the state Supreme Court. CREDIT SAM ZEFF / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Educators and some lawmakers weren’t sure which Jeff King they were going to hear from Thursday.
Would the House K-12 Budget Committee hear from the conservative former Senate vice president who pushed through block grants and tried to defund the courts? Or would they hear from a constitutional lawyer with experience litigating school finance cases in Kansas?
Turns out it was the latter.
“I don’t think there’s anything he said that really threatens where the bill is going,” said Mark Tallman, the top lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards.
Sen. Barbara Bollier, a Republican from Mission Hills who will help write the Senate’s school funding plan, said she was reassured by King’s analysis.
“He did a very nice job in presenting a good, solid legal foundation,” Bollier said.
The K-12 Budget Committee has been working on a school funding formula for months. It looks very much like a formula that was scrapped for block grants two years ago. But it also calls for an additional $750 million in new money for public schools over the next five years.
King was hired for $50,000 to help the Legislature write a bill and present its case for constitutionality to the state Supreme Court.
He made two main points to the committee about school finance.
First, more money is better than less.
“The more money that is put in, the greater chance the court finds it constitutional,” he told the committee. “And what that limit is, I don’t know.”
And second, he said, the certainty of the revenue used to fund schools may be more important to the high court than the dollar figure.
“Funding that occurs today, next year, two years is more certain by definition than funding that occurs in five or six years,” King said.
The Legislature faces a projected $900 million budget hole in the next two fiscal years, so finding more money for education will be a challenge.
“Raising money sooner may be more difficult,” Tallman said. “Yet on the other hand, phasing in a plan means you also have to have a plan for that phased-in money.”
The committee has yet to approve the measure. Rep. Larry Campbell of Olathe, the committee’s chairman, said he hopes to work the bill Friday and maybe approve it then.
Any school funding bill still faces a long, hard slog after it gains the committee’s approval. Next up will be the Senate, whose members may have some different ideas. Most likely the bill will go to conference committee.
Whatever lawmakers do, they have to have a constitutional formula in place by June 30 — or the high court has said it will shut down schools.
Ramada motel at 605 SW Fairlawn in Topeka- google image
SHAWNEE COUNTY – A child was hospitalized in critical condition after an a near drowning at motel pool on Saturday.
Police were dispatched to 605 Southwest Fairlawn in Topeka for report of a juvenile girl pulled from a swimming pool, unresponsive, according to a media release.
Patrons of the pool began to perform life saving measures until emergency medical crews arrived. She was transported to a local hospital.
The incident remains under investigation, according to police.
Kan. First District Rep. Roger Marshall wrote via social media, “Proud to have had the chance to take the 1st District’s voice to the Oval Office yesterday after our vote. President Donald J. Trump was a gracious host, and his leadership helped my colleagues and I keep our promise to the American people.”
BILL BARROW, Associated Press
STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — It’s “Trumpcare” now, and Republicans have to answer for it.
House Republicans finally pushed through a bill to gut Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. President Donald Trump hailed the replacement as “a great plan” that has “really brought the Republican Party together.”
Democrats are giddy about what could be severe political consequences for the GOP.
Republicans now own a measure that would curtail, and in some cases take away completely, benefits Americans have embraced after seven years. Chief among them: a guarantee of paying the same amount for coverage regardless of health history.
Democrats need to flip 24 seats between now and the 2018 elections to take control of the House. Of the 217 Republicans who backed the bill, 14 come from districts carried by Democrat Hillary Clinton last fall.
PARSIPPANY, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey-based food company is recalling Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes, waffles and French toast because they might be contaminated with Listeria.
Pinnacle Foods Inc. said Friday the safety of its customers is its top priority and no illnesses have been reported. It says it initiated the recall when testing indicated the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in the plant environment.
Listeria monocytogenes can cause fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and people with weakened immune systems. Healthy people can suffer fevers and diarrhea. Pregnant women can suffer miscarriages and stillbirths.
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A developer says a former Kansas missile silo converted into a luxury condo is sold out, though he’s not saying who has bought the spaces in hopes of having peace of mind during a possible disaster.
Larry Hall tells KAKE-TV that units inside the so-called survival bunker about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Salina come with appliances and furniture.
The complex features a security system, classroom, swimming pool, rock-climbing wall, shooting range, gyms with saunas, and an arcade. Hall says there’s also a self-renewing water supply, grocery store and a medical wing with a pharmacy.
Hall says the units have fetched millions of dollars, drawing interest from Hollywood and professional athletes.
That condo complex is sold out, though Hall says he’s building a similar one in nearby Tescott.
