TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The mother of a 4-year-old autistic boy says she believes a Topeka police officer who rescued her son from a pond was sent by God.

 

Officer Aaron Bulmer rescued the boy, Elijah Hamby, from a Central Park pond Sunday. He was on another call when he saw Elijah walking alone in the park and then lost sight of him. He got out of his car and saw Elijah in the pond, gasping for air.

A bodycam video shows Bulmer jumping into the pond, pulling the boy out and handing him to another man.

Elijah’s mother, Jaclyn, said Wednesday her son unlocked a back door while his father was in the bathroom and she was at work.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Elijah has fully recovered from the drowning scare.

JOHNSON COUNTY- One person was injured in an accident just after 6:30p.m. Tuesday in Johnson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported 1964 Mooney M20E piloted by  Simpson, Larry Simpson, 71, Stuart, FL., was traveling from Johnson County Airport to Manhattan.

After climbing to 1000 feet and experiencing engine failure the pilot found a safe place

in a farm field near the New Century Airport in Johnson County, Kansas

One passenger Richard Simpson, 67, Stuart, FL., was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center with a head laceration.

The pilot and two others on board were not injured.

The accident remains under investigation.

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — The apparent accidental death of a 16-month-old boy at a home day care in suburban Kansas City is under investigation.

The Kansas City Star reports that police say it appears that the child was strangled after his sweatshirt got caught on a piece of furniture.

Officer Danny Chavez say officers were called last Friday to a Lenexa home after the day care operator found the child. The toddler was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Chavez says the day care is licensed with the state, and the operators are cooperating with the investigation. The day care operator told police the child was out of view for “just a few moments.”

Police are awaiting final autopsy results. The investigatory findings will be forwarded to prosecutors to determine whether charges are warranted.

GREENWOOD COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Greenwood County are investigating two suspects on numerous drug charges.

On Tuesday, deputies responded to 400 Highway near M Road in Greenwood County in reference to a possible pedestrian accident, according to a social media report.

Upon arrival, it was determined the pedestrian was actually an individual who had gotten out of a car and was acting in a strange manner that caused passing motorists to believe he was injured.

The driver of the vehicle was found to have a suspended driver’s license. A KHP trooper who arrived on scene prior to the arrival of the deputies issued a citation to the driver for the suspended driver’s license.

While the trooper was conducting his investigation, the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office K-9 handler deployed the recently certified K-9 to conduct an exterior sniff of the vehicle.

On the K-9’s first day of service after certification she indicated the presence of an illegal substance in the vehicle.
Based on this alert, a second deputy initiated a vehicle search and recovered a significant quantity of methamphetamines, oxycodone, and Xanax.

Deputies arrested the driver and a passenger. They were charged with numerous violations including possession of all 3 substances with intent to distribute, felony possession of paraphernalia, felony drug tax stamp violation, and felony conspiracy. The driver was also charged with DUI after a blood and urine sample showed the presence of numerous drugs.

The individual initially located outside the vehicle was also charged with misdemeanor registration offenses as the owner of the vehicle, possession of stolen property and interference with law enforcement.

Both individuals are being held on a $100,000 bond
The Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office K-9 and handler exhibited their effectiveness as a team and as an asset to the agency in a strong showing on their first official day in the field.

FINNEY COUNTY -Residents in many areas of western Kansas are still without electricity following the weekend storm.

Western Electric Coop continues to replace some of the 600 damaged power poles. “It looks like a war zone in many areas. The trucks are getting stuck in the mud, requiring the assistance of farmers pulling them out of, and through, the fields to continue making forward progress on the line repair work.”

All Prairie Land Electric substations are now energized except the Tasco Substation in Graham County, according to their social media page. Crews from Eastern Kansas and Colorado are arriving and being dispatched to outage areas. Prairie Land reported approximately 2600 meter outages.

Wheatland Electric has approximately 2,000 meters out of service and approximately 400 of those are to residences. They also reported over 1200 power poles down or damaged.

“Road conditions continue to make things very difficult for our linemen to get where they need to go to make repairs.” On Wednesday, they reported 12 crews will working to make repairs and restore outages. Wheatland is still looking at multiple days to restore many of these remaining outages, according to a social media report.

Pioneer Electric reported the number of meters without power has reduced to 4,200 meters. They also had to increase their approximation of downed poles to 1,000, according to their social media page.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the Kansas Legislature’s debate on raising taxes to fix the state budget (all times local):

Kansas legislators have drafted a new and larger plan for raising income taxes to fix the state budget after top Republicans abruptly dropped one negotiated earlier.

House and Senate negotiators agreed Tuesday evening on a plan to raise more than $1 billion over two years by rolling back past income tax cuts championed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

The same negotiators drafted a proposal Monday worth $879 million over two years. But Senate GOP leaders abandoned plans for an expedited vote when support for it collapsed.

Democrats and moderate Republicans said Monday’s plan didn’t raise enough new revenue to cover budget shortfalls and provide additional funds for public schools.

Kansas faces budget shortfalls totaling $887 million through June 2019 and the Kansas Supreme Court has said education funding is inadequate.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators on Tuesday morning dropped a negotiated proposal to fix the state budget with income tax increases because some lawmakers don’t think it raises enough revenue.

The Senate’s Republican leaders said that the chamber wouldn’t vote on the proposal from House and Senate negotiators. Their bill would have raised $879 million over two years.

The measure would have rolled back past income tax cuts championed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. It was similar to a bipartisan bill vetoed in February by Brownback

But the Kansas Supreme Court has ruled since that state funding for public schools is inadequate.

Democrats and GOP moderates said any tax plan must raise enough revenue to increase education funding while also closing projected budget shortfalls totaling more than $885 million through June 2019.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators on Tuesday morning dropped a negotiated proposal to fix the state budget with income tax increases because some lawmakers don’t think it raises enough revenue.

The Senate’s Republican leaders said that the chamber wouldn’t vote on the proposal from House and Senate negotiators. Their bill would have raised $879 million over two years.

The measure would have rolled back past income tax cuts championed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. It was similar to a bipartisan bill vetoed in February by Brownback

But the Kansas Supreme Court has ruled since that state funding for public schools is inadequate.

Democrats and GOP moderates said any tax plan must raise enough revenue to increase education funding while also closing projected budget shortfalls totaling more than $885 million through June 2019.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the Kansas Legislature reconvening to tackle thorny budget and tax issues (all times local):

Kansas legislators have drafted a new plan to fix the state budget by increasing personal income taxes that is similar to one Republican Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed.

Negotiators for the state House and Senate agreed on the details Monday evening. They believe their plan would raise $879 million over two years.

The plan emerged from talks among top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature. It would boost income tax rates and return Kansas to having three income tax rates instead of the present two.

The top rate would be 5.45 percent for the wealthiest taxpayers.

Brownback vetoed a similar bill in February.

Kansas now has two tax brackets with a top rate of 4.6 percent. Brownback successfully pushed for massive income tax cuts in 2012 and 2013 but budget problems followed.

SHAWNEE COUNTY- A Kansas police officer was in the right place at the right time to save a child’s life. On Tuesday, Topeka police released body camera footage of the rescue.

Just after 11:30 a.m. Sunday, police officer Aaron Bulmer was on patrol near 16th and Clay in Topeka looking for subjects involved in a reported altercation, according to a media release.

He happened to notice a 4-year-old child walking toward a pond located in the Central Park Community Center. Officer Bulmer exited his vehicle to speak to the child when the youngster fell in.

The video shows Bulmer immediately jump into the pond to rescue the child. Emergency medical staff responded to the scene and transported to the child to a local hospital for evaluation.

A parent out looking for the child was reunited with him. The child was later identified as having a diagnosis of Autism. Some of these children are attracted to water. Officer Bulmer was in the right place at the right time.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A second defendant who took part in a fatal attack on a man whose body was found in a Wichita suburb has pleaded guilty to amended charges.

According to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, 30-year-old Jose Antonio Rojas will be sentenced June 15 for aggravated assault and aggravated battery. Court records show he pleaded guilty Monday before has was to be tried on more severe counts of first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated kidnapping.

The Wichita Eagle reports Rojas is one of five people arrested in connection with the December, 24,  2015 death of 42-year-old Moises Arias-Aranda. Authorities have said Arias-Aranda was lured to a residence in Wichita because a friend claimed he had raped someone. He was beaten, strangled and stabbed nearly 40 times.

Arias-Aranda was discovered dead in an SUV in Park City with electrical cords wrapped around his feet and hands.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers who oppose concealed guns at state hospitals have yet to settle on a path forward, though they’ve likely ruled out spending $24 million to secure the facilities.

Spending committees in the House and Senate have decided they won’t fund GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal that the state pay for metal detectors and armed guards at state-run hospitals for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. Under a 2013 law Brownback signed, the hospitals will have to allow guns starting July 1 unless they provide security measures.

Opponents of concealed carry say they want at least a partial rollback of the policy that requires public hospitals, nursing homes and universities to allow concealed guns or provide security. But they have not settled on a strategy to change the law.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A Salina woman was sentenced to nearly 31 years in prison for her role in the death of a Nebraska man.

Twenty-five-year-old Amber Craig was sentenced Tuesday in the death of 32-year-old Adonis Loudermilk, of Lincoln, Nebraska. He was killed in April 2016 in the parking lot of a Starlite Motel in Salina.

Craig pleaded no contest in February to second-degree murder, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. She settled a separate case by pleading no contest to trafficking methamphetamine in jail May 6.

Co-defendant DiAntre Lemmie, who shot Loudermilk, will be sentenced June 19 for first-degree murder and five other charges.

Prosecutors say Loudermilk was shot during a botched robbery committed by Lemmie and Craig.