WICHITA – A Kansas man pleaded guilty Friday to using a PlayStation video game console to obtain child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Michael L. Stratton, 30, Burlington, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography. In his plea, he admitted using a PlayStation 3 to chat about child pornography and trade child pornography.

According to court documents, Sony monitors user activities on the PlayStation Network. The network allows account holders to communicate in a way similar to text and emails. A user complained to Sony about Stratton, who was sending messages using the name Susan_14. Sony sent reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which identified child pornography that Stratton had downloaded. Sony also determined that Stratton had sent messages to other users including: “u want to see naked kids tonight,” and “Friend Request. Do you have child porn?”

Sentencing is set for Aug. 7.

SHAWNEE COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating two suspects on possible weapons charges.

A student at Ross Elementary school, 1400 SE 34^th in Topeka, told a school administrator they saw someone with a firearm across from the school, according to a media release.

Officials briefly placed the school on lockdown as a precaution. Officers investigating the report saw two individuals in a vehicle in the 3300 Block of SE Indiana Street.

During an attempt to stop the vehicle, the occupants ran. Police arrested 28-year-old Brandon Young.  They also identified the driver Patrick Baumann. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant, according to police.

Bauman has previous conviction for burglary, drugs and theft, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

SALINE COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a January business burglary and have second suspect in custody.

Two GMC trucks and assorted power tools were stolen from Mid-Kansas Underground, located at 1345 W Old 40, on January 10, according to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office.

A suspect allegedly forced their way into the building through a garage door around 12:20 a.m. that morning. Approximately 20 minutes later, the suspect left in a 2005 GMC Sierra, also stealing an acetylene torch and assorted tools.

Authorities reported that at least two suspects returned to the business around 3:55 a.m., stealing more tools and another GMC Sierra. The crime was reported by the business owner after he arrived at the location around 4:30 a.m. that morning. Surveillance video confirmed that the owner missed the suspects by several minutes. 

The trucks were recovered several days later in a tree line near Smolan. According to Sheriff Roger Soldan, a passerby reported the trucks while tending to some horses. One of the trucks had a small dent, but no extensive damage was reported. 

On January 19, authorities took a Salina man into custody. A Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said that Clayton Koochel, 24, was arrested near the Wichita State University campus. Koochel was in possession of several tools taken during the burglary. 

Undersheriff Brent Melander said that 28-year-old Lenn Farley was picked up by Marion Police Thursday April 20, for an outstanding warrant regarding the same incident. Farley was transported to the Saline County Jail and faces burglary and felony theft charges. 

GEARY COUNTY – One person was injured in an accident just after 11 a.m. on Friday in Geary County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Volvo semi driven by Ta K. Ku, 30, New Britain, CT, was westbound on Interstate 70 seven miles east of Junction City.

The semi struck the car trailer of a 1997 Dodge Ram driven by Allan J Guatemala-Osejo, 32, Ogden.

One person getting into the vehicle Abraham E. Berry, 21, Lamonte, MO., was hit up the impact.

Berry was transported to the hospital in Manhattan.

There were no other injuries. The drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

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GEARY COUNTY – One person was injured in an accident just after 11 a.m. on Friday in Geary County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a semi was westbound on Interstate 70 at Grandview Plaza.

The semi hit a pickup that had pulled over at the Manhattan exit, according to Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf.

The accident shut down traffic in both directions during the investigation.

Check the post for additional details as they become available.

HUTCHINSON— By 2019, when the world celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the first steps of man on the moon, Johnson Space Center hopes to offer visitors a glimpse of what Mission Control looked like in that era.

The Kansas Cosmosphere has been asked to help with the mission to update the Historic Mission Control, a National Historic Landmark and attraction at Space Center Houston, according to a media release.

Today, visitors to Space Center Houston can visit the Historic Mission Control and see exhibits about how history played out in the room. Known more formally as Mission Operations Control Room, it was from there that NASA monitored nine Gemini and all Apollo lunar missions.

“While the control consoles and monitors in the room are authentic, none of them work,” Jim Remar, Cosmosphere President and Chief Operations Officer, said. “JSC turned to the Cosmosphere’s fabrication, restoration and high-fidelity replica division to help them bring MOCR back to life.”

The Cosmosphere will primarily be involved in restoring the original mission control consoles to the condition in which they would have operated during the Apollo 15 mission. Remar explained that Gene Kranz, Gerry Griffin, Glenn Lunney and other members of the mission control teams from the Apollo era who are involved in the restoration effort consider the Apollo 15 mission to be the apex of the technology of the Apollo era.

“We have the ability to restore the physical appearance and the actual computer content of the control consoles to reflect the Apollo 15 mission,” Remar said.

The Cosmosphere will be working in conjunction with NASA, Space Center Houston, the Texas Historical Commission, former members of Mission Control including Gene Kranz, Gerry Griffin and Glynn Lunney, and Stern and Bucek Architects to create a sense of Historic Mission Control as it was in the Apollo era down to the smallest detail. Work begins in May and is scheduled to conclude by October of 2018.

ALLEN COUNTY – The Kansas State Fire Marshal is working to determine the cause of house fire that sent one person to the hospital in Allen County.

Just after 6 a.m., Friday, fire crews were called to report of a fire in a home at 311 Chestnut in Iola, according to Fire Chief Tim Thyer.

Emergency responders transported the only occupant of the home to Allen County Hospital and then later to a hospital in Wichita.

The 3-bedroom, single family home is considered a total loss, according to Thyer.

SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a suspect wanted on a Kansas Department of corrections warrant and arrested after a Thursday night chase.

Just after 8p.m. police attempted to stop a Ford Ranger pickup for a traffic violation near the intersection of Market and English in Wichita, according to Friday’s online media briefing.

The pickup driven by a suspect identified as 38-year-old Nicholas Branch drove away as the officer approached.

The pickup was later seen traveling off the road near the river adjacent to the intersection of Palisade and Bailey.

Branch ran from the truck. Officers did arrest him and booked him into jail on requested charges for felony flee and elude, various traffic charges, drugs and the Kansas Department of Corrections Warrant.

He has previous convictions for drugs, burglary and aggravated escape from prison, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle has been found guilty of aggravated battery, aggravated burglary, criminal threat and marijuana possession after striking three people with his car as he left a house party in Kansas.

KAKE-TV reports that the jury couldn’t reach a verdict Friday on two charges of aggravated battery and a count of criminal damage to property. A mistrial was declared on those counts. Judge Kevin O’Conner put those back on the May 1 docket.

Randle is accused of kicking in the door at a home in Wichita in 2016, then hitting three people with his car as he fled what he called a hostile situation.

He’s also charged with running from police officers trying to serve him with a warrant following the attack.

SALINE COUNTY – Authorities are investigating how a Saline County resident found a live flare from the Smoky Hills Weapons Range on his property Thursday.

Just after 8am., the land owner reported finding the flare on property adjacent to West Sundgren Road which is connected to the south side of the weapons range, according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan.

Deputies responded to the area and contacted officials at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita and sent photos of the flare.

Sheriff Soldan said that a range staff member was then given permission to remove it.

Authorities say the flare came from a B-1 bomber.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas gained 4,600 private sector jobs last month, and its unemployment rate dropped to the lowest it’s been since November 2000.

A preliminary report released Friday by the Kansas Department of Labor says the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent in March from 4 percent in February. The state gained 3,600 nonfarm jobs over the year. It picked up 4,600 private-sector jobs and lost 1,000 government jobs.

The national unemployment rate also dropped last month. A Friday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says it dropped to 4.5 percent in March from 4.7 in February. Kansas is one of 19 states with unemployment rates below the national one.

The report comes a day after officials and university economists forecasted improved tax collections , shrinking the state’s budget shortfalls.