SALINA — A Salina man has been reunited with his wife after a Kansas congressman helped her become a permanent U.S. resident. The Salina Journal reports that 71-year-old Carl Hardesty thanked Rep. Roger Marshall Thursday for helping return 49-year-old Maria Hardesty to the United States. Maria Hardesty was born in Mexico. Marshall represents Kansas’ “Big First” District, which includes Manhattan. Marshall’s office says Carl Hardesty spent more than $10,000 in legal fees over four years attempting to get legal status for his wife without success. Maria returned to Mexico in April to pursue legal status, but she wasn’t allowed to…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA — A task force created by Gov. Jeff Colyer is recommending that the Kansas Legislature expand Medicaid to include an estimated 150,000 uninsured Kansans. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Thursday’s vote by the task force would expand Medicaid with a focus on helping people with substance abuse problems. Sen. Barbara Bollier, a Mission Hills Republican, says an estimated one-third of people eligible for expanded Medicaid have addiction issues. The Legislature voted last year to broaden eligibility for Medicaid but then-Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed it. Colyer, who replaced Brownback, also opposed expanding Medicaid. Colyer lost the GOP primary for governor to…
LAWRENCE — A Lawrence police officer is being charged after shooting a man during what started as a traffic stop. Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson announced Thursday that he charged officer Brindley Blood with aggravated battery in the May 29 shooting of Akira Lewis. Lewis is also charged with four counts, including battery on a law enforcement officer. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Lewis was pulled over by officer Ian McCann during a seat-belt enforcement campaign. Branson said Lewis would not cooperate and Blood responded when McCann called for backup. Lewis allegedly began hitting McCann and during the confrontation, Blood…
WICHITA — A Kansas woman alleges in a lawsuit that she was struck and injured by a driver playing “Pokemon Go” not long after the game’s release. The Wichita Eagle reports that Angeligue Farris is seeking more than $75,000 in damages from David Cardona. The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office detention deputy contends in the lawsuit that Cardona was “hunting Pokemon” in August 2016 in an area of downtown Wichita that is considered a hotspot for finding them when he turned into her vehicle. She had been heading home from work and suffered injuries to her left arm, neck, back and…
WICHITA — Wichita police have arrested six people in an alleged child sex trafficking case. Police and federal officials executed a search warrant early Friday at an address in southwest Wichita. Officer Charley Davidson said a 15-year-old girl led them to the address. Davidson said two of the six people have been booked into jail and four were arrested at the home. All face possible child sex crime charges. The investigation is ongoing.
This morning’s show opened with Michelle Haub of Meadowlark Hills and John Baumann, who will be tonight’s keynote speaker for “Empowered Live!: An Evening to Celebrate Living Well with Parkinson’s Disease.” Later, RCPD Director Brad Schoen discussed the purchase of new armored vehicle for the department. Full show On Demand:
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Junction City/Geary County Drug Operations Group in a joint investigation arrested three local individuals for Conspiracy to Commit Capitol Murder and Violation of a No Contact Order, according to a news release from authorities. Those arrested were 34-year-old Amanda Edison of Grandview Plaza, 28-year-old Samuel Ibarra-Chu, also of Grandview Plaza, and 48-year-old Gregory Rodriguez of Junction City. They are all being held without bond at the Geary County Detention Center pending first appearance.
Tallgrass Brewing Company will indefinitely suspend operations at their production plant in the Manhattan Business Park after Friday, according to MHK Business News. The Manhattan-based company was undertaking an effort starting in 2017 to recapitalize and sell majority ownership to a private equity firm from the east coast. Negotiations over the deal dragged on and Tallgrass determined it could not sustain operations past this week. Current employees will be furloughed. Current ownership told MHK Business News that they are looking to court other private investments, but if that funding cannot be secured in the next three weeks then they would…
TOPEKA — A Topeka man has been sentenced to 6.5 years in federal prison for robbing five banks in four states. The U.S. Attorney’s office said 21-year-old Dakota Shareef Walker was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to bank robberies in Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming and two in Idaho. The robberies happened between November 2016 and January of 2017. The banks robbed were in Topeka, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; Evanston, Wyoming; and Malad City and Preston, Idaho. In each robbery, Walker handed the tellers notes warning them not to activate any alarms or make any sudden moves before escaping with money.
ABILENE — A traffic stop in northeast Kansas led to the discovery of 68 pounds of methamphetamine. Dickinson County Sheriff Gareth Hoffman said a county drug unit stopped a truck pulling a U-Haul near Abilene on Monday. KSAL reports a drug dog alerted to the vehicle and a search of the U-Haul found the meth, with a street value of $1 million. Hoffman says 35-year-old Juan Carlos Garcia, of Southgate, California, was arrested and faces numerous charges including the possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.