LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Police say a Lawrence man charged with fatally shooting his 61-year-old wife did so because of her “ongoing health concerns.” The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Larry Hopkins, 67, appeared Wednesday via video from the Douglas County Jail to be charged. He faces one count of first-degree murder in Tuesday’s killing of Margaret Hopkins. District Court Judge James George set bond at $150,000 and asked Hopkins if he had anything to say. Hopkins responded that even if he was released on his own recognizance, he had no place to go. A statement that prosecutors released Wednesday provided no details…
Author: KMAN Staff
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Police say a Lawrence man charged with fatally shooting his 61-year-old wife did so because of her “ongoing health concerns.” The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Larry Hopkins, 67, appeared Wednesday via video from the Douglas County Jail to be charged. He faces one count of first-degree murder in Tuesday’s killing of Margaret Hopkins. District Court Judge James George set bond at $150,000 and asked Hopkins if he had anything to say. Hopkins responded that even if he was released on his own recognizance, he had no place to go. A statement that prosecutors released Wednesday provided no details…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita man has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in a home-invasion robbery that ended with police shooting an accomplice to death. The Wichita Eagle reports that Ronald Vaughn, 21, was sentenced Tuesday for seven counts of kidnapping and one count each of aggravated robbery, attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. Police said Vaughn was one of four men who held seven people at gunpoint during an April 13, 2012, robbery. Besides killing 17-year-old suspect Timothy Collins, police also wounded Vaughn. The officer who shot Vaughn said he opened fire after one of…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) The owner of two Chinese restaurants in Kansas and Missouri has been charged with harboring immigrant workers who were in the country illegally. A criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court names Wei Liu, owner of Wei’s Super Buffet restaurants in Olathe, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo. Liu made a first appearance Wednesday in U.S. District Court on charges of knowingly employing, transporting and housing workers in the country unlawfully. His wife and four other people are also charged. Court records do not indicate any attorneys. A federal investigator says agents began surveillance in 2011, checking…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A driver has been charged in a Wichita hit-and-run crash that killed a man on horseback and injured a boy riding with him. George Childers, 26, is charged in Sedgwick County with two felony counts of failure to stop at an accident and one misdemeanor count of the same violation. The Sedgwick County prosecutor’s office said Wednesday that Childers has requested a public defender. Prosecutors allege Childers was driving a car that struck a horse carrying Lloyd Ferguson, 49, and Eddie Caddell, 6, the night of July 5. Ferguson died, and the boy is recovering in a Nebraska rehabilitation hospital.…
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) Four people are hospitalized in northeast Kansas for carbon monoxide poisoning that authorities blame on a car left running inside a closed garage. The fire department in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park says two adults and two children were taken from a home around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. Two people were reported in critical condition and two in serious condition. A passer-by noticed a sick teenager in the home’s front yard. Emergency responders found the other three people inside the house. Family members said the car was accidentally left running Tuesday night inside the garage…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) At the request of top law enforcement officials, Topeka leaders are considering changing a decision to allow loaded guns in vehicles. Luther Ganienany Jr., the city’s chief of prosecution, told city leaders Tuesday that motorists would still be allowed to have guns in their cars but the weapons would have to be unloaded and put away. Exceptions would be made for law officers and concealed-carry permit holders. He says the change would make Topeka streets safer for motorists and police officers. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Police Chief Ron Miller originally supported allowing loaded guns but he says…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The brother-in-law of a Topeka woman was sentenced to nearly 15 years in prison for his role in her death. Gabino Alcala, 20, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced Tuesday to 14 years and eight months for the October 2012 death of Ashley Alcala at her home. He was also ordered to pay nearly $40,500 in restitution to Ashley Alcala’s mother. Ashley Alcala’s husband, Manuel Alcala, previously was sentenced to life in prison for shooting his wife. Gabino and Manuel Alcala’s mother, Manuela Alcala, is serving two years and six months in prison for obstruction and other…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The brother-in-law of a Topeka woman was sentenced to nearly 15 years in prison for his role in her death. Gabino Alcala, 20, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced Tuesday to 14 years and eight months for the October 2012 death of Ashley Alcala at her home. He was also ordered to pay nearly $40,500 in restitution to Ashley Alcala’s mother. Ashley Alcala’s husband, Manuel Alcala, previously was sentenced to life in prison for shooting his wife. Gabino and Manuel Alcala’s mother, Manuela Alcala, is serving two years and six months in prison for obstruction and other…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita might someday be named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Wichita city council members agreed on Tuesday to create an advisory committee to study renaming the city’s airport. The council received petitions last month suggesting that the airport be named after Eisenhower, who grew up in Abilene. KFDI reports the city’s director of airports, Victor White, reported renaming the airport could cost up to $728,000 in required, deferred and optional branding. The first immediate cost would be about $140,000 to change highway signs around the area. Other required sign changes could raise that…