KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) A northeast Kansas man is going to prison for nearly 20 years for traveling into Missouri to have sex with a child. The U.S. Attorney’s office says Robert Poe III, 39, of Kansas City, Kan., was sentenced Tuesday in federal court. Poe pleaded guilty earlier to three counts of crossing state lines to engage in sex with a child. The charges stemmed from a complaint to Kansas City, Kan., police in November 2000 by the mother of a 7-year-old boy. The mother said Poe was a friend of her boyfriend and sometimes babysat her son. The…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas state school board has approved new science standards for public schools that treat both evolution and climate change as key concepts to be taught from kindergarten through the 12th grade. The board voted 8-2 on Tuesday for standards developed by Kansas, 25 other states and the National Research Council. The new guidelines are designed to shift the emphasis in science classes to doing hands-on projects and experiments and blending material about engineering and technology into lessons. Past work on science standards in Kansas have been overshadowed by debates about how evolution should be taught. The…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) Police in Kansas City, Kan., are investigating a double homicide in a basement hallway at an apartment building. KCTV reports callers reported hearing shots fired shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Suntree Plaza Apartments. Officers found two men dead of apparent gunshot wounds in a hallway leading to a laundry room. A third man was found wounded in one of the apartments, where two women were taken into custody for questioning. Police say that man was expected to make a full recovery. It wasn’t clear if or how he was involved in the fatal shootings…
KINGMAN, Kan. (AP) The former Kansas lawman convicted in the death of his wife could face a punishment that would keep him in prison for decades. Jurors found Brett Seacat guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his 34-year-old wife, Vashti Seacat, in their home just days after she filed for divorce in 2011. Sentencing was set for Aug. 5, and prosecutors say they intend to seek a “hard 50” sentence, which means Seacat would have no chance for parole for at least 50 years. Investigators found Vashti Seacat’s body among the charred remains of the Kingman house…
ELLINWOOD, Kan. (AP) A 38-year-old man has died after his motorcycle collided with a deer on a central Kansas highway. KWCH-TV reports the crash happened in Barton County around 9 p.m. Monday. Authorities identified the man as Daniel Otipoby, of Ellinwood. The Barton County sheriff’s office says Otipoby was riding east on U.S. 56 when a deer crossed his path. The collision threw the victim off the motorcycle, which traveled several hundred feet before coming to rest. Otipoby was pronounced dead at a hospital.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) University of Kansas officials are asking a racy online site to stop selling merchandise with the official school trademark. The university’s official licensing company wrote to the owners of a website called www.kuboobs.com in May ordering them to stop selling merchandise by Wednesday. That site was taken down as of Tuesday by web hosting company Go Daddy. Messages left with Go Daddy seeking an explanation for the action were not immediately returned. The online store has companion sites on Facebook and Twitter encouraging people to submit photos of women wearing KU or Jayhawk T-shirts showing their chests.…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) After months of delay, Wichita police are testing a new electronic ticketing system. The police began using the eCitation program Tuesday in some of their vehicles, which allows them to forego the usual written tickets. Wichita police officials say the new system will improve officer safety, save money and reduce problems caused by illegible tickets. The Wichita Eagle reported the system was originally approved last May and had been scheduled to be in place by the end of 2012 but several glitches with the program delayed it. The department will test the system for two weeks. If…
KINGMAN, Kan. (AP) A former Kansas lawman accused of killing his wife and setting their house on fire faces a second day of waiting as a jury deliberates his fate. A Kingman County jury is deciding the case of Brett Seacat, 37, who is charged with first-degree murder in the April 2011 shooting of Vashti Seacat, 34, at the couple’s Kingman home. He also is charged with aggravated arson and two counts of child abuse after allegedly setting the home on fire while the couple’s two young sons were sleeping. In closing arguments Monday, prosecutors said Seacat used his law…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) A former Kansas sheriff serving a 27-year sentence for sex crimes involving a 13-year-old child wants his conviction set aside. Attorneys for James Bloom argued during a Reno County hearing Monday that his former attorneys provided ineffective counsel before his 2006 trial. Bloom claimed they did not tell him the maximum sentence he could receive if he was convicted of rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Bloom was an instructor at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center and former Trego County sheriff. His former attorneys testified Monday that they discussed possible sentences for each of…
Fort Riley, Kan- Soldiers and their families gathered Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the Big Red One’s 96th birthday -which is also the U.S. Army’s 238th- with a traditional cake-cutting ceremony. “The cake is a 27 in triple layer. It has a chocolate mousse filling with vanilla icing on top. The planning started like two weeks ago. It took like maybe three days altogether to get the final stages on it and finish it up. We worked some late hours the last few days, but it all came together as planned,” said Sgt Jeffrey Matthews, Army cook, and co-cake creator. Matthews…