WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Kansas has sued the family of a deceased Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent who worked on the 1959 murders that became the subject of Truman Capote’s novel “In Cold Blood.” The lawsuit seeks a decision on the legal ownership of Harold Nye’s case files on the murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb. The items appeared on an online auction site earlier this year. Attorney General Derek Schmidt wants a judge to order their return and prohibit their sale, publication or distribution. A Shawnee County judge temporarily blocked their sale last week. In a statement Monday, Schmidt…
Author: KMAN Staff
Police in Riley County say foul play is not suspected in the death of a Fort Riley soldier at his home off the northeast Kansas post. Police told reporters Monday that a relative found Sgt. Duriel Powell, 33, not breathing Friday at his home in Ogden. Emergency medical personnel determined Powell was deceased. Riley County Police Lt. Josh Kyle says there were no signs of foul play, and an autopsy will be conducted. Officials with the 1st Infantry Division say Powell was a field artillery radar operator. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas education officials say the achievement gap between rich and poor and minority and non-minority students grew less this year than initially thought. The state Education Department issued a news release Monday blaming a mistake in calculating results of assessment tests. The problem arose from how the state dealt with three districts that don’t give their older students the standard state exam. McPherson, Clifton-Clyde and Kansas City, Kan., are using different tests after receiving waivers from the No Child Left Behind education law. Scores on the alternative exams were converted for use in calculating statewide results. But…
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) The Cowley County prosecutor says a response is planned to an appeal from a death row inmate convicted in the 2007 murder of a Cowley County student. Justin Thurber of Arkansas City filed the appeal with the Kansas Supreme Court in July, contending that several errors were made during his trial. Thurber was convicted in February 2009 in the death of Jodi Sanderholm, 19, whose battered body was found in January 2007 in the Kaw Wildlife Area. The appeal contends several errors were significant enough to reverse the verdict. The Arkansas City Traveler reports Cowley County…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A first-edition, autographed copy of “In Cold Blood” that was once found at an estate sale will be housed at Washburn University. Tom Averill, the writer in residence at Washburn, donated the book to the university’s Thomas Fox Averill Kansas Studies Collection after it was given to him by a student. The volume is autographed by Truman Capote, who wrote the book about the infamous 1959 killings of the Clutter family in Holcomb The book is also signed by six Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents and administrators who helped catch killers Richard Hickock and Perry Smith. The…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Former employees of Topeka State Hospital want a permanent reminder of the 1,157 patients who were buried on the grounds of the now-closed hospital. Two of the employees, Barbara Hauschild and Marlene Shelton, are trying to raise money for a granite marker for the spot where the patients were buried from 1879 to 1954, mostly in unmarked graves. The new marker will read “Topeka State Hospital Cemetery, 1879-1954.” They want to place the marker in front of two exisiting granite monuments, which contain the patients’ names. The Topeka Capital Journal reports the new marker, which would stand…
COFFEYVILLE, Kan. (AP) Coffeyville police are investigating two shootings over the weekend that left two people dead and two injured. James Logan, 32, of Coffeyville and Latrell Boyd, 31, of Pine Bluff, Ark., died in shootings late Friday at an apartment complex. A 20-year-old Coffeyville man was treated and released for injuries from that shooting. Early Saturday, a second shooting left Anthony Wilson, 39, with non-life-threatening wounds. No arrests have been made. Police are looking for at least two people who are believed to be involved in the shootings. The KBI and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office are helping with…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Seven men accused of cheating investors out of $132 million with false promises about companies that leased oil rigs are due in federal court in Wichita. Six of the defendants are from Kansas; the other is from Oklahoma. A federal grand jury indicted them in September on charges including of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. All of the men received summonses for first appearances Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Humphreys in Wichita. First appearances typically involve appointment of legal counsel and bond setting.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is scheduled to join a panel discussion on job training in northeastern Kansas. The event takes place Monday afternoon at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park. Others members of the panel include Kansas Secretary of Transportation Mike King and Matt Rose, chairman and CEO of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. The U.S. Transportation Department says the discussion will focus on partnership opportunities aimed at designing job training to match skills with employer needs.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A University of Kansas professor has co-authored a book about raising children while seeking tenure. “Academic Motherhood: How Faculty Manage Work and Family” tells the story of more than 100 women in a range of academic disciplines and institutions. Lisa Wolf-Wendel is a professor of educational leadership and policy studies professor at the University of Kansas. Her co-author, Kelly Ward, chairs the department of educational leadership and counseling psychology at Washington State University. Wolf-Wendel says one issue that makes academia unique is that faculty members only have a certain amount of time in their career to attain…