TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A man who was scheduled to be sentenced in a fatal traffic accident in Topeka instead says he wants to withdraw his guilty pleas. Thirty-three-year-old Kody Shane Godfrey surprised those in a Shawnee County courtroom Wednesday when he said he wanted to withdraw guilty pleas to felony first-degree murder and aggravated battery. Godfrey is charged in last November’s wreck, which killed 22-year-old Jordan Dodgen of Shawnee and injured five others. Prosecutors say Godfrey sped off when a police officer tried to stop him, eventually crashing into four vehicles at a Topeka intersection. The chase lasted about 30…
Author: KMAN Staff
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is heading to Kansas to speak in Lawrence and attend a campaign fundraiser for a U.S. House member. Rumsfeld was scheduled to speak Thursday afternoon at a forum at the Dole Institute for Politics at the University of Kansas. Later, he was to attend a fundraiser in Johnson County for Republican Kevin Yoder, who represents the 3rd Congressional District. Before leaving Lawrence, he was to sign copies of his book “Known and Unknown: A Memoir.” Rumsfeld was secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford and from 2001…
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) A Kansas judge has rejected a bid for a third trial for a former high school janitor serving a life sentence for the 1974 killing of a 13-year-old Prairie Village girl. Lawyers for John Henry Horton argued that evidence was improperly kept from a Johnson County jury at Horton’s second trial in 2008. The Kansas City Star reports that District Judge James Franklin Davis ruled Wednesday the evidence would not have changed the verdict. Horton was convicted in 2004 and again in 2008 of killing Lizabeth Wilson, who was last seen near Shawnee Mission East High School.…
Early Thursday morning, five search warrants were executed regarding an ongoing investigation conducted by the Riley County Police Department, Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Department, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The search warrants were in reference to the distribution of methamphetamine. As a result, the following individuals were arrested for methamphetamine charges: Ricardo Enrique Carrillo-Leyva, a 34-year-old resident of the 14700 block of Royal Circle in Wamego, Kansas was arrested for the distribution of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was held at the Pottawatomie County Jail. Alberto Martinez-Banuelas, a 22-year-old resident of…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says he’s taking a family vacation to celebrate his 30th wedding anniversary, but he and his staff are not disclosing details. The governor let his plans slip Wednesday when he was asked at a news conference if he’ll campaign for fellow conservative Republicans before the Aug. 7 primary election. Brownback said the vacation starts Friday and will last the better part of a week. He declined to say where he’s going. Spokeswoman Sherriene Jones-Sontag also wouldn’t provide details, saying the governor and his family want privacy.
After making adjustments to the quarter cent sales tax ballot question, Riley County Counselor, Clancy Holeman, brought forward the finalized and somewhat lengthy question to Thursday’s Riley County Commissioner Meeting. Holeman explained the length of the question by informing commissioners most ballot questions are somewhat “wordy” due to the fact that breaking the question into smaller questions can lead people to approving and declining various parts of the question, instead of approving or declining it entirely. Commissioners approved the ballot question after further discussion. Budget and Finance Officer, Johnette Shepek, also presented a number of updates to commissioners at the meeting including updates on the…
A request for assistance from a local probation officer ended in the arrest of a Manhattan man and wamego woman on Wednesday afternoon. Riley county police assisted in a search requested by the probation officer, and arrested 37-year-old David Maldonado Jr. at his residence in the 3000 block of Claflin Road. Also arrested on the scene was 35-year-old Tara Farr of Wamego. Maldonado was under arrest for possession of methamphetamines, and drug paraphrenalia. Farr was arrested for possession of marijuna, methamphetamines, and prescription drugs without prescription. Also listed among Farr’s violations was felony failure to register as an offendor. Maldonado…
With requests from Kansas governmental officials Wednesday to halt releases of water from three of its reservoirs. the U-S Army Corps of Engineers has responded with actually increasing the water released overnight. Tuttle Creek Lake is one of the reservoirs affected, and Operations Project Manager Brian McNulty for Tuttle Creek Lake with the U-S Army Corps of Engineers indicates the lakes serve several congressionally authorized purposes. The U-S Army Corps of engineers Thursday indicated in a news release that releases from Milford, Tuttle Creek and Perry reservoirs in the Kansas River Basin have been providing supplemental navigation support to the Missouri River since…
Four Window Washers were rescued on Wednesday, several hours after their platform stalled high above the Las Vegas Strip.
New video shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his new bride, Ri Sol Ju greeted with loud cheers as they visit a newly opened amusement park.