LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) The hot weather has claimed hundreds of carp at a nature preserve outside Lawrence. The state Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism says the dead carp lining the banks of the pond at the Kanza Southwind Nature Preserve outside Lawrence died from the excessive heat. Chuck Bever, regional fisheries supervisor with department, told The Lawrence Journal-World that the hot weather and decaying plants take oxygen out of the water, leaving little for fish. The heat affect is most often seen in small lakes and ponds.
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Kansas has again appealed a federal judge’s order prohibiting the state from stripping federal family planning funds from Planned Parenthood clinics in Wichita and Hays as well as an unaffiliated clinic in Dodge City. Monday’s appeal notice seeks to put both the 2011 and 2012 statutes before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals more quickly. The lawsuit stems from a Kansas law requiring the state to first allocate federal family planning money to public health departments and hospitals, which leaves no funds for specialty clinics. Planned Parenthood and the Dodge city Family Planning Clinic earlier won…
On Tuesday morning in Riley District Court the capital murder trial of Luis Aguirre continues as it enters its second phase, and jurors will decide whether or not to give Aguirre the death penalty. Aguirre has been convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Tanya Maldonado, and their 13-month-old son Juan in October of 2009. Aguirre then buried their bodies in shallow graves in a field nearby. In opening statements prosecutors informed the jury that the aggravating facts in the case are the premeditated murders, and the jurors must weigh the deaths of Tanya and her son Juan against any factors that…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A federal judge wants to hear more evidence before he rules on a request by a former consultant for the University of Kansas who is seeking to have his sentence shortened in a ticket scalping conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Monti Belot on Monday ordered U.S. Marshals to bring Thomas Ray Blubaugh back to Kansas from Oklahoma, where he’s serving his sentence. The hearing date will be set after Blubaugh returns. Blubaugh pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to defraud the United States through wire fraud, tax obstruction and interstate transportation of stolen property. He’s seeking to reduce…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The state Supreme Court has appointed three people to hear a lawyer’s complaint against the state’s top legal ethics official. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Kansas Supreme Court has named Overland Park attorney Nancy Anstaett, retired Kansas Court of Appeals judge J. Patrick Brazil and Wichita attorney Mikel Stout to hear the complaint filed by Keen Umbehr in May against state disciplinary administrator Stanton Hazlett. Umbehr accuses Hazlett of falsely telling him that an ethics review panel made a finding of probable cause against Umbehr in a dispute with the Kansas Department of Corrections. Umbehr was…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Wichita police say they are seeing changes in the way the city’s gangs operate. Police say members of what were once rival gangs are sometimes joining forces. In the past, gang members were usually severely punished if they associated with members of other gangs. Police call them hybrid gangs. Wichita detective Chad Beard says the hybrid gangs will sometimes form to accomplish a specific task, whether it’s a crime or just going to movies together. Then they usually disband. The Wichita Eagle reports hybrid gangs have been around for a decade but they are becoming more common.…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) Two Kansas City, Mo., residents died when a vehicle fleeing from police crashed and caught fire in Kansas. The Kansas Highway Patrol says five other people were thrown from the vehicle in the accident early Sunday in Kansas City, Kan. The patrol identified the dead as Alexis Medina and Karla Robledo, both 18. The patrol says Medina was driving the sport utility vehicle. The five other teens, ranging in age from 15 to 19, were taken to hospitals. The chase began when Roeland Park police tried to stop the vehicle early Sunday because it was being…
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) Barton County authorities have stopped searching for a parole violator last seen in central Kansas. The Barton County Sheriff’s Department called off the search Sunday afternoon for Michael Aaron Jayne, who is wanted for a parole violation in Oregon. Undersheriff Larry Holliday told The Hutchinson News (http://bit.ly/Op79kI ) that federal authorities confirmed Jayne was out of the area. The 30-year-old Jayne reportedly led officers on a chase in Rooks County on Thursday night. A pickup stolen from Rooks County on Thursday was discovered near Cheyenne Bottoms on Friday. Another vehicle was reported stolen Friday evening from…
GODDARD, Kan. (AP) The body of a man who was missing at Lake Afton has been recovered. KFDI reports Sedgwick County authorities recovered the body about 6 a.m. Monday at the lake in south-central Kansas. The man’s identity has not been released. Further details were not immediately available. Sedgwick County authorities say witnesses saw the man go under the water and not resurface on Saturday evening. Dive teams from the Wichita and Sedgwick County fire departments searched the lake for several hours Saturday and most of Sunday.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas officials will be in England this week promoting the state’s aviation industry. Sen. Jerry Moran, Gov. Sam Brownback and Kansas Commerce Secretary Pat George will be discussing Kansas aviation at the Famborough International Airshow near London. Leaders of Wichita’s Spirit AeroSystems, Hawker Beechcraft, Cessna Aircraft, Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier also will be there. Brownback says the Kansas delegation is working to promote current companies and recruit more companies to Wichita. The Wichita Eagle reports Wichita builds and delivers more than 40 percent of the world’s general aviation airplanes.