Author: KMAN Staff
FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) A member of the World War II Army unit memorialized in the book and HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” has paid a visit to Fort Riley. Eighty-nine-year-old retired Staff Sgt. Earl McClung stopped at the northeastern Kansas post Wednesday to meet wounded soldiers at the Warrior Transition Battalion complex. McClung, who now lives in Colorado, served with E Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Members of Easy Company parachuted into France on D-Day, fought through the Battle of the Bulge and reached Adolf Hitler’s Eagle Nest retreat. WIBW-TV reports McClung talked to the wounded…
PRINCETON, Kan. (AP) There’s an art to stealing an ATM, and whoever made off with one of the cash machines outside an eastern Kansas bank apparently was no artist. The Ottawa Herald reports that Franklin County sheriff’s officers responded early Sunday to an alarm at Patriots Bank in the small town of Princeton. Deputies arrived to see an ATM missing from its place outside the bank and being pushed slowly along a street by a pickup truck. The driver abandoned the cash machine and sped off, then crashed the truck and ran away. Officers recovered the ATM and the cash.…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) Federal agents are looking for an Overland Park, Kan., man who failed to appear for a hearing where he had been expected to plead guilty. The FBI on Wednesday asked the public for information on the whereabouts of 46-year-old Ronald Catrell, who didn’t show up Monday to federal court in Kansas City, Kan. Catrell was last seen Sunday afternoon at his home. He was charged in December with bank fraud, money laundering, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors say Catrell scammed three banks out of millions of dollars in loans and duped several investors in…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Two Kansas Democrats want the state’s Republican attorney general to stay out of a federal court case over political redistricting. The matter is in federal court because Kansas lawmakers ended their session Sunday without drawing new maps for the state House and Senate, Board of Education and the four U.S. House districts. Attorney General Derek Schmidt says he wants to weigh in on attempts by lawyers to collect legal fees from the state. But Kansas House Minority Leader Paul Davis said Wednesday the case should proceed under the same rules governing past lawsuits. The Lawrence Democrat notes…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Flags will fly at half-staff across Kansas Saturday to honor a soldier from Wichita who died in Afghanistan. Gov. Sam Brownback ordered the honor for Sgt. Zachary Hargrove, who died May 3 while serving with the 1st Infantry Division in Afghanistan. Hargrove was found unresponsive at a medical facility at Bagram Airfield. His death is being investigated. Hargrove was a wheeled vehicle mechanic assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 84th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion, 1st Infantry Division. He served three tours in Iraq before his deployment to Afghanistan. Hargrove joined the Army in September 1998 and…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Wichita police say a bicyclist who died last weekend was hit by one vehicle and run over by a second and neither driver stopped. Police Lt. Joe Schroeder says surveillance videos and forensic evidence determined that two drivers hit 49-year-old John B. Fuqua Saturday. He says a white four-door sedan hit Fuqua from behind. Then a light-colored low-profile SUV ran over Fuqua about 20 seconds later as he lay in the curb lane of a city street. The Wichita Eagle reports that Schroeder says the SUV slowed almost to a stop but then drove away. The driver…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Plenty of Kansas legislators have fingerprints on the aggressive income tax cuts signed into law by Gov. Sam Brownback. But the conservative Republican governor now owns the legislation, even though he and his allies tried to find less aggressive alternatives in the legislative session’s final days. He not only signed the bill, but he pushed for the debate that made it possible and ultimately embraced what passed. He’s likely to get most of the blame if critics are right and the state must close budget shortfalls during the next six years. Conversely, he’ll deserve most of the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Long lines and delays caused by an upgraded computer system are still being reported at Kansas offices that process vehicle registrations and driver’s licenses. Jeannine Koranda, spokeswoman for the Department of Revenue, says Division of Vehicles had issues Monday and Tuesday with its system, causing delays at locations statewide. The agency is working with its computer vendor to get the system working. The state spent $40 million to implement the new system, which eventually will combine vehicle registrations and driver’s license records into one system. The agency was closed for one week to move records to the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka pastor says he plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins for the 2nd Congressional District seat. Democrat Tobias Schlingensiepen announced Tuesday that he would run against Jenkins, a Republican from Topeka. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Schlingensiepen has been pastor of Topeka’s First Congregational Church for six years and a police chaplain for 12 years. Jenkins will be seeking a third term in the House. The scope of the 2nd district might change after federal judges rule on new redistricting boundaries.