WICHITA, Kan. (AP) People who park illegally in handicapped parking zones in Wichita might have a harder time getting away with it. The Wichita police department is asking for volunteers to help it enforce handicapped parking regulations. The department is accepting applications for volunteers this week through March 13. Lt. Doug Nolte says the volunteers will be trained by police to take pictures of violations, fill out forms and report the violations to police. Volunteers must be at least 21 years old have a valid Kansas driver’s license.
Author: KMAN Staff
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Attorneys for a Lawrence retirement center are asking a Douglas County judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the family of a former resident who alleged she was sexually assaulted at the center. The family of Jean S. Allen sued Brandon Woods at Alvamar in January. They alleged that a nursing aide sexually assaulted Allen in October 2010 and staff covered up the crime. The family moved Allen to a different center, where she died in November 2010. The Lawrence Journal-World reported Monday that an attorney for Brandon Woods says in a court filing that Allen was…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Chickens that were to be publicly slaughtered as part of an art project in Lawrence have been spared. City officials told artist Amber Hansen that the slaughter would violate animal cruelty ordinances. Hansen originally planned to display coops of chickens at various locations around Lawrence. The chickens were to be publicly slaughtered and served as a meal. She says the intention is to draw attention to the process of slaughtering animals. Assistant City Attorney Chad Sublet told Hansen a public slaughtering of chickens would violate city codes. And even keeping the chickens on private land would require…
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) An Olathe man will stand trial for first-degree murder in the death of his wife’s live-in caretaker. Fifty-nine-year-old Stephen M. Collier was ordered Monday to stand trial in the December death of 54-year-old Susanne Goslin. Collier pleaded not guilty. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 6. Goslin, a registered nurse, died from a gunshot wound to the head. She had been hired to care for Collier’s wife at their home in Olathe. The Kansas City Star reports Collier’s wife found Goslin’s body Dec. 28. She testified at the preliminary hearing that she saw her husband…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A 37-year-old Wichita man will be sentenced April 12 for driving drunk and causing an accident that killed a Wichita State University student and injured two others. Thirty-seven-year-old Tommie Lee Cameron Jr. pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence. Cameron had been charged with second-degree murder in the July 2010 death of 21-year-old Kari Rinehart. She died when Cameron’s car crashed nearly head-on into Rinehart’s car. Cameron also pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated battery for injuring Rinehart’s identical twin, Kati Rinehart, and friend, Reva Sams in the crash.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A federal judge in Kansas is expected to hear evidence on claims that a federal firearms sting in Wichita was racially motivated. At least 43 of 51 people facing federal charges from the months-long operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are black. Lawyers for some of the defendants contend the operation targeted black males because the ATF’s bogus pawn shop was located in a neighborhood with one of the city’s highest concentrations of African-Americans. U.S. District Judge Monti Belot scheduled an evidentiary hearing in the case Tuesday afternoon. The government argues the claim…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House committee is considering legislation that would eliminate state funding for remedial courses at state universities and community colleges. Testimony on the bill is scheduled Wednesday before the House Appropriations Committee. The measure would prohibit Board of Regents colleges and universities from using state funds to teach language arts or math courses designed to give students basic skills before they take formal college courses. Universities and community colleges could still offer such courses, but funding would have to come from private or endowment sources. The bill would also reduce to 5 percent from the current…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas prosecutor hasn’t decided whether to file criminal charges against a man who parked a pickup truck carrying homemade fireworks near the Statehouse. Lee McGowan, chief of staff to Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor, said Monday that the Capitol Police are still wrapping up their investigation of the Feb. 15 incident. The Capitol Police initially described the devices found in the pickup as improvised explosive devices or homemade bombs, but later said they were illegal fireworks. The truck’s owner parked the vehicle in a lot at the Kansas Judicial Center, across the street from the…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas doctor serving a two-year prison sentence says he felt coerced and pressured when he pleaded guilty to unlawfully prescribing painkillers to a woman he never met. Lawrence Simons testified in federal court Monday on his claim that his previous attorney provided ineffective counsel. U.S. District Judge Monti Belot heard more than three hours of testimony but did not immediately rule. Simons, of Goddard, is scheduled to complete his prison term March 7. He wants the judge to remove a prohibition barring him from practicing medicine during his supervised release. He contends he is innocent and…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Police in Wichita say a 2-year-old boy suffered scrapes, cuts and a swollen lip after unbuckling a seat belt and tumbling unnoticed from his mother’s moving car. Residents spotted the toddler running down the street in a quiet neighborhood Sunday afternoon, crying and bleeding from his nose and lip. The Wichita Eagle reports the boy fell out the back seat of his mother’s car after unbuckling a seat belt and opening the door. The 22-year-old mother didn’t notice the toddler missing she arrived home, more than a mile away. She retraced the route and found a woman…