LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Douglas County authorities are investigating the death of a person whose body was found in a wooded area, but foul play isn’t suspected. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the body was discovered Thursday in a rural area south of the Wakarusa River east of Lawrence. Douglas County Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Lewis said the preliminary investigation indicates it was an unattended death and that no foul play is suspected. He said the victim’s identity hasn’t been released.
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Shawnee Count prosecutors have charged a 20-year-old man in two separate vehicular assault cases, including the recent death of a Topeka teenager. Dustin Leftwich is charged with premeditated first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Brenna Morgart, who was struck and killed May 25 as she jogged along a Shawnee County road. Leftwich also faces charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery and misdemeanor reporting false information in Morgart’s death. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that prosecutors on Thursday also charged Leftwich with aggravated assault. They allege he hit a 14-year-old girl a year ago with a vehicle. She…
LYONS, Kan. (AP) The widow of state Rep. Bob Bethell will finish his term in the Legislature but does not plan to seek a full term. Lorene Bethell was selected Thursday night by Republican precinct committee members to replace her husband until his term ends next January. Bob Bethell died in a car accident May 20 while returning to his home in Alden at the end of the legislative session. The Hutchinson News reports Lorene Bethell will sit at her husband’s desk Friday for the formal adjournment of the Kansas House session. Her husband had represented the 113th District, covering…
PARSONS, Kan. (AP) A southeast Kansas man has been given two concurrent life sentences for causing a double-fatality crash while he fled from police. The Joplin Globe reports 25-year-old Kaston Hudgins of Galena was sentenced Thursday for the 2009 deaths of 41-year-old Teresa Kemp and her 13-year-old daughter, Taylor, both of Pittsburg. Prosecutors say Hudgins was drinking when he fled from a Cherokee County sheriff’s deputy and hit Kemp’s vehicle south of Pittsburg. Teresa Kemp was a teacher in Riverton, where Taylor Kemp was a student. Hudgins was convicted in March of two counts of first-degree murder and one count…
EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) Police say a missing 12-year-old girl from El Dorado might be with a man she met on the Internet. Police say Brandy T. Gray may be with a 20-year-old man named Kenneth Stewart McGill. He was registered at an El Dorado motel early Thursday and was later seen driving near Cassoday. McGill is from Ontario, Canada and is driving a white 2006 Chevrolet Impala with Canadian license plates BMZH 238. His parents reported the car stolen earlier this week. No further information is currently available
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) The Douglas County Commission has approved the use of an herbicide to fight an invasive plant in Lone Star Lake near Lawrence. State biologist Richard Sanders told the commission Wednesday that the plant Eurasian watermilfoil can spread quickly and damage the health of the lake. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the invasive plant now covers about 10 percent of the lake’s east arm and has been found in other sections. Sanders said the lake should be sprayed before the plant becomes more established. It left alone, he says, the plant could create a huge surface canopy, making boating,…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas lawmakers are returning to the Statehouse for the final, ceremonial day of the 2012 session. The House and Senate adjourned May 20. The ceremonial sessions being held in each chamber Friday are traditionally used for routine measures that close out the year. This year’s regular session produced changes in Kansas tax policies and the pension program for state workers. But the Legislature failed to carry out one of the year’s major tasks drawing new boundaries for districts of the Kansas House and Senate, the State Board of Education and the four congressional districts. The job of…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A southeast Kansas farmer is accused of filing false income tax returns and receiving millions of dollars in refunds. The U.S. Attorney’s office says 47-year-old Jerold Fisher, of Arma, was charged Thursday with one count of filing false claims. A phone number for Fisher could not be found, and prosecutors said he did yet have an attorney. According to the charges, Fisher was a registered agent for Fisher Alfalfa Farms and prepared tax returns for himself and his mother from 2006 through 2009. Prosecutors say Fisher received a refund of more than $3.8 million after claiming he…
Sometime between 2:15 and 2:30 pm on Friday June, 1, a call come in to the Manhattan Fire Department about a chemical spill. According to Deputy Chief of Operations Scott French, on the second floor of Mosier Hall in one of the labs, a container of nitric acid was spilled splashing one person and exposing others. The wing was closed off as the spill was taken care of in the proper manner and the acid was disposed of. The people who were in the proximity of the acid were transported to hospital for precaustionary measures and later released.
The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office has located Emily Renae McGuire, the 16-year-old runaway, in Westmoreland. McGuire was taken into custody without incident and the case will be forwarded to the Pottawatomie County Attorney’s Office. Camille Marie Petit, the other 16-year-old runaway, is still missing at this time. If you have any information, contact the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office at (785) 457-3353. Camille Marie Petit has also been located.