WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas prison inmate has been convicted of sending threatening letters to two Sedgwick County judges and other law enforcement officials. A federal court filing on Wednesday shows that Virgil Dillon was found guilty after a bench trial on all but one count in a seven-count indictment. Dillon was accused of threatening to kill Sedgwick County District Judges Benjamin Burgess and David Kaufman along with their families. He also sent threatening letters to two sheriff’s officers and a postal inspector. U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten acquitted Dillon on one count of sending a threatening letter to…
Author: KMAN Staff
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) Health officials say Garden City now has six cases of measles. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Wednesday that six cases of the highly contagious virus have been reported in Garden City, up from four cases this weekend. Health officials are urging people to stay home if they’re showing symptoms. They say people also need to stay at home if they aren’t immunized and have been exposed to someone who is sick. The quarantine period should last three weeks. Symptoms of measles include fever, runny nose and cough. Three to five days after the…
BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP) Federal inspectors will visit the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant next week to determine why an offsite power loss caused an automatic shutdown at the plant. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that it will send a six-member team to the plant near Burlington. The NRC declared its lowest of four emergency classifications on Jan. 13 when a main generator electrical breaker tripped, causing a power outage. The NRC says emergency generators automatically provided power to safety-related equipment and there were no radiological releases during the shutdown. The NRC team will work with two inspectors who…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The state transportation department says questions about funding have derailed plans to expand passenger rail service in Kansas. Dennis Slimmer, chief of planning for the Kansas Department of Transportation, on Wednesday told a Senate committee the department would not do any further work on the proposal unless the Legislature could find some funding for it. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that KDOT was studying extending the route Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer, which runs between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. Proposals included adding a stop in Newton or extending the route to Kansas City, Mo. The department estimated the cost…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) Kansas farmers have claimed nearly $1 billion in insurance to offset crop losses caused by the lingering drought. The federal government says that breaks a Kansas record of $446.8 million for drought claims set in 2002, and more claims are expected. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its weekly update that it had paid $987.3 million to Kansas farmers so far for withered wheat and fall crops. Rebecca Davis, director of the USDA’s Topeka office, says she expects the payout amount to reach $1 billion. The Hutchinson News reports the drought is going into its second…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) Two Kansas men face federal charges accusing them of selling adulterated poultry products. A grand jury has indicted Craig Cunningham, of Leawood, and his son, Jason Cunningham, of Olathe, for allegedly conspiring to sell poultry products in 2008 that were unhealthy and unfit for human food, or prepared under unsanitary conditions. The indictment says the men were executives at the Hitchin’ Post Steak Co. in 2008 when the alleged sales took place. The indictment also says the products allegedly were processed outside approved USDA inspection hours. The Kansas City Star reports the two are also charged…
Members of a National Research Council committee will be in Manhattan Friday to take public comments on a revised risk assessment report on the National Bio and Agri Defense Facility. The report addresses concerns about locating the lab in Kansas. An open session for interested members of the public and media will be from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Friday in the Mara Conference Center at Mosier Hall. The National Academy of Sciences is organizing the event. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is building the $650 million lab near Kansas State to conduct research on deadly plant and animal…
Riley County Police are looking into the death of a woman in Leonardville Wednesday afternoon. RCPD Lieutenant Josh Kyle says emergency responders were sent to the 200 block of North Kansas Street in Leonardville after Donna Wilson, 51, was reported not breathing. It was quickly determined Wilson had died. Kyle says preliminary indications are the death was not suspicious and an autopsy has been requested to determine the cause of death.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is unveiling a new database called ROAM, or Repeat Offenders Against Military database. The database will be utilized by state and federal law enforcement officials to help catch sophisticated criminals who are currently targeting military families by offering various scams. Often these criminals will shut down their operations when they feel threatened, and move to another military community across state lines. Attorney General Schmidt says the new database will improve coordination, and cooperation between federal and state officials by providing court data of previous judgements against the scam artists. Schmidt is currently working with Kentucky…