WICHITA, Kan. — A Park City man who was charged with a misdemeanor for sharing a social media post during racial justice protests in Wichita has been placed on diversion. Rashawn Mayes faced a misdemeanor charge after he was accused of sharing media post urging people to cause violence in Wichita suburbs during the protests. He was placed on diversion Thursday and told to write an apology letter to Wichita police. Mayes and Michael Boston Jr. were arrested after the Snapchat post. Boston will not be charged in the case.
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. — A new Kansas legislator accused of abusive behavior before taking office received a written warning Thursday from a committee that investigated his conduct. A letter from the committee delivered Thursday to Democratic state Rep. Aaron Coleman of Kansas City, Kansas, also directed him to accept a fellow lawmaker as a mentor. The letter told the 20-year-old Coleman that his past conduct was “unfitting” for a lawmaker and that he and the House’s top Democrat must choose a mentor. Some Democrats had hoped the House would expel Coleman but Republicans were wary of disciplining a lawmaker over conduct…
OLATHE, Kan. — A Johnson County teenager will serve more than 35.5 years in prison for shooting at Olathe officers in 2019. Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe says Christian Batson pleaded no contest Thursday to two counts of attempted first-degree murder and four other charges. Prosecutors say officers were investigating a report that two people were possibly breaking into cars in November 2019. When officers arrived, Batson shot at them but did no officers were injured. He struck a second officer before being subdued. An officer shot the second suspect, Deven Mann, when a gun fell out of his…
WICHITA, Kan. — Police have arrested a man on suspicion of fatally shooting another man during a New Year’s party in Wichita. Television station KAKE reports that 22-year-old Deajuan Smith, of Wichita, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of first-degree murder in the Jan. 1 death of 26-year-old Nicholas Sims. Police say Sims was at a party attended by about 50 people when he was shot around 4 a.m. Jan. 1. Sims died at the scene. Police said Sims and Smith had argued at the party before taking the argument outside. Police say that’s when Smith shot Sims.
DEXTER, Kan. — A 67-year-old Kansas woman who wandered out of her home during the night was found dead in subzero temperatures. Cowley County Sheriff David Falletti says deputies responding to a call about a missing woman found Linda Patton in front of her Dexter home sometime between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. Tuesday. Falletti said she was wearing only a nightgown and likely died from the cold. He said he did not know how long she had been outside.
NEWTON, Kan. — The Newton Police Department is mourning a sergeant who died in an off-duty ATV crash. Police say Sgt. Levi Minkevitch, of Peabody, died Wednesday in the crash in Harvey County. Police say he tried to jump a ditch into a field but lost control of his ATV, which rolled into the creek. He was pronounced dead at a Newton hospital. The police department said in a statement that Minkevitch, who had been with the department since 2013, was a tremendous officer and a friend to everyone he met.
OMAHA, Neb. — A new monthly survey of bankers suggests the economy is slowly improving in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states, but employment remains below the level it was at before the coronavirus pandemic began last year. The overall index for the region increased to 53.8 in February from January’s 52. Any score above 50 suggests a growing economy. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss said the number of jobs in the region is down roughly 146,000, or 3.3%, from the level it was at before the pandemic began. Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska,…
TOPEKA, Kan. — College student who lost class time or were forced into online classes because of the pandemic could have some of their tuition refunded under a measure that lawmakers are debating. The Kansas City Star reports that a House panel amended the state’s higher education budget Wednesday to require that colleges, community colleges and technical schools reimburse students for 50% of the tuition paid every day they spent online instead of in the classroom. The amendment would reimburse at 100% for days that students missed class entirely. The state’s Republican-leaning Legislature also has been pushing back against online…