EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — A Missouri man suspected of dozens of burglaries has pleaded no contest to one of the burglaries in Lyon County.
Joseph Paul Jones Jr., of Springfield, Missouri, had faced 40 counts in Lyon County related to a series of break-ins in 2014. In return for his plea and an agreement to pay restitution on 38 of 40 counts, the state dismissed the other burglary counts.
The Emporia Gazette reports Jones pleaded no contest to a burglary at a cafe in Emporia in May 2014. Prosecutors say Jones committed several burglaries in Emporia before going to Hutchinson, where he continued his break-in spree.
A Reno County jury found Jones guilty in January 2015 of 39 counts for burglarizing 19 businesses in the Hutchinson area.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man accused of making a hoax emergency call that led to the fatal police shooting of a Kansas man once threatened to kill his grandmother in 2015 if she reported him for phoning in a false bomb threat to a television station in Glendale, California, according to news reports and court documents.
Tyler Barriss, 25, is accused of calling 911 last week with a fake story about a shooting and kidnapping at a Wichita home. The call was a case of “swatting,” in which a person makes up a false report to get a SWAT team to descend on an address. Police shot 28-year-old Andrew Finch when the unarmed Wichita man came to his door.
Barriss earlier pleaded no contest in a separate case on May 10, 2016, to one felony count each of false report of bomb to agency or business and malicious informing of false bomb in California. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
The Wichita Eagle reports that his 62-year-old grandmother wrote in a domestic violence case seeking a restraining order California court that Barris had made “constant threats to beat my face bloody.”
He also allegedly made death threats against the woman, along with threats to destroy her home and dogs. He was ordered to move out of the house they shared and stay away from her, her home, her dogs, workplace and vehicle, according to the document. The order was later dismissed when he and his grandmother missed a court hearing.
The LA Times reported that Barriss threatened his grandmother to prevent her from reporting he had called in false bomb threats.
Barriss told a California judge at extradition hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday that he would not fight efforts to send him to Wichita to face charges in the swatting case.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Amtrak says it will stick with its existing New Mexico route of the Southwest Chief passenger train.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told the Santa Fe New Mexican (https://goo.gl/jwurSF ) last week that the Southwest Chief will continue to make stops in New Mexico towns of Raton, Las Vegas, Lamy and Albuquerque.
The announcement ends more than two years of fear and uncertainty in Northern New Mexico’s smaller communities about whether Amtrak would alter the route.
The Southwest Chief travels between Chicago and Los Angeles, but part of the current route was in jeopardy because of questions about maintenance and upgrades of track.
Colorado and Kansas moved aggressively last year to secure a federal grant and to allocate money for repairs on their sections of the Southwest Chief tracks.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A new report finds that most universities aren’t offering students enough help in understanding the financial burden posed by student loans.
Two Kansas State University professors helped write the white paper, called “Financial Literacy in Higher Education: The Most Successful Models and Methods for Gaining Traction.”
The report outlines different ways to educate students, ranging from classroom-based programs to individual counseling. The paper also identified a need for financial education at universities, noting that many universities do not have a program.
Associate professor Sonya Britt says financial issues are one of the top reasons that students drop out of college. She also stressed that most incoming college students haven’t benefited from financial literacy courses in high school and lack basic money management skills.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — The Governor’s Water Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas will highlight policy and research developments on water issues in the state.
The Kansas Water Office announced Wednesday the conference will be held Nov. 12-13 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan.
Among the conference topics are working with available resources, developing additional supply sources and management practices for water use in Kansas.
DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling 100,566 vehicles in North America for various safety defects.
The company announced the six separate recalls Tuesday. No injuries related to the defects have been reported.
The largest recall, of 92,022 vehicles, affects the 2013 and 2014 Taurus, Lincoln MKS, and Police Interceptor sedans, the Flex and Lincoln MKT crossovers, the 2012-2014 Edge and 2014 Lincoln MKX. Ford says the right-hand halfshaft, which is part of the axle, may disengage over time, making the vehicles inoperable.
Ford is recalling 5,264 2011-2014 F59 commercial stripped chassis because corrosion could lead to a fire risk. It’s also recalling 2,124 Escape SUVs from the 2014 model year because their panoramic glass roofs might leak or fall out.
Ford will notify owners and dealers will repair the vehicles for free.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas has a new director of news and media relations, and she previously held a similar job at archrival Kansas State University.
KU announced Monday that Erinn Barcomb-Peterson had started the director’s job on the Lawrence campus after nine years at Kansas State.
Barcomb-Peterson holds a journalism degree from the University of Kansas. She worked as a reporter for The Eudora News and design editor for The Ottawa Herald before going to work for Kansas State’s news and editorial services in 2005. She became director there in 2011.
The KU job became open when Jill Jess Phythyon took a similar position in March at Ohio State University’s College of Nursing. KU School of Medicine Communications Director David Martin replaced her temporarily.
Blue Bird is recalling more than 2,500 All American school buses and some transit buses to fix a problem that could make steering more difficult.
The company also is recalling a smaller number of school buses that may be prone to a propane fuel leak.
It says it has received no injury or accident reports tied to any of these recalls.
Blue Bird Corp. says the steering problem can develop on some buses made between 2011 and last May if a steering shaft clamp comes into contact with a rubber close out boot on the floor. It also is recalling more than 400 transit buses to fix the same problem.
The company also is recalling 388 Vision school buses made in 2012 or 2013 to address the possible fuel leak.
ST. JOHN, Kan. (AP) — Residents of a small central Kansas town are tired of seeing their town’s name misspelled.
For the record, it’s St. John, not Saint John, Kansas.
The 1,200 residents of the Stafford County town blame the U.S. Postal Service for the confusion. The town is listed in the postal service’s computer system with the incorrect spelling. So when someone orders something on the Internet, the computer uses the spelled-out saint, rather than the abbreviation. Same with searching for the town’s weather forecast.
The town was named for John St. John, the eighth governor of Kansas, not for any religious saint.
The Wichita Eagle reports alumni of St. John High School started a petition last week to ask the postal service to fix the problem.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oklahoma and Kansas may have the reputation as tornado hot spots, but a new analysis shows that Florida and the rest of the Southeast are far more vulnerable to killer twisters.
Florida leads the country in deaths calculated per mile a tornado races along the ground, followed by Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio and Alabama.
Southeast Regional Climate Center director Charles Konrad II, who headed the analysis, said the heart of Dixie is where more people die from tornadoes than anywhere else in the world.
Kornad said Florida tornadoes aren’t plentiful or strong, but the state leads the nation in so many factors that add to the danger, especially vulnerable populations of people in mobile homes, the elderly, and the poor.
The analysis was presented at a weather conference this week.
