NORTON, Kan. — A 22-year-old Norton man was killed late Tuesday evening as he walked on a Kansas highway.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Tyler J. Kuhn was on U.S. 36 when he was struck by an unknown vehicle in the eastbound lane.
Kuhn was killed and taken to a funeral home in Norton.
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas sheriff’s deputy alleges in a lawsuit that she was forced out of her job after reporting that a fellow deputy had sexually assaulted her.
The suit, filed Monday in federal court, says the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office fostered a culture of sexual harassment throughout the plaintiff’s employment. The Kansas City Star reports it also says that after a two-month suspension, her abuser returned to work with no further disciplinary measures.
The sheriff’s office declined to comment on the suit because the office has not been officially served with the documents. The Star generally doesn’t name victims of sexual assault without their permission. Lauren Allen, the woman’s attorney, said it took her client “a lot of strength and courage for her to come forward but she looks forward to her day in court.”
According to the suit, the plaintiff and her alleged abuser became friends while working together. She alleges that he went to her house in January 2018 to discuss the nature of their relationship and she insisted that they were nothing more than friends. The suit says he then cornered her, forced her to kiss him and performed oral sex on her. The suit says the woman felt that her only option while being cornered was “to reciprocate.”
The next day, the suit says, the male deputy cornered the woman at work and attempted to kiss her again. After reporting what happened in March, a meeting that was held that led to a criminal investigation. The male deputy was placed on a different shift after returning from work after a two-month suspension. But the suit said the woman still saw him often, causing her anxiety and panic attacks.
She was told in May that prosecutors had declined to press charges and that he could not be fired due to “employment laws.”
The suit said that the sheriff agreed to transfer the woman, but the transfer was rescinded two weeks later and replaced with an offer of a civilian position with a pay cut. According to the suit, the woman rejected the offer and in July was “constructively discharged,” a term that refers to an employee resigning as a result of a hostile work environment.
Mollie Hill, general counsel for The Leavenworth County Sherriff’s office, said the deputy accused in the assault is still employed as a detention officer.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Commission has agreed to a contract with WSP Engineers to look at areas around Buhler on whether it’s financially feasible to get two areas above the floodplain.
The areas up for study will focus mainly on Buhler Road south of Buhler and possibly include 85th and 82nd avenues from Buhler to K-61.
Brad Shores with WSP in Wichita talked about concentrating on the Buhler Road location.
“We’re anticipating we’re going to find the most cost effective is going to be Buhler, not 82nd or 85th,” Shores said. “We’re just going to zero in on that and give you all of the frequency events, all the construction cost for that one location.” They may also look at 82nd and 85th to the west of Buhler.
The second area they were going to consider was 56th around Cow Creek involving a three-mile stretch of road to K-14 Highway. However, they decided that would not be feasible and could cost millions and millions of dollars.
The goal of the study is to provide enough information for the county to make an informed decision on whether to proceed with a design project to help keep the roads open.
They’re also looking at grants for any projects, but Shores says there is no guarantee.
The study will begin now that the County Commission approved moving forward.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Commission agreed Tuesday to spend no more than $150,000 to get the manual elevator at the Reno County Courthouse fixed.
Commissioners accepted a proposal from Boesen Plumb Elevator Company to convert and partially modernize the elevator for a cost of $127,225. Additionally, other related expenses for the electrical work and miscellaneous items to complete the repair would come to $22,775.
The elevator is original to the building, along with a majority of the associated wiring and mechanical controls and uses a large generator that converts AC power to run the DC motor. The generator failed.
The work should begin in the near future.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The former owner of Pizza Hut in Hutchinson has died at the age of 82. Dale Horn died on June 29 at Hospice House in Hutchinson.
In 1969, Horn moved to Hutchinson to become a Pizza Hut franchise owner. He operated Pizza Huts in Hutchinson, Salina and Emporia for 21 years. That included building the new store on 30th during his time as owner.
The business was sold in 1990.
His funeral service will be July 20 at Grace Episcopal Church at 10:30 a.m.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kail Denison was elected president of the Hutchinson USD 308 Board of Education for the coming school year. She was selected during the annual organizational meeting of the board Monday evening. Valarie Gibson-Smith was elected vice president.
The board also welcomed Superintendent Mike Folks Monday. This was his first board meeting as superintendent, a position he formally took over July 1.
Julie Stucky was selected as treasurer; Cindy Meier, assistant treasurer; Molly Carson, clerk; and Ray Hemman, deputy clerk.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A federal court jury today returned guilty verdicts against two defendants who were arrested after their meth lab caught fire, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.
The jury verdicts were as follows:
Orlando Cortez-Nieto, 42, Kansas City, Kan.: Guilty on count one (conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine), count two (manufacturing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of Klamm Park playground), count three (possession with intention to distribute methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of Klamm Park playground) and count four (maintaining a residence in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Jesus Cervantes-Aguiler, 22, Kansas City, Kan.: Guilty on count one (conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine), count two (manufacturing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of Klamm Park playground, count three (possession with intention to distribute methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of Klamm Park playground and count four (maintaining a residence in furtherance of drug trafficking.
During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that on Dec. 1, 2017, firefighters responded to a house fire at 2739 Cleveland in Kansas City, Kan. They discovered a methamphetamine conversion lab inside the house. Prosecutors introduced evidence tying the defendants to the drug lab, including a blue spiral notebook in which cash transactions were recorded, as well as business surveillance video showing a defending buying items found in the meth lab.
Sentencing is set for Oct. 29. The counts on which the defendants were convicted carry the following penalties:
In Counts one, two and three (conspiracy, manufacturing and possession with intent to distribute): Not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $20 million.
In Count four: Maintaining a residence in furtherance of drug trafficking: Not less than a year and not more than 40 years and a fine up to $1 million.
McAllister commended the Drug Enforcement Administration, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Flannigan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Krug for their work on the case.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas has named a Google manager and former U.S. State Department employee as its new executive director.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Nadine Farid Johnson takes over Monday. The ACLU of Kansas has fought legal battles with the state over voting rights issues, the ability of transgender residents to alter their birth certificates and rules restricting protests at the Statehouse.
Former Executive Director Micah Kubic resigned last year to lead the ACLU of Florida.
Johnson has been a manager at Google for two years, overseeing diversity and inclusion initiatives on the company’s Los Angeles campus. She worked for the U.S. State Department from 2011 to 2017 and developed policy on the Middle East and North Africa.
TOPEKA, KAN. – While the 4th of July weekend celebrations came to an end Sunday, one Sedgwick County resident was just starting to celebrate after becoming the Sunflower State’s newest millionaire.
“My cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling so much,” the winner exclaimed. “I’m just overwhelmed with joy!”
The lucky Kansan anonymously claimed a Powerball ticket worth $1 million more than six months after the December 29, 2018 drawing. The winner matched five-of-six numbers.
The winning numbers in the drawing were 12-42-51-53-62 with a Powerball of 20.
When claiming the prize, the winner explained they didn’t know there was an unclaimed ticket out there and they were in possession of it.
“I buy Powerball, Mega Millions, and Super Kansas Cash twice a week so I usually wait a couple of weeks and scan them all at once,” the winner said. “The ticket just got caught in the mix of my receipt
drawer and I saw it sitting there and pulled it out and looked at it and it said ’12-29-2018′ so I thought ‘oh wow, I have to go scan this.’”
However, after scanning the ticket the lucky player still didn’t know what they had won.
“It said to sign the back of the ticket and claim it at the Lottery headquarters in Topeka. I was just in shock,” the winner explained.
Curious about the potential prize, the winner logged onto the Kansas Lottery’s website and saw multiple articles about an unclaimed $1 million Powerball ticket sold in south central Kansas. The winner
was then left speechless.
“I originally thought maybe it was $5,000 or $10,000 or something like that, but once I pulled it up on the website and it said ‘$1 million unclaimed Powerball ticket in south central Kansas’ I thought
‘that’s me,’” the winner said with a smile. “It wasn’t real for me until I walked into this office and they gave me a receipt for winning and said congratulations this is what you’ve won!”
The winner said they plan to invest the money in their growing family’s future.
“I’m just excited. I do have a baby on the way and we’re going to buy a house,” the winner said. “I’m not going to go out and travel the world, I’m old enough to know that my kids need to be taken care
of first before anything else.”
The winning ticket was sold at QuikTrip 329R on 1620 S Oliver St. in Wichita, Kansas. The retailer is eligible to receive a $1,000 bonus for selling the $1 million ticket.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Tuesday Governor Laura Kelly announced Reggie Robinson as the facilitator for the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission.
“Reggie has a distinct and esteemed background that will contribute greatly to this position,” Kelly said. “Kansas needs comprehensive criminal justice reform, and Reggie will be integral to this effort.”
Robinson, a Lawrence resident, currently serves as Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs at the University of Kansas. Previously, Robinson served as the director of the School of Public Affairs and Administration from July 2014 – August 2017. He was a professor of law and Director for the Center of Law and Government at Washburn University. Robinson was a White House Fellow and Special Assistant to Attorney General Janet Reno in 1993. He served as Deputy Associate Attorney General of the U.S. from 1996 – 1997, and Acting Director for Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime from 1997 – 1998.
Robinson received his undergraduate and graduate law degrees from the University of Kansas. He also served in the U.S. Army as an active duty field artillery officer.
The Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission was created as part of HB 2290, which passed during the 2019 legislative session. The governor appoints one criminal defense attorney or public defender, one member representative of the faith-based community, and one facilitator to provide administrative assistance to develop a project plan and assist the Commission in its duties. This facilitator is not a member of the Commission.
