SALINE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on child sex allegations after an arrest.
Breit photo Saline County
Just after 4p.m. Friday, police were dispatched to the 800 block of Elmhurst in Salina for the report of a naked man running around the area, according to Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester.
Police located the subject later identified as Michael J. Breit, 61, of Salina, in the trees behind the Crossroads building of Central Kansas Mental Health Center,.
While investigating the incident, officers made contact with a 12-year-old boy who told them that Breit, who was naked at the time, made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature while the boy and his mother were in a nearby parking lot, according to Forrester. The boy’s mother witnessed the incident.
Police arrested Breit on suspicion of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child and lewd and lascivious behavior. Breit also allegedly smelled of alcohol, according to Forrester.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The fate of Missouri’s only abortion clinic is at stake starting Monday, when a member of the state’s Administrative Hearing Commission will begin hearing arguments over whether the clinic can keep its abortion license.
The hearing at a downtown St. Louis state office building is expected to last five days. Missouri officials have asked St. Louis police for heightened security since the licensing issue has generated protests from those on both sides of the debate.
Commissioner Sreenivasa Rao Dandamudi will preside over the hearing. A commission official said that in his role, Dandamudi “acts as an independent trial judge.” A ruling isn’t expected until February at the earliest.
Missouri would become the first state since 1974, the year after the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, without a functioning abortion clinic if the license revocation is allowed. The battle also comes as abortion rights supporters raise concerns that conservative-led states, including Missouri, are attempting to end abortion through tough new laws and tighter regulation.
Planned Parenthood has been battling the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services for months to try to keep open its St. Louis clinic.
The state said concerns arose from inspections in March. Among the problems health department investigators cited were three “failed abortions” requiring additional surgeries and another that led to life-threatening complications for the mother.
The health department has sought to interview physicians involved in those abortions, including medical residents who no longer work there. Planned Parenthood has said it can’t force them to talk and that the state’s concerns were addressed long ago. Attorneys for the health department wrote in legal filings to the commission that physicians’ refusal to talk “presents the final, critical obstacle.”
Missouri is among several states to pass new restrictions on abortions in the hope that the increasingly conservative U.S. Supreme Court will eventually overturn Roe v. Wade. Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation in May banning abortions at or beyond eight weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest.
A federal judge in August temporarily blocked implementation of the law until the legal challenge plays out in court, which could take several months.
While the Missouri case unfolded, Planned Parenthood quietly built a new abortion clinic in Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. The 18,000-square-foot clinic in Fairview Heights, 12 miles (19 kilometers) east of St. Louis, opened Wednesday, in part to meet the demand for abortions from Missouri residents.
Missouri women have been increasingly getting abortions at the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Illinois, another St. Louis suburb. Deputy Director Alison Dreith said 58% of the abortions performed at the Hope Clinic through August of this year involved Missouri women, compared with 37% involving Illinois women.
Another abortion clinic sits in Overland Park, Kansas, a Kansas City suburb. The clinic is 2 miles from the state line. Information from the state of Kansas shows about 3,300 of the 7,000 abortions performed there last year involved Missouri residents.
SALINA — The interim CEO and dean of Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus has earned the job permanently.
Dr. Alysia Starkey courtesy photo
Alysia Starkey, who has been serving as the interim leader of the campus in Salina since July 2018, has been appointed its new CEO and dean by Charles Taber, K-State provost and executive vice president, according to a media release from the school.
“In her service as interim CEO and dean, Dr. Starkey has proven to be a strong and effective leader of Kansas State Polytechnic,” Taber said. “Most notably, she has led the strategic planning on Polytechnic’s aviation program, building community and industry relationships that we will need to be successful.”
As the chief academic and administrative officer of Kansas State Polytechnic, Starkey is responsible for providing leadership, management and support for all academic programs and administrative units on the campus. She’s charged with ensuring high-quality undergraduate and graduate experiences, continued excellence and growth in Polytechnic’s research programs, and the recruitment and retention of high-caliber, diverse students. Effective fiscal stewardship and fundraising efforts on behalf of the campus are also key parts of her job responsibilities.
“Kansas State Polytechnic is a special place and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as CEO and dean,” Starkey said. “I am excited to continue working with students, faculty, staff and alumni to advance our mission and enhance our capabilities to meet the educational and workforce needs of the future.”
Before her appointment as interim CEO and dean, Starkey served as associate dean of academics at Kansas State Polytechnic. She has in-depth experience in the leadership, management and support needs of all aspects of the school, including student success, academic programs, faculty and budgetary matters. She joined Polytechnic in June 2002 as a technical services/automation coordinator and assistant professor. She was promoted to library director and associate professor in 2007, and named assistant dean of academics and distance education and director of libraries in 2010. She served as assistant dean of continuous improvement from 2012-2014 before being named associate dean of academics/undergraduate studies and promoted to full professor in 2014. She gained the additional duties of acting director for the School of Integrated Studies in June 2016. In October 2017, Starkey was named associate dean of academics and acting director of professional education and outreach.
Starkey earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Kansas State University; a master’s in library science from the University of North Texas; a bachelor’s in psychology from Fort Hays State University; and an associate degree in social work from Colby Community College.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a theft and have a suspect in custody.
Funk photo Shawnee County
Shortly after midnight Saturday, officers responded to the area of NE River and NE Lime in Topeka after callers advised they saw construction equipment being driven in the area, according to Captain Colleen Stuart.
Officers encountered an occupied loader traveling in the 500 Block NE Lake, damaging property as it moved through yards and city streets.
The driver later identified as Shane D. Funk, 46, Topeka, refused to stop for officers. Numerous residences in the loaders path were evacuated for safety purposes. A perimeter was established in an attempt to contain the loader and damage.
Funk turned the vehicle toward officers, forcing a tactical intervention option by way of a kinetic energy impact munition to slow the loader down.
Once the loader stopped, officers were able to take him into custody. Medical response was called and Funk was transported to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries and then booked into the Department of Corrections requested charges that include Felony theft, Felony Criminal Damage, Aggravated Assault to Law Enforcement Officers and outstanding warrants.
ELLIS – Law enforcement authorities are asking the public for help to identify a suspect who allegedly passed a counterfeit $100 bill at Love’s Travel Plaza just after 3a.m. Sunday in Ellis, according to a social media report.
The individual appears to be a black male, approximately 6-foot-3 inches tall and around 220 pounds. He has dreadlocks past the shoulder blades.
Police had no further information on this individual, no vehicle information and no direction of travel.
If anyone has any information that can lead to the apprehension of this person please contact the Ellis Police Department at 785-726-4141.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas could soon end an unusual policy of using its own numbers in addition to federal census data to redraw the boundaries of state legislative districts, a longstanding practice that has cost university communities political clout.
Voters statewide will decide Nov. 5 whether to approve a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution to eliminate a requirement for the state to adjust federal census figures when the Legislature redistricts itself. The adjustment counts college students and military personnel not where they’re living but in a “permanent” home elsewhere — outside Kansas for thousands of them.
Kansas is among only a few states that adjust federal census figures for redistricting, and before it started doing it in the 1990s, it did its own population counts for more than a century. Critics see the adjustment as archaic and expensive, and the proposed amendment had overwhelming bipartisan support as it slipped quietly through the Republican-controlled Legislature earlier this year.
The biggest winners from the change likely would be Lawrence and Manhattan, home to the main campuses of the University of Kansas and Kansas State University. When the state last adjusted census figures in 2011, their counties lost 13% of their combined populations, more than 23,000 people, enough for a Kansas House seat between them.
“It is a matter of fairness,” said Lawrence Mayor Lisa Larsen. “The students live here. They contribute to our economy. They’re contributing to our community in a great way.”
Secretary of State Scott Schwab urged legislators to put the amendment on the ballot. He is doing media interviews and has a website promoting it and says the next adjustment would cost the state $835,000. There is no organized opposition to the amendment ahead of an election otherwise set for filling city offices and local school board seats.
Kansas is the last state to adjust census figures for college students or military personnel after Alaska in the late 1990s dropped a policy of adjusting its military population downward. But Maryland and New York count prison inmates in their hometowns rather than where they’re incarcerated to avoid what critics call “prison gerrymandering.”
Kansas lawmakers expect to revise legislative districts again in 2022. Adjusting the college and military populations is a remnant of the state’s longtime practice, ended in the 1990s, of doing its own census for redistricting purposes.
Schwab said the next adjustment would be expensive because his office would have to hire a contractor to track down people to ask them where they want to be counted, and that’s more difficult now than in the past because cellphones have increasingly replaced landline telephones.
Supporters of the adjustment in the past have argued that people living temporarily in a college town or on a military base should be allowed to choose where they’re counted. They’ve also suggested that the policy helps rural communities.
But no rural county saw its population adjusted upward by 3% in 2011, and a few even lost a little population. Overall, when all the shifts were taken into account, the state’s total population declined by about 13,700 residents, or less than 0.5%.
“It’s a no-brainer to vote for that amendment,” said Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, an Overland Park Republican.
MCPHERSON COUNTY —Crews were on the scene of a fire at the city landfill north of McPherson Sunday, according to a social media report from the McPherson Fire Department.
Landfill fire Photos courtesy McPherson Fire Dept.
The fire had toxic substances in the smoke and a plume model from the National Weather Service has indicated the City of McPherson would be directly affected.
All residents are encouraged to go inside, close all windows and doors, stay tuned to Radio/TV/Social Media for further updates.
Late Sunday, the fire department reported fire suppression operations were halted at the landfill. Air quality monitoring has been deployed on the north side of McPherson city limits. As of 2 am they have not detected anything out of normal ranges. We will continue to monitor the air quality throughout the night and into Monday morning.
They also encouraged residents to utilize 911 for emergencies only.
KANSAS CITY– Two Kansas men were sentenced in federal court Friday for a violent, hours-long crime spree in which they kidnapped, robbed, and terrorized three women, according to the United State’s Attorney.
Wortham photo Wyandotte Co.
Anthony B. Williams, 37, and Jamerl M. Wortham, 34, were sentenced in separate appearances before U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes. Williams was sentenced to four consecutive terms of life in federal prison without parole. Wortham was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison without parole.
Williams was sentenced as an armed career criminal and “three strikes” violent felon, due to his prior felony convictions.
On Feb. 14, 2019, Williams and Wortham were each found guilty at trial of all 17 counts contained in a federal indictment. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2019 that the statutory definition of a “crime of violence” is unconstitutionally vague, three of those counts (possession of a short-barreled shotgun in furtherance of kidnapping) have been dismissed.
Williams and Wortham were sentenced today on their convictions of one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, three counts of kidnapping, one count of carjacking, one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, one count of attempted armed robbery, one count of distribution of PCP, three counts of possession of a short-barreled shotgun in furtherance of a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime, one count of being felons in possession of a firearm, one count of possession of an unregistered short-barreled shotgun, and one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
During the early morning hours of April 9, 2016, Wortham and Williams, along with another man who is not identified in court records, stole a Jaguar in Kansas City, Kansas, then set off to Kansas City, Missouri, with a plan to rob people at ATM machines. While driving around the Westport entertainment district, at approximately 1:30 a.m., the men came across M.M., a woman who was waiting to be picked up by an Uber car. One of the men stepped out of the stolen Jaguar, put his arm around M.M., and corralled her into the vehicle.
They drove to a set of ATMs located in the River Market neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. They waited until a red Toyota Camry pulled up to use the ATM at approximately 2 a.m.
They drove up behind the Camry, where two women, T.J. and Y.C., were attempting to deposit money into the ATM. One of the defendants and the other man approached the Camry, pointed a loaded sawed-off shotgun at the driver and passenger, demanded money, then forced them into the backseat of the Camry. The two men then got in the driver and passenger seats of the vehicle and sped away towards Kansas City, Kansas, with the stolen Jaguar (with M.M. a passenger) following close behind.
Once in Kansas City, Kansas, Williams and Wortham forced all of the victims into the Camry. They took the victims to another ATM in Kansas City, Kansas, and told them to withdraw as much money as they could from their bank accounts.
After leaving the ATM, Williams and Wortham forced M.M. and Y.C. to smoke PCP while they drove for hours around the Kansas City metro area. During the entirety of this time, the victims were consistently threatened with death and bodily harm while the defendants pointed the sawed-off shotgun in the victims’ direction. Williams also indicated he was armed with a handgun. Williams and Wortham intended to find a discrete location in which they could sexually assault the victims.
At about 5 a.m., the men split the victims up into two separate cars – with Wortham in the stolen Jaguar with T.J., and Williams in the stolen Camry with M.M. and Y.C. While they caravanned through Kansas City, Kansas, police officers recognized the stolen Jaguar and engaged it in pursuit.
The Jaguar fled at a high rate of speed, lost control, then crashed with T.J. in the passenger seat of the vehicle. After the crash, Wortham fled from the vehicle on foot but was apprehended shortly after and placed under arrest. T.J. was unhurt in the crash.
Discovered inside of the vehicle was a loaded Coast to Coast 20-gauge shotgun that had approximately 12-inches of the barrel sawed off, along with the shotgun stock shortened.
In the stolen Camry, Williams and another man drove M.M. and Y.C. throughout the Kansas City metro area in search of drugs and a house to use. At approximately 8 a.m., the other man was dropped off at an unknown location. With only Williams in the vehicle, M.M. found an opportunity to jump out of the Camry at a stop sign, run into a convenience store, and call the police.
Soon after, Y.C. also attempted to escape the vehicle, but had to fight Williams to get out of his grasp. Once out of his grasp, Y.C. ran down a residential street, with Williams chasing behind. She used the panic button on her key fob to set off her car alarm, which stopped Williams from pursuing. Y.C. ran for at least three blocks until she found someone to help her, then called the police.
O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri mom has been charged with helping beat up a 14-year-old boy who she says refused to return an expensive shirt to her son.
Tonya Carrillo-photo St. Charles County
43-year-old Tonya Carrillo was charged last week with endangering a minor in connection with the July assault.
Court documents say Carrillo told police she hopes the victim “learns from this incident” because his parents don’t seem to care about his behavior.
The victim was treated for a dislocated nose and cuts and scrapes after the assault, which was captured on surveillance video.
Carrillo is being held in lieu of $25,000 bond. Police are still looking for another man who was involved in the incident.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been sentenced to three life terms for 25 felony sex crimes with six children.
Hallacy -Sedgwick Co.
41-year-old Damian Isaac Hallacy is appealing the sentence ordered Wednesday.
The investigation started in 2017 after a man found sexual messages from Hallacy on his wife’s phone. The probable cause affidavit says the woman sexually abused her 8-year-old daughter at Hallacy’s request, and investigators found photos of the abuse on her phone.
The woman is expected to be sentenced next month. Her plea agreement called for her to testify against Hallacy and receive a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years.
Authorities are not naming her to protect the identity of her daughter because the girl is a victim of a sex crime.
