BUTLER COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities had a long night and have ended their investigation and search for a man who allegedly had an assault rifle at a refinery in Butler County.

Just after 10:30 p.m. deputies responded to the HollyFrontier refinery in 1400 Block of Douglas Road in El Dorado. A contractor at the refinery reported seeing three men on the property and one was carrying an assault rifle, according to Sheriff Kelly Herzet.

Deputies set up a perimeter and helped evacuate over 600 employees and contractors. The Butler County swat team with help from Harvey County assisted at the scene, according to Herzet. In the midst of the search for the alleged suspects, a thunderstorm rolled through and delayed the search.

Deputies didn’t see anyone and officials locked the refinery down tight, according to Herzet. After an interview with the reporting party authorities gave the all clear at 5 a.m. There were no injuries reported.

HollyFrontier owns and operates refineries located in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah and markets its refined products principally in the Southwest U.S., the Rocky Mountains extending into the Pacific Northwest and in other neighboring Plains states, according to the company web site.

SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating two robberies and have arrested a third suspect.

Just before 3:30p.m.  August 28, officers responded to Panderia Monterrey Bakery on a report
of an aggravated robbery. Witnesses reported that a man entered the store armed
with a handgun and demanded money, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Koenen.

Just after 7:30p.m. the following day, officers responded to Ibannos Grill Food Truck on a report of
an aggravated robbery. Witnesses reported that two men entered the taco truck, armed with
handguns and demanded money.

On Tuesday 19-year-old Ernesto Negrete Jr. was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on the following charges: Aggravated Robbery x2, Theft x2, Aggravated Assault and Topeka Bench Warrants.

On October 2, police arrested 21-year-old Victor A. Arellano in connection to both cases and
booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on the requested charges of Aggravated Robbery, Theft, Aggravated Assault, driving while suspended and failure to
yield to an emergency vehicle.

Police had earlier arrested Javier A. Martinez, 29, and booked him into the Shawnee
Department of Corrections in connection to the Ibannos Grill Food Truck investigation.

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TOPEKA, Kan. – Law enforcement authorities are investigating two robberies and have made an arrest.

Just before 3:30p.m.  August 28, officers responded to Panderia Monterrey Bakery on a report
of an aggravated robbery. Witnesses reported that a man entered the store armed
with a handgun and demanded money, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Koenen.

Just after 7:30p.m. the following day, officers responded to Ibannos Grill Food Truck on a report of
an aggravated robbery. Witnesses reported that two men entered the taco truck, armed with
handguns and demanded money.

On Wednesday, police arrested 21-year-old Victor A. Arellano in connection to both cases and
booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on the requested charges of Aggravated Robbery, Theft, Aggravated Assault, driving while suspended and failure to
yield to an emergency vehicle.

Police had earlier arrested Javier A. Martinez, 29, and booked him into the Shawnee
Department of Corrections in connection to the Ibannos Grill Food Truck investigation.

KANSAS CITY—Ivanka Trump, daughter of President Trump and advisor to the president, will visit Kansas City with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar for a child care roundtable on Thursday afternoon at Metropolitan Community College, according to a release from HHS.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson and Senator Roy Blunt will join the first-daughter and HHS Secretary for the event.

President Trump has made working families a focus of his administration. He wants to offer mothers and fathers more choice and flexibility with child care, so they can choose how to balance home and work life in a way that best serves their needs, benefits their children, and allows them to fully participate in the economy, according to  Lynn Johnson, Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

The roundtable, hosted by HHS’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is the 7th in a series of ten roundtables to be hosted nationwide as part of the Trump Administration’s larger effort to support working families by promoting access to child care, a key initiative for the administration.

To most people, this is great news – who doesn’t want a strong economy? But employers are desperate for workers. The inability to fill open jobs is the number one challenge across many sectors of our economy. Meanwhile, there are still thousands of workers, here in our communities, who want to join in and contribute, but face a critical shortfall. I’m talking, of course, about one of the single greatest barriers to economic mobility facing American families today: access to affordable, high-quality child care.

As Assistant Secretary of HHS’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF), I can say unequivocally that one of our most pressing challenges is supporting working families as they raise their children, while balancing home life and work. Presently, the cost of center-based child care for two children, an infant and a 4 year old, exceeds home mortgage costs in 35 states and D.C., and annual median rental payments in every state. However, child care is more than just a major expense for families – it’s also a significant barrier to work.

JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and have a suspect in custody.

On Tuesday, deputies in Jackson County made a traffic stop on U.S. 75 south of Mayetta, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.  Deputies discovered the 1990 Lexus had been stolen in Topeka. They arrested the driver Ronnie Lee Brandenburg Jr. 48, Horton, for felony possession of stolen property and driving while suspended.

Brandenburg has previous convictions for drugs, interference with law enforcement, trafficking contraband in a correctional institution and two for DUI, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

MARION COUNTY — Two people died in an accident just after 7:30p.m. Wednesday in Marion County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Dodge Caravan driven by Cecil Gill, Jr., 84, Hazel Crest, Illinois was westbound on U.S. 50 one mile west of U.S. 77 on the eastbound shoulder partially in the eastbound lane of traffic and collided with an eastbound 2010 Kenworth semi driven by Kevin M. Thompson, 57, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

A passenger in the van Dwayne J. Scott, 20, St. Louis, MO., was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Zeiner Funeral Home in Marion. EMS transported Gill to a Wichita hospital where he died.

Thompson was transported for treatment of minor injuries. The drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP. Scott’s seatbelt usage was unknown.

COWLEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating four suspects after a weekend drug bust in Kansas.

On Saturday, police executed a search warrant for suspected drug activity at 206 N. Seventh Street in Arkansas City, according to a media release. During a search of the residence and its occupants, numerous items of marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were found.

Police arrested Joseph Eugene Chapman, 44, on suspicion of one misdemeanor count each of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. Mindy Lynn Chapman, 46, was arrested on a Cowley County District Court warrant for misdemeanor failure to appear.

Richard Louis Wamego, 62, was arrested on suspicion of one misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana. He was transported to and booked into the county jail in lieu of $1,000 bond through Arkansas City district court.

Michael Zavala, 51, was arrested on suspicion of felony possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. Zavala was transported to and booked into the county jail in lieu of $5,500 bond through Arkansas City district court. He remained in custody.

Police on Oct. 5 executed a search warrant for suspected drug activity at 206 N. Seventh St. During a search of the residence and its occupants, numerous items of marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were found.

Chapman, Wamego and Zavala remain in custody, according to the release.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an attempted carjacking and have made an arrest.

Just before 1a.m. Wednesday, police responded to report of a carjacking in convenience store parking lot in the 3800 Block of north Rock Road in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

An 18-year-old and a 19-year-old at the scene told police they were getting gas at the convenience store when a suspect identified as 33-year-old Randy Sturgis of Wichita approached the woman.

He told them he had escaped from federal prison and wanted a ride, according to Davidson. The woman refused and Sturgis became agitated. He stated he had a knife and grabbed the women in an attempt to place them in the vehicle. The women broke free and ran into the convenience store to contact police, according to Davidson.

Sturgis entered the vehicle but was unable to get it to move. He took a cell phone that belonged to the 19-year-old and escaped on foot.

Officers quickly arrived, located Sturgis and he ran from them. After a short foot pursuit, police captured him.

An investigation revealed that Sturgis had walked away from the Federal Halfway House in the 3800 Block of North Toben just before the incident occurred.  There were no injuries reported, according to Davidson.

Sturgis is being held on requested charges that include kidnapping, burglary, theft and resist arrest. He has previous convictions for criminal threat, theft and criminal possession of a firearm, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the shooting at a Kansas City, Kansas, bar that left four dead and five wounded (all times local):

A suspect in a weekend Kansas bar shooting that left four dead and five wounded was given probation last year for trafficking contraband while imprisoned for aggravated robbery instead of more time behind bars.

The same Leavenworth County, Kansas, judge that allowed Hugo Villanueva-Morales to avoid prison in the case also made news earlier this year when he reduced the sentence of a convicted sex offender because he said the 13- and 14-year-old girls who were victims in the abuse were actually “aggressors.”

Police continue searching for Villanueva-Morales. He and 23-year-old Javier Alatorre are charged with four counts of first-degree murder in Sunday’s shooting at the Tequila KC bar in Kansas City, Kansas. Alatorre was arrested hours after the shooting in Kansas City, Missouri.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and asking the public for help to identify and locate two suspects.

Just before 6:00 a.m., Wednesday, police were dispatched to the Kwik Shop located at 1700 SW
Topeka Boulevard in Topeka in reference to an aggravated burglary to a vehicle, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Koenen.

A female suspect reportedly entered the vehicle which was occupied by a passenger. The suspect forced the passenger out of the vehicle and fled the scene. The vehicle was located a short time later, unoccupied, near NW Jackson and Crane in Topeka.

Police are attempting to identify two persons of interest in this case and have released security camera images.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is encouraged to contact the Topeka Police.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A northeast Kansas man accused of killing a 2½-month-old infant faces a second trial in January after his first trial resulted in a hung jury.

D’Khari Lyons faces charges of first-degree murder and child abuse over the November 2018 death of Michael Calvert Jr. Authorities said the infant died from head trauma after sustaining severe internal injuries.

Riley County District Judge Meryl Wilson scheduled the start of a second trial for Jan. 13. The first was in September.

Wilson also lowered Lyons’ bond to $100,000 from $500,000.

Defense attorney Cole Hawver said Lyons is not a flight risk and has no prior criminal history.

Prosecutors allege Lyons lashed out at the baby in momentary frustration at his crying while watching him for a girlfriend.