TOPEKA, KAN. – A Kansas man with prior felony conviction was charged Wednesday with unlawfully possessing firearms, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Gwyndell B. Declerck, Jr., 32, Topeka, is charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. The indictment alleges that on Aug.17, 2019, Declerck unlawfully possessed a .40 caliber handgun. He was prohibited from having a gun because of prior convictions, including a 2010 conviction in Shawnee County District Court for criminal possession of a firearm.

Declerck was arrested Aug. 17, 2019, after Topeka police reported responding to callers complaining their house was hit by bullets.

If convicted Declerck faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Topeka Police Department and the FBI investigated.

————–

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon on new charges after a weekend arrest.

Just after 8a.m. Saturday, police responded to the 4200 block of SW 34th Street where a resident reported their house had been struck by two bullets, according to Lt. Jerry Monasmith.

In looking officers began to back track from the direction of where the gunshots had been fired. In doing so an apartment near 34th and Gage was discovered to have several holes which clearly showed shots had been fired from inside the residence.

An occupant of the apartment came out and was detained by officers.

After the execution of a search warrant, police arrested 32-year-old Gwyndell Declerk and transported him to the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges that include Criminal Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Criminal Discharge of Firearm; Recklessly at an Occupied Dwelling, Felony Criminal Damage to Property and Possession of Marijuana
There were no injuries reported from the gun fire.

NEW YORK (AP) — The number and rate of abortions across the United States have plunged to their lowest levels since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973, according to new figures released over the past week.

The report from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights affiliated with Planned Parenthood, counted 862,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2017. That’s down from 926,000 tallied in the group’s previous report for 2014, and from just over 1 million counted for 2011.

Guttmacher is the only entity that strives to count all abortions in the U.S., making inquiries of individual providers. Federal data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention excludes California, Maryland and New Hampshire.

The new report illustrates that abortions are decreasing in all parts of the country, whether in Republican-controlled states seeking to restrict abortion access or in Democratic-run states protecting abortion rights. Between 2011 and 2017, abortion rates increased in only five states and the District of Columbia.

One reason for the decline in abortions is that fewer women are becoming pregnant. The Guttmacher Institute noted that the birth rate, as well as the abortion rate, declined during the years covered by the new report. A likely factor, the report said, is increased accessibility of contraception since 2011, as the Affordable Care Act required most private health insurance plans to cover contraceptives without out-of-pocket costs.

According to the report, the 2017 abortion rate was 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 — the lowest rate since the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. Following that ruling, the number of abortions in the U.S. rose steadily — peaking at 1.6 million in 1990 before starting a steady, still-continuing decline. The abortion rate is now less than half what is was in 1990.

Guttmacher noted that almost 400 state laws restricting abortion access were enacted between 2011 and 2017, but it said these laws were not the main force behind the overall decline in abortions. It said 57% of the nationwide decline occurred in the 18 states, plus the District of Columbia, that did not enact any new restrictions.

Between 2011 and 2017, the number of clinics providing abortion in the U.S. declined from 839 to 808, with significant regional disparities, the report said. The South had a decline of 50 clinics, including 25 in Texas, and the Midwest had a decline of 33 clinics, including nine each in Iowa, Michigan and Ohio. By contrast, the Northeast added 59 clinics, mostly in New Jersey and New York.

Over that period, the abortion rate dropped in Ohio by 27% and in Texas by 30%, but the rate dropped by similar amounts in states that protected abortion access, including California, Hawaii and New Hampshire.

Areas with the highest abortion rates in 2017 were the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Florida. Rates were lowest in Wyoming, South Dakota, Kentucky, Idaho and Missouri — many women from those five states go out of state to obtain abortions .

One significant trend documented in the report: people who have abortions are increasingly relying on medication rather than surgery. Medication abortion, making use of the so-called abortion pill, accounted for 39% of all abortions in 2017, up from 29% in 2014.

The report, which focuses on data from 2017, does not chronicle the flurry of sweeping abortion bans that were enacted earlier this year in several GOP-controlled states, including a near-total ban in Alabama and five bills that would ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks into pregnancy. None of those bans has taken effect; their backers hope that litigation over the laws might eventually lead to a Supreme Court ruling weakening or overturning Roe v. Wade.

Guttmacher’s president, Dr. Herminia Palacio, said abortion restrictions, regardless of whether they lead to fewer abortions, “are coercive and cruel by design,” with disproportionate impact on low-income women.

However, the push for tougher restrictions continues. Just last week, Texas Right to Life and some allied groups urged Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session of the Legislature to “abolish every remaining elective abortion” in the state.

The report comes amid upheaval in the federal family planning program, known as Title X. About one in five family planning clinics have left the program, objecting to a Trump administration regulation that bars them from referring women for abortions. Title X clinics provide birth control and basic health services for low-income women.

“If your priority is to reduce abortions, one of the best things you can do is make sure that women have access to high-quality, affordable and effective methods of birth control,” said Alina Salganicoff, director of women’s health policy for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

By STEPHEN KORANDA 

TOPEKA, Kansas — When Gov. Laura Kelly signed a proclamation recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month in Kansas this week, she hailed the culture and diversity that Latinos bring to the state. She also gave a serious warning. 

If the state’s 350,000 Latinos don’t take part in the 2020 census, she said, Kansas could lose federal money and, potentially, representation in Congress.

The census approaches as the national immigration debate is wrapped in intense rhetoric, calls for building a wall on the southern border and an uptick in federal enforcement actions. 

“I’m concerned that they will be afraid to be counted,” Kelly said. “I just want to reassure them they have nothing to worry about. Their voice counts.”

That’s why it’s a top priority for the executive director of the administration’s Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission, Audé Negrete. 

She said there are multiple challenges: Census documents are printed in Spanish, but some Spanish-speakers may be nervous about talking to a census worker who doesn’t speak the language. She also is combating misconceptions that census data could be used by immigration enforcement.

“If they have a mixed-status family, they might not want the one person to be in danger if they were to answer the census,” she said.

Census data is confidential, and Negrete’s group has been working to let people know that there will not be a citizenship question on the form because the U.S. Supreme Court blocked it.

Why it matters

The federal government uses census data to determine how to distribute funding for everything from school lunches to transportation. Private developers analyze it when planning housing projects and new businesses. So, an inaccurate count could mean the state misses out on federal money and development.

“If only 20 people answer the census but 100 live in a town, we’re going to have resources for 20 but have to serve 100,” Negrete said.

Plus, state lawmakers use census data to redraw legislative districts, which will happen in 2022, and the federal government doles out seats in the U.S. House of Representatives based on the numbers.

Negrete’s group is holding listening sessions around Kansas to  get a feel for which issues are on the minds of Latinos. In general, people aren’t asking about the census, and Negrete said she’s bringing up the topic to get ahead of that knowledge gap. 

It’s not just state officials working to raise awareness and dispel concerns. The U.S. Census Bureau also has staff working in Kansas.

Carlos Urquilla-Diaz, a partnership specialist with the census, unfurled large banners and distributed printouts with census data ahead of Wednesday’s proclamation signing. He’s been traveling the state meeting with anyone who wants to know about the census.

“We bring information, we teach,” he said. “We go to different communities and we start with the highest elected official, in most cases, of that community.”

Kansas won’t have another shot to get an accurate count until 2030, and Negrete said it has long-term impacts.

“Elections are two years, four years, six years. The census is 10 years,” she said. “It affects everyone.”

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda or email skoranda (at) ku (dot) edu.

LANE COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 8p.m. Saturday in Lane County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Suzuki driven by Jason Penka, 44, Healy, was southbound leaving Healy on Dodge Road.

As the driver attempted to make left turn at County Road 200, the vehicle overturned an unknown number of times.

EMS transported Penka to the Lane County Hospital where he died. He was not wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Supreme Court Friday affirmed Stephen Gentry’s convictions in Saline County District Court first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle, and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery in the May 2015 death of  17-year-old Allie Saum in Salina.

The court held a statutory error in failing to offer lesser included offense instructions on the two forms of reckless homicide was harmless. It also held there was no statutory error in failing to instruct the jury on lesser included offenses of voluntary manslaughter, attempted unintentional but reckless second-degree murder, attempted reckless involuntary manslaughter, and attempted voluntary manslaughter.

Additionally, the court affirmed the district court’s denial of Gentry’s motion for a continuance.

The Kansas Supreme Court, however, held the district court erred when it ordered Gentry to pay restitution to the Saline County Attorney’s Office for expenses related to witnesses and trial exhibits. The Kansas Supreme Court vacated that portion of the order, a news release from the state court noted.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is reporting that unemployment in the state dropped to 3.2% in August and was at its lowest rate in more than 20 years.

The state Department of Labor said Friday that the state gained private-sector jobs during the month and over the past year. Labor economist Emilie Doerksen said the state has seen broad economic growth, and Gov. Laura Kelly hailed the report as good news for Kansas.

The department said the unemployment rate declined from 3.3% in July. It was also 3.3% in August 2018.

It was the lowest unemployment rate since May 1999. The rate has been below 4% since January 2017.

Kansas had nearly 1.18 million private, nonfarm jobs in August, up about 4,200 since July and 17,800 from August 2018. The over-the-year growth was 1.5%.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man and wife who sold fish they had illegally caught in public waters in Kansas and other reservoirs have been sentenced to probation.

Federal prosecutors for Nebraska say 49-year-old Phong Duong and 46-year-old Oanh Pham were each sentenced Friday to two years’ probation for illegally taking, transporting and selling fish. They were also ordered to pay $16,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors say that between May 2013 and July 2016, Duong and Pham exceeded the limits on catching fish from the Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge in northern Kansas and other reservoirs. To avoid detection, the couple would routinely change fishing spots, stash fish at off-site locations, and use “straw fishermen” — including children — to conceal fish taken in excess of limits. They’d then take the fish back home to Nebraska and clean and bag them at their Lincoln home before selling the fish.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 19-year-old woman has been charged in the deadly shooting of a man at a Kansas City Kansas, trailer park over Labor Day weekend.

Alexia Lasha Hendricks is jailed on $150,000 bond on charges of second-degree murder and aggravated robbery in the death of 30-year-old Maurice Hunter Jr. No attorney is listed for her in online court records.

The district attorney’s office alleges in charging documents that Hendricks took a Chevrolet Trailblazer from Hunter “by force or by threat of bodily harm” and killed him. He was pronounced dead at the scene on Sept. 1.

By NOMIN UJIYEDIIN

Mold. No heat in the winter. Leaking roofs.

The most common complaints Teresa Baker hears about rental housing in Kansas revolve around poor living conditions that violate state law.

As part of her job for the nonprofit Housing and Credit Counseling Inc., Baker serves as an advice guru for low-income residents in about 20 Kansas counties.

Tenants come to her if they’ve received eviction notices, forfeited security deposits or can’t get landlords to make repairs. Sometimes, she counsels landlords, too.

“Of course, it’s the landlord’s business to understand what the law says and his obligations,” Baker said. “The tenants are coming at this blindly.”

Kansas law sets some rules for inevitable disputes between renters and property owners. Yet some tenants and advocates contend landlords too often end up on top because they have more money and familiarity with the rules. The imbalance is leading some tenants to take action.

Housing experts also say Kansas lacks protections that other states offer to renters.

For example, state law prohibits cities and counties from establishing rent control and other rental regulations. Another tactic allowed by other states but banned in Kansas: withholding rent to force a landlord to make repairs. State law allows a landlord to evict tenants for being three days late on the rent.

“That’s one of the Number One things that we deal with, with tenants,” Baker said. “They call us when it’s too late, but they withheld rent and they’re going to court tomorrow.”

Ed Jaskinia, a Kansas City-area landlord and lobbyist for the Associated Landlords of Kansas, says the laws fairly balance the interests of both sides — renters who need to be guarded from predatory landlords, and landlords who want to maintain their properties and make money.

Ed Jaskinia, lobbyist for the Associated Landlords of Kansas.
CREDIT NOMIN UJIYEDIIN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
“We’ve got the best laws in the country because it protects everybody equally,” said Ed Jaskinia, a Kansas City-area landlord and lobbyist for the Associated Landlords of Kansas. “It tells us what the rules and regulations are, what we can and can’t do.”

He says tenants should take up their proposed reforms to the cities they live in.

In the meantime, he says tenants already have protections. For example, if a landlord won’t make repairs, tenants can call their city’s code enforcement division to make an inspection. And state law prohibits landlords from retaliating against tenants who do so.

But it’s hard to prove retaliation in court, Baker said. And she said many rural towns don’t have the budget to enforce housing codes.

“Even if they have some type of code on the books,” Baker said, “they don’t enforce it because they can’t.”

Legal Options

Another option for tenants is suing a landlord in small claims court for not completing repairs, exorbitant utility bills or not returning a security deposit.

State law requires landlords to return deposits within 30 days with an itemized list of charges taken out. Otherwise, tenants can sue for one-and-a-half times the amount of the original deposit.

“It’s very common for landlords to keep your security deposit for expenses that I don’t think would be legal,” said Casey Johnson, an attorney for Kansas Legal Services who counsels low-income people on housing. “Those are some good protections for tenants.”

But small claims lawsuits often turn out in favor of the landlord.

“It’s very difficult to get evidence and time to present into a court case,” Johnson said. “Kansas, I would say, is fairly landlord-friendly.”

Tenant Activism

Some residents of Lawrence, Manhattan and Kansas City — where renting is more common than in the rest of the state — are trying to change that. They say there’s a shortage of quality and affordable housing.

Data from the Census Bureau shows that the overall rental vacancy rate in Kansas in 2017 was 7.5%. In Kansas City, it was 8.5%, in Manhattan, it was 10.6% and in Lawrence, it was 6.7%. In the U.S. overall, 6.1% of rental units were vacant in 2017.

Generally, cities in Kansas have a higher proportion of residents who are rent-burdened — defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as spending 30% or more of their income on rent. More than 53% of Lawrence and Manhattan residents are rent-burdened, compared to 44% of all Kansans and 50.6% of Americans overall.

A group called Renters Together, in Manhattan, formed earlier this year, holds weekly meetings with the goal of increasing the number of rental units that the city inspects.

“We’ve noticed that landlords have been retaliating against tenants that do call code services here,” said Jonathan Cole, lead organizer for the group. “We’ve also noticed that people just don’t know that they can call.”

A similarly named group in Lawrence, Renters Together LFK, recently hosted a meeting to tell tenants how to get their security deposits back. The group has knocked on doors and spoken to hundreds of local tenants, said organizer Yoshi Stout.

“At the end of the day,” Stout said, “the tenants need to have some sort of agency for themselves.”

The group encouraged Lawrence resident Kayla Marks to sue her landlord, Manhattan-based company McCullough Development, Inc., in Douglas County small claims court.

In August 2018, Marks and her boyfriend moved into an apartment in Lawrence that she says was a mess. The place was dirty. A window was broken. There was a hole in a bedroom door and the linoleum floor needed to be replaced.

She tidied up and let her landlord know about the repairs. A few months later, the floor and the window were fixed, but by then, she had to move out. She and her boyfriend had broken up, and she couldn’t afford the apartment by herself. Her depression got so bad that she was hospitalized. She got a note from her doctor saying she could no longer live by herself.

Former Lawrence resident Kayla Marks sued her landlord in Douglas County small claims court.
CREDIT NOMIN UJIYEDIIN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
In February 2019, Marks applied for a legally required accommodation for her disability, asking to move out of her apartment. Her landlord granted it, but said she owed another month’s rent and sent her a bill for cleanup after she moved out. The company charged her an additional $258, which she disputed.

McCullough Development, Inc., declined multiple requests for comment.

“I’m a clean freak, so this place was spotless,” Marks said. “So I just didn’t think that that was right.”

She sued, asking for money back on her rent and deposit. She didn’t get any money back, but a judge ruled that she didn’t owe her landlord money either.

Marks said she wouldn’t have known how or why to sue without the help of Renters Together.

“I didn’t even know what the actual verdict was until I had to ask somebody,” she said. “But knowing that the verdict was that I don’t owe anything, I’m very pleased.”

Nomin Ujiyediin reports on criminal justice and social welfare for the Kansas News Service. Follow her on Twitter @NominUJ or email nomin (at) kcur (dot) org.