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Police: New child sex allegations against former Kansas City bishop

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne in Wyoming says it has reported to police three new credible allegations of child sexual abuse against a retired bishop.

Diocese officials said in a statement Tuesday the new complaints against Bishop Joseph Hart are in addition to three separate allegations previously determined to be credible.

Cheyenne Police Officer David Inman said the department is aware of the new complaints. Police have recommended Laramie County prosecutors file charges over the previous complaints.

The prosecutor has not commented and no charges have been filed against Hart in Laramie County.

Hart, who led the Diocese of Cheyenne from 1976 to 2001, has consistently denied the allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct.

The diocese in Kansas City says it has settled lawsuits in 10 cases involving Hart who served in the diocese  from 1964-76.

Kan. man charged with murder for Dillons parking lot beating

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man accused of beating another man in a Dillons grocery store parking lot has been charged with second-degree murder after the victim died from his injuries two weeks after the attack.

Speakman photo Sedgwick Co.

Thirty-five-year-old Steven Speakman made his first appearance Tuesday in Sedgwick County District Court. His bond was set at $250,000.

He has been in custody since Aug. 21, when police say a fight broke out between Speakman and 33-year-old Haley Collins, of Bel Aire. When police arrived, Collins was unconscious. He died Sept. 5.

Police say the two men knew each other.

The Latest: 3 arrested after Kan. police shooting, carjacking, manhunt

SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating an officer-involved shooting.

Just before 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to the area of W. 21st Street North and N. Amidon to check for a stolen vehicle, according to officer Paul Cruz.

Hand at the lower left of the image is the officer avoiding an attempt by the
driver to run over him during Tuesday’s incident-photo courtesy Wichita Police

The owner of a 1999 white Jeep SAW called 911 to report the location of the vehicle. The owner, along with a family member, followed the vehicle to the McDonald’s located in the 2200 block of North Amidon.

Officers arrived while the vehicle was at the drive-thru window and attempted to take the three occupants into custody.

The driver then accelerated and attempted to run over an officer. The officer fired his handgun multiple times at the vehicle. The suspect vehicle drove around the building and rear-ended a white Buick Century that was occupied by a 72-year-old woman driver. She was transported to a local hospital where she was treated for minor injuries, according to Cruz.

The suspect vehicle continued north on Amidon and into a residential area where it crashed into a tree in the 3000 block of N. Halstead. At that location, police took a 30-year-old woman passenger later identified as Daphne Hays into custody while the other suspects ran.

One of the man, a 30-year-old, ran to the 2400 block of W. Stauffer where he threatened an elderly couple and demanded the keys to their green Honda CR-V. The suspect left in their vehicle. The vehicle was located by Sheriff’s Deputies at I-235 and 25th, according to Cruz.

Daphne Dawn Hays photo Sedgwick Co.

Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused to stop, and a vehicle pursuit ensued. The pursuit ended at 167th and K-42. The suspect was taken into custody without incident and was found to have an injury to his arm.

A 27-year-old suspect, who fled on foot at the initial crash scene on N. Halstead, was later located by officers near 29th and Meridian. The suspect was found to have a gunshot wound to his leg and was hospitalized for observation.

The two male suspects remained hospitalized Wednesday afternoon.  Hays is in custody on requested charges of interference with law enforcement and a fugitive from justice, according to the Sedgwick County booking report.

The officer involved in the shooting has been with the department for almost 2-years, according to Cruz. He has been placed  administrative leave per protocol.

Authorities have not released names of the two  other suspects.

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SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating an officer-involved shooting.

Crash scene Tuesday afternoon in Wichita photo courtesy KWCH

Just before 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to the area of W. 21st Street North and N. Amidon to check for a stolen vehicle, according to officer Paul Cruz.

The owner of a 1999 white Jeep SAW called 911 to report the location of the vehicle. The owner, along with a family member, followed the vehicle to the McDonald’s located in the 2200 block of North Amidon.

Officers arrived while the vehicle was at the drive-thru window and attempted to take the three occupants into custody.

The driver then accelerated and attempted to run over an officer. The officer fired his handgun multiple times at the vehicle. The suspect vehicle drove around the building and rear-ended a white Buick Century that was occupied by a 72-year-old woman driver. She was transported to a local hospital where she was treated for minor injuries, according to Cruz.

The suspect vehicle continued north on Amidon and into a residential area where it crashed into a tree in the 3000 block of N. Halstead. At that location, police took a 30-year-old woman passenger into custody while the other suspects ran.

One of the man, a 30-year-old, ran to the 2400 block of W. Stauffer where he threatened an elderly couple and demanded the keys to their green Honda CR-V. The suspect left in their vehicle. The vehicle was located by Sheriff’s Deputies at I-235 and 25th, according to Cruz. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused to stop, and a vehicle pursuit ensued. The pursuit ended at 167th and K-42. The suspect was taken into custody without incident and was found to have an injury to his arm.

A 27-year-old suspect, who fled on foot at the initial crash scene on N. Halstead, was later located by officers near 29th and Meridian. The suspect was found to have a gunshot wound to his leg and was hospitalized for observation.

Authorities have not released names of the suspects.

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say three people are in custody after officers fired shots while pursuing a stolen car.

Police spokesman Paul Cruz says when officers tried to arrest people in a stolen Jeep at a McDonald’s drive-thru on Tuesday morning, the driver drove toward officers, who fired several rounds. The Jeep crashed into another vehicle. The driver of that car suffered minor injuries.

Cruz says a woman inside the vehicle was arrested but two male suspects carjacked another vehicle. Sedgwick County deputies pursued the vehicle and one suspect was eventually arrested in a field. Cruz says that driver was hurt but it was unclear what caused the injuries.

The second male suspect was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon.

No names have been released.

Sheriff: Kan. felon was trafficking meth between Great Bend, Wichita

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

Stark photo Barton Co.

On Wednesday, during the course of an ongoing drug investigation, detectives were conducting a surveillance operation and  stopped a 2010 Chrysler Sebring at the intersection of 10th and Jefferson in the City of Great Bend, according to Sheriff Brian Bellendir.

The Sheriff’s office K9 Kia was used at the location and indicated the presence of controlled substances. It was at that point the suspect identified as John P. Stark Jr., 52, Wichita, attempted to run from officers and was captured by Great Bend Police Officers who had later arrived at the scene.

Stark was found to be in possession of approximately ½ pound of methamphetamine, according to Bellendir. Detectives believe Stark has been trafficking methamphetamine between Wichita and Great Bend.

Stark is being held in the Barton County Jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and obstruction of a law enforcement officer. Stark is being held in lieu of a $300,000 bond.  He has previous convictions for theft in Shawnee and Sedgwick County, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens dies at age 91

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — T. Boone Pickens, a brash and quotable oil tycoon who grew even wealthier through corporate takeover attempts, died Wednesday. He was 91.

Pickens was surrounded by friends and family when he died of natural causes under hospice care at his Dallas home, spokesman Jay Rosser said. Pickens suffered a series of strokes in 2017 and was hospitalized that July after what he called a “Texas-sized fall.”

An only child who grew up in a small railroad town in Oklahoma, Pickens followed his father into the oil and gas business. After just three years, he formed his own company and built a reputation as a maverick, unafraid to compete against oil-industry giants.

In the 1980s, Pickens switched from drilling for oil to plumbing for riches on Wall Street. He led bids to take over big oil companies including Gulf, Phillips and Unocal, castigating their executives as looking out only for themselves while ignoring the shareholders.

Even when Pickens and other so-called corporate raiders failed to gain control of their targets, they scored huge payoffs by selling their shares back to the company and dropping their hostile takeover bids.

Later in his career, Pickens championed renewable energy including wind power. He argued that the United States needed to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. He sought out politicians to support his “Pickens Plan,” which envisioned an armada of wind turbines across the middle of the country that could generate enough power to free up natural gas for use in vehicles.

“I’ve been an oilman all my life, but this is one emergency we can’t drill our way out of,” he said in 2009.

Pickens’ advocacy for renewable energy led to some unusual alliances. He had donated to many Republican candidates since the 1980s, and in the 2004 presidential campaign he helped bankroll television ads by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that attacked Democratic nominee John Kerry. A few years later, Pickens endorsed a Kerry proposal to limit climate change.

Pickens couldn’t duplicate his oil riches in renewable energy. In 2009, he scrapped plans for a huge Texas wind farm after running into difficulty getting transmission lines approved, and eventually his renewables business failed.

“It doesn’t mean that wind is dead,” Pickens said at the time. “It just means we got a little bit too quick off the blocks.”

Pickens flirted with marketing water from West Texas, acquiring water rights in the early 2000s in hopes of selling it to thirsty cities. But he couldn’t find a buyer, and in 2011 he signed a deal with nearby regional water supplier to sell the water rights beneath 211,000 acres for $103 million.

In 2007, Forbes magazine estimated Pickens’ net worth at $3 billion. He eventually slid below $1 billion and off the magazine’s list of wealthiest Americans. In 2016, the magazine put his worth at $500 million.

Besides his peripatetic business and political interests, Pickens made huge donations to his alma mater, Oklahoma State University — the football stadium bears his name, and he gave $100 million for endowed faculty positions.

Pickens’ foundation gave $50 million each to the University of Texas’ M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He was among those who signed a “giving pledge” started by billionaire investor Warren Buffet and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, promising to donate a majority of his wealth to charity.

“I firmly believe one of the reasons I was put on this Earth was to make money and be generous with it,” he said on his website.

Pickens was born in 1928 in Holdenville, Oklahoma. His father was a landman, someone who secures mineral-rights leases for oil and gas drilling. His mother ran a government office that handled gasoline-rationing coupons for a three-county area during World War II.

A child of the Depression, Pickens credited his father with teaching him to take risks and praised his grandmother for lessons in being frugal. If young Boone continued to leave the lights on after leaving a room, she declared, she would hand the electric bill to the boy so he could pay it.

Pickens went to work by age 12, getting a newspaper route. He expanded it by buying the routes on either side of his — marking his first venture into acquisitions.

Although only 5-foot-8, Pickens was a star guard on his high school basketball team in Amarillo, Texas, and earned a sports scholarship to Texas A&M University. He lost the scholarship when he broke an elbow, and he transferred to Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State.

After graduating with a degree in geology, he joined Phillips Petroleum Co., where his father, T. Boone Pickens Sr., was working. The younger Pickens was unhappy with his job from the start.

After just three years, he borrowed some money and found two investors to start his own business, called Petroleum Exploration. That was a predecessor to Mesa Petroleum, an oil and gas company in Amarillo, which Pickens took public in 1964.

By the 1980s, the stock of the major petroleum producers was so cheap that it became cheaper to get new oil reserves by taking over a company than by drilling. Pickens set his sights on acquiring other companies.

In 1984, Mesa Petroleum made a profit of more than $500 million from a hostile bid for Gulf Corp., then the fifth-largest oil company in the United States, when Gulf maneuvered to sell itself instead to Chevron. Before that, Pickens earned $31.5 million by driving Cities Service into the arms of Occidental Petroleum.

Later that year, Pickens launched a bid for his old employer, Phillips Petroleum. It was an unpopular move in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where Phillips was headquartered. Residents held 24-hour prayer vigils to support the company.

Pickens’ methods angered his targets.

“He’s only after the almighty buck,” G.C. Richardson, a retired executive of Cities Services, said in 1985. “He’s nothing but a pirate.”

Pickens insisted that he was a friend of ordinary shareholders, who benefited when his forays caused the stock price of a company to rise.

Pickens’ star faded in the 1990s. He lost control of debt-ridden Mesa, and his bullishness on natural gas prices turned out to be a costly mistake.

After leaving Mesa, Pickens in 1996 started BP Capital Management, a billion-dollar hedge fund focused on energy commodities and equities that delivered mammoth gains.

There were difficult times in his personal life. In 2005, Pickens looked on as one of his sons, Michael, was arrested on securities-fraud charges — he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to repay $1.2 million.

Pickens owned a ranch in the Texas Panhandle, another in Oklahoma, and a vacation retreat in Palm Springs, California.

After his fall in July 2017, he wrote on Linkedin that he was still mentally strong, but “I clearly am in the fourth quarter.”

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Sheriff: Body, submerged vehicle found in Kansas lake

HILLSDALE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have found a body and submerged vehicle in a northeast Kansas lake.

Hillside Lake boat ramp photo courtesy Miami Co. Sheriff

The Miami County Sheriff’s Office and firefighters responded Wednesday morning to Hillsdale Lake after a fisherman reported seeing the body floating in the water. The body was pulled to shore, and divers found the vehicle underwater near a boat ramp.

The sheriff’s office says identification of the body is underway. No other details were immediately released.

Kansas school district prepares to sue over e-cigarettes

GODDARD, Kan. (AP) — Officials at a Wichita-area school district say they are preparing to sue the makers, distributors and sellers of electronic cigarettes and vaping products.

Goddard school board President Kevin McWhorter says the district has a responsibility to protect students from a “growing crisis.” He discussed the issue at a news conference Tuesday, the same day that health officials announced the first death in the state related to an outbreak of a lung disease linked to vaping.

The board passed a resolution Monday that allows a Kansas City area law firm to sue on the district’s behalf. McWhorter says the hope is that other schools and jurisdictions will file similar litigation targeting the e-cigarette and vaping industry.

Superintendent Justin Henry says the district doesn’t intend to seek class action status.

Suspect in 3-county Kan. chase faces kidnapping, other charges

CLOUD COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect who is in custody in Ottawa County after a 3-county chase Tuesday.

Woods photo Ottawa Co. Sheriff

Just after 2p.m., authorities in Cloud County initiated a pursuit of a suspect later identified as 23-year-old Michael Woods who was wanted on outstanding warrants, according to Ben Gardner of the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Deputies lost sight of the vehicle as it traveled south into Ottawa County where the Kansas Highway Patrol participated in the pursuit until troopers discontinued the chase due to unsafe speeds, according to Gardner.

Troopers ultimately located the vehicle at the Red Carpet Inn in the 200 block of Diamond Drive. A motel manager directed troopers to a room where they arrested Woods and detained two women.

Woods is being held on requested charges that include aggravated kidnapping, flee or attempt to elude, obstruction, the warrants and numerous additional traffic charges, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department. The women were held for questioning in the case, according to Gardner.

Amid Concerns, 4 Killed Over 24 Hours In Kansas City

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A series of shootings has left four people dead in Kansas City over 24 hours as concerns mount about violent crime in the state’s two largest cities.

Police on the scene of the Tuesday night shooting investigation photo courtesy KCTV

After Missouri Gov. Mike Parson met with leaders in St. Louis to discuss the problem, two people were killed around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday inside an apartment in southern Kansas City.

The scene of that shooting is less than 1 mile from where a shot-up Ford Mustang crashed into a parked vehicle about six hours earlier. Police say the driver was taken to a hospital in critical condition and the passenger was pronounced dead at the scene.

The fourth victim was killed late Monday. He was identified Tuesday as 41-year-old Antwain Foster. None of the other victims have been identified.

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