PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — The death of a college student in southeast Kansas is being investigated as a homicide.
The Joplin Globe reports an autopsy showed that 20-year-old Taylor C. Thomas died of a single gunshot wound. He was a junior at Pittsburg State University majoring in mechanical engineering technology.
Officers responding to a disturbance call at an off-campus home where Thomas lived found him wounded around 2 a.m. Thursday. He was pronounced dead at Via Christi Hospital.
Pittsburg police said Friday the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, campus police and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department have joined the investigation. No arrests have been made.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police in Wichita have arrested a suspect in the rape of a 100-year-old woman during a break-in at her home.
The Wichita Eagle reports the 35-year-old man was being held Friday in the Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of rape and aggravated burglary.
Police have not released the man’s name. But jail and court records list him as a Wichita resident multiple convictions for burglary and theft.
The woman, who lives alone, told police she was awakened the night of Sept. 29 by two intruders. She walked to a neighbor’s house around 7:15 a.m. the next day to say there were still people in the home.
Police Capt. Troy Livingston described the victim as a strong and brave woman who is being cared for by her family.
IM SALTER, Associated Press
JEFF ROBERSON, Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tensions are high as the St. Louis region prepares for what’s expected to be four days of large-scale protests and marches over the Michael Brown shooting.
The events start Friday in the wake of another fatal police shooting of a black 18-year-old.
Several civil rights organizations are joining together to host protests through Monday, starting with a Friday afternoon rally outside St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch’s office.
The rallies are calling for charges against Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown on Aug. 9 in Ferguson. A state grand jury is hearing evidence in the case, and the Justice Department is investigating.
Black leaders in St. Louis also want the Justice Department to investigate the fatal shooting of Vonderrit D. Myers by a St. Louis officer on Wednesday night.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A government forecast shows Kansas is expected to harvest 592 million bushels of corn this fall while setting a record yield for bushels cut per acre.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Friday this year’s corn crop in Kansas is shaping up to be 17 percent larger than a year ago. A record yield is forecast of 160 bushels per acre, or 33 bushels per acre more than last year.
Anticipated production of most other fall crops in Kansas is also higher than a year ago.
A forecast of 188 million bushels for grain sorghum is up 14 percent. Soybean production of 148 million bushels is up 13 percent. Cotton production of 55,000 bales is up 34 percent.
But anticipated sunflower production of 77.6 million pounds is down 5 percent.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A same-sex couple received a license Friday in Johnson County and got married but it’s not clear whether Kansas will recognize the marriage.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt is asking the state Supreme Court to immediately block all such licenses from being granted. He says a judge in Johnson County exceeded his authority in ordering clerks and other judges to approve marriage applications from gay couples. The Kansas Constitution bans gay marriage.
Schmidt says his goal is to “freeze the status quo in place until the legal dispute can be properly resolved.”
Johnson County Court Clerk Sandra McCurdy won’t identify the couple but says they married shortly after receiving the license.
A gay couple whose application for a marriage license in Riley County was accepted Thursday learned Friday that a judge had denied it.
WELDON SPRING, Mo. (AP) — Thousands of venomous brown recluse spiders forced a suburban St. Louis family from their nearly half-million-dollar home.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Brian and Susan Trost bought the Weldon Spring home in 2007 for $450,000 and discovered the spiders soon after moving in. Susan Trost says the spiders were everywhere, including one she had to dodge as it fell from the ceiling and washed down the drain as she was showering.
The Trosts sued the home’s former owners and their insurance company in 2008 and were awarded more than $472,000 in a 2011 civil trial, but they never collected.
The former owners declared bankruptcy and the insurance company refused to pay. The Trosts eventually abandoned the home, which overlooks a country club golf course and now is in foreclosure.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A court office in Kansas’ most populous county has issued a marriage license to a gay couple, believed to be the first such license in the state.
Liz Dickinson, a member of the gay-rights group Equality Kansas, said she was at the county courthouse Friday when the couple received their license. The Johnson County District Court clerk’s office confirmed that a license was issued but declined to identify the couple.
That came two days after district court Chief Judge Kevin Moriarty directed clerks and other judges to begin issuing licenses to same-sex couples — even though the Kansas Constitution bans gay marriage under a provision voters approved in 2005.
Moriarty acted after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five other states seeking to preserve their gay-marriage bans.
The Walter Cronkite Memorial at Missouri Western State University received the Missouri Division of Tourism’s Spotlight Award at the 2014 Missouri Governor’s Conference on Tourism in St. Louis on Oct. 8.
“This memorial to one of our most distinguished Missourians is attracting national and international attention,” said Marci Bennett, executive director of the St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau, who nominated Missouri Western for the award.
Residents of 33 states and five foreign countries have visited the Walter Cronkite Memorial since it opened in November.
The Spotlight Award highlights significant contributions in promoting and “spotlighting” tourism in Missouri. It is presented to an individual, business or organization that is not normally considered to be part of the tourism industry.
Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president, accepted the award.
“We’re grateful to the Division of Tourism for this recognition. Tourism is an important part of the St. Joseph area’s economy, and we’re pleased to have added another attraction for visitors to the region,” Dr. Vartabedian said. “I am humbled to accept this honor on behalf of the many talented people who worked so hard to make the Walter Cronkite Memorial a reality and continue to improve and expand it. We thank the private donors who made the memorial possible, especially the David and Shirley Bradley Endowment. We also appreciate the gracious support this project has received from Walter Cronkite’s family and friends.”
Walter Cronkite was born in St. Joseph on Nov. 4, 1916. The Walter Cronkite Memorial, in the atrium of Spratt Hall on the Missouri Western campus, was dedicated last year on what would have been his 97th birthday. The 5,000 square-foot display features images and videos of Cronkite’s life and the many historic events he covered as a journalist. The Walter Cronkite Memorial is open daily except Christmas, New Year’s Day and Easter, and admission is always free.
The memorial is already in its third phase of expansion, thanks in part to the large number of Cronkite artifacts that have been donated or loaned to Missouri Western, including a recent loan from the Cronkite family of personal memorabilia from the journalist’s life and career.
The memorial is complemented by a live, multi-media performance called “Cronkite,” conceived and edited by Dr. Vartabedian and based on a 2002 appearance by Cronkite on CNN’s “Larry King Live” one year after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Public performances of “Cronkite” are currently scheduled at 2 p.m. Oct. 19, 6 p.m. Oct. 23 and 8 p.m. Nov. 3. Admission is free, but reservations are requested by calling 816-271-4100. Learn more at www.cronkitelive.com.
The live show is also part of a field trip package that has been developed for schools, senior citizen groups and community organizations. Groups can enjoy a Cronkite-narrated presentation in Missouri Western’s Bushman Planetarium, then tour the Memorial and see “Cronkite.”
Missouri Western’s commitment to preserving the legacy of the legendary newsman extends beyond the memorial. Dr. Vartabedian has taught a one-credit class this fall titled “Walter Cronkite’s Enduring Legacy.” Next month, Missouri Western and the Media Ethics Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications will hold the inaugural Walter Cronkite Conference on Media Ethics and Integrity Nov. 2-4. Cronkite biographer and prolific historian Dr. Douglas Brinkley will be the keynote speaker at both the conference and Missouri Western’s 21st annual R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 in the Looney Arena on campus. The Convocation is free and open to the public.
SJFD puts out homeless fire in abandoned building in 2100 block of Angelique St.
The St. Joseph Fire Department responded to the 2100 block of Angelique around 10 a.m. Friday after a City of St. Joseph Maintenance employee reported seeing smoke coming from an abandoned building.
Fire Inspector Steve Henrichson said city workers also reported seeing an individual run out of the building.
“It looks like a homeless person was using it as a place to stay and had a little fire they were using to keep warm,” said Henrichson. “There was actually a small fire on a concrete floor.”
Henrichson said he does not believe there was any intent to burn the building down.
“There was gasoline sitting there if they wanted to actually intentionally burn the building they could have done it with other materials,” he said.
The St. Joseph Police Department was also called out to search for the man who ran from the scene. Henrichson said because these types of incidents are more common during the colder months people should make sure their buildings are secure when not occupied.
“Wither the doors are locked, boarding them up just something to keep people from getting into them,” he said. “Leaving the doors unlocked or broken windows is an invitation for people to get into them.”
an autopsy showed that 20-year-old Taylor C. Thomas died of a single gunshot wound. He was a junior at Pittsburg State University majoring in mechanical engineering technology.
