A new general is heading to Fort Riley next week to take command of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division.

Maj. Gen. Paul Funk takes over the Army’s oldest division from Maj. Gen. William Mayville Jr.

A ceremony will be held Wednesday on the Cavalry Parade Field at the northeast Kansas post.

 

Mayville recently returned from a yearlong deployment with the 1st Infantry Division headquarters, which held a regional command in Afghanistan.

A group of Kansas City residents hope to get an initiative on a local ballot requiring voter approval before any terminals at Kansas City International Airport can be torn down or replaced.

The group, called “Friends of KCI,” has begun gathering signatures of registered voters. Group spokesman John Murphy says 3,500 signatures are needed to get the initiative on a ballot.

Mayor Sly James has created a 24-member advisory group to study the current airport, and the local Chamber of Commerce has come out in favor of a $1.2 billion proposal to consolidate it into one terminal.

Critics of the current layout say it’s inefficient, while supporters say the design makes it easy to get to and from terminal gates.

A Kansas City man has been sentenced to life in prison for raping an 84-year-old woman during a break-in at the home she shared with her 93-year-old husband.

The sentence imposed Wednesday on 19-year-old Tony Putman also includes a total of 10 years for kidnapping and robbery. The Jackson County prosecutor says in all, Putman is expected to spend more than 34 years behind bars.

Putman pleaded guilty in March to charges linked to the July 2012 attack.

The woman told police she came home from running errands, heard her husband moaning and confronted an intruder who demanded money. The woman gave the intruder $400, after which he raped her and drove off in the couple’s vehicle with some jewelry.

Putman was arrested about 30 minutes later.

A jury has convicted the founder of a Kansas City, Missouri company and four of his associates of cheating investors by selling millions of dollars of worthless stock and spending the money on themselves.

Petro America Corporation founder Isreal Owen Hawkins was convicted Wednesday of conspiracy, securities fraud, aggravated currency structuring and other charges.

He faces up to 20 years in prison for the most serious charge.

Hawkins’ co-defendants were each convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud, which could get each up to five years in prison.

Prosecutors say Hawkins and his associates sold $7.2 million in Petro America stock from 2008 through 2010, at an initial rate of $100 per 100,000 shares. They told investors the stock would sell for $24 per share when the company eventually went public.

A St. Louis County police lieutenant has been fired, nearly six months after accusations that he ordered officers to target black people.

Lt. Patrick “Rick” Hayes was fired Monday following a six-month internal investigation that began with an anonymous tip dated Dec. 24 from a county officer.

The tip to Chief Tim Fitch and another top county police official said Hayes ordered officers under his command to focus on arresting blacks in and around South County Center and at a Wal-Mart store in south St. Louis County.

Fitch says the investigation determined that Hayes violated department policies but no officers followed his commands.

Hayes declined comment but his attorney, Neil Bruntrager, vowed to appeal, calling the internal investigation “flawed.”

A road with a name some residents of the St. Louis County town of Wildwood find offensive will stay the same.

The Wildwood City Council voted Monday to keep the name Old Slave Road despite a petition drive by some residents who live there.

Residents sought to change the name to Elijah Madison Lane after a slave who lived on the land the street runs through.

The Wildwood Historic Preservation Commission said in February that the name recognized the history of the area and identified the major role former slaves had in the growth of the region both before and after the Civil War.

The road runs near Old Slave Cemetery, where more than 60 former slaves are buried.

A Salina man goes into a local convenience store for milk and turns around to find that his car has come crashing through the front of the building behind him.

Hassan Williford joked that the vehicle must have got tired of waiting for him Saturday afternoon at a Kwik Shop. Instead, it was another driver who struck Williford’s car and send it crashing into the building.

Moses Stewart, 75, of Salina, was backing his Ford Expedition out of a parking space around 3:50 p.m. and struck Williford’s car.

Police say the store would be temporarily closed until local and state inspectors approve its re-opening.