MANHATTAN, Kan- A pickup truck hit and killed a bicycle rider just after 7 p.m. on Thursday in Riley County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Dodge pickup driven by Derik Kesler, 32, Rossville, was southbound on Kansas 177 and struck bicyclist Mark M. Jilka, 49, Manhattan from behind.
Jilka was pronounced dead at the scene. He was transported Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Morturary.
The accident is still under investigation.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Federal Election Commission has dismissed an anti-abortion group’s complaint alleging that an abortion rights political action committee helped finance the operations of a new clinic in Wichita.
The political action committee, Trust Women, announced Thursday it received a notice from the FEC this week dismissing the complaint filed last year by Operation Rescue.
The Trust Women Foundation opened a clinic last year in the late Dr. George Tiller’s former medical building. Tiller was among a few U.S. physicians known to perform late-term abortions and was murdered in 2009.
The separate Trust Women PAC disbanded in May. Operation Rescue alleged that the PAC was improperly funding the clinic’s operations. The PAC acknowledged small loans to the clinic.
The FEC said loans from the PAC to the clinic would not be illegal.
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism
PRATT – The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism will participat in Operation Dry Water Friday through Sunday as part of a nationally coordinated effort to reduce the number of accidents and deaths related to boating under the influence.
During the three-day period, KDWPT officers will be on the water, reminding boaters about the dangers of boating under the influence and detecting boaters who are impaired. ODW efforts will include increased patrols, breathalyzer tests, and checkpoints, as well as boater education and outreach.
“There is a big misconception out there that operating a boat while intoxicated is not as dangerous as driving a car. This simply isn’t true,” said KDWPT assistant director of law enforcement Maj. Dan Hesket. “In fact, studies have found that people become impaired faster when boating as opposed to driving due to additional factors such as heat, dehydration, wind and wave action. “Our goal is to promote awareness of the hazards relating to boat operations while intoxicated and to prevent any accidents, injuries, or deaths due to operating while impaired.
“If you suspect a boater is intoxicated, dial 911, and try to get the registration numbers from the boat, as well as a complete description of the operator and passengers,” Hesket added. “Under no circumstances should you confront the other boater.”
Boaters whose blood alcohol content level exceeds the state limit of .08 percent can expect to be arrested for BUI and face other serious penalties including fines, jail time and loss of boating or even driving privileges.
According to Hesket, the KDWPT Law Enforcement Division averages approximately 11 special enforcement efforts over the ODW weekend, resulting in 4 to 8 boating under the influence arrests each year.
For more information on Operation Dry Water, visit operationdrywater.org.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Tea party candidate Milton Wolf is attacking both Republican U.S. senators from Kansas as he tries to unseat three-term incumbent Pat Roberts in the state’s GOP primary.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran declined Thursday to respond to Wolf’s criticism of him over his chairmanship of the Republican National Senatorial Committee.
Wolf contends the committee betrayed the Republican Party and its conservative base by supporting Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran in his hotly contested primary race against a tea party challenger. Cochran narrowly won a runoff earlier this week.
Wolf said in an interview that he holds Moran responsible for what he called the national committee’s war on conservative Republicans.
Roberts spokesman Leroy Towns said Wolf is attacking Moran to generate support nationally that he hasn’t been able to build in Kansas.
TROY, Kan. – Charley “Tom” Thomas Christian Jr., 64, passed away Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at his home.
He was born July 31, 1949 in St. Joseph, and is the son of Eileen and Charley Christian. He worked as a mechanic and welder. He enjoyed raising chickens and poultry.
Charley was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Suzanna Nold, and Tamara Christian.
Survivors include three sons, Jeremy (Cheryl) Christian, Leonard (Tina) Christian, and Charley Christian; two daughters, Loreal (Russell) Wells, and Ginger Lee; a sister, Mickey J. (Tom) Burkart; and 14 grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 1 to 2 p.m., Tuesday with a memorial service to be held at 2 p.m. at Rupp Funeral Home. He will be cremated under the direction of Rupp Funeral Home. Memorials are requested to the Tom Christian Memorial fund. Online condolence and obituary at www.ruppfuneral.com
Orientation begins Monday in Saint Joseph for classes to prepare for the High School Equivalency Test. Adult Education director Betty Wymore says there’s no cost to attend…for now.
Orientation, enrollment, and classes are all held at the Webster Learning Center, 18th and Highly. The orientation sessions start at 9 am sharp. Wymore says the community has made it clear the students need to learn to be on time, so they’ll be held accountable in the HSE sessions.
For more information click here.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A former southeast Kansas bank supervisor has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $2.6 million from her employer over a 10-year span.
U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says 55-year-old Cynthia Bright of Girard pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to one count of bank fraud. She admitted stealing the money while working as operations supervisor at Girard National Bank.
Bright used several different methods to steal the funds, including writing checks on her own accounts and altering electronic bank records to show the checks had cleared, even though money would not be taken from her account.
Grissom says Bright and the government have agreed to recommend a five-year prison sentence and a restitution order for the full amount of the thefts.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 15.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Two days of media previews of the world’s tallest water slide have been canceled and the attraction’s scheduled opening Sunday is in question because of problems with its conveyor system.
The 17-story, 168-foot-tall water slide is called Verruckt — German for “insane.” Schlitterbahn Waterpark spokeswoman Winter Prosapio says the conveyor carries 100-pound, four-person rafts to the top of the slide in Kansas City, Kansas.
Verruckt was to open May 23, but that was moved to June 5 so more testing could be done and then pushed again to June 29.
Guinness World Records certified it as the world’s tallest water slide in April.
Another highly anticipated attraction, SteelHawk at Kansas City, Missouri’s Worlds of Fun, also hasn’t opened. It was to be ready May 24.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, has been presented with an honorary degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law.
Dean John Broderick and New Hampshire’s two senators, Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen, presented the degree to Dole on Thursday in Washington to recognize his work as an advocate for veterans and disability rights.
Dole has worked with UNH Law to establish the Robert J. Dole Veteran Fellowship at the school’s Law’s Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Policy to fund the legal education of veterans committed to public service.
Dole and Rudman were colleagues in the U.S. Senate for more than a decade.
Dole was defeated by Bill Clinton in 1996. He was the vice presidential nominee in 1976.
The Office of Kansas Attorney General
TOPEKA – The U.S. Supreme Court today unanimously blocked the president from bypassing the U.S. Senate when making appointments to federal agencies and offices, an important victory for small states like Kansas, Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.
In a unanimous decision, the Court ruled that the appointments of three of the five members of the National Labor Relations Board were invalid because they were made without Senate approval while the Senate was between pro forma sessions. The majority of the court held that in this case a Senate recess of less than three days was too short to allow the president to make so-called “recess” appointments without violating the Advice-and-Consent Clause of the United States Constitution. In effect, the Supreme Court said that the president lacks constitutional authority to determine when the Senate is in recess – only the Senate can do that.
“Going forward, there will be times when today’s decision benefits Democrats and other times when it benefits Republicans,” Schmidt said. “But protecting the role of the United States Senate – where our Founding Fathers gave every state an equal voice – in selecting key federal officers will always benefit small states like Kansas. And preventing the president from ignoring the Constitution’s checks and balances will always benefit every American’s liberty.”
While the unanimous decision imposes significant limits on the presidential recess appointments power, the Court by a 5-4 margin stopped short of adopting the stricter limitations that a lower court had imposed.
In this case, Schmidt joined with 16 other state attorneys general last year urging the Court to invalidate the appointments and to limit the president’s authority to bypass the Senate in making federal appointments. The case is NLRB v. Noel Canning, No. 12–1281.
