GRANT COUNTY — Two people died in an accident just before 12:30p.m. Saturday in Grant County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Kenworth truck was westbound on Grant County Road 10 three miles north of U.S. 160. The driver failed to yield right of way to a southbound 2012 Chevy Silverado driven by Kevin Jay Coyle, 57, Turpin, Oklahoma, at the uncontrolled intersection. The Kenworth entered the intersection directly into the path of the Silverado.

Coyle and a passenger Gerald Lee Coyle, 81, Turpin, Oklahoma, were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Garnands Funeral Home. They were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.   The KHP has not released the name of the Kenworth truck.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated battery and have made an arrest.

Just after 3p.m. Thursday, police were alerted to a video on social media that included a male punching a female, according to according to officer Charley Davidson. Several citizens also contacted police about the video. Investigators were able to identify the individuals involved and arrested a 16-year-old boy at his home on South Patty in Wichita.

On Friday, police also arrested a 15 and a 16-year-old girl in connection with the attack.

Police also contacted the 15-year-old victim. She sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to Davidson. He said the boy and the victim are acquainted and the battery stems from an ongoing dispute.

Police booked the youths into juvenile detention on requested charges of aggravated battery.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out a retired Kansas Highway Patrol trooper’s conviction and probation sentence related to a charge that he lied to the FBI during an investigation into illegal gambling in Wichita.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren on Tuesday granted 54-year-old Michael Frederiksen’s request to vacate his conviction. Frederiksen had argued his attorney was ineffective.

The judge agreed, writing that Frederiksen’s trial attorney was inexperienced, unfamiliar with court rules regarding evidence and, while he was licensed to practice in New Mexico, he was not licensed in Kansas.

Frederiksen, of Derby, was convicted in May of lying to FBI investigators about participating in an illegal cash poker game while he was still a trooper. Prosecutors at his trial said video showed he had participated.

LYONS, Kan. (AP) — The girlfriend of a Kansas man who fatally shot his father and wounded two Kansas law enforcement officers before killing himself has pleaded no contest to aggravated child endangerment.

27-year-old Erin Baker also pleaded no contest Friday to obstruction of law enforcement. A charge of interference with law enforcement was dropped. She’s expected to receive probation when she’s sentenced Dec. 18.

Investigators say Baker put her 7-year-old in danger by continuing a relationship with David Madden, despite knowing he was a convicted felon with a gun.

Police say the child was present in April when Madden wounded a Rice County undersheriff. Baker previously told KWCH-TV that she and her son got away after dropping Madden off at his father’s home, where the other shootings happened.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A Kansas City police officer has been cleared in the May fatal shooting of a man suspected of having forced his way into a woman’s home.

The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed no charges will be filed against the officer in the May 26 shooting death of 30-year-old Terrance Bridges.

The shooting stemmed from a call to police about a domestic disturbance, in which a woman reported a man had broken into her home and stolen her car.

Police say three officers responded, with one staying at the home while the other two searched for the suspect. Minutes later, police say the suspect — later identified as Bridges — returned. A chase and struggle ensued, and the officer shot Bridges.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. —One of two men convicted of reckless second-degree murder in the death a Hutchinson man during a drug sale was sentenced Friday to just under 11-years in prison.

Curtis Garcia, 26,  entered a plea in the case as part of an agreement with the state. He was originally charged with felony murder for the killing of 18-year-old Norman Cushinberry.

The crime involves 18-year-old defendant in the case Tristan Delaney and Cushinberry purchasing drugs. According to court testimony, Delaney and Garcia had been texting the day of the shooting about the purchase of around a quarter pound of marijuana.

There is also some indication over phony money being involved. Garcia, who had his children in his pickup during the transaction, claims he was there to sell an Xbox and not drugs. The victim tried to pay for the marijuana with counterfeit money, so Garcia left.

Delaney then texted Garcia to come back because they would have real money. Once Garcia arrived a second time, the victim allegedly got into Garcia’s pickup. He then asked him to turn the truck off. Once Garcia complied, Cushinberry pulled a 9 mm Ruger semi-automatic handgun.

Delaney came from the porch with a 12-gauge shotgun. Garcia grabbed a handgun he had in the pickup and fired at Delaney, striking him. An altercation then occurred in the pickup and Cushinberry was shot. Garcia then went to the passenger side of the truck, pulled the victim out and left him in the street where he died.

Delaney, who also entered a plea to the same charge in this case, will be sentenced Nov. 1.

By CORRINE BOYER
Kansas News Service

GARDEN CITY —A welding torch caused August’s fire at a Tyson meatpacking plant in western Kansas.

The Garden City Fire Department investigated the fire at the Holcomb plant and completed a report on Oct. 13, saying the fire was unintentional and likely started because a welding torch produced a “spark, ember or flame.”

Tyson spokeswoman Liz Croston said the company “will not be releasing an update on the cause of the fire.”

The Garden City Fire Department investigated the cause of the fire. Garden City Communications Manager Jamie Stewart said the city won’t release any further updates about the fire.

The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office does not investigate fires unless requested by local fire departments, according to spokeswoman Jill Bronaugh. And because no injuries were reported, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration didn’t investigate.

The plant stopped production after the fire, though it returned to limited production a few weeks later. The Tyson plant processed around 5% of beef in the U.S., and beef prices spiked after the fire. It prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate pricing margins. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for an update on that investigation.

Holcomb Fire Chief Bill Knight remembers seeing black smoke inside the Tyson building on the night of the fire, which he said kept firefighters at the plant from 8:30 p.m. Aug. 9 to about 10 p.m. the next day.

Knight said he could smell burning cattle carcasses, which had been slaughtered prior to the fire.

“Now, you’ve got a hundred and some head of livestock hanging there upside down, and when they catch fire they melt and all that fat, grease … turns to a flammable liquid,” Knight said.

Knight said Tyson’s safety crew helped the firefighters find the electrical switches and valves on the scene. He also noted that some tanks of anhydrous ammonia had minor leaks during the fire, but said it was “nothing big.”

“And, like I say, the Tyson people were on top of that,” Knight said.

Corinne Boyer covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @corinne_boyer or or email cboyer@hppr.org. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life.

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY — The Kansas Highway Patrol has identified the victim in an accident that occurred just after 3p.m. Thursday in Leavenworth County.

According to the KHP,  a 2001 Ford F250 driven by Hunter Ford, 22, Tonganoxie, was eastbound at 25687 U.S. 24 Highway in Tonganoxie.

The pickup crossed the center line and struck a 2018 Kia Soul driven by Jawuan Smoot, 21, Lawrence, and rolled. The Kia overturned and left the road to the right. 

Smoot was pronounced dead at the scene. Despite not wearing a seat belt, Ford had minor injuries and was not transported for treatment, according to the KHP.

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LEAVENWORTH COUNTY —The Kansas Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal Thursday afternoon crash in Leavenworth County.

Just after 3p.m. Thursday, a vehicle eastbound on U.S. 24 Highway in Tonganoxie crossed the center line, struck a westbound vehicle rolled and exited the roadway to the left.

Authorities had not released details or names of the victims early Friday.

GARDEN CITY –  A former police officer in Garden City has been convicted of two child sex crime-related charges, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Douglas Heit, 50, Garden City, pleaded no contest in Finney County District Court Thursday to two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

Judge Michael Quint accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for December 19 at 1 p.m. The charges fall under Jessica’s Law because the victim was under 14 years of age.

The crimes were committed in August 2018. The charges stemmed from an investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Garden City Police Department.

Heit began work as a police officer in Garden City in 2003 and left the department in 2018.

By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post

Junior water rights holders in the area of the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge will not have their water usage drastically restricted in Fiscal Year 2020.

That’s the word from U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, who spoke about the agreement during a stop in Salina Friday afternoon.

According to Moran, Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has senior water rights to many irrigators in central Kansas.

“The demands for that water are significant, and there’s always more demand than there is water. It’s been a circumstance on and off throughout Kansas’ history,” Moran said.

“We’ve had conversations within the last week with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife leadership. We have gotten an agreement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They will make no demands for water for Quivira for the next year. And in the meantime they will work with irrigators — farmers and ranchers in central Kansas — to come up with a solution to the needs for water in the future,” he said.

The wetter than normal weather in the area over the past year played a favorable role in getting the agreement in place, Moran said.

While the agreement is a direct benefit to the irrigators, it also benefits the area economy, he added.

“In the absence of this agreement, in the absence of the pause for a year, the junior rights water holders would have generally had their allocation reduced dramatically, so that would mean a lot less farming, a lot less economic activity, and certainly damage to the economy of the communities Great Bend, Pratt, St. John, Stafford, Kinsley, that part of Kansas,” Moran explained.

The one-year pause gives irrigators time to negotiate an agreement for future water use, he said.

“From my perspective, this really is a state issue. It is the Division of Water Resources within the Kansas Department of Agriculture that manages those water rights, but they have said that as long as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doesn’t make the demand for water, they will not then force those farmers to reduce their use of water and give those farmers a time to negotiate a deal,” he said.

According to Moran, central Kansas irrigators will need to work hard to develop a plan for the future, as there is more demand for water than there is water.

“And so this doesn’t mean that the problems are solved, it means that there is an opportunity to try to solve them,” Moran said.