By ANDREA TUDHOPE, Kansas News Service

A former high-ranking official of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, was sentenced Wednesday for misdemeanor battery against a female employee.

Former General Services Director Tib Laughlin faces 12 months of probation, and must attend anger management classes and continued mental health counseling.

Last year, Laughlin grabbed Maddie Waldeck by the shirt and pushed her against a wall. In July, a Wyandotte County jury found Laughlin guilty of misdemeanor battery; Laughlin, who spent two decades at the UG, resigned almost immediately.

After Laughlin’s conviction, UG Public Relations Director Mike Taylor told KCUR that UG officials were surprised by the jury’s verdict, because they had conducted an internal investigation of the incident, and “came to a different conclusion than the jury.”

Waldeck, however, felt that the UG condoned the harassment and physical assault she faced. In August, she sued the Unified Government, saying Laughlin engaged in a pattern and practice of gender discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and that the UG “failed to discipline” Laughlin, despite Waldeck’s repeated complaints.

Waldeck told KCUR the two years she worked with Laughlin were the “most stressful and heartbreaking of her professional life.” But in her victim impact statement Wednesday, Waldeck said it wasn’t entirely Laughlin’s fault.

“When an animal that hasn’t been trained properly repeatedly has an accident on the carpet, you don’t blame the animal. You blame the owner who didn’t take the time to show the animal there is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things,” she said. “The Unified Government failed me. It failed Mr. Laughlin. It failed my family. And it failed our community.”

For his part, Laughlin said in his statement Wednesday that it had become “painfully clear” to him that pushing his employee against a wall was wrong. He made eye contact with and apologized directly to Waldeck, who he called a “valued colleague,” until the judge told him to turn around and address the court.

He called his behavior “stupid, impulsive and obviously wrong.”

“I let down friends, colleagues and myself. They all, especially Maddie, deserve better,” he said.

Waldeck told KCUR after the hearing that she appreciated Laughlin’s apology and that he accepted responsibility for his actions.

“I would like to hope what he said was true,” Waldeck said.

Andrea Tudhope is a reporter in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. Email her at andreat@kcur.org, and follow her on Twitter @andreatudhope.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A computer software engineer accused of plotting cyberattacks on websites criticizing a Wichita attorney’s work has notified the court he plans to change his plea.

A docket notation on Wednesday in U.S. District Court says VIRAL Artificial Intelligence co-founder David Dorsett is set for a change-of-plea hearing on Oct. 21 in Wichita.

Dorsett and Wichita lawyer Bradley Pistotnik pleaded not guilty last year to federal charges of computer fraud and conspiracy. Pistotnik is also charged with making false statements to the FBI.

The indictment alleges that Pistotnik and Dorsett are responsible for cyberattacks on Leagle.com, Ripoffreport.com and JaburgWilk.com in 2014 and 2015. The indictment also accuses Dorsett of filling website inboxes with threats. Court records say one email demands that a webpage be removed or the hackers will target advertisers.

ROELAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A former suburban Kansas City mayor has become the third Republican to kick off a campaign to challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids.

Adrienne Foster announced her campaign this week for the GOP nomination in the 3rd Congressional District. Foster served one term as the mayor of Roeland Park, a community of about 6,800, before becoming executive director of the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission under Republican Govs. Brownback and Jeff Colyer.

During her tenure with the commission, she faced calls for her resignation over comments she made in support of then-candidate Donald Trump.

Also running in the Republican primary is Former National Down Syndrome Society CEO Sarah Hart Weir and Amanda Adkins, a Cerner Corp. executive with political ties to Brownback.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are urging witnesses to a Kansas bar shooting that left four dead and five wounded to come forward as the hunt continues for one of the suspects.

Police continued searching Thursday for Hugo Villanueva-Morales, more than four days after gunfire erupted early Sunday at the Tequila KC bar in Kansas City, Kansas. Villanueva-Morales and 23-year-old Javier Alatorre are charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Alatorre was arrested hours after the shooting at a home in Kansas City, Missouri.

Officer Thomas Tomasic says officers don’t know whether Villanueva-Morales is in the area or has left. He says police are at a “slow point right now as far as information.” Police want to talk to any witnesses who were in the bar but left before officers arrived.

BUTLER COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities had a long night and have ended their investigation and search for a man who allegedly had an assault rifle at a refinery in Butler County.

Just after 10:30 p.m. deputies responded to the HollyFrontier refinery in 1400 Block of Douglas Road in El Dorado. A contractor at the refinery reported seeing three men on the property and one was carrying an assault rifle, according to Sheriff Kelly Herzet.

Deputies set up a perimeter and helped evacuate over 600 employees and contractors. The Butler County swat team with help from Harvey County assisted at the scene, according to Herzet. In the midst of the search for the alleged suspects, a thunderstorm rolled through and delayed the search.

Deputies didn’t see anyone and officials locked the refinery down tight, according to Herzet. After an interview with the reporting party authorities gave the all clear at 5 a.m. There were no injuries reported.

HollyFrontier owns and operates refineries located in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah and markets its refined products principally in the Southwest U.S., the Rocky Mountains extending into the Pacific Northwest and in other neighboring Plains states, according to the company web site.

SHAWNEE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating two robberies and have arrested a third suspect.

Just before 3:30p.m.  August 28, officers responded to Panderia Monterrey Bakery on a report
of an aggravated robbery. Witnesses reported that a man entered the store armed
with a handgun and demanded money, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Koenen.

Just after 7:30p.m. the following day, officers responded to Ibannos Grill Food Truck on a report of
an aggravated robbery. Witnesses reported that two men entered the taco truck, armed with
handguns and demanded money.

On Tuesday 19-year-old Ernesto Negrete Jr. was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on the following charges: Aggravated Robbery x2, Theft x2, Aggravated Assault and Topeka Bench Warrants.

On October 2, police arrested 21-year-old Victor A. Arellano in connection to both cases and
booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on the requested charges of Aggravated Robbery, Theft, Aggravated Assault, driving while suspended and failure to
yield to an emergency vehicle.

Police had earlier arrested Javier A. Martinez, 29, and booked him into the Shawnee
Department of Corrections in connection to the Ibannos Grill Food Truck investigation.

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TOPEKA, Kan. – Law enforcement authorities are investigating two robberies and have made an arrest.

Just before 3:30p.m.  August 28, officers responded to Panderia Monterrey Bakery on a report
of an aggravated robbery. Witnesses reported that a man entered the store armed
with a handgun and demanded money, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Koenen.

Just after 7:30p.m. the following day, officers responded to Ibannos Grill Food Truck on a report of
an aggravated robbery. Witnesses reported that two men entered the taco truck, armed with
handguns and demanded money.

On Wednesday, police arrested 21-year-old Victor A. Arellano in connection to both cases and
booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on the requested charges of Aggravated Robbery, Theft, Aggravated Assault, driving while suspended and failure to
yield to an emergency vehicle.

Police had earlier arrested Javier A. Martinez, 29, and booked him into the Shawnee
Department of Corrections in connection to the Ibannos Grill Food Truck investigation.

KANSAS CITY—Ivanka Trump, daughter of President Trump and advisor to the president, will visit Kansas City with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar for a child care roundtable on Thursday afternoon at Metropolitan Community College, according to a release from HHS.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson and Senator Roy Blunt will join the first-daughter and HHS Secretary for the event.

President Trump has made working families a focus of his administration. He wants to offer mothers and fathers more choice and flexibility with child care, so they can choose how to balance home and work life in a way that best serves their needs, benefits their children, and allows them to fully participate in the economy, according to  Lynn Johnson, Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

The roundtable, hosted by HHS’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is the 7th in a series of ten roundtables to be hosted nationwide as part of the Trump Administration’s larger effort to support working families by promoting access to child care, a key initiative for the administration.

To most people, this is great news – who doesn’t want a strong economy? But employers are desperate for workers. The inability to fill open jobs is the number one challenge across many sectors of our economy. Meanwhile, there are still thousands of workers, here in our communities, who want to join in and contribute, but face a critical shortfall. I’m talking, of course, about one of the single greatest barriers to economic mobility facing American families today: access to affordable, high-quality child care.

As Assistant Secretary of HHS’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF), I can say unequivocally that one of our most pressing challenges is supporting working families as they raise their children, while balancing home life and work. Presently, the cost of center-based child care for two children, an infant and a 4 year old, exceeds home mortgage costs in 35 states and D.C., and annual median rental payments in every state. However, child care is more than just a major expense for families – it’s also a significant barrier to work.

JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and have a suspect in custody.

On Tuesday, deputies in Jackson County made a traffic stop on U.S. 75 south of Mayetta, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.  Deputies discovered the 1990 Lexus had been stolen in Topeka. They arrested the driver Ronnie Lee Brandenburg Jr. 48, Horton, for felony possession of stolen property and driving while suspended.

Brandenburg has previous convictions for drugs, interference with law enforcement, trafficking contraband in a correctional institution and two for DUI, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

MARION COUNTY — Two people died in an accident just after 7:30p.m. Wednesday in Marion County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Dodge Caravan driven by Cecil Gill, Jr., 84, Hazel Crest, Illinois was westbound on U.S. 50 one mile west of U.S. 77 on the eastbound shoulder partially in the eastbound lane of traffic and collided with an eastbound 2010 Kenworth semi driven by Kevin M. Thompson, 57, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

A passenger in the van Dwayne J. Scott, 20, St. Louis, MO., was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Zeiner Funeral Home in Marion. EMS transported Gill to a Wichita hospital where he died.

Thompson was transported for treatment of minor injuries. The drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP. Scott’s seatbelt usage was unknown.

HUTCHINSON  —Just after 10a.m. Wednesday police were dispatched to 711 E 10th in Hutchinson for a disturbance, with a possible suicidal person, according to a media release. Prior to officer’s arrival there was a gunshot heard from inside of the residence by the reporting party. Officers set up a perimeter and attempted to contact the occupant of the residence but were unable to. Due to circumstances, a decision was made to evacuate the immediate area and lock down the area schools.

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Hutch Post

HUTCHINSON— A police standoff in Hutchinson ended Wednesday afternoon when police used the ERT tactical truck to break down the front door of the home in the 700 Block of East 10th Street. ERT officers entered the home and found a mab dead of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Police Chief Jeff Hooper says the name of the victim has not been released and like all shootings, is being treated as a homicide until the investigation is complete. The victim of the apparent domestic disturbance that started the stand off was not injured.

All lockdowns involving USD 308 schools were lifted. No officers were injured. The standoff was also a first for the new tactical paramedics from the Hutchinson Fire Department. The unit has been training with the ERT for several months after the program was put in place this summer.
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HUTCHINSON — Police are working an armed subject call in the 700 block of East 10th. Police were heard telling the person inside a home through a loudspeaker, “you are under arrest, come out with your hands up.” Police believe the person may be armed and that’s the reason for the precaution.

10th Street from Plum to Pershing is blocked off and Cleveland from 9th to 11th is also closed. Police were bringing in the special ops team for this continuing situation.

The Hutchinson school district is using caution because of this ongoing standoff and placed Hutchinson High School, McCandless Elementary and Faris Elementary in soft lockdown.

Officials say outside doors were locked, but classes continue.

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HUTCHINSON — Police are now working the armed subject call at this time in the 700 block of East 10th. Police were heard telling the person inside a home through a loudspeaker, “you are under arrest, come out with your hands up.” Police believe the person may be armed and that’s the reason for the precaution.

10th Street from Cleveland to Pershing is blocked off.

The Hutchinson school district is using caution because of this possible armed subject and placed Hutchinson High School, McCandless Elementary and Faris Elementary in soft lockdown.

Officials say outside doors were locked, but classes continue.