BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP) — A fleeing driver has been charged with causing a crash in the Kansas that killed a suburban Chicago teen.
29-year-old Anthony Dorsey was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement.
The pursuit started Monday after a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper attempted to stop a car with a registration issue near a Kansas City, Kansas, shopping area. The patrol says the man fled westbound on Interstate 70 before turning around near Bonner Springs, Kansas, and driving into oncoming traffic.
That’s when 19-year-old Nathan Pena, of Brookfield, Illinois, was killed in a head-on crash while headed to Colorado to see friends. Dorsey, who was wanted on an armed robbery charge, had minor injuries and was taken into custody at the scene.
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Monday crash scene photo courtesy KCTV
LEAVENWORTH COUNTY —One person died in an accident during a chase by law enforcement just after 2p.m. Monday in Leavenworth County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Chevy Tahoe driven by Anthony Dorsey, 29, Kansas City, was westbound on Interstate 70 attempted to flee law enforcement.
The driver made a U-turn prior to the eastern entrance toll plaza. While traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes, a 2017 Subaru driven by Nathan Pena, 19, Brookfield, IL., made an evasive maneuver to avoid the Tahoe. The Tahoe collided with the Subaru in the north ditch.
Pena was pronounced dead at the scene. Dorsey was not injured. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Authorities have not released details on what prompted the chase and possible charges against Dorsey.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas conservatives are trying to overturn a state Supreme Court decision that protects abortion rights and threatens years’ worth of Republican-enacted restrictions, guaranteeing an election-year fight over amending the state constitution.
Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle
A legislative study committee opened two days of hearings Tuesday on a ruling in April by the state’s highest court that access to abortion is a fundamental right under the Kansas Constitution. The Republican-led committee is expected to urge the full, GOP-controlled Legislature to put a proposed constitutional change on the ballot next year for voters to consider.
Anti-abortion groups and legislators said Tuesday that they’re still drafting their proposal. Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, said the measure wouldn’t seek to ban abortion outright but would declare that the Legislature determines how it is regulated.
If the effort succeeds, Kansas would be among a handful of states in which voters have added provisions to their state constitutions to declare that they don’t grant a right to an abortion. Alabama and West Virginia approved theirs last year, and Louisiana voters are considering a ballot question next year.
“We’re really stuck here,” Culp told the committee. “There is no other way to do it.”
Abortion rights opponents didn’t push for action before lawmakers adjourned their annual session in May, saying they wanted to confer with lawyers throughout the country and build political support.
The Legislature has long had anti-abortion majorities, but abortion opponents were a bit spooked in early May, when anti-abortion lawmakers narrowly failed to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill that would have required providers to tell patients about a disputed treatment to stop a medication-induced abortion after it has been started.
Overriding a veto requires the same two-thirds majorities in both chambers that are required to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot for a statewide vote.
And in Iowa, another Republican-leaning state where the highest court issued an abortion-rights ruling in 2018, lawmakers have failed to move forward with a constitutional change, and one couldn’t go before voters there until 2022.
“Those politicians who are very opposed to abortion, for whom this is their No. 1 issue, realize that this isn’t an easy task anymore,” said Rachel Sweet, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “It’s going to be tricky for them to get the votes that they need.”
The Kansas court decision came as other states moved to ban most abortions in direct challenges to the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. In Kansas, the April decision means that even if Roe were overturned, state courts could reject new restrictions or invalidate those enacted under Kelly’s conservative Republican predecessors.
The Kansas Supreme Court declared that the state constitution’s Bill of Rights grants a “natural right of personal autonomy” protecting a woman’s right to end her pregnancy. Critics see that as an overreach because most abortions were illegal in Kansas Territory when the state constitution was adopted in 1859.
Two justices in the 6-1 majority have announced their retirements, and Kelly, an abortion rights supporter, will name their replacements in the coming months, with no oversight from lawmakers. Abortion foes also are pushing a proposed constitutional change to require state Senate confirmation of Supreme Court justices, hoping that the court eventually would move to the right.
“Then, we are inserting politics into the judicial decision-making process, and that’s a very bad idea,” said state Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat who supports abortion rights.
The Kansas court’s abortion decision blocked enforcement of a first-in-the-nation ban on a common second-trimester procedure. Special health and safety regulators for abortion providers have been tied up in state court since 2011.
Abortion opponents worry that even long-standing laws, such as one requiring a parent’s consent for a minor’s abortion, could be in jeopardy if the decision isn’t overturned.
“Personally, it’s my top priority,” Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, a conservative Wichita Republican, said in an interview. “And I have a lot of colleagues who agree that this is most important.”
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug charges after an arrest near a day care facility.
Zinn photo Shwenee Co.
On Monday, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office and the Rossville Police Department assisted Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on a narcotic search warrant in the 3500 Block of SE California Avenue, according to Sgt. Todd Stallbaumer.
DEA agents arrested Dwayne A. Zinn, 57, of Topeka, and booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections for Possession of Narcotics with Intent to Distribute. They seized approximately 5 oz of methamphetamine, with a street value of around $5000.
With a daycare facility nearby, neighbors spoke with Law Enforcement and expressed their appreciation of the drug enforcement efforts in reference this ongoing investigation.
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A 31-year-old Leavenworth woman has pleaded not guilty in the death of her 19-month-old son.
Smith photo Leavenworth Co.
Catherine Smith is charged with second-degree murder after her son’s death in November 2018. She pleaded on Monday.
The Leavenworth Times reports Smith allegedly left her son in a room where the temperature exceeded 90 degrees without checking on him for an extended time.
Smith is free on bond. Court records indicate she was released Sept. 16 on a $25,000 bond.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 5:30a.m. Tuesday in Sedgwick County.
Fatal crash scene photo courtesy KWCH
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1996 GMC Suburban driven by Bruce Lee Strawder, 61, Wichita, was northbound on Interstate 235 in the right lane when he lost control of vehicle. The SUV struck the guardrail and overturned.
Strawder was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the Sedgwick County Coroners Office. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man who attacked staff members at a Kansas television station in 2012 is now charged with assaulting a county corrections officer.
Miles photo Shawnee Co.
Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced Monday that Ray Miles is charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery.
Prosecutors allege Miles attacked Shawnee County Corrections Officer Kourtney Flynn in July while she was trying to get him to return a phone. Investigators say the attack continued until other officers intervened. Flynn was treated at a hospital for several injuries.
During a court appearance Tuesday, Miles said he wanted to represent himself.
Miles assaulted several employees of WIBW-TV in May 2012, stabbing two of them. His sentence was scheduled to end in November. He is being held on $500,000 bond on the new charges.
BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on the execution of Russell Bucklew in Missouri (all times local):
6:48 p.m.
A Missouri man has been executed for killing a man during a violent 1996 crime spree, despite concerns that the inmate’s rare medical condition would cause a gruesome lethal injection.
Russell Bucklew was executed Tuesday evening at the state prison in Bonne Terre. It was Missouri’s first execution since January 2017.
Bucklew looked around and twitched his feet beneath the sheet as he lay on the gurney just before the lethal injection. He suddenly took a deep breath and all movement stopped.
There were no outward signs of distress.
Bucklew had twice previously been within hours of execution, only to have the U.S. Supreme Court grant last-minute reprieves over concerns that Bucklew might suffer during the execution process. He had a condition called cavernous hemangioma and had blood-filled tumors in his head, neck and throat.
Bucklew’s attorneys said in a clemency request to Gov. Mike Parson that a throat tumor could burst, causing Bucklew to choke to death. Parson denied clemency earlier Tuesday.
Bucklew killed Michael Sanders in March 1996, raped his former girlfriend, shot a state trooper and, after escaping from jail, attacked his ex-girlfriend’s mother and her boyfriend with a hammer.
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10:30 a.m.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has denied clemency for a convicted killer hours before the man is scheduled to be put to death.
Russell Bucklew has a rare medical condition that his attorneys say could result in a gruesome execution, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Bucklew was convicted of killing Michael Sanders in 1996.
He suffers from cavernous hemangioma. He has blood-filled tumors in his head, neck and throat. A permanent tracheostomy in his throat helps him breathe. His attorneys said in the clemency request that if one of the throat tumors bursts, Bucklew could choke to death.
The U.S. Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for the execution in April; Pilate didn’t say if any last-minute court appeals are planned.
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KANSAS CITY (AP) — The fate of a condemned inmate rests with Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, who must decide if the risk posed by Russell Bucklew’s unusual medical condition is grave enough to halt his execution.
Bucklew photo MDC
Bucklew, 51, is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday evening for killing a man during a 1996 crime spree. The U.S. Supreme Court in April gave the go-ahead for Bucklew to be executed, so court appeals appear to be exhausted.
Parson, a Republican supporter of the death penalty, is still weighing a clemency request, a spokeswoman said Monday.
Bucklew suffers from cavernous hemangioma. The rare disease causes blood-filled tumors in his head, neck and throat. A permanent tracheostomy in his throat helps him breathe. His attorneys say in the clemency request that if one of the throat tumors bursts, Bucklew could suffer an excruciatingly painful death.
“These unstable tumors are highly likely to hemorrhage during the stress of the execution, causing Russell to cough and choke on his own blood,” the clemency request states.
The execution would be the first in Missouri since January 2017.
Missouri uses a single dose of pentobarbital as its execution drug but refuses to say where it gets it. The source is believed to be a compound pharmacy since large pharmaceutical companies prohibit the use of their drugs in executions.
It wasn’t known if the Missouri Department of Corrections planned any extra precautions to address the risk that Bucklew could suffer, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. A spokeswoman for the department said aspects of the state protocol are confidential, including what medical personnel are involved.
Human rights groups and death penalty opponents, including all four Roman Catholic bishops in Missouri and the American Civil Liberties Union, have urged Parson to intervene. The ACLU and Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty presented the governor’s office on Thursday with petitions that they say had more than 57,000 signatures.
Shortly after the 2018 reprieve, Bucklew contracted meningitis, requiring insertion of the tracheostomy tube , said one of his attorneys, Jeremy Weis. The tube is narrow and could fill with blood if the tumors burst, Weis said.
In 2017, the execution of twice-convicted killer Alva Campbell, who suffered from smoking-related breathing problems, had to be halted in Ohio when a usable vein couldn’t be found to administer execution drugs. He died in 2018 at age 69.
In 2018, Alabama halted the lethal injection of Doyle Lee Hamm when the execution team had trouble getting the intravenous line connected. Hamm had damaged veins because of lymphoma, hepatitis and drug use. A doctor hired by Hamm’s lawyers wrote in a report that Hamm had at least 11 puncture sites and bled heavily from his groin during the attempts to connect the line.
Bucklew’s girlfriend, Stephanie Ray, left him on Valentine’s Day 1996. Over the next few weeks, according to court records, he harassed her, cut her with a knife and punched her in the face. Ray feared for her life and the lives of her children, so she moved into the Cape Girardeau County mobile home that her new boyfriend, Michael Sanders, shared with his children.
On March 21, after stealing his nephew’s car and taking two pistols, handcuffs and duct tape from his brother, Bucklew followed Ray to Sanders’ home. Sanders confronted Bucklew with a shotgun inside the home. Bucklew fired two shots, one piercing Sanders’ lung. He bled to death.
Bucklew then shot at Sanders’ 6-year-old son and missed. Court records say he struck Ray in the face with the pistol, handcuffed her and dragged her to his car. He later raped Ray before heading north on Interstate 55.
A trooper spotted Bucklew’s car and eventually became engaged in a gunfight near St. Louis. Both men were wounded. Bucklew later escaped from the Cape Girardeau County Jail. He attacked Ray’s mother and her boyfriend with a hammer before being recaptured.
BARTON COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug charges after a finding him hiding in an attic and making arrest.
Henderson photo Barton Co.
Just after 3:30p.m. Monday, Sheriff’s Officers were looking for Roosevelt T Henderson of Great Bend. Henderson wanted for outstanding warrants from Barton and Russell Counties, according to Sheriff Brian Bellendir.
The Sheriff located the suspect vehicle and attempted to make a traffic stop at which point the vehicle fled. A short vehicle chase ensued in the west part of Great Bend. The driver of the 2007 GMC Yukon pulled into the driveway at 5918 Aspen and attempted to enter the garage. The vehicle struck part of the building, at which time the suspect fled on foot to the backyard while carrying a package. He was able to enter the house. With permission of the occupants of the residence Sheriff’s Officers entered the house and determined Henderson was hiding in the attic. After a short standoff Henderson surrendered to deputies without incident.
Photo Barton Co. Sheriff
During the course of the investigation Sheriff’s deputies discovered nearly 5 pounds of methamphetamine. The estimated street value of the seizure is in excess of $100,000. Henderson has been booked into the Barton County jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute within 1000 feet of a school, criminal possession of a firearm, possession of drug paraphernalia, attempt to flee and elude law enforcement, as well as resisting arrest and numerous traffic violations. Henderson also had a no bond warrant issued from Barton County as well as a no bond warrant from Russell County. At the time of his arrest Henderson was out on bond stemming from charges in the drug raids on September 13, 2019.
TOPEKA – The state’s total tax collections for September showed the continued trend upward at $744.1 million; 6.2% or $43.2 million above the estimate, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Revenue. These collections are $48.2 million more than September of Fiscal Year 2019.
Retail sales tax collections are $200.5 million; $2.5 million or 1.3% more than the estimate. Those collections are $3.4 million more than the same month in Fiscal Year 2019. Compensating use tax collections are $36.9 million; $1.9 million or 5.5% more than the estimate. That’s $1.4 million more than September of Fiscal Year 2019.
Individual and corporate income tax collections are above estimates. Individual income tax collections are $375.1 million; 5.7% or $20.1 million more than estimated. Corporate income tax collections are 23.7% or $19.0 million more than $80.0 million estimate.
“This is an encouraging end to the first quarter of the fiscal year,” Secretary Mark Burghart said. “We are seeing the increase in revenue in large part due to increases in regular and estimated individual and corporate income tax collections.”
“This is a positive sign as we slowly recover from the Brownback-Colyer tax experiment. However, with economic uncertainty ahead in a possible recession, we must remain cautious and continue to show fi
BARTON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on drug charges after stopping bicyclists for traffic violations.
Robert Rodriguez photo Barton Co.Finnigan photo Barton Co.
Just after 11:30 p.m.Monday, an officer from the Great Bend Police Department initiated a traffic stop on a bicyclist in the 1900 block of 9th Street in
Great Bend for a traffic infraction.
During the contact with the subject, identified as Robert Rodriguez, 48, the officer learned Rodriguez had a no bond warrant out for his arrest out of Rice County.
Rodriguez was placed under arrest, and was found to be in possession of methamphetamine and paraphernalia as well. Rodriguez was transported to the Barton County Jail where he was booked and confined.
Just after midnight Saturday, a Great Bend Police Department officer initiated a traffic stop on a bicycle at 7th and Washington for a traffic violation.
During the stop, the officer located methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in her property and arrested Gwen Finnigan, 37, for a narcotics violation. Finnigan was booked into Barton County jail with a $10,000 bond.
