HUTCHINSON — Strong thunderstorm winds caused a lot of tree damage and forced power lines down in the Hutchinson area early Saturday morning.

Westar Energy had several hundred customers without power. Westar is experiencing longer-than-normal restoration times in Hutchinson and surrounding areas due to the storms overnight.

Westar expected to have all customers impacted by storms in the area restored by 3:00 p.m. Saturday.

 

 

Large trees were damaged or even destroyed. The campus of Hutchinson Community College was especially hit hard by the storms.

Some of the animal pens on the Kansas State Fairgrounds were also blown around from the strong winds.

JACKSON COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on numerous charges after a high-speed chase.

Just before 8 p.m. Thursday, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a reckless driver northbound on US Hwy 75 near the Shawnee County line, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

A Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy attempted to stop a silver 2004 Ford Mustang near 134th and US Hwy 75.

The vehicle failed to yield and fled northbound at speeds around 100 mph.

The vehicle continued north to 150th Road where the vehicle headed eastbound to U. Road, went south on U. Road to 142 Road and continued back towards US Hwy 75 when a Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy and a Potawatomi Tribal Police Officer deployed stop sticks flattening three of the vehicle’s tires.

The vehicle made its way back to US 75 Hwy and headed north turning westbound on 150th Road.

Deputies, KHP Troopers and Tribal Police brought the vehicle to a stop west of Q. Road on 150th.  Law enforcement attempted to remove the driver from the vehicle when the driver accelerated crashing the Mustang into a Potawatomi Tribal Police vehicle placing law enforcement officers in jeopardy.

The driver identified as Kristen Michael Downs, 38, Overbook, allegedly nearly struck several law enforcement officers with his vehicle while they were attempting to remove him from the vehicle.

Law enforcement officers received only minor injuries. The driver was removed from the vehicle and taken into custody.  Downs was taken to an area hospital for evaluation, according to Morse.

He is being held in the Jackson County Jail for aggravated assault, aggravated battery, felony fleeing and eluding law enforcement, driving under the influence, transporting open container, criminal damage to property, reckless driving and multiple other traffic infractions.

SABETHA, Kan. (AP) — A  woman has been arrested in a head-on crash that killed the mother, sister and uncle of two Kansas high school football players as the family returned home from watching the boys’ team win a state football championship.

The Jackson County, Kansas, Sheriff’s Office says 48-year-old Maria Perez-Marquez is awaiting extradition to Kansas. She was arrested Thursday in Omaha, Nebraska, on an involuntary manslaughter warrant in the November 2017 deaths of 42-year-old Carmen Ukele, 11-year-old Marlee Ukele and 62-year-old Stephen Ukele.

Coach Garrett Michael says brothers Tanner and Carson Ukele were pulled off the Sabetha High School football team bus after a celebratory dinner. A trooper later told them their father had been hurt and the others had died. Perez-Marquez was passing another vehicle before the crash.

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JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities investigating a fatal Kansas crash have filed charges against the driver.

Marie Perez-Marquez, 48, Omaha, has been charged with 3 counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving and aggravated battery for the November 25, 2017 crash, according to Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Chevy Equinox driven by Perez-Marquez, was southbound on U. S. 75 just north of 318 Road near Holton.

The driver attempted to pass another vehicle, swerved to the shoulder to avoid a collision and struck a northbound 2008 Chrysler Town and Country driven by Carmen K. Ukele, 42, Sabetha, head-on.

Ukele and passengers in the Chevy Marlee G. Ukele, 11 and Stephen M. Ukele, 62, all of Sabetha, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Another passenger in the Chrysler Lee F. Ukele, 59, Sabetha, and Perez-Marquez were transported to KU Medical Center.  A passenger in the Chevy Rosalao G. Perez, 29, St. Joseph, MO., was transported to a Topeka Hospital and later transferred to KU Medical Center.

Ukele and family were returning home from watching Tanner and Carson Ukele play in the Sabetha High School football 3A state championship game.

SEWARD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities including the Kansas Bureau of Investigation are asking the public for help to locate a woman last seen by her family in Liberal on July 3.

Shaila Schlenz, 24, is a white female, 5-foot-2, weighs approximately 115 pounds with brown or red hair, and brown eyes.

Anyone with information regarding her disappearance, or the current whereabouts of Schlenz, is asked to call the Liberal Police Department at 620-626-0141, or the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state board plans to meet Thursday to consider a challenge to independent candidate Greg Orman’s right to appear on the November ballot in the Kansas governor’s race.

The three-member, all-Republican State Objections Board set its meeting for 9 a.m. Thursday in Topeka. A Democratic legislative leader’s chief of staff filed an objection to Orman’s candidacy with the secretary of state’s office Monday.

The objection questions the validity of petitions submitted by the independent candidate and Kansas City-area businessman to get on the ballot.

Orman needed signatures from 5,000 registered Kansas voters. The secretary of state’s office said he had more than 7,000.

Orman’s campaign spokesman has called the objection “frivolous.”

The board is Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s top deputy, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Democrats launched a legal challenge Monday in hopes of removing Kansas City-area businessman Greg Orman from the November ballot as an independent candidate for Kansas governor after Orman stoked fears that his bid would imperil Democrats’ chances of winning.

Attorney Will Lawrence filed a formal objection to Orman’s candidacy Monday with the Kansas secretary of state’s office. Lawrence is lawyer and chief of staff for Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, of Topeka, but has hired a prominent Topeka lawyer to pursue the challenge.

WE DID IT.

For the first time in generations, Kansans will have a viable Independent choice in the November election.

The current system has failed the people of Kansas—it’s time to put Kansans ahead of party bosses & special interests! #ormanforkansas

— Orman For Kansas (@OrmanforKansas) August 17, 2018

Many Democrats fear that Orman could siphon votes from their nominee, state Sen. Laura Kelly, of Topeka, helping the Republican, conservative Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The objection will be considered by a state board made up of Kobach’s top deputy, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann, all Republicans.

Orman submitted petitions signed by more than 10,000 people to get his name on the Nov. 6 ballot, needing signatures from 5,000 registered Kansas voters. The secretary of state’s office said last week that Orman qualified; it validated more than 7,000 of Orman’s signatures.

But Lawrence’s objection argues that election officials in seven counties took one day more than allowed by state law to validate more than 6,000 of Orman’s signatures, finishing Friday. The objection also raised questions about whether petitions were properly notarized and whether some circulators were qualified under state law to gather signatures.

His attorney, Pedro Irigonegaray, wrote in a separate letter that the issues “raise serious doubts” about whether Orman’s name can appear on the ballot.

Orman spokesman Sam Edelen called the objection “frivolous” and said it shows “the lengths to which the supporters of the failed system will go.”

“They want to avoid giving voters a real choice at all costs,” Edelen said in an email.

Democrats saw a bigger opening in the governor’s race after Kobach unseated Gov. Jeff Colyer in the Republican primary by fewer than 400 votes out of more than 317,000 cast. Kobach is President Donald Trump’s closest political ally in the state but has a history of alienating GOP moderates, partly by advocating tough policies against illegal immigration.

Orman is potentially the most serious independent candidate for governor since the 1930s. He founded a private equity firm and garnered national attention as an independent candidate against U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts in 2014.

Orman did so well in initial polling in 2014 that the Democratic nominee dropped out to create a better chance of toppling the veteran Republican. But Orman lost by 10.5 percentage points after Roberts got help from GOP stalwarts, including former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

The GOP began a clean sweep of statewide and congressional races in 2010 but Kansas has a solid bloc of moderate GOP and independent voters and a history over the past 50 years of alternating between electing Republican and Democratic governors.

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas election officials certified independent Greg Orman as a candidate for Kansas governor on Friday, and the businessman immediately tried to appeal to disaffected Republicans, who he said view GOP hopeful Kris Kobach as “incompetent and corrupt.”

Orman’s entry into the race presents a major obstacle to Democrats, who had hoped to lure the same moderate Republicans away from Kobach, a favorite of President Donald Trump because of his fervent support for tough immigration and voter ID laws.

The secretary of state’s office posted a short statementsaying Orman had presented enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot in November.

Orman, 49, will face Democratic State Sen. Laura Kelly of Topeka and Kobach, whose nomination was only settled this week after Gov. Jeff Colyer conceded in a primary with a razor-thin margin of some 350 votes out of more than 316,000 cast.

“I think there are lots of Kansas Republicans who view Kris Kobach as not only extreme but incompetent and corrupt and I think those Republicans … will be very attracted to my background,” Orman told The Associated Press in an interview after the announcement.

Democrats were gearing up for a potential legal challenge to Orman’s certification. Many Democrats have worried that Orman will pull votes away from Kelly, 68, making it far easier for the 52-year-old Kobach to win with less than a majority of the vote.

The GOP began a clean sweep of statewide and congressional races in 2010. But the state also has a solid bloc of moderate GOP and independent voters and a history over the past 50 years of alternating between electing Republican and Democratic governors. Orman says he can build a coalition starting with voters upset with both parties, and he cites the value of having an independent governor who will lack “natural political enemies.”

The certification of Orman as a candidate was made by the same office Kobach heads as secretary of state. But officials said the 10,260 signatures submitted by Orman were reviewed by individual counties and Kobach did not participate.

Orman ran as an independent against U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts in 2014 and did so well in initial polling that the Democratic candidate dropped out to create a better chance of toppling the veteran Republican. Orman lost by 10.5 percentage points after Roberts got campaign help from several GOP stalwarts, including Sarah Palin, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul.

Orman made the ballot by submitting more than 10,000 signatures in early August. He needed 5,000 valid signatures to qualify.

On Orman’s website, he says he supports stronger background checks for gun buyers, ending the sale of bump stocks and high-capacity magazines, setting a minimum age of 21 to buy an AR-15 or other semi-automatic weapon and requiring training and licensing for a concealed-carry permit. Orman said he supports the Second Amendment but would like to revisit which types of arms Americans have a right to own,

During the 2014 Senate race, Orman described himself as “pro-choice” and said abortion policy was a matter of settled law and the nation should move on.

Orman’s running mate John Doll is from Garden City and left the Republican Party to run for lieutenant governor.

An independent candidate for governor last came close to winning in 1932.

Orman graduated from Princeton in 1991 and founded Environmental Light Concepts, a firm that designed and installed energy-efficient lighting systems for commercial and industrial use. The company had more than 120 employees when a majority of it was sold to Kansas City Power and Light in 1996.

After a stint with KCP&L, Orman co-founded Denali Partners, a private equity firm, and later became managing member of Exemplar Holdings LLC, which oversees several innovation companies.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting in which a two-year-old girl was struck in the foot with non-life-threatening injuries while at a neighborhood playground in Wichita and have made an arrest.

Just after 10p.m. Thursday, police arrested a suspect identified according to the Sedgwick County booking report as 18-year-old Kerry Marque Grant.

He is being held in connection with the shooting at the playground in the 3800 block of east Ross Parkway, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Grant was booked on charges of aggravated battery and aggravated assault.

On Thursday, Police Chief Gordon Ramsay expressed outrage about the incident involving the girl and the lack of cooperation from the parents. He asked for the community’s help in solving the crime.

Tips from the community and follow-up by the WPD Violent Crimes Community Response Team led to the arrest.

Police continue to investigate the case as well as a shooting that injured a seven-month-old on Tuesday in the 2400 block of north Chautauqua in Wichita.  Residents who have information on either case, should call Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111 or WPD Detectives at 316-268-4407.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — More than 3,700 Kansas voters cast ballots for two 17-year-old candidates in Tuesday’s election for the GOP nomination for Kansas governor — a race that is still undecided because the vote was too close to declare a winner.

Tyler Ruzich, of Prairie Village, and Joseph Tutera Jr., of Overland Park, received a combined 3,758 votes after running under a quirky Kansas law that set no minimum age to run for the office. The primary ended with Secretary of State Kris Kobach leading Gov. Jeff Colyer by 191 votes.

“In a normal election, we would not say 3,700 votes was a substantive chunk,” said Russell Fox, professor of political science at Friends University. “But under the election results that we actually have, 3,700 votes is more than enough to make a huge difference.”

Ruzich received 2,217 votes and Tutera garnered 1,541 votes.

No one knows if the teenagers’ votes would have gone to Kobach, Colyer or someone else if the teenagers weren’t on the ballot, said Robert Beatty, political science professor at Washburn University. But he said the Republican Party took the teenagers seriously enough to not allow them to participate in candidate debates, The Wichita Eagle reported.

“They understood that they could steal some votes, and that’s exactly what happened,” Beatty said.

Tutera said Wednesday he has no regrets about running. He said he and Ruzich were astonished by how many votes they received.

“If I hadn’t run, or Tyler hadn’t run, that could have been the difference between who gets elected,” he said. “It’s very weird to think about.”

On the Democratic ballot, 17-year-old candidate Jack Bergeson got 3,850 votes but it didn’t impact that primary because state Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, easily won the Democratic nomination.

Previously, Kansas and Vermont were the only states with no age requirement to run for governor. After the teenagers’ campaigns drew national attention, the Kansas Legislature passed a law in May that set a minimum age to run for governor at 25, and 18 to run for any other state office. But that wasn’t in time to stop the current batch of political upstarts from being on the ballot.