AP Top Kansas News at 5:45 a.m. CDT

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Top Democrat drops out of Kansas gov. race

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The leading Democratic candidate for Kansas governor dropped out of the race Wednesday, leaving his party with no strong challenger to the expected Republican nominee, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback.

Tom Wiggans, a former pharmaceutical executive making his first run for public office, had the backing of state Democratic leaders, who touted his business experience and contrasted it with Brownback's 15 years in Congress.

But Wiggans' campaign acknowledged Wednesday that he would have difficulty defeating Brownback, who is expected to run an aggressive and well-funded campaign.

"Tom was relatively unknown to many voters and many donors, and what we saw was that resources it would take counter that, to talk about issues, is insurmountable," spokeswoman Amy Jordan Wooden said.

Wiggans had little name recognition after living outside the state for many years and returning early this year.

Brownback's campaign also had raised as an issue a securities fraud lawsuit in California in which Wiggans was a defendant.

------ Event starts 24/7 operations at Dodge City casino

DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) -- A ribbon-cutting ceremony with Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson has started around-the-clock operations at a new casino in Dodge City.

Parkinson, legislators and local officials gathered Wednesday at the Boot Hill Casino and Resort to celebrate its opening.

The casino opened to the public Tuesday for about 10 hours. Marketing Coordinator Morgan Riekenberg (RIH-kuhn-berg) said about 2,200 visitors came the first day.

The casino is the first gambling hall to be built under a 2007 state law authorizing a single casino in each of four areas.

Under the law, the Kansas Lottery owns the rights to the gambling and the gambling equipment. But it hires developers to build and run the casinos.

The casino opened with 584 slot machines and 12 game tables.

------ Newspaper: Trafficking victims often deported

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Federal agencies commonly deport immigrants without asking whether they have been victims of human trafficking, according to a newspaper investigation.

The Kansas City Star also reported Wednesday that immigrants deported on one of two Kansas City-based government airlines have been abused or sedated in violation of federal regulations.

The story, which is the latest in the newspaper's five-part series, was based on numerous interviews, reviews of court documents and thousands of pages of reports released under the Freedom of Information Act.

In one case, the federal government deported most of the nearly 390 workers arrested after an immigration raid last year at a meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa.

One worker at the plant, Mardoqueo Valle-Callejas, told the Star he came to the U.S. illegally to earn money for his five children in Guatemala. He said he was forced to provide hours of free labor to his bosses, work when injured and had questionable fees deducted from his remaining earnings.

"These are classic examples of human trafficking victims," said attorney Sonia Parras Konrad, who is representing many of those swept up in the raid. But the federal government never screened the workers -- some as young as 15 -- to determine their victim status, she said.

------ Judge warns Kan. doctor of longer sentence

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A federal judge tells a Kansas doctor to expect a lengthy prison sentence because his crime is more serious than those of common drug dealers.

Dr. Lawrence Simons pleaded guilty in October to illegally prescribing a painkiller for a women he never met.

Federal guidelines call for a sentence of 18 to 24 months, but the Goddard doctor could be facing up to 20 years and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced on Monday.

U.S. District Judge Monti Belot wrote in a letter Wednesday that he believes a prison term greater than two years is essential.

Simons worked at a clinic run by Dr. Stephen Schneider, who is charged in a separate case with unlawfully prescribing drugs, leading to 59 patient deaths.

------ Private juvenile centers struggle to stay open

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The managers of private juvenile detention centers in Kansas have warned that their options are dwindling as they struggle to find the money to keep the facilities open.

The situation is a byproduct of the state's financial problems, which have caused Kansas to slash funds for corrections. The Juvenile Justice Authority sent a notice last week to the centers informing them that payments for housing youths will be reduced.

Juvenile centers have until Dec. 21 to sign an agreement that accepts the lower rates. If a center doesn't return those agreements, the state plans to end its contract.

Bill Miskell, spokesman for the Juvenile Justice Authority, tells the Topeka Capital-Journal that the centers will have to decide if they can afford to remain open.

"They're going to have to make a business decision as to whether they can continue to operate at that new reimbursement rate," Miskell said Tuesday.

The change in reimbursement is a 10 percent cut and was included in the statewide cuts Gov. Mark Parkinson announced Nov. 23. In all, Parkinson trimmed the Kansas budget for the current fiscal year by $259 million through a combination of spending cuts, revenue transfers and reliance on federal stimulus dollars.

------ Moratorium on deep wells in Ozark aquifer may end

COLUMBUS, Kan. (AP) -- A moratorium on the drilling of deep wells in the Ozark aquifer in Southeast Kansas could end next year with the adoption of new regulations that are in the development stage.

David Barfield, chief engineer with the Division of Water Resources in the Kansas Department of Agriculture, met with water providers in the region Tuesday afternoon at the Cherokee County Courthouse to lay the foundation for those new regulations.

Barfield specifically asked those attending whether they were experiencing quantity or quality problems with the water they are drawing from the ground. Of the dozen or so rural water districts, private corporations and municipal utilities represented, none of the officials voiced a concern.

Some said they have recently seen an increase in water levels. Whether that stems from decreased pumping or a higher level of recharge from increased rainfall was not clear, they said.

But state Rep. Doug Gatewood, who represents most of Cherokee County, said water providers are concerned about what's happening across the state line in Missouri, where water usage is not regulated by the state. Gatewood inquired about the possibility of an interstate compact that might give Missouri some influence over water usage in the southwest corner of the state.

"We understand we are affected by their usage," Gatewood said.

------ Budget cuts could delay porn model slaying trial

EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) -- The capital murder trial of a man accused of killing an Internet pornography model may be delayed because courthouse employees are set to go on state-mandated furloughs the week after the trial's scheduled starting date.

Butler County District Court Judge David Ricke said during a Tuesday hearing that Israel Mireles' trial is scheduled to start Feb. 8, a week before courthouse employees are scheduled to go on state-mandated furloughs.

Mireles is charged with capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the 2007 death of 18-year-old Emily Sander. The college student's death drew national attention after it became known that she was a porn model who went by the name Zoey Zane.

Unless lawmakers restore $3 million cut from the judicial branch's budget last year, nonjudicial employees are scheduled to take furloughs beginning in mid-February. That would mean no bailiffs or court reporter would be available for Mireles' trial.

It has already taken two years to schedule the trial. It took 20 months to extradite Mireles from Mexico, where he was arrested three weeks after Sander was stabbed to death in November 2007.

Kansas Attorney General Steve Six, who is prosecuting the case, told the judge Tuesday that trial preparations with state law enforcement officers as witnesses would have to be repeated if the trial was continued.

------ Teens racing to register before new driving laws

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas Department of Revenue officials began preparing months ago for an onslaught of aspiring teenage drivers this month at local Division of Motor Vehicle offices.

That's because the new graduated driver's license law, which takes effect Jan. 1, includes a "grandfather clause."

Teens who enter the driver's licensing system before Jan. 1, obtaining a farm permit, instruction permit or restricted license, will fall under the old licensing guidelines -- and avoid new rules restricting travel except to work and school, the number of passengers in their vehicle, and the use of wireless devices.

"There already has been an influx," said Terry Mitchell, chief driver's license examiner with the Department of Revenue. "On days kids are out of school, we've been really busy."

DMV employees have been advised not to take off much time from work in the last weeks of December, "because we're expecting a larger than normal crowd," Mitchell said.

On Tuesday, numerous teenagers went to the local DMV office at the Hutchinson Mall and took tests to obtain permits and licenses.

------ Kan. man pleads no contest in child's death

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) -- A Leavenworth man has pleaded no contest two second-degree murder in the death of his 2-year-old son.

Robert D. Vroman also pleaded no contest Tuesday to one count of child abuse in the Aug. 2, 2007 death of Devin Trapp.

Vroman was originally charged with first-degree murder in the boy's death.

The Kansas City Star reports that police found the boy unconcious and with severe injuries when they were called to the home.

Vroman was watching Devin and the boy's younger sister when the boy was injured.

------ Teens racing to register before new driving laws

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas Department of Revenue officials say local licensing offices are seeing a rush of teenagers registering before new driving laws take effect.

A new graduated driver's license law begins Jan. 1. But teens who enter the licensing system before then will not be subject to the law.

Those teens won't have to follow new rules that restrict travel except to work and school, the number of passengers in their vehicles, and the use of wireless devices.

Terry Mitchell, chief driver's license examiner with the revenue department, says local officers are already seeing an influx of teens.

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Information from: The Hutchinson News, http://www.hutchnews.com