AP Top Kansas News at 5:45 a.m. CDT
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Kan. woman pleads no contest in boyfriend's death
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) -- A 25-year-old Kansas woman has pleaded no contest to a reduced charge in the fatal stabbing of her boyfriend at the couple's Emporia home.
DeAnna Meece had been scheduled to go on trial next week on a charge of second-degree murder for the June 17 death of 26-year-old Ricky Nurnberg. But during a pretrial conference Wednesday, Meece pleaded no contest to a charge of voluntary manslaughter.
Meece faces up to five years and 11 months in prison. Sentencing is set for Jan. 29.
Emporia police said the couple had argued for several hours before Nurnberg was stabbed with an eating utensil.
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------ Deere reports 4Q loss on charges, lower sales
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Deere and Co. says sales of tractors, combines and other agricultural mainstays slumped in the fourth quarter and it expects farmers to remain cautious about new equipment purchases because of the weak global economy.
The company ended fiscal 2009 with a profit of almost $874 million but lost $223 million in the fourth quarter due to big charges related in part to pension costs and job cuts. Its sales of farm and constrution equipment fell 28 percent in the fourth quarter.
Deere's shares, though, briefly hit a 52-week high Wednesday and analysts said the company has handled the economic downturn well and is positioned to grow after what could be a tough 2010.
Deere, based in Moline, is the biggest U.S. maker of farm equipment, and sluggish economic conditions in the United States and much of the rest of the world continue to drive down demand for tractors, combines and the company's other agricultural mainstays.
Farm prices, though historically high, have dropped sharply from bubble highs of the past couple of years and driven down farm incomes by what the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects will be 34.5 percent by the end of the year.
Corn- and soybean-farmer John Olsson says he has several things on his wish list, among them a $150,000 tractor, but he isn't ready to commit.
------ Topeka restaurant owner sentenced to 18 months
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A Topeka restaurant owner has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison of harboring illegal immigrants to work for him.
Amarpreet Singh, owner of the Globe Restaurant, was sentenced this week to three 18-month terms but will serve them at the same time. The 34-year-old was convicted in April of three counts of harboring unauthorized workers.
Prosecutors had claimed Singh mistreated the workers and kept them in line through abuse, arguing he should receive up to 33 months in prison. But U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia rejected efforts to enhance Singh's sentence and went with the low end of the possible range.
Murguia did order Singh to also pay more than $55,000 in penalties.
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Information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com
------ Judge sets deadline in helicopter lawsuit in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A Polk County judge has set a Dec. 3 deadline for the parties involved in an $11.4 million damage award in lawsuit over a deadly helicopter crash during a movie shoot to settle their differences by mediation.
The crash happened during the filming of "The Final Season" in eastern Iowa in June 2006.
Cameraman Roland Schlotzhauer, of Lenexa, Kan., died when the helicopter hit a power line and crashed in a cornfield near Walford. The pilot and film producer were injured.
In July, a Polk County jury awarded $7.2 million to Schlotzhauer's widow, Kathryn, and $4.2 million to producer Tony Wilson, of Dallas Center.
Jurors declared pilot Richard Green, of Hudson, and two producers were at fault. The jury assessed Green 75 percent of the blame for Schlotzhauer's death and 100 percent fault for Wilson's injuries. They ruled the producers were 25 percent responsible in Schlotzhauer's death.
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------ Defense attorney pulls out grenade in courtroom
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) -- The Reno County Sheriff's Office is investigating the actions of a defense attorney who pulled out a hand grenade in court, pulled the pin and set it on the prosecutor's table.
Sam Kepfield said the grenade was a dud and was meant to demonstrate to jurors what is meant by the term "imminent threat." The attorney pulled out the grenade Monday while representing a woman accused of forgery and theft.
His client, Anastasia Daily, claimed a co-defendant in the case threatened to kill her dog and hurt her daughter if she didn't participate in the forgery of stolen checks. That man, John Bradshaw, denied those allegations on the witness stand.
Before placing the grenade in front of Assistant District Attorney Amanda Voth, Kepfield placed it on a ledge in front of the jury box and asked jurors, "Are you afraid now?" Voth said she was surprised and didn't object.
District Judge Richard Rome ordered Kepfield to remove the grenade from the table.
Voth said Kepfield was using the dead grenade as an example of compulsion, trying to make the case that Daily was threatened with great bodily harm to commit the crimes.
------ University determines student poisoning accidental
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- University of Kansas officials say a graduate student who was poisoned after ingesting a toxic chemical while working in a lab didn't follow proper procedures.
The student accidentally ingested sodium azide, an odorless and colorless preservative commonly used in school labs. He was taken to intensive care in critical condition following the Nov. 4 poisoning and had to remain hospitalized for three days.
University officials haven't released the student's name but said he has apologized to his lab partners for the mistake.
Following the incident, the university evacuated Melott Hall and had Lawrence and Douglas County safety workers inspect the lab for hazardous materials.
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Information from: Lawrence Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com
------ Kan. National Guard to close 18 armories
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The latest round of state budget cuts have prompted the head of Kansas' National Guard to do his own version of base realignment and closure.
Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting plans to close 18 of the state's 56 National Guard armories. The moves will save nearly $157,000 in the fiscal year that ends June 30, and more than $260,000 in the following year.
"Even if we were to return to the funding levels we've had in recent years, we cannot continue to sustain viable operations in all 56 armories across the state," Bunting said. "This is a challenging time requiring difficult choices."
Bunting, the state's adjutant general, won't announce which armories will close until December, giving time to meet with communities and notify National Guard members. He has been operating the Guard's armories with only 65 percent of the money necessary to keep them functioning for some time, he said.
The changes mean that 19 full-time National Guard soldiers will be reassigned to other armories, while 678 soldiers will be forced to go to other locations for regular drills. The closures and consolidation of people and equipment is expected to be complete by June 30, 2010. The buildings, some which were built in the 1950s, will be transferred to local communities for use and removed from state property inventory.
The changes only affect Army National Guard facilities and not any of the Air National Guard locations at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Forbes Field in Topeka or Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range in Salina.