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

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Mo. man charged in hit-and-run fatal in Kan.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) -- An Independence, Mo., man has been charged in a fatal hit-and-run crash in the Kansas City suburb of Lenexa.

Thirty-two-year-old Clark L. Montgomery remained jailed Friday in Johnson County on $100,000 bond. He has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and with driving with a suspended license.

Monday's crash killed 84-year-old Rita F. Huscher, of Olathe.

The Kansas Highway Patrol said her minivan was struck from behind before hitting a bridge support pillar.

------ Missing KC mom's husband faces trial in gun case

LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) -- The husband of a missing Kansas City mother is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 25 in an unrelated gun case.

Shon Pernice is charged in Clay County Circuit Court with stealing the gun in late January, several weeks after his 35-year-old wife, Renee Pernice, went missing. Police believe she is dead and have named Pernice a person of interest in the case. But he has not been arrested or charged in that case.

According to the probable cause statement, a neighbor told police that a semiautomatic pistol could not be found after Pernice visited with his children. He returned it to its owners after they filed a police report.

He has pleaded not guilty in the case.

------ Kan. gov. likely to get OK for internal borrowing

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Gov. Mark Parkinson appears unlikely to face much trouble persuading legislative leaders to allow a fresh round of internal borrowing so that Kansas can pay its bills on time in coming weeks.

That's in sharp contrast to his predecessor, whose confrontation with the same leaders in February created fears about state workers being paid late and briefly brought Kansas unwanted national attention.

Parkinson, a Democrat, gained some points with the Republican-controlled Legislature by imposing $160 million in adjustments, including cuts in education funding, in the budget for the fiscal year that began Wednesday. His action came after revenues slumped in the just-ended fiscal year and the state delayed payments to schools and tax refunds from June into July.

But Parkinson said $700 million in internal borrowing also is needed to pay those overdue bills and keep paying others on time. The money would be transferred from various funds around Kansas government into the state's main bank account and repaid by the end of June 2010.

Such borrowing requires the approval of the State Finance Council, which is the governor and eight top legislative leaders, most of them Republicans. The council is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss Parkinson's plan.

"I don't know that there's another alternative at this point," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Kevin Yoder, an Overland Park Republican and council member. "I think all of us would like to avoid another showdown with the executive branch."

------ Police: 911 call led to triple homicide suspect

COLE CAMP, Mo. (AP) -- A 911 call made the night a Cole Camp family was shot to death led investigators to a relative from Kansas who is charged in the fatal shootings. It also has police looking for additional suspects.

According to a probable cause statement, Benton County central dispatch received the emergency call at 10:16 p.m. June 7, but the operator couldn't understand what was being said before the connection was broken. When dispatchers called the number back, the call went straight to voice mail.

Two days later, the bodies of Donnie Luetjen, 64, Sharon Luetjen, 61, and their granddaughter, Taron Luetjen, 15, were found at their home.

A later analysis of the 911 recording revealed discussions in the background, investigators said.

"It was determined that one of the male voices was directing Sharon Luetjen to sit down, put her arms behind her and at least two threats to shoot her and the other two victims," Benton County Sheriff Rick Fajen said in the statement.

An unnamed person identified one of the voices on the recording as belonging to Donnie and Sharon Luetgen's nephew, Robert B. Blurton, Fajen said.

------ Much-needed tax refunds delayed from Ga. to Calif.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Colin Daymude was out of work last year after his business failed and eagerly filed his taxes in mid-January, figuring he'd get his refund sooner. He was wrong.

It took the 44-year-old entrepreneur more than six months to get his $1,300 check -- money that he needed to pay living expenses while he worked a few side gigs.

Tax day -- April 15 -- has long since come and gone, but sharp budget cuts and falling revenues have forced many states to delay income tax returns for months -- and left taxpayers longing for their money.

"I'm just trying to get my money back," said a frustrated Daymude. "It's my money anyways."

Some states say plummeting tax collections drove them to hold on to the money so they can make ends meet. Others complain of not being able to keep up because the economic downturn has forced staffing cuts in revenue departments.

But critics worry governments are withholding funds that rightly belong to taxpayers when they need the extra cash the most. And some of the tardy states are fast approaching a stiff deadline of their own: The longer they wait, the more likely they'll have to pony up interest from thinning state coffers.

------ Recent KCK killings bring concern

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- Some Kansas City, Kan., residents see a recent killing spurt that claimed nine lives as just the latest wave of violence for the city.

But police say violent crime has actually been steadily declining and that the slayings are not a true picture of overall crime in the community of 142,000.

The recent killings happened over a week's time. They started with four people shot at a home June 22, including a 3-year-old girl whose body was in the front yard.

A 7-year-old girl was killed four days later in another shooting, and the death toll continued to build from there.

With the nine killings, the city is now at 22 homicides, compared to just 14 killings this time last year.

City leaders say public safety is an ongoing concern that they will continue to make a priority.

------ 7 people arrested in Syracuse

SYRACUSE, Kan. (AP) -- Seven people have been arrested on more than 50 drug crimes in Syracuse after a joint investigation.

Hamilton County Sheriff Richard Garza says his department and 15 other law enforcement agencies worked on the case for two months.

Garza said the counts against the suspects include conspiracy, possession and distribution and sale of cocaine, misdemeanor and felony counts of drug paraphrenalia and selling cocaine within a thousand feet of a school zone.

The Southwest Kansas Drug Task Force is a multi-agency collaboration across 14 counties of southwest Kansas.

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------ Abortion doc murder suspect sending jail mail

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A man charged with shooting a prominent Kansas doctor has been sending mailings from his jail cell that claim such killings aretype:bold,italic; justifiable.

Scott Roeder is also communicating with individuals on the fringes of the anti-abortion movement, weeks after suggesting others might be planning similar attacks.

Roeder, 51, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the May 31 death of Dr. George Tiller.

Roeder has been sending anti-abortion literature that lauds Paul Hill, who was convicted of murdering an abortion provider in 1994, as an "American hero." The pamphlet includes reprints of Hill's writings about how the killing of abortion providers is justifiable.

Hill was executed in 2003 for killing Dr. John Bayard Britton and his bodyguard outside a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic.

------ Emporia remembers actor Karl Malden's ties to town

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) -- Actor Karl Malden is being remembered in Emporia for ties he had to the city and Emporia State University.

Malden, who died on Wednesday, married an Emporia girl and taught a workshop at Emporia State's Summer Theatre. A scholarship named for Malden is still awarded to a theater student every year.

Malden's wife, Mona, graduated from Roosevelt High School and attended Kansas State Teachers College, which is now Emporia State University. They celebrated their 70th anniversary last December.

He visited the campus with her in 1959 and returned in the summer of 1964 to teach actors at the summer theater company. In 1985, Malden was awarded an honorary doctor of fine arts degree by the university.

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Information from: The Emporia Gazette, http://www.emporiagazette.com/

------ Mayor Bunten still recovering from pneumonia

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten says he is unsure when he'll return to office as he continues to recover from pneumonia.

Bunten was hospitalized for six days in mid-June and is now recovering at home. He said Thursday that his doctors have told him he's improving, but they haven't been able to identify exactly what type of pneumonia he's has.

The 79-year-old Bunten said his condition isn't considered life-threatening. He expects to return to work but said that won't happen until he's healthy.

Deputy Mayor Richard Harmon and City Council members have been filling in for Bunten at some mayoral commitments.

Bunten was re-elected to a second term in April.

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------ Man's death on Kan. railroad tracks a mystery

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The death of a man who spent much of his life around trains is a mystery after his body was found beside tracks in central Kansas.

Fred J. Lucero had spent a few weeks visiting family in Topeka before boarding an Amtrak train early Tuesday for a trip back to Los Angeles.

But at some point the former Santa Fe Railroad machine operator left the moving train, and officials aren't really sure how. He was found dead next to the tracks in Marion County.

Officials say it hasn't been determined whether he jumped, fell or was pushed from the train. Information provided to the funeral home indicates Lucero worked for Santa Fe Railroad until 25 years ago, when he became medically disabled.