SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating an alleged school threat have made an arrest.

Just after 11 a.m. Wednesday, police received the report of an alleged threat from a student at Robinson Middle School, 1125 SW 14th Street in Topeka, according to Topeka Police Lt. Donna Eubanks. The school went into a secure campus out of an abundance of caution.

Investigators responded and determined there was no threat to the school or the public. They also took a student into custody. Following the police investigation police arrested the 13-year-old boy and booked him into the Shawnee County Juvenile Detention Center on the following on a requested charge of Aggravated criminal threat, according to Eubanks.

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating an alleged school threat have made an arrest.Just after 11 a.m. Wednesday, police received the report of an alleged threat from a student at Robinson Middle School, 1125 SW 14th Street in Topeka, according to Topeka Police Lt. Donna Eubanks. The school went into a secure campus out of an abundance of caution.Investigators responded and determined there was no threat to the school or the public. They also took a student into custody. Following the police investigation police arrested the 13-year-old boy and booked him into the Shawnee County Juvenile Detention Center on the following on a requested charge of Aggravated criminal threat, according to Eubanks.

13-year-old accused of threat at Kansas middle school

JEFFERSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and have a suspect in custody.

According to online jail records, On Feb. 10, deputies booked 49-year-old&nbsp;Billy Ketron of Topeka into the Jefferson County Jail on requested charges of burglary, criminal trespass, aggravated burglary, and aggravated escape from custody.

Ketron allegedly attempted to escape from a deputy during his arrest, according to the sheriff's office.&nbsp; Ketron remains jailed on a $1,500&nbsp; bond.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707836798942.png" alt="Ketron-photo Jefferson Co." />
 <figcaption>Ketron-photo Jefferson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JEFFERSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and have a suspect in custody.According to online jail records, On Feb. 10, deputies booked 49-year-old&nbsp;Billy Ketron of Topeka into the Jefferson County Jail on requested charges of burglary, criminal trespass, aggravated burglary, and aggravated escape from custody.Ketron allegedly attempted to escape from a deputy during his arrest, according to the sheriff's office.&nbsp; Ketron remains jailed on a $1,500&nbsp; bond.

Sheriff: Kan. burglary suspect tried to escape during arrest

By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post

An event that combined ashes and glitter for the celebration of Ash Wednesday has sparked a backlash in the Hays community.

Fort Hays State University students or members of the public were able to be blessed with the traditional ashes or ashes mixed with glitter at the Memorial Union.

Organizers billed the event as a means to foster inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community.

More than 200 people commented on a Facebook posting on the event. Some comments were supportive.

However, other community members expressed outrage about the event calling it "disgusting," sacrilege" and "evil."&nbsp;

The event was sponsored by the FHSU group US4U. This is the fifth year that the group has hosted the event since 2017.

"There is a tradition of exclusion, and we don't feel it really reflects what Jesus was about," Cheryl Duffy, Us4U adviser, said. "Jesus was about love and inclusion, and we want to open up that tradition to everyone.

"Ash Wednesday is a meaningful, inflective day. We want everyone to be able to experience that."

The Us4U information cards given at the event said, "Glitter is a sign of hope, which does not despair. It signals our promise to repent, to show up, to witness, to work. Glitter never gives up — and neither do we. Glitter+Ash captures the relationship between death and new life."

Jaelyn Sutter, group president, said people of any orientation can be religious.&nbsp;

"I feel that community has felt left out and excluded from religion," she said. "It is important to make sure they feel safe and they have an opportunity like everyone else."

In response to the backlash, Sutter said, "We stand for love and supporting the community. We are not going to let that affect us or influence us or change us."

Anna Towns, group member, said, "We are continuing a tradition our religious practice has always done; adding the glitter is just an option. It's not the only thing. We also have traditional ashes people can get. This was not meant in any way to be a mockery of other religions."&nbsp;

In years past, the event, which lasted two hours, drew about 30 people split fairly evenly between people who wished to receive traditional ashes and the glitter ashes, Towns said.

You can learn more about US4U on Facebook at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/Us4U.fhsu">www.facebook.com/Us4U.fhsu</a>.

Ben Houchen of the St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Hays delivered the ashes.&nbsp;

"This is a day that requires all of us to remember where we come from and where we end up," he said. "That is a thing that should bring us unity. We all experience that.&nbsp;

"Specifically being able to bring in the unity of the LGBTQ+ community that has so often been excluded from church spaces is a very important thing for us to be able to do."

Houchen suggested those who feel anger and offense would turn to scripture.&nbsp;

"Romans 12 is pretty clear that if someone offends them, you feed them and clothe them and you care for them. That's our response as Christians, regardless of how we feel about a situation. Our response has to be one of love."

Brenda Rodger, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, was also present as a supporter.

Troy Miller, a pastor at the United Methodist Church in Hays, was originally slated to participate in the event. However, he canceled.

He said on Facebook, "Please know that after this advertisement came out, which I had no part in producing, I respectfully withdrew my participation. Being a local United Methodist pastor, I was asked by this student group to join other local pastors to impose ashes at the Union. I was not expecting this."

Critics of the event not only had issues with the nature of the event, but also how it was publicized.

The event was announced over the daily calendar system for FHSU. See the full announcement below.

Some of the critics were offended about the tone of the announcement, including the phrase, "Get your ash on campus!"

Laura Cune said she did not condemn the LGBTQ+ community as whole but was upset by this event.

In a lengthy Facebook post, she said, "I felt like my faith was not important to someone else. Not just someone else, a lot of someone elses. In fact, I felt like my faith was a joke. The first two sentences of the announcement are alarming, yes. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of “getting ashes to-go” on Ash Wednesday, because, to me, Ash Wednesday is a holy day that is celebrated within a church. There is no drive-thru, no to-go — you attend mass/service and celebrate the beginning of the Lenten period leading up to Easter, the most important time within our faith."

Kamryn Summers said on Facebook, "This is so saddening. I pray for everyone’s souls. Let yourself be saved by Jesus. Do as Jesus did. He left us a book on how to worship him. As tomorrow we worship him with his ashes, not glitter."

"God’s people better rise up. ... Not just here but across our nation and world. This is spiritual warfare and there is no other correct description. PERIOD!" said&nbsp;Ruby Goldman McGuill&nbsp;on Facebook.

Some also took aim directly at the university for allowing the club to announce the event on a university-wide system. Some community members even threatened to stop donating to the university.

President Tisa Mason made a statement about the posting of the event through the university calendar system on Facebook Wednesday morning.

"The inclusion of the university brand mark in the header is not intended to serve as an affirmed or implied endorsement of the beliefs and views held or expressed by any Student Organization," the statement said. "In the interest of ensuring that the First Amendment right of every individual is respected, FHSU remains viewpoint-neutral on this and other Student Organization-led events."

The “Glitter + Ash” event scheduled for today (February 14) on campus is sponsored by Us4U and the United Methodist Campus Ministry. Both are recognized Student Organizations at Fort Hays State University, and both followed established protocols for creating, announcing, and holding this event. As with any Student Organization-led event, email communications about this event included an FHSU-branded header graphic. The inclusion of the university brand mark in the header is not intended to serve as an affirmed or implied endorsement of the beliefs and views held or expressed by any Student Organization. In the interest of ensuring that the First Amendment right of every individual is respected, FHSU remains viewpoint-neutral on this and other Student Organization-led events. We are in the process of updating our student organization event announcement procedures to clarify that these are announcements from the Student Organizations, not the university, and the content of the emails and the events themselves may not reflect the opinions/beliefs of the university or university leadership. The Kansas Board of Regents and Fort Hays State University are committed to the free expression of ideas and beliefs, and we are united in our commitment to full and open inquiry and discourse and the robust exchange of ideas and perspectives. The principles of freedom of speech and freedom of expression are fundamental rights guaranteed under the U.S. and Kansas Constitutions. To read the Kansas Board of Regents statement on freedom of expression, go to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansasregents.org/about/news-releases/2021-news-releases/797-regents-commit-to-safeguarding-the-rights-of-students-to-free-expression?fbclid=IwAR3pajpEXzce-Qin3zvmWw4QG-2k6c82GIrKggPOVySfax8G-NVXRB7IKPA">https://www.kansasregents.org/about/news-releases/2021-news-releases/797-regents-commit-to-safeguarding-the-rights-of-students-to-free-expression?fbclid=IwAR3pajpEXzce-Qin3zvmWw4QG-2k6c82GIrKggPOVySfax8G-NVXRB7IKPA</a>.

For additional questions or comments, please contact Scott Cason at 785-628-4208 or sacason@fhsu.edu.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707944312858.jpeg" alt="Jaelyn Sutter, FHSU student and member of Us4U, receives ashes on Ash Wednesday from Pastor Ben Houchen of the St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Hays during a Glitter+Ash event at the FHSU Memorial Union. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Jaelyn Sutter, FHSU student and member of Us4U, receives ashes on Ash Wednesday from Pastor Ben Houchen of the St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Hays during a Glitter+Ash event at the FHSU Memorial Union. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays PostAn event that combined ashes and glitter for the celebration of Ash Wednesday has sparked a backlash in the Hays community.Fort Hays State University students or members of the public were able to be blessed with the traditional ashes or ashes mixed with glitter at the Memorial Union.Organizers billed the event as a means to foster inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community.More than 200 people commented on a Facebook posting on the event. Some comments were supportive.However, other community members expressed outrage about the event calling it "disgusting," sacrilege" and "evil."&nbsp;The event was sponsored by the FHSU group US4U. This is the fifth year that the group has hosted the event since 2017."There is a tradition of exclusion, and we don't feel it really reflects what Jesus was about," Cheryl Duffy, Us4U adviser, said. "Jesus was about love and inclusion, and we want to open up that tradition to everyone."Ash Wednesday is a meaningful, inflective day. We want everyone to be able to experience that."The Us4U information cards given at the event said, "Glitter is a sign of hope, which does not despair. It signals our promise to repent, to show up, to witness, to work. Glitter never gives up — and neither do we. Glitter+Ash captures the relationship between death and new life."Jaelyn Sutter, group president, said people of any orientation can be religious.&nbsp;"I feel that community has felt left out and excluded from religion," she said. "It is important to make sure they feel safe and they have an opportunity like everyone else."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707944717786.jpeg" alt="Members of Us4U and pastors Brenda Rodger and Ben Houchen, far right. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Members of Us4U and pastors Brenda Rodger and Ben Houchen, far right. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>In response to the backlash, Sutter said, "We stand for love and supporting the community. We are not going to let that affect us or influence us or change us."Anna Towns, group member, said, "We are continuing a tradition our religious practice has always done; adding the glitter is just an option. It's not the only thing. We also have traditional ashes people can get. This was not meant in any way to be a mockery of other religions."&nbsp;In years past, the event, which lasted two hours, drew about 30 people split fairly evenly between people who wished to receive traditional ashes and the glitter ashes, Towns said.You can learn more about US4U on Facebook at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/Us4U.fhsu">www.facebook.com/Us4U.fhsu</a>.Ben Houchen of the St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Hays delivered the ashes.&nbsp;"This is a day that requires all of us to remember where we come from and where we end up," he said. "That is a thing that should bring us unity. We all experience that.&nbsp;"Specifically being able to bring in the unity of the LGBTQ+ community that has so often been excluded from church spaces is a very important thing for us to be able to do."Houchen suggested those who feel anger and offense would turn to scripture.&nbsp;"Romans 12 is pretty clear that if someone offends them, you feed them and clothe them and you care for them. That's our response as Christians, regardless of how we feel about a situation. Our response has to be one of love."Brenda Rodger, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, was also present as a supporter.Troy Miller, a pastor at the United Methodist Church in Hays, was originally slated to participate in the event. However, he canceled.He said on Facebook, "Please know that after this advertisement came out, which I had no part in producing, I respectfully withdrew my participation. Being a local United Methodist pastor, I was asked by this student group to join other local pastors to impose ashes at the Union. I was not expecting this."Critics of the event not only had issues with the nature of the event, but also how it was publicized.The event was announced over the daily calendar system for FHSU. See the full announcement below.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707940794820.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Some of the critics were offended about the tone of the announcement, including the phrase, "Get your ash on campus!"Laura Cune said she did not condemn the LGBTQ+ community as whole but was upset by this event.In a lengthy Facebook post, she said, "I felt like my faith was not important to someone else. Not just someone else, a lot of someone elses. In fact, I felt like my faith was a joke. The first two sentences of the announcement are alarming, yes. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of “getting ashes to-go” on Ash Wednesday, because, to me, Ash Wednesday is a holy day that is celebrated within a church. There is no drive-thru, no to-go — you attend mass/service and celebrate the beginning of the Lenten period leading up to Easter, the most important time within our faith."Kamryn Summers said on Facebook, "This is so saddening. I pray for everyone’s souls. Let yourself be saved by Jesus. Do as Jesus did. He left us a book on how to worship him. As tomorrow we worship him with his ashes, not glitter."Others took a harder line."God’s people better rise up. ... Not just here but across our nation and world. This is spiritual warfare and there is no other correct description. PERIOD!" said&nbsp;Ruby Goldman McGuill&nbsp;on Facebook.Some also took aim directly at the university for allowing the club to announce the event on a university-wide system. Some community members even threatened to stop donating to the university.President Tisa Mason made a statement about the posting of the event through the university calendar system on Facebook Wednesday morning."The inclusion of the university brand mark in the header is not intended to serve as an affirmed or implied endorsement of the beliefs and views held or expressed by any Student Organization," the statement said. "In the interest of ensuring that the First Amendment right of every individual is respected, FHSU remains viewpoint-neutral on this and other Student Organization-led events."See her complete statement below:The “Glitter + Ash” event scheduled for today (February 14) on campus is sponsored by Us4U and the United Methodist Campus Ministry. Both are recognized Student Organizations at Fort Hays State University, and both followed established protocols for creating, announcing, and holding this event. As with any Student Organization-led event, email communications about this event included an FHSU-branded header graphic. The inclusion of the university brand mark in the header is not intended to serve as an affirmed or implied endorsement of the beliefs and views held or expressed by any Student Organization. In the interest of ensuring that the First Amendment right of every individual is respected, FHSU remains viewpoint-neutral on this and other Student Organization-led events. We are in the process of updating our student organization event announcement procedures to clarify that these are announcements from the Student Organizations, not the university, and the content of the emails and the events themselves may not reflect the opinions/beliefs of the university or university leadership. The Kansas Board of Regents and Fort Hays State University are committed to the free expression of ideas and beliefs, and we are united in our commitment to full and open inquiry and discourse and the robust exchange of ideas and perspectives. The principles of freedom of speech and freedom of expression are fundamental rights guaranteed under the U.S. and Kansas Constitutions. To read the Kansas Board of Regents statement on freedom of expression, go to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansasregents.org/about/news-releases/2021-news-releases/797-regents-commit-to-safeguarding-the-rights-of-students-to-free-expression?fbclid=IwAR3pajpEXzce-Qin3zvmWw4QG-2k6c82GIrKggPOVySfax8G-NVXRB7IKPA">https://www.kansasregents.org/about/news-releases/2021-news-releases/797-regents-commit-to-safeguarding-the-rights-of-students-to-free-expression?fbclid=IwAR3pajpEXzce-Qin3zvmWw4QG-2k6c82GIrKggPOVySfax8G-NVXRB7IKPA</a>.For additional questions or comments, please contact Scott Cason at 785-628-4208 or sacason@fhsu.edu.

LGBTQ+ inclusion Glitter+Ash event at FHSU sparks backlash

Gary D. Ashland June 10, 1949 ~ February 13, 2024

Gary D. Ashland, age 74, of Concordia, KS, passed away on Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at Salina Regional Hospital, Salina, KS. &nbsp;He was born on June 10, 1949 in Concordia, KS to George S. &amp; Annette I. (Cote) Ashland

Gary was part of the Class of 1968 from Clyde High School since he joined the US Marine Corps on March 7, 1968 and served his country in Vietnam. &nbsp;Upon his return from the Marines, he married Katherine Y. Cossel on March 2, 1970 in Concordia.

Gary worked for Cloud Ceramics as a clay and drill supervisor. &nbsp;Gary was a member of The Baptist Church where he and Kathy served as youth sponsors for several years. &nbsp;Gary enjoyed being with his family and doing anything that would help the youth. &nbsp;He helped for many years with Girl Scouts with Kathy and would always welcome anyone who needed help or to be part of a family.

Gary is survived by his wife, Kathy, Concordia; daughters, Jesse Morgan (Jesse), Terri Ashland, both of Concordia, Stacy Stanford (Lee), Salina &amp; Indigo Ashland, Concordia; sons, &nbsp;Tim Ashland, Marco Ashland (Loretta), all of Concordia; grandchildren, Jamie &amp; Haley Morgan, Tristin &amp; Amanda Morgan, Marissa Morgan, Luke Stanford &amp; Nichole &amp; Michael Ashland &amp; great grandchildren, Alex, Jason, Scarlett &amp; Rain Morgan &amp; Thea Morgan.

He was preceded by his parents, granddaughter, Victoria Ashland, brother, Alan Ashland and sister, Patricia Ashland.

The family selected cremation and Memorial services will be at 10:00 am, Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home, Concordia with Rev. Jim Autrey officiating. &nbsp;Burial of the cremains will follow at Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Concordia with military honors by the U.S. Marine Corps, American Legion Post #76 &amp; VFW Post #588. &nbsp;Friends may sign the register book on Monday, February 19, 2024 from 1-8 pm with the family greeting friends from 6-7 pm all at the funeral home. &nbsp;The family suggests memorials to the Wound Warrior Project or the Cloud County Resource Center in care of the funeral home. &nbsp;For online condolences, please visit www.chaputbuoy.com.

READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/09dc28b7-e3f5-48b7-a7ce-b6180532097a">Storm Fury on the Plains presents critical storm safety information</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707938630799.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Gary D. Ashland June 10, 1949 ~ February 13, 2024Gary D. Ashland, age 74, of Concordia, KS, passed away on Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at Salina Regional Hospital, Salina, KS. &nbsp;He was born on June 10, 1949 in Concordia, KS to George S. &amp; Annette I. (Cote) AshlandGary was part of the Class of 1968 from Clyde High School since he joined the US Marine Corps on March 7, 1968 and served his country in Vietnam. &nbsp;Upon his return from the Marines, he married Katherine Y. Cossel on March 2, 1970 in Concordia.Gary worked for Cloud Ceramics as a clay and drill supervisor. &nbsp;Gary was a member of The Baptist Church where he and Kathy served as youth sponsors for several years. &nbsp;Gary enjoyed being with his family and doing anything that would help the youth. &nbsp;He helped for many years with Girl Scouts with Kathy and would always welcome anyone who needed help or to be part of a family.Gary is survived by his wife, Kathy, Concordia; daughters, Jesse Morgan (Jesse), Terri Ashland, both of Concordia, Stacy Stanford (Lee), Salina &amp; Indigo Ashland, Concordia; sons, &nbsp;Tim Ashland, Marco Ashland (Loretta), all of Concordia; grandchildren, Jamie &amp; Haley Morgan, Tristin &amp; Amanda Morgan, Marissa Morgan, Luke Stanford &amp; Nichole &amp; Michael Ashland &amp; great grandchildren, Alex, Jason, Scarlett &amp; Rain Morgan &amp; Thea Morgan.He was preceded by his parents, granddaughter, Victoria Ashland, brother, Alan Ashland and sister, Patricia Ashland.The family selected cremation and Memorial services will be at 10:00 am, Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home, Concordia with Rev. Jim Autrey officiating. &nbsp;Burial of the cremains will follow at Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Concordia with military honors by the U.S. Marine Corps, American Legion Post #76 &amp; VFW Post #588. &nbsp;Friends may sign the register book on Monday, February 19, 2024 from 1-8 pm with the family greeting friends from 6-7 pm all at the funeral home. &nbsp;The family suggests memorials to the Wound Warrior Project or the Cloud County Resource Center in care of the funeral home. &nbsp;For online condolences, please visit www.chaputbuoy.com.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/09dc28b7-e3f5-48b7-a7ce-b6180532097a">Storm Fury on the Plains presents critical storm safety information</a>

Gary D. Ashland

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas woman wounded during by SWAT officers during a standoff at a Wichita residence after she allegedly shot and killed her 14-year-old son made her first court appearance in the case Tuesday.

Kylee Hodges, 43, was charged with First-Degree murder, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

Just before 6:30 p.m. Jan. 28, police arrived at an apartment at 8405 W. Central in Wichita, to check on 14-year-old Claude Hodges after his father called concerned for his welfare. 

When they arrived at the apartment they knocked and received no response. They observed a bullet hole in the apartment's exterior wall and also found a fired bullet on the ground near the entrance.

Police officers quickly obtained a key and entered the apartment. Upon entering they found a woman, later identified as Hodges of Wichita, holding a handgun. A shotgun was also nearby. Officers quickly withdrew from the apartment and notified negotiators.

Preliminary information indicates negotiators began talking with Hodges at around 8:20 p.m. A tactical team, comprised of both polie and deputies from the Sedgwick County Sheriff's office were called to the apartment at around 9:45 p.m. 

Discussions with Hodges continued for several hours in an effort to convince her to disarm and exit peacefully. At one point they convinced Hodges to come out of the apartment and leave her handgun on the ground outside, but she remained close to the gun.

At around 1:40 a.m., Hodges quickly picked up the handgun again, and advanced toward officers while pointing the firearm in their direction. Two SWAT officers from Wichita police each fired one shot toward Hodges, striking her.

Medical aid was rendered, and EMS transported Hodges to a local hospital. No law enforcement officers were injured in the incident. Once officers reentered the apartment, they discovered Claude Hodges in a bedroom deceased from a gunshot wound. Hodges&nbsp; underwent surgery and was booked into jail Monday and is being held on&nbsp;one million-500-thousand dollar bond, according to the district attorney's office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707836093664.png" alt="Hodges-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Hodges-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas woman wounded during by SWAT officers during a standoff at a Wichita residence after she allegedly shot and killed her 14-year-old son made her first court appearance in the case Tuesday.Kylee Hodges, 43, was charged with First-Degree murder, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.Just before 6:30 p.m. Jan. 28, police arrived at an apartment at 8405 W. Central in Wichita, to check on 14-year-old Claude Hodges after his father called concerned for his welfare. When they arrived at the apartment they knocked and received no response. They observed a bullet hole in the apartment's exterior wall and also found a fired bullet on the ground near the entrance.Police officers quickly obtained a key and entered the apartment. Upon entering they found a woman, later identified as Hodges of Wichita, holding a handgun. A shotgun was also nearby. Officers quickly withdrew from the apartment and notified negotiators.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1706532733268.png" alt="Police on the scene of the investigation Jan. 28-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the investigation Jan. 28-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>Preliminary information indicates negotiators began talking with Hodges at around 8:20 p.m. A tactical team, comprised of both polie and deputies from the Sedgwick County Sheriff's office were called to the apartment at around 9:45 p.m. Discussions with Hodges continued for several hours in an effort to convince her to disarm and exit peacefully. At one point they convinced Hodges to come out of the apartment and leave her handgun on the ground outside, but she remained close to the gun.At around 1:40 a.m., Hodges quickly picked up the handgun again, and advanced toward officers while pointing the firearm in their direction. Two SWAT officers from Wichita police each fired one shot toward Hodges, striking her.Medical aid was rendered, and EMS transported Hodges to a local hospital. No law enforcement officers were injured in the incident. Once officers reentered the apartment, they discovered Claude Hodges in a bedroom deceased from a gunshot wound. Hodges&nbsp; underwent surgery and was booked into jail Monday and is being held on&nbsp;one million-500-thousand dollar bond, according to the district attorney's office.

Kan. woman, wounded in officer-shooting, charged with son's murder

COFFEY COUNTY –&nbsp; Law enforcement authorities have arrested a Kansas wrestling coach and teacher for alleged sex crimes.

Just after 7p.m. Wednesday, KBI agents arrested 31-year-old Michael Vander Linden of Burlington, Kansas, at 401 N. 12th St., in Burlington, according to a media release from the KBI. He was arrested on a warrant for eight counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. 

Vander Linden is <a href="https://bhs.usd244ks.org/119401_2">employed as teacher </a>and wrestling and cross country coach at Burlington High School.&nbsp; He also directed the drama club and theater productions, according to the school web site.

In June 2022, the KBI initiated an investigation after the Coffey County Sheriff’s Office took a report from a former student of Vander Linden’s who reported a sexual relationship that took place in 2012 and 2013, when she was a sophomore and Vander Linden was a student teacher. 

The investigation led to a second former student who reported she also had sexual intercourse with Vander Linden on multiple occasions in 2013, when she was 15-years-old.

After the arrest, Vander Linden was booked into the Coffey County Jail.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707879216666.png" alt="Vander Linden " />
 <figcaption>Vander Linden </figcaption>
 </figure>COFFEY COUNTY –&nbsp; Law enforcement authorities have arrested a Kansas wrestling coach and teacher for alleged sex crimes.Just after 7p.m. Wednesday, KBI agents arrested 31-year-old Michael Vander Linden of Burlington, Kansas, at 401 N. 12th St., in Burlington, according to a media release from the KBI. He was arrested on a warrant for eight counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Vander Linden is <a href="https://bhs.usd244ks.org/119401_2">employed as teacher </a>and wrestling and cross country coach at Burlington High School.&nbsp; He also directed the drama club and theater productions, according to the school web site.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707879437207.png" alt="Photo courtesy Burlington High School" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Burlington High School</figcaption>
 </figure>In June 2022, the KBI initiated an investigation after the Coffey County Sheriff’s Office took a report from a former student of Vander Linden’s who reported a sexual relationship that took place in 2012 and 2013, when she was a sophomore and Vander Linden was a student teacher. The investigation led to a second former student who reported she also had sexual intercourse with Vander Linden on multiple occasions in 2013, when she was 15-years-old.After the arrest, Vander Linden was booked into the Coffey County Jail.

Kan. wrestling coach, teacher accused of sex with students

By OLIVIA BERGMEIER Salina Post

Between Wednesday, Feb. 7 and Friday, Feb. 9, two suspects burglarized an unoccupied house in the 4700 block of North Woodward Road and stole almost more than $1,000 in frozen beef and pork.

The house is an unoccupied structure in rural Saline County, but after the burglary last week, the owner installed security cameras for surveillance.

The Saline County Sheriff's Office began investigating the case over the weekend. At 5 a.m. on Monday, one of the suspects visited the same house and stole another $400 in various household items.

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"The security system was alerted to a presence at the property, and by the time we got there, there were no suspects on scene," said Sheriff's Office Capt. Jim Hughes. "The house had been entered again and an internet modem, a security camera and a suitcase with books were stolen. The loss of all that property is reported to be about $425."

Before the now-identified and arrested suspect, 54-year-old Wallace Holmes took down the security camera, Hughes said it captured footage that led to a search warrant for a residence in central Salina.

Deputies then conducted the search warrant on Monday and found items from the victim's property in the residence in Salina where Holmes and 51-year-old Andrea Randecker live.

The pair were not present while deputies searched, but deputies found them later and arrested them for the burglaries.

Hughes said deputies charged Holmes with two counts of burglary, theft, damage to property and trespass, while requested charges for Randecker include one count of burglary, theft and trespass. 

"While deputies were arresting Randecker, she was found to be in possession of methamphetamine and personal paraphernalia, so she picked up those two additional charges," Hughes said." 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1664285463135.jpeg" alt="Holmes, Wallace Macintosh" />
 <figcaption>Holmes, Wallace Macintosh</figcaption>
 </figure>By OLIVIA BERGMEIER Salina PostBetween Wednesday, Feb. 7 and Friday, Feb. 9, two suspects burglarized an unoccupied house in the 4700 block of North Woodward Road and stole almost more than $1,000 in frozen beef and pork.The house is an unoccupied structure in rural Saline County, but after the burglary last week, the owner installed security cameras for surveillance.The Saline County Sheriff's Office began investigating the case over the weekend. At 5 a.m. on Monday, one of the suspects visited the same house and stole another $400 in various household items.READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/1798e494-1852-4954-884d-ca8a5a19b105">Mid America Farm Expo coming to Tony's Pizza Event Center March 20-22</a>"The security system was alerted to a presence at the property, and by the time we got there, there were no suspects on scene," said Sheriff's Office Capt. Jim Hughes. "The house had been entered again and an internet modem, a security camera and a suitcase with books were stolen. The loss of all that property is reported to be about $425."Before the now-identified and arrested suspect, 54-year-old Wallace Holmes took down the security camera, Hughes said it captured footage that led to a search warrant for a residence in central Salina.Deputies then conducted the search warrant on Monday and found items from the victim's property in the residence in Salina where Holmes and 51-year-old Andrea Randecker live.The pair were not present while deputies searched, but deputies found them later and arrested them for the burglaries.Hughes said deputies charged Holmes with two counts of burglary, theft, damage to property and trespass, while requested charges for Randecker include one count of burglary, theft and trespass. "While deputies were arresting Randecker, she was found to be in possession of methamphetamine and personal paraphernalia, so she picked up those two additional charges," Hughes said."

Deputies arrest meat thief that burglarized same property twice

SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas county jail inmate with a history of health issue died on Sunday.

On January 28, EMS transported a Sedgwick County inmate to a local hospital&nbsp; due to chronic medical problems, according to Sedgwick County Sheriff's Lt. Nathan Gibbs.

The 36-year-old inmate identified as Kelly Junius Peterson, according to Sedgwick County booking records, was being evaluated by the Detention Facility Medical Clinic for the past three years after reporting difficulties with his chronic medical issues to jail medical staff. He was hospitalized for a total of 25 times since his arrest in October of 2020&nbsp;on felony charges of Criminal Sodomy, Aggravated Indecent Liberties and Sexual Exploitation of a child.

The hospital staff had been attempting to treat Peterson, but his condition had a very small chance of survival.&nbsp; Based on medical advice, on February 8, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office contacted Peterson's family and made accommodations for them to visit him. 

Just before 5:30p.m. Sunday Peterson was pronounced deceased. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Investigation Division were notified.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707701963256.png" alt="PETERSON-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>PETERSON-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas county jail inmate with a history of health issue died on Sunday.On January 28, EMS transported a Sedgwick County inmate to a local hospital&nbsp; due to chronic medical problems, according to Sedgwick County Sheriff's Lt. Nathan Gibbs.The 36-year-old inmate identified as Kelly Junius Peterson, according to Sedgwick County booking records, was being evaluated by the Detention Facility Medical Clinic for the past three years after reporting difficulties with his chronic medical issues to jail medical staff. He was hospitalized for a total of 25 times since his arrest in October of 2020&nbsp;on felony charges of Criminal Sodomy, Aggravated Indecent Liberties and Sexual Exploitation of a child.He was hospitalized eight times in 2023.The hospital staff had been attempting to treat Peterson, but his condition had a very small chance of survival.&nbsp; Based on medical advice, on February 8, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office contacted Peterson's family and made accommodations for them to visit him. Just before 5:30p.m. Sunday Peterson was pronounced deceased. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Investigation Division were notified.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Kan. inmate jailed for child sex crime allegations has died

LAS VEGAS (AP) — With&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-kelce-travis-super-bowl-eras-japan-13248c81324a4da46df425f0e6a7654c">the run she's having</a>, how could Taylor Swift be on anything other than the winning side?

She&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1756894867592990732">embraced her boyfriend Travis Kelce</a>&nbsp;and the couple&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/super-bowl-2024-updates">locked lips</a>&nbsp;on the field at Allegiant Stadium after his Kansas City Chiefs&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-score-chiefs-49ers-49b5dca51c05ab0f259cef0d7da76c2d">beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22</a>&nbsp;in the Super Bowl.

Moments earlier, Swift smiled with her eyes looking misty from tears as she stood next to Kelce's mother while he held aloft the Lombardi Trophy, shouting “Chiefs nation!” and bellowing a chorus of “Viva Las Vegas.”

Minutes before that,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1756889859455885414">she was smothered by celebrity suite mates</a>, who at various points included Blake Lively, Ice Spice and Lana Del Rey, when the Chiefs scored the winning touchdown in overtime, set up by a key reception by Kelce for a first down.

It was the second straight Super Bowl win for the Chiefs, but the first since Swift became fan-in-chief. She and Kelce began dating shortly before the season started.

It completes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-grammys-tokyo-super-bowl-kelce-d46418de25e985f77ab7a7ada337d2a0">an epic stretch</a>&nbsp;for Swift, who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2024-grammy-awards-show-75f0eda337c9289f846f9a047d191703">won album of the year a week earlier</a>&nbsp;for a record fourth time at the Grammys, where she also announced a new album dropping in April before jetting off to Japan for a series of stadium shows.

Soon after flying halfway around the world to get to the game, she strolled through security to enter the stadium along with Lively, Ice Spice and her mom, Andrea Swift. She cuddled with Lively during Post Malone's performance of “America the Beautiful" and won what appeared to be a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1756841836713476406">beer chugging contest</a>, slamming her cup down to an appreciative roar from the fans.

She was spotted talking to Kelce's brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in one of the private boxes that reportedly cost more than $1 million. Del Rey joined the celeb-packed suite in time to catch&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-halftime-show-review-usher-ccd211bedd0b3a3e5ea90522828f6a13">Usher's halftime show</a>.

Swift&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-kelce-travis-super-bowl-eras-japan-13248c81324a4da46df425f0e6a7654c">flew on a private plane across nine time zones</a>&nbsp;and the international date line from the last of four shows at the Tokyo Dome to arrive about two hours before kickoff. The time change allowed her to land in Los Angeles and make the final hop to Las Vegas.

Kelce and Swift won’t have a whole lot of time together to celebrate. She is due back across the Pacific later this week. The international leg of her Eras Tour resumes Friday night in Australia with the first of three shows at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

“This week is truly the best kind of chaos,” she&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C3D8GyHOm4q/">posted Wednesday</a>&nbsp;on Instagram.

The 14-time Grammy winner walked into the Super Bowl&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/NFL/status/1756791525839978674?s=20">wearing a black outfit</a>&nbsp;with a red jacket slung over her shoulder, apparently getting the memo from Kelce and many of the Chiefs. He wore a shimmering black suit, quarterback Patrick Mahomes wore a sharp black suit of his own, and even Chiefs coach Andy Reid wore a black blazer as the Chiefs leaned into the role of the villains.

"Anti-Hero” also happens to be the lead single from Swift's Grammy-winning album, “Midnights.”

“She’s unbelievable. She’s rewriting the history books herself,”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/travis-kelce-taylor-swift-super-bowl-d0fe0d21f00b68a5d99d8d6a29d3cded">Kelce said a day after the Grammys</a>. “I told her I’ll have to hold up my end of the bargain and come home with hardware, too.”

Swift began&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-taylor-swift-travis-kelce-chiefs-49ers-9accf85733377ae70456d163495c0801">dating Kelce after</a>&nbsp;he said on his “New Heights” podcast that he had tried and failed to give her a friendship bracelet during her performance at Arrowhead Stadium. Kelce then invited her to watch him perform at the home of the Chiefs, and she surprisingly showed up for their Week 2 game against Chicago.

Swift soon became a regular at games, both home and away, frequently sitting with Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Swift occasionally brought along friends, including Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.

"Having Taylor as a new Chiefs fan is very unique," Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said during Super Bowl week. “I don't ever do an interview without someone asking me about it. I think a lot of players and coaches on the team are in the same boat. The most important thing is we're happy for the two of them that they have found each other and have such a special relationship.”

There was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-commercials-preview-025d653b2abf0ceadc7e9c7850c0383a">plenty of star power</a>&nbsp;besides Swift for the NFL's marquee night. Usher's halftime show included guest performers Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Lil Jon. Reba McEntire sang the national anthem. Beyoncé, who was also at the game, appeared in a commercial and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/beyonce-new-music-act-ii-14ab5948ecfb76c283c638162b7a53f7">dropped a pair of new songs</a>&nbsp;in the second half.

Few were under a brighter spotlight than Swift, though. Her dash from Tokyo, where she promised fans that “we're all gonna go on a great adventure,” had Swifties around the world watching online flight trackers, while her boyfriend seemed to get as many questions about his relationship as the game during the run-up to kickoff.

Asked to explain the intense interest, Kelce replied: “I think the values we stand for and just who we are as people — we love to shine light on others, shine light on the people that help and support us, and on top of that, I think we both just love life.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707736613770.png" alt="Taylor Swift kisses Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce after the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 25-22 against the 49ers.(Brynn Anderson | AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)" />
 <figcaption>Taylor Swift kisses Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce after the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 25-22 against the 49ers.(Brynn Anderson | AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)</figcaption>
 </figure>LAS VEGAS (AP) — With&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-kelce-travis-super-bowl-eras-japan-13248c81324a4da46df425f0e6a7654c">the run she's having</a>, how could Taylor Swift be on anything other than the winning side?She&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1756894867592990732">embraced her boyfriend Travis Kelce</a>&nbsp;and the couple&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/super-bowl-2024-updates">locked lips</a>&nbsp;on the field at Allegiant Stadium after his Kansas City Chiefs&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-score-chiefs-49ers-49b5dca51c05ab0f259cef0d7da76c2d">beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22</a>&nbsp;in the Super Bowl.Moments earlier, Swift smiled with her eyes looking misty from tears as she stood next to Kelce's mother while he held aloft the Lombardi Trophy, shouting “Chiefs nation!” and bellowing a chorus of “Viva Las Vegas.”Minutes before that,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1756889859455885414">she was smothered by celebrity suite mates</a>, who at various points included Blake Lively, Ice Spice and Lana Del Rey, when the Chiefs scored the winning touchdown in overtime, set up by a key reception by Kelce for a first down.It was the second straight Super Bowl win for the Chiefs, but the first since Swift became fan-in-chief. She and Kelce began dating shortly before the season started.It completes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-grammys-tokyo-super-bowl-kelce-d46418de25e985f77ab7a7ada337d2a0">an epic stretch</a>&nbsp;for Swift, who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2024-grammy-awards-show-75f0eda337c9289f846f9a047d191703">won album of the year a week earlier</a>&nbsp;for a record fourth time at the Grammys, where she also announced a new album dropping in April before jetting off to Japan for a series of stadium shows.Soon after flying halfway around the world to get to the game, she strolled through security to enter the stadium along with Lively, Ice Spice and her mom, Andrea Swift. She cuddled with Lively during Post Malone's performance of “America the Beautiful" and won what appeared to be a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1756841836713476406">beer chugging contest</a>, slamming her cup down to an appreciative roar from the fans.She was spotted talking to Kelce's brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in one of the private boxes that reportedly cost more than $1 million. Del Rey joined the celeb-packed suite in time to catch&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-halftime-show-review-usher-ccd211bedd0b3a3e5ea90522828f6a13">Usher's halftime show</a>.Swift&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-kelce-travis-super-bowl-eras-japan-13248c81324a4da46df425f0e6a7654c">flew on a private plane across nine time zones</a>&nbsp;and the international date line from the last of four shows at the Tokyo Dome to arrive about two hours before kickoff. The time change allowed her to land in Los Angeles and make the final hop to Las Vegas.Kelce and Swift won’t have a whole lot of time together to celebrate. She is due back across the Pacific later this week. The international leg of her Eras Tour resumes Friday night in Australia with the first of three shows at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.“This week is truly the best kind of chaos,” she&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C3D8GyHOm4q/">posted Wednesday</a>&nbsp;on Instagram.The 14-time Grammy winner walked into the Super Bowl&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/NFL/status/1756791525839978674?s=20">wearing a black outfit</a>&nbsp;with a red jacket slung over her shoulder, apparently getting the memo from Kelce and many of the Chiefs. He wore a shimmering black suit, quarterback Patrick Mahomes wore a sharp black suit of his own, and even Chiefs coach Andy Reid wore a black blazer as the Chiefs leaned into the role of the villains."Anti-Hero” also happens to be the lead single from Swift's Grammy-winning album, “Midnights.”“She’s unbelievable. She’s rewriting the history books herself,”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/travis-kelce-taylor-swift-super-bowl-d0fe0d21f00b68a5d99d8d6a29d3cded">Kelce said a day after the Grammys</a>. “I told her I’ll have to hold up my end of the bargain and come home with hardware, too.”Swift began&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-taylor-swift-travis-kelce-chiefs-49ers-9accf85733377ae70456d163495c0801">dating Kelce after</a>&nbsp;he said on his “New Heights” podcast that he had tried and failed to give her a friendship bracelet during her performance at Arrowhead Stadium. Kelce then invited her to watch him perform at the home of the Chiefs, and she surprisingly showed up for their Week 2 game against Chicago.Swift soon became a regular at games, both home and away, frequently sitting with Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Swift occasionally brought along friends, including Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds."Having Taylor as a new Chiefs fan is very unique," Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said during Super Bowl week. “I don't ever do an interview without someone asking me about it. I think a lot of players and coaches on the team are in the same boat. The most important thing is we're happy for the two of them that they have found each other and have such a special relationship.”There was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-2024-commercials-preview-025d653b2abf0ceadc7e9c7850c0383a">plenty of star power</a>&nbsp;besides Swift for the NFL's marquee night. Usher's halftime show included guest performers Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Lil Jon. Reba McEntire sang the national anthem. Beyoncé, who was also at the game, appeared in a commercial and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/beyonce-new-music-act-ii-14ab5948ecfb76c283c638162b7a53f7">dropped a pair of new songs</a>&nbsp;in the second half.Few were under a brighter spotlight than Swift, though. Her dash from Tokyo, where she promised fans that “we're all gonna go on a great adventure,” had Swifties around the world watching online flight trackers, while her boyfriend seemed to get as many questions about his relationship as the game during the run-up to kickoff.Asked to explain the intense interest, Kelce replied: “I think the values we stand for and just who we are as people — we love to shine light on others, shine light on the people that help and support us, and on top of that, I think we both just love life.”

Super Bowl love story: Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift celebrate Chiefs' win

JEFFERSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on alleged child sex crimes.

On February 8, deputies booked 49-year-old Eric Jones into the Jefferson County jail on requested charges of rape and indecent liberties with a child, according to online jail records. He is being held on a bond of $750,000.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707486702881.png" alt="Jones-photo Jefferson Co." />
 <figcaption>Jones-photo Jefferson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JEFFERSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on alleged child sex crimes.On February 8, deputies booked 49-year-old Eric Jones into the Jefferson County jail on requested charges of rape and indecent liberties with a child, according to online jail records. He is being held on a bond of $750,000.

Kan. man accused of violent sex crimes with a child

SEDGWICK COUNTY— A jury this week convicted a man on parole for murder in the 2019 Christmas Eve murder of his girlfriend.

On Tuesday 43-year-old Ahmad Bey was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 41-year-old Melinda Sprague, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's offie.

Just after 2p.m. on Christmas Eve in 2019, a co-worker of&nbsp; Sprague contacted police about her not showing up for work, according to Wichita Police Captain Brett Allred. Police made a missing person report.

During the investigation, police located Sprague's missing 2017 Ford Focus behind a business in the 1500 Block of East Harry in Wichita, according to Allred.&nbsp; They also located her body inside the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police developed information that led to Bey's arrest on a requested charge of first-degree murder and a Kansas Department of Corrections warrant.&nbsp; At the time, police also arrested 34-year-old Vanessa&nbsp; Waner on a requested charge of first-degree murder, according to Allred.

Police investigators learned that Sprague and Bey were in a dating relationship, according to Allred.   Bey and Waner lived together. Charges against Waner were later dismissed. 

At the time of the Sprague's murder, Bey was on parole for 2nd degree intentional murder in Crawford County in 1999.&nbsp; He is set to be sentenced on March 22.&nbsp;&nbsp;

She was reported missing on December 24, 2019 after she didn't show up for work. Her body was found in her two days later in the 1500 block of East Harry. Bey and a second suspect were booked into jail on December 27.&nbsp;

Police said Bey and Sprague had been in a relationship. A charge of interference with law enforcement against the second suspect was dismissed in February 2020, records show.

Bey is set to be sentenced on March 22. He faces jury trial in April on two counts of violating the Kansas offender registration act. At the time of Sprague's death, Bey was on parole for a second-degree murder conviction in Crawford County. He was paroled in that case on July 1, 2019.

Online jail records show Bey was also charged with trafficking contraband into a correctional facility in August 2021. A hearing in that case is also scheduled for March 22.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1577465236625.png" alt="Bey-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Bey-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY— A jury this week convicted a man on parole for murder in the 2019 Christmas Eve murder of his girlfriend.On Tuesday 43-year-old Ahmad Bey was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 41-year-old Melinda Sprague, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's offie.Just after 2p.m. on Christmas Eve in 2019, a co-worker of&nbsp; Sprague contacted police about her not showing up for work, according to Wichita Police Captain Brett Allred. Police made a missing person report.During the investigation, police located Sprague's missing 2017 Ford Focus behind a business in the 1500 Block of East Harry in Wichita, according to Allred.&nbsp; They also located her body inside the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.Police developed information that led to Bey's arrest on a requested charge of first-degree murder and a Kansas Department of Corrections warrant.&nbsp; At the time, police also arrested 34-year-old Vanessa&nbsp; Waner on a requested charge of first-degree murder, according to Allred.Police investigators learned that Sprague and Bey were in a dating relationship, according to Allred. Bey and Waner lived together. Charges against Waner were later dismissed. At the time of the Sprague's murder, Bey was on parole for 2nd degree intentional murder in Crawford County in 1999.&nbsp; He is set to be sentenced on March 22.&nbsp;&nbsp;She was reported missing on December 24, 2019 after she didn't show up for work. Her body was found in her two days later in the 1500 block of East Harry. Bey and a second suspect were booked into jail on December 27.&nbsp;Police said Bey and Sprague had been in a relationship. A charge of interference with law enforcement against the second suspect was dismissed in February 2020, records show.Bey is set to be sentenced on March 22. He faces jury trial in April on two counts of violating the Kansas offender registration act. At the time of Sprague's death, Bey was on parole for a second-degree murder conviction in Crawford County. He was paroled in that case on July 1, 2019.Online jail records show Bey was also charged with trafficking contraband into a correctional facility in August 2021. A hearing in that case is also scheduled for March 22.

Kan. man on parole for murder killed his girlfriend on Christmas Eve

JACKSON COUNTY, Kan.—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon on new drug allegations.

On Feb. 4, a&nbsp;Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on an Acura passenger car for a traffic infraction near 162nd and U.S. Highway 75, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

 During the stop the deputy located illegal contraband.  The driver, Paula Louise Michael, 60, of Topeka was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail for possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Michael has three previous convictions for drug possession in 2005 and 2010, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707399598744.png" alt="Michael photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Michael photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY, Kan.—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon on new drug allegations.On Feb. 4, a&nbsp;Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on an Acura passenger car for a traffic infraction near 162nd and U.S. Highway 75, according to Sheriff Tim Morse. During the stop the deputy located illegal contraband. The driver, Paula Louise Michael, 60, of Topeka was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail for possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.Michael has three previous convictions for drug possession in 2005 and 2010, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Sheriff: Kansas felon had illegal drugs in her car

JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.

Just after 4p.m. February 6, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a Ford Taurus for a traffic infraction on Q. Road just south of 150th Road in rural Jackson County, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

 During the course of the traffic stop, a Jackson County Sheriff K-9 was deployed and alerted to the presence of illegal drug contraband within the vehicle. 

The driver, Earl Harrison Ireland III, 41, of Topeka was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707412519310.png" alt="Ireland photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Ireland photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.Just after 4p.m. February 6, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a Ford Taurus for a traffic infraction on Q. Road just south of 150th Road in rural Jackson County, according to Sheriff Tim Morse. During the course of the traffic stop, a Jackson County Sheriff K-9 was deployed and alerted to the presence of illegal drug contraband within the vehicle. The driver, Earl Harrison Ireland III, 41, of Topeka was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Kansas deputy found methamphetamine in man's car

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden “willfully” retained and disclosed highly classified materials when he was a private citizen, including documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other sensitive national security matters, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf">Justice Department report</a>&nbsp;that nonetheless says no criminal charges are warranted for him or anyone else.

<a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf">Click here to read </a>the special council report

The report from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/sco-hur">special counsel Robert Hur</a>, released Thursday, represents a harshly critical assessment of Biden’s handling of sensitive government materials, but also details the reasons why he should not be charged with the crime.

The findings will likely blunt his ability to forcefully condemn Donald Trump, Biden's likely opponent in November's presidential election, over a criminal indictment charging the former president with illegally hoarding classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

“Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen," Hur wrote.

Hur’s report says evidence suggests that many of the classified documents recovered by investigators at the Penn Biden Center, in parts of Biden’s Delaware home, and in his Senate papers at the University of Delaware were retained by “mistake.”

Biden said in a statement that he was “pleased” the special counsel had “reached the conclusion I believed all along they would reach — that there would be no charges brought in this case and the matter is now closed.”

He made a point of saying that he sat for five hours of in-person interviews over two days on Oct. 8 and 9, “even though Israel had just been attacked on October 7th and I was in the middle of handling an international crisis."

“I just believed that’s what I owed the American people so they could know no charges would be brought and the matter closed,” Biden said.

The report comes after a yearlong investigation into the improper retention of classified documents by Biden, from his time as a senator and as vice president, that were found at his Delaware home, as well as at a private office that he used in between his service in the Obama administration and becoming president.

The investigation into Biden is separate from special counsel Jack Smith’s inquiry into the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-37a360519244eb3c211a56cd9355adc8">handling of classified documents by Trump</a>&nbsp;after Trump left the White House. Smith’s team has charged Trump with illegally retaining top secret records at Mar-a-Lago home and then obstructing government efforts to get them back. Trump has said he did nothing wrong.

After Biden's lawyers uncovered classified documents at his former office, Biden's representatives promptly contacted the National Archives to arrange their return to the government. The National Archives notified the FBI, which opened an investigation. Biden made his homes available to agents to conduct thorough searches, and that is how the most sensitive documents came to the attention of the Justice Department.

Hur assessed that the evidence did not support that Biden willfully retained some of the classified documents that were recovered — including the ones at the Penn Biden Center that sparked the probe.

Biden could not have been prosecuted as a sitting president, but Hur’s report states that he would not recommend charges against Biden regardless.

“We would reach the same conclusion even if Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president,” the report said.

Part of the report centers on Biden’s handling of classified documents about Afghanistan — specifically, the Obama administration’s decision to send additional troops there — that he retained after he left office as vice president in his Delaware home. Biden preserved materials documenting his opposition to the troop surge, including a 2009 classified handwritten memo to then-President Barack Obama.

“These materials were proof of the stand Mr. Biden took in what he regarded as among the most important decisions of his vice presidency,” the report said.

The documents have classification markings up to the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information Level and were found in a box in Biden’s Delaware garage “that contained other materials of great significance to him and that he appears to have personally used and accessed.”

Photographs included in the report showed some of the classified Afghanistan documents stored in a worn cardboard box stored in his garage, apparently in a loose collection with other household items, including a ladder and a wicker basket.

Classified documents from the Obama administration were also found in Biden’s basement den, according to the report. Classified documents from his time in the Senate in the 1970s and 1980s were also found in his garage.

Despite signs that Biden knowingly retained and disclosed classified materials, Hur’s report said criminal charges were not merited for multiple reasons. Those include the fact that as vice president, and during his subsequent presidency when the Afghanistan records were found, “he had the authority to keep classified documents at his home.”

As part of the probe, investigators reviewed a recording of a February 2017 conversation between Biden and his ghostwriter in which, referring to the 2009 memo to Obama, Biden said that he had “just found all the classified stuff downstairs.” Biden was renting a home in Virginia at the time and consolidated his belongings in Delaware when he moved out in 2019. Prosecutors believe that Biden’s comment was a reference to the same classified records that FBI agents later found in his Delaware home.

Though the best case for charges could involve his possession of the Afghanistan documents as a private citizen, prosecutors said, it was possible that Biden could have found those records at his Virginia home in 2017 and then forgotten about them soon after.

“This could convince some reasonable jurors that he did not retain them willfully,” the report.

The report said there was some evidence to suggest that Biden knew he could not keep classified handwritten notes at home after leaving office, citing his deep familiarity “with the measures taken to safeguard classified information and the need for those measures to prevent harm to national security.” Yet his kept notebooks containing classified information in unlocked drawers at home.

“He had strong motivations to do so and to ignore the rules for properly handing the classified information in his notebooks,” the report said. “He consulted the notebooks liberally during hours of discussions with his ghostwriter and viewed them as highly private and valued possessions with which he was unwilling to part.”

While the report removes legal jeopardy for the president, it is nonetheless is an embarrassment for Biden, who placed competency and experience at the core of his rationale to voters to send him to the Oval Office.

“Mr. Biden was known to remove and keep classified material from his briefing books for future use, and his staff struggled — and sometimes failed — to retrieve those materials,” the report states. “And there was no procedure at all for tracking some of the classified material Mr. Biden received outside of his briefing books”

In declining to prosecute Biden, Hur’s office also cited what it said was Biden’s “limited memory” both during his 2017 recorded conversations with the ghostwriter and in an interview with investigators last year.

“Given Mr. Biden’s limited precision and recall during his interviews with his ghostwriter and with our office, jurors may hesitate to place too much evidentiary weight on a single eight-word utterance to his ghostwriter about finding classified documents in Virginia, in the absence of other, more direct evidence.”

“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” investigators wrote.

There is recent Justice Department precedence for criminal charges against individuals accused of sharing classified information with biographers or ghostwriters. Gen. David Petraeus pleaded guilty to doing exactly that in 2015 and was sentenced to probation.

Yet in this instance, prosecutors say, Biden could have plausibly believed that the notebooks were his personal property and belonged to him, even if they contained classified information.

In an interview with prosecutors, the report said, Biden was emphatic with investigators that the notebooks were “my property” and that “every president before me has done the exact same thing.”

White House lawyer Richard Sauber said Biden takes classified information seriously and “strives to protect it,” but making mistakes when packing documents at the end of an administration can be a common occurrence, as the report noted.

“We disagree with a number of inaccurate and inappropriate comments in the special counsel’s report. Nonetheless, the most important decision the special counsel made — that no charges are warranted — is firmly based on the facts and evidence,” Sauber said.

Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer accused the special counsel of violating “well-established’ norms and “trashing” the president.

“The special counsel could not refrain from investigative excess, perhaps unsurprising given the intense pressures of the current political environment. Whatever the impact of those pressures on the final report, it flouts department regulations and norms,” he said in a statement.

Trump responded to the report in a statement as he traveled to Nevada for Thursday evening’s Republican caucuses. “THIS IS A TWO-TIERED SYSTEM OF JUSTICE!” he said in a statement, claiming the Biden case was “100 times different and more severe than mine.”

“I did nothing wrong, and I cooperated far more. What Biden did is outrageously criminal - He had 50 years of documents, 50 times more than I had, and “WILLFULLY RETAINED” them,” Trump added, once again claiming “ELECTION INTERFERENCE!”

White House lawyers and Biden’s personal attorney were given the opportunity to review and comment on the report. Biden chose not to assert executive privilege over any portion of the report, White House counsel’s office spokesman Ian Sams said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707437029020.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden “willfully” retained and disclosed highly classified materials when he was a private citizen, including documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other sensitive national security matters, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf">Justice Department report</a>&nbsp;that nonetheless says no criminal charges are warranted for him or anyone else.<a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf">Click here to read </a>the special council reportThe report from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/sco-hur">special counsel Robert Hur</a>, released Thursday, represents a harshly critical assessment of Biden’s handling of sensitive government materials, but also details the reasons why he should not be charged with the crime.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673546739694.png" alt="Biden backing his Corvette into the garage next to stacks of boxes where classified documents were found-image from a 2020 Biden for President campaign ad&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Biden backing his Corvette into the garage next to stacks of boxes where classified documents were found-image from a 2020 Biden for President campaign ad&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>The findings will likely blunt his ability to forcefully condemn Donald Trump, Biden's likely opponent in November's presidential election, over a criminal indictment charging the former president with illegally hoarding classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.“Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen," Hur wrote.Hur’s report says evidence suggests that many of the classified documents recovered by investigators at the Penn Biden Center, in parts of Biden’s Delaware home, and in his Senate papers at the University of Delaware were retained by “mistake.”Biden said in a statement that he was “pleased” the special counsel had “reached the conclusion I believed all along they would reach — that there would be no charges brought in this case and the matter is now closed.”He made a point of saying that he sat for five hours of in-person interviews over two days on Oct. 8 and 9, “even though Israel had just been attacked on October 7th and I was in the middle of handling an international crisis."“I just believed that’s what I owed the American people so they could know no charges would be brought and the matter closed,” Biden said.The report comes after a yearlong investigation into the improper retention of classified documents by Biden, from his time as a senator and as vice president, that were found at his Delaware home, as well as at a private office that he used in between his service in the Obama administration and becoming president.The investigation into Biden is separate from special counsel Jack Smith’s inquiry into the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-37a360519244eb3c211a56cd9355adc8">handling of classified documents by Trump</a>&nbsp;after Trump left the White House. Smith’s team has charged Trump with illegally retaining top secret records at Mar-a-Lago home and then obstructing government efforts to get them back. Trump has said he did nothing wrong.After Biden's lawyers uncovered classified documents at his former office, Biden's representatives promptly contacted the National Archives to arrange their return to the government. The National Archives notified the FBI, which opened an investigation. Biden made his homes available to agents to conduct thorough searches, and that is how the most sensitive documents came to the attention of the Justice Department.Hur assessed that the evidence did not support that Biden willfully retained some of the classified documents that were recovered — including the ones at the Penn Biden Center that sparked the probe.Biden could not have been prosecuted as a sitting president, but Hur’s report states that he would not recommend charges against Biden regardless.“We would reach the same conclusion even if Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president,” the report said.Part of the report centers on Biden’s handling of classified documents about Afghanistan — specifically, the Obama administration’s decision to send additional troops there — that he retained after he left office as vice president in his Delaware home. Biden preserved materials documenting his opposition to the troop surge, including a 2009 classified handwritten memo to then-President Barack Obama.“These materials were proof of the stand Mr. Biden took in what he regarded as among the most important decisions of his vice presidency,” the report said.The documents have classification markings up to the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information Level and were found in a box in Biden’s Delaware garage “that contained other materials of great significance to him and that he appears to have personally used and accessed.”Photographs included in the report showed some of the classified Afghanistan documents stored in a worn cardboard box stored in his garage, apparently in a loose collection with other household items, including a ladder and a wicker basket.Classified documents from the Obama administration were also found in Biden’s basement den, according to the report. Classified documents from his time in the Senate in the 1970s and 1980s were also found in his garage.Despite signs that Biden knowingly retained and disclosed classified materials, Hur’s report said criminal charges were not merited for multiple reasons. Those include the fact that as vice president, and during his subsequent presidency when the Afghanistan records were found, “he had the authority to keep classified documents at his home.”As part of the probe, investigators reviewed a recording of a February 2017 conversation between Biden and his ghostwriter in which, referring to the 2009 memo to Obama, Biden said that he had “just found all the classified stuff downstairs.” Biden was renting a home in Virginia at the time and consolidated his belongings in Delaware when he moved out in 2019. Prosecutors believe that Biden’s comment was a reference to the same classified records that FBI agents later found in his Delaware home.Though the best case for charges could involve his possession of the Afghanistan documents as a private citizen, prosecutors said, it was possible that Biden could have found those records at his Virginia home in 2017 and then forgotten about them soon after.“This could convince some reasonable jurors that he did not retain them willfully,” the report.The report said there was some evidence to suggest that Biden knew he could not keep classified handwritten notes at home after leaving office, citing his deep familiarity “with the measures taken to safeguard classified information and the need for those measures to prevent harm to national security.” Yet his kept notebooks containing classified information in unlocked drawers at home.“He had strong motivations to do so and to ignore the rules for properly handing the classified information in his notebooks,” the report said. “He consulted the notebooks liberally during hours of discussions with his ghostwriter and viewed them as highly private and valued possessions with which he was unwilling to part.”While the report removes legal jeopardy for the president, it is nonetheless is an embarrassment for Biden, who placed competency and experience at the core of his rationale to voters to send him to the Oval Office.“Mr. Biden was known to remove and keep classified material from his briefing books for future use, and his staff struggled — and sometimes failed — to retrieve those materials,” the report states. “And there was no procedure at all for tracking some of the classified material Mr. Biden received outside of his briefing books”In declining to prosecute Biden, Hur’s office also cited what it said was Biden’s “limited memory” both during his 2017 recorded conversations with the ghostwriter and in an interview with investigators last year.“Given Mr. Biden’s limited precision and recall during his interviews with his ghostwriter and with our office, jurors may hesitate to place too much evidentiary weight on a single eight-word utterance to his ghostwriter about finding classified documents in Virginia, in the absence of other, more direct evidence.”“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” investigators wrote.There is recent Justice Department precedence for criminal charges against individuals accused of sharing classified information with biographers or ghostwriters. Gen. David Petraeus pleaded guilty to doing exactly that in 2015 and was sentenced to probation.Yet in this instance, prosecutors say, Biden could have plausibly believed that the notebooks were his personal property and belonged to him, even if they contained classified information.In an interview with prosecutors, the report said, Biden was emphatic with investigators that the notebooks were “my property” and that “every president before me has done the exact same thing.”White House lawyer Richard Sauber said Biden takes classified information seriously and “strives to protect it,” but making mistakes when packing documents at the end of an administration can be a common occurrence, as the report noted.“We disagree with a number of inaccurate and inappropriate comments in the special counsel’s report. Nonetheless, the most important decision the special counsel made — that no charges are warranted — is firmly based on the facts and evidence,” Sauber said.Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer accused the special counsel of violating “well-established’ norms and “trashing” the president.“The special counsel could not refrain from investigative excess, perhaps unsurprising given the intense pressures of the current political environment. Whatever the impact of those pressures on the final report, it flouts department regulations and norms,” he said in a statement.Trump responded to the report in a statement as he traveled to Nevada for Thursday evening’s Republican caucuses. “THIS IS A TWO-TIERED SYSTEM OF JUSTICE!” he said in a statement, claiming the Biden case was “100 times different and more severe than mine.”“I did nothing wrong, and I cooperated far more. What Biden did is outrageously criminal - He had 50 years of documents, 50 times more than I had, and “WILLFULLY RETAINED” them,” Trump added, once again claiming “ELECTION INTERFERENCE!”White House lawyers and Biden’s personal attorney were given the opportunity to review and comment on the report. Biden chose not to assert executive privilege over any portion of the report, White House counsel’s office spokesman Ian Sams said.

No charges: Read the special counsel report on Biden, classified  documents

BARTON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations after a traffic stop.

Just after 2 a.m. Tuesday, p0lice conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the 900 block of Farmer's Plaza Lane in Great Bend for a moving infraction, according to a media release.

Officer's asked for consent to search the vehicle and the driver identified as 25-year-old Maddison Crawford granted permission and told officers there were drugs in the vehicle.

While searching the vehicle, Officers located a white crystal-like substance consistent with methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia inside of the vehicle. Police placed Crawford under arrest and booked him into the Barton County jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, no tax stamp and illegal window tint. He is being held in lieu of a $10,000 bond.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707255085033.jpeg" alt="Crawford photo Barton Co." />
 <figcaption>Crawford photo Barton Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>BARTON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations after a traffic stop.Just after 2 a.m. Tuesday, p0lice conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the 900 block of Farmer's Plaza Lane in Great Bend for a moving infraction, according to a media release.Officer's asked for consent to search the vehicle and the driver identified as 25-year-old Maddison Crawford granted permission and told officers there were drugs in the vehicle.While searching the vehicle, Officers located a white crystal-like substance consistent with methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia inside of the vehicle. Police placed Crawford under arrest and booked him into the Barton County jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, no tax stamp and illegal window tint. He is being held in lieu of a $10,000 bond.

Driver told Kansas officers of meth in his vehicle

SHAWNEE COUNTY&nbsp;–On Tuesday, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) arrested a Kansas teacher for alleged sex crimes, according to a media release from the agency.

Just after 6 p.m., KBI agents arrested 38-year-old Brian Stuckenschmidt of Topeka, on a warrant for rape and aggravated criminal sodomy.

In May of 2023, the KBI initiated an investigation after a former student reported incidents that took place between January and May of 2018, when Stuckenschmidt was her music teacher at USD 452 in Johnson City, Kansas. Stuckenschmidt is currently employed at a Topeka school, but was placed on administrative leave in June 2023, when KBI agents brought the investigation to the attention of school officials.

Following the arrest, Stuckenschmidt was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707274518943.png" alt="Stuckenschmidt-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Stuckenschmidt-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY&nbsp;–On Tuesday, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) arrested a Kansas teacher for alleged sex crimes, according to a media release from the agency.Just after 6 p.m., KBI agents arrested 38-year-old Brian Stuckenschmidt of Topeka, on a warrant for rape and aggravated criminal sodomy.In May of 2023, the KBI initiated an investigation after a former student reported incidents that took place between January and May of 2018, when Stuckenschmidt was her music teacher at USD 452 in Johnson City, Kansas. Stuckenschmidt is currently employed at a Topeka school, but was placed on administrative leave in June 2023, when KBI agents brought the investigation to the attention of school officials.Following the arrest, Stuckenschmidt was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections.&nbsp;