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Activist Kansas Judge Blocks Legislature’s Ban on Dismemberment Abortions

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By Associated Press. A Kansas judge blocked the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on a procedure that opponents refer to as “dismemberment abortion”, concluding it would likely present too big an obstacle for women seeking to end their pregnancies.

Shawnee County district court judge Larry Hendricks ruled in a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights. The center represents two Kansas abortion providers and argued the law would force women to undergo riskier procedures or forgo abortions.

The center argued that the procedure banned by the law is used in 95% of second trimester abortions nationally and said previous US supreme court rulings don’t allow a state to ban the most common method for terminating a pregnancy. Hendricks said those arguments were likely to prevail, even though alternative abortion methods still would be legal.

“The alternatives do not appear to be medically necessary or reasonable,” Hendricks said from the bench.

The judge’s order will stay in effect while he considers the lawsuit further. The new law was supposed to take effect 1 July. (Read more from “Kansas Judge Blocks Ban on Dismemberment Abortions” HERE)

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Two Years Later, Family Remembers Baby Walter, Miscarried at 19 Weeks

By Nancy Flanders. Two years ago the Fretz family’s world was forever changed when their baby boy was born too soon. At just 19 weeks and six days gestation, Lexi Fretz rushed to the ER in labor. Due to an incompetent cervix, she gave birth to Walter Joshua Fretz five hours later.

“I was crying so hard,” she writes. “He was fully formed and everything was there. I could see his heart beating in his tiny chest.”

Walter’s father, Joshua Fretz, quickly went to get his camera. He took photographs of his wife, Walter, and his daughters. Although Walter lived for only a few moments, the photographs are now eternally famous.

After Walter passed away and the Lexi was discharged from the hospital, she shared the photos and the story of their loss on Facebook. That’s when Walter’s short life was given a lifetime of purpose . . .

Since losing Walter, the family has welcomed daughter number three to the family. Mia joined big sisters, Michayla and Emma, in the fall of 2014. A surgery at 13 weeks gestation allowed Lexi Fretz to carry Mia to term. Her sisters, devastated by the loss of their brother, were ecstatic to have a new baby to love. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Brownback Signs Bill That Allows Permit-Free Concealed Carry of Guns in Kansas

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BrownbackKansans soon can carry concealed weapons without permits or training under a bill signed by Gov. Sam Brownback on Thursday.

The new law, which kicks in July 1, makes Kansas the sixth state to allow “constitutional carry.” It will allow Kansans 21 and older to carry concealed firearms regardless of whether they have obtained a permit.

Training still will be required for anyone who wants to carry a concealed gun in the 36 states that accept Kansas permits.

Brownback touted the importance of training, explaining that his youngest son took a hunter safety course this past week.

“It was an excellent course. He got a lot out of it. I got a lot out of it. And I want to urge people to take advantage of that,” said Brownback, who was flanked by Republican lawmakers and representatives from the National Rifle Association and Kansas State Rifle Association. (Read more from “Brownback Signs Bill That Allows Permit-Free Concealed Carry of Guns in Kansas” HERE)

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Kansas Becomes the First in the Nation to Ban Dismemberment Abortions

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Great news from Kansas. [Friday] morning the Kansas Senate approved SB 95, the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act, by a vote of 31-9.

Crafted to withstand constitutional scrutiny, SB 95 heads to a very receptive Kansas House, where it is expected to pass easily. The bill would then go to pro-life Gov. Sam Brownback (R), who promised to sign this bill.

Lead sponsor Sen. Garrett Love (R-Montezuma) began Thursday’s formal discussion on the Senate floor by recounting how members of the Senate Health committee heard an ex-abortionist describe this method “of tearing the arms, legs, and other body parts off until a baby dies. Hearing the description made myself and many other members of the committee feel sick [especially] when learning nearly 600 such abortions occur each year in Kansas.”

Sen. Love, the “youngest-ever-elected” to the Kansas Senate, discussed his new baby daughter and coming to love her more through her ultrasound imaging at 12 and 19 weeks gestation, the time frame when most dismemberment abortions occur. He said “people in my generation are outraged by this procedure; they see the sonograms of their friends, family and their own babies on Facebook and realize that in those pictures are little, defenseless babies. They need us to defend them because they cannot defend themselves…This is a truly barbaric practice we must end in Kansas.” (Read more about the law to ban dismemberment abortions HERE)

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You’ll Never Guess What Creepy Object Police Found in a Child Sex Offender’s Home [+video]

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Louie, the Joyland Clown mascot, was found in a sex offender’s home. Louie went missing more than a decade ago.

Louie disappeared from the Joyland property in 2005 or 2006 but wasn’t reported stolen until 2010. Louie played Joyland’s Wurlitzer organ (see video below).

The Wichita Police Department will pursue charges against two suspects in the case.

Wichita police say officers found the clown Tuesday at a home of 39-year-old Damian Mayes, who is serving a prison sentence for a 2010 conviction for aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated criminal sodomy. Mayes used to build and repair organs at the park. He’s in prison on child sex crimes.

“It was quite a shock, because we had visited that residence before. They didn’t expect us back, they thought it was a done deal, closed, forgotten case, but like I said, through social media and a lot of interest not only in Joyland but the clown in particular, kind of kept it alive,” said Det. Matt Lang, Wichita Police Department. “There’s many articles that said once Louie disappeared, he would never see the sight of day again.” (Read more about the creepy object police found HERE)

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Watch: A Small School in Kansas Makes a Big Difference in a Teenage Girl’s Life

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As she smiled broadly, blue and gold pom poms clutched in her hands, it is hard to believe this is an experience Council Grove High School freshman Kolbie Davis nearly didn’t have.

Her mom, Jeannette, says she and her husband, Jamie, considered holding their 15-year-old daughter out of high school. Kolbie was born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a condition which cut off oxygen to her brain. It caused permanent damage and developmental delays. Jeannette feared Kolbie wouldn’t be able to handle the high school environment.

“I was very concerned for her being in the hallway with a lot of kids and all the noise and the interaction between teenagers,” Jeannette said.

While Jeannette, Jamie and Kolbie’s eight-year-old brother Will, knew how loving and positive Kolbie could be, they worried how she would do around other teenagers. Plus, Jeannette says, Kolbie would not speak very much and was often frightened or confused by loud noise or a lot of activity.

Still, they took a chance. One day, the school’s cheerleading coach filled in as Kolbie’s para and brought her to practice. Kolbie was immediately hooked, saying she loves everything about cheerleading. (Read more on how the small school in Kansas makes a big difference HERE)

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Kansas Secretary of State to File Suit Against King Obama's Executive Amnesty

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

TONGANOXIE, KAN. – [Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach] has devoted his career to an immigration fight he always believed would be incremental. First he sued states for offering in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants. Then he wrote tough immigration enforcement laws for Arizona and Alabama. Then he counseled Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on the legality of using the National Guard to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border. He has been playing the long game, hoping to build a consensus case against amnesty over the course of his career . . .

People are enraged. They ask about the possibilities of impeachment or arresting the president for treason, and Kobach shakes his head. “Then what can we do?” one man asks.

Kobach says he has spent the last week considering that question, and he can think of only two options. “Congress could vote to defund parts of the government,” he says, but his friends in Congress tell him that is unlikely. The other option is a lawsuit filed by states and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents against the federal government. “That one’s on me,” he says. He tells the group he has already begun drafting a suit as the lead attorney, with plans to file it in early December. Texas is interested in being a plaintiff. So are a few other states. . .

“What bothers me most is the constitutionality of this,” he tells one Republican lawmaker over the phone, the day after Obama’s [amnesty] announcement. Kobach is working on the lawsuit, 40 or 50 pages already written. “We have a clear violation here of Article 2, Section 3,” he says. . .

The key to his lawsuit is finding the right plaintiffs, he says, so he has spent the last weeks compiling a list of more than a dozen ICE agents who he says are eager to file suit. They were hired and trained to enforce the country’s immigration laws, and now, he says, they believe that the president is essentially asking them to break those laws. Kobach also wants at least one state to be a plaintiff, likely Texas and possibly others. States are “lining up to sue this time,” he says. He could file one lawsuit on behalf of several states, which he thinks might have the best chance of reaching the Supreme Court. Or he could file individual lawsuits, one for each state, and force the issue into several federal court districts.

Read more from this story HERE.

78 Year-Old Mystery Man's Stop in Junction City, Kansas Leads to $15 Million Cash, Hundreds of Pounds of Pot

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78 Year Old Pot Bust DefendantWhen police in Junction City, Kansas, stopped a beat-up pickup truck for speeding in June 2013, the driver got a lot more than a traffic ticket: The stop led authorities to Massachusetts and Arizona, where they said they found about $15 million in cash, almost 400 pounds of marijuana and ledgers detailing drug deals going back to 1992.

The driver, Marshall Dion, told police he was a retiree from Tucson who was living off his $690-per-month Social Security check. He also said he had left his drug-dealing days behind, but federal authorities say he was still going strong at age 78 as a key player in a large marijuana operation. In his truck, police found $828,220 in cash. . .

Much of Dion’s life is a mystery. Public records show he has lived in Boston; Portland, Maine; Grand Junction, Colorado; and Tucson, Arizona. He told police who stopped him in Kansas that he was headed home to Tucson from Pennsylvania, where he had met with his accountant.

Dion, now 79, appeared to live frugally, despite the millions authorities found and two homes he owned in Arizona. When he was stopped in Kansas, he was driving a 2002 GMC Sierra with an old refrigerator and other junk in the truck bed. . .

In 1985, Dion crashed a single-engine plane he was piloting in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, and Dion broke both his ankles. When sheriff’s deputies arrived, he was crawling along a muddy field as bills floated in the air, said Cathy Baxter, then a deputy sheriff. ‘‘This guy didn’t even admit there was any money on the plane. He said, ‘That’s not my money. I don’t know where that money came from,’’’ Baxter said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Dem Candidate Drops Out of Senate Race in Kansas Against Sen. Roberts

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

The Democratic candidate in the race against Sen. Pat Roberts in Kansas ended his campaign Wednesday, leaving an independent candidate and a Libertarian candidate to face off against the three-term Republican incumbent.

Chad Taylor, a district attorney, informed the Kansas Secretary of State Wednesday that he is withdrawing from the race. Originally, his statement said “suspended,” but the word was lined through and replaced with a handwritten “terminated.”

Taylor issued a separate statement saying he made the decision after consulting with his staff, supporters and Democratic Party leaders. He did not give a reason.

Kansas.com reported Wednesday that Taylor’s move could lead to broader support for the independent candidate in the race, Olathe businessman Greg Orman. There is also a Libertarian candidate, Randall Batson, of Wichita.

Roberts’ executive campaign manager Leroy Towns called the move a “corrupt bargain” between Democratic leaders and Orman’s campaign and said Orman’s independent status is “a smoke screen.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Paul Davis Touts Support from Republicans in Bid for Kansas Governor

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Photo Credit: THAD ALLTON / APDemocratic challenger Paul Davis sought Tuesday to give his campaign for Kansas governor a bipartisan boost by announcing endorsements from more than 100 moderate Republicans who’ve split with conservative GOP Gov. Sam Brownback over education and tax policy.

The disaffected Republicans include outgoing Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, three former Kansas Senate presidents and three former Kansas House speakers. More than half are former legislators, and the list includes former U.S. Rep. Jan Meyers, who represented the Kansas City-area 3rd District from 1985 to 1997.

They announced that they formed Republicans for Kansas Values because of their concerns about the aggressive personal income tax cuts enacted at Brownback’s urging.

They called the reductions a reckless fiscal experiment and suggested Brownback’s administration has been hostile to public education.

Davis’ campaign staged a news conference at a Topeka hotel with 40 of the disaffected Republicans so that the bipartisan tone would draw a sharp contrast with rallies Brownback’s re-election campaign had on Monday in Olathe and Wichita.

Read more from this story HERE.

Restaurant Is Robbed On Same Day It Adopts Anti-Gun Policy

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Photo Credit: REUTERS / Shannon StapletonOn the same day that Sonic, an Oklahoma City-based fast food chain, issued a statement against customers carrying guns at their restaurants, an employee at the company’s Topeka, Kan. store was robbed.

According to Topeka police, two males robbed a carhop on Friday afternoon, reports the Topeka Capitol-Journal. Sonic is unique among major fast food eateries in that it provides customers the option of having carhops bring orders to their vehicle.

While police said no guns were displayed by the robbers, the crime follows a new policy that the Oklahoma City-based company issued Friday.

“We’ve considered the views and desires of our customers and employees that staff the drive-ins across the country,” the company said, according to USA Today. “Accordingly, we’re asking that customers refrain from bringing guns onto our patios or into our indoor dining areas. With respect to the storage of guns in vehicles, we ask that our customers continue to honor local laws.”

Read more from this story HERE.