Kansas Klips
Memorial dedicated to fallen flier
HILL CITY — A memorial stone remembering an Army Air Force enlisted man who fell to his death from an aircraft over northwest Graham County in 1939, was dedicated in a ceremony attracting a small turnout on Oct. 10, 2021. Cpl. Kenneth Seamans, a Pennsylvania native whose parachute failed to open when he bailed out of an Army Air Corps plane in 1939, was remembered during a special salute planned and presented by Rev. Dewey Boss of Salina. The stone memorial, made possible by Rev. Boss and his wife Veronica, was set in the McFarland Cemetery in northeast Graham County (north of Bogue), adjacent to an earlier military memorial stone remembering the crew of another aircraft which crashed north of Bogue in 1943. Seamans died when the plane he was in encountered a dust storm over northwest Kansas, and the pilot, facing zero visibility at 9,000 feet, ordered the three military personnel on board to bail out. After seeing chutes open from two of his crew, the pilot continued on and was able to make a successful landing. It was later learned that Seamans’ chute did not open and he fell to his death. In concluding his remarks, Rev. Boss noted, “Corporal Seamans will no longer be forgotten in Graham County, Kansas.” (The Hill City Times)
One dead, three hospitalized after violent Ellis Co. crash
ELLIS COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 3 a.m. Sunday in Ellis County. The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Hyundai Sonata driven by Dalton Charles Hall, 20, Savoy, Ill., was westbound on 8th Street in Hays at a high rate of speed. The driver failed to obey the stop sign at the U.S. 183 Alternate. The car continued westbound over the embankment, went airborne, impacted the ground at the bottom of the embankment and flipped end-over-end coming to rest on its top. A passenger Jacob Ray Rivera, 19, Selma, California, was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Brocks Funeral Home. EMS transported Hall, and two additional passengers Chelsy Mendoza, 20, and Victoria Angelica Borrego, 21, both of Selma, California to Hays Medical Center. Hall, Mendoza and Borrego, were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP. (HaysPost.com)
State senator gets 48 hours in jail for wrong-way drunk driving
TOPEKA — Republican Kansas Sen. Gene Suellentrop pleaded no contest last week to misdemeanor drunk driving and reckless driving charges after he was arrested earlier this year for driving drunk the wrong way on Interstate 70 in Topeka and evading police. The agreement means a felony charge of evading police is dropped. The sentence orders Suellentrop to spend 48 hours in jail as well as 12 months on probation. He reports to the Shawnee County jail Nov. 18 at noon. Suellentrop, who represents Wichita’s 27th District in the Kansas Senate, will also pay a $775 fine and will have an ignition interlock device, a breathalyzer-type machine, on his vehicle to ensure he remains sober. Before his arrest in March, Suellentrop, from Wichita, was one of the most powerful conservative Republican lawmakers in the Statehouse, holding the job of Senate majority leader. Republicans already stripped him of his leadership position in April after court documents alleged dangerous belligerence the night of the arrest. (Kansas News Service)
NW Kansas man dies after pickup lands on concrete culvert
SHERIDAN COUNTY — A Kansas man died in an accident just after 4 a.m. Sunday in Sheridan County. The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1994 Ford Ranger driven by Vernon J. Rietcheck, 79, Hoxie, was westbound on U.S. 24 eight miles east of Hoxie, The driver attempted to make a left turn onto Kansas 188. The pickup missed the roadway to the west, traveled off the concrete culvert and came to rest facing south, high centered on the concrete culvert. Rietcheck was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Brocks North Hill Chapel. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP. (HaysPost.com)
State reports death of 32-year-old Kansas inmate
TOPEKA — Lansing Correctional Facility resident Lawrence A. Brown, Jr., died Friday after being transported to St. John’s Hospital, in Leavenworth where he was pronounced deceased by hospital staff, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections. The cause of death is pending an autopsy, but is not believed to be COVID-19 related. Per protocol, when a resident dies in the custody of KDOC, the death is under investigation by KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI). Brown, 32, was currently serving a 122-month sentence for a Sedgwick County conviction for Battery of a Corrections Officer or Employee. (HaysPost.com)
Kansas man dies after three-vehicle semi crash
ELLSWORTH COUNTY — A Salina man died in an accident just after 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Ellsworth County. The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Chevy Impala driven by Lance Michael Martin, 41, Salina, was was westbound on Kansas 156 just west of Avenue D. The Chevy traveled across the center line and struck an eastbound 2012 Peterbilt semi driven by Kevin Lee Cooper, 49, Longview Washington. After the vehicles collided, the Peterbilt semi traveled back into the westbound lane and was struck by a 2007 Peterbilt semi driven by Michael John Campbell, 53, of Tescott. Martin was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Parsons Funeral Home. Cooper was not transported for treatment. Campbell was not injured. All three were properly restrained, according to the KHP. (HaysPost.com)
