A Reno County sheriff’s deputy was arrested Tuesday and has been charged with having sex with a female inmate at the county’s jail.

Jonathan Diaz has been charged by the county’s district attorney with two counts of unlawful sexual relations with a female inmate, two counts of aggravated intimidation of a victim and two counts of bribery, Sheriff Randy Henderson said.

Henderson said in a news release that he ordered an internal investigation after female inmates made allegations against Diaz. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation was later brought in to continue the investigation, Henderson said.

Read more

A major hotel chain will bring more than 900 new jobs to Wichita under the terms of a forgivable loan approved Tuesday by the Wichita City Council.

Starwood Hotels, a hotel and leisure company that owns brands such as Westin, Sheraton and Four Points, pledges to create 907 jobs over its first five years in the former Wichita Mall and Office This location at 4131 E. Harry.

It will be Starwood’s largest American call center. Starwood is one of the largest hotel companies in the world, with 1,146 hotels and 171,000 employees.

Read more

In the latest twist on tax talks, Senate Republicans pitched a compromise plan Tuesday to drop the state’s temporarily elevated sales tax from 6.3 percent to 6.25 percent while dropping income tax rates and phasing out almost all tax deductions.

St. Marys Republican Rep. Richard Carlson said he plans to discuss the proposal with other House Republican leaders and return to the negotiating table later Tuesday to debate it further.

The mostly symbolic reduction to the sales tax rate follows months of debate over whether to extend the rate at 6.3 percent instead of letting it drop as scheduled to 5.7 percent in July.

Read more

A man who attempted to steal narcotics from Salyer Pharmacy near 21st and Broadway wound up being chased from the store by a clerk with a handgun, police said Tuesday.

If that sounds somewhat familiar, it’s because nearly six years ago another robbery attempt at the store was thwarted by an employee with a gun.

In the most recent case, the man entered the store at 102 E. 21st St. at about 9:15 a.m. Monday and asked an employee for hydrocodone, police Lt. Randy Reynolds said. The man then pulled a knife and went around the counter to grab two bottles of narcotics, Reynolds said.

Read more

Rusty Eck Ford, 7310 E. Kellogg, is collecting donations for tornado victims following Monday’s deadly twister in Moore, Okla.

The dealership is asking for donations of bottled water, Gatorade, wipes, diapers, baby formula, hand towels, sunscreen, toiletries, individually wrapped snacks, work gloves, hand sanitizer, flashlights and batteries. Donations are accepted anytime during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The company plans to send vehicles every hour down to Moore to deliver the collected supplies.

Read more

The Salvation Army has set up several ways people can make monetary donations to help victims of the Moore, Okla., tornado, according to information provided by the agency’s Wichita office.

In addition, the group’s Kansas and Western Missouri divisions have sent teams to Moore to assist with the relief efforts. That includes a team from Wichita, spokeswoman Emily Juhnke said.

Those wishing to donate money to the effort can do so online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 800-725-2769.

Read more

A bill that bans use of state money to advocate for or against gun control won approval in the Kansas House and was sent to the governor Tuesday.

The measure passed 83-28.

It’s intended to block local and state government from hiring lobbyists to advocate for gun control. But it could also prevent the state from advocating on behalf of the state if federal lawmakers were to debate gun restrictions.

Read more

A bill that bans use of state money to advocate for or against gun control won approval in the Kansas House and was sent to the governor Tuesday.

The measure passed 83-28.

It’s intended to block local and state government from hiring lobbyists to advocate for gun control. But it could also prevent the state from advocating on behalf of the state if federal lawmakers were to debate gun restrictions.

Read more

A Tennessee pharmacist pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Topeka to substituting a cheaper drug imported from China for kidney dialysis patients in Kansas.

The misbranded drug was substituted for the iron sucrose that the Federal Drug Administration has approved for kidney dialysis patients.

Robert Harshbarger, Jr., 53, Kingsport, Tenn., who was doing business as American Inhalation Medication Specialists Inc., pleaded guilty to one count of distributing a misbranded drug and one count of health care fraud, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom’s office said.

Read more

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said he sent a text message to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin offering Kansas’ help in the wake of the deadly tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., on Monday.

“This is horrific and we’re offering everything we can,” he said during a brief interview with reporters in the Statehouse on Tuesday.

Brownback urged Kansans to donate money and not drive down to the disaster area to help yet.

Read more

Republicans inched closer to an agreement Tuesday on how to bring in more taxpayer money while also cutting income taxes.

But leaders of the dominant political party still seemed scattered on how to explain plans that extend some of the elevated sales tax rate set to expire in July and phase out almost all tax deductions in order to lower income tax rates.

The reality of that complicated discussion set in hard on the 88th day of the 90-day legislative session. That was perhaps best illustrated by wide-ranging opinions expressed by freshman Republicans, who convened on the top floor of the Capitol to dig deep into tax proposals.

Read more

Electronic equipment valued at $5,000 was reported stolen from a private preschool currently housed in a church in northwest Wichita, police said Tuesday.

The thefts are believed to have taken place sometime between Saturday and Monday at Branches Academy, Lt. Randy Reynolds said.

The loss reported was four laptops valued at $4,000 and iPods valued at $1,000, Reynolds said.

Read more

A teacher at White Elementary was arrested Monday for having a gun on the school premises, police said Tuesday.

The 31-year-old man was seen with a gun by someone at the school, 5148 S. Kansas, which is south of Hydraulic and 47th Street South, Lt. Randy Reynolds said. Principal Marcia Shepler called police about 12:30 p.m., according to a police report.

When officers arrived, they found a gun on the teacher and arrested him on suspicion of misdemeanor concealed-carry weapon charges, Reynolds said.

Read more

After a brief chase and pursuit that shut down part of a Wichita neighborhood for about an hour, police on Tuesday morning arrested a man described as a “person of interest” in a recent shooting.

Investigators following up on a Thursday shooting at 13th and Broadway – that caused several schools to lock down – spotted the “person of interest” in the open. A brief car chase occurred around 9 a.m. in the 1500 or 1600 block of North Topeka, Wichita police Sgt. Chris McAuliffe said.

The man ran into a home near 14th and Topeka, McAuliffe said. Before officers entered the home at about 9:40 a.m., a resident came out voluntarily. About 10 minutes later, the “person of interest” was led out, in handcuffs. Officers found him hiding in the attic. No one was injured, McAuliffe said.

Read more

A Wichita man was convicted Tuesday of involuntary manslaughter in the Dec. 9 stabbing death of another man at a party in southeast Wichita.

In reaching the verdict, the jury rejected a prosecutor’s claim that Dat “Tommy” Nguyen, 29, acted with “extreme indifference to the value of human life” and was guilty of second-degree murder.

Wichita police said Tan T. Nguyen, 27, was stabbed in the back during a fight in the 2000 block of South White Oak, which is near Pawnee and Rock Road. The men were not related.

Read more

Two robberies that happened about nine hours apart in Wichita on Monday may have been committed by the same person, police said Tuesday.

The man matched the same description in both robberies, Lt. Randy Reynolds said.

In the first incident, a man armed with a handgun demanded money at Family Dollar, 355 W. 21st St., about 1:45 p.m. He fled on foot, Reynolds said.

Read more

A week after House Republicans offered a compromise tax plan, Senate Republicans Tuesday said they’d make a compromise pitch of their own in hopes of breaking the stalemate.

The movement came Tuesday morning as House and Senate Republicans agreed to let their tax and budget negotiators meet again after nearly a week of political posturing that resulted in little more than bickering.

Many lawmakers are pushing for a way to pay for the massive income tax rate reductions and elimination of nonwage income taxes for more than 191,000 businesses signed into law last year before they reach agreement on budgets.

Read more

The crime

Just after 1 a.m. Monday, April 15, two residential robberies occurred in the 1500 block of North Montana. Three men, one armed with a shotgun, were able to get into the first residence and surprise the victim. The victim was held at gunpoint while the other two suspects went through the residence. Electronics were the only thing taken.

The second robbery occurred just up the street shortly after the first robbery. The suspects are thought to be the same men involved in the first robbery. They knocked on the door. When the homeowner answered, one suspect pointed a handgun at him. The victim was forced to lie on the ground and was tied up while the other robbers went through his residence. After they left he was able to untie himself and contact police. There were officers already nearby working the first scene. Loss was electronics, cash and miscellaneous items.

Read more

Glenn Lewis was the mayor of Moore, Okla., when the strongest tornado on record whipped the city in 1999, and he says the most recent storm won't deter the community from rebuilding.

Monday's storm in the Oklahoma City suburbs left more than four dozen people dead. Lewis said this year's twister was bigger than one that hit in 1999, though its winds were not as strong. A city hospital and numerous businesses were damaged in Monday's twister, which had winds of up to 200 mph. Two elementary schools also were hit.

A storm in May 1999 had winds of 302 mph.

Read more

Emergency crews searched the broken remnants of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday for survivors of a massive tornado that flattened homes and demolished an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least nine children, and those numbers were expected to climb.

As the sun rose over the shattered community of Moore, the state medical examiner's office cut the estimated death toll by more than half but warned that the number was likely to climb again.

Spokeswoman Amy Elliott said she believes some victims were counted twice in the early chaos of the storm that struck Monday afternoon. Downed communication lines and problems sharing information with officers exacerbated the problem, she said.

Read more