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HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Two of five teenagers accused of conspiring to carry out a shooting at Hutchinson High School were back in court Tuesday morning where one entered a “not guilty” plea to the charges, that being 16-year-old Takota Bowman (shown above). Later, 16-year-old Dominic Collins was before Juvenile Judge Patty Macke Dick where his attorney asked that he be released from custody, arguing that his client had no history with the court or history of violence. Attorney Mike Robinson also argued that he has done well in detention. But Assistant District Attorney Cheryl Allen argued against it citing things...

'The Westboro Bapstist Church has inadvertently declared its hatred of the Ivory Coast, after printing the Irish flag backwards on their posters. The infamous church, which pickets the funerals of U.S soldiers and has a real obsession with homosexuality, were up to their old tricks again over the weekend. Naturally, the hate-speech spouting church took to the streets to picket Ireland’s historic same-sex marriage referendum. And, given their horrible “God Hates homosexuals” rhetoric, they weren’t huge fans of the Emerald Isle’s vote for equality. There was just one problem – the WBC had the wrong flag. So, instead of protesting...

[full title] GOP’s demonic new crusade: Right-wing zealots look for even crueler ways to treat the poor like garbage Happy Memorial Day! But if you’re in Wisconsin, and relying on food stamps, remember that Republicans don’t want you to have ketchup on your hamburger. They’d probably rather you didn’t have a hamburger at all, but Wisconsin farmers and ranchers have clout, and so proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program made room for Wisconsin products. But they still don’t want you to have “crab, lobster, shrimp, or any other shellfish.” Or ketchup. Or spaghetti sauce. Really. For now, that’s...

A Kansas furniture store owner is closing up shop and leaving town, but not before he tells other residents what he thinks about them. Bob Fyfe, the owner of Payless Furniture in Lawrence, has polarized the community by posting signs on a large truck in his store parking lot that attack the town. The main sign reads; 'Lawrence: Commie and Candy Ass Capitol [sic] of Kansas. Goodbye Obamaville.'

A 21-year-old woman says she was attacked in her Overland Park home and her security system caught it on camera. Katie O'Connor is too frightened to go back to her own apartment and feels partly responsible because she trusted a friend.

Republican leaders are considering bringing the Iran nuclear measure — overwhelmingly approved by the Senate last week — and a proposed overhaul of the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance program to the floor this week under special rules that would limit lawmakers’ ability to offer changes to the bills. The strategy is intended to hold off amendments — so-called poison pills — that could cause backing for the measures to fall apart. Though the bills would each need a supermajority to pass, both measures enjoy strong bipartisan support and would most likely be approved, sparing amendment headaches for the leadership....

The Senate signed a "blank check" when it overwhelmingly endorsed the emerging Iran nuclear deal last week, and Rep. Mike Pompeo thinks the House can do better, he tells Newsmax TV. "We can do a much more robust piece of legislation," Pompeo, a Kansas Republican, said Monday on "The Steve Malzberg Show." "[One] that really does, in fact, prevent the administration from signing for a deal which lifts . . . sanctions without any evidence that Iran has actually adhered to anything that they've agreed to. "That's what perplexes me . . . They've now signed a blank check ....

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Uber says it's ceasing operations in Kansas following the Kansas Legislature's veto of SB 117. The Republican-controlled Kansas Senate has overridden GOP Gov. Sam Brownback's veto of a bill imposing new regulations on ride-hailing companies like Uber. The measure would require drivers for ride-hailing companies to undergo Kansas Bureau of Investigation background checks. They'd also need additional auto insurance coverage beyond the $1 million Uber offers when drivers are logged into its network or transporting passengers. Uber had said the measure would push it out of the state. Governor Brownback released the following statement following the...

Full title: Judicial Watch, AEF File Amici Brief with Supreme Court Supporting Arizona, Kansas Efforts to Require Proof of Citizenship on Voter Registration Forms ‘Illegal voting at any level can change the outcome of elections. And there is no acceptable amount of fraud.’ (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has joined with the Allied Educational Foundation (AEF) to file an amici curiae brief with the United States Supreme Court in support of Arizona’s and Kansas’ efforts to add proof-of-citizenship requirements to a federal voter registration form ( Kris W. Kobach, et al., v. U. S. Election Assistance...

Dr. Salomon Melgen is being held in a Florida jail without bond on a second set of charges. The Florida ophthalmologist is one of three men involved in an August 2012 meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. That gathering is at the center of criminal charges of corruption brought by a New Jersey federal grand jury against Melgen and one of the other two key players, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ). The third key player, the man who actually organized that August 2012 meeting, is Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). He’s being protected by a selective Department...

On March 24, cannabis oil activist Shona Banda‘s life was flipped upside-down after her son was taken from her by the State of Kansas. The ordeal started when police and counselors at her 11-year-old son’s school conducted a drug education class. Her son, who had previously lived in Colorado for a period of time, disagreed with some of the anti-pot points that were being made by school officials. “My son says different things like my ‘Mom calls it cannabis and not marijuana.’ He let them know how educated he was on the facts,” said Banda in an exclusive interview with...

Mike Miller knows his way around guns. So the training course required to get a concealed-carry permit in Kansas seemed to him, at first anyway, like a time-wasting technicality. A box to check off on a form. But that cocky skepticism vanished during an eight-hour class that dwelled far less on shooting skills than on the weighty legalities and liabilities that come with firing a deadly weapon. Questions like: When does justifiable homicide cross the line to murder? What are the legal limits of self-defense? “It’s a giant responsibility,” said Miller, a publicist at the Kansas Department of Wildlife and...

Two of the country’s most powerful and politically influential labor unions are backing President Obama in the recent court challenge to his 2014 executive action on illegal immigration, saying they support the president’s effort because "undocumented workers" need more workplace protection and their participation helps the U.S. economy. The AFL-CIO and the National Education Association on Monday each filed so-called amicus briefs in a federal appeals court case in which Texas and 26 other states are challenges the president’s 2014 memorandum on illegal immigration. The memorandum essentially expands work authorization and delayed-deportation programs for illegal immigrants. And it provides similar...

A 20-year-old Kansas man plotted to kill American soldiers with a vehicle bomb at the Fort Riley military base, an attack he planned to carry out on behalf of the ISIS terror group, prosecutors announced Friday. John T. Booker, also known as Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, was arrested as part of a lengthy FBI investigation. Federal authorities said he was arrested near the army base in Manhattan, Kansas, as he completed final preparations to detonate the bomb, which had, in fact, been rendered inert while he was under FBI surveillance. “As alleged in the complaint, John Booker attempted to attack U.S....

Washington (CNN)Kansas is poised to put a stop to the practice of welfare recipients using government aid to pay for psychics with a bill that cracks down on the use of welfare for fun. It aims to encourage those receiving government aid under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to spend "more responsibly," as Kansas state Sen. Michael O'Donnell told the Topeka Capital-Journal. "We're trying to make sure those benefits are used the way they were intended," O'Donnell, vice chair of the state senate's standing committee on public health and welfare, said. "This is about prosperity. This is about...

Kansas became the first state to ban a common second trimester abortion procedure when Governor Sam Brownback, a Republican, on Tuesday signed into a law an act to halt what lawmakers said are "dismemberment abortions." The law that goes into effect on July 1 prohibits the use of dilation and evacuation. The bill says the procedure can result in the fetus being extracted in pieces. Supporters in Kansas have called the procedure horrifying while women's healthcare groups have said it is considered the safest way to terminate a pregnancy in the second trimester. The law allows for the procedure to...

A Wichita State University mathematician sued the top Kansas election official Wednesday, seeking paper tapes from electronic voting machines in an effort to explain statistical anomalies favoring Republicans in counts coming from large precincts across the country. Beth Clarkson, chief statistician for the university’s National Institute for Aviation Research, filed the open records lawsuit in Sedgwick County District Court as part of her personal quest to find the answer to an unexplained pattern that transcends elections and states. The lawsuit was amended Wednesday to name Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Sedgwick County Elections Commissioner Tabitha Lehman. Clarkson, a certified...

Kansas is poised to put a stop to the practice of welfare recipients using government aid to pay for psychics with a bill that cracks down on the use of welfare for fun. It aims to encourage those receiving government aid under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to spend "more responsibly," as Kansas state Sen. Michael O'Donnell told the Topeka Capital-Journal. Having a great life, per the bill, means that welfare recipients cannot spend their government aid on body piercings, massages, spas, tobacco, nail salons, lingerie, arcades, cruise ships or visits to psychics. The bill also forbids spending...

Man who stole wedding ring off dying woman’s finger at Taco Bell sentenced to 11 years A Wichita man will spend more than 11 years in prison for stealing a wedding ring and other items from a woman who was dying from a brain aneurysm in a Taco Bell drive-through in December 2013. Sedgwick County District Judge Christopher Magana ordered Daquantrius Johnson to serve the 136-month term consecutive to other sentences he received for crimes committed while on felony probation in a 2013 burglary case. The sentences in those cases totaled 111 months, which means Johnson, 21, will be incarcerated...

ATLANTA Eleven former Atlanta public school educators were convicted Wednesday of racketeering for their role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to inflate scores on students’ standardized tests. One of those convicted was Tamara Cotman, a former upper-level administrator for Wichita schools. Only one teacher was acquitted of all charges. The 11 convicted represented teachers, testing coordinators and other administrators who were accused of participating in the conspiracy dating to 2005, motivated by pressure to meet federal and local standards to receive bonuses or keep their jobs in the Atlanta Public Schools district of about 50,000 students. A state investigation in 2011...