Month: July 2016

KCK man charged in fatal shooting of woman

A 31-year-old Kansas City, Kan., man has been charged with the early-morning July 28 fatal shooting of a woman, as well as endangering the lives of three children found in the residence, according to Jackson County, Mo., Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.

Derrick A. Williams, 31, faces a second-degree murder charge, three counts of armed criminal action, and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, according to Jackson County Circuit Court documents.

According to court records, Kansas City, Mo., police responded to a residence on Independence Avenue about 5 a.m. July 28 and found the defendant, naked, in front of the building. He said he had shot a woman, officers stated. Officers believed the man was under the influence of narcotics. Police found a handgun and three children inside crying. One told an officer, “He killed my mom.” After he allegedly killed the woman, the defendant is alleged to have put the gun in the mouth of one of the child victims and hit one of the other children in the head.

Prosecutors have requested a bond of $300,000.

Schmidt, Sunshine Coalition to offer free training on open government laws

Free training sessions on Kansas open government laws will be offered at five locations across the state next month, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and the Kansas Sunshine Coalition for Open Government announced.

“Open access to the functions of government is important to self-government,” Schmidt said. “As our office investigates complaints of violations of open government laws, most often we find the violations were inadvertent and can be avoided through better education. I encourage public officials, staff, members of the media and the public to participate in these training sessions to learn more about how these laws work.”

The schedule for the sessions:

Monday, Aug. 15, from 1 – 4 p.m., Jordaan Memorial Library,
724 Broadway St., Larned

Wednesday, Aug. 17, from 9 a.m. – noon, Mulvane Public Library,
408 N 2nd Ave., Mulvane

Friday, Aug. 19 from 9 a.m. – noon, Memorial Hall Auditorium,
120 SW 10th Ave., Topeka

Tuesday, Aug. 23 from 1 – 4 p.m., Cloud County Community College
President’s Addition, Room 257, 2221 Campus Dr., Concordia

Wednesday, Aug. 24, from 9 a.m. – noon, Johnson County Administration Building, Lower Level Conference Center, Room 200, 111 S. Cherry St., Olathe

These seminars are free and open to the public. Space at each location is limited, and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants can register on the Kansas Attorney General’s website, www.ag.ks.gov/open-gov, or by calling 785-296-2215.

The training about the Kansas Open Records Act and the Kansas Open Meetings Act will be conducted by attorneys in Schmidt’s office who specialize in open government laws. Panelists will include Kansas Sunshine Coalition members, local government officials and media representatives.

Powerball jackpot climbs to $478 million

Powerball continues its upward climb, with a jackpot worth nearly half a billion dollars on the line for Saturday’s drawing.

It’s the fifth largest jackpot in the history of the game and the eighth largest ever in North America, according to Kansas Lottery officials.

Anyone who matches all numbers will win or share a jackpot worth an estimated $478 million with a cash option of $330.6 million.

If a Kansas player hits the jackpot and has the only jackpot-winning ticket, he or she would choose between an annuity paid out over 29 years, or a cash lump sum. A Kansas winner choosing the cash option would receive a payment of approximately $231.42 million, after taxes. Federal taxes on the prize would be about $82.65 million and state taxes would be approximately $16.53 million.

Saturday night’s drawing will be the 24th Powerball drawing without a jackpot winner. The Powerball jackpot was last hit May 7 in New Jersey. While the chance of winning a Powerball jackpot is 1 in 292.2 million, players have much better odds, about 1 in 25, of winning smaller prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million.

Players should always be sure to check their tickets after each drawing. One ticket sold in northeast Kansas for the July 27 drawing matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to win $50,000. There were 13,508 winning Powerball tickets in Kansas worth a total of $114,429 in the July 27 drawing. The winning numbers in the drawing were 10-47-50-65-68 PB 24.

Over the years, Kansas players have captured 11 Powerball jackpots, 8 Lotto America jackpots, 1 Mega Millions jackpot and 7 Hot Lotto jackpots. Seventeen Kansas players have matched the first five numbers in Powerball or Mega Millions to win $1 million or $2 million prizes.

The Kansas Lottery reminded players to play responsibly – it only takes one to win.