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The recent actions of a McDonald's employee in Kansas are leaving a bad taste in the mouths of police officers and their supporters. A Topeka employee at the fast food chain has been fired and is currently facing criminal charges after local law enforcement say the worker put mustard in an officer’s beverage. . . . Tom Dobski, the franchisee owner of the north Topeka McDonald's where the officer found mustard in his Dr. Pepper, says the company is "shocked by the isolated actions of a single employee."

The founder of Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps, notorious for leading hateful protests against gay rights, is actually a Democrat with long history of endorsing Democratic candidates. On Tuesday, Politico provided some background on Phelps' political history, most of which saw him endorsing Democrat candidates and running for office a number of times as a Democrat. In the 1990's, Phelps ran in three Kansas Democratic primaries for Governor in 1990, 1994, and 1998, receiving only 15% of the vote. He also ran for Senator in 1992, receiving 31% of the vote, and for mayor of Topeka in 1993 and 1997....

Kansas has more than 140,000 miles of public roads — the fourth most in the U.S. Such a massive network requires substantial public investment in maintenance and new projects, and some transportation advocates are worried that the state’s revenue crisis will prevent much of this necessary work from getting done. For example, the Brownback administration has transferred more than $1 billion from the Kansas Department of Transportation to the state general fund over the past few years. … Earlier this year, $185 million was removed from the highway fund to counteract meager state revenue collections. This sweep was announced alongside...

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A statewide, month long initiative to put the clamps on a Senate bill is underway. Senate Bill 463 is aimed at redirecting highway money to the state general fund. This weekend, the Kansas Contractors Association is running ads targeting lawmakers to get them to just say no. It’s called Detour Greenlight and it’s pointed to 24 legislators they believe detour, or normally vote against protecting road and bridge funding. It also names some who they say are for strong spending on roads. “To redirect the little bit of sales tax that goes into the pot to...

He said when the burglar started to come toward the owner, he fired a single shot into the ground to stop his advance. The suspect then ran west, got into a pick up with another suspect and took off. Police later found the get-away vehicle in the Hi-Crest neighborhood. After a short pursuit and foot chase, two men were taken in for questioning and one of whom, Marks, was detained. All stolen items were returned to the victim. The TPD said they are still investigating.

TOPEKA — The Kansas Federation of College Republicans recently voted unanimously to adopt a resolution calling for repeal of the state's death penalty law, a sign that capital punishment may be on its last legs in the state. “More young conservatives like myself recognize that our broken and fallible system of capital punishment in no way matches up with our conservative values,” Dalton Glasscock, a Wichita State University student and chairman of the federation, said in a news release Thursday. "By ending the death penalty, Kansas has an opportunity to promote a culture of life and fiscal responsibility. As Republicans...

Washington (AFP) - The US Justice Department said Friday it arrested an Islamic State sympathizer who was plotting to carry out a suicide bomb attack on a US military base in Kansas. John T. Booker Jr, 20, is charged with "attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction... attempting to damage property by means of an explosive and one count of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," the Justice Department said. Booker was arrested earlier Friday near the Kansas city of Manhattan "as he made his final preparations for his planned assault"...

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- Topeka Police were forced to use deadly force after a 19 year old suspect, involved in several crimes, refused to put down his weapon. Officers were first called to the 400 block of SW Tyler where a suspect had allegedly strangled a female victim and taking a knife and a gun out of the residence.

Breaking glass and an arm reaching in through the busted window led to an early morning shooting in midtown Topeka, according to the homeowners. Officers found the person, who was not identified either, a few homes away, 317 SW Clay, and suffering from several gunshot wounds. That person was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.

An assistant medical examiner who helped perform a private autopsy on Michael Brown and whose medical credentials were called into question by CNN this week wonders why the network is only now bringing accusations against him to light. “Why are you guys bringing this old stuff up, but yet you guys used me on your program several times?” Shawn Parcells, the Kansas-based assistant examiner, said of CNN in an interview with The Daily Caller on Friday. Parcells aided forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden in the Aug. 17 autopsy on Brown, who was shot to death on Aug. 9 by Ferguson,...

Readers may not know Shawn Parcells’ name, but those who have followed the Michael Brown case know his work. Parcells worked with the Brown family and pathologist Michael Baden on a private autopsy, the results of which Parcells claimed demonstrated that Brown had been (a) shot in the back and (b) shot with his hands in the air in a position of surrender. Both claims were later discredited by the official autopsy and witness accounts to the grand jury that heard the case, but not before the claims made by Parcells on a number of news shows fueled protests...

It wasn't personal, they say - the students just didn't want to share their big day with the First Lady and deal with the security headaches that hosting a big name speaker would entail. More than 1,750 of them had signed a petition protesting Obama's appearance at the graduation ceremony because security concerns would have limited the number of friends and family they could invite. Via The Hill: Instead of delivering a graduation speech, Obama will speak before the school district the day before graduation, and will deliver remarks at a "Senior Recognition Day." *** In a statement to The...

Michelle Obama has rescheduled a high school graduation speech after the students complained that her appearance would prevent many of their friends and relatives from attending the ceremony. The First Lady was scheduled to speak at a combined graduation ceremony for five high schools in Topeka, Kansas, on May 17 but will now be speaking at a different 'senior recognition day' ceremony the day before. 'Once we learned about the concerns of some students, we were eager to find a solution that enabled all of the students and their families to celebrate the special day,' said the First Lady's communications...

Reuters reports that the FBI and other agencies are in the process of investigating multiple threats to Midwest Water Supply Systems. Specifically, the FBI has named Wichita, Kansas as a target, but utility facilities have also been put on alert in other Midwestern cities. (Reuters) The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation learned of the threats in the past two days and has contacted the water supply facilities and law enforcement offices for the municipalities, said Bridget Patton, a spokeswoman for the FBI office in Kansas City, Missouri. Patton declined to discuss the nature of the threats or the number of...

Vince Gill did something on Sunday that not many country singers are willing to do: he courted controversy. Prior to a concert in Kansas City, Missouri, Gill confronted protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, who were picketing outside his concert to protest his divorce and remarriage, which they hold to be nothing more than a form of adultery. The church, which is nonaffiliated, has also protested against gays and Jews and at the funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in combat, in the belief that God is punishing the nation for its immorality. At Kansas City’s Kauffman Center...

...ceremony officiated by lesbian Baptist minister directly across the street A lesbian couple gave the bigots at the Gay-hating Westboro Baptist Church a taste of their own medicine by tying the knot in an outdoor ceremony across the street from the church. The Westboro members, who are infamous for staging anti-Gay protests at the funerals of fallen soldiers, were forced to watch as Kimberly Kidwell and Katie Short said “I do” just 50 feet from their front doors in Topeka, Kan. Same-sex marriage is not legal in Kansas, but the couple proceeded with the ceremony with the help of an...

A 5-year-old girl set up a lemonade stand across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church compound, and now the group is targeting her. ... The efforts have clearly irritated Westboro members, Equality House resident Davis Hammet said. "She was so awesome. She was such a sweetheart," Hammet said. "She was right in front of this hate group. She was unfazed and unafraid, and they are so very vile and rude to people." ... Jayden told her father that she wanted to set up a lemonade stand to help a charity. After doing research, they settled on Equality House because...

WICHITA — An Army veteran charged with stalking and conspiring to harm members of a controversial Topeka church pleaded guilty to lesser charges this morning, his attorney said. Ryan Newell pleaded guilty in Sedgwick County District Court to two counts of false impersonation of an officer — each "non-person" misdemeanors. He is receiving a six-month sentence on each count but is being released on a two- year probation, said his attorney, Boyd McPherson. "We had been working on a resolution for... six months," McPherson said. "I think both the District Attorney's Office and I wanted to feel comfortable that the...

Supporters of voter ID bill testify in TopekaBY DION LEFLER Eagle Topeka bureau Posted on Tue, Feb. 01, 2011 TOPEKA — The secretary of state and the ranking Democrat on the House Elections Committee traded jabs Monday over a bill to force new voter registrants to prove their citizenship and to require all voters to provide photo identification. Several proponents of the proposed voter ID law, House Bill 2067, addressed the committee in the first of at least two days of hearings. **SNIP** Both the House and Senate have passed similar measures in the past few years. In 2008, the...

TOPEKA - The estranged son of a controversial Kansas pastor encouraged people to feel sympathy for members of his father's church, "at least for the young children stuck in that situation." Nate Phelps, 51, spoke in Topeka over the weekend, marking his first trip in 20 years to the city where his father, Fred Phelps, runs Westboro Baptist Church. He alleged that he endured fear, intimidation and abuse before leaving the family and church on his 18th birthday. He said that while society is quick to take steps to protect children, it seems "curiously blind" when religious beliefs jeopardize a...