Behind every case number is a child with dreams and potential.
Right now, more children need CASA Volunteers than there are volunteers available.
Hope begins when someone says,
“I’ll stand with this child.”
Will that someone be you?
Become a CASA Volunteer.
Contact Christa at [email protected]
MANHATTAN, Kansas — The beauty of Kansas agriculture can’t be captured by a camera, but we encourage you to try in the annual Kansas Department of Agriculture Photo Contest. KDA is now accepting photo entries, and will continue accepting entries through August 16.
This year’s KDA Photo Contest categories were selected to celebrate the hard work that happens all year long in Kansas agriculture by recognizing the seasons: Spring into the Fields, Life in the Summer, Fall on the Farm, and Winter at Work. These categories allow you to showcase Kansas agriculture in many ways — from spring planting through fall harvest, from the intense heat of summer to the bitter cold of winter. As always, there is a separate Youth division, for young photographers age 18 and under. And a video category will welcome drone footage, harvest videos, or other short clips of under 30 seconds that showcase Kansas agriculture. Prizes will be awarded to the top two winners in each of the six categories.
KDA serves to advocate for agriculture, the state’s largest industry and economic driver. Photos which best capture the categories will be used throughout the year as we tell the story of Kansas agriculture. After submission, KDA is granted permission to use any photograph for publications, social media, websites, displays, etc. without payment or other consideration from the photographer.
Photo entries should be sent in .jpg format to [email protected]. Videos should be sent in .mp4 or .mov format. Entries must include a title and brief description, where and when the photo/video was taken, the photographer’s full name and age, entry category, hometown, and email address.
Guidelines for the KDA Photo Contest, including deadlines, categories and prizes, can be found at agriculture.ks.gov/
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Entries Now Open for KDA Photo Contest.pdf
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A judge has rejected the Kansas Attorney General’s bid to add a felony charge against Bourbon County Commissioner Mika Milburn-Kee on the eve of her trial, and the State responded by dismissing the case so it can refile all of the charges together.
At a June 26 pretrial conference, Senior Judge Merlin G. Wheeler denied the State’s motion to amend the complaint to add a third count, Intimidation of Voters, a severity level 7 nonperson felony. The State had filed that motion, with several others, the afternoon before the hearing. Milburn-Kee has faced only two misdemeanors since March. FortScott.biz reported the felony motion when it was filed June 25.
Assistant Attorney General Olivia Higdon said the State has evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to support the felony, and that the person it alleges was intimidated is,a witness (who is already on the witness list), Brandi Ross. The State said the charge rests on the original probable-cause affidavit filed when the case began, which already referenced voter intimidation. All of the counts stem from an Oct. 25, 2025 incident at the county commission room while it was being used as an early-voting polling place.
Milburn-Kee’s attorneys, Tricia and Thomas Bath, objected that the motion arrived too late to answer, that a substantive charge should be argued in person rather than over Zoom, and that adding a felony now would prejudice her rights. They cast the move as pressure tied to her decision to demand a jury trial.
Wheeler said this was not the first time the Attorney General’s office had brought last-minute charges in his courtroom, and he made clear he did not blame Higdon personally but the principals in her office. Because a felony would entitle the defense to a preliminary hearing that could not be held before the scheduled July trial, he denied the amendment.
Rather than go to trial on the misdemeanors alone, the State moved to dismiss the case and refile all three counts together, which Wheeler allowed. The July 6 through 8 jury trial is off. The case will restart under a new case number, and a first appearance and preliminary examination is set for Aug. 3 at 1 p.m. in Fort Scott, where the State must show probable cause for each count.
Wheeler was careful to lock in one point. Dismissing and refiling does not buy the State a fresh clock. Under Kansas’s speedy-trial law, K.S.A. 22-3402, a defendant who is out on bond must be brought to trial within 180 days of arraignment, not counting delays the defense causes. Wheeler ordered that the time already elapsed, which he dated to April 15, keeps running in the refiled case rather than starting over at zero. By that measure the State has until roughly mid-October to bring Milburn-Kee to trial.
The Attorney General’s office does not make the first plea offer, so it would be up to Milburn-Kee’s lawyers to approach the State with a proposed plea or to apply for diversion, a stance Judge Wheeler called consistent with the standards for prosecutors. The Attorney General stated that the defense had not pursued any type of plea deal or diversion and indicated that, since it looked like the case was going to go to a jury trial, the state wanted to bring all the charges it believes it has enough evidence to convict on, including the felony it hadn’t filed previously.
Higdon cast the timing as an effort to give Milburn-Kee a way to resolve the case without losing her position. The State, she said, had hoped Milburn-kee’s defense would bring a plea that would let her keep her seat rather than take the case to a jury.
“Our intention with the filing was hopefully to be able to give her a plea offer where she would not have to leave office, with the Class A misdemeanor moving forward and dismissing the Class B,” Higdon said. “However, if this case was going to receive a trial, we wanted to be able to try the whole thing.”
Judge Wheeler also noted that the courthouse elevator is broken and not expected to be fixed in time, that he had been arranging an accessible location, and that he expected a large turnout given the political tension between the county commission and the county clerk.
A charge is an accusation, not a finding of guilt, and Milburn-Kee is presumed innocent unless and until a jury decides otherwise. FortScott.biz will report on the Aug. 3 hearing.
Valerian Trifa was an archbishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church in America and Canada. Even though he was a naturalized citizen of the United States, he was stripped of his American citizenship for lying about his involvement in the murder of hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust. Forensic Files featured his story one evening, and I was enthralled with how God orchestrated him being captured and found guilty, even though the television show gave God no credit.
Seriously, our Creator’s design is ingenious.
In the article “DNA of God,” Kerry Shook wrote this: “The discovery of DNA is just one of the scientific discoveries over the last 70 years that points clearly to the existence of a Creator. For wherever there is complex information, there has to be intelligence behind it. And God has stamped on every one of your over-100 trillion cells evidence of Himself, because wherever there’s complex information, there’s always intelligence behind it.”
To date, over one trillion people have lived on this earth, yet none of them have had the same DNA, the same fingerprint or the same handwriting. Not even identical twins. Yet, in all three of the following cases, the uniqueness of their genetic code was what caused forensic science to be instrumental in their convictions. Only God could master-mind such methodology to help capture a criminal.
(1). DNA: The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway, was responsible for a rash of murders — at least 48 but possibly close to 90 —in Washington state in the ’80s and ’90s.
(2). Fingerprint: Between June 1984 and August 1985, a Southern California serial killer dubbed the Night Stalker broke into victims’ houses as they slept and attacked, murdering 13 and assaulting numerous others.
(3). Handwriting: On March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of the famous aviator, was kidnapped and murdered by Bruno Hauptmann.
Because of God’s unique design, the FBI’s DNA database has helped more than 758,000 investigations through DNA matches, and the more forensic medicine improves, the more “cold cases”—including Jane and John Doe identifications—have been solved.
Interestingly, those three patterns also have been responsible for convicted felons being released from prison, even some on death row. How incredible of God to create each human with his/her own distinct identification determinants! In Psalm 139:13-14, King David wrote, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous… how well I know it.” David, of course, had no idea how scientifically accurate his writing was.
Hopefully you readers never will be convicted of a crime based on the use of your DNA, but may we never fail to wonder at our Creator and the intricacies of His design in each of our lives.
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The Kansas Attorney General’s office has asked Senior Judge Merlin G. Wheeler (the senior judge assigned to the case by the Kansas Supreme Court) for permission to add a felony charge against County Commissioner Mika Milburn-Kee, days before her jury trial is set to begin.
In a motion filed June 25, Assistant Attorney General Olivia R. Higdon asked to add a third count, Intimidation of Voters, a severity level 7 nonperson felony under K.S.A. 25-2415. Milburn-Kee has until now faced only two misdemeanors, both stemming from an Oct. 25, 2025 incident captured on video, when the county commission room was being used as an early-voting polling place.
The stakes rise sharply if the felony is added. A severity level 7 felony can carry a prison term of roughly 11 to 34 months, depending on criminal history, plus a fine of up to $100,000. By comparison, the Class A misdemeanor carries up to one year in county jail and a $2,500 fine, and the Class B misdemeanor up to six months and a $1,000 fine.
The State argues no new facts are alleged, noting that its original probable-cause affidavit already referenced voter intimidation and that it told the defense during plea talks it was weighing the charge. The motion was one of several filings the State made June 25 ahead of the pretrial hearing on June 26, and the judge has not ruled.
If the amendment is granted, what has been a two-misdemeanor case headed to a jury becomes a felony prosecution. A three-day jury trial is set for July 6 through 8. Milburn-Kee is presumed innocent unless and until a jury decides otherwise.
The criminal case against Bourbon County Commissioner Mika Milburn-Kee returns to court on Friday, June 26, for a pretrial hearing at 10 a.m. at the Bourbon County Courthouse in Fort Scott. Residents who want to follow the case can attend in person.
Milburn-Kee faces two misdemeanor charges filed by the Kansas Attorney General’s office in March. The first, interference with the conduct of public business in a public building, is a Class A nonperson misdemeanor. The second, disorderly election conduct, comes from the state’s polling-place “three-foot rule.” A conviction on the election-conduct count would carry forfeiture of office under Kansas law.
The charges stem from Oct. 25, 2025, when the county commission room was being used as an early-voting polling place, an encounter that was captured on video. Milburn-Kee has pleaded not guilty and has demanded a jury trial.
A pretrial hearing is a working session before the trial begins. The judge and the attorneys use it to narrow the issues, settle which witnesses and exhibits will be allowed, resolve any outstanding motions, and confirm the schedule. No verdict is reached. It sets the stage for a jury to hear the case.
A three-day jury trial is scheduled for July 6 through 8 in Courtroom A at the Bourbon County Courthouse, starting at 9 a.m. each day. A jury of six, plus one alternate, would decide the case. The Attorney General’s office is prosecuting, and Milburn-Kee is represented by private counsel. FortScott.biz has also looked at how similar Kansas election cases have been resolved.
A charge is an accusation, not a finding of guilt, and Milburn-Kee is presumed innocent unless and until a jury decides otherwise.
FORT SCOTT, Kan. — Friends and community members are invited to celebrate the retirement of Pat Simpson, who is concluding 26 years of dedicated service.
A retirement reception honoring Simpson will be held on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Bourbon County Courthouse – Southwind Extension District Office, 210 S. National Ave., Fort Scott.
The event will be a come-and-go reception, providing an opportunity for friends, coworkers, and community members to congratulate Simpson and thank her for her years of commitment and service. Refreshments will be served.
A former maintenance worker’s photos of crumbling pipe insulation prompted a Kansas environmental official to walk the building. The early word, relayed by the county’s emergency manager, was that nothing looked like an immediate hazard as long as the material stays undisturbed. No samples have been taken, and the state is still reviewing.
Questions about asbestos in the Bourbon County Courthouse, raised publicly this week by a former maintenance worker who photographed deteriorating pipe insulation in the basement, led to a visit from a representative from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to the nearly century-old building. According to the county’s emergency manager, the representative said during the walkthrough that he did not see anything hazardous that had to be addressed right now, as long as the material is not disturbed. The representative is conferring with others at the agency and will get back to the county with more detail about what actions or precautions should be taken.
The courthouse was built in the 1930s, and asbestos is common in buildings of its era. None of the officials contacted for this story disputed that it is likely present. The question residents have been asking is a different one. Is it dangerous, and is anything being done about it?
Asbestos is generally most dangerous when it is crumbling or broken up and its fibers become airborne, where they can be breathed in. Whether the courthouse material is in fact asbestos, and whether it is releasing any fibers, has not been determined, because no samples have been collected and tested. A visual walkthrough cannot answer that on its own.
The issue was raised by William Jackson, who worked in the courthouse maintenance this spring. He said he found insulation and ceiling tiles he believed were asbestos deteriorating in the basement, with dust collecting on supplies and on workers’ desks, and that he could not find any asbestos records in the county’s maintenance files. He sent his supervisor a written request for permission to have the material tested.
Jackson said he sent the request Friday and was fired Saturday morning. He believes the two were connected and that he was let go for raising the concern. County officials declined to comment on his departure.
After Jackson’s photos circulated, Bourbon County Emergency Manager Lou Howard walked the building with a KDHE representative, who also had the photos that had been sent to the agency.
“He stated that at the time he looked, he did not see anything that was concerning,” Howard said. “They did not see anything that was hazardous right now that had to be addressed.”
“He did say that if there was active construction going on at the time, then it would be a concern. But nothing is being disturbed. Everything is as it should be.”
Lou Howard, Bourbon County Emergency Manager
Howard said she offered to walk the representative through the rest of the courthouse and that he said he did not need to, based on what he had already seen. She said in the past an area basement had been used as the county’s emergency operations center until other space became available. The review is not finished. The representative was passing the information and photos to a supervisor, and the county is waiting to hear what action it should take, which could include further testing.
Howard’s account is the most direct word so far on the courthouse. However, it was a visual walkthrough, not laboratory sampling. No material was collected and tested, and the representative did not view the entire building. Some residents have worried that deteriorating material in the basement could send fibers into the building’s heating and cooling system and on to other floors. The walkthrough did not include air sampling or an evaluation of that system, and the state’s guidance to the county is still pending.
The caution about disturbed material is also the heart of the original complaint. Jackson’s concern was that the insulation is already breaking down. Confirming whether that is releasing any asbestos fibers would require testing.
For now, the practical takeaway for residents and courthouse employees is limited but real. The early, visual look reported by the county found nothing requiring immediate action, the chief risk would come from disturbing the material, and a final determination from the state is still to come.
FortScott.biz will update this story when KDHE provides further guidance.
The Kansas Department of Transportation requests comments on an amendment to the Federal Fiscal Year 2026-2029 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) document.
The STIP is a project specific publication that lists all KDOT administered projects, regardless of funding source, and includes projects for counties and cities as well as projects on the State Highway System. The list of projects being amended to the STIP can be viewed at ksdot.gov/about/publications-
The approval of the STIP amendment requires a public comment period, which concludes July 9. To make comments on the amendment, contact KDOT’s Division of Program and Project Management at 785-296-2252.
This information is available in alternative accessible formats. To obtain an alternative format, contact the KDOT Division of Communications, 785-296-3585 (Voice/Hearing Impaired-711).
