Local Headlines

Several changes on the Fort
Several change of command ceremonies have been announced at Fort Riley recently. Lt. Colonel Eric Timmerman has recently assumed command of the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. Timmerman assumed command from Lt. Col. Pat Frank during a Wednesday morning ceremony. The "Black Lions" deployed to Baghdad as part of the surge of forces into Iraq in early February 2007 and returned to Fort Riley this past April. And the new Assistant Division Commander of Operations will be welcomed with a Victory Honors Ceremony Monday morning at Building 580 on post. Brigadier General Perry Wiggins comes to the 1st Infantry Division from the Pentagon where he served as Deputy Director for Regional Operations on the Joint Staff. Colonel Jeff Ingram will relinquish command of the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division during a ceremony Wednesday morning. Ingram has commanded the 1st Brigade since May of 2006, with more than nine-thousand service members trained and deployed. Ingram 's replacement will be Colonel Eric Wesley who comes to Fort Riley from the National War college in Washington, D.C. And Irwin Army Community Hospital is planning a change of command ceremony a week from Friday. Colonel Dawn Smith will relinquish Command to Colonel Jeffrey Johnson during a ceremony at nine a.m. on Calvary Parade field. Following the ceremony, there will be a reception on the parade field. Smith has commanded the hospital since July 2006 and is moving to Fort Sam Houston, Texas where she will serve as the deputy chief of the Medical Services Corps. Johnson comes to Fort Riley from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he served as the division surgeon.

One wildcat receives a title change
Pat Bosco, well-known at Kansas State as associate vice-president for institutional advancement and dean of student life, has a new title. Bosco has been named as vice president for student life and dean of students, effective this coming Monday. The announcement came late Thursday morning from K-State President Jon Wefald and Bob Krause, the vice president for institutional advancement and director of intercollegiate athletics. Wefald and Krause mention Bosco's long history of effective service to K-State. Bosco began as a student body president at Kansas State more than 30 years ago, and spent the past 22 years as associate vice president for institutional advancement and dean of student life. The change in title consolidates all the student life programs under Bosco. And in another faculty change announced at Kansas State Thursday, Peter Paukstelis of Manhattan and current USD 383 school board president, has joined the K-State legal team as associate university attorney. Paukstelis has maintained a private solo practice in Manhattan for six and a half years.

Numerous rape charges in a Riley County case

Not many details, but a 39 year old Berryton man has been taken into custody by Riley County Police on a warrant listing 68 counts of rape. Ben Hinchsliff was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Topeka. Hinschsliff's bond was set at 100-thousand dollars. Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson tells KMAN his office will not provide further details at this time in deference to those involved.


State Headlines

Tax credits available
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Donors to 24 nonprofit groups will be able to obtain 4.13 million dollars in income tax credits, thanks to the Kansas Department of Commerce. The agency announced yesterday that it had awarded the groups the use of the credits. The groups can then offer those credits to donors. For a donation to a group in a rural area, the credit would be equal to 70 percent of the contribution. For groups in other areas, it would be 50 percent. The largest amount of credits, $250,000 each, went to four groups. They are Flinthills Services, of El Dorado; Friends of the Mary Cotton Library, of Sabetha; the Kansas Children's Discovery Center, of Topeka, and the William Newton Healthcare Foundation, of Winfield.


Dogfighting operation investigation
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Police are looking for two suspects after officers say they found evidence of a dogfighting operation in a northeast Wichita home this week. Police announced yesterday that they answered a call Wednesday afternoon about a stray pit bull that had attacked another dog. Officers located the pit bull and tracked it back to its home. Police spokesman Gordon Bassham says a search warrant of the home found signs someone was training dogs to fight, including a room splattered with blood.
Officers say they found and confiscated six pit bulls, two treadmills, a piece of animal carcass and a sledgehammer. Bassham says it appears the sledgehammer was used to kill dogs that had lost fights.

Charges dismissed after court's miscalculation
GIRARD, Kan. (AP) A Crawford County judge has dismissed charges against a rural Pittsburg man accused of starving his ex-wife's dogs and keeping their bodies in a freezer. Andrew Romanzi was charged with four counts of cruelty to animals. Crawford County Sheriff's Deputies discovered the dogs last July while enforcing a court order that Romanzi return the dogs to his ex-wife. A fourth dog was still alive. All were 10 to 35 pounds underweight. The court dropped the misdemeanor charges, however, because Romanzi's trial didn't start within 180 days of his first court appearance. That violated his right to a speedy trial under Kansas law. Crawford County Attorney John Gutierrez called the situation a "miscalculation on my part and the court's part."