6A= THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
STATE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27, 2002
Victims of homicide identified
The Associated Press
OVERLAND PARK — Overland Park police yesterday released the identities of a mother and daughter whose bodies were found after an apparent murder-suicide.
The bodies of Heather A. Bauer, 22, and her 14-month-old daughter, Mikayla, of Leawood, were found Monday afternoon at Overland Park Aboretum and Botanical Gardens.
Gardens Police found a handgun near the bodies, said Capt. Dan Mineteer. Both had been shot in the head. Police said yesterday evidence at
the scene indicated that Bauer killed her daughter and then herself in a wooded area near a walking trail.
Pollice also found a note in a vehicle in the arboreum's parking lot.
"Something was going on in (the woman's) life that she couldn't deal with," said Minteer, who would not disclose other details. "We think we've pieced the puzzle together."
together. The bodies were found at about 12:45 p.m. by an Overland Park couple who were walking on one of the trails.
parking on one of the sides. Greg Blume and his wife, Kim, saw a baby
"I could tell this wasn't anything good," said Greg Blume, 52.
carriage just off the path. Farther into the woods they saw something pink.
The bodies were 50 to 75 feet from the trail. Both were wearing heavy coats, and a pink baby blanket covered the girl.
The 300-acre park, which attracted almost 100,000 visitors last year, was closed to the public the rest of the day.
The girl's death is the first homicide this year in Johnson County.
4,000 acres burn in Kansas grass fire
The Associated Press
MINNEOLA — Yesterday, Clark County authorities were still investigating the cause of what they believe to be one of the biggest grass fires to ever rage in southwestern Kansas.
Almost 4,000 acres of grassland were destroyed Sunday as a fire burned a10-mile swath southwest of Minneola.
Fourteen fire crews from as far as Buffalo, Okla., worked for eight hours to extinguish the fire, which started at about 1 p.m.
Sunday six miles south and two miles west of Minneola. The blaze did not reach any homes, authorities said.
"A lot of the help we got out of Oklahoma, they smelled the smoke and could see the smoke and were calling us to see if we needed assistance," Clark County Sheriff Brad Harris said. "That worked out great, without them, we wouldn't have been able to contain it."
So far, investigators have not determined how the blaze started.
The rambling fire jumped numerous county and state roads as it slowly burned its way to the south. By the time firefighters got it under control at about 6 p.m., it had covered 10 miles through rolling grassland and canyons to a point 15 miles south of Minneola and a half-mile west of U.S. 283, Harris said.
Fortunately, the blaze complicated by gusting 30 mph winds — swept through a lightly populated area.
The wind was just terrible for
the firefighters," Harris said. "Every time they'd make some headway, the wind would just rekindle something."
It took three hours for crews to clean up after the fire was controlled.
Among the fire departments fighting the blaze were Meade, Fowler, Minneola, Dodge City, Bucklin, Ashland, Englewood Protection and Coldwater. Departments from the Oklahoma panhandle that assisted included Laverne, Buffalo, Rosston, Gate and Forgan.
Anti-profiteering bill sparks Senate debate
The Associated Press
TOPEKA—An anti-profiteering bill prompted by price spikes for gasoline last Sept. 11 wontative Senate approval yesterday, over objections from senators who prefer leaving the marketplace alone.
The measure would subject merchants to lawsuits and possible fines for gouging consumers with high prices after disasters.
Advanced on a voice vote, the bill was set for final Senate action today and could go to the House.
today and could go.
Following the terrorist attacks in Washington and New York last Sept. 11, long lines formed at gas pumps in some Kansas communities and prices soared to $5 a gallon or more.
Sen. Derek Schmidt said Kansas' Consumer Protection Act is vague about profiteering. That law allows individuals, county prosecutors and the attorney general to sue merchants in district court and provides for fines for "unconscionable" actions.
The new anti-profiteering law would apply after a disaster and address prices for necessary services, such as housing and fuel. Price increases of more than 50 percent would be evidence of profitering.
"We reinvent the rules every time there's a disaster or there's a new person in the county's attorney office," said Schmidt, R-Independence.
pendence. But other Republicans noted that gasoline prices quickly dropped back to normal levels last fall.
last day. "I believe the markets are selfcorrecting for the most part," said Sen. Ed Pugh, R-Wamego.
Sen. Nancey Harrington, R-Goddard, suggested supporters were trying to score political points rather than combat an actual problem.
atricular problem.
"I wonder if we should include an amendment to prohibit political profiteering," she said.
Supporters said they were trying to protect Kansans when they were most vulnerable and to help business owners.
"It lets the business community know what price-gouging is so they can govern themselves," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John Vratil, R-Leawood.
State legislators propose to ban common-law marriages for minors
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Common-law marriages among minors would be banned under a bill that won first-round House approval yesterday, while the Senate weighed a measure to abolish such arrangements altogether.
The House advanced its bill on a voice vote with no debate. Final action is scheduled for today, sending it to the Senate.
Legislators were inspired to attack common-law marriages
attack common-law marriages which require no certificate after hearing the story of Sara Shelton, 16, of Buffalo. She testified that she was raped and had two children by the same man by age 14.
age 14.
That man, Jerry Paul Crooks Jr., is serving a 25-year prison sentence for rape. Crooks testified during his trial in Butler County that he and the girl had a
common-law marriage, an assertion iurors rejected.
Since 1913, Kansas courts have declared the common-law age of consent for marriage is 14 for boys and 12 for girls, and that they do not need the permission of their parents or guardians.
Also, courts have said a common-law marriage was valid if the partners were physically able to marry and live together as a married couple — even only
briefly.
Some senators concluded the state no longer needed to recognize common-law marriages, and under their bill, the state would not recognize any entered into after June 30.
But some House members said they thought a common-law marriage between two adults could protect the partners' property rights. Rep. Jan Pauls, D-Hutchinson, said that if one partner in a common-law marriage died, the other could obtain Social Security benefits and inherit property.
MORE INFORMATION
- Common law marriage bills are SB 486 and Sub for HB 2366.
Online:
http://www.kslegislature.org
Common-law marriages involving adults have been recognized in Kansas since at least 1886, when the Supreme Court upheld a Shawnee County man's bigamy conviction.
Only the District of Columbia and seven other states still recognize such marriages — Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
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