Garden City

GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) - Organizers of an immigration rally in Garden City say they want to teach Hispanic and Latino communities that they have rights. Kansas United Corp., a Wichita-based nonprofit group, says it expects about 3,000 people to attend Saturday's rally. Eva Barraza, a Kansas United board member, says the rally is in response to a law passed in Arizona, which requires police to ask people about their immigration status if there is a suspicion that they're illegal immigrants.

A southwest Kansas school principal receives national recognition for achievement at his school. Garden City High School's James Mireles won the Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership. He is one of only seven educators in the country to get the award this year. The award comes after Garden City High School won a blue ribbon for its increase in reading and math scores on state assessments. Mireles says he feels the award belongs to the entire school. "I really think the award goes to the whole community," said Mireles.

A Garden City man was charged with second degree murder after a deadly stabbing on Saturday. Authorities in Dodge City and Fort County were called to the Western Plains Regional Hospital after two people showed up with stab wounds. One of them, a 22-year-old man from Garden City, was admitted in critical condition and later died. The other man, 52-year-old Alfredo Gasca-Aldama was treated and then charged. Police did not release any information on the circumstances surrounding the stabbing.

Police in Garden City try to find a man who robbed a pizza delivery driver. Around 10:30 on Saturday, officers were called to the 400 block of Washington St. Investigators say someone ordered a pizza to be delivered to the area. When the driver arrived at the home, police say a man with a handgun confronted him and demanded money. The driver gave the man some money, and the suspect left. The suspect was about 5' 6" tall, weighed about 160 pounds, and was wearing a black, zippered hooded jacked with the hood pulled over his head.

Developers reveal the first tenant for a new retail development planned for Garden City. The city says home improvement store Menard's will be the first store to come to the 400,000 square foot shopping district. The store should open in Spring of 2013. The 162,000 square foot store would anchor the first phase of the project. A developer from North Carolina is behind the project. Developers asked the city for incentives, citing the project as creating jobs and attracting new business.

Garden City police officers issue 47 tickets for seat belt violations during a special patrol. Friday night, officers in Garden City conducted a nighttime seat belt enforcement program. Extra officers were out between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. enforcing seat belt use and child passenger safety laws. During the program, officers made 65 stops. They handed out 47 tickets for seat belt violations and two for child restraint violations. There were five citations for other violations for things like no proof of insurance, driving on a suspended or expired license and alcohol violations.

It is one of the fastest growing health problems in the country, but a Garden City elementary school will get some help to fight childhood obesity. Buffalo Jones Elementary School won a competition for at $45,000 Healthy School Makeover grant. As part of the grant, the school will get special health training and fitness equipment. Teachers at the school say 45 percent of its students are overweight. "We do have an issue in our school with healthy eating and exercise after school, and so we really thought that, with the curriculum, and the with the grant, we would be able to provide something for our students that they are not able to get right now," said teacher Kerri Steelman.

Some four-legged creatures weigh in on the Final Four, and their predictions are not good for Kansas. Elephants Missy and Kimba at Garden City's Lee Richardson Zoo voted on the teams they think will make it to the championship. To make the choice, zoo staff presented the name of each team with a vegetable or fruit. Click to View Photos of the Elephants In the Final Four Kimba picked Ohio State and Louisville as the winners; Missy picked Kansas and Kentucky.

Three people were killed in a Sunday morning fire outside of Garden City. Firefighters were called to the scene just after seven o'clock in the morning. Officials have not released the names of the victims. Authorities are expected to release more information about the fire on Monday.

The Garden City Police Department wants the public's help to locate a rape suspect. Garden City police say Elias Talavera is wanted on a warrant for rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child and attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Investigators believe Talavera may have left Garden City after learning police were looking for him. Officers are looking for any information that may help them locate Talavera. Talavera was last known to be driving a gray 1997 Chevrolet pick-up.

The Garden City Police department is working with the school district after a report of threats found on social media. School resource officers at Horace J. Good Middle School notified authorities after noticing the post Wednesday. Police said the post contained vague threats towards the school. Certain students were also allegedly bully the poster. Classes remain in session while police and officials from U.S.D. 457 investigate. No arrests have been made.

The Garden City Police Department and Finney County Sheriff's Office will take part in the nationwide prescription drug take back event Saturday. The initiative is sponsored by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. It is an effort to collect expired and unused prescription drugs and keep them out of the hands of those who might abuse them. Officers will be at the east entrance to the Wal-Mart at 3101 E. Kansas Ave. and the Dillons at 1305 E. Kansas Ave. in Garden City from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturday, April 27. The drop off sites will not accept illegal drugs like marijuana, meth and needles.

Quite a mess in Stafford County Wednesday morning after a semi hauling food rolled over overnight. It happened on HWY 50 just east of Stafford shortly after midnight. Click for Photos from the Crash Scene Authorities tell the St. John News the driver was headed toward Garden City when he went off the road, over-corrected and went off the other side of the road. The truck struck a driveway embankment and slid a few hundred yards before striking some small trees.

Garden City police will be watching for people not wearing seat belts Friday night. Between 8:00 p.m. and midnight Friday, officers will hold a special nighttime seat belt enforcement program. Additional officers will be on the streets enforcing seat belt laws. The program is sponsored by the Kansas Department of Transportation, and funded through a state grant.

The land they live on now belongs to a college, but some folks in Finney County say, they won't move without compensation. The property dispute surrounds a piece of land on east Spruce. The land currently serves as a mobile home park. Garden City Community College bought the land in December. The previous owner gave tenants until March 31 to leave. So far only one person has moved their home. Many others have stayed. They say their homes are too old to be moved off the property.

It faced closure because of federal cuts, but the Garden City airport control tower is staying open.  It's one of 24 across the country removed from a list of towers slated to close next month because of the sequester in Washington. The FAA determined closing those two dozen would have had too drastic of a national impact.  Still, airport officials in Garden City say they don't want to see any others shut down.  "It's very exciting for us, but it's still very disappointing.  It's a huge step back for the aviation industry," said Rachelle Powell with the Garden City airport.

A Garden City man was charged with second degree murder after a deadly stabbing on Saturday. Authorities in Dodge City and Fort County were called to the Western Plains Regional Hospital after two people showed up with stab wounds. One of them, a 22-year-old man from Garden City, was admitted in critical condition and later died. The other man, 52-year-old Alfredo Gasca-Aldama was treated and then charged. Police did not release any information on the circumstances surrounding the stabbing.

There is a new way to get a ride to the airport in southwest Kansas. Starting March 1, Finney County Transit will offer service to the Garden City Airport. Buses will pick people up at home and give them a ride to catch their flights. "Because the airport is located outside of the city limits, it may be hard for people to get out here or back into town," said transportation director Bonnie Burgardt. "So we felt that, with it being a regional hub and the increased ridership the airport is seeing, the city saw the need and we wanted to collaborate with them to help address that".

Authorities have formally charged a Garden City man in the death of Teri Morris of Colby.  Firefighters pulled Morris' body from a house fire earlier this month. The 27-year-old was found dead near the front door. William Shank was arrested shortly after the incident.  He is being held on a $1 million bond in the Thomas County jail.  Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt filed charges Monday alleging Shank committed first-degree murder, aggravated arson and aggravated burglary.

Trends, tattoos and tactics to fight gangs, that's the focus of a special conference in Garden City this week.  Law enforcement officers from around Kansas are learning how to spot and stop gang activity. But the lessons learned at the conference will help more than just police officers.  "What we try to persuade officers to do is take this information we are giving them and go back to their local communities and spend some time going to school and churches and different organization groups and saying, hey look this is some of the stuff we see, this some stuff we've been told about here in Kansas," said Tim McClure with the Kansas Gang Investigators Association.