VOL. CXIII NO. 197 (USPS 127-880) CONCORDIA, KANSAS 66901 Monday, March 11, 2019

CONCORDIABLADE-EMPIRE

Good Evening

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Across Kansas

Concordia ForecastTonight, mostly cloudy with an 90 per-

cent chance of showers, mainly after 1a.m. Low around 38. Southeast wind 5-10mph.

Tuesday, cloudy with an 80 percentchance of rain, mainly before 1 p.m. Highnear 52. South wind 10-15 mph with gustsas high as 20 mph.

Tuesday night, cloudy with an 80 per-cent chance of showers and possibly athunderstorm. Some storms could pro-duce heavy rain. Low around 50. Southwind around 15 mph with gusts as high as20 mph.

Wednesday, cloudy and breezy with a100 percent chance of showers and possi-bly a thunderstorm. Some storms couldproduce heavy rain. High near 61. South-east wind 15-25 mph with gusts as high as35 mph.

Judge won’t dropcharges in triple murder

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A judge hasrejected a motion to drop charges againsta 21-year-old man accused in a triplehomicide in Lawrence.

Douglas County District Court JudgeSally Pokorny on Friday ruled that Antho-ny Roberts Jr., of Topeka, had not provid-ed evidence to justify his claim that heacted in self-defense during the shootingsin October 2017.

The Lawrence Journal-World reportsRoberts' trial is scheduled for June 10. Heis charged with two counts of first-degreefelony murder, second-degree murder andattempted second-degree murder.

The shootings in downtown Lawrenceinvolved two groups of Topeka men whohad earlier confrontations. They firedabout 20 shots, killing three and injuringtwo others.

One co-defendant is scheduled for trialin April. A third pleaded no contest lastweek to misdemeanor battery and wasreleased from jail.

Toddler pulled from house fire dies

PRETTY PRAIRIE, Kan. (AP) — Authoritiessay a 2-year-old girl has died days after beingpulled from a house fire in south-centralKansas that killed an older relative.

Station KSNW reports that Charlotte Alleydied Friday night at a Wichita hospital, whereshe had been flown following the Tuesdaymorning fire.

The Reno County Sheriff's Departmentannounced the toddler's death in a Facebookpost, and hospital officials later confirmed it.

Charlotte's mother was able to get the girland her 1-year-old brother out of their burn-ing mobile home near Pretty Prairie, but wasunable to reach 70-year-old Judy Kay Alley.Firefighters later found Alley's body in theburned-out shell of the home.

The mother and infant son also sufferedinjuries in the fire.

Lawmakers pushingmilitary honorforDole

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Members of theKansas delegation to Congress say formerU.S. Sen. Bob Dole should be promotedfrom captain to colonel in the Army.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports theU.S. Senate last week passed legislationthat would promote the 95-year-old Dole,who was badly wounded in World War II.

Sen. Pat Roberts and Sen. Jerry Moranand Rep. Roger Marshall are promoting thehonor in Congress.

Dole said he was humbled that theKansas delegation is trying to honor him.He says the legislation is an honor heshares with many others who fought in theArmy, especially those who died in WorldWar II.

Dole was an infantry lieutenant in 1945when he was wounded by Germanmachine gun fire, which left him with lim-ited mobility in his right arm.

Washing off the winter grimeWith the temperature climbing to 40 degrees on Sunday, cars were lined upat Fifth Street Carwash to wash off that winter grime. (Blade photo by JimLowell)

Boeing Max 8 planesgrounded afterEthiopian Airlinescrash kills 157

EJERE, Ethiopia (AP) —Authorities in Ethiopia,China and Indonesiagrounded all Boeing 737Max 8 aircraft Monday fol-lowing the crash of anEthiopian Airlines jetlinerthat killed 157 people, andinvestigators found theflight recorders from thefield where the plane wentdown.

The new plane crashedshortly after takeoff in clearweather outside AddisAbaba on Sunday, and theairline decided to ground itsremaining four 737 Max 8suntil further notice as "anextra safety precaution,"spokesman Asrat Begashawsaid. Ethiopian Airlines hadbeen using five of the planesand awaiting delivery of 25more.

As Ethiopia observed aday of mourning, Red Crossworkers slowly pickedthrough the widely scat-tered debris near the black-ened crash crater, lookingfor the remains of the dead,while heavy machinery dugfor larger pieces of theplane.

The plane's flight dataand cockpit voice recorderswere found, Ethiopian Air-lines said. An airline official,however, said one of therecorders was partiallydamaged and "we will seewhat we can retrieve fromit." The official spoke oncondition of anonymity forlack of authorization tospeak to the media.

Ethiopian authorities areleading the investigationinto the crash, assisted bythe U.S., Kenya and others.

"These kinds of thingstake time," Kenya's Trans-port Minister JamesMacharia told reporters.

Sunday's crash wasstrikingly similar to that of aLion Air jet of the same Boe-ing model in Indonesianseas last year, killing 189people. The crash was likelyto renew questions aboutthe 737 Max 8, the newestversion of Boeing's popularsingle-aisle airliner, whichwas first introduced in 1967and has become the world'smost common passengerjet.

Safety experts cautionedagainst drawing too manycomparisons between thetwo crashes until more isknown about the disaster.Besides the groundings inChina and Indonesia,Caribbean carrier CaymanAirways temporarilygrounded their Max 8s.

People from 35 countriesdied in the crash six min-utes after the plane took offfrom Ethiopia's capital forNairobi. Ethiopian Airlinessaid the senior pilot issued adistress call and was told toreturn but all contact waslost shortly afterward. Theplane plowed into theground at Hejere nearBishoftu, scattering debrislike a shredded book, a bat-tered passport and businesscards in multiple languages.

"I heard this big noise,"resident Tsegaye Reta toldthe AP. "The villagers saidthat it was a plane crash,and we rushed to the site.There was a huge smokethat we couldn't even seethe plane. The parts of theplane were falling apart."

Kenya lost 32 people,more than any country. Rel-atives of 25 of the victimshad been contacted,Macharia said, and takingcare of their welfare was ofutmost importance.

"Some of them, as youknow, they are very dis-tressed," he said. "They arein shock like we are. Theyare grieving."

In Addis Ababa, membersof an association of Ethiopi-an airline pilots crieduncontrollably for theirdead colleagues. Framedphotos of seven crew mem-bers sat in chairs at thefront of a crowded room.

Canada, Ethiopia, theU.S., China, Italy, France,Britain, Egypt, Germany,India and Slovakia all lostfour or more citizens.

At least 21 staff membersfrom the United Nationswere killed in the crash, saidU.N. Secretary-GeneralAntonio Guterres, who led amoment of silence at ameeting where he said "aglobal tragedy has hit closeto home."

Both Addis Ababa andNairobi are major hubs forhumanitarian workers, andsome had been on their wayto a large U.N. environmen-tal conference set to beginMonday in Nairobi. The U.N.flag at the event flew at half-staff.

The crash shattered morethan two years of relativecalm in African skies, wheretravel had long been chaot-ic. It also was a serious blowto the Ethiopian Airlines,which has expanded tobecome the continent'slargest and best-managedcarrier and turned AddisAbaba into the gateway toAfrica.

Police investigatingbreak-ins at two locations

The Concordia Police Depart-ment is investigating break-ins attwo cellular phone businessesthat occurred early Saturdaymorning.

According to a news releasefrom the police department, offi-cers responded to an alarm call atNex-Tech Wireless, 132 West SixthSt., at 1:05 a.m.

Officers found damage to prop-erty and theft of property, result-ing in thousands of dollars in loss.

A second alarm call was report-ed at 1:07 a.m. Saturday at FiveStar Cellular, 719 Lincoln St.Damage to property was reportedat that location.

The investigation into the inci-dents continues.

Business in Motion plansShamrock Shenanigans

Business in Motion, a committeeof the Concordia Chamber of Com-merce, is hosting ShamrockShenanigans on Saturday.

The 5K Lucky Run/Walk, spon-sored by Sharp Performance, willbegin at 8 a.m. at Chaput-BuoyFuneral Home. The registration feeincludes a Shamrock Shenanigansshirt. Pre-registration is notrequired, but shirt sizes are limit-ed.

Chamber of Commerce busi-nesses will be participating inShopping Shenanigans from 10a.m.-4 p.m. Look for businessesdisplaying a leprechaun hat on

their door to take advantage of thespecials.

A pub crawl will start at 6 p.m atJitter's Coffeehouse & Lounge.There will be stops at Gambino's,El Puerto, Easy G Sports Grill andthe American Legion Post #76.

There will be an Irish PhotoHunt beginning at 6 p.m.

A photo booth and beverages willbe available at Nex-Tech Wireless.

Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home willbe providing safe rides from 9 p.m.-2 am. Call 785-243-4874.

Business in Motion focuses onpromoting business and events indowntown Concordia.

Trumps seeks border wall funds in new budgetWASHINGTON (AP) — Presi-

dent Donald Trump is revivinghis border wall fight, preparinga new budget that will seek$8.6 billion for his signatureproject, impose steep spendingcuts to other domestic pro-grams and set the stage foranother fiscal battle.

Budget documents like theone Trump is releasing Mondayare often seen as just a startingpoint of negotiation. Fresh offthe longest government shut-down in history, Trump's 2020proposal shows he is eager toconfront Congress again toboost defense spending andcut $2.7 trillion in nondefensespending over a decade.

Titled "A Budget for a BetterAmerica: Promises Kept. Tax-payers First," Trump's propos-

al "embodies fiscal responsibil-ity," said Russ Vought, the act-ing director of the Office ofManagement and Budget.

Vought said the administra-tion has "prioritized reining inreckless Washington spending"and shows "we can return tofiscal sanity."

Speaking on CNBC Monday,Vought confirmed that the $8.6billion border request was partof Trump's spending blueprintfor the 2020 budget year,which begins Oct. 1. It wouldpay for hundreds of miles ofnew barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Vought said "the border situ-ation is deteriorating by theday" with "record numbers ofapprehensions."

An administration official

said Trump's budget proposesincreasing defense spending to$750 billion — and standingup the new Space Force as amilitary branch — while reduc-ing nondefense accounts by 5percent, with cuts recommend-ed to safety-net programs usedby many Americans.

The plan sticks to budgetcaps that both parties haveroutinely broken in recentyears and promises to comeinto balance in 15 years, rely-ing in part on economic growththat may be uncertain.

The official was not author-ized to discuss budget detailspublicly before Monday'srelease of the plan and spokeon condition of anonymity.

While pushing down spend-ing in some areas, including

the Environmental ProtectionAgency, the proposal will seekto increase funding in others toalign with the president's pri-orities, according to one offi-cial.

The administration willinvest more than $80 billion forveterans services, a nearly 10percent increase from currentlevels, including "significant"investments in rehabilitation,employment assistance andsuicide prevention.

It will also increaseresources to fight the opioidepidemic with money for pre-vention, treatment, researchand recovery, the administra-tion said. And it seeks to shiftsome federal student loancosts to colleges and universi-ties.