Kansas
State pays inmate $4,000 for alleged failures to protect him from several gangs
The Kansas State Finance Council approved a $4,000 settlement with an inmate who accused the state of failing to protect him from multiple prison gangs.
A prisoner acted as a confidential informant while serving time at the Lansing Correctional Facility in 2015. The Kansas Department of Correction was investigating allegations of corruption at the facility. But despite assurances that he would remain anonymous, the prisoner’s involvement was allegedly revealed by employees at the facility.
Court records for the case have been sealed, and The Capital-Journal is withholding his name out of concern for public safety.
After his involvement was made known, the inmate said he had a “green light,” where a prisoner is marked as a target, by members of the Gangster Disciples, Aryan Brotherhood, Bloods, Crips and adherents of Asatru — a Norse pagan revivalist group that is sometimes linked to white supremacist prison gangs.
The inmate was transferred out of state in 2017 but was since returned into the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections. He stated in court documents that staff informed him that other prisoners were still planning to attack him, and he made that known when transferred from Crawford County jail to the El Dorado Correctional Facilities.
Despite the warnings, he was housed with an inmate that the prisoner claims was a threat. After about a month at El Dorado, the prisoner alleges he was given an option to transfer to either Ellsworth Correctional Facility or Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility.
He chose Larned but was again targeted for attack by games, court documents allege.
The prisoner said he was placed in restrictive housing and requested an out-of-state transfer. He alleged that jail staff are retaliating against him for his previous court case in 2017 seeking out-of-state transfer, including by “screaming down the hallway around other inmates that Plaintiff ‘was a CI/snitch.’”
In April 2023, he was being held in segregated housing and “being forced to accept cell mates from general population.”
“If he refuses to accept them, he received a disciplinary report for disobeying orders. Plaintiff alleges that keeping him in long term segregation prevents him from earning program credits, and from buying food and electronics,” court documents said.
The parties agreed to the $4,000 settlement on Feb. 26, which the State Finance Council approved on March 24. The State Finance Council is comprised of the governor and legislative leaders.
The Department of Corrections said the inmate has been transferred out of state.
Kansas
Where to watch Kansas City Royals vs Texas Rangers: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 30
What to know about MLB’s ABS robot umpire strike zone system
MLB launches ABS challenge system as players test robot umpire calls in a groundbreaking season.
The 2026 MLB season has surpassed the quarter mark, and after each team’s first 40 games, there’s plenty of reasons to tune in all summer long.
Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami has already proven doubters wrong by launching 17 home runs, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes consistently looks like the best version of himself on the mound and Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski is throwing harder than any starter in the majors.
The MLB action continues on Saturday as the Kansas City Royals visit the Texas Rangers.
Here’s everything you need to know to tune in for the first pitch.
See USA TODAY’s sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.
What time is Kansas City Royals vs Texas Rangers?
First pitch between the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, May 30.
How to watch Kansas City Royals vs Texas Rangers on Saturday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Saturday, May 30, 2026, at 6:33 a.m.
Watch MLB all season long with Fubo
MLB regional blackout restrictions apply
MLB scores, results
MLB scores for May 30 games are available on usatoday.com . Here’s how to access today’s results:
See scores, results for all of today’s games.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Bates County Circuit Court judge Friday sentenced a Linn County, Kansas, man in connection with the December 2025 death of Airen Andula, 13.
Damon Leonard, 47, was sentenced to four years in prison for abandonment of a corpse, according to court records.
He pleaded guilty to the charge of abandoning a corpse on May 22.
Andula disappeared from his Pleasanton, Kansas, home on Dec. 21, 2025. A day later, law enforcement found the boy’s body in a ravine in Bates County, Missouri. He had died from multiple dog bite injuries.
Police were led to the boy’s body after a phone call from Leonard.
Court documents said Leonard “admitted that he transported the deceased child from Kansas to Missouri and left the body in the bottom of the creek” before he returned home.
KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva spoke with Andula’s family earlier this week — after the guilty plea and ahead of Friday’s sentencing.
His family shared that the guilty plea brought a small sense of justice, but it didn’t do much to ease the pain of their loss.
READ MORE | Family of Airen Andula speaks out ahead of sentencing
“We’re missing our kid every day of our lives,” the boy’s father Charles Andula told Silva.
Leonard received credit for time served of 158 days in his sentence, per court records.
—
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – It may not seem like a lot of relief, but gas and diesel prices have declined over the past week.
Friday morning’s national average for a gallon of unleaded gas was $4.39, according to the Automobile Association of America.
That’s down three cents from $4.42 on Thursday; down 16 cents from a week ago; but was up 17 cents from $4.22 a month ago and up $.23 from $3.16 a year ago.
In Kansas, AAA says, unleaded gas on Friday was averaging $3.96 a gallon — down four cents from $4.00 on Thursday; down 13 cents from $3.96 a week ago; but up 26 cents from $3.70 a month ago; and up $1.07 over $2.89 a year ago.
Diesel fuel also was dropping in price. AAA says Friday’s national average for a gallon of diesel was $5.52 a gallon — down three cents from $5.55 on Thursday; down 12 cents from $5.64 a week a go; but up six cents from $5.46 a month ago and up $1.98 from $3.54 a year ago.
Kansas diesel fuel prices, according to AAA, checked in at an average of $4.98 on Friday. That’s five cents below $5.03 on Thursday; down 16 cents from $5.14 a week ago; but up 24 cents over $4.74 a month ago; and up $1.72 from $3.26 a year ago.
In Topeka, GasBuddy.com on Friday morning showed unleaded gas prices ranging between $3.77 and $4.09 in Topeka, with diesel fuel going for between $4.94 and $5.29 a gallon.
Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.
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