Topeka

Air traffic control tower opened at Forbes Field

Forbes Field opened its new $5 million air traffic control tower, giving controllers newer technology and a better view of the runways.

The new tower sits on the west side of the runways, giving controllers a complete view; the previous tower, built in 1954, sat in the middle, causing controllers to turn in a circle for a full view.

Controllers now stand on a floor 97 feet above the ground, higher than the previous tower’s 42 feet.

New technology will allow controllers to track aircraft in the vicinity on a high-tech radar screen that shows where the airplane is, its identification number, altitude and speed.

Dave Stremming, president and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority, said construction began in November 2001. The tower was put into service at 5:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Salina

Suspect convicted in bar stabbing

A Salina man has been convicted of second-degree murder for stabbing a man who was trying to escort him from a local bar.

Saline County jurors deliberated for about six hours before finding Douglas Aldrich, 41, guilty Friday. Saline County Attorney Ellen Mitchell had sought a first-degree murder conviction.

Aldrich faces up to 46 to 51 years for killing Jerry Bird, 36, of Salina, in February. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 1.

Bird, who sometimes acted as a bouncer at the Red Kitten bar in Salina, was trying to remove Aldrich from the business because he had been bothering other customers, according to testimony.

Bird died about a week after being stabbed in the heart.

Atchison

ConAgra Foods sells corn milling plant

A St. Louis company has purchased an Atchison corn dry milling plant and grain elevator from ConAgra Foods Inc.

Bunge Milling, a subsidiary of Bunge North America, is the new owner of the plant. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Bunge Milling is the largest dry corn miller in the world. It processes corn and soybeans for domestic and import sales.

The Atchison mill was ConAgra’s only corn flour-processing plant. It was temporarily shut down in late 2000 amid concerns that it received genetically modified corn linked to a nationwide recall of some taco shell brands.

The Atchison Chamber of Commerce said the mill employed 97 people.

Kansas City, Mo.

Defendant convicted in 16-year-old’s death

A Kansas City man was convicted Friday of killing his teenage girlfriend five years ago.

A Jackson County jury found Glenn Berry, 24, guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Carita Johnson, whose remains were found last summer. The 16-year-old girl was last seen May 30, 1998, leaving her parents’ house, just 10 blocks from where her body was found buried.

Police said Berry confessed to the killing in June 2002 and led them to the girl’s remains.

Police suspected from the beginning that Johnson had been killed, and the case was assigned to the homicide unit. Detectives did not have enough evidence to arrest Berry until last year.