Topeka

Sebelius fills vacancy on Court of Appeals

An Overland Park attorney is joining the Kansas Court of Appeals.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday she has appointed Michael Buser, who’s been in private practice since 1988, to the court. He will fill a new position at the court, which expands to 12 members with the start of the new year. A swearing-in ceremony has not been scheduled.

Buser, 52, is Sebelius’ sixth appointment to the Court of Appeals.

He is a former assistant Johnson County district attorney and a former attorney for the Union Pacific Corp. He received his law degree from the Kansas University in 1977.

A state commission that reviews applications for appellate court positions nominated three attorneys in November. The others were Nancy Anstaett, of Overland Park, and Glen Braun, of Hays.

Kansas City, Mo.

Third escaped inmate captured after chase

Police captured an escaped inmate Thursday after a chase that started in Kansas City, Kan., ended near an Interstate 70 ramp in downtown Kansas City, Mo.

Timothy O’Neal Younce, 29, was one of three inmates who escaped from the Henry County jail on Christmas Day. Police said he was spotted in Kansas City, Kan., Thursday driving a stolen truck, and led officers on a chase into Missouri.

Younce gave himself up and was taken into custody after police got the truck stopped, authorities said.

On Wednesday, officials said they had been told Younce did not want to go back to jail and would resist arrest. He was being held in Henry County on an assault charge.

Younce, Jason Eric Peek, 22, and Bobbie Ray Bailey, 23, escaped Saturday by overpowering a jailer in Henry County. Peek and Bailey were recaptured Monday.

Emporia

Victim of Dec. 24 fire in Emporia identified

A man who died in a Christmas Eve fire has been identified as Edward Gerald Green, 66, of Emporia.

Green and his dog were killed in the early-morning fire Dec. 24 at his home. Green, a gunsmith, was a Korean War veteran and the father of one son and four daughters.

Emporia and state fire officials have yet to say what caused the fire or where it started.

St. Joseph, Mo.

Four people die in trailer fire; police investigating

Four people were killed Wednesday night in a trailer fire just south of St. Joseph, the Buchanan County sheriff said.

Sheriff Mickey Gill refused to release any further details Thursday, except to say the fire is being investigated as a possible crime. No identities or the relationship between the victims will be released until autopsies are completed, Gill said.

The trailer is near Lake Contrary, about one block south of the St. Joseph city limits, Gill said.

The fire call came in to the St. Joseph Fire Department about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday. Shortly after arriving, the fire department called law enforcement to the scene.