SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A lieutenant at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield is facing up to three years in prison after admitting that he persuaded an inmate not to report being assaulted by a prison guard.

Federal prosecutors say 42-year-old James Myrick, of Nixa, pleaded guilty Wednesday. He admitted that he was present when a guard hit inmate Shawn Springer, who had been in a dispute with the guard’s wife.

Myrick said he offered Springer a better cell if he didn’t tell anyone about the assault. Springer then told a nurse he hit his head while cleaning his bunk.

After Springer discussed the injury with a psychologist, Myrick wrote a memo that claimed Springer’s head injury was pre-existing, which was later contradicted by staff members.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Staff at five of six Kansas universities who voted to leave the civil service have received their first raises in several years.

The classified staff chose to leave the civil service last year because of frustration with stagnant pay. The vote removed the staff from control of the Legislature and allows the universities to determine their pay.

The workers include custodial and maintenance workers and some administrative and supervisory jobs that receive hourly wages.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports  staff at the University of Kansas left civil service years ago.

Ali Levine, chairwoman of the University Support Staff Council, told the Board of Regents Wednesday that most staff saw pay raises on July 1. Levine, who works at Wichita State, says staff there received a 3 percent raise.

United States Attorney’s Office

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Texas woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding four families that wanted to adopt children, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom

Chrystal Marie Rippey, 34, Marshall, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. In her plea, she admitted she devised a scheme in which she pretended to be pregnant. She contacted adoption agencies and individuals who wanted to adopt and said she was willing to give up her unborn children for adoption. She asked adoption agencies and individuals for money for rent, utilities, food and living expenses.

Couple No. 1: A Delaware couple moved Rippey into their home for a month. They took her on a two-week vacation on the beach and paid for her living expenses, new clothes, cell phone and food. She gave them a sonogram that she claimed showed her pregnancy with twins. In fact, she got the image from the Internet. Then she broke off contact with them.

Couple No. 2: A couple from Shawnee, Kan., put more than $22,000 in an escrow account to pay for Rippey’s living expenses. She told them false stories about her troubles with Child Protective Services and a fire that burned down the home of the birth father in order to get the couple to give her more money. Then she broke off contact with them.

Couple 3: Working with an adoption agency in Overland Park, Kan., Rippey contacted another couple that began providing support for her. They were shocked when they went to California to meet her and saw that she didn’t look pregnant.

Couple 4: Another couple ran up expenses for fees to an adoption agency in Texas as well as travel expenses in hopes of adopting twins from Rippey. Rippey claimed she had a son in the hospital and that she had not eaten in days in order to get money from the couple. But the couple refused her request because the adoption agency told them not to give her any money until she completed adoption paperwork.

Sentencing will be set for a later date. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 33 months followed by three years supervised release.

Grissom commended the Overland Park Police Department, the U.S. Secret Service and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley for their work on the case.

WASHINGTON –After soliciting personal stories and tips from Missouri consumers, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, who leads the Senate panel on Consumer Protection, today introduced an amendment aimed at bringing transparency and fairness to cable, satellite, and other pay-TV billing practices.

Earlier this year, McCaskill asked any consumer who believes they have experienced deceptive or confusing billing practices by a cable, satellite, or other pay-TV company to visit her website, www.McCaskill.senate.gov and use the “Submit Your Scam” web tool to tell their story. Over the approximately 10-day period following the call for pay-TV stories, McCaskill’s office received 428 responses.

“Consumers in every corner of the country share common experiences about fending for themselves against confusing, deceptive billing practices by cable, satellite and other pay-TV companies—and it’s time these millions of customers had a measure of protection,” said McCaskill, a former Missouri prosecutor. “This legislation is a first step in holding these companies accountable by requiring better notification of price changes, better guidelines for bundled services, and a uniform standard of transparency in billing.”

Click HERE for a one-pager on McCaskill’s amendment
Click HERE for an analysis of consumer feedback collected by McCaskill
McCaskill’s amendment to the Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act, would provide basic consumer protections for pay-TV customers by:

1. Directing the FCC to update its customer service guidelines for cable operators.

The guidelines must address:

communications between the cable operator and the subscriber
notifications to subscribers of prices and rate changes; and
customer service availability and accessibility
In establishing the guidelines, the FCC is also instructed to:

take into consideration the differences in capabilities and resources of cable operators based on their size; and
provide the maximum flexibility possible for cable operators to comply with the guidelines in a manner that accommodates differences in technologies, geographical footprint, and financial resources among cable operators.
2. Clarifying the FCC’s authority to enforce customer service guidelines.

The amendment allows the FCC to enforce the guidelines against a cable operator when:

the Local Franchise Authority (LFA) does not enforce the federal customer service guidelines established by the FCC
the cable operator is not subject to comparable customer service guidelines established by the LFA.
3. Directing the FCC to establish customer service guidelines for satellite operators, who are not subject to LFA or comparable state or local jurisdiction.

The guidelines must address:

communications between the satellite operator and the subscriber (including standards governing bills and refunds);
notifications to subscribers of prices and rate changes; and
customer service availability and accessibility
4. Grants the FCC general authority to prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or practices by cable and satellite operators.

In Missouri, which has operated under a statewide video franchise law since 2007, state law expressly prohibits the Missouri Public Service Commission from enforcing virtually any consumer protections or creating its own protections.

McCaskill also used a Senate hearing earlier this year to challenge representatives of the cable and satellite industry on their billing practices.

Leading the Senate’s panel on Consumer Protection, McCaskill has previously highlighted the voices and stories of her Missouri constituents to force predatory companies and scam artists to answer for their fraudulent practices, and to enact policies to better protect families and consumers across the country. McCaskill has drawn upon tips and firsthand stories to launch Senate investigations aimed at schemes involving reverse mortgages, credit card companies, inaccuracies on credit reports, fraudulent robocalls, and scam artists known as “patent trolls” that threaten Missouri job and business opportunities.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — State officials are asking hunters to collect tissue from deer killed in north-central Missouri to help track a deadly disease.

The Missouri Department of Conservation is requesting the samples to test for chronic wasting disease.

Hunters can take deer to regional locations for the tissue sampling between Sept. 15 and Jan. 15. The sample is free and does not reduce the value of deer.

The more than 3,600 deer tested last hunting season did not test positive for the disease, but officials say the threat still is significant.

Sampling locations are listed on the Conservation Department’s website.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – Kansas City authorities say a house exploded in the southeast part of the city, injuring a female neighbor.

Fire Chief Paul Berardi says no one was inside the house that blew up on Wednesday night. The woman was hospitalized with minor injuries in the blast that damaged two neighboring houses.

Berardi described what was left of the house as “a pile of sticks.”

The cause of the explosion is unknown. Police and firefighters are investigating.

Neighbors reported smelling gas before the explosion.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Officials are waiting for a ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court on whether the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate must be removed from the ballot.

The court’s consideration of Democrat Chad Taylor’s petition to avoid being listed as a candidate Nov. 4 comes with counties facing a Saturday deadline to begin sending ballots to military personnel overseas.

Taylor’s decision to end his campaign against three-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts put the race in a national spotlight. Some Democrats pushed Taylor to withdraw to help independent Greg Orman’s chances of beating Roberts by preventing a major split in anti-Roberts votes.

But Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Taylor didn’t comply with an election law limiting when nominees can withdraw. Taylor then appealed to the Supreme Court.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Fort Riley soldier has been sentenced to six months in prison and six months of home confinement for accepting disability payments he wasn’t eligible to receive.

A U.S. attorney’s office says 38-year-old James Scott Nickerson was ordered to pay nearly $72,000 in restitution to the Social Security Administration during the Wednesday sentencing. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release following the prison sentence.

Nickerson pleaded guilty in April to one count of making a false official statement to a federal agency.

Nickerson applied for disability benefits in October 2009 under the Wounded Warrior Program. He claimed he was unable to work because of mental disorders he developed while serving in Iraq. He concealed that he was working full time for the Army in various jobs.