TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Sen. Pat Roberts plans to have an event with a U.S. Chamber of Commerce leader as his race for re-election in Kansas heats up.

The event Monday afternoon is at the Kansas Chamber of Commerce offices in Topeka. U.S. Chamber Senior Vice President Rob Engstrom also is participating.

The Roberts campaign said the national business group would make an announcement but was not more specific.

The 78-year-old Roberts is seeking his fourth, six-year term but is in a tight race with independent candidate Greg Orman. The 45-year-old Orman is an Olathe businessman and co-founder of a private equity firm.

The two candidates had a debate scheduled Wednesday in Overland Park, and Roberts planned to kick off a four-day bus tour Thursday in Wichita with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

 

 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Twitter are teaming up on a $10 million project to better understand social networks and figure out new ways to benefit from them.

As part of the five-year partnership, Twitter will provide full access to its real-time, public stream of tweets, as well as the archive of every tweet ever posted.

The new Laboratory for Social Machines based at MIT’s Media Lab will focus on the development of new technologies to make sense of patterns across the broad span of public mass media and social media — and not just Twitter.

The goal is not just to understand how people think and use social media but also to understand how networks can be used to increase accountability and transparency and understand public opinion.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — The Greene County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a woman who deputies say stole from a 93-year-old man by exposing herself and telling him she wanted to marry him.

The Springfield News-Leader reports 45-year-old Melva Bozman has been charged with financial exploitation of an elderly person in thefts that happened earlier this year.

Authorities say she persuaded the man to give more than $25,000. The man’s son tells authorities his father is vulnerable because of his age, dementia and the death of his wife. He says Bozman exposed herself, tried to initiate sex and told the man she loved him.

Bozman tells authorities she used his credit card and took his cash.
She is being held at the county jail on $25,000 bond. It wasn’t immediately available if Bozman has an attorney.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – Federal agents have charged a Springfield man with creating and distributing child pornography.

The Springfield News-Leader reports U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents say 49-year-old David Albert sent photos of underage girls in September. They say an agent in Maine discovered Albert trading and sharing photos of the children online.

Agents say he sent photos of two clothed girls younger than 18 years old and a nude photo of a girl younger than 14 years old. They say Albert confessed to sending the photos.

Albert is being held at the Greene County Jail without bond. It wasn’t immediately available if he has an attorney.

COLUMBIA (AP) – The new leader of the Missouri prosecutors’ association says more needs to be done to assist crime victims.

Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight recently took over as president of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

Knight says that fewer than half of Missouri’s counties have advocates based in prosecutor’s offices to help crime victims. He says that’s “woefully inadequate” and that prosecutors must do more to ensure crime victims’ rights are protected.

Over the next year, Knight says the organization also plans to outline best practices for law enforcement investigations and prosecutions.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The percentage of Missourians defaulting on their student loan debt is slightly dropping.

The Department of Higher Education on Friday announced the state’s three-year default rate dropped half a percent from 13.1 percent in 2010 to 12.6 percent in 2011.

Missouri’s student loan default rate is slightly under the national rate, which dropped from 14.7 percent to 13.7 percent.

The data tracks students whose first loan payment was due between 2010 and 2011, and who defaulted on their loans before Sept. 30, 2013.

Almost 99,000 Missourians were repaying their loans in that time period and more than 12,500 defaulted.

Missouri’s rate falls in the middle compared to other states. Rates range from 6.1 percent in North Dakota to 20.8 percent in New Mexico. Kansas’ rate is at 11.1 percent.

MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court begins its new term on Monday with an argument that spotlights police actions based on a mistaken understanding of the law.

A case from North Carolina turns on an officer’s decision to pull over a car because one brake light was not working, even though state law requires only one to operate a car legally. The stop led to a search and the discovery of cocaine.

The justices are beginning their fifth year together, and Chief Justice John Roberts is starting his 10th year on the bench.

Their term could be one for the ages if they decide, as seems likely, to take on the issue of same-sex marriage and settle once and for all whether gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — University of Kansas fraternity and sorority members have formed a task force to raise awareness about sexual assault amid recent allegations.

The Lawrence Journal-World  reports the group released a video Thursday challenging fraternities and sororities to have an honest discussion about consent and responsibility.

The U.S. Department of Justice conducted a study in 2007 of campus sexual assaults and found that sorority membership is a risk factor because members are more apt to associate with fraternity men. The study says fraternity men are more likely to commit sexual assault or aggression than non-Greek men.

Interfraternity Council president Kevin Simpson says it’s crucial that members are held accountable. Just last week, the school placed the Kappa Sigma fraternity on interim suspension over a sexual assault report.

 

OVERLAND PARK- Three people were injured in an accident just after 1 p.m. on Sunday in Johnson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Honda Pilot driven by David Herschel Bram, 32, Olathe was westbound on Interstate 435 at Metcalf in Overland Park.

The vehicle stopped partially in the number 1 lane. A 1999 Toyota 4-Runner driven by James Roger Morley, 45, Overland Park struck the Honda while it was illegally parked and flipped onto its top.

Morley and two children in the Toyota were transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Bram was not injured.
The KHP reported all were properly restrained at the time of the accident.