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Kansas woman jailed in decapitation of ex-boyfriend’s mother

WPDWICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman has been arrested in the decapitation killing of her ex-boyfriend’s mother whose 9-year-old grandson called 911 after fleeing from the attack. Micki Davis, 63, was killed Sunday afternoon. A 35-year-old Wichita woman has been jailed without bond in Sedgwick County on suspicion of first-degree murder.

Lt Todd Ojile says the grandmother was attacked after she took her grandson to a home to collect property that belonged to the victim’s son. Ojile says that during the assault, the boy grabbed his grandmother’s phone and ran away.

Responding officers called for backup after finding the victim’s body in the garage. Police say the suspect was found hiding in the home.

Police plan to present the case to prosecutors Tuesday or Wednesday.

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Iowa man surrenders in Neosho after allegedly killing mother, father and sister

Chase Nicholson
Chase Nicholson

BONDURANT, Iowa (AP) — A 20-year-old man has been charged in the killing of his mother, father and sister in their suburban Des Moines home.

Iowa court records say Chase Nicholson faces three counts of first-degree murder and is being held on $3 million bail in the Polk County Jail. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who can comment for him.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says Nicholson surrendered to police in Neosho, Missouri, Friday morning. A written statement from the Neosho Police Department says Nicholson told an officer that he had killed three people the night before.

Iowa records say Nicholson used a shotgun that was recovered at the family home in Bondurant. The three people killed were identified as 58-year-old Mark Nicholson; 56-year-old Charla Nicholson and 24-year-old Tawni Nicholson.

Two adults dead, two students critical after school shooting

san-bernardino-police-patchThe San Bernardino police chief says two adults are dead after a shooting at an elementary school.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan says on Twitter that investigators believe “the suspect is down.” He says there is no further threat to the school. Burguan says the shooting is believed to be a murder-suicide stemming from a domestic dispute.

A spokeswoman for San Bernardino City Unified school district says one of four people shot in a classroom was a teacher.

Police Capt. Ron Maass says, “The children we do not believe were targeted. The suspect had come to the classroom to visit. The adult female was in the classroom.” The two wounded students are in critical condition.

Police did not identify the shooter or the teacher.

Missouri auditor criticizes transportation-related districts

State Auditor Nicole Galloway
State Auditor Nicole Galloway

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s state auditor says many transportation development districts statewide often have little oversight or transparency, amassing nearly $1 billion in outstanding project costs unapproved by taxpayers.

State Auditor Nicole Galloway, in a report released Monday, found that such project costs are to be repaid with sales taxes without taxpayer consent.

Galloway said laws applying to the districts initially were meant to help local communities with transportation projects benefiting the public interest. But she says they have morphed into public funding sources for private developers.

Galloway says most districts are created and managed by the owners and developers who stand to gain most from the districts’ tax collections, creating a conflict of interest and what the auditor calls a rigged system.

Supporters urge Missouri AG Hawley to run for US Senate

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley Photo courtesy Missourinet
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley
Photo courtesy Missourinet

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Several high-profile Republicans are encouraging Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley to run for the U.S. Senate next year.

The supporters released a public letter Monday as a means of building support for him to take on Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Some of the signers include former Sen. John Danforth, former Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and prominent donor David Humphreys.

Hawley has been in office just three months. He said in a statement to The Associated Press that “it is far too early to be thinking about any future election.”

U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner is among other Republicans considering a Senate campaign.

Danforth was involved in a similar public letter campaign urging former State Auditor Tom Schweich to run for a 2012 Senate seat and the 2016 governor’s race.

Woman admits role in immigration-circumventing nuptials

hammer-802300_1280KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri woman admitted Monday in federal court that she played a role in a plot to arrange fraudulent marriages to help African nationals circumvent immigration laws.

Thirty-seven-year-old Kakeland Barnes of Kansas City pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy count contained in an indictment last August.

Three Kansas City co-defendants, including 49-year-old Delmar Dixon, also have pleaded guilty. Dixon admitted he arranged 30 to 40 fraudulent marriages, including his own.

Authorities say Dixon charged the African nationals $1,000 up front for his services, which included providing them U.S. citizen spouses. The African nationals additionally had to pay $500 to the spouse at the time of the wedding, as wells as $500 immediately after the wedding.

The African nationals were coached by Dixon on how to make their marriages appear legitimate.

Judge dismisses case against woman in 1989 Kansas killing

gavel-1017953_640KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a Kansas murder case against a woman who was arrested last year in the killing of a teenager nearly 30 years ago.

Wyandotte County prosecutors issued a statement Friday announcing the dismissal of the case against 48-year-old Carolyn Heckert of Smithville, Missouri. They didn’t say why it was dismissed.

Heckert had been jailed since her arrest last October in connection with the 1989 stabbing death of 18-year-old Sarah DeLeon. DeLeon’s body was found along railroad tracks near Interstate 435 in Kansas City, Kansas.

New DNA collection and testing technology led police to reopen the case in July 2014.

Heckert’s attorney, John P. O’Connor, says she is elated that charge was dropped.

Missouri mulls funding cuts for sobriety checkpoints

File Photo
File Photo

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers are considering a prohibition on the use of state funds for sobriety checkpoints.

The Missouri House voted Thursday in support of the ban in a budget bill. Supporters of the shift say it will free up departments to use money for other, more effective methods to deter impaired driving. Others say the sobriety checkpoints violate drivers’ rights by allowing officers to stop people without probable cause.

But opponents of the ban say the checkpoints are an important tool to keep drunken drivers off the road.

Local law enforcement agencies could still pay for the checkpoints with local funds.

The Senate has not yet considered the measure.

Zebra mussels found in Lawrence water transmission line

Zebra mussels
Zebra mussels

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Lawrence, Kansas, officials approved the purchase of special equipment after utility workers found a thick coat of zebra mussels in one of the city’s water transmission mains.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports an inspection found a nearly 2-inch thick layer of mussels stretching about 2,000 feet in the main. Utility officials say if the mussels are allowed to grow unchecked, they could choke off pipes and intake openings.

The infested transmission main moves water from Clinton Lake to the Clinton Reservoir Water Treatment Plant.

In response, city commissioners approved the purchase of about $80,000 worth of copper ion generation equipment to manage the mussels. Philip Ciesielski, assistant director of utilities, says the equipment will put low doses of copper ions into the water, eventually killing the mussels.

Crash kills 2 teens, injures 7

Lenexa Police Dept patch LPDLENEXA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old died and seven other teens were injured when their vehicle slammed into a tree shortly after the driver refused to stop for police.

The Kansas City Star reports the crash happened around 5 a.m. Sunday in Lenexa, Kansas.

Officer Danny Chavez says an officer noticed a vehicle driving without headlights and tried to stop it, but the driver didn’t stop. The officer allowed the vehicle to go, but found the crash site a short time later.

The driver and front passenger both died. Seven others, who all appear to be teens, were taken to hospitals for treatment of their injuries.

Authorities are still working on identifying all of the people who were in the car, so their names were not immediately released.

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