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Missouri S&T confirms a case of the mumps

Missouri S & TROLLA, Mo. (AP) — Mumps have been reported at another Missouri university.

The Missouri University of Science and Technology said in a news release Wednesday that a single student has contracted the illness. Students at the Rolla school are urged to contact health officials if they believe they may be infected. Health officials are monitoring reports to determine whether further measures are needed.

At the University of Missouri’s main campus in Columbia, more than 300 mumps cases have been identified. Mumps is a viral infection that causes swelling in the salivary glands and cheeks. Several other universities across the country have dealt with outbreaks in recent months.

Missouri bill allows more breath-test evidence in DWI cases

File Photo
File Photo

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House has passed a bill that could overturn a Missouri Supreme Court decision pertaining to breath-test evidence in drunken driving cases.

The bill allows courts to use breath-test evidence gathered from December 30, 2012, to April 4, 2014, in driving-while-intoxicated cases. The House passed the legislation Wednesday by a 127-37 vote. It now goes to the Senate.

The legislation effectively overturns a 2016 ruling throwing out breath tests from machines that weren’t calibrated in compliance with the state law in effect at that time.

Proponents of the bill say the issue was due to a clerical error, and throwing out the evidence denied justice for victims of DWI cases.

Others say the Supreme Court has already decided on the case, and it’s unconstitutional to retroactively change the law.

Impact of test scandal could reach 560 Iowa fire departments

iowa_fire_serviceIOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Hundreds of volunteer fire departments in nearly every pocket of Iowa have members who were improperly awarded nationally-recognized certifications by the state fire academy.

The Fire Service Training Bureau has sent letters to 560 mostly volunteer agencies notifying them that “one or more firefighters on your department may have been” improperly granted one or more certificates, despite failing their exams.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety announced last week that 1,706 firefighters and emergency responders were improperly granted 2,278 certifications between 2012 and 2016.

Those individuals will be required to retake the tests before June 30 or be faced with starting the certification process from scratch. The bureau is offering free refresher courses and retests across the state starting Feb. 11.

The bureau’s former accreditation manager, John McPhee, was arrested last week and charged with misconduct and tampering with records. A complaint accuses McPhee of failing to grade tests and simply assigning random scores. He pleaded not guilty last week.

Bureau officials identified the improper certifications after rescoring tests for which the exams and answer keys were still available. An undetermined number of other tests could not be rescored.

Suspect in death, baby’s kidnapping returned to Kansas

Yesenia Sesmas. Photo Dallas Police. Courtesy Hays Post.
Yesenia Sesmas. Photo Dallas Police. Courtesy Hays Post.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The woman accused of murdering a Wichita woman and kidnapping her newborn baby is now in a Kansas jail.

Online jail records show Yesenia Sesmas was booked Wednesday afternoon into the Sedgwick County Detention Center in Wichita.

The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office says was released from that county’s jail Wednesday morning to be taken to Kansas.

Sesmas is accused of killing Laura Abarca-Nogueda at a west Wichita apartment in November. She then allegedly took the woman’s daughter, Sofia, who was six days old at the time.

Sesmas and the baby were found two days later a Dallas home. The child was not injured and was returned to relatives in Wichita.

The 34-year-old Sesmas was in custody in Dallas and was served extradition papers Jan. 6.

Coroner’s jury leads to charge in teen’s suicide

gavelFAYETTE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri prosecutor has filed a second-degree involuntary manslaughter charge against a Dairy Queen manager accused of bullying a 17-year-old employee who killed himself.

A special prosecutor filed the charge Wednesday against 21-year-old Harley Branham, who testified she never bullied the boy before his December death in Howard County. Other witnesses said the boy was bullied for years at school and at work.

The charge was recommended by a jury assembled in a rare investigation requested by the local coroner. The process is similar to a grand jury investigation but public.

Jurors heard hours of testimony from 20 witnesses before recommending the charge Tuesday. Jurors also concluded that negligence from the Fayette store and the Glasgow School District contributed to the death.

The local coroner says he sought the inquest because he thought it important to publicly acknowledge that bullying was a problem.

Audit: roads worker traded beer for pavement fragments

Nebraska Department of Roads NDOR logo
ORD, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska roads supervisor has been fired after state auditors alleged he exchanged asphalt millings for beer.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that auditors shared the allegations of the unnamed employee with Nebraska Department of Roads officials in November. The employee was relieved of his position one month later.

Auditors claim the millings were saved from a 2016 resurfacing project on Nebraska 70, northeast of Ord.

Asphalt millings are normally used for filling worn road shoulders, or are recycled for new pavement.

According to a letter from the state auditor’s office, several people in the Ord area admitted to receiving the millings for their driveways in place of gravel. At least one person says the employee allegedly “received payments of beer in exchange.”

The newspaper was unable to reach Valley County prosecutor Brandon Hanson for comment on the potential for charges.

Phone “blowing up” at home of man who won Super Bowl tickets for life

Lyle Randa Courtesy Photo
Lyle Randa
Courtesy Photo
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man says his phone has been “blowing up” since he won a Bud Light promotion giving him Super Bowl tickets for life.

The Wichita Eagle reports that it all started at Christmas time when 52-year-old Lyle Randa made a quick beer run. The 30 pack he purchased contained a gold can that allowed him to enter a drawing.

Six other contestants won a pair of season tickets to their favorite team for the 2017-18 NFL season.

But only Randa’s gold can was the Willy Wonka golden ticket for a lifetime of Super Bowl attendance for two — up to 51 years from now.

Randa plans to put the gold can in a shadow box along with all his Super Bowl tickets. He described what happened as “bright-lights-kind-of-crazy.”

Kansas campus carry repeal bill stuck in committee

Kansas State SealTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill that would exempt Kansas colleges from a mandate that they allow concealed carry of handguns is stuck in committee after failing to win approval Tuesday.

In an unrecorded voice vote, the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee opted not to advance a bill from Wichita Democratic Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau.

The bill provides a permanent exemption for public colleges and several types of medical facilities from a 2013 law that requires public buildings to either allow concealed weapons or provide security measures, like guards and metal detectors. Campuses had until July 1, 2017, to comply.

Faust-Goudeau says she might introduce legislation that would require gun owners to get a license and training before carrying a concealed weapon.

Civil Air Patrol officer out after ‘swing from a tree’ post

usaf-auxiliary-civil-air-patrolTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A lieutenant colonel in Kansas’ Civil Air Patrol has resigned his command after posting on Facebook that a state lawmaker should “swing from a tree” for introducing a bill that would undo a law allowing concealed weapons on college campuses starting in July.

The Civil Air Patrol also said in a statement that it “does not condone such behavior from its members.”

Jonathan Holder said in the initial post, which has since been removed, that he was offended that Republican Rep. Stephanie Clayton, of Overland Park, proposed legislation that would undermine his constitutional rights. Overland Park police continue to investigate.

Holder didn’t immediately respond to an email message from The Associated Press. But he said Monday in a Facebook message that “I stand by what I said.”

Woman walking along rural road in the dark struck and killed by deputy

washington-county-missouri-sheriff-patchPOTOSI, Mo. (AP) — A 66-year-old Missouri woman is dead after being struck by a vehicle driven by a sheriff’s deputy.

KTVI-TV reports that 66-year-old Brenda Gross of Washington County was fatally struck Monday night while walking along a rural road in the dark.

Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen says a relative called around 11:15 p.m. to say Gross was possibly driving while intoxicated. Deputies were dispatched to look for her.

Authorities say Cpl. Scott Pratt was on Old Highway 8 when he struck Gross with his vehicle. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Jacobsen says Gross was dressed in dark clothing and he does not believe Pratt did anything wrong, but he has asked the Missouri State Highway Patrol to handle the investigation.

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