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Police investigating death of boy at Eudora day care

emergencyEUDORA, Kan. (AP) — The license for a Eudora day care is under emergency suspension after a 9-month-old boy died there last month.

Eudora Police Capt. Daniel Flick says officers received a report Sept. 29 of an unresponsive infant at the Sunshine Kids Group Daycare Home. When officers arrived they found staff administering CPR to the boy, who was later pronounced dead at a Lawrence hospital.

Flick says a preliminary autopsy led investigators to believe the boy’s death was suspicious and the department asked Douglas County authorities for help with the investigation.

The emergency suspension is under appeal and awaiting a hearing.

Flick says no arrests have been made in the case.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports a representative for Sunshine Kids Group Daycare Home declined to comment on the incident.

Farm explosion leaves one dead, another injured

Callaway County Sheriff's patch2KINGDOM CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say one person was killed and another injured in an explosion at a central Missouri farm.

The Callaway County Sheriff’s Office says a large metal building collapsed Friday night in the explosion at the farm near Kingdom City. Forty-five-year-old Stephen Fink, of Macon, was found in the rubble and died at the scene. A second person was treated at a hospital and released.

Fink was driving a tractor-trailer that was delivering a liquid cattle feed product. The blast happened while the product was being emptied into a large container.

The cause of the explosion hasn’t been determined.

Stand-your-ground law in limbo in Kansas

kansas supreme courtTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state’s self-defense law is in legal limbo while the Kansas Supreme Court prepares to consider the issue.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports that twice earlier this month, the Kansas Court of Appeals overturned district court rulings that invoked the stand-your-ground law.

Because of the rulings, one man could now stand trial for attempted voluntary manslaughter and another for first-degree murder. Previously, the men had been shielded from prosecution.

The rulings come as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in a separate stand-your-ground case, possibly as early as mid-December.

The key question is: How should district courts determine whether someone is acting in self-defense or in defense of others? So far the Kansas Supreme Court has given little direction to district courts on the issue.

Kansan settles lawsuit against coyote hunt

aldfWICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has settled a lawsuit with an animal rights group that sought to stop him from holding another coyote hunting contest.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in Kansas court against organizers of the WaKeeney hunt held in January.

Jordan Bleske, a hunt organizer, told The Wichita Eagle the lawsuit was settled by agreeing to not hold the contest again and paying the organization $2,000 in legal fees.

The ALDF cited Kansas’ gambling laws to say the contest was a game of chance. Entrants paid $80 and whoever killed the most won $500.

A Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism lawyer says the department wasn’t contacted about the lawsuit. He thinks hunters could win such a case in Kansas courts because hunting takes skill.

Nebraska utility permanently closing Fort Calhoun nuke plant

Fort Calhoun Power Plant
Fort Calhoun Power Plant

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The nation’s smallest nuclear power plant is set to permanently shut down on Monday.

The Omaha Public Power District’s board decided earlier this year that the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant is no longer financially sustainable.

But the shutdown is only one of the first steps of a decommissioning process that could stretch on for as many as 60 years and cost more than $1 billion.

During that process, the utility will have to decontaminate and disassemble elements of the power plant.

The nuclear plant sits on the Missouri River across from Iowa and is about 15 miles north of Omaha.

Amid expensive governor’s race, voters weigh donation limits

Eric Greitens. Photo courtesy Missourinet.
Eric Greitens. Photo courtesy Missourinet.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Most of the millions of dollars raised in the Missouri governor’s race would be banned under proposed campaign contribution limits.

A measure on the Nov. 8 ballot would limit donations to candidates to $2,600 per election.

Chris Koster
Chris Koster

An Associated Press analysis found close to $16.5 million of Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens’ fundraising, or about 95 percent, was in donations of more than $2,600.

Democratic candidate Attorney General Chris Koster received $17.8 million worth of checks of more than $2,600. That’s about 80 percent of what he’s raised this election.

Missouri’s previous campaign contribution limits were repealed in 2008. Since then, some donors have routinely given five- and six-figure checks.

Under the proposed constitutional amendment, donors also couldn’t give more than $25,000 to political parties each primary and general election.

Kansas works to understand trauma impact on students

Kansas State Department of Education logoTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state education consultant says Kansas could benefit from addressing the impact of childhood trauma on students’ ability to learn.

Kent Reed, school counseling program consultant for the Kansas Department of Education, told the State Board of Education last week that stress from adverse childhood events can lead to lower test scores, language difficulties, behavioral issues and a greater likelihood of failing a grade.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports he said work groups have formed to study childhood trauma issues and they’ll make recommendations.

Board member Janet Waugh said one-third of children in the state’s juvenile justice system have some form of mental illness. She said training and treatment of adverse childhood events issues is needed, but it will “cost a lot of money.”

One remains hospitalized after chemical spill in Kansas

Chemical spill at MGP causes plume over Atchison.  Photo courtesy Corie Dunn
Chemical spill at MGP causes plume over Atchison. Photo courtesy Corie Dunn

ATCHISON, Kan. (AP) — One person remains hospitalized a few days after a chemical spill sent a noxious chemical cloud over a northeast Kansas town.

The spill occurred Friday morning after two chemicals were inadvertently combined at the MGP Ingredients plant in Atchison. The chemical release created a chemical cloud over sections of Atchison and sparked evacuations.

Officials said dozens of people sought medical treatment Friday, largely for respiratory problems. Most had been treated and released by later Friday.

A spokeswoman for Atchison Hospital said Sunday that one person remains hospitalized in stable condition.

The company said in a statement Saturday that MGP is working with regulatory agencies to “fully understand the cause and mitigate the chance of a similar incident occurring in the future.”

US internet disrupted as key firm gets hit by cyberattack

Internet computer(AP) — There have been reports of internet disruption across the East Coast of the United States after a key firm was hit by a cyberattack.

New Hampshire-based Dyn said its server infrastructure was hit by a distributed denial-of-service attack, which works by overwhelming targeted machines with malicious electronic traffic.

The company said in a series of statements that the attack took place early Friday local time and created disruption, but that “services have been restored to normal,”

The level of disruption caused was hard to gauge, but Dyn provides internet traffic optimization to some of the biggest names on the web, including Twitter, Netflix and Visa.

Several sites, such as coder hangout Github, said they were experiencing problems, although it was not immediately clear whether the issues were linked to the cyberattack.

Judge says transportation department officer can’t cite speeder

iowa department of transportationDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge has ruled that an Iowa Transportation Department officer didn’t have legal authority to issue a speeding ticket.

Polk County District Court Associate Judge Heather Lauber said in her Thursday ruling dismissing the citation that the Iowa Supreme Court declared nearly 70 years ago that the department officers didn’t have power over most moving violations.

The Des Moines Register reports that if Lauber’s ruling survives a possible appeal, legal challenges could follow on thousands of tickets issued by Transportation Department officers.

Sixteen-year-old Peyton Atzen and his parents fought the ticket, fearing he could lose his license. The officer ticketed Atzen on May 27 after he was clocked going 84 mph in a 55 mph zone. Atzen says he was speeding but doesn’t think he was going that fast.

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