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Attorneys clash over document release in Ferguson lawsuit

Ferguson policeKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Defense attorneys in the wrongful-death lawsuit by Michael Brown’s parents cite recent rampages that killed police in warning against expanding who can see the complete grand jury transcripts related to Brown’s death.

A federal judge agreed in June to let no more than two attorneys for the defense and each of Brown’s parents see transcripts of grand jury proceedings involving former Ferguson officer Darren Wilson in Brown’s 2014 death. St. Louis County grand jurors cleared Wilson.

Brown’s mother is asking that three more of her attorneys be allowed to see the grand jury’s transcripts.

But attorneys for Wilson and Ferguson counter that widening such access could make the sensitive information including names of witnesses and officers more prone to leaks and hacks, endangering those people.

Lesbian pastor, United Methodist Church agree to separation

Rev. Cynthia Meyer
Rev. Cynthia Meyer
EDGERTON, Kan. (AP) — A lesbian pastor will leave her United Methodist Church in Edgerton at the end of August to avoid a church trial to determine if she should be ousted.

Methodist officials and pastor Cynthia Meyer agreed in early August that she would give up her duties and go on involuntary leave. Her leave will begin Sept. 1.

The Kansas City Star reports Meyer came out to her congregation in January.

At the time, she said she hoped the denomination was close to changing its ban on gay clergy. That didn’t happen and a church trial was scheduled for Aug. 24. Under the agreement, Meyer can’t be appointed as a pastor at any church but could be hired to perform functions similar to a lay staff person.

Canoeing accident leads to drowning

Arkansas City Kansas police patchARKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Officials in southern Kansas’ Cowley County say a person has drowned while canoeing in the Arkansas River.

The name of the victim of the accident Saturday near Arkansas City hasn’t been released.

As Arkansas City’s emergency medical services captain, Jeff Sampson says a group of at least 10 people was kayaking and canoeing when one boat overturned.

Sampson says others in the boat managed to climb onto a logjam, but the victim did not survive.

Body of 46-year-old Topeka man recovered in Kansas lake

Jefferson County ks sherriff patchTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have recovered the body of a Topeka man thought to have drowned while sailboating alone on an eastern Kansas lake.

The body of 46-year-old Jeff Miller was found at 7:15 a.m. Saturday at the northeast part of Lake Perry, west of Longview Park.

Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Herrig says the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism was called around 5:45 p.m. Friday to search for Miller, who was last seen around 3:30 p.m. on his 26-foot sailboat.

The department and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers searched until about midnight, then resumed the search at 6:30 a.m. Saturday.

Herrig says his department was working with the Wildlife Department to investigate the death.

Search continues in Kansas for suspected drowning victim

Butler County Sheriff logoWICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The search continues for a Wichita, Kansas, man whose pickup truck was swept away by floodwaters.

Sixty-two-year-old Richard Lowery went missing after torrential storms dropped up to 7 inches of rain in southern Kansas on Friday night.

Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet says Lowery and his son were in their truck near a creek south of Rose Hill when they drove into water over the road and tried to back out. That’s when Herzet says the truck got swept away into the creek.

The son, 38-year-old Samuel Lowery, managed to escape the truck and floated to safety downstream.

Lowery’s pickup truck and some of his clothing have been found.

Flooding in South puts a damper on US rice harvest

riceLONOKE, Ark. (AP) — High water in Louisiana and Arkansas has put a damper on the nation’s rice harvest.

While much of Louisiana’s crop was in before record floods this month, Arkansas farmers had just started harvesting before rainy weather began last weekend.

So far, the biggest losers are farmers whose fields are inundated and may not be able to harvest. Those who do succeed will find slightly higher prices. But economists say that the weather isn’t bad enough to push up consumer prices for food rice, or for beer and cereal that use rice as an ingredient.

Arkansas produces half the nation’s rice, while Louisiana produces about 15 percent. Farmers fear that continued bad weather, or a Gulf Coast hurricane, could worsen problems before the rest of the crop is brought in.

Groups press Walgreens on religious restrictions in clinics

Walgreens twitter logoCHICAGO (AP) — Four groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union are asking Walgreens for reassurance that the drugstore’s partnership with a Catholic system to run in-store clinics in the St. Louis area won’t limit access to birth control.

SSM Health, a St. Louis-based Catholic system, owns 27 clinics in Walgreens stores in Missouri and Illinois. The clinics open later this month.

The ACLU letter says SSM Health follows restrictions on contraceptives enforced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The letter echoes concerns in Oregon and Washington over a similar deal between Providence Health and Walgreens.

Walgreens referred questions to SSM Health, whose spokesman Jason Merrill says the clinics will continue normal services and patients requiring care “beyond the scope of what is appropriate for a retail clinic” will be referred elsewhere.

Hiring was healthy in past year in many US swing states

UnemploymentWASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring has been strong in the past year in many presidential campaign swing states, a possible hurdle for GOP candidate Donald Trump, who has sought to capitalize on economic distress.

The Labor Department says employers have added jobs in the past 12 months at a faster pace than the national average in Colorado, Florida, Michigan and North Carolina.

Job gains have been solid but slightly below the national rate in other battleground states, such as Ohio and Virginia.

Hiring rose significantly in 15 states in July compared with the previous month, the government said. The biggest percentage gains were in North Dakota, Vermont and Maine. The only state to lose a large number of jobs in July was Kansas, which shed 5,600.

T-Mobile axes data limits, but low-data users might pay more

tmobileNEW YORK (AP) — T-Mobile is getting rid of data limits for new customers, while making unlimited data plans cheaper.

People will no longer need to hold back on using data on smartphones, but those who haven’t been using that much data could wind up paying more for unlimited data they don’t need. This comes as AT&T and Verizon have recently raised the prices on some plans while giving customers more data.

Existing customers can keep their plans, but it’s not immediately clear whether they will be able to make changes in the future without going unlimited.

The cost of an unlimited plan for one person is dropping to $70 from $95 a month for customers who don’t mind DVD-level video quality. Those who want HD-quality video pay an extra $25 a month.

Kansas starts $215M overhaul of Medicaid computer system

medical-781422_1280WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is spending more than $215 million to overhaul a computer system that tracks information about the Medicaid health care program that covers the poor.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the spending will be spread over four years and put the system in line with new federal standards. The federal government will pick up most of the tab, with about 21.3 percent coming from the state’s general fund this fiscal year. The system should go live in early 2019.

Heading up the project is Hewlett Packard, which announced the contract last week. The state made no announcement.

Angela de Rocha is a spokeswoman for the state agencies that oversee the state’s Medicaid system. She says the project would give the state the ability to analyze health progress and outcomes.

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