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Man pleads guilty to teen’s shooting death

Juwuan Jackson
Juwuan Jackson
FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) — A 19-year-old man pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a teenager at Fort Riley while recklessly handling a firearm.

U.S. Attorney Tom Beall says Juwuan Jackson pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the September 2015 death of 16-year-old Kenyon Givens Jr. He originally said a masked man broke into the home and shot Givens. He later admitted he was spinning the chamber of a .22-caliber handgun while holding the trigger, causing it to go off.

Beall says the initial false story prevented paramedics from treating Givens until after police searched the house.

Jackson faces up to eight years in federal prison when he is sentenced in January.

‘Game of Thrones’ music to tour America with full orchestra

Ramin Djawadi
Ramin Djawadi
NEW YORK (AP) — If you can’t get to Westeros, don’t fret: It’s coming to a town near you next year. Or, at least the music is.

“Game of Thrones” composer Ramin Djawadi said Monday he’s leading a 28-city tour across North America, using a full orchestra and choir to illustrate some favorite scenes from the show that will be broadcast on LED screens for fans.

He hopes to create an event he called “epic” and “involved.”

The “Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience” kicks off Feb. 15 in Kansas City, Missouri. It will also play in New York City and Los Angeles, as well as arenas in Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Denver, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., among others.

Tickets go on sale Aug. 13 at the Live Nation site.

Missouri historical society to build research center, museum

State Historical Society of MissouriCOLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The State Historical Society of Missouri has revealed conceptual drawings of a planned $35 million research center and museum.

The three-story Center for Missouri Studies will house museum galleries on the first floor and collections of manuscripts and newspapers set aside for researchers on the second floor. The third floor will house the society’s administrative offices.

The construction of the building is being funded by state revenue bonds.

The society was founded in 1898 and is the trustee of state historic records. It is currently located on the ground floor of Ellis Library.

Society board president Stephen Limbaugh says the society’s facilities for many documents and items from its art collection have been inadequate.

Missing 3-year-old pops out of field, to searchers’ relief

Webster County Iowa SheriffDUNCOMBE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a missing 3-year-old has been found alongside a farm field near his Webster County home.

Volunteers joined county emergency response teams for a search after the boy was reported missing around 3 p.m. Sunday.

The Messenger reports that two drones and people on horses combed the property near Duncombe, along with searchers on foot.

To the relief of searchers, around 6 p.m. the boy popped out of a soybean field that hadn’t yet been covered. It’s unclear whether he suffered any injury.

Police say boy died of neck injury on water slide

Caleb Schwab. Photo courtesy Salina Post.
Caleb Schwab. Photo courtesy Salina Post.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City, Kansas, police say a 10-year-old boy who was killed while riding the world’s tallest water slide died of a neck injury.

Police say Caleb Schwab was one of three passengers riding in a boat Sunday on the Verruckt water slide at Schlitterbahn Waterpark.

According to a police statement, an off-duty officer working at the water park notified dispatch of the accident around 2:30 p.m. Emergency responders arrived to find the boy dead in a pool at the end of the ride.

Police say two women who also were in the boat — but not related to the boy — sustained minor facial injuries and were treated at area hospitals.

The Police Department’s Major Case Unit is seeking anyone who has additional information on the incident.

Medical marijuana short signatures for Missouri ballot

marijuana pillsJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A group backing medical marijuana in Missouri says it doesn’t have enough valid signatures but will go to court to get a proposed constitutional amendment on November’s ballot.

New Approach Missouri campaign spokesman Jack Cardetti said Monday that the initiative is short about 2,200 signatures in a congressional district that covers the St. Louis area.

That’s because local election authorities invalidated about 10,700 signatures.

Cardetti said the campaign will go to court in an attempt to overturn some of the invalidated signatures and get the measure on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The proposal would allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes and impose a 4 percent sales tax on medical marijuana sales. The state would set up a licensing program with fees.

Law limits donations to family of child who died at Schlitterbahn

Caleb Schwab. Photo courtesy Salina Post.
Caleb Schwab. Photo courtesy Salina Post.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the death of a 10-year-old boy at a Kansas City, Kansas, water park (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission says state law limits contributions by lobbyists to a GoFundMe campaign to cover the funeral expenses for a state lawmaker’s son who died at a water park.

The commission said Monday that contributions to the campaign to help Rep. Scott Schwab’s family fall under the state’s $40-a-year limit on gifts from lobbyists to legislators. The commission also said lobbyists must report their contributions to the state.

The commission had a short teleconference Monday to respond to what Executive Director Carol Williams said were numerous inquiries from lobbyists.

Ten-year-old Caleb Thomas Schwab died Sunday at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas, while riding what’s billed as the world’s largest waterslide.

TheGoFundMe campaign had raised more than $20,000 as of Monday afternoon.

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1:50 p.m.

A Kansas water park was having a special day for elected officials when the 10-year-old son of a state legislator died on what is billed as the world’s largest waterslide.

Both a state senator who was at the park and the Kansas City, Kansas, mayor’s office confirmed Monday that state legislators and local elected officials were invited to the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.

State Sen. Pat Pettey of Kansas City said the park provided a buffet lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs and thanked elected officials for their service to the state and their communities.

Caleb Thomas Schwab died Sunday while riding the 168-foot Verruckt, one of the top attractions at the park. He was the son of state Rep. Scott Schwab of Olathe.

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12:40 a.m.

Authorities are conducting an autopsy of a 10-year-old boy killed on a Kansas waterslide billed as the world’s largest.

An administrative assistant with the Wyandotte County, Kansas, coroner’s office says the post-mortem examination of Caleb Thomas Schwab began Monday morning. Margaret Studyvin says it’s unclear whether the autopsy results will be publicly released and, if so, when.

Caleb is the son of Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab of Olathe.

Few details have been released about Caleb’s death on the 168-foot-tall Verruckt, one of the top attractions of Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.

The park was closed Monday amid the investigation.

11:20 a.m.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help a Kansas lawmaker’s family cover funeral expenses for a 10-year-old son who died at a water park in Kansas City, Kansas.

The campaign set up for the family of state Rep. Scott Schwab of Olathe had raised more than $15,000 by late Monday morning.

The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission was having a short meeting Monday to discuss whether state campaign finance laws apply to the effort. Executive Director Carol Williams said the commission received numerous inquiries from lobbyists who want to donate.

Authorities and family members say 10-year-old Caleb Thomas Schwab died Sunday at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.

Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio says the boy died on what the park bills as the world’s largest water slide.

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1 a.m.

Officials are investigating the death of a young Kansas boy on a water slide that is billed as the world’s largest.

Authorities and family members say 10-year-old Caleb Thomas Schwab died Sunday at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas. Schwab was the son of state Rep. Scott Schwab.

Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio says the boy died on one of the park’s main attractions, Verruckt, a 168-foot-tall water slide that has 264 stairs leading to the top.

No specific details about what led to Caleb’s death have been provided.

The park will be closed Monday, and the ride will be closed pending the investigation.

Plane similar to Amelia Earhart’s flying to Atchison

Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart

ATCHISON, Kan. (AP) — An airplane similar to one flown by Amelia Earhart when she disappeared in 1937 is flying this week to Earhart’s home in Kansas.

The fuselage of a 1935 Lockheed Electra L-10E, outfitted exactly like the one Earhart used when she tried to fly around the world, will begin a five-day journey Monday from California to Atchison, where Earhart was born.

The airplane will be put on permanent display at the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation. The organization plans to build a museum commemorating the flight when Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared in July 1937.

The plane was acquired from Grace Mcguire, a pilot who spent three decades restoring it.

It’s expected to arrive in Atchison Friday.

Missouri State researchers seeking Zika-carrying mosquitoes

Missouri State University logo cropSPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Missouri State University researchers who are trapping mosquitoes across the state haven’t found any evidence of the Zika virus.

The research team is led by associate professor David Claborn. He says trapping mosquitoes might provide an early warning if the virus arrives in Missouri.

The yellow fever mosquito, the primary carrier of the virus, has existed in Missouri before. Researchers are trying to determine if it is still in the state. The Springfield News-Leader reports the researchers hadn’t found any yellow fever mosquitoes seven weeks after the study began.

Claborn says that at this time, there is no reason to believe the state’s mosquito population is carrying the virus. He says traps have caught thousands of Asian tiger mosquitoes but none were infected with Zika.

New 15-acre prairie is growing in Columbia nature sanctuary

Columbia Audobon SocietyCOLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — After years of preparation, a new 15-acre prairie is beginning to sprout at the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary in west Columbia.

After several years of killing non-native vegetation, the prairie was seeded in January. The grasses and flowers are expected to be in full bloom in two years.

About six acres are on Columbia Audubon Society property and the other nine are in the Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary, a city park.

Bill Mees, former president of the organization, said that before this year the land held tall fescue, a grass that doesn’t produce seeds or provide food for bugs such as caterpillars and butterflies. The new prairie’s native plants and pollinators are expected to help those bugs and wildlife such as young turkeys.

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