KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Star has apologized for a guest column about women reducing the risk of rape by not drinking too much, saying the column “should never have been published.”

In the apology, Publisher Tony Berg said the newspaper removed the column, which was written by Laura Herrick and titled “Women can take action to prevent rapes,” after it was published on the website Friday and in the newspaper Saturday. The column says women shouldn’t get so intoxicated that “we don’t know what is happening.”

Berg says the column was removed because “when a person is sexually assaulted, it’s not their fault. Period.”

A phone listing for Herrick didn’t appear to be working, but she told KCTV she stands by the piece and that she wasn’t blaming rape victims.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Twenty-five years ago mass protests led to nearly 2,700 arrests outside Wichita abortion clinics. Now that city is bracing for a Summer of Mercy anniversary that its supporters hope will draw hundreds of activists.

The Wichita Police Department has spent months putting together a 60-page plan that aims to ensure everyone’s rights are protected and everyone is safe. The department has assigned about 100 to 150 police officers to the operation.

Police Capt. Brian White says police aren’t anticipating an event like the 1991 Summer of Mercy, but they have to be prepared for all possibilities.

The protest, slated for July 16-23, is being organized by the Christian fundamentalist group Operation Save America.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — For 50 years, an unsolved mystery in St. Louis centered around who piloted the small plane that flew through the legs of the newly-completed Gateway Arch in 1966.

A suburban St. Louis woman says it was her father.

The 630-foot tall monument was newly completed when, on June 22, 1966, a small plane suddenly approached from the west, made a low pass and flew straight through the Arch legs. Tourists and a National Park Service guide could only look on in surprise.

The pilot zoomed away, never to be identified.

Until now.

Donna Dorris, who is 75 and lives in Madison, Illinois, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that her father, Earl Bolin, was the pilot. She says the family has held onto his secret for five decades.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gov. Jay Nixon has announced he won’t participle in a European trade mission because of recent violence, including the shooting of suburban St. Louis police officer.

Nixon said in a news release Sunday that the week has been “sad and difficult, especially for the men and women of law enforcement.” He said that the “safety and well-being of all Missourians” is his “top priority.”

Nixon had been scheduled to depart Tuesday for the United Kingdom, Ireland and Switzerland. But he dropped out of the trip after police officer Michael Flamion was critically wounded during a Friday morning traffic stop in Ballwin. The shooting came a day after five Dallas police officers were killed during a protest over the recent fatal police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Ongoing battles between ride-hailing companies and states and cities over background checks have focused attention on the reliability of fingerprinting.

Several studies have found many criminal records in the FBI’s fingerprint system have missing or inaccurate information on how criminal cases were resolved.

That’s because the FBI relies on the state where a crime was committed to furnish the information. The studies found some states had efficient systems while others had huge backlogs.

That worries civil rights and job rights advocates at a time when requests for fingerprint background checks are soaring.

Companies like Uber and Lyft have threatened not to operate in some places — and have pulled out of others — over fingerprinting requirements.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Transportation officials in Missouri and Kansas are encouraging motorists to resist the urge to get in line at the first sign of an upcoming lane closure.

Advocates of the “zipper merge” method say using both lanes for as long as possible shortens lines in construction zones by up to 40 percent. They say it doesn’t get drivers through the zone any faster, but it reduces the risk of accidents and eases driver angst.

Missouri started promoting the technique earlier this year ahead of a heavy summer construction season. Kansas followed with a pilot project that started last week using electronic signs to warn drivers of an upcoming merge and encourage them to use both lanes.

Minnesota started promoting the zipper merge idea in 2011, and Washington followed in 2014.

For videos and more information, click here.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed a bill into law that will restrict access to video from police car dashboard and body cameras.

Nixon signed legislation Friday that will restrict public access to video footage until investigations are finished.

It also allows recordings in nonpublic areas to be restricted except to those in the videos. People who want to view restricted police videos will need to go to court.

Proponents argued guidance on access to police footage will encourage police departments to adopt body cameras. Nixon said it’s a balanced approach that provides needed clarity to current law.

Nixon also vetoed a bill to limit public access to some agricultural data.

Transparency advocates had raised concerns that several proposals chipping away at state open records laws could reduce accountability.

 

O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Police in Missouri say four teens robbed victims after luring them to a specific location using the new Pokemon Go smartphone game.

Police said Sunday that four teens used the game to draw victims to a spot in O’Fallon, just outside of St. Louis, and then robbed them.

The recently released game sends players to real-life locations to collect various creatures within the game. Police say the robbers used the game to lure victims by putting a “beacon” at a location to draw in players.

Police arrested the four teens after responding to a call for a robbery near a gas station Sunday. The suspects are between the ages of 16 and 18.

Police said the suspects may have been involved in similar robberies around St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on the shooting of a police officer in suburban St. Louis (all times local):
3:10 p.m.
A suburban St. Louis police chief says a motorist shot an officer three times as the officer walked back to his car during a traffic stop.
Chief Kevin Scott said Friday at a news conference that the incident was captured on video. The officer is in critical condition, but stable. His identity was not released.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar has told KMOV-TV that a suspect in the Friday morning shooting is in custody and that a gun was recovered.
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12:35 p.m.
Authorities say a police officer is hospitalized after being shot during a suburban St. Louis confrontation with a motorist.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar didn’t offer any immediate word about the medical status of the officer wounded during the shooting shortly after 11 a.m. Friday in Ballwin. But Belmar tells KMOV-TV (http://bit.ly/29VeKKY ) the officer took “a hard hit.”
Belmar says a suspect is in custody, and a handgun has been recovered.
Details about what led to the officer’s initial interaction with the motorist weren’t disclosed. But Belmar says that after the shooting, the suspect sped away but abandoned that car and ran after it was spotted by a St. Louis County officer. The suspect was arrested after a short foot chase.
The wounded officer’s name wasn’t released.