KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City store clerk has been charged after a teenager was shot while he allegedly was shoplifting some cookies.
Jackson County prosecutors say 26-year-old Mohammed Abdi was charged Wednesday with armed criminal action. Police say he shot a 16-year-old in the leg Tuesday at a Pic N Save store as the teen was walking out the door.
Witnesses told police Abdi shot the teenager, who was found injured on a sidewalk outside the store.
The Kansas City Star reports video surveillance shows the boy walking toward the exit as Abdi pulls a gun from his waistband and fires a shot.
Online court records do not indicate that Abdi has an attorney.
NEW YORK (AP) — Ford is recalling 433,000 vehicles, including 2015 Focus, C-MAX and Escape models, because of a software problem that could keep their engines running after drivers try to shut them down.
Ford Motor Co. says there is a flaw in the body control module software in the vehicles. As a result of the problem, the engine could keep running after the key is turned to “off” and removed, or after the start/stop button is pressed to turn the engine off.
The company says no injuries or accidents have been associated with the problem. Ford says dealers will update the software at no cost to consumers.
The recall affects about 375,000 cars in the U.S., 52,000 in Canada and 5,000 in Mexico.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Fourth of July weekend will arrive at a time of high water, and the Army Corps of Engineers is urging those who venture out on rivers and lakes to be extra careful.
Drenching June rains left several rivers and lakes well above flood stage across portions of Missouri and neighboring states.
The Corps of Engineers says 10 lakes in the Little Rock District are high due to flooding, including Table Rock, Bull Shoals and others. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and many tributaries, are well above flood stage, too.
Corps officials say those who go out on the water should wear life jackets, slow down and watch for submerged debris. Underwater obstacles could include things like sign posts, picnic tables, even trees, that are normally on dry ground.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri revenues are on the rise, which could jumpstart finances for the new budget year.
State budget director Linda Luebbering on Thursday announced revenues increased 8.8 percent in the fiscal year that ended this week. That’s compared to the previous fiscal year, which brought in $8 billion versus the roughly $8.7 billion collected in fiscal year 2015.
Luebbering says that means Missouri’s in good shape to fund the budget lawmakers passed this year. She says spending restrictions are unnecessary at this point.
Gov. Jay Nixon cited lagging revenues when he blocked hundreds of millions of dollars in planned spending this past fiscal year.
Nixon released money, but some wasn’t spent because revenues didn’t grow the 10 percent his office says was needed to fund the budget.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback says he’s considering proposing a new religious objections law for Kansas following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing gay marriage across the nation.
Brownback on Thursday also defended the state’s refusal so far to allow gay and lesbian spouses to change their last names on driver’s licenses or to file joint income tax returns. The governor said his administration wants to make sure such changes are handled correctly.
Brownback has been a strong supporter of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage that was reinforced by a 2005 amendment to the Kansas Constitution.
The governor said religious liberties need to be protected. As for legislation next year, he said, “We’re looking at that.”
Gay-rights leader Tom Witt said Brownback is defying the high court ruling.
i-70ST. LOUIS (AP) — The chairman of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission says Interstate 70 is “falling apart” below the surface.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that chairman Steve Miller made the comments during a talk with St. Louis area leaders this week.
The first portions of I-70 were built in 1957. The Missouri Department of Transportation has made no secret of looming financial shortfalls, and Miller says belt-tightening leaves little room for the kind of project needed for Interstate 70.
Miller says 60 percent of the state’s population lives within 30 miles of I-70, with 60 percent of the state’s jobs also in that same corridor.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The largest electric utility in Kansas has agreed to refund $10 million to its customers and decrease its rates slightly to settle a complaint filed by state regulators with the federal government.
Topeka-based Westar Energy and the Kansas Corporation Commission announced the settlement Wednesday. It would a resolve a complaint filed by the KCC last year with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Westar provides service to Doniphan, Atchison, and Brown counties in northeast Kansas.
The Kansas commission had alleged that Westar was charging unjustly high transmission rates. The federal commission must approve the settlement.
Under the settlement, Westar will make the refunds and decrease its rates by about $8 million a year. The company estimates that most residential customers would save 40 cents a month.
But Westar is also asking the Kansas commission to boost other rates by $152 million.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Students living on Missouri public college campuses now must be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis.
A state law requiring the vaccine for those living in on-campus housing took effect Wednesday. Students can seek a religious or medical exemption to the requirement.
Meningococcal disease can cause an inflammation of the brain lining known as meningitis. It can spread among people in crowded places such as dormitories and can strike quickly with sometimes deadly results.
Some symptoms can appear similar to the flu, including fever, headaches and neck stiffness.
NE Gov. Pete RickettsLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A group formed to oppose Nebraska’s death penalty referendum is broadcasting its message on the radio. Meanwhile, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts is donating $100,000 to the group leading the drive to reinstate capital punishment in Nebraska.
Nebraskans for Public Safety announced a statewide radio advertising campaign set to begin Thursday as part of its outreach to voters. The group has also bought airtime on television stations throughout the state.
Danielle Conrad, a spokeswoman for the group, says the death penalty is broken and life in prison is a better alternative. Nebraska last executed an inmate in 1997.
The group Nebraskans for the Death Penalty has until August 27th to gather enough signatures to place the question on the 2016 general election ballot.
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts is defending his $100,000 donation to a group that’s leading a ballot drive to save the death penalty.
Ricketts said Wednesday that he feels strongly that voters should be allowed to decide whether to keep capital punishment in the state.
Ricketts and his father, TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, each contributed $100,000 to Nebraskans for the Death Penalty in its most recent filing period. The group raised a total of nearly $244,000 in that timeframe.
Nebraska lawmakers abolished the death penalty in May when they overrode the governor’s veto of a repeal measure. The ballot measure could reverse the Legislature’s action.
Ricketts says he didn’t consider the donation inappropriate because the final decision would rest with voters. He says he may contribute more in the future.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City store clerk has been charged after a teenager was shot while he allegedly was shoplifting some cookies.
