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Missouri Man Dies After Being Hit By Train

amtrak logoPolice say an eastern Missouri man died after he was hit by an Amtrak train.

Police say the 20-year-old man was walking along railroad tracks in Pacific Wednesday night when he was hit by the train. He was walking home from a restaurant to his home about three blocks away when he was hit.

About 50 people were on the Amtrak train headed from Kansas City to St. Louis. No one aboard the train was hurt.

The man’s name hasn’t been released.

Kansas Man Charged After Accidentally Shooting His Wife

kansas state sealA Kansas man who accidentally shot his wife while they were eating at a restaurant is facing criminal charges.

Sixty-six-year-old William H. Mize Jr. of Lenexa is charged with aggravated battery and carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence.

Police say Mize and his wife were sitting across from each other at a Longbranch restaurant Jan. 2.

Officials say he reached into his pants pocket and accidentally discharged a small pistol, shooting his wife in the leg. She was treated and released at a hospital.

Mize had a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon. But Kansas law does not allow people who are under the influence of alcohol to carry concealed weapons.

No More Live Animals At Fraternity Events After Beta Theta Pi “Turkey Pull”

Beta Theta Pi seal
Beta Theta Pi fraternity’s national spokesman says its University of Kansas chapter can no longer allow live animals at its events after a turkey was abused and later killed at a December function.

The Kansas chapter also must host a service project benefiting an animal-related organization and will host an animal-rights speaker.

 

Martin Cobb says the national organization has hired a private investigator to look into the Kansas case but has not concluded that work. He says the turkey incident happened during a formal dinner known as the “Turkey Pull,” which has been going on at the fraternity for more than 100 years.

The fraternity is under suspension by the national chapter and new guidelines require the expulsion of any member convicted of animal abuse.

Huge new Movie Screen To Debut At KC’s Union Station

KC Union StationA movie screen billed as the largest in the region is making its debut at Kansas City’s Union Station.

Union Station officials say they’ll open the 74-foot Extreme Screen Theatre at 9 p.m. Thursday with a special advance showing of Disney’s 3D film, “Oz The Great and Powerful.”

Starting Friday, when the film opens nationwide, five daily show times will be offered.

The five-story-high screen is part of a renovation that transformed the movie theater into a 3-D digital theater.

The screen was trucked to Kansas City from Canada.

Ottawa, Kansas Woman Sentenced To 25 Years For Drug Trafficking

USDOJ colorA northeast Kansas woman was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for her role in trafficking prescription drugs that led to a man’s death.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom announced Tuesday that 61-year-old Connie Edwards, of Ottawa, led a drug trafficking ring that sold drugs to a man who died in May 2009.

The man used prescription drugs and a toxic white power that he had been told was methamphetamine.

Edwards led the drug ring from November 2007 to February 2012.

Authorities began investigating Edwards in 2010 after they were told she let her tenants pay rent in pills and pay for pills with stolen goods.

Another Ottawa resident was sentenced to five years of probation and eight others are awaiting sentencing for their parts in the drug distribution.

Hundreds Join Benefit For JJ’s Employees

Plaza fire2Hundreds of people gathered to celebrate a Kansas City restaurant that was destroyed in an explosion at a benefit for its former employees.

More than 1,200 people attended the benefit Tuesday for JJ’s restaurant, a Country Club Plaza restaurant destroyed Feb. 19 by the explosion. One employee was killed and 15 other people were injured.

About three dozen restaurants contributed to Friends of JJ’s Benefit and several Kansas City artists performed.

Part of the event’s proceeds will go to the Megan Cramer Foundation for the Arts. Cramer, a server at JJ’s, died in the explosion. Other proceeds will help the injured and workers who lost their jobs.

Owner Jimmy Frantze said he was overwhelmed by the response. He has not said if he will rebuild the restaurant.

Shooting Along Walking Trail Baffles Neosho Police

NEOSHO pd
Southwest Missouri police are baffled by the shooting of a woman who was wounded in both legs while walking along a trail in Neosho.

A single bullet of unknown caliber passed through the 29-year-old woman’s thighs shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday in Morse Park.

 

Neosho police Lt. David Kennedy says the bullet passed through her legs without hitting anything vital. She was treated at a hospital and released.

The woman told investigators she and her husband heard shots before she felt a stinging in her legs.

Police say the shots may have come from a wooded area where someone was hunting illegally or target shooting inside city limits.

The woman isn’t being named until police determine if the shooting was accidental.

Kansas Supreme Court To Hear Appeal In Murder Of Porn Model

Emily Sander
Emily Sander

The Kansas Supreme Court is taking up the appeal of a man convicted of raping and killing an El Dorado teen who led a secret life as an Internet porn model.

The court scheduled oral arguments Wednesday in the capital murder case of Israel Mireles. He was sentenced to life without parole for the death of 18-year-old Emily Sander at a motel.

It was later revealed that Sander also was known as Internet model Zoey Zane.

The Butler Community College student left a bar with Mireles in November 2007. Her battered, nude body was found six days later.

Mireles fled to Mexico and was extradited after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.

The appeal focuses on the use of gruesome photos and the prosecutor’s closing argument at trial.

Suspicious Fire Kills Two In Springfield

Springfield Mo fire department
Two people were found dead after a house fire in Springfield home.

Fire officials were called to the home in east Springfield about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Flames were coming out of the back of the home when firefighters arrived on the scene. The two bodies were found as firefighters searched the home.

The victims’ names have not been released.

Springfield police say they found evidence that made the fire and deaths suspicious, but would not elaborate.

No Charges Against Kansas Man Who Shot Iowa Fugitive

Sumner County Sheriff, KSSumner County authorities say a farmer who shot and killed a man wanted for several crimes in Iowa will not face charges.

Sumner County Sheriff Darren Chambers says the farmer shot the 41-year-old man Monday in self-defense. His name was not released.

The Kansas Highway Patrol searched for the man after he drove through a Kansas Turnpike toll booth without paying.

When the car was found abandoned, law officers warned residents to watch for the man. A farmer saw the man near South Haven and thought one of his relatives might be in danger.

The farmer and his 17-year-old son went to the relative’s farmhouse. Chambers says the farmer was checking outbuildings when the suspect attacked him, causing him to shoot and kill the man.

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