TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former federal prosecutor who’s been an executive in a company that invests in medical marijuana has launched his campaign as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kansas.

Kansas City-area attorney Barry Grissom entered the race Monday after months of hinting that he would run. Four-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts is not seeking re-election in 2020.

Grissom served as U.S. attorney for Kansas from 2010 to 2016 as an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama. He has since served as corporate counsel and a vice president for Nevada-based Electrum Partners.

Grissom jumped into the race after state Sen. Barbara Bollier said she may seek the Democratic nomination. Bollier won her Kansas City-area district as a moderate Republican and switched parties last year.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The family of a man charged in the shooting death of a Missouri police officer has apologized to the officer’s family.

In a statement, relatives of 26-year-old Bonette Kymbrelle Meeks offered their “deepest sympathy” to the family of North County Police Cooperative Officer Michael Langsdorf. Meeks is jailed without bond on charges of first-degree murder and three other felonies.

His father, Bonette Meeks Sr., told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the family is “devastated” and wishes it could “take back that day.” The 40-year-old officer was fatally shot June 23 while answering a call about a bad check at a market in the St. Louis County town of Wellston.

Langsdorf’s funeral is at 10 a.m. Monday at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, followed by burial at Resurrection Cemetery.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have found the body of a missing teen in the back of a tractor-trailer in Kansas City, Kansas.

17-year-old Jasmine Mills, of Olathe, had been missing for two days when her remains were found Saturday morning in an industrial area near the Kansas River. Her mother, Deanna Peters, says her daughter was supposed to go do some odd jobs for an adult friend when she was last seen.

Peters says the friend Jasmine was supposed to be working for told her Jasmine never arrived. Peters is waiting for police to determine what caused her daughter’s death.

Police in Kansas City, Kansas, and Olathe are investigating. Olathe police have released little information except to say the death is suspicious.

MILLER COUNTY, Mo. — One person died and five were injured after two boats collided just after 10p.m. Saturday at Lake of the Ozarks.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Formula Cruiser driven by Bradley Siebenek, 37, Holts Summit, was headed downstream at the four-mile mark of the Osage Arm. A 2002 Formula cruiser driven by Kelly L. Wise, 59, Atlantic, IA., was headed upstream when the boats collided.
The body of Jason Russell, 39, Eugene, was recovered by divers at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in 80 feet of water, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol

EMS transported Siebeneck and passengers in the 1999 Formula Brian D. Basham, 42, Eldon, Wise and a passenger in the 2002 Formula Tammy Wise were transported to Lake Regional Hospital.

Nathan P Sneller, 37, Jefferson City, was airlifted to University Hospital. They were not wearing life jackets, according to the MSHP.

SHWWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an arson fire and have a suspect in custody.

Just after 1p.m. Saturday.  fire crews responded to a structure fire located at 911 SE Bellview Avenue in Topeka, according to Fire Marshal Michael Martin.

Upon arrival, fire crews found the two story wooden frame residential structure with smoke showing. Firefighters began an offensive fire attack, keeping it confined to the structure of fire origin.

A preliminary investigation indicates the fire was intentionally set, according to Martin. The estimated dollar loss – $15,000.00; of which all is associated with structural loss.

During the course of the investigation a suspect was identified.  Police arrested 32-year-old Wesley E. Howell. He booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of arson.

There were no injuries reported.

MARION COUNTY — Emergency crews continued the search for a missing boater on Sunday at the Marion Reservoir, according to the sheriff’s department.

Just before 1:30a.m., the sheriff’s office received a report of the missing boater identified as a 46-year-old from Eudora.

Authorities located the victim’s truck and boat trailer at the Marion Cove boat ramp, according to the sheriff’s department.

Just after 3a.m. Sunday, crews recovered the unoccupied boat floating against trees along the north side of the reservoir near Nighthawk Road.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office, boats from the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, and a Kansas Highway Patrol aircraft were assisting in the search.

The family has asked for the name to be withheld.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man who has spent nearly three decades in prison for the 1989 killing of Oregon’s prisons director was freed Friday while the state appeals the ruling that led to his release.

Frank Gable left prison after a U.S. magistrate found in April that the trial court made an error in excluding evidence of third-party guilt.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta also found that Gable’s attorneys provided him with “ineffective assistance in failing to assert Gable’s federal due process rights in the face of the trial court’s error.”

Gable, now 59, left the prison in Lansing, Kansas, and had to report directly to a federal probation officer in Kansas City. He’ll be allowed to live with his wife in Kansas.

“We don’t really want to talk about the case or nothing, just glad to be out,” Gable told Fox 4 News.

“He thanks those who believed in his innocence all these years,” said Nell Brown, one of two assistant federal public defenders who represented Gable in challenging the murder conviction.

Francke’s brothers, Pat and Kevin Francke, have been staunch defenders of Gable and believe he was wrongly convicted.

Gable was convicted in the stabbing death in Salem of prisons chief Michael Francke, 42, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

He must participate in drug and mental health assessments and counseling as directed by the U.S. Pretrial Services Office. Gable was not placed on electronic monitoring, although the state urged it.

The April ruling came after multiple witnesses recanted their testimony and defense lawyers cited a record of improper interrogation and flawed polygraphs used to question witnesses and shape their statements to police.

Acosta then ordered Gable to be released or retried within 90 days of his order.

The state’s appeal contends another man’s confession was unreliable because he had changed his account multiple times.

Acosta agreed to put his order to retry Gable on hold while the state’s appeal is pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.