KANSAS CITY (AP) — The Latest on flooding throughout the Midwest (all times local):
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is assessing two Superfund sites located in areas that have seen overwhelming floods in recent weeks.
The EPA identified the Superfund sites as the Nebraska Ordnance Plant in Mead, Nebraska, and the Conservation Chemical Corporation in Kansas City. Superfund is a law that gives the EPA funding and authority to clean up contaminated sites.
The Mead site operated as a munitions plant from 1942 to 1956 and its disposal of radioactive waste and other chemicals led to groundwater contamination. The EPA says it has not found evidence that any hazardous contaminants were released by the flooding.
The federal agency says it will evaluate the sites further as floodwaters recede.
ANDREW COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just before 1p.m. Tuesday in Andrew County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Hyundai Sonota driven by Dale E. Simerly, 77, Union Star, was northbound on U.S. 169 two miles north of Union Star.
The driver fell asleep. The vehicle traveled off the road, struck a sign, a utility pole and overturned. A private vehicle transported Simerly to Mosaic. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A judge who played a key role in Kansas’s first same-sex marriage has announced his retirement.
Judge Kevin Moriarty photo courtesy Johnson County District Court
The Kansas Office of Judicial Administration said in a news release that Johnson County District Judge Kevin Moriarty will retire June 28.
In October 2014, he ordered the county to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear appeals from five states seeking to preserve their bans on gay marriage. He said at the time that the ruling was meant to avoid confusion about the legal climate surrounding gay marriages.
It led to the state’s first same-sex wedding and a contentious legal fight. A failed drive was started to oust Moriarty before the nation’s Supreme Court declared a nationwide right to same-sex marriage the following June.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House is moving forward with plans to spend $100 million on roads and bridges.
A budget proposal up for consideration Tuesday in the Republican-led House would use un-earmarked general tax revenue to pay for infrastructure repairs.
The plan is an alternative to Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s plan to borrow roughly $350 million for bridges.
House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith says he intends to set aside another $100 million for roads for the next several years. He says doing that would save an estimated $100 million in interest that the state would face under Parson’s borrowing plan.
Several Democratic critics on Tuesday said Smith’s plan would take money from the same pot that’s used to pay for public education, public defenders and care for people with developmental disabilities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House unanimously passed legislation to promote former U.S. Senator Bob Dole to the grade of colonel in the U.S. Army. Congressman Marshall met with Senator Dole today to deliver the great news of the bill’s passage. Now with the legislation through both the House and the Senate, it will head to the president’s desk for final signage.
“I was so proud to see the House quickly recognize and pass this bill honoring our legendary Kansas Senator, Bob Dole,” Rep. Marshall said. “There is no one I can think of more deserving of this honorary promotion than our true Kansas hero, Senator Dole.”
In January, Rep. Marshall introduced this bill in the House as a companion bill to the Senate legislation sponsored by Senator Pat Roberts and Senator Jerry Moran.
“I’m glad Senator Bob Dole is one step closer to receiving the honorary military promotion he has earned, during his lifetime of service to our great nation,” said Sen. Roberts. “Sen. Dole is Kansas’ favorite son and an American hero.”
“From Senator Bob Dole’s time in the military and in Congress, to his continued leadership on veterans, hunger and disability issues, he is a true model of public service for Kansans and all Americans,” said Sen. Moran. “It is only fitting that Senator Dole be promoted for his exemplary service and sacrifice as an Army officer and I am so pleased that this resolution is headed to the president’s desk for signature.”
In 1942, while he was a student at the University of Kansas, Senator Dole registered for the Army Enlisted Reserve Corps. He was called to active duty the following year and served in World War II. While deployed as an infantry lieutenant, he was severely wounded in combat and was twice cited for acts of heroism under fire. He finished his military service with two Purple Hearts and two awards of the Bronze Star Medal with “V” device for valor. He was also awarded the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
This legislation to grant an honorary military promotion for Senator Bob Dole was supported by the entire Kansas Delegation.
“Senator Dole is one of Kansas’ favorite sons and a national icon who well deserves this promotion,” said Rep. Ron Estes. “In addition to his admirable public service in Congress and tireless advocacy for veterans, Dole’s heroic actions in World War II continue to inspire Kansans and generations of Americans around the country. I’m proud to join the Kansas delegation in supporting this promotion.”
“Bob Dole is the definition of a Statesman and a Patriot. There is no one more deserving of this honor,” said Congressman Watkins said.
“Senator Bob Dole is a decorated military veteran, dedicated public servant, and proud Kansan,” Congresswoman Davids said. “He made a significant impact on not only the state of Kansas, but the entire country, and he is more than deserving of this honorary promotion for his decades of service to our nation.”
MENDON, Mo. (AP) — A former central Missouri teacher has been charged with having sexual contact with a high school senior.
Snapchat
Charge was filed Monday against 27-year-old Blair Bruner, of Marceline. No attorney is listed for her in online court records.
Court documents say Bruner sent lewd photos via the social media service Snapchat to a senior at Northwestern R-I High School in Mendon and touched him inappropriately. Bruner was the special education teacher for grades 7-12 in the district in Chariton County at the time the offenses are alleged to have happened, starting in November or December.
Superintendent Eric Hoyt told The Associated Press that an investigation was started when the allegations came to light. The school district placed her on paid leave and she has since resigned.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has sent a tax relief bill down in flames, taking her veto pen to the measure she says would wreck the state budget. But, as a priority for Republicans, it could remain in play for the rest of the legislative session and rise from the ashes.
Gov. Laura Kelly issued her first veto Monday, rejecting a Republican tax relief package she calls irresponsible. photo office of Kansas governor
Legislative estimates say the bill would keep the state from collecting about $500 million in taxes over three years. The tax breaks would primarily benefit multinational companies with operations in Kansas.
Forgoing the revenue, the governor said Monday, would hamper the state’s ability to reinvest in education, transportation and other services neglected in the wake of tax cuts signed by then-Gov. Sam Brownback in 2012.
“We simply cannot go backward now,” Kelly said after vetoing the bill. “We cannot fix our state if we repeat the mistakes of the past.”
The veto is Kelly’s first as governor, and it’s indicative of the rift between the Democratic leader of the state and the conservative Republicans who control the House and Senate. They immediately branded the veto as a tax increase and a broken campaign promise.
The whole debate started with the federal tax cut bill approved in 2017.
Republican lawmakers pushed for changes to state tax rules to allow Kansans to continue itemizing on their state returns even if they no longer do so on their federal returns because of larger standard deductions. The bill Kelly vetoed would have also freed Kansas businesses from owing state taxes on overseas income.
Republicans say the core issue is preventing a tax increase caused by the federal changes.
Lawmakers had also folded into the bill a 1 percentage point cut to the food sales tax. That’s a policy many politicians, including Kelly, favor.
“Governor Kelly’s campaign promises that she would decrease food sales taxes for hardworking Kansans are clearly little more than talking points,” House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins said in response to the veto.
Kelly said in her veto message that it’s irresponsible to cut taxes — even taxes on food — until the state’s fiscal health stabilizes.
The debate could be far from over. Republican Senate President Susan Wagle said she’d be conferring with leaders about when to attempt a veto override.
Monday afternoon, the chairman of the Kansas Republican Party was already working in support of that effort.
“I am calling on all legislative Republicans including those who did not originally vote for the bill to override her veto,” Chairman Mike Kuckelman said in a statement.
The Kansas GOP is also gathering donations for mailings attacking Republican-turned-Democrat Sen. Dinah Sykes for voting against the tax relief package.
On its first trip through the Legislature, the measure secured 76 votes in the House and 24 in the Senate. An override requires support from 84 House members and 27 senators.
Democratic Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore suspects the uncertainty about the fiscal impact will keep lawmakers who opposed the bill initially from supporting an override.
“I feel relatively comfortable that they won’t be able to override it,” she said.
Still, parts of the bill could be resurrected as lawmakers pursue deals to fund schools and expand Medicaid.
“It is a possibility that we’ll get a bargaining chip,” Wagle said.
While Kelly said there’s no way she’d sign the full tax relief package in its current form, she indicated she could compromise on some pieces under the right circumstances.
“My door is always open. My mind is always open,” she said. “If I can be convinced that there’s something in here that’s good and worthwhile and won’t throw our budget into a tailspin, I’ll consider it.”
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-led House failed Tuesday to override President Donald Trump’s first veto, salvaging his effort to steer billions of extra dollars to erecting border barriers and delivering a victory to the White House in a constitutional and political clash that’s raged for months.
On March 15, President Trump signed a veto against a congressional resolution that rescinded his national emergency declaration at the U.S.-Mexico border.-photo courtesy White House
Lawmakers voted 248-181 to overturn Trump’s veto, but that fell 38 votes shy of the required two-thirds margin. Just days after Attorney General William Barr announced that special counsel Robert Mueller had found Trump didn’t scheme with Russia to help his 2016 election, Tuesday’s vote bolstered Trump’s drive to build a wall along the boundary with Mexico, a hallmark of his 2016 presidential campaign and a priority of his presidency.
While clearly a defeat for Democrats, the vote afforded them a chance to reemphasize policy differences with Trump and change the subject from collusion allegations that have lost political clout. Underscoring that, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi placed her name atop a House Democratic fundraising email referencing the failed veto override entitled, “My heart just sank.”
Just 14 Republicans joined all voting Democrats in Tuesday’s futile effort to void Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the Southwest border.
By invoking that power, Trump has said he will shift $3.6 billion from military construction to erecting barriers along that boundary. Congress has voted to provide less than $1.4 billion for border barriers, leaving Democrats and some Republicans fuming that Trump is abusing his powers by ignoring Congress’ constitutional control over spending.
Despite his veto remaining intact, Trump may not be able to spend the money for barriers quickly because of lawsuits by Democratic state attorneys general and others that could take years to resolve.
Even so, Democrats hope to use the border emergency battle in their 2020 election campaigns, both to symbolize Trump’s harsh immigration stance and claim he was hurting congressional districts around the country.
The Pentagon sent lawmakers a list last week of hundreds of military construction projects that might be cut to pay for barrier work. Though the list was tentative, Democrats say that by backing Trump, GOP lawmakers were endangering local bases to pay for the wall.
Unhappiness over Trump’s plan to siphon the money from the military has become a bipartisan concern. On top of the $3.6 billion from construction, the Pentagon has formally informed Congress that it wants to steer another $1 billion from personnel accounts to barriers instead.
At a House Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, panel Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., said it was wrong to use the Pentagon as “sort of a piggybank-slash-slush fund.” The committee’s top Republican, Mac Thornberry of Texas, also said he opposes redirecting defense funds.
Congress had sent Trump a resolution annulling the national emergency that Trump declared at the US-Mexico border. That included passage by the Republican-led Senate, in which 12 GOP senators — nearly 1 of every 4 — joined Democrats in blocking him.
Trump vetoed that measure almost immediately.
“We take an oath that we must honor” to protect the Constitution,” Pelosi, D-Calif., speaking on her 79th birthday, said Tuesday. “The choice is simple, between partisanship and patriotism. Between honoring our sacred oath or hypocritically, inconsistently breaking this oath.”
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, called Trump’s declaration “constitutional vandalism.”
Republicans said Trump was merely following a 1976 law that gives presidents emergency powers, and was trying to head off Democrats with little concern about border security.
Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said Trump was acting against the “radical left in this House that would dissolve our borders entirely if given the chance” — a stance that no Democrat has taken.
Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., called the veto override effort “a partisan whack job” because of its certain defeat.
All 13 Republicans who voted with Democrats last month to oppose Trump’s declaration did the same Tuesday. That group of moderates from swing districts and conservatives was joined by Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., who missed the earlier roll call.
In a symbolic move, presiding over the House was freshman Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, representing a border district surrounding El Paso.
The showdown began building last year. Trump’s insistence on wall money prompted this winter’s record 35-day partial government shutdown, which ended when he surrendered in January without getting any funds. Eventually a compromise was struck for $1.4 billion.
Opponents of Trump’s emergency warned that besides usurping Congress’ power over spending, he was inviting future Democratic presidents to circumvent lawmakers by declaring emergencies to finance their own favored initiatives.
Trump’s declaration was the 60th presidential emergency under that statute, but the first aimed at spending that Congress explicitly denied, according to New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks the law.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is nearing a victory over Democrats as the House tries overriding his first veto , a vote that seems certain to fail and would let stand his declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border.
Tuesday’s vote would keep the border emergency intact, which for now would let him shift an additional $3.6 billion from military construction projects to work on a barrier along the southwest boundary. Building the wall was one of his most oft-repeated campaign promises, though he claimed the money would come from Mexico, not taxpayers.
Trump’s emergency declaration drew unanimous opposition from congressional Democrats and opposition from some Republicans, especially in the Senate , where lawmakers objected that he was abusing presidential powers.
But while Congress approved a resolution voiding Trump’s move, the margins by which the House and Senate passed the measure fell well short of the two-thirds majorities that will be needed to override the veto. That’s expected to happen again when the House votes Tuesday.
“The president will be fine in the House,” said Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in a brief interview. “The veto will not be overridden.”
Even with his veto remaining intact, Trump may not be able to spend the money for barriers quickly because of lawsuits that might take years to resolve.
Tuesday’s vote was coming as Trump claimed a different political triumph after Attorney General William Barr said special counsel Robert Mueller had ended his two-year investigation without evidence of collusion by Trump’s 2016 campaign with the Russian government.
Democrats were hoping to use the border emergency battle in upcoming campaigns, both to symbolize Trump’s harsh immigration stance and claim he was hurting congressional districts around the country.
The Pentagon sent lawmakers a list last week of hundreds of military construction projects that might be cut to pay for barrier work. Though the list was tentative, Democrats were asserting that GOP lawmakers were endangering local bases to pay for the wall.
Congress, to which the Constitution assigned control over spending, voted weeks ago to provide less than $1.4 billion for barriers. Opponents warned that besides usurping Congress’ role in making spending decisions, Trump was inviting future Democratic presidents to circumvent lawmakers by declaring emergencies to finance their own favored initiatives.
Trump supporters said he was simply acting under a 1976 law that lets presidents declare national emergencies. Trump’s declaration was the 60th presidential emergency under that statute, but the first aimed at spending that Congress explicitly denied, according to New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks the law.
The House approved the resolution blocking Trump’s emergency by 245-182 in February. On Tuesday, Trump opponents will need to reach 288 votes to prevail.
Just 13 Republicans opposed Trump in February, around 1 in 15. Another 30 would have to defect to override his veto.
This month, the GOP-led Senate rebuked Trump with a 59-41 vote blocking his declaration after the failure of a Republican effort to reach a compromise with the White House. Republicans were hoping to avoid a confrontation with him for fear of alienating pro-Trump voters.
Twelve GOP senators, nearly 1 in 4, ended up opposing him.
If the House vote fails, the Senate won’t attempt its own override and the veto will stand.
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man whose initial death sentence for killing his grandparents was overturned has now been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Barnett photo MDC
43-year-old David Barnett was resentenced by a St. Louis County judge on March 15. Barnett’s attorney has filed a notice of appeal.
Barnett broke into the Glendale home of his adoptive grandparents on Feb. 4, 1996. When 82-year-old Clifford Barnett and his 75-year-old wife, Leona, returned from a church brunch, David Barnett fatally stabbed them and stole their car and cash.
He confessed to the crime and was sentenced to death. A judge in 2015 overturned the sentence, saying Barnett’s trial lawyers should have presented more evidence about the “horrors” he suffered as a child.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is assisting the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the Cherryvale Police Department with an investigation into a shooting that occurred Monday afternoon at a grocery store in Cherryvale.
G&W grocery store in Cherryvale, Kansas google image
According to a media release, just after 3:30 p.m., Monday, the Cherryvale Police Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kansas Highway Patrol responded to the report of a man with a gun in the G&W Foods grocery store. When they arrived at the store at 216 N. Liberty St., they learned the armed man was an employee who was holding a coworker in an office in the northwest area of the store. They began to quickly evacuate employees and customers.
Soon after, gunshots were heard from the office. As authorities entered the office, they witnessed the 28-year-old suspect shoot himself. They also located his 39-year-old coworker suffering from gunshot wounds.
The male victim was flown to a hospital in Joplin. He underwent surgery, and his condition is unknown at this time.
The suspect was taken to a local hospital where he was stablized and then flown to a Tulsa hospital. He later died from his injuries.
The investigation is ongoing. Nothing further will be released at this time.
