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2 jailed on counterfeiting charges; spent $30K in Missouri, 4 other states

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OTTAWA COUNTY, OK—Law enforcement authorities are investigating and have arrested two people on suspicion of counterfeiting thousands of dollars.

Joan Smith -photo Ottawa Co. Sheriff
Scott Lowe-photo Ottawa Co. Sheriff

On Monday, police arrested 44-year-old Scott Lowe and 39-year-old Joan Smith in a hotel room in Miami, according to a media release.

Officers also found $3,000 in counterfeit $50 bills in the room and printing equipment during the arrest.

Officers also located numerous new consumer goods that were recently purchased by the pair.

The release says it appears the two printed and spent about $30,000 during the past month in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri and Kansas, including more than $4,000 in bogus money during the weekend in Springfield, Missouri.

The U.S. secret service has been contacted about the case.

 

Man hospitalized after car struck bridge abutment in Nodaway Co.

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NODAWAY COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just after 10a.m. Wednesday in Nodaway County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Toyota Scion driven by Todd A. Poppa, 51, Bedford, IA., was northbound on MO. 113 one mile south of Quitman.

The vehicle struck the bridge abutment. Nodaway County Ambulance transported Poppa to St. Francis Hospital. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the MSHP.

Indictment: 2 Kan. Companies At Fault for Toxic Cloud Over Atchison in 2016

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TOPEKA, KAN. – Two Kansas companies were indicted today on federal charges of safety violations that caused a greenish-yellow toxic chlorine gas cloud to form over the city of Atchison in October 2016, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Huge Chemical plume over Atchison Kansas in October 2016-photo courtesy Corie Dunn

A web page, a phone line and an email address have been set up for victims to provide and receive information on the case.

The indictment alleges more than 140 people sought medical attention after 4,000 gallons of sulfuric acid combined with 5,800 gallons of sodium hypochlorite to form a toxic cloud that covered the city for 45 minutes until emergency personnel arrived to turn off the flow.

Midwest Grain Products, Inc., of Atchison, Kan., and Harcros Chemicals, Inc., of Kansas City, Kan., are charged with Clean Air Act violations that put the public in danger.

The indictment alleges that on Oct. 21, 2016, a driver for Harcros pulled a truck into Midwest Grain’s facility in Atchison to deliver sulfuric acid. An operator for Midwest Grain helped the driver access the transfer equipment. When the driver mistakenly connected the sulfuric acid line to the sodium hypochlorite line, toxic gas began to form. The indictment alleges both men violated safety rules by failing to verify that the connection was correct and failing to monitor the transfer.

Victims can get more information on US v. Midwest Grain Products, Inc., by visiting https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/victim-witness and filling out a victim questionnaire, leaving a message on a designated phone line at 913-551-6543 or emailing questions to usaks.victim.witness@usdoj.gov .

If convicted, the defendant companies face the following penalties: Count one, violation of general duty clause: A fine up to $500,000. Count two, knowingly releasing a hazardous pollutant: A fine up to $1 million. Count three (alternate to count two), negligently releasing a hazardous pollutant: A fine up to $200,000.

Missing Missouri woman’s body found in Table Rock Lake

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CASSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a missing woman’s body has been found in Table Rock Lake.

Angelia Burns -photo Barry Co. Sheriff

Angelia Burns had been missing for almost a month when her body was found Sunday. The area where the discovery was made is less than a half mile from where her cell phone and some money were found on the shore on Feb. 10.

Authorities in Barry County say Burns was last seen leaving her house in the Golden area. The Missouri State Highway Patrol had been helping the Barry County Sheriff’s Office with the investigation of her disappearance. An autopsy was done on Monday, but preliminary results showed no signs of foul play.

Police in Manhattan issue public safety alert due to heroin, fentanyl overdoses

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RILEY COUNTY —In the past week the Riley County Police Department has responded to three reports of apparent drug overdoses.

fentanyl -photo DEA

According to a media release from the RCPD, the investigations suggest that some of these incidents may have been related to the use of heroin containing fentanyl, an extremely strong synthetic opioid. One of these incidents involved a fatality and two other persons were hospitalized.

The use of illegal narcotics regularly produces negative consequences, but in the case of heroin containing fentanyl, the consequences can be deadly. The Riley County Police Department believes that the aforementioned incidents represent a significant public health risk to some members of the community and requests the public’s assistance in responding to this risk. For these reasons the RCPD is issuing this public safety announcement.
If you have any information about the sale, possession, or use of these dangerous drugs please call the Riley County Police Department at 785-537-2112 or in an emergency 911. You can also anonymously provide information through the Manhattan-Riley County Crime Stoppers program at www.p3tips/353 or 785-539-7777.

Judge orders Kansas to repay $48 million to businessman

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A judge has ordered Kansas to pay $48 million to settle a long-running legal fight with former pizza magnate Gene Bicknell.

Bicknell once owned the most Pizza Hut franchises in the nation. His legal fight with Kansas centered on whether the Pittsburg native lived in Kansas or in Florida when he sold his company, NPC International, in 2006.

Kansas’ revenue department issued a $42.5 million income tax assessment against him, saying he lived in the state. Bicknell paid the assessment, but he argued his official home was in Florida and sued the state of Kansas.

On Tuesday, District Court Senior Judge Richard Smith ordered Kansas to return $48 million to Bicknell.

A spokeswoman for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly says her administration is reviewing the decision.

1 dead after single-engine plane crash in Missouri

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SUMMERSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Highway Patrol says a fatal single-engine plane has crashed in southern Missouri.

Patrol Sgt. Jeff Kinder says the plane went down Wednesday morning north of Summersville in Texas County.

Kinder says the only person on board the plane has died.

No further information was immediately available.

Dollar Tree to close up to 390 Family Dollar stores

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CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — Dollar Tree is closing up to 390 Family Dollar stores this year and rebranding about 200 others under the Dollar Tree name.

The company closed 84 Family Dollar stores in the fourth quarter, 37 more than originally planned. The company has said that it will renovate at least 1,000 stores this year.

The Family Dollar store in St. Joseph is at 809 N 22nd Street.

Dollar Tree Inc., based in Chesapeake, Virginia, acquired Family Dollar in 2015 for almost $9 billion.
The company said Wednesday that it’s seeking rent concessions from landlords at the 84 stores closed late last year and if it doesn’t get them, it’ll speed up the pace of store closings to as many as 390 locations. Dollar Tree closes about 75 stores annually.

The company had 15,237 stores in 48 states and five Canadian provinces as of Feb. 2.

ACLU: Deal reached in Kan. high school students free speech lawsuit

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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A civil rights group says it has struck a settlement deal with the Shawnee Mission School District in a federal lawsuit alleging violations of the free speech and press rights of students.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas announced Tuesday in a news release that the school district will adopt new policies to ensure future students will not have their free speech rights violated at school.

Shawnee Mission North junior Grace Altenhofen says she saw an associate principal take a camera from a student’s hand at their walkout. Altenhofen and others are at the center of an ACLU lawsuit against the district.
photo by ANDREA TUDHOPE

It says the parties have agreed not to release settlement details until after the court approves it.

The legal dispute stems from a nationwide walkout last year protesting gun violence. The lawsuit accuses the school district of suppressing students’ political speech.

It alleged administrators ended student anti-gun violence rallies, confiscated the cameras of student journalists covering it, and punished some participating students.

———–

By ANDREA TUDHOPE

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas is suing the Shawnee Mission School District for allegedly violating students’ free speech rights.

Students complained in April after administrators in several schools allegedly censored students during the nationwide walkouts protesting gun violence. Among other incidents, students said a Hocker Grove principal  pushed a student for mentioning school shootings in a speech and an administrator at Shawnee Mission North confiscated a student journalist’s camera.

After the district vowed to address the issue, the ACLU of Kansas rescinded its threat to sue.

At a SMSD board meeting in May, interim Superintendent Kenny Southwick provided an update on his investigation into the matter. He said he’d been conducting one-on-one interviews with students and parents and promised to bring First Amendment training to the summer administrator retreat.

“Our understanding was that their investigation would lead to a corrective action plan, an acknowledgement that rights were violated, and, if appropriate, discipline for certain staff and employees,” said Lauren Bonds, legal director for the ACLU of Kansas.

Bonds said what happened instead is concerning. According to her clients, she said Southwick has used one-on-one meetings to “retroactively justify some of the actions and conduct at the walkout.”

Furthermore, Bonds said, Southwick has allegedly taken a position on behalf of the district that students’ rights under the First Amendment and the Kansas Student Publications Act were not violated.

“I don’t see a lot of value in administrator training if they’re going to say everything they did was in accord with the constitution,” Bonds said.

Bonds said she’s not surprised by how the matter has been handled.

“We have raised a number of First Amendment concerns — whether on behalf of employees, parents — with the district that have been largely ignored or dismissed,” Bonds told KCUR.

The lawsuit filed Thursday aims to ensure that in the future, students will be allowed their rights to free speech and free press without risk of retaliation or discipline. It also seeks money damages from the district.

In a written statement, district spokesperson Shawna Samuel said though the district cannot comment on pending legal matters, SMSD “has been and continues to be in communication with the ACLU, who is representing the three students, about its concerns regarding student speech.” And, that it has “successfully resolved most parent and student concerns.”

Andrea Tudhope is a reporter for KCUR in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. Follow her on Twitter @_tudhope.

 
 

Daytime temps in the 30s and above through the weekend

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Light snow will move across far northern Missouri late tonight and continue through the day on Thursday. Accumulations will generally remain in the 1 to 2 inch range. Otherwise the remainder of the area should see mostly dry conditions with temperatures continuing a slow climb through late week. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Increasing clouds, with a high near 35. South wind 5 to 9 mph.

Tonight: A slight chance of snow after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 9 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 36. East wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Thursday Night: Cloudy, with a low around 24. North wind 6 to 10 mph.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 40. North wind around 6 mph.

Friday Night: Showers likely after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Saturday: Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. High near 52. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 40.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 22.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 42.

Monday Night: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Tuesday: Rain and snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 43. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

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