CHEROKEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated battery and have a suspect in custody.

Deputies responded to a gunshots in the 400 Block of Park Avenue in Baxter Springs, Kansas on February 6, according to a media release.

At the scene, officers found a victim Eric Ashley who was transported to an area hospital for treatment of a head injury. They also arrested one suspect at the scene identified as 39-year-old Charles Applegate and began the search for a second suspect identified as 36-year-ld Samuel Reffett, according to the release.

Just after 9p.m. Sunday, Reffett surrendered himself at the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, according to a social media report. He is being held on a $50,000 Bond for Second Degree Attempted Murder and Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon, according to jail records.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elizabeth Warren gave a nod to the first two Native Americans elected to Congress. Sen. Jeff Merkley got a moment on-camera with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. And virtually all of the Democrats who would be president have reached out to freshman Rep. Joe Cunningham in early-voting South Carolina.

Think of it as dancing with the freshman stars, 2020 edition.

Democrats hoping to defeat President Donald Trump are engaged in a furious courtship of congressional newcomers, a sign of the energy the freshmen bring to a party looking for a new generation of leaders, direction and know-how.

For the political suitors, there’s credibility to be gained from the younger, more diverse and social media-savvy members of the biggest new class since Watergate. The freshmen, meanwhile, are finding mentors among the presidential dreamers, as well as aligned interests in their ranks on such issues as climate, health care and more.

But there is risk, too, for the belles of the early Democratic primary ball. Only weeks after their Washington debuts, the freshmen lawmakers are still developing from candidates into lawmakers and representatives, building voting records and raising money for their own re-election bids. And some have discovered the downside of their fame, having been embroiled in controversy due to their statements and proposals.

“If you are newly elected and you take your eye out the district and you’re staring at the shiny bright object of a presidential campaign, you are making it harder to get re-elected,” said former Rep. Steve Israel, the House Democrats’ chief campaign strategist for four years. The attention may be flattering, Israel said, but his advice is to do the sometimes grueling constituent casework. “Keep your feet on the ground of your district, and not in the silver clouds of a presidential campaign.”

But the presidential candidates are calling. And name-dropping in public. Some, such as former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his own $110 million contribution to the midterm Democrats, have raised and spent big money that helped elect the newcomers. But as of yet, the 2020 candidates are making few if any explicit requests for commitments of support.

New York’s Ocasio-Cortez is a close ally of Sen. Bernie Sanders, but she hasn’t announced which presidential candidate she’s backing now. Still, her dance card is fast filling up. Every presidential candidate except Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio has signed on to the so-called Green New Deal, a moonshot she is championing to combat climate change. Merkley of Oregon was there when Ocasio-Cortez headlined the GND unveiling in Washington at an unusually well-attended event for a statement-making resolution that won’t become law. And a day after formally launching her presidential campaign, Warren gave Ocasio-Cortez a big nod in Iowa, home of the first presidential nominating caucus.

“It is terrific to see Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez come in and put a tremendous amount of energy behind this,” Warren said in Davenport.

The House freshmen also are playing a role in Warren’s struggle to move past her claim of Native American ancestry early in her career. Last fall before the historic midterm elections, Warren released a DNA test showing “high confidence” in her distant Native American ancestry, a move intended to put the issue behind her. But that caused significant unhappiness among some supporters. Trump kept the issue alive by repeatedly mocking Warren as “Pocahontas.” Warren apologized twice over two weeks this year leading to her presidential announcement Feb. 9. Within days, she was back in Washington making an unannounced visit to a major Native American conference.

Freshman Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico, one of two Native Americans elected to Congress, introduced her. Warren noted that she and Haaland are working on legislation together on Native American issues.

“That ‘Thank you’ is especially heart-felt for my friend and colleague, Congresswoman Deb Haaland,” Warren said in prepared remarks for the National Indian Women Honor Luncheon, where she introduced Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, the chairwoman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts. The campaign said Warren was there to support her friend. “I also want to acknowledge another friend who made history this past year, Congresswoman Sharice Davids,” a Kansan and Native American. Davids, she added, is “another barrier-breaking woman whose leadership is a deep inspiration to us all.”

Sanders, the 2016 phenomenon who has not yet said he is running again, this month reached out to soothe Rep. Ilhan Omar after she tweeted that members of Congress support Israel because they are paid to do so. Omar “unequivocally” apologized, but it wasn’t the first time the Minnesota Democrat had sparked charges of anti-Semitism. The controversy continued simmering the rest of last week.

“I talked to Ilhan last night to give her my personal support. We will stand by our Muslim brothers and sisters,” Sanders said Thursday on a conference call hosted by Jim Zogby, co-chair of the DNC’s Ethnic Council. The remark was first reported by Jewish Insider and confirmed with Sanders’ office by The Associated Press.

Virtually every candidate has paid a visit to freshman Rep. Joe Cunningham. His victory over Katie Arrington, a Trump-supported Republican, flipped a House seat in a district the president won by nearly 13 percentage points in 2016.

Even before the November elections, many potential Democratic White House hopefuls reached out, such as New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker. Former Vice President Joe Biden endorsed Cunningham and campaigned with him. So did Montana Gov. Steve Bullock.

The parade of potentials has continued in the months since, though Cunningham has received no formal request for an endorsement, his spokeswoman said. Cunningham is widely viewed as aligned with former Texas Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke, in part because a key aide who helped Cunningham pull off his upset has signed up as O’Rourke’s state director.

Similarly, freshmen Rep. Chris Pappas in first-in-the-nation New Hampshire says he’s played something that sounds like a tour guide exceptionally early in the cycle. It helps that he is co-owner of the Puritan Backroom, a restaurant famous for chicken tenders that’s been in his family for more than a century and is a frequent stop for presidential candidates of both parties.

“I’ve seen a few candidates,” Pappas said in a phone call. “They want to get a sense of what’s on people’s minds.”

SALINE COUNTY — One person died just after 8a.m. Monday in Saline County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Dodge 2500 driven by Russell A. Sims, 51, Sweet Springs, was northbound on Missouri 127 just south of 150th.

The driver experienced a medical condition. The vehicle slid off the road, struck a fence and embankment.

Sims was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the Saline County Coroner’s office. The MSHP did not have details on his seat belt usage.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A proposal to expand a Missouri tax incentive program for businesses has passed the state House but is meeting pushback in the Senate.

A bill to allow the Department of Economic Development to dole out tax credits to businesses sooner passed the House 136-29 on Monday.

A similar proposal is stalled in the Senate.

Backers say the program would serve as a “closing fund” to attract and retain businesses. The proposals would allow the Economic Development Department to offer tax credits within a year of striking deals requiring businesses to meet certain job creation metrics.

Currently, tax incentives are available after jobs are created and are spread out over a period of years.

Some Senate Republicans criticized the program as corporate welfare and questioned whether it’s necessary.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California and 15 other states filed a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra released a statement Monday saying the suit alleges the Trump administration’s action violates the Constitution.

“President Trump treats the rule of law with utter contempt,” Becerra said. “He knows there is no border crisis, he knows his emergency declaration is unwarranted, and he admits that he will likely lose this case in court.”

Joining California in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Virginia.

Trump declared a national emergency to fulfill his promise of completing the wall.

The move allows the president to bypass Congress to use money from the Pentagon and other budgets.

California has repeatedly challenged Trump in court.

“President Trump is manufacturing a crisis and declaring a made-up ‘national emergency’ in order to seize power and undermine the Constitution,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement. “This ’emergency’ is a national disgrace.”

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police say a plaque honoring a civil rights icon has been stolen from a Topeka bridge.

Police say the plaque was taken from a bridge named for Ken Marshall, the first black person elected to the Kansas Legislature from Topeka. The report was received Saturday but it’s unclear when the plaque was stolen.

Topeka police spokeswoman Gretchen Koenen said the police report said the plaque was taken from the Ken Marshall bridge, where a similar plaque was stolen in August 2018.

However, civil rights activist Sonny Scroggins says he reported Saturday that the plaque was taken from a bridge named to honor former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall

And a plaque designating the former Sumner Elementary School as a National Historic Landmark was stolen in 2012.

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred Sunday night at a residence near Peru, Kansas.

According to a KBI media release, the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office requested KBI assistance Sunday at approximately 6:30 p.m. Special agents responded to the scene to assist.

Preliminary information indicates that on Sunday, Feb. 17 at approximately 6:15 p.m., the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office received a call that a man had been shot. When they responded to the residence at 863 Road 26 in Sedan, Kan., deputies found a male gunshot victim inside the home. EMS rendered aid to the man and transported him to the Sedan City Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He has been identified as 46-year-old Joe Corman, of Peru, Kan.

Authorities quickly identified and located a shooting suspect. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Travis W. Dickson, 43, at approximately 7:10 p.m. Sunday at his home in Niotaze, Kan., and booked him into the Chautauqua County Jail for driving under the influence. On Monday, a first-degree murder charge was filed against Dickson.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — University of Missouri officials say a student on the Columbia campus has active tuberculosis and may have infected other people.

The school announced Monday that the Boone County health department is working with university health officials to determine whether other students and staff need testing.

Privacy laws prohibit the release of any information about the student.

The ill student left campus voluntarily. Only students with active infections can spread the disease to other through close contact.

So far this year, six cases of active tuberculosis have been reported in Missouri.