Apple has made the group chat function in FaceTime unavailable after users said there was a bug that could allow callers to activate another user’s microphone remotely.

The bug was demonstrated through videos online and reported on this week by tech blogs. Reports say the bug in the video chat app could allow an iPhone user calling another iPhone through Group Facetime to hear the audio from the other handset — even if the receiver did not accept the call.

“We’re aware of this issue and we have identified a fix that will be released in a software update later this week,” Apple said in a statement Tuesday.

Now you can answer for yourself on FaceTime even if they don’t answer🤒#Apple explain this.. pic.twitter.com/gr8llRKZxJ

— Benji Mobb™ (@BmManski) January 28, 2019

Its online support page noted there was a technical issuewith the application and that Group Facetime “is temporarily unavailable.”

The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, released a statement warning people about the bug and urging people to disable the app until Apple fixes the issue.

Apple is due to report its latest quarterly earnings later Tuesday amid intense investor interest in the company’s financial health. Earlier this month, Apple said that demand for iPhones was waning and that its earnings for the final quarter of 2018 would be below expectations — a rare downgrade from the company.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A bill before the Missouri Legislature would allow judges to order people convicted of animal abuse to undergo treatments that could include psychiatric or psychological evaluations.

The bill proposed by Rep. Chrissy Sommer, a Republican from St. Charles, would require judges to order evaluations if the crime involves torture or mutilation of an animal, or if the person has previous animal abuse convictions.

Judges would have the option of ordering evaluations for first-time offenders, who would pay for the treatment.

Sommer told the House Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee on Monday that the bill addresses the mental health of people who abuse animals.

Bob Baker, executive director of the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation, said the legislation could be useful in animal hoarding situations.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas expect to push forward this week with an income tax relief proposal in defiance of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s call for lawmakers to avoid adjusting state tax laws this year.

A Senate committee is set to open hearings Tuesday and could vote Thursday on a bill aimed at preventing individuals and corporations from paying more to the state because of changes in federal income tax laws at the end of 2017. Top Republicans in the GOP-dominated Legislature have made tax relief a priority.

Republicans argue Kansas is receiving an unanticipated revenue “windfall” because its income tax laws are tied to the federal tax code. While the changes championed by President Donald Trump cut rates, they also included provisions that could keep many residents from claiming itemized deductions on their state tax forms.

GOP leaders also are pushing to have their proposed changes apply retroactively, so people benefit when filing their taxes this spring for 2018. The Kansas Department of Revenue told legislators Monday that taxpayers would save $192 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1.

“Whose money is it? It’s the taxpayers’ money,” said Sen. Larry Alley, a Winfield Republican and member of the special Senate committee reviewing the legislation. “Let the individuals and corporations get that money back that was intended for them.”

The GOP’s push sets up a political confrontation with Kelly, whose top priorities are increasing spending on public schools and expanding the state’s Medicaid health coverage for the needy.

Under the Senate proposal, the state’s revenue loss — and taxpayers’ savings — would be far higher during the next budget year because of refunds of taxes already paid for 2018. The bill would reduce state revenues by $113 million in the fiscal year that begins in July 2020.

“The question is: Can we afford it at this point in time?” said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat. “You have to put it in the context of the entire budget.”

Kelly won the governor’s race last year by running againstformer GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s unpopular fiscal policies. Brownback successfully pushed legislators to slash state income taxes in 2012 and 2013, and most of them were reversed in 2017 after persistent budget woes.

State officials have struggled to calculate the effects of the federal tax changes. Last summer, legislative researchers projected $146 million in additional revenues during the next budget year, but Democrats have been skeptical.

“This is not the time to be making any substantial changes in our tax structure,” Kelly said during a news conference last week. “We have no idea if there’s a windfall.”

But Kelly also has consistently refused to say whether she would veto a tax relief bill. Spokeswoman Ashley All said Monday only that Kelly would review any bill to “determine if it’s in the best interests of the state.”

The bill before the Senate committee would allow Kansas taxpayers to claim itemized deductions on their state income tax forms even if they don’t itemize on their federal tax forms.

The federal standard deductions have increased, discouraging taxpayers from itemizing. But the state’s standard deductions aren’t changing — a hit for some taxpayers who formerly itemized on their federal forms. Their savings would average about $60 million a year.

The bill also would make changes to keep Kansas from taxing foreign income earned by individuals and corporation — saving them $137 million during the next budget year, when they could claim refunds on their 2018 taxes, but dropping to less $60 million a year after that. Republicans argue that without such changes, businesses would be encouraged to leave the state for a more favorable tax climate elsewhere.

“I have a sense of urgency,” said Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican and chairwoman of the special tax committee.

She noted that individuals are preparing to file returns and added, “Businesses certainly need certainty.”

___

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 47-year-old has been arrested at a Colorado hotel where he was found with a former 14-year-old castmate from a Kansas community theater production of “Elf: The Musical.”

A sergeant at the Montezuma County Detention Center in Colorado says Kansas authorities are seeking a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor against Michael Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald was arrested Thursday night at the hotel in Cortez, Colorado, two days after the teen went missing from her Topeka home.

Fitzgerald initially played the role of Walter, the father of main character Buddy the Elf, in last month’s Topeka Civic Theatre production.

UPDATE: Chloe Hunnicutt has been located in Cortez, Colorado. She is safe and is now in police protective custody until she can be safely reunited with her family here in Topeka. We would like to thank everyone that helped in locating Chloe. https://t.co/uJ5JLBeuAB

— Topeka Police (@Topeka_Police) January 25, 2019

The teen was part of the ensemble. The theater group’s president and CEO, Vickie Brokke, told The Topeka Capital-Journal that Fitzgerald was replaced after cast members expressed concerns.

Kansas City, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge cleared the way Monday for a lawsuit to proceed against a Kansas City-area school district accused of violating students’ free speech and free press rights last year during a nationwide walkout protesting gun violence.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ruled the students have presented a plausible claim that the Shawnee Mission School District violated their First Amendment rights by stopping speakers from talking about gun control or gun violence. The 17-minute walkout on April 20 was sparked by last year’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead.

Robinson also found that the students have a plausible claim under the Kansas Student Publications Act after a school official confiscated a camera from a student journalist to prevent her from photographing the event for the student newspaper. The state law, passed in 1992, aims to protect student journalists from censorship of political or controversial material.

The judge said that the school district’s act of confiscating the camera — alleged to have been loaned to the student by the school to be used in her capacity as a student journalist — suppressed material that would have been used in a student publication.

Robinson also found that former interim Superintendent Kenneth Southwick is not personally liable for the alleged constitutional violations. The judge dismissed those claims against Southwick while allowing other parts of the litigation against the district to continue.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas sued on behalf of students, accusing the district of suppressing student’s political speech on campus “merely to avoid controversy.” The school district countered in court documents its actions were justified because of concern that others might have wrongly assumed the students’ voices reflected the district’s position.

Student organizers at various schools informed administrators in advance that they intended to participate as part of the national walkout, and the school informed parents that the students would be allowed to participate without risking discipline, according to the filing.

But the district then directed administrators to prohibit students from discussing guns, gun control and school shootings — the central topics of the planned protest — during the walkout, the judge noted.

Among the plaintiffs is an eighth-grade student enrolled in Hocker Grove school, identified in court documents only as M.C., who organized her school’s walkout. She spoke two lines of her prepared speech, stating “the school administration wants us to keep this about school violence and not about the real issue here. The real issue is gun violence” before an administrated interrupted her and ordered to step down from the speaking platform. She complied without protest, and the administrator abruptly ended the event. About 50 students remained outside.

Several students were suspended or given detention, including M.C. who was sent home for “being the most disruptive child in the school,” according to the court documents.

At Shawnee Mission North High School, more than 100 students remained outside the school after the approved walkout ended to discuss the topics the administrators had prohibited. The school let them remain outside for that “unsanctioned” event, except for student journalists, the court documents said.

A high school junior identified only as S.W. in the lawsuit was ordered to hand over the camera she was using that had been checked out to her for the year to use in her role as student journalist. The administrator also confiscated at least one other camera during the protest, according to the filing.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Residents and employees of Missouri’s seven nursing homes for veterans will not be allowed to use medical marijuana.

Missouri Veterans Commission Executive Director Grace Link said Monday the state must prohibit the use of medical marijuana at the homes in order to comply with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which considers pot an illegal drug.

The decision affects about 1,350 residents of homes in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Warrensburg, Mount Vernon, St. James, Cape Girardeau, Mexico and Cameron.

Federal funds pay part of the more than $80 million needed to operate the homes and Missouri officials don’t want to jeopardize that revenue.

Missouri voters approved the use of medical marijuana in November. Shops are expected to open early next year.

By STEPHEN KORANDA

Republicans and Democrats are braced for a fight over whether state government in Kansas should cash in on the ramifications of the 2017 federal tax cut. The sides are staking out their positions and could come to loggerheads sooner rather than later.

Republican legislative leaders want to push the tempo and pass legislation in time for the upcoming filing season to return what they call a “windfall” to Kansas taxpayers. Democrats want to hold off and say lawmakers need to wait and see if there even is a windfall.

When Congress, at the behest of President Donald Trump, overhauled the federal tax code in late 2017, that meant a minority of Kansans who itemized on their state tax returns could no longer do so. Some Kansans will end up paying more to the state without the option to itemize.

At stake are millions of dollars. Estimates vary, but the boon to the state from the federal overhaul may be upwards of $100 million. Legislation could give all of that back to Kansas taxpayers by letting them itemize again and tweaking business tax rules. The cost to the state could be bigger if lawmakers include other tax relief.

Republican Senate President Susan Wagle has created a special committee to swiftly tackle the issue.

“Provide relief to Kansas families and businesses, allowing them to fully benefit from the Trump tax cuts,” Wagle urged in a statement.

The committee could debate and even vote on a bill as soon as next week.

Wagle has reportedly called for them to come up with a clean bill, one that would return the windfall and not get bogged down by delving into other areas of tax policy.

An effort to address the windfall last year narrowly failed with Democrats and some Republicans concerned that the legislation had ballooned with unrelated tax cuts that prompted unanswered questions about the financial impact to the state budget.

Sen. Caryn Tyson, chairwoman of the standing tax committee, was the Senate’s top negotiator in that failed effort. She is conspicuously absent from Wagle’s new special committee.

Still, Tyson would support legislation that comes out of the special committee.

“This money was intended for the Kansas taxpayer,” she said in an interview. “It was not intended to grow Kansas government.”

Tyson wants a fix in place before most Kansans file their 2018 taxes. Democrats say it would be more prudent to wait until the state has a better handle on collections.

The top Democrat in the Kansas House, Rep. Tom Sawyer, points out that the federal tax cut came with a lot of changes to the tax code — some with positive effects on the state coffers and others with negative effects.

Sawyer said the updated state revenue forecast in May will reveal the true impact of the federal overhaul.

“I think it’s really way too soon to work on this issue,” he said.

Kansas has been riding a tax rollercoaster over the last eight years. The 2012 tax cuts were followed by budget deficits and then tax increases. In 2017, lawmakers pulled the plug on the 2012 tax cuts by reversing nearly all of them.

Kansas is now projected to have around $900 million in reserves, and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly doesn’t want to disturb the state’s newfound financial stability.

When asked if she’d support simply fixing the itemizing change, the governor reiterated her opposition to tinkering with taxes.

“We have no idea if there’s a windfall,” Kelly said Thursday.  “Let the dust settle on everything.”

If there is a windfall but Republicans in the Senate push a broader bill, Sawyer and other Democrats are ready with legislation in the House that only fixes the itemizing issue for taxpayers. But the timing is critical.

“I think it has broad support in our caucus,” Sawyer said. “I think it’d be better if we did it later in the session when we know hard numbers.”

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.