KANSAS CITY, MO  — There is a significant change in the race for Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri.

Jason Kander, the  former Missouri secretary of state who garnered national attention during an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate announced on his campaign web site Tuesday that he’s dropping out of the race to focus on his battle with PTSD.

I suffer from depression and have PTSD symptoms. After 11 years, I’m finally ready to do something about it: https://t.co/tfi8XaLcBj

— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) October 2, 2018

His announcement to run for mayor was surprising considering Kander was someone often mentioned by political observers as a possible Democratic candidate for president.

Kander, 37, is a former Army intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan. He spent four years as Missouri’s secretary of state and four years as a state House representative.

In 2016, Kander ran competitive race for U.S. Senate in  against incumbent Republican Roy Blunt. He lost by less than 3 percentage points, a notable finish in a year when President Donald Trump, former Gov. Eric Greitens and other Republicans carried the state by much larger margins.

*UPDATE 3p.m. Jordan and Jayden have been located and are safe, according to Olathe Police.

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JOHNSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are asking the public for assistance to locate two juveniles missing in Johnson County.

Jayden Bruce, 9, and his brother Jordan Gerster, 15,  have not been seen since school dismissed on Monday, according to Olathe Police.

Jayden is 4-foot-8 inches tall and was last seen wearing jean shorts and a peach colored long sleeve shirt with three buttons.

Jordan is 5-foot-10 inches tall and was last seen wearing a black tshirt with red lettering and a black Adidas jacket with a blue stripe.

Anyone with knowledge of their location please call us at 913-971-7500 or 911.

By BRIAN GRIMMETT

The Kansas economy has been sluggish the past few years, but the candidates running for governor each have a plan to jumpstart things.

Will any of them actually work?

Experts say every plan faces an uphill battle.

With Kansas lacking the power to add some mountains, or beaches, or Stanford/MIT-level research universities, experts say the state will be stuck where market forces have already landed: a little farming, a little aerospace, a little manufacturing, all driven by forces beyond the control of Kansas politicians.

“I don’t think there are a lot of policy levers, especially at a state level, that can make a whole lot of difference,” said Art Hall, director of the Brandmeyer Center of Applied Economics at the University of Kansas.

But all is not lost. Hall says some policies can make a difference, however small.

Republican Kris Kobach

Kobach’s one big idea to grow the economy is to cut regulations, along with income, property, and sales taxes, much like what was done six years ago. He’s credited similar steps taken by the Trump administration for the growing national economy.

“All of these can be done in a responsible way without breaking our budget,” Kobach said. “And if we want to get our businesses going we’ve got to do it.”

The thinking is that if you can remove barriers, existing businesses will grow and new ones will be attracted to the state.

Dan Rickman, a professor of economics at Oklahoma State University, has done extensive research on the impacts of tax policy on state and local economies, including looking specifically at the tax cuts that came when Sam Brownback was governor.

“Most states that dramatically cut their taxes are underperforming what you would have expected they would have,” Rickman said.

If Kansas were to try the tax-cut approach again, he said, it would get the same result.

The evidence, here in Kansas and around the country, just doesn’t support the use of state tax cuts to spur economic growth.

“If you’re going to get gains from tax cuts you have to very carefully understand and figure out where you can get the cuts without hurting programs that are needed,” Rickman said.

Too often, he said, the budget cuts used to offset decreases in revenue go too far. State budgets generally don’t have a lot of fat to begin with and increasing efficiencies only goes so far.

Conservatives have said the Brownback tax cuts faced two significant problems. One, they weren’t accompanied by a sufficient rollback in the size of state government. So the state’s finances fell into crisis.

Secondly, conservatives argued that low commodity prices for Kansas grain and oil offset the economic spark lit by the Brownback plan.

Democrat Laura Kelly

The long-time state senator from Topeka says the key to economic growth starts with getting businesses and employees to come to, and stay in, Kansas. How? Better schools.

“When I look what are the huge economic drivers of this state, number one is education,” Kelly said, “and we have defunded that over the past eight years.”

Kim Rueben is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.

“I feel like doing things like investing in schools and human capital feels like it has pretty big bang for the buck,” she said.

But the details about that investment matter. Just spending more on education won’t cut it.

“It’s figuring out what kinds of jobs you’re looking to attract,” Rueben said, “and what kind of skills you need your labor force to have.”

For Kelly, that means more focus on career and technical programs. But that idea isn’t unique to her; it’s a sentiment shared by both of her opponents.

Money for those kinds of investments could be tough to come by, too. While the governor can set the tone, the Legislature controls the purse strings. Even if Kelly wanted to increase education spending, she’d likely face a tough battle from Republican lawmakers.

Independent Greg Orman

Orman, the leading independent in the race, says Kansas should invest more in transportation infrastructure.

“Kansas is at the geographic center of the United States,” he said. “We should be the intermodal manufacturing and distribution capital of America.”

Experts say that kind of spending could help — maybe.

“Here’s one way to think about it,” economist Art Hall said. “If you didn’t have any road, building one road would probably have a very large economic impact. But, if you have lots of roads, one more road is probably not going to have much of an economic impact.”

Basically, you don’t want infrastructure that’s crumbling. But spending more on the margins isn’t likely to have a huge impact on economic growth.

“Just building roads doesn’t necessarily solve anything,” Rickman said. “But if you need to keep them maintained and developed in places where they’re heavily used, just the same thing as education, these things can all very much help promote growth.”

Ultimately, all three economists agree that stimulating economic growth on a statewide level won’t come from politics. The answer won’t be found by simply raising or lowering taxes.

“There’s really no silver bullet,” Hall said. “I’ve come to the basic conclusion that economies grow because they’re growing.”

Brian Grimmett reports on the environment and energy for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — An annual safety report at the University of Kansas says twice as many rapes were reported on the Lawrence campus in 2017 than the previous year.

The Clery report says nine of the 12 rapes reported were in campus housing and 14 rapes were reported in off-campus locations that are affiliated with the university are included. That is about the same as previous years, with 13 in 2016 and 16 in 2015.

This year’s report was the first since the Kansas Legislature required the university to allow concealed carry of handguns on campus. The Clery report show the university reported no weapon law arrests or violations referred for disciplinary action.

University spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson says those numbers reflect violations of state law and not necessarily the university’s weapons policy.

LADUE, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge has refused to order a Missouri high school to put a 16-year-old boy on a soccer team while his family sues for discrimination.

A federal judge denied the temporary restraining order Monday. The lawsuit is pending.

The lawsuit says that’s discrimination, noting that the school lets female juniors play on the girls’ junior varsity team.

In denying the restraining order, the judge said the school can set parameters for eligibility and success.

The Ladue School District said in a statement that it agrees with the judge’s decision.

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LADUE, Mo. (AP) — The mother of a Missouri high school student is suing after her son didn’t make the varsity soccer team and wasn’t allowed to continue playing on the junior varsity team.

The mother, called Jane Doe in the lawsuit, sued Ladue Horton Watkins High School, contending that cutting her son last month was age and sex discrimination.

Ladue officials said Friday that a junior who doesn’t make the varsity team can’t return to the junior varsity team. The family contends that is discrimination because the same rules don’t apply to younger students or to girls.

The family used after Ladue Superintendent Donna Jahnke decided the family’s complaint was unsubstantiated.

In courtroom testimony Friday, coach Dave Aronberg said the seven juniors cut from the varsity team weren’t good enough to play on the junior varsity team.

FRANKLIN COUNTY — Two children died in an accident just after 8:30p.m. Monday in Franklin County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Ford Focus driven by Clytie D. Bowden, 31, Wellsville, was southbound on Tennessee Road four miles west of Kansas 33.

The driver failed to yield right of way at Kansas 68 and entered the intersection. A westbound 2003 Subaru Baja driven by Crag R. Evans, 40, Ottawa, struck the Ford on the passenger side.

Briana Sobba,11, and Becham Klemen, 3, both of Wellsville were pronounced dead at the scene.

Lillian Klemen, 6, and Elle Bowden, 12, both of Wellsville, were transported to the hospital in Ottawa and then transferred to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City.

Bowden was transported to Research Medical Center. Evans was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.  Only Lillian Klemen was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

RAYTOWN, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say the killings of two brothers and another man in front of a suburban Kansas City home was a double homicide and a suicide.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says 59-year-old Dale Villines, 57-year-old Christopher Bogert and 54-year-old Mark Bogert died Sunday night in Raytown, where they all lived.

They were found dead after a caller reported hearing gunfire and seeing bodies in front of a home.

The patrol hasn’t yet determined who fired the shots.

Autopsies are pending and the investigation is continuing.

JACKSON COUNTY, MO.— Law enforcement authorities are investigating after three men were fatally shot in Raytown.

Just before 8:30p.m. Sunday, officers responded to a Raytown home in the 11000 Block of E. 74th Terrace after receiving a 911 call, according to a media release.

The caller reported hearing gunfire and seeing bodies lying in front of the home.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Bill Lowe said investigators were at the scene as of midnight waiting on search warrants to enter the house and search vehicles. Investigators were still determining if they thought the shooter was among the dead or was at large.

No other details were immediately released, including the names of the victims.

-The AP contributed to this report.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Former President Barack Obama has endorsed Democrat Sharice Davids in her race against Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder in an eastern Kansas congressional district.

Today, I’m proud to endorse even more Democratic candidates who aren’t just running against something, but for something—to expand opportunity for all of us and to restore dignity, honor, and compassion to public service. They deserve your vote: pic.twitter.com/NO5jnhX3XD

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 1, 2018

Obama included Davids on a tweeted list Monday of more than 250 candidates he endorsed across the nation. Davids was the only Kansas candidate listed.

The ex-president, a Democrat, tweeted that he was endorsing candidates running “to expand opportunity for all of us and to restore dignity, honor, and compassion to public service.”

Davids is a Native American and LGBT lawyer who was a White House fellow during Obama’s administration.

President Donald Trump tweeted his full endorsement of Yoder in July. Yoder is seeking a fifth term in the Kansas-City area 3rd District.

Democrat Hillary Clinton narrowly carried the district in the 2016 presidential race.