KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — NASA is asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a woman over a vial of moon dust that is being kept in a secret location in Kansas.

Laura Cicco, of Tennessee, filed a lawsuit in June in Kansas asking a federal court to affirm that she owns the lunar dust she says she was given by astronaut Neil Armstrong, who was a friend of her father’s. She argues NASA has seized similar moon-related artifacts because it contends the government owns all lunar material.

NASA filed a motion in late August asking that the lawsuit be dismissed because it has made no effort to confiscate Cicco’s artifact.

Cicco’s attorney argue the court needs to make it clear that she owns the moon dust.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A former Wyandotte County sheriff’s deputy has been accused of sexual misconduct against another law enforcement officer.

Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree announced Friday that John Warczakoski is charged with two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.

The female officer continues to work at the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office. Warczakoski was a deputy for 12 years before resigning earlier this week.

The incidents allegedly happened in June and early September while the deputy was on and off duty, the district attorney said.

Dupree said the alleged incidents occurred in June and early September while the deputy was on and off duty.

Warczakoski was issued a summons. He is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 2.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri says freshmen enrollment increased for this school year, but overall enrollment declined.

The Columbia Missourian reports freshmen enrollment increased 13 percent from fall 2017 to 2018. The 4,673 freshmen enrolled for the fall was 539 more than in 2017.

Total enrollment at MU dropped 3.3 percent, from 30,870 students in 2017 to 29,866 in 2018.

The university’s news release says the 2018 freshman class includes 30.5 percent more minority students than in 2017. The school’s retention rate also increased to 87.3 percent, less than 1 percent over the previous year.

Missouri’s enrollment increased from 2013 until 2015, when it hit a record 35,448 students. But it has dropped since then. From 2015 to 2016, enrollment dropped 22.7 percent and another 14.6 percent from 2016 to 2017.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — BNSF Railway is challenging a Kansas law that limits how long trains can block intersections.

The Kansas Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday in the case involving a lengthy blockage of two Chase County railroad crossings in December 2016.

The Texas-based railway company’s court challenge could have ramifications for railroad crossings throughout Kansas.

The law in question says railroads can only block a crossing for 10 minutes.

The Chase County Sheriff’s Office cited BNSF, alleging the company parked a train on a siding for four hours and blocked the only crossings that provide access to several farms.

BNSF denies the length of the blockage and argues that the state doesn’t have a right to regulate how long a train can block a crossing.

“That power is vested solely in the federal government,” said Jody Sanders, the company’s attorney.

Sanders said that the federal government had pre-empted state control over railroads because they’re engaged in interstate commerce and can’t be expected to comply with a patchwork of regulations across the country.

But State Solicitor General Kristafer Ailslieger said the federal government doesn’t regulate how long trains can block crossings. Without state law, companies could block crossings “without any time limit or remedy,” Ailslieger said.

“A railroad could dispose of a dilapidated locomotive in the middle of Main Street,” he said.

The state also argued that BNSF’s four-hour-long blockage in 2016 created a public safety issue.

“Emergency vehicles could not get through and the people on the other side could not get out,” he said.

The court expects to issue a ruling on the case in the next few months.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita was the only major metropolitan area in Kansas that didn’t experience economic growth last year, according to new federal data.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released figures this week showing that the Wichita area’s gross domestic product declined 1.4 percent in 2017.

The state’s economy also declined overall, despite positive growth in cities such as Kansas City, Lawrence, Manhattan and Topeka. Kansas was among only three states to have experienced negative economic growth in 2017.

Find out how your metro area performed in our latest GDP by metro area
release here, https://t.co/C0GOYDs2sr. pic.twitter.com/n2C8Xvfx7C

— BEA News (@BEA_News) September 18, 2018

Kansas and Wichita can’t find enough workers, which limits companies’ ability to grow and boost the economy. Job vacancies increased by more than 9 percent throughout Kansas last year.

“We think workforce and talent are really the No. 1 threat to our ability to grow, not only in Wichita but also the state of Kansas,” said Gary Plummer, president and CEO of the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Wichita officials said they’re working to address the worker shortage. The merger of Wichita State University and Wichita Area Technical College will produce better-qualified workers, officials said.

Wichita’s shrinking GDP is largely attributable to a decline in the city’s finance, insurance, real estate and rental sector, according to Jeremy Hill, director of Wichita State University’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research.

Economic analyst James Chung pointed to Wichita’s population loss. The city has lost more than 18,000 residents over the past decade.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):

Thank you Missouri – I love you!https://t.co/rx3mtd7yOy

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 22, 2018

President Donald Trump says he won’t rush into any deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump tells a rally Friday in Springfield, Missouri, that he received a “beautiful letter” two days ago from Kim. But he’s not saying what the letter said.

Thank you Missouri – Together, we are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/onl1HmM2Gz

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 22, 2018

The president and Kim met in June in Singapore to discuss denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Trump says he has a “very good” relationship with Kim. He notes that North Korea has returned Americans being held there, as well as remains of American service members who went missing during the Korean War.

The president also notes that North Korea has not conducted any ballistic missile or nuclear weapons tests in months.

Trump says, “Let’s see what happens,” adding “I’m in no rush.”

6:45 p.m.

President Donald Trump has taken the stage at a campaign rally in Missouri.

It’s his second rally in as many nights.

Trump opened by telling the cheering crowd of thousands in Springfield that “our country is respected again.”

He says that’s because “we are finally putting America first.”

The president is in Missouri to campaign for state attorney general Josh Hawley, who is challenging incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. Trump has been campaigning aggressively to help the Senate expand its narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate.

Trump campaigned in Las Vegas on Thursday night to help Sen. Dean Heller, the only Republican seeking re-election in a state that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 24-year-old man has been charged after a police chase ended with a fatal wrong-way crash on Interstate 70 in Kansas City, Kansas.

Wyandotte County authorities charged Collan Leigh Cross Friday with two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding, possession of a controlled substance and criminal damage to property. Chrissy Sale, 29, died in the crash.

The chase began Thursday when Kansas City, Kansas, police followed a car onto a dead end street before the driver struck a police car and drove off, crossing into Missouri before returning to Kansas.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri appeals court panel cleared the way Friday for voters to decide a November ballot initiative that could shake up of the state Legislature by requiring districts to be drawn to achieve “partisan fairness” and imposing new lobbying limits.

The ruling overturned a decision issued a week ago by a state judge who said the so-called Clean Missouri initiative violated the state constitution by addressing multiple topics.

Republican-aligned attorneys for those opposing the measure said they would appeal to the state Supreme Court. But time is running short. Missouri law sets a Tuesday deadline to make changes to the Nov. 6. ballot. The state’s high court previously turned down a chance to hear the case in place of the appeals panel.

As it stands, the measure would appear on the ballot as Constitutional Amendment 1.

“We hope this brings an end to it and that the people can vote in November on whether they want to adopt these changes,” said attorney Chuck Hatfield, who represents Clean Missouri.

The initiative has been opposed in court by the president of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a Republican voter who was represented by the law firm of Missouri Republican Party Chairman Todd Graves.

“Our concern is that people think they’re voting for ethics reform,” Graves said Friday. “That’s certainly a small part of this measure, but what they’re really voting for is a radical change in the way that we draw legislative districts.”

Missouri’s state House and Senate districts are redrawn after each census by bipartisan commissions whose members are appointed by the governor from nominees submitted by the Democratic and Republican parties. The ballot initiative would create a new position of a nonpartisan state demographer to propose maps to commissioners that reflect the parties’ share of the statewide vote in previous elections for president, governor and U.S. senator. The criteria of “partisan fairness” and “competitiveness” would rank ahead of more traditional criteria such as geographically compact districts.

While supporters contend that their goal is to prevent partisan gerrymandering, opponents say the initiative would essentially require the gerrymandering of oddly shaped districts to try to mirror statewide voting trends.

Redistricting has been a hot topic across the country. Initiatives revamping the process also are on the ballot this November in Colorado, Michigan and Utah. Though the details vary by state, all are designed to limit partisan influence on redistricting. Colorado’s measure also would require districts to be drawn to “maximize the number of politically competitive districts.” Michigan’s would prohibit districts that provide a disproportionate advantage to any political party. Utah’s prohibits the consideration of partisan voting records when drawing districts.

National Democratic and Republican groups also have increased their spending for the 2018 state legislative elections as they seek to win control of as many chambers as possible ahead of the next round of redistricting.

Republicans currently hold commanding majorities in the Missouri House and Senate, as well as most of the statewide executive offices. Democrats have won some urban legislative districts by large margins while generally losing throughout much of the rest of the state. Democrats typically have run closer to Republicans in statewide elections.

Although some Republicans support it, the campaign for the Missouri initiative is run by a Democratic consultant and has received big checks from groups that typically back Democrats, including labor unions.

In addition to the redistricting changes, the Missouri initiative would prohibit lawmakers from accepting gifts worth more than $5 from lobbyists. It would alter the waiting period for ex-lawmakers to become lobbyists, make lawmakers subject to the state open-records law and bar legislative candidates from raising political money on state property. Campaign contribution limits for legislative candidates would be lowered slightly, from the current $2,600 for all candidates to $2,500 for Senate candidates and $2,000 for House candidates.