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Trump signs spending bill that will improve care for veterans

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):

President Donald Trump has signed legislation to fund the Energy Department, veterans’ programs and the legislative branch, including Congress and the Capitol police.

 

Trump signed the measures Friday during an event at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System, where he stressed his efforts to improve veterans’ care.

Congress last week approved the $147 billion package as part of an effort by congressional leaders to head off a government shutdown that Trump has threatened he might force over funding for his border wall.

The bill includes money for veterans’ health care, military infrastructure, the electrical grid and nuclear weapons programs.

It also provides a $1.1 billion increase to pay for efforts to give veterans more freedom to see doctors outside the troubled VA system. And it will require Senate candidates to file electronic campaign finance reports.

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Michael Brown Sr. to speak at Missouri Western

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The Center for Student Involvement at Missouri Western State University presents the Standing in Your Truth Lecture Series with Michael Brown Sr. next week.

Michael Brown Jr. was fatally shot by a police officer in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. His death sparked a week of protests. According to a press release, Brown Sr. will share the true story of his experience of his son’s death, and reveal who Michael Brown Jr. was beyond the often demonizing media portrayals. He will speak to his joys as a parent, his loss, and his own guilt, with the ultimate goal of making sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else. He will present a father’s perspective on social justice, conflict resolution, community engagement and confronting racism.

Brown Sr. hopes to work with the communities he speaks in to set up a chapter of “Chosen for Change,” an organization that educates youth to help one another instead of hurt one another, teaches them success and survival skills, and shows them how to be respectful of themselves and others.

The Standing in Your Truth Lecture Series with Michael Brown Sr. will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, in the Kemper Recital Hall, Spratt Hall room 101. The presentation is free and open to the public.

GOP targets Kansas Democrat with 1998 strip club charge

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Republican group is resurrecting an embarrassing scene in a strip club from a Democratic congressional candidate’s past in a television ad that characterizes him as “shady.”

Paul Davis, the former Democratic leader in the Kansas House, is running for the 2nd District Congressional seat in Kansas.
FILE PHOTO / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

The ad targets former state legislative leader Paul Davis, who is running for an eastern Kansas congressional seat. The ad is funded by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee aimed at maintaining Republican control of the U.S. House.

The ad describes Davis’ presence during a 1998 drug raid at a strip club where an officer reported finding him in a dark room with a nearly naked woman.

Davis’ spokeswoman says the incident happened 20 years ago when Davis was 26 and a new lawyer who went with his boss to meet an unsavory client.

Davis and Republican Steve Watkins are vying for the 2nd District seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins.

Missouri Southern drops plans for dental school

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JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Southern State University has abandoned plans for a dental school to operate in partnership with the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Dr. Alvin Marble Pres. MSSU

Missouri Southern President Alan Marble announced Thursday that the schools jointly decided to drop the project because state funding was minimal. The universities requested state money to fund the project in fiscal year 2017, but most of the funding was withheld and hasn’t been available since then.

KCU already launched a feasibility study for the project.

Kobach disputes Kelly’s ad, says he never called schools overfunded

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is disputing a new television ad in which his Democratic rival in the governor’s race says he’s called the state’s school overfunded.

Kobach says Sen. Laura Kelly should change or take down the ad, which began airing Thursday. In the ad, Kelly says Kobach “actually says our schools are overfunded,” citing his comments at a Republican primary debate in April in Atchison.

Kobach insists he never said “anything like that or use the word ‘overfunded.'” But Kelly’s campaign says Kobach plans to repeat “the Brownback experiment,” a reference to income tax cuts passed under then-Gov. Sam Brownback that led to budget problems.

Kelly says that plan “would lead to another massive cut to our schools.”

Trails West! suspended after 26 years

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The Allied Arts Council has announced that the Trails West!® festival will be suspended after its 26th year.

According to a press release, the Council decided it was time to explore new opportunities due to the change in how people consume their art and the number of outdoor arts experiences that are now available. Over the years, additional artistic options have come to St. Joseph, such as Sounds of Summer, the Jazz Festival and Imagine Eleven at Coleman Hawkins Park.

Teresa Fankhauser, executive director of the Allied Arts Council, said multiple factors were discussed with the decision to indefinitely suspend the Festival.

“The rising costs of performers and infrastructure fees, coupled with a greater number of opportunities to experience and participate in the arts are the underlying factors leading to the decision,” Fankhauser said.

The three-day festival, held annually since 1993 at Civic Center Park, was the largest arts festival in northwest Missouri, with more than 45,000 attendees at its peak and with an annual economic impact of over $1 million a year.

In 1993, the City of St. Joseph asked the Allied Arts Council to produce a festival to celebrate St. Joseph’s  sesquicentennial. Founding chair Karen Graves had a vision to create a festival to celebrate the arts and St. Joseph’s unique cultural heritage. For 26 years, Trails West!® has continued that mission. Festivals have a lifespan, and although the Council is sad for the festival to close, the city can look back, celebrate and cherish the memories the festival created.

The Allied Arts Council has appointed a committee of AAC members, TW! steering committee members and community leaders to study issues and look at other opportunities where arts needs aren’t being met in St. Joseph.

Sheriff: 2 dead after small plane crash in Missouri

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Fatal plane crash photo courtesy KTVI

FESTUS, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say two are dead after a single engine plane that took off in New York crashed near St. Louis.

The plane was discovered Friday morning in a heavily wooded area near the airport in Festus, Missouri.

Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak says the pilot reported electrical issues Thursday night, before the crash. Police were called around 2 a.m. Friday and authorities were searching for the plane for several hours before they discovered the wreckage around 8 a.m.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the crash.

NE Kansas murder suspect captured in Mexico

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KANSAS CITY– A Kansas man wanted in connection with a July 2015 murder has been arrested in Mexico.

Diaz -photo Shawnee Co.

Fernando Diaz, 25, a resident of Kansas was arrested  for murder in the second degree due to a coordinated effort of U.S. Marshals, the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, Customs and Border Protection Officers, Mexican Authorities and Kansas authorities, according to a media release from the U.S. Marshals Service.

In July 2015, police were called to a shooting in the 500 block of SE Gray Street Topeka, where they found the victim Christopher Galvan.

Diaz is a confirmed gang member and was also wanted for absconding from probation with original charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and interference with law enforcement.

A warrant was issued for his arrest in August of 2015, but Diaz fled the state of Kansas to avoid prosecution. Information was developed that Diaz was most likely residing in Mexico.

Diaz was eventually booked into the Harris County Jail where he will be held pending extradition back to Shawnee County, Kansas.

“This is a great example of federal and local resources working together to apprehend a dangerous gang member.” said United States Marshal Ronald Miller.

The U.S. Marshals Service works together with many other agencies to arrest fugitives all over the world. The US Marshals Fugitive Task Force is a multi- jurisdictional fugitive task force comprised of the United States Marshals Service, Topeka Police Department, Kansas Department of Corrections, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Former Mo. Democratic Leader’s Assistant Sentenced

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The longtime aide of former Democratic leader Mike Sanders was sentenced to six months in prison for his role in stealing campaign funds.

Calvin Williford with former Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders. Sanders was sentenced to prison Tuesday on federal charges. -photo Courtesy Jackson County

The sentence given to Calvin Williford Thursday was far shorter than Sanders received on Wednesday, when he was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $40,000. Williford and Sanders pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Prosecutors say the two men stole campaign funds to pay for gambling trips and political activities. The Kansas City Star reports Williford was ordered to forfeit $36,000 — or $2,000 stolen from campaign accounts for each of 18 trips that he made to Las Vegas to gamble.

Judge Rosann Ketchmark and federal prosecutors noted that Williford’s cooperated in two ongoing investigations.

Temperatures in the 70s through the weekend

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Dry and cooler temperatures are expected beginning today through the weekend. The next chance of rain showers and storms will arrive by late Monday. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 70. North northwest wind 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 47. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 72. East wind around 6 mph.

Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 50. East southeast wind 3 to 5 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 79. Southeast wind 3 to 8 mph.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 58.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.

Monday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 72.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 71.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 53.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70.

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