ONCA CITY, Okla. (AP) — The National Transportation Board says a small airplane that crashed in northern Oklahoma, killing four members of a Kansas family and a family friend, was seen climbing slowly before it went down in a soybean field.
First responders on the scene of the crash -photo courtesy KTUL
The brief report dated Thursday says a witness saw the Extra EA-400 aircraft take off Aug. 4 from the airport in Ponca City, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Oklahoma City, but said it was slow to climb.
The report says another witness saw the plane crash and burst into flames.
The NTSB says the plane was flying to Independence, Kansas.
Killed in the crash were Nicholas Warner and his two young sons, his father, Bill Warner and family friend Tim Valentine.
The report does not identify who was piloting the plane.
HOUSTON (AP) – A jury in Texas has imposed a life sentence on a man who prosecutors say is a serial rapist who attacked women in Missouri before moving to the Houston area and continuing his assaults there.
Bond-photo Harris County
Forty-year-old Reginald Bond was sentenced Friday by the Harris County jury following a six-day trial.
Prosecutors say he was a suspect in seven rapes in St. Louis and then four others in Harris County. He was convicted of raping a woman in 2014, about a year after he moved from St. Louis.
Authorities say his pattern was to target women who lived alone in apartment complexes and fell asleep while watching television.
Houston police collaborated on the investigation with St. Louis County police and also officers in the suburban Houston town of Jersey Village.
MARYVILLE, Mo. – SSM Health St. Francis Hospital will once again be closing the hospital’s main entrance to complete roof replacement over the front lobby area.
According to a press release, beginning Monday, August 13, through September 14, patients and visitors will be temporarily diverted to alternate entrances.
The north end of the north wing and the old front entrance south of the emergency entrance will be used as alternative entrances during the construction project. Additional volunteers and signage will be available to assist with wayfinding.
The current fiberglass canopy is being replaced with a new gable roof, constructed of glass and metal. Large equipment operation will be used during the project and extra caution will be taken to assure safe access to the hospital.
The project is being managed with as little patient disruption as possible. Cancer care and infusion services patients will be directed to the old front entrance of the hospital while patients that need to register for any service other than the cancer clinic or infusion services will be asked to use the north wing entrance. All emergency patients are to use the ambulance bay entrance to the department. Visitors will be asked to use the old front entrance.
For any questions or concerns, please contact the hospital’s community relations and development office at (660) 562-7933.
BOLIVAR, Mo. — Authorities have identified three teenagers from Kansas who died Friday when a church van heading for an outing crashed in southwestern Missouri.
The one vehicle crash happened just after 10 a.m. five miles north of Bolivar on U.S. 13. courtesy KYTV
Samara J. Bayse, 17, Stillwell; Hannah L. Foy, 14, Louisburg and David T. Martin, 16, Olathe, died in the crash just after 10:40 a.m. on Missouri Route 13, five miles north of Bolivar, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Ten others were injured.
The van was from Faith Chapel Assembly of God in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. Lueckenhoff didn’t know specifically where the group was going but was told it was a “youth outing.”
The van had 13 passengers, mostly teenagers but a few adults, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. John Leuckenhoff said. Everyone on board was injured or killed when the van ran off the roadway, struck a tree and overturned. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.
“Absolutely horrible,” Lueckenhoff said.
The 10 injured victims were taken to hospitals in Bolivar and Springfield, about 30 miles south. Three were in serious condition. Lueckenhoff said he didn’t know if any of the injuries were life-threatening.
The cause of the accident was under investigation by a crash team from the highway patrol.
The Kansas City Star reported that in addition to its Overland Park location, Faith Chapel Assembly of God has churches in Louisburg and Gardner.
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BOLIVAR, Mo. (AP) — Three teenagers from Kansas were killed and 10 other people were injured Friday after a church van heading for an outing crashed in southwestern Missouri.
The wreck happened around 10:40 a.m. on Missouri Route 13, five miles north of Bolivar. Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. John Lueckenhoff said those killed were a 16-year-old boy from Olathe, a 14-year-old girl from Louisburg and a 17-year-old girl from Stillwell. Their names were not released.
The van was from Faith Chapel Assembly of God in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. Lueckenhoff didn’t know specifically where the group was going but was told it was a “youth outing.”
The van had 13 passengers, mostly teenagers but a few adults, Leuckenhoff said. Everyone on board was injured or killed when the van ran off the roadway, struck a tree and overturned. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.
“Absolutely horrible,” Lueckenhoff said.
The 10 injured victims were taken to hospitals in Bolivar and Springfield, about 30 miles south. Three were in serious condition. Lueckenhoff said he didn’t know if any of the injuries were life-threatening.
The cause of the accident was under investigation by a crash team from the highway patrol.
The Kansas City Star reported that in addition to its Overland Park location, Faith Chapel Assembly of God has churches in Louisburg and Gardner.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A jury’s $289 million award to a former school groundskeeper who said Monsanto’s Roundup left him dying of cancer will bolster thousands of pending cases and open the door for countless people who blame their suffering on the weed killer, the man’s lawyers said.
Roundup, the Monsanto brand name pesticide built on the chemical glyphosate, is used on farm fields and on lawns and gardens. FILE: by GRANT GERLOCK / courtesy HARVEST PUBLIC MEDIA
“I’m glad to be here to be able to help in a cause that’s way bigger than me,” Dewayne Johnson said at a news conference Friday after the verdict was announced.
Johnson, 46, alleges that heavy contact with the herbicide caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The state Superior Court jury agreed that Roundup contributed to Johnson’s cancer and Monsanto should have provided a label warning of the potential health hazard.
Johnson thanked jurors “from the bottom of my heart” for their work, along with his lawyers and his family.
His was the first case filed by a cancer patient against the agribusiness giant to reach trial. It was expedited because court filings indicated that Johnson was dying. His victory may set the precedent for many others.
“A unanimous jury in San Francisco has told Monsanto: ‘Enough. You did something wrong and now you have to pay,’” said Brent Wisner, Johnson’s lead trial lawyer. “There’s 4,000 other cases filed around the United States and there are countless thousand other people out there who are suffering from cancer because Monsanto didn’t give them a choice … We now have a way forward.”
Monsanto has denied a link between the active ingredient in Roundup — glyphosate — and cancer, saying hundreds of studies have established that glyphosate is safe.
Monsanto spokesman Scott Partridge said the company will appeal. Partridge said scientific studies and two government agencies have concluded that Roundup does not cause cancer.
“We are sympathetic to Mr. Johnson and his family,” Partridge said. “We will appeal this decision and continue to vigorously defend this product, which has a 40-year history of safe use and continues to be a vital, effective, and safe tool for farmers and others.”
Johnson used Roundup and a similar product, Ranger Pro, as a pest control manager at a San Francisco Bay Area school district, his lawyers said. He sprayed large quantities from a 50-gallon tank attached to a truck, and during gusty winds, the product would cover his face, said Brent Wisner, one of his attorneys.
Once, when a hose broke, the weed killer soaked his entire body.
Johnson read the label and even contacted the company after developing a rash but was never warned it could cause cancer, Wisner said. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2014.
“The simple fact is he is going to die. It’s just a matter of time,” Wisner told the jury in his opening statement last month.
But George Lombardi, an attorney for Monsanto, said non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma takes years to develop, so Johnson’s cancer must have started well before he began working at the school district.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Roundup’s active ingredient is safe for people when used in accordance with label directions.
However, the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization, classified it as a “probable human carcinogen” in 2015. California added glyphosate to its list of chemicals known to cause cancer.
Johnson’s attorneys sought and won $39 million in compensatory damages and $250 million of the $373 million they wanted in punitive damages.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Work is wrapping up on the resurfacing of the ramps at the U.S. Route 36 interchange at Route AC (Riverside Road).
According to a press release, crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation hope to be able to complete all work next week. They plan to work 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Aug. 16. The ramps are scheduled to remain open while the work is going on. Due to expected delays, motorists may want to use an alternate route during the work.
All work is weather permitting and could be rescheduled. MoDOT encourages all travelers to slow down, buckle up, eliminate distractions, pay attention and drive safely so everyone is able to Arrive Alive.
For more information call 1-888-ASK-MODOT (888-275-6636) or visit modot.org/northwest.
TOPEKA – The Kansas Insurance Department will require Kansas health insurance carriers to cover three-dimensional mammograms for women as the standard of care for breast exams beginning in 2019, according to Clark Shultz, Assistant Commissioner.
“We will be issuing a bulletin that directs health insurance companies to cover this procedure as a matter of course,” Assistant Commissioner Shultz said. “This modern technology is providing physicians with great opportunities to diagnose and treat breast cancer more quickly.”
Traditionally, two-dimensional mammograms were covered under health insurance plans, but three-dimensional coverage often required the policyholder to pay the additional cost.
“This is a win-win for both the patient and the physician,” Assistant Commissioner Shultz said. “It is taking advantage of modern healthcare technology at no additional cost to the patient.”
BELTON, Mo. (AP) – Police in western Missouri say two people were killed earlier this week in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 49.
Belton police tell the Kansas City Star that 42-year-old Billie Reid, of Adrian, and 29-year-old Lachanda Barnett, of Kansas City, Missouri, were killed early Wednesday in the crash.
Officers were called to the scene at about 3:20 a.m. Wednesday say two vehicles had collided in the northbound lanes of Interstate 49 in Belton.
Reid died at the scene; Barnett was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Investigators say it appeared Barnett’s vehicle was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes when it collided with Reid’s vehicle.
The Belton Police Department continues to investigate the crash.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the unsettled Republican primary race between Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach (all times local):
9:15 p.m.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s lead over Gov. Jeff Colyer stands at only 110 votes after late mail-in ballots were added to previous vote totals Friday in their hotly contested Republican primary race.
Colyer has accused Kobach of advising county election officials not to count some late mail-in ballots that legally should be counted. Kobach said his advice on their handling has followed the law.
State law says mail-in ballots would be counted if they were postmarked Tuesday and arrived by Friday.
Kobach’s lead had been 191 votes when statewide results were first reported Wednesday morning. More than 313,000 ballots were cast in Tuesday’s primary.
Counties still must review almost 9,000 provisional ballots given to voters at the polls when their eligibility is in doubt.
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5 p.m.
An aide to Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer says Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s top deputy also shouldn’t advise county election officials while their tight Republican primary battle hangs in the balance.
Colyer spokesman Kendall Marr said the governor objects to Kobach having Assistant Secretary of State Eric Rucker take over Kobach’s election duties while the race is unresolved.
Kobach announced Friday that he’s stepping away from those duties until after the final primary vote is certified by the state. Colyer had called on him to stop advising county official on yet-uncounted ballots.
Marr said that while Rucker is “a good and decent man,” assigning Kobach’s duties to an employee that Kobach can fire does not end conflicts of interest. Colyer has said the state’s attorney general should advise counties.
3p.m
Kansas counties are reporting updated vote totals in the contested Republican primary between Gov. Jeff Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach that reflect late mail-in ballots.
The secretary of state’s office was updating results as it received them from individual counties.
With the first 25 counties reporting, Kobach’s lead almost doubled to 241 votes from 121. That’s still a tiny margin with more than 311,000 ballots cast.
Kansas law says mail-in ballots are counted if they are postmarked Tuesday and arrive by Friday.
Colyer accused Kobach of advising county election officials to not count some late-arriving mail-in ballots that should be counted. Kobach’s office was planning a formal response later Friday.
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1:20 p.m.
Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer’s re-election campaign plans to have a representative in all 105 counties next week as local election officials review mail-in and provisional ballots to arrive at final official vote totals.
Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach are locked in a tight race for the GOP nomination for governor. The primary was Tuesday. Kobach led by 121 votes out of more than 311,000 cast as of Thursday.
The counting in their race is not complete because state law says mail-in ballots that are postmarked Tuesday can be accepted by the counties as late as Friday. County officials also must review perhaps several thousand provisional ballots, given to voters at the polls when their eligibility is in question.
Colyer’s spokesman said the governor believes Kobach’s office is advising county clerks to discard mail-in ballots that by law should be counted, and the campaign representatives will be at canvass meetings to be sure that they are.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri man has been convicted of raping a woman he met on a dating website.
Everhart- photo Platte Co.
A Platte County jury deliberated less than two hours before finding 31-year-old Bradley Everhart, of Independence, guilty of rape.
Prosecutors said the 31-year-old woman met Everhart on the dating website Plenty of Fish. She went to his home in August 2016 and they watched a movie in a bedroom.
The women told police Everhart raped her despite her repeatedly telling him to stop.
The woman fled the house, went to a hospital, and reported the encounter to police.
Zahnd said after woman left, Everhart sent her more than 60 text messages in less than an hour. He repeatedly apologized and asked her not to say anything because he would lose his children.
