SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug charges after an I-70 traffic stop.

Just after 11:30a.m. Wednesday, deputies stopped a vehicle near Urish Road for a license plate registration violation, according to   Sergeant Todd Stallbaumerl.

The suspect identified as 29-year-old Robert C. Rodriguez, refused to follow a deputy’s instructions. Another officer tased Rodriguez.

He was taken to a local hospital for a medical examination before being booked for possession of marijuana with the intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia. Deputies reported finding 11.5 pounds of marijuana worth approximately $20,000 inside the vehicle

Rodriguez is being held without bond.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — American sorghum farmers fear they will lose their largest export market if China follows through with a tariff on their crop.

China imposed preliminary anti-dumping tariffs of 178.6 percent on U.S. sorghum this week as part of its ongoing trade dispute with the U.S.

President Donald Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on up to $150 billion of Chinese goods to counteract what he says are that country’s unfair trade policies.

Sorghum farmers like Don Bloss in southeast Nebraska are caught in the crossfire. Bloss said the tariff news isn’t enough for him to change what he plants this year, but farmers will have to adjust if the tariff is enacted.

“We can’t make real quick decision,” he said.

According to the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission, the Sorghum Belt runs from South Dakota to Southern Texas and the crop is grown primarily on dryland acres.  In addition to animal feed it is used for ethanol production. Kansas, Texas and Arkansas are among the top Sorghum producing states, according to the the commission’s web site.

It won’t be easy replacing the Chinese market. Last year, Chinese buyers purchased more than 90 percent of the 245 million bushels of sorghum America exported.

“Basically, this will shut off grain sorghum exports to China for the United States,” said Mark Welch, an agricultural economist at Texas A&M University.

Sorghum, which is used primarily as animal feed and in liquor distilling, is grown in crop rotations with corn and in areas where conditions are dry because it is drought tolerant. But it is a smaller U.S. crop, grown on about 6 million acres compared to corn and soybeans, which will each be planted on nearly 90 million acres this year.

Both U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and the National Sorghum Producers association said they may challenge the tariff.

“Our sorghum producers are the most competitive in the world and we do not believe there is any basis in fact for these actions,” Perdue said.

A spokeswoman for the sorghum producers trade group said sorghum prices fell 20 to 25 percent after China announced in February it was launching an investigation into the sorghum trade. Prices declined again this week.

In the long run, Bloss said he believes farmers will find a new market for their sorghum, whether that’s other export markets or ethanol producers. Having lived through the effects U.S. tariffs on Russia had on grain markets in the 1980s helps give the 69-year-old Bloss confidence.

“There’s going to be market opportunities out there,” he said.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri Senate’s top budgeter is proposing giving public K-12 schools $48 million more next year, which would mean about $50 million less than what House lawmakers approved.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dan Brown on Wednesday said he wants to take the $50 million in savings and put half toward school busing and transportation.

If approved by the committee and full Senate, that would set up a showdown with the House, which voted to put another $98 million toward core K-12 school funding.

Senate budgeters and the House appear to agree on steady core funding for public colleges and universities. Gov. Eric Greitens proposed cutting funding by $68 million compared to what schools are expected to receive this year.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – A St. Louis judge is set to rule on a request from Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens to dismiss a felony criminal indictment due to mistakes by the prosecutor and an investigator.

Circuit Judge Rex Burlison has said he will announce his ruling in a court session Thursday.

Greitens was indicted in February on a charge of invasion of privacy. He’s accused of taking a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015, before he was elected. Greitens has admitted to the affair but denied criminal wrongdoing.

Attorneys for Greitens contend that a private investigator hired by the prosecutor has repeatedly lied to the court. They also allege that Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner knew he lied, and that her office has withheld evidence from the defense.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — The mother of a 17-year-old who was shot to death by an Overland Park police officer is suing the officer and the city.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday by Sheila Albers says the officer who shot her son in January was never in danger and used excessive force. The lawsuit also contends Overland Park didn’t have adequate policies or didn’t enforce its policies.

Officers went to the Albers’ home in January after someone reported he was on social media and appeared to be suicidal. Police said Albers backed a minivan out of the family’s garage toward an officer, who shot at the van 13 times after his orders to stop were ignored.

Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe ruled in February that the shooting was justified.

MARSHFIELD, Mo. (AP) – A southwest Missouri man is charged with murder after his estranged wife and mother-in-law were shot to death.

The Springfield News-Leader reports 31-year-old Kenneth Livingston, of Marshfield, was charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree murder, first-degree assault and three counts of armed criminal action.

According to a probable cause statement, the victims were shot Tuesday to a home in rural Webster County. The victims were identified as Lindsey Livingston and Kristee Bedgood of Elkland.

Police say Livingston’s father-in-law was shot in the arm after the two men exchanged gunfire.

Detectives say Kenneth Livingston shot the two women after an argument over child custody.

Livingston is being held in the Webster County Jail on $2 million bond. He does not have an attorney listed for this case.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The sheriff in Kansas City’s Jackson County is resigning after recently released court documents described him having a sexual and financial relationship with a female employee who’s suing the county.

Sheriff Mike Sharp described what happened in written statement Wednesday as a “personal failing.” The Kansas City Star reports that Sharp acknowledged in court documents that he gave an administrative assistant $8,000 as a down payment for a house after she alleged in a lawsuit that other co-workers sexually harassed her.

Court records also say Sharp took the woman on taxpayer-funded trips and approved so many raises for her that she became the highest-paid civilian sheriff’s office employee.

A sheriff’s office spokesman says Sharp has submitted his resignation and that it will be effective Thursday.