JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a wanted  Kansas woman believed to have been on the run from authorities for several months, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

After serving a search warrant at a home in the 100 Block of W. 14th Street in the City of Horton, Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputies found Chelsea JeanFinch, 25, of Hiawatha, hiding in the attic of the home, according to Morse.

Finch was placed into custody, and transported to the Jackson County Jail. She has a previous felony conviction for Aggravated Battery – Bodily Harm with a deadly weapon, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Horton police also arrested Dylan Lynard Thomas, 23, of Horton, at the home for felony interference with law enforcement.

While at the Jail, it was discovered that Finch allegedly trafficked methamphetamine into the facility.

Finch is currently being held on two no bond Jackson County warrants and for trafficking contraband into a correctional facility, possession of methamphetamine with the intent to sell, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond on the drug charges was set at $50,000.00. The

 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Latest on an ethics complaint against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (all times local):

A spokesman for Gov. Eric Greitens says he hopes to nominate new members to the Missouri Ethics Commission next week.

Vacancies on the commission mean it has too few members to meet with a quorum. The committee has before it a complaint about whether Greitens’ gubernatorial campaign told the truth about how it gained access to a list of donors.

Earlier Thursday, the Missouri Senate had moved to drop the commission’s membership from six to four, meaning the three members still on the board would create a quorum. That would allow it to take action on the complaint against the governor.

The Senate needs to vote on the proposal again before it heads to the House. The ethics commission’s next scheduled meeting is April 25.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A man who shot and killed three people inside a Kansas City, Kansas, home was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Jason Tucker pleaded was sentenced Thursday for capital murder in the May 2017 deaths of Vincent Rocha; his wife, Bernadette Gosserand, and his adult son, Jeremy Rocha.

Wyandotte County authorities agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for Tucker’s guilty plea.

The shooting stemmed from an ongoing dispute between Tucker and Gosserand’s son, Bryan Balza, who had sought an order of protection from Tucker.

Prosecutors say Tucker confronted and shot Balza on the front porch of the family’s home, then went inside and killed the three victims. Balza survived.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers narrowly passed an education funding plan Thursday in the Kansas Senate, overcoming bipartisan skepticism that it would increase spending enough on public schools to satisfy a court mandate.

The vote was 21-18 on a bill that would phase in a $274 million increase in school funding over five years, targeting some of the dollars to early childhood education to ensure that fewer children fall behind early.

Republicans hold a 30-seat majority in the 40-member Senate but were split. Some conservatives were upset with the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling in October that the state’s current education funding of more than $4 billion a year isn’t sufficient under the state constitution, even with increases approved last year. Some GOP moderates questioned whether the plan was big enough, and the chamber’s nine Democrats and one independent member opposed it.

“This bill doesn’t get us where we need to be,” said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat. “This bill is woefully inadequate in terms of the funding it’s providing.”

Senate GOP leaders sold some fellow Republicans on voting for the bill to keep lawmakers moving toward meeting the court’s mandate. The justices gave the attorney general until April 30 to report on how legislators fixed the problems the court identified.

“We’re going to haggle over the dollars,” Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Molly Baumgardner, a conservative Louisburg Republican, told fellow GOP senators during a caucus.

The House has approved a plan to phase in a roughly $520 million increase in education funding over five years, and Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer publicly endorsed it Wednesday. The final version of a plan would be drafted by negotiators for the two chambers.

Colyer has called on the Republican-controlled Legislature to pass a bill before taking an annual 2½-week spring break that is scheduled to start Saturday. Lawmakers return from that break April 26 — only four days before the court’s deadline.

Supporters of the House plan contend the state can cover the additional spending with the annual growth in the state’s tax collections, which have been stronger than expected for 10 consecutive months. But top Republican senators contend the state could not afford it without increasing taxes within the next two years. Colyer has said legislators should not raise taxes, and most lawmakers do not want to do that.

Many Democrats question whether the House plan is enough, too. The Supreme Court did not set a specific figure in its October ruling but hinted that it could be $650 million more a year. The four school districts that sued the state in 2010 argue that the figure is even higher.

But some Republicans supporting the Senate plan predicted that the Supreme Court would accept it because of how it targets its new funding for specific programs to help ensure that young children don’t fall behind in school early. Others said the new money also builds on past increases.

“It’s more than enough,” said Sen. Ty Masterson, a conservative Andover Republican.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A co-owner of Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the decapitation death of a 10-year-old boy on a massive waterslide.

Jeff Henry appeared Thursday in Wyandotte County District Court after being indicted in the 2016 death of Caleb Schwab. The boy died and two women were injured when their raft went airborne and hit an overhead loop on the slide.

Henry was ordered to surrender his passport but District Judge Robert Burns rejected a prosecution request that he be required to wear a GPS locator while out on bond awaiting trial. Burns said he wasn’t convinced by the state’s arguments that Henry was a flight risk.

A trial date was tentatively set for Sept. 10, but Burns and Henry’s attorney suggested that date could change.

HAVILAND, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say strong winds have blown the roof off a Kansas grade school cafeteria while classes were in session.

Haviland Grade School principal Mark Clodfelter, who’s also the superintendent, says about 70 kindergartners through eighth-graders were in the school when the roof blew off around 3 p.m. Tuesday.

School surveillance video shows the flat, white cafeteria roof rise from one end, fly up and then crumble as it hits the parking lot with several parked cars. The National Weather Service says wind speeds at the time the roof was torn off reached speeds of 65 to 70 mph.  Authorities reported no injuries.

Classes at the school are expected to resume Friday after repairs are completed. Haviland is about 100 miles  west of Wichita.

By BRIAN GRIMMETT

China has announced its intent to add additional tariffs to 106 U.S. products, including several of Kansas’ top agricultural exports.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma City police officer charged with concealing a federal crime and lying to investigators looking into an interstate theft ring now faces an additional charge of conspiracy.

An indictment filed Tuesday says a grand jury added the conspiracy count against 25-year-old Weston Slater. Slater is one of six people charged with stealing various vehicles in Kansas, Texas, Missouri and Nebraska and bringing them to Oklahoma to sell.

Slater has pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges and is on unpaid leave from the department. A message left with his attorney Thursday wasn’t immediately returned.

The indictment alleges Slater used a police computer to determine whether a pickup truck had been stolen in Texas, warned a co-defendant of the law enforcement investigation and lied to the FBI during the investigation.

BELTON, Mo. (AP) – Cass County officials say Belton police fatally shot a man after he refused to drop a knife and surrender.

The sheriff’s office says 38-year-old Donald McCarter was shot at a Belton home during a confrontation with officers who were responding to complaints from neighbors about his behavior.

Spokesman Kevin Tieman says in a news release that the deadly confrontation came during the second visit officers made to the Belton neighborhood on Easter Sunday.

Tieman says McCarter refused commands to drop his knife and didn’t comply after officers used less-lethal measures to control him. Tieman says when McCarter came toward officers with a knife, at least one officer shot him.

Belton police have asked the Cass County Sheriff’s Office to lead the investigation.

The officers involved are on administrative leave.