JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is spending an estimated $50,000 on a statewide radio ad buy to make the case for staying in office despite a grand jury accusing him of taking and transmitting a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the first-term Republican governor’s political adviser, Austin Chambers, confirmed the ad buy Wednesday night.

Greitens has acknowledged having an extramarital affair with his hairdresser in 2015 as he was preparing to run for governor but has not directly answered questions about whether he took a photo of her and has denied any criminal wrongdoing.

Greitens has refused calls from fellow GOP lawmakers to resign. The case is set to go before a jury on May 14.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas agency plans to conduct a full audit of a water park’s inspection records before it reopens this spring, a state official said Wednesday, after criminal charges were filed over the decapitation of a 10-year-old boy on the world’s tallest waterslide there in 2016.

The state Department of Labor said it will review reports from daily inspections of rides by park staff at the Schlitterbahn park in Kansas City, Kansas, before it is scheduled to reopen May 25 for its annual season. A state law enacted last year after Caleb Schwab’s death requires amusement parks to keep daily reports on their rides and to give them annual inspections.

A grand jury has issued indictments with multiple criminal charges against the park; the construction company that built the giant waterslide; former park operations director Tyler Austin Miles; the ride’s co-designer, John Timothy Schooley, and a co-owner of Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts, Jeffrey Wayne Henry.

Henry, Schooley and the construction company face one felony count of second-degree murder and Miles and the park, one count of involuntary manslaughter, over Caleb’s death. The raft the boy was riding on the 17-story Verruckt ride went airborne and hit an overhead loop.

State law allows parks to have their own staff do daily inspections and to have private inspectors do the annual inspections, rather than state inspectors. The inspectors doing the annual reviews must be either licensed engineers with two years’ experience with amusement rides, have five years’ experience in inspecting rides or have been certified by one of three industry groups.

Hersh said the audit will show whether the park has been conducting the required inspections and maintaining proper records on them as it prepares to reopen for the sesason.

“They will have a notebook full of inspections,” she said.

Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said in a statement Tuesday that the latest indictment against Henry, Schooley and the construction company “is filled with information that we fully dispute.”

The company also posted a statement on its website that all park attractions are “thoroughly inspected daily” by supervisors and managers.

Also, it said, before the park opens for the season, each ride has a thorough internal review and an inspection from “an independent third party.” The statement said the park’s insurance provider also conducts annual inspections.

Henry, Schooley and the construction company are charged with second-degree murder in connection with Caleb’s death, and Miles and the park are charged with involuntary manslaughter over it. All are charged with multiple counts of aggravated battery and aggravated endangering a child in connection with injuries to other riders on the 17-story waterslide.

Miles was arrested last week and released from a Kansas jail on bond. jail in Wyandotte County, Kansas, on $50,000 bond. Henry was arrested Monday in Cameron County, Texas, and waived extradition to Kansas during a court hearing Wednesday.

As for Schooley, family attorney Kit Yam, of Houston, said he was traveling in Asia. Yam said Schooley is in the process of hiring a Kansas City-area attorney.

“He is out of the country at this point on a business trip,” Yam said.

VERNON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a woman for attempting to take drugs to a jail inmate.

A Detention Officers located what they believe to be marijuana hidden inside of a Bible intended for an inmate in the Vernon County Jail. according to Sheriff Jason Mosher..

Ashley A Despain has been charged with Delivery Or Possession Of a Controlled Substance in a Jail, a class D Felony, when she walked into the Sheriff’s Office Monday evening asking to give the Bible to an inmate.

According to Mosher, the Detention Officer inspected the Bible and located a substance believed to be marijuana hidden inside the binding. A deputy was called and Despain was arrested in the parking lot.

Mosher said another person who drove to the Sheriff’s Office with Despain was also arrested on an unrelated warrant. The Sheriff said they have caught people attempting to smuggle contraband and drugs into the jail before, but never in a Bible. “If you show up at the Sheriff’s Office with drugs, you shouldn’t be surprised when you get arrested” Mosher said. Despain is now being held in the Vernon County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

By STEPHEN KORANDA

Republicans in the Kansas House have unveiled a school funding proposal to send an added half billion dollars local districts in the next five years. A committee advanced the plan Wednesday night to the full House for consideration.

The plan was released a little over a week before lawmakers hope to have a bill approved.

Legislators are working to respond to a state Supreme Court ruling that says schools are underfunded. The court in the past has threatened to close schools if the funding system continues to fail constitutional tests.

Republican Rep. Steven Johnson’s plan would boost school spending about $100 million per year for five years. He contends that could satisfy the court and is the most the state could afford without a tax increase.

“Our goal is to keep schools open and give them the resources they need,” he said.

Johnson said the funding plan may prove tough for lawmakers to swallow and it will face criticism that it’s either too much money or too little.

“The discussion isn’t over yet,” he said, “but hopefully we have it started.”

Republican Rep. Steve Huebert said he isn’t sure the state can afford the spending increase. He said any economic slowdown over the five years could hurt state tax collections and push the budget into a deficit.

“We’re pushing the envelope right now without tax increases,” Huebert said.

Democratic Rep. Ed Trimmer noted it’s less money than the up to $2 billion recommended earlier this month in a legislature-commissioned consultant’s report — if lawmakers want to deliver the improved student performance many have pushed to achieve.

“We have to talk about the elephant in the room,” Trimmer said. “That’s a long way from what the study indicated that we need to put into education.”

Republican Rep. Melissa Rooker has pushed for increases in school spending. Yet she said Johnson’s plan appears to comply with some past rulings on school funding, creating a solid “legal underpinning.”

“This represents a good-faith effort to try and get our state education system back on track,” Rooker said.

The consultant’s study based recommendations on several factors, including a high school graduation rate of 95 percent. Some lawmakers have said no state has achieved that and they could respond to the court ruling without hitting the targets in the funding study.

Both Republicans and Democrats want to avoid a tax hike. They reversed many of the state’s 2012 tax cuts during a budget fight last year.

Before Johnson floated his plan, Republican House Speaker Ron Ryckman said he wants a bill that can be funded without a tax increase or significant cuts to other state services.

“We are looking at it to balance out with the rest of the state budget,” he said. “We’re definitely concerned about other core functions of government, especially those that aren’t constitutionally protected.”

The struggle to find a school spending compromise comes after years-long litigation over the issue.

In response to a previous court order, lawmakers voted last year for a multi-year spending hike. It boosted spending by about $200 million in the current fiscal year. Another $100 million is slated to be added in the next fiscal year. In the future, funding increases would be tied to the federal Consumer Price Index.

Lawmakers are scheduled to leave for their spring break at the end of next week. Leaders want to have a plan approved before they hit the road.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda. 

JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspects in connection with a string of thefts.

The first theft occurred on February 9^t, and the second on March 25, according to Sheriff Tim Morse. Two individuals were suspected of stealing a number of electronic devices on both occasions. On Wednesday, March 28, the two returned to the Holton Kansas Walmart where store staff recognized the suspects and alerted law enforcement, according to Morse.

Shortly after deputies stopped a 2018 Nissan passenger car near the store, which was occupied by the suspects. Identified as Raven Neece, 36, and Joshua Thigpen, 31 both of Ferrelview, Missouri, and a third person, Korilynn Laura Barnes, 27, of Kansas City. All three subjects were taken into custody by sheriff’s deputies.

The three are also suspected of an attempted theft at the same Walmart Wednesday.

They are suspected of removing theft detection devices from high-end electronic products, specifically electronic tablets, IPads and video games.

With a search warrant on the vehicle Wednesday, deputies discovered thousands of dollars of high-end electronic products believed to have been stolen from the four-state area of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Other Walmart stores and other department stores are believed to be have been targeted in these thefts. These suspects are suspected to be operating an EBAY business where stolen merchandise was being sold online.

Neece is being held in the Jackson County Jail on 3 counts of aggravated burglary, 3 counts of criminal trespass, felony theft, attempted theft, and 2 counts of tampering with a theft detection device.

Thigpen is being held in the Jackson County Jail on 3 counts of aggravated burglary, 3 counts of criminal trespass, felony theft, attempted theft, and 2 counts of tampering with a theft detection device.

Barnes is being held in the Jackson County Jail on charges of Conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, and tampering with a theft detection device and theft.

Further charges are anticipated.