KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — An expert witness called by Secretary of State Kris Kobach in a trial over Kansas’ voter registration law endured intense questioning over his estimation that 18,000 noncitizens have voted in the state.
Richman-photo courtesy Old Dominion University
Jesse Richman, an associate professor of political science at Old Dominion, testified Tuesday in the sixth day of a federal lawsuit challenging the law, which requires people to show documentation when registering to vote.
Richman has offered various estimates, ranging from 1,000 up to 18,000, based on surveys he conducted. Kobach has said the 18,000 estimate is the best available number to show the law is needed to address widespread voter fraud.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Richman acknowledged under cross-examination that his surveys weren’t peer reviewed. Instead, 200 political scientists signed a letter criticizing Richman’s work.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Latest on Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley officially kicking off his campaign for U.S. Senate (all times local):
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley says he hopes President Donald Trump comes to Missouri often to support his campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Hawley officially kicked off his campaign Tuesday to win the GOP nomination to take on Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill.
In an appearance at a Raytown warehouse of a commercial construction supplier, Hawley said he looks forward to having the president’s support throughout the campaign.
Trump is scheduled to attend a private fundraiser for Hawley Wednesday in St. Louis. Hawley said Tuesday his campaign won’t be able to raise as much money as McCaskill, who he said has 36 years of political favors to bank on for her campaign and he plans to fight every way he can to raise resources.
All Kansas counties are in drought condition according to the March 6 U.S. Drought Monitor map.
TOPEKA – Today Governor Jeff Colyer, issued Drought Declarations for Kansas counties with Executive Order 18-11 at a press conference with Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey and Kansas Water Office Director Tracy Streeter. The declaration includes all 105 counties either in an emergency, warning or watch status.
“The entire State of Kansas has been considered in drought or abnormally dry conditions for the past several weeks,” said Governor Colyer. “This has led to an extremely high risk of fire hazards and many have already occurred.”
The drought declaration placed 28 counties in emergency status, 29 into a warning status and 48 into a watch status. This action was recommended by Tracy Streeter, Director of the Kansas Water Office and Chair of the Governor’s Drought Response Team. Over the past six months the state-wide average precipitation was only 66 percent of normal and in January and February the state-wide average precipitation was even less, at 43 percent of normal.
“While wildfires are the most urgent concern at this point, water supplies can be dramatically impacted in a very short period of time, especially as we start to enter into spring and summer months,” said Streeter. “The Governor’s Drought Response Team will continue to monitor the situation closely as future outlooks call for drought persisting and make recommendations to the Governor as necessary.”
Secretary of Agriculture McClaskey, who was also present at the press conference, remarked on the potential impact the drought could have on Kansas agriculture, saying “The Kansas Department of Agriculture is committed to serving Kansas farmers and ranchers, especially during challenging times like the current drought. Whether that means making sure regulations and statutes are in place to move hay or working with our federal partners to gain access to additional grazing land, we stand ready to work with farmers and ranchers and all of our partners in agriculture.”
Counties who are in emergency stage are eligible for emergency use of water from certain state fishing lakes due to the Kansas Water Office (KWO) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism (KDWPT).
For more detailed information about current conditions, see the Kansas Climate Summary and Drought Report on the Kansas Water Office website at: www.kwo.ks.gov
LUDLOW, Mo. (AP) – An attorney for a northwest Missouri school principal says his client is “emphatically pleading not guilty” to charges that he stole prescription drugs.
Christopher Scott Calhoun, principal at Southwest Livingston County R-1, is charged with two counts of felony stealing.
The Livingson County Sheriff’s office said Percocet and Adderall were stolen from a locked cabinet in the school at Ludlow after a school nurse reported the missing pills.
Calhoun, who has been placed on leave, has a preliminary hearing scheduled March 28.
Calhoun’s attorney, Andrew Christie, said Tuesday that the public should remember that Calhoun is considered innocent until proven guilty.
Southwest Livingston County has 28 staff members for 173 students in grades kindergarten through high school.
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LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MO. — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a drug theft from Southwest Livingston County R-1 School and have made an arrest.
Calhoun-photo Livingston Co.
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) had been investigating a reported theft of prescription medications (Percocet and Adderall) from a locked medicine cabinet. The prescriptions were being properly monitored by the school nurse and was promptly reported when some of the pills turned up missing, according to a media release.
Additional investigation and assistance from school officials resulted in the arrest of school principal Christopher Scott Calhoun, 44, of Chillicothe, for 2 counts of the alleged theft.
Calhoun has since been charged in Livingston County Associate Circuit Court with the alleged 2 counts of class D felony Stealing with bond initially set at $10,000 cash.
Over the past week a malicious virus was discovered on point-of-sale
Drew Purviance, Eagle Technology Solutions
machines at more than 160 Applebee’s locations. This virus has exposed credit card information from unknowing diners. In Kansas, three of the restaurants have been identified to have been infected, Topeka, Emporia, and Manhattan.
The dates on which the stores were hit vary, but the majority were found to have occurred in November 2017, and several throughout December and January. All things considered RMH, who owns the restaurants, responded quickly and contained the malware by early February. RMH was able to enlist the help of several cyber security forensic firms and reported the issue right away.
POS malware is becoming more and more prevalent for all retailers and medical industry businesses. Already in January, Forever 21 revealed that their POS machines had been infected for almost eight months in its stores before being discovered.
RMH and the other companies strongly urge customers to monitor their bank accounts at this point. RMH acknowledges that the ultimate safeguard against this kind of malware must come from the retailers themselves.
All-in-all you really need to monitor your credit cards and bank accounts regularly if you use debit/credit cards on a regular basis. RMH responded promptly and extremely well to this issue but you never know what business is currently infected and businesses often don’t have any clue. Be wary and be cautious as malicious entities can be everywhere. If you have any questions or concerns on possible malware or scams give us at ETS a call at 785.628.1330 and we will help you out!
Kansas politicians are closely watching developing trade policies with an eye to whether they could start a trade war that might hurt industries in the state that rely on exports.
President Donald Trump’s administration has been in talks with Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.
A trade war might hurt the export of wheat and other Kansas exports, some of the state’s politicians worry. FILE PHOTO / HARVEST PUBLIC MEDIA
“NAFTA is the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere,” Trump said while campaigning for office, “but certainly ever signed in this country,”
Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer said he supports the negotiations. Yet Colyer and industry trade groups asked Trump in a letter last week not to scrap the deal because that could hurt major Kansas export industries such as agriculture and aviation.
“We want to make sure that Kansas industries continue to thrive and grow,” the governor said. “We’re a very competitive state.”
“A strong steel and aluminum industry are vital to our national security, absolutely vital,” Trump said at a ceremony announcing the tariffs.
State Rep. Jim Ward, the top Democrat in the Kansas House, said he’s concerned Trump’s actions could spark retaliatory tariffs, which could impact industries beyond manufacturing.
“Agriculture would be devastated by tariffs or a trade war,” Ward said
The south central part of Kansas is highly focused on manufacturing, specifically aviation.
At a recent stop at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran pointed to an airplane fuselage as an item that could be impacted by aluminum tariffs.
“The fuselage that we’re celebrating here at Spirit is 100 percent aluminum,” Moran said. “(A tariff) has a consequence in the price.”
Aerospace Industries Association CEO Eric Fanning said commercial aviation relies on imported aluminum and steel.
President Trump’s tariff on the metals was softened, though, by excluding Canada and Mexico.
Canada has been the top source of imported aluminum in the U.S. in recent years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Three cases of the measles have been confirmed at a child care facility in suburban Kansas City.
CDC photo-skin of a patient after 3 days of measles infection
The Johnson County, Kansas, Department of Health and Environment says on its website Tuesday that all three cases are in children under the age of 1, who are too young to be vaccinated. The department says it has reached out to contact those at risk for the disease.
The affected children and people they have been in contact with will be excluded from the facility for three weeks.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus. Cases in the U.S. are rare since creation of the vaccine, but the illness kills 146,000 people worldwide each year.
The disease is spread through the air by breathing, coughing or sneezing.
WASHINGTON— Member of the Kansas congressional delegation are applauding President Trump’s nomination of Mike Pompeo, former 4th District Congressman from Kansas and current CIA Director, to be Secretary of State
Kansans are proud to have Mike Pompeo selected as Secretary of State, and I look forward to working with him to advance our interests around the globe. I also thank Rex Tillerson for his principled service to our country.
What a great choice by @realDonaldTrump, @RealMikePompeo is a proven leader! As Sec. of State I know he will serve with honor and integrity as he has done for our military, Kansas, and the @CIA.
Very proud of my friend and fellow Kansan Mike Pompeo, who @realDonaldTrump has selected as the next Secretary of State. Mike continues to serve and be a valuable asset to our nation & I couldn’t think of a better nominee. My best to you and your wonderful family. #Pompeopic.twitter.com/3BmtGstVrw
Mike Pompeo is an excellent choice to serve as America’s 70th Secretary of State. Kansans already know and trust Mike’s leadership and I’m confident he will represent us well abroad. I wish him and his family the best as he begins this next phase of service to our nation.
One person was killed Tuesday morning in a crash with a semi on US-59.
According to Capt. Jeff Wilson with the St. Joseph Police Department, the crash between a passenger vehicle and the semi occurred shortly after 8 a.m. on 59 Highway near Parker Road.
Wilson said the person in the passenger vehicle was killed. The driver of the semi was not injured.
No further details have been released at this time.
As of 10:50 a.m., the road was still blocked off as the crash is still being investigated.
WASHINGTON —Rex Tillerson is out as secretary of state. President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday morning that he’s naming CIA director Mike Pompeo to replace Tillerson.
Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!
Pompeo is to be replaced at CIA by Gina Haspel, Pompeo’s deputy at CIA. She would be the first woman in that role.
Tillerson had just returned from a shortened trip to Africa hours before Trump’s announcement. Trump offered no explanation for the change.
Pompeo was elected to the 4th District congressional seat in Kansas during the tea party wave of 2010. He is now fourth in line of presidential succession behind the vice president, speaker of the house and president pro tempore of the senate.
One person was killed Tuesday morning in a crash with a semi on US-59.