SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – A southwest Missouri woman who sympathized with the Islamic State has admitted sending threatening messages over Twitter.
Forty-year-old Safya Yassin, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of transmitting threatening communication across state lines.
Federal prosecutor say Yassin used several Twitter accounts to provide information she believed was from the Islamic State, including soliciting violence against two FBI employees and two former members of the military and their families.
Using the name “Muslimah,” Yassin tweeted messages supporting ISIS or reposted messages she knew were from ISIS operatives.
Court documents say the case started in January 2015 when the FBI received a tip about her Twitter activity.
As part of her plea agreement, another conspiracy charge will be dismissed and no additional charges will be filed.
JEFFERSON CITY – Throughout March, Missouri Department of Transportation maintenance crews will be repairing potholes to keep roads as safe and smooth as possible.
According to a press release, the public is asked to report potholes so maintenance crews can assess the damage and complete the needed repairs.
“We don’t want to take any shortcuts and sacrifice the safety of our customers and our crews,” said State Maintenance Engineer Becky Allmeroth. “We are focusing on quality repairs. It is not a good use of resources to have our crews going out multiple times repairing the same pothole.”
Allmeroth asks motorists to watch out for crews making the repairs, slow down and move over a lane to give them room to work. As many as 300 pothole patching crews may be working to make state roadways safer.
Motorists can report the location of potholes on state maintained roads using the following tools:
Call our 24/7 Customer Service Center at 1-888-ASK-MODOT (888-275-6636)
Use our Report a Road Concern form on the web at modot.org
Potholes form when temperatures warm up during the day, but continue to be cold at night. This is the main cause of potholes in highways and why they are prevalent during spring. The rain and snow from winter leave moisture that seeps into cracks and joints in the pavement. When temperatures drop, the water freezes and expands the pavement. This expansion causes the pavement to bulge and crack. When cars drive over the bulging pavement, it eventually causes chunks of pavement to pop out.
MoDOT spends approximately $15 million a year on pothole patching with the majority of that during the month of March.
The state of Missouri maintains 34,000 miles of road including interstates, U.S. and Missouri routes and lettered routes. Potholes on city streets or subdivisions should be directed to local cities or counties.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Charges have been dropped against a Lawrence man who was jailed for 1.5 years in a sex crimes case.
Fifty-one-year-old Tracy Releford was charged after an encounter in August 2016 encounter with a 16-year-old girl that moved between Lawrence and Kansas City, Missouri.
Releford-photo Mo. Dept. of Corrections
The Lawrence Journal-World reports a judge ruled in February that probable cause did not exist to charge Releford with two felonies. Prosecutors dropped a remaining misdemeanor charge but said the case could be refiled.
Trial assistant Jill Spurling says the state’s witness didn’t show up for the preliminary hearing.
The original charge of aggravated human trafficking was dismissed in March 2017.
Releford will be transferred to Missouri custody on another charge.
Releford is the father of a former University of Kansas basketball player Travis Releford.
Maryville, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University Director of Athletics Mel Tjeerdsma has announced his retirement, effective April 30.
Tjeerdsma has served in the role since April 2013 after leading the Bearcat football program for 17 years.
“My past five years as athletic director have been very rewarding and this time has allowed me to give back to the university that I love,” Tjeerdsma said. “I would like to thank Dr. Jasinski for giving me the opportunity to return as athletics director.
“It’s hard to put into words how blessed I’ve been to work with our athletics administrative staff. They are the ones who have been responsible for getting the daily work done to allow our athletics department to accomplish so much over the past five years. I’ll always be grateful to all of our coaches for all of the energy and enthusiasm that they put into our athletics program each day. Along with all of those mentioned, I want to give a special thanks to our student-athletes and our great fans who make up the Bearcat family. It’s been a thrill to serve as athletics director at Northwest.”
According to a press release, during Tjeerdma’s tenure as athletics director, Northwest has captured four NCAA Division II national championships, 11 MIAA regular season titles and six MIAA tournament titles. During 2016-17, the Bearcats became the first institution in NCAA Division II history to win both a football and men’s basketball national championship in the same academic year.
As director of athletics, Tjeerdsma has also been instrumental in numerous facility upgrades on the Northwest campus, including the construction of a video board at Bearcat Stadium, the resurfacing of the track and new field turf at Bearcat Stadium, and the creation of the Harr Athletic Success Center. In the fall of 2018, the doors to the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse will open, marking the completion of the single largest public-private partnership in the history of Northwest Missouri State University.
On Jan. 8, Tjeerdsma was selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame by the National Football Foundation. He is one of three coaches, along with 10 former players, in the 2018 class, who will be inducted in December.
“Mel’s tremendous service to Northwest personifies a champion of Bearcats – champions in the classroom and in competition,” Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski said. “He is a tireless advocate of D-II student-athletes and of Bearcats – past, present and future. We are indebted to Mel and his wife, Carol, for their ongoing engagement and unabashed focus on always advancing Northwest.”
Mel Tjeerdsma file photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University.
During his time as head football coach of Northwest’s football program from 1994 to 2010, Tjeerdsma led the Bearcats to a 183-43 record, capturing three NCAA Division II national championships and 12 MIAA titles. He was a four-time American Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year honoree and was named MIAA Coach of the Year 12 times. He was the 2009 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year and is a member of the Division II Football Hall of Fame, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame, the MIAA Hall of Fame and Northwest’s M-Club Hall of Fame. In 2009, he was awarded the FCA Grant Teaff Lifetime Achievement Award.
Tjeerdsma earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Southern (S.D.) State College in 1967 and a master’s degree from Northwest in 1977. He and his wife, Carol, have three married daughters and eight grandchildren.
Jasinski said Northwest is evaluating its options in naming the University’s next director of athletics.
HANNIBAL, Mo. (AP) – A man could face life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder for killing his father with a crossbow and hiding the corpse in a freezer inside a Hannibal home.
The Hannibal Courier-Post reports that 32-year-old Carl Goldberg, formerly of Las Vegas, entered a guilty plea Wednesday, days before his trial was scheduled to begin. Sentencing in May 10.
The body of Carl Maxwell was found in October 2015, but authorities believe he was killed in February 2015.
Marion County prosecutor David Clayton is seeking a term of life in prison.
Prosecutors say Carl Goldberg became angry and shot his father in the head and chest with a crossbow following an argument.
POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) has identified the man killed Monday evening in an officer involved shooting in Wamego, Kan.
Straub- had two previous convictions for burglary in Pottawatomie Co., according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections
Ethan M. Straub, 25, of Wamego, was confirmed as the individual killed during an exchange of gunfire with multiple law enforcement agencies in Wamego.
Just after 6 p.m. Monday, the Wamego Police Department requested KBI assistance to respond to and investigate a shooting. KBI agents and the Crime Scene Response Team responded.
Preliminary information indicates that at approximately 5:30 p.m. Monday, law enforcement officers responded to the report of an armed carjacking at Kreem Kup Drive In, 601 W. Hwy 24 in Wamego. Law enforcement officers from several agencies made contact with the suspect at approximately 6 p.m. in the area of 8th St. and Pine St. Shortly after, gunfire was exchanged between the male suspect and five law enforcement officers from four agencies. The agencies who had officers fire during the incident were: the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office, the Wamego Police Department, and the St. George Police Department.
Officiers on the scene of Monday’s officer involved shooting-photo by Tiernan Shank courtesy WIBW TV
EMS responded, however, Straub was pronounced dead at the scene. No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident, however, one officer was transported to the hospital as a precaution due to a health concern.
The KBI will conduct a thorough and independent investigation into this incident. Once completed, the findings will be turned over to the Pottawatomie County Attorney for review.
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POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is investigating an officer involved shooting that occurred Monday evening in Wamego, according to a media release.
Just after 6 p.m., the Wamego Police Department requested KBI assistance to respond to and investigate a shooting. KBI agents and the Crime Scene Response Team responded.
Preliminary information indicates that at approximately 5:30 p.m. Monday, law enforcement officers responded to the report of an armed carjacking at Kreem Kup Drive In, 601 W. Hwy 24 in Wamego. Law enforcement officers from several agencies made contact with the suspect at approximately 6 p.m. in the area of 8th St. and Pine St. Shortly after, gunfire was exchanged between the male suspect and five law enforcement officers from four agencies. The agencies who had officers fire during the incident were: the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office, the Wamego Police Department, and the St. George Police Department.
EMS responded, however, the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident, however, one officer was transported to the hospital as a precaution due to a health concern.
The deceased individual will be identified once his next of kin is notified. No further information will be released at this time.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri zoo says a baby chimpanzee that was born Jan. 9 has fallen ill with a life-threatening viral infection.
The Kansas City Star reports that the Kansas City Zoo’s chimpanzee, Gracie, was removed from a troupe of chimpanzees, including her mother, 21-year-old Teeto.
Zoo officials said in a Facebook post that they ran tests after Gracie didn’t seem to be as big or as active as previous chimpanzee babies had been. They say she’s undergoing vital treatment and her prognosis is good, but her weakened immune system has left her vulnerable.
Gracie is currently being cared for by zoo staff and her treatment will likely take months.
Zoo officials say Gracie has continued to bond with her mother with regular visual and vocal contact.
It is that time of the year again! Tax season is upon us and with it comes a
Drew Purviance, Eagle Technology Solutions
barrage of different types of scams and phishing techniques. There are three certainties in this world — death, taxes and data loss.
Between January and April 15, malicious people out there are trying to combine two of those certainties.
No. 1 on the list of these scams is the IRS contacting you for mistakes on your taxes. Like Microsoft, the IRS is too big to care about us little guys and they will never call you. The scammers are calling now through the next few months telling you that you didn’t pay all of your taxes or that they found out you cheated your taxes and you need to pay now — or else. If you ever receive a call from the IRS, hang up immediately because the next words out of that person’s mouth undoubtedly will be that you owe them money.
Phishing is the next item up on the popularity list amongst these malicious scammers. Phishing is a form of scamming that takes place in your email. People will send out fake emails from fake addresses that appear real in an attempt to get you to reply with credentials or open a malicious attachment.
There are a lot this time of year “from the IRS” asking for a copy of your W-2 or for you to contact them. Again just delete these emails as they are just trying to steal personal information and or money from you.
This phishing scam is a popular one during the holidays, as well, with people posing as Fed-Ex or UPS and telling you that your shipment is held up and you need to open some malicious attachment.
If you would like further information on IRS scams, check out a full alert from the actual IRS at https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scams-consumer-alerts. If you have any questions or are wary of any received emails, give us a call at Eagle technology Solutions, and we will be able to let you know if the email is fake.
Kansas lawmakers return to the Statehouse on Wednesday still facing the largest challenge of this year’s session: balancing the budget and responding to a court order to spend more on schools.
In recent years, though, lawmakers plucked the low-hanging fruit when it comes to finding cash. That makes any revenue harvest ahead that much more difficult.
To help weather budget crunches in recent years, lawmakers have diverted hundreds of millions of dollars from the state’s highway fund. The current and coming year budgets already rely on about $580 million in diverted highway money to help balance the books.
Republican Rep. Steven Johnson, chair of the House Taxation Committee, said they’ve also turned to tax hikes in recent years along with reliance on highway money. Lawmakers have raised the sales tax and last year overturned the state’s 2012 tax cuts by overriding a veto from then-Gov. Sam Brownback.
Johnson said lawmakers might be tired of debates about raising taxes.
“I don’t see a tax plan that I am excited about that comes together out of that,” Johnson said.
Still, Johnson said his committee will discuss property taxes next week. The goal is to gauge how much of an increase lawmakers and the public would be willing to accept.
“And if you say ‘none,’ weigh in on how we address the courts,” Johnson said. “That’s the discussion that we need to have in earnest in the next week.”
Whatever lawmakers come up with, they’ll have to consider Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer’s position. He hasn’t given them a mandate, but outlined what he wants to see in the plan.
“Increased investments in K-12 education must come through a phased-in approach that doesn’t increase the tax burden on Kansas families,” Colyer said during a speech to lawmakers this month.
That adds further difficulty to passing a tax increase. Johnson said it would be especially difficult to gather enough votes to override Colyer’s veto.
Rep. Steven Johnson chairs the Kansas House Taxation Committee, which is struggling to find new revenue for state government. CREDIT STEPHEN KORANDA / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Legislators could also consider budget cuts to other services to boost spending on schools. Across-the-board cuts of 18 percent could be needed to come up with additional funding for Kansas schools.
Some lawmakers argued the state should have looked at spending cuts last year instead of raising taxes. That debate could be repeated this year if tax increases are on the table.
There’s another area of tax policy lawmakers have discussed in recent years: tax exemptions that give breaks to certain entities. The exemptions from sales tax range from haircuts and other services to Girl Scout cookies.
The challenge is that recipients of tax exemptions often fight hard to keep them.
“The resistance is very large,” Johnson said. “In fact, we have a very long list of requests for additional tax exemptions.”
House lawmakers passed a bill to repeal $60 million in sales tax exemptions last year, but it died in the Senate.
Tax collections consistently beating estimates will help the financial situation, but Johnson said there are other areas lawmakers also hope to boost spending. He said they’d like to invest in state mental health services and repay a missed payment into the state pension plan.
