TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Tests found a high level of alcohol in the blood of a Kansas man who fatally shot his brother and then himself last year.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports an autopsy found the blood alcohol level of 29-year-old Shawn Jacobs to be 0.34, more than four times the legal limit in Kansas. No other drugs were found in his system.

Shawnee County District Coroner Charles Glenn said Jacobs committed suicide by shooting himself in the head on Sept. 28.

Topeka police say Jacobs shot his brother, 36-year-old Robert Raymond Jacobs Jr., after they argued when both their vehicles got stuck in the mud while on a fishing trip near the Kansas River near Topeka.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas State Board of Education has approved an audit of how state funds are distributed to public schools following questions about the allocation of some dollars.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the board accepted a recommendation Tuesday from Education Commissioner Randy Watson. The review is expected to start within two months and will examine whether funds are distributed in keeping with the state’s school funding law.

A legislative audit said in December that a calculation used for decades to distribute transportation funds to school districts wasn’t authorized by state law. It said the state spent an additional $45 million over the past five years because of the calculation.

The board agreed to the broader audit after rejecting a push by some legislators to suspend Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis.

By STEPHEN KORANDA

President Donald Trump unveiled a $1.5 trillion infrastructure proposal on Monday built on plans that would more heavily rely on state and local dollars being matched with money from Washington.

For Kansas, that poses both challenges and opportunities. The state is short on funding for new construction work, but it’s already begun looking at other options to pay for roads, bridges and the like.

Trump’s plan would include $200 billion in federal funds. That money would be used for matching funds, loans and incentives for state and local governments to raise money in other ways.

The limited federal dollars would mean states and local governments would have to provide more money for projects. The plan is aimed at driving new funding strategies such as tolling and public-private partnerships.

That requirement for states to provide more funding could be tough for Kansas. State lawmakers and the governor have repeatedly dipped into the highway fund in recent years, diverting billions of dollars to help balance the state budget.

Republican Sen. John Skubal said lawmakers are already looking for ways to make sure Kansas can meet current matching fund targets. That could get more difficult if the state has to provide more money.

“I don’t want to be on the outside looking in if there are federal dollars that are going to come potentially to the state of Kansas,” Skubal said. “I want to have whatever match we’re going to have to have.”

Skubal has been pushing a bill that would form a task force to study Kansas transportation and long-term funding issues.

Part of the goal would be to consider new options to help diversify road funding, such as charging drivers to access express lanes on busy highways. Lawmakers could also look for partnerships where projects are jointly funded by the state, local governments and private organizations that would benefit from the new roads.

“I want to leverage all of our resources as much as we possibly can so we can continue moving our state forward,” Skubal said.

Those types of proposals are likely in line with the goals of Trump’s policy outline.

Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer hailed the proposal for another provision, a promised $50 billion investment in rural areas.

“Investing in infrastructure is key to jump-starting economic development and job growth, and we are excited to see this much-needed investment in rural America,” Colyer said in a news release.

The rural spending would largely be sent to states in block grants. Colyer said that would give flexibility to local leaders.

“Kansans know what Kansas needs more than bureaucrats in Washington,” the governor said in the release.

Trump’s infrastructure plans now go to Congress, where lawmakers will consider the options and likely make changes.

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A health care operator’s recent deal to move from Missouri to Kansas has reignited criticism of the economic border issue that has seen both states dish out millions to dozens of companies to move across the state line.

Kansas is giving HCA Midwest Health about $3 million in tax breaks to move its headquarters 4 miles from Kansas City to Overland Park.

Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer works for the hospital chain. His spokesman says the deal was done before Colyer replaced the former governor and he didn’t know it was in the works.

Critics of the border war say that trying to lure companies across the state line drains the tax base of both states while not creating any new net jobs.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A judge is weighing a man’s claim that that a deadly Lawrence shooting was self-defense.

The preliminary hearing for Steven Drake III ended with a judge taking the case under advisement. Drake is charged with first-degree murder charge in the killing of Bryce Holladay.

The shooting happened in September after Holladay began rummaging through items in a home where Drake was living with roommates. Holladay is accused of throwing punches as several people tried to push him out.

Drake told police he gave Holladay “fair warning.” At the time, Holladay was awaiting trial in an unrelated auto burglary and theft case.

Prosecutors argue that deadly force wasn’t reasonable because no one was at risk of great bodily harm or death. Drake knew Holladay.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas father and husband who is fighting efforts to deport him to Bangladesh was taken off a plane that was flying him back to his native country and is being held at a detention center in Hawaii, his attorneys said Tuesday.

Federal immigration officials put Syed Ahmed Jamal, who has lived in Kansas for 30 years, on the plane Monday before a federal immigration panel granted a temporary stay in the case. He was taken off the flight when it stopped to refuel in Honolulu, the firm representing him, Sharma-Crawford Attorneys at Law, posted on its Facebook page. Attorney Rekha Sharma-Crawford didn’t immediately reply to messages left Tuesday seeking further details, and it’s unclear what the next step will be for Jamal, who is hoping to remain in the U.S. with his wife and three children, who are all U.S. citizens.

It was the latest dramatic turn for Jamal, who has been battling deportation since Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him Jan. 24 at his family’s home in Lawrence.

A federal immigration judge early Monday removed a temporary stay he issued last week for Jamal, who was being held in a detention center in El Paso, Texas. His attorneys immediately sought a new stay from the Board of Immigration Appeals in Virginia, which granted one later Monday, but not before Jamal was put on a flight to Bangladesh, Sharma-Crawford said Monday.

Jamal’s possible deportation had prompted 94,000 people to sign a petition in his support. Rep. Emauel Cleaver, a Democrat from Missouri whose office was flooded with calls about the case, took up Jamal’s cause, even visiting him in El Paso over the weekend. On Monday, before the second order was issued, he issued a statement saying he would continue with plans to draft a bill prompted by Jamal’s case that shows how “this broken and unfair” immigration system affects families who have deep ties to their communities.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, whose Kansas district includes Lawrence, also said before the second stay was issued that she supported Jamal’s efforts to have his immigration case reopened.

“My heart aches for his wife and children,” Jenkins said. “I cannot imagine what they are going through during this very difficult time.”

Jamal has worked as an adjunct professor and researcher at Kansas City-area colleges. He entered the U.S. legally in 1987 to attend the University of Kansas but overstayed his visa while pursuing a doctorate. He was ordered deported in 2011 but had been allowed to stay in the U.S. and check in regularly with immigration authorities.

Sharma-Crawford said Jamal has a work permit that is valid until October 2018 and that he was trying to work within what she said was a complicated immigration system.

ICE officials have consistently declined to explain why they chose to enforce the order in late January.

———–

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A man who has lived in Kansas for 30 years was already on a plane being deported back to his native Bangladesh when a federal immigration board issued a new stay Monday that his supporters hope will allow him to be returned to Lawrence, his attorneys said.

It was a dramatic day for the family and supporters of Syed Ahmed Jamal, 55, who have been battling deportation since he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Jan. 24 in Lawrence at a home he shares with his wife and three children, who are U.S. citizens.

A federal immigration judge early Monday removed a temporary stay he issued last week for Jamal, who was being held in a detention center in El Paso, Texas. His attorneys immediately filed a new motion for a stay with the Board of Immigration Appeals in Virginia, which granted the motion later Monday.

Before the second order was issued, Jamal was placed on a plane back to Bangladesh, said his attorney, Rekha Sharma-Crawford. The plane is scheduled to refuel in Hawaii and Sharma-Crawford said she was hopeful he would be taken off the plane and be sent back to the U.S., KMBC reported.

Jamal’s possible deportation had prompted 94,000 people to sign a petition in his support. Rep. Emauel Cleaver, a Democrat from Missouri whose office was flooded with calls about the case, took up Jamal’s cause, even visiting him in El Paso during the weekend. On Monday, before the second order was issued, he issued a statement saying he would continue with plans to draft a bill prompted by Jamal’s case that shows how “this broken and unfair” immigration system affects families who have deep ties to their communities.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, whose Kansas district includes Lawrence, also said before the second stay was issued that she supported Jamal’s efforts to have his immigration case reopened.

“My heart aches for his wife and children,” Jenkins said. “I cannot imagine what they are going through during this very difficult time.”

Jamal is a native of Bangladesh. While in the U.S., he has worked as an adjunct professor and researcher at Kansas City-area colleges

Jamal entered the U.S. legally in 1987 to attend the University of Kansas but overstayed his visa while pursuing a doctorate. He was ordered deported in 2011 but had been allowed to stay in the U.S. and check in regularly with immigration authorities. Sharma-Crawford said Jamal has a work permit that is valid until October 2018 and that he was trying to work within what she said was a complicated immigration system.

ICE officials have consistently declined to explain why they chose to enforce the order in late January.

5:15 p.m.

A federal immigration board has granted a new stay of removal for a Kansas chemist who is battling efforts to deport him to Bangladesh.

That came Monday afternoon, hours after a federal immigration judge dissolved a temporary stay he had issued last week for 55-year-old Syed Ahmed Jamal, who was arrested in late January in Lawrence.

Jamal’s attorneys quickly filed a new motion for a stay with the Board of Immigration Appeals in Virginia, which granted it late.

The chemist and adjunct professor has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years. He and his wife have three U.S. native children live in Lawrence.

His arrest and possible deportation sparked protests and criticism, including from Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.

Immigration officials have not explained why they decided to arrest him Jan. 24.

——

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A judge has denied a stay that would keep a Kansas chemist in the U.S. while he battles immigration officials’ efforts to deport him to Bangladesh.

Attorneys for 55-year-old Syed Ahmed Jamal said a federal immigration judge on Monday dissolved a temporary stay issued last week, meaning Jamal could be deported at any time. Jamal’s attorneys immediately filed a new motion for stay with the Board of Immigration Appeals in Virginia.

Jamal, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years, was arrested Jan. 24 in Lawrence.

His attorneys at the Sharma-Crawford firm in Kansas City said Monday it was unclear whether Jamal was still at a detention center in El Paso, Texas.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri and Rep. Lynn Jenkins of Kansas issued statements Monday saying they were disappointed in the judge’s decision.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) – Applebee’s has temporarily closed a restaurant and fired three employees accused of falsely accusing two black women of “dining and dashing.”

The Kansas City Star reports that Applebee’s said in a statement that it doesn’t “tolerate racism, bigotry or harassment.” The statement said it was closing the restaurant in the Independence Center shopping mall so employees can “regroup, learn and grow.”

There’ve been more than 2 million views of the video Alexis Brison posted Saturday to Facebook of her and a friend denying allegations that they previously left the Applebee’s without paying. Brison, of St. Louis, began recording after being confronted by a police officer, mall security guard and an Applebee’s manager.

She can be heard saying in the video, “This is what black people have to deal with.”

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Kansas election officials are putting the brakes on a dog’s campaign for governor.

KWCH-TV reports that Terran Woolley, of Hutchinson, decided to file the paperwork over the weekend for his 3-year-old pooch, Angus, to run for the state’s top office after reading stories about six teenage candidates. The teens entered the race after learning Kansas doesn’t have an age requirement, something lawmakers are seeking to change.

Angus is a type of hunting dog called a wire-haired Vizsla. Woolley figured Angus would need to run as a Republican. He described Angus as a “caring, nurturing individual who cares about the best for humanity and all creatures other than squirrels.”

But the Kansas Secretary of State’s office says man’s best friend is not capable of serving the responsibilities required of the governor.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — The outgoing head of a suburban St. Louis school district has been picked to lead the third largest Kansas school system.

The Shawnee Mission School District announced the selection of Mike Fulton as superintendent Monday. He comes to the nearly 28,000-student suburban Kansas City district from Pattonville Public Schools, where he previously announced he wouldn’t seek a contract extension.

Fulton replaces Jim Hinson, who was just 54 when he announced in April that he was retiring to spend more time with his family. Hinson became a lightning rod in part because of his support of former Gov. Sam Brownback’s 2015 plan to replace the school finance formula with block grants. That policy later was ruled unconstitutional.

The district is expected to play a role as lawmakers craft a new school finance formula.