KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A former Missouri county prosecutor and rising star in state Democratic politics has pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge.
Mike Sanders, who also was a Jackson County Executive, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Sanders’ longtime aide, Calvin Williford, pleaded guilty earlier Friday to the same charge.
The Department of Justice said Sanders and Williford directed political committees to issue checks to certain people who performed little or no campaign-related work. Instead, the people cashed the checks and returned part of the money to Sanders or Williford. The men used the cash for personal expenses, including trips to Las Vegas.
After serving as Jackson County prosecutor, Sanders was elected three times to be Jackson County Executive before resigning unexpectedly in December 2015.
Charles Walther teaches a Kansas history lesson at Shawnee Heights Middle School on Tuesday. Walther hopes a case pending before the Kansas Supreme Court could bring back tenure for some teachers. CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KCUR/KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Tenure, as Kansas public school teachers had known it for decades, died at the hands of lawmakers without a hearing in the spring of 2014.
No one disputes that.
This week, state and teachers union lawyers went head-to-head before the Kansas Supreme Court over whether the slaying of those long-standing job protections ran afoul of the state and U.S. constitutions.
“This was run through,” union lawyer David Schauner told the justices, “without any regard for whether anybody whose property was being taken would have an opportunity to respond before it was a fait accompli.”
If the justices find for the Kansas National Education Association, thousands or even tens of thousands of teachers who had earned tenure before the 2014 change could get their job protections back. If the ruling goes the other way, it will be the KNEA’s second failed attempt to upend the tenure repeal in court.
Before 2014, Kansas public school teachers earned tenure — formally called non-probationary status — in their fourth year at a single school district. If a district didn’t like a teacher’s work, administrators could prevent tenure by letting them go before the fourth year.
And if administrators wanted to fire a teacher after that, they had to give the reasons. Tenured teachers had the right to defend themselves against any allegations by presenting witnesses or documents to an independent hearing officer.
The union’s fight to win those protections back hinges on the idea that tenure is property — and that government can’t take people’s property without giving them notice and a chance to object.
Not true in this case, said Ed Keeley, a lawyer for the Flinthills school district near Wichita. Keeley said tenure was just a provision in state law, not the constitution — the House and Senate voting to change it is sufficient.
“We elect these legislators to make those decisions,” Keeley said.
He was skeptical lawmakers needed to do anything more — such as tell the public in advance.
“Do they have to publish it in a paper? I mean what notice are we talking about?” he said. “We have to send out emails to everybody on a list?”
But Schauner called the 2014 repeal “a midnight raid” on people’s property with little room for lawmakers to dissent.
The tenure change was part of a school funding bill. The House amended it without hearings in either chamber, and Schauner argued lawmakers could hardly vote down the bill because it contained money to fulfill a court order in a high-stakes school finance lawsuit.
Schauner faced tough questions from the justices about whether that matters. After all, it’s not uncommon to makes changes to law that didn’t pass through public hearings first. Schauner argued the bar is higher here.
“What was being taken was, in the case of my two clients, their livelihood,” he said.
It’s unclear how many teachers had tenure when the legislature ended it in 2014. Neither the KNEA nor the state education department kept count.
The Kansas Association of School Boards has said it was too difficult sometimes to remove bad teachers who had tenure.
Charles Walther, a social studies teacher at Shawnee Heights Middle School, disagreed. Walther said tenure lets teachers take unpopular stances — such as making a child repeat a grade — without fear of an unfair firing that could ruin their job prospects elsewhere.
“In this business, if you don’t have your reputation you don’t have much,” said the KNEA member and teacher of 22 years.
GRETNA, La. (AP) — The man who killed NFL running back Joe McKnight in a December 2016 road-rage confrontation was found guilty of manslaughter Friday by a jury in suburban New Orleans.
Jurors began deliberations Friday afternoon in the case of Ronald Gasser, 56. Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.
Defense attorneys had claimed Gasser feared for his life when he fired from his driver’s seat at McKnight, who was standing at his open passenger-side window.
Police said the death had followed a 5-mile (8-kilometer) rolling confrontation that began with dangerously aggressive driving on a New Orleans bridge and ended with McKnight being shot as he stood outside Gasser’s car at a suburban intersection.
Prosecutors didn’t deny that McKnight drove dangerously before he was killed. “We do not dispute that he was driving like a jerk,” Assistant District Attorney Seth Shute told jurors in closing arguments, alluding to witness testimony that McKnight weaved in and out of traffic, cutting Gasser and others off, at high speed.
But Shute said Gasser escalated the danger, taking McKnight’s driving as a challenge. “Mr. Gasser thought that Mr. McKnight had thrown the gauntlet down,” Shute told jurors, later adding, “He followed him off the exit. That was not his exit.”
Shute acknowledged that McKnight had a hand on the open, passenger side window of Gasser’s car before he was shot. But he said physical evidence proved Gasser lied during extensive police questioning when he claimed McKnight lunged at him. He cited the lack of gun powder on McKnight’s body as evidence that McKnight wasn’t close to Gasser. “Joe McKnight was not lunging,” he added, citing autopsy results. “There would be a hole in his deltoid muscle if he was.”
Defense lawyer Matthew Goetz said Gasser wasn’t pursuing McKnight down the exit that day but simply taking an alternate route to his nearby home, having been distracted by McKnight.
Gasser did not seek a confrontation at the traffic light where McKnight exited his own vehicle and walked up to Gasser’s passenger window. Louisiana law allows the use of lethal force by someone who believes someone entering his or her home or car is a threat. “What do you think he was doing when he went to the window, inviting him to tea?”
McKnight was considered the No. 1 running back recruit in the country when he came out of John Curtis Christian School in Louisiana in 2006. He signed with the University of Southern California, where he ran for 2,213 yards and 13 touchdowns and caught 66 passes for 542 yards and two scores in three seasons.
In the NFL, he played three seasons for the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent a season in the Canadian Football League, playing two games for the Edmonton Eskimos and three for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
He was shot Dec. 1, 2016. Gasser never left the shooting scene and was initially freed after more than eight hours of questioning.
Gasser’s release sparked protests at the time, and some said race played a role in his release — Gasser is white and McKnight was black. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, who has since retired, angrily denied that race played any role in the case and said a thorough investigation led to the arrest. Prosecutors later recounted a painstaking effort including an extensive search for witnesses and physical evidence that eventually led to Gasser being charged.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld the conviction and sentence of a woman in the brutal killing of a 52-year-old Lawrence man.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the state court on Friday upheld 23-year-old Sarah Gonzales-McLinn’s conviction and Hard 50 sentence for killing Harold Sasko in 2014. The court sent the case back to Douglas County District Court for re-sentencing, saying the judge erred in ordering that she be under lifetime supervision upon release.
Gonzales-McLinn, of Topeka, was convicted of first-degree murder in March 2015 of drugging and nearly beheading Sasko at his Lawrence home. Authorities say McLinn drugged Sasko, tied him up and inflicted deep cuts on his neck. She was arrested two weeks after the killing in Florida.
Sasko was Gonzales-McLinn’s supervisor at a Lawrence pizza restaurant.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Scoring legend Jackie Stiles is returning to the bench as an assistant for Missouri State while awaiting cancer surgery.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that Stiles will be back on the sidelines Friday after a nearly three-week absence. She is undergoing treatment for ocular melanoma and will undergo surgery Feb. 2. Stiles says her prognosis “remains very good” and expressed thanks for “all the support so far.” A news release announcing her cancer said it was caught early.
Stiles was the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history until Kelsey Plum broke her record last season. Stiles led Missouri State to the NCAA Final Four in 2001.
Stiles says she plans on waiting to share her experience until she returns to full-time coaching.
BROWN COUNTY — A Kansas man died in an accident just before 12:30p.m. Friday in Brown County.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, a 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by Ernest Benjamin Reynolds III, 40, Morrill, was westbound on 280th Road one mile east of Hamlin at a high rate of speed,
The driver lost control of the vehicle. It left the roadway to the south, traveled through a barbed wire fence and a telephone pole, went airborne over a creek bed and came to rest in a pasture south of the roadway.
Reynolds was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Authorities say a third suspect has been arrested in a drug-deal killing at a Springfield motel.
Springfield police tweeted Thursday night that 22-year-old Cassidy Clayton is in custody. Thirty-one-year-old Tyson Lee Hamm was arrested Wednesday after a standoff, and 29-year-old Andre Seth Smiles was taken into custody three weeks ago for a parole violation. The Springfield News-Leader reports that they’re charged with second-degree murder in the Dec. 29 killing of 41-year-old Stephen Dowd, of Fredericktown.
Court records say Dowd was shot during a struggle after going to a motel room with another man to purchase $1,000 worth of meth. Police allege that Hamm and Smiles then robbed Dowd. Clayton is accused of facilitating the drug deal.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the State of Board of Education’s response to criticism of a high-ranking Kansas education official (all times local):
3:40 p.m.
The State Board of Education has expressed its full support for a top Kansas schools official under fire from some lawmakers.
The board voted 9-1 Friday to advise Education Commissioner Randy Watson of its full support for Deputy Commissioner Dale Dennis.
Watson would have the final decision on whether to discipline Dennis over questions about how some school funding dollars were allocated.
The board met after House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. and Senate President Susan Wagle sought to have Dennis and his staff suspended. Their request was a response to an audit last month that questioned how some transportation dollars were being allocated.
1:55 p.m.
The State Board of Education is having a private meeting with a top Kansas education official under fire from top Republican legislators.
The board held its session Friday with Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis after having a closed session to discuss legal issues related to the allocation of transportation funds.
The board convened after House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. and Senate President Susan Wagle sought the suspension of Dennis and members of his staff.
An audit last month questioned the legality of how some transportation funds have been distributed for years. The top Republican lawmakers said they want a thorough audit of school funding.
The audit said state law did not authorize the calculation in distributing transportation dollars. Dennis has said lawmakers knew of the practice for decades.
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1:25 p.m.
Dozens of local school superintendents and Kansas lawmakers have packed the State Board of Education’s meeting room to show their support for a high-ranking education official.
The board had a closed session Friday to discuss legal issues and planned to have another one to discuss personnel matters.
It met after House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. and Senate President Susan Wagle sought the suspension of longtime Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis and members of his staff.
The Republican lawmakers’ request followed an audit questioning the legality of how some transportation funds have been distributed for years. They said they want a thorough audit of school funding.
But dozens of other lawmakers signed a letter supporting Dennis and four former governors sent their own calling for a vote of confidence in him.
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12:30 p.m.
Four former Kansas governors are urging the State Board of Education to give a vote of confidence to a high-ranking education official under fire from legislators.
The four ex-governors sent a letter Friday supporting Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis ahead of a special board meeting. Former Republican Govs. Mike Hayden and Bill Graves and ex-Democratic Govs. John Carlin and Kathleen Sebelius signed it.
The board scheduled its meeting after House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. and Senate President Susan Wagle asked to have Dennis and members of his staff suspended. The Republican lawmakers’ request followed an audit questioning the legality of how some transportation funds have been distributed for years.
The four governors said the data provided by Dennis throughout his decades-long career has been of the highest quality.
KANSAS CITY —Former Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper James Carson pleaded guilty in federal court to violating an individual’s civil rights by using excessive force, according to Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division John Gore.
According to documents filed in connection with the plea, on June 25, 2013, the Defendant, James Carson, was acting under color of law as a Trooper for the Kansas Highway Patrol when he used unreasonable force against an arrestee, R.T.
According to the documents, Carson conducted a lawful arrest and then transported R.T. to the Labette County Jail, where at least five other law enforcement officials were present. As Carson removed R.T. from the patrol vehicle and escorted him into the booking area, R.T.’s hands were cuffed behind his back. Without warning, Carson kicked the legs out from underneath R.T., causing R.T. to crash down on his back onto the floor. Carson admitted in court that he used force against R.T. for the purpose of punishment and not for a legitimate law enforcement purpose.
As part of the plea agreement, Carson has agreed to surrender his law enforcement credentials and never again accept any employment related to law enforcement.
“Any law enforcement official who uses excessive and unreasonable force against an arrestee violates the Constitution and its provision to provide for the safety and security of all citizens,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to aggressively prosecute officer misconduct and protect the integrity of our civil rights laws.”
This case was investigated by the Topeka Resident Agency of the Kansas City Field Office of the FBI. The case was initially investigated by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Maag of the United States Attorney’s Office and Trial Attorney Rose Gibson of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.
PINEVILLE, Mo. (AP) – A man has been sentenced to five years of supervised probation for a head-on crash that killed a Missouri woman and a Florida man.
The Joplin Globe reports that 37-year-old Donovan Ryan, of Pineville, was sentenced after pleading guilty Thursday to two first-degree involuntary manslaughter counts and a second-degree assault count.
Court documents say a pickup truck he was driving crossed the center line of Missouri 59 and struck another vehicle in March 2015 about 2 miles north of the town of Noel. The crash killed 28-year-old Ashley Tharp, of Pineville, and 27-year-old Cody Blevins, of Sebastian, Florida. A 7-year-old boy also was seriously injured.
Ryan previously pleaded guilty to the less serious charges of careless and imprudent driving and driving on the wrong side of the road.
