ST. ROBERT, Mo. (AP) – Authorities are searching for a man charged in a shooting that killed two people and wounded two others in south-central Missouri.
Forty-four-year-old Richard Taylor is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and other criminal charges.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department says the shooting Thursday in St. Robert killed 24-year-old Johnathan Graham, of Crocker, and 53-year-old Sherry Gann of Dixon. The two people who were wounded were identified as 28-year-old Cassandra Gann, of Crocker, and 49-year-old David Reeves, of Dixon.
KYTV reports that Sheriff Jimmy Bench says Taylor is considered armed and dangerous. The public is urged not to approach him. Court records say he has a prior conviction for murder.
Besides Taylor, a 34-year-old man is wanted for questioning.
SHAWNEE COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting near the Washburn University campus early Sunday and have suspect in custody.
After turning himself in to police in Lawrence, Zachary Buck-Schrag, 21, was transported Monday evening to the Department of Corrections in Topeka. He is being held on charges of Felony Murder, Criminal Discharge of a Firearm, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.
Just after 12 a.m. Sunday, police officers responded to a report of a gunshot heard in the area of 22nd Park and Mulvane near the Washburn University campus in Topeka, according to Lt. Steve Roth.
Officers found a passenger car in the tree line. The driver identified as Travis Larsen, 37 , Topeka, was dead.
Buck-Schrag has a previous conviction for flee/attempt to elude police, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
——
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have suspect in custody.
Just after 12 a.m. Sunday, police officers responded to a report of a gunshot heard in the area of 22nd Park and Mulvane near the Washburn University campus in Topeka, according to Lt. Steve Roth.
Officers found a passenger car in the tree line. The driver identified as Travis Larsen, 37 , Topeka, was dead.
Police say someone was seen running from the scene onto the Washburn University campus. The school issued an alert asking students to shelter in place but lifted it when the suspect couldn’t be found on campus.
On Monday police asked for help to locate a person of interest in the case, according to Lt. Colleen Stuart. Zachary Buck-Schrag, 21, turned himself into police in Lawrence on Monday afternoon.
Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to call DET Lance Green at 785-368-9400 or Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007.
———
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting, have identified a woman shown in security camera images and are asking for help to locate a person interest.
Just after 12 a.m. Sunday, police officers responded to a report of a gunshot heard in the area of 22nd Park and Mulvane near the Washburn University campus in Topeka, according to Lt. Steve Roth.
Officers found a passenger car in the tree line. The driver identified as Travis Larsen, 37 , Topeka, was dead.
Police say someone was seen running from the scene onto the Washburn University campus. The school issued an alert asking students to shelter in place but lifted it when the suspect couldn’t be found on campus.
Police now want to find a person of interest in the case, according to Lt. Colleen Stuart. Zachary Buck-Schrag, 21, is described as a white male, 5-foot-11, and weights 170 pounds.
Schrag is considered armed and dangerous. Police advised if you see him do not approach him but call 911
Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to call DET Lance Green at 785-368-9400 or Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007.
———-
Police have identified a woman seen near the crime scene- photo courtesy Topeka Police
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have asked for help to identify a woman shown in security camera images.
Just after 12 a.m. Sunday, police officers responded to a report of a gunshot heard in the area of 22nd Park and Mulvane near the Washburn University campus in Topeka, according to Lt. Steve Roth.
Officers found a passenger car in the tree line with the driver deceased.
Late Sunday morning, police requested the public’s help in identifying a woman seen in security camera images. She is believed to have been in the SUV which is parked at the gas pumps in the photo.
Police did not indicate how she might be connected to the shooting.
Anyone with information regarding this attempt to identify is encouraged to call The Topeka Police Department Criminal Investigations Bureau at 785-368-9400
———–
Police on the scene of Sunday’s suspicious death-photo courtesy WIBW TV
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting.
Just after 12 a.m. Sunday, police officers responded to a report of a gunshot heard in the area of 22nd Park and Mulvane near the Washburn University campus in Topeka, according to Lt. Steve Roth.
Officers found a passenger car in the tree line with the driver deceased.
This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call the Topeka Police Criminal Investigations Bureau at 785-368-9400 or Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Overland Park police say a call from a man claiming he shot a relative was a hoax.
Police spokesman Officer John Lacy says dispatchers received a call Monday morning from a man who said he shot a relative inside a home and he would shoot police if they showed up.
Officers surrounded the home but eventually determined a man and two sons inside had not made the call and no one in the house was hurt.
Lacy says such calls, sometimes called “swatting,” aren’t funny. He says investigators are looking for the caller, who could face charges.
The call comes about three weeks after a similar call in Wichita led police to fatally shoot a man who opened the door at a home that was the target of the hoax.
Grandview police say Williams’ body was discovered about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in the 6700 block of East 119th Street. photo by Brett Hacker courtesy KCTV News
GRANDVIEW, Mo. (AP) – Police in a Kansas City suburb say a 27-year-old woman’s body was found inside a burning dumpster.
Grandview police identified the woman as Lynnette Williams. Her body was found Sunday inside a dumpster at the Arbors of Grandview apartments.
The dumpster had been set on fire.
Police said Monday a person of interest in the case is in custody.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is delaying a planned tour to talk about his tax change proposals after admitting to having an extramarital affair.
The Republican governor’s spokesman, Parker Briden, said Monday that Greitens will still unveil his policy goals this week, but that he’s delaying a promotional tour.
Greitens acknowledged being “unfaithful” in his marriage after a Wednesday report by St. Louis television station KMOV about his affair with a woman in 2015.
Greitens has denied more lurid allegations contained in a secretly recorded conversation between the woman and her ex-husband, including claims that Greitens threatened to release photos of her if she spoke about the affair. The woman’s attorneys say she wants the media and public to leave her alone.
The scandal could present major challenges as Greitens seeks to implement his tax change agenda.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Kansas has set the ambitious goal of seeing 95 percent of its students graduate from high school. FILE PHOTO / SOUTHEAST KANSAS EDUCATION SERVICE CENTER
Today, about three of every 20 students in Kansas fail to graduate from high school. Gov. Sam Brownback contends that in five years, only one will fall short.
That would vault Kansas from the middle of the pack to a level no state in the country hits today.
Education experts question if it’s realistic. The governor and the education department, they say, ask for too much too soon. After all, the early years of school weigh heavily. Work with kids learning their alphabet and colors — as much as those studying capitalism and algebra — can determine later who sticks it out.
And some warn that pushing for too much too fast could backfire.
Still, this week Brownback set the ambitious goal to hit the mark by 2023. The Kansas State Department of Education hopes to reach that 95 percent graduation by 2026.
CLICK TO ENLARGE Note: the black line shows the average national graduation rate for 2015-16. CREDIT STEPHAN BISAHA / EDUCATION WEEK, NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS
“Is it going to be hard? Yes,” said Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson. “I won’t say it was going to be easy, but we do think it’s a realistic, ambitious goal.”
The most recent figures show just shy of 86 percent of Kansas kids get their high school diplomas. That’s slightly above the national average, which is at a record high. Iowa leads the nation at 91.3 percent.
“Without question, it’s going to be a tall order,” says Craig Elliot, the chair of Wichita State University’s District Leadership program.
Experts don’t know what the ceiling is for graduation rates. There will always be some people who don’t graduate, said Russell Rumberger, director of the California Dropout Research Project and a professor at University of California, Santa Barbara.
If 95 percent is within reach, he said, it won’t come in the next five years.
“That’s less realistic, I think, to do it in that short amount of time,” says Rumberger.
It’s simply hard to deliver better graduation rates quickly when so many of the factors that make a difference start at the beginning, even preschool.
“That’s not to say there are not things that can be done in high school to get the graduation rate up,” Rumberger said. “I’m just saying to reach a really high number is going to involve more than just changes in high schools.”
A rush to increase the graduation rate too quickly might actually hurt.
Watson, the education commissioner, told the Kansas Board of Regents that a fast upturn in graduation rates might signal the system is being gamed. It could reflect simply reflect a drop in standards — perhaps in response to the pressure to meet an unrealistic goal.
Yet Watson said the target could be reached by 2023, without cheating. By tracking other measures, such as how prepared students are for college, educators can keep the numbers honest.
Whatever happens in classrooms, other factors will weigh heavily. For instance, home and health issues can lead to multiple absences, a strong indicator that a student will dropout.
All those complications make reaching such a high graduation rate difficult. Even large-scale change might not be enough.
“It’s very, very difficult,” said Elaine Allensworth, the director of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. “I’m still not sure if you can achieve it.”
FRANKLIN COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged criminal threat.
Just before 8:30 Saturday, police arrested Jeremy Penland, 38 years old, of Ottawa, Kansas, after criminal threats were posted publicly in his name on social media threatening to “shoot up” Ransom Memorial Health (RMH) located at 1301 S. Main Street, in Ottawa, Kansas, according to a media release.
Before attempts were made to locate Penland and confirm the threats, RMH chose to lock down the facility at 7:17 p.m. Ottawa Police Officers and Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Deputies were dispatched to the hospital to protect the staff and patients from potential harm.
A separate team of officers were assembled in order to locate Penland. During this effort a vehicle was seen leaving the house of a Penland associate. At 8:18 p.m. officers made traffic stop on E. 2nd Street near the intersection with S. Cedar.
The driver of the car was cooperative, but a man ignored officers’ instructions and exited the car. He was recognized by officers, deputies and Kansas Highway Patrol Troopers as Penland. Penland would not follow officers’ instructions and concealed one of his hands behind his back before fleeing down an alley between E. 2nd and E. 3rd Streets.
Penland ran west between houses and was apprehended near S. Cedar Street after being subdued with a Taser and taken into custody at 8:22 p.m.
Officers arrested Penland and transported him to the hospital for a medical evaluation because of the Taser deployment. The driver of the car was cooperative and released from the scene of the traffic stop.
After treatment, officers transported Penland to jail on suspicion of making criminal threats in the RMH incident. He was also arrested on charges in other cases from earlier in the day and in past several days.
He is being held on held on requested charges of aggravated assault, criminal threat, child endangerment, domestic battery, reckless driving, aggravated criminal threat and interference of judicial process according to the Franklin County Jail.
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Goodwill, a job training agency best known for its thrift stores, is entering the field of education in Missouri.
St. Louis Public Radio reports that MERS Goodwill, the branch that covers Missouri and southern Illinois, has won a contract with Missouri education officials to open four adult high schools. Each will be known as an Excel Center.
The first is scheduled to open in St. Louis in October. It will enroll 200 to 300 students over the age of 21, and charge no tuition. The school will offer 90-minute courses from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and provide free child care.
The other schools will be in Poplar Bluff, Columbia and Springfield.
In addition to Goodwill donations the state is providing $8 million for the schools.
KANSAS CITY (AP) – The Kansas City Zoo has a new arrival.
The zoo announced Friday that a female chimpanzee named Gracie was born earlier in the week to 21-year-old Teetoo.
Gracie is Teetoo’s first baby. Teetoo and her twin sister, Teeoni, came to Kansas City from the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, Kansas, in 2003.
It will be several weeks before visitors get to see the new chimp, which is bonding with its mother behind the scenes.
Gracie is the third chimp born at the Kansas City Zoo in as many years. The zoo now has 13 chimpanzees.
Ruw, a female chimpanzee born at the zoo last year, went on public display Friday. She was rejected by her mother and had to be hand raised by zookeepers.
