CLAY COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before 10:30p.m. Wednesday in Clay County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Ford passenger vehicle driven by Nicole M. Shields, 40, Kearney, was westbound on Mo. 92 just west of Route RA.
The vehicle hit a pedestrian identified as Theresa M. Smith, 33, Liberty, who was walking down the center of the road. Smith was transported to Liberty Hospital where she died.
The accident remains under investigation.
By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN
Fellow Republicans on Wednesday characterized Gov. Sam Brownback’s spending plan — more than $6.6 billion a year — as a beeline return to deficits and an abdication of responsibility in a budding crisis.
The governor, poised to leave for a spot in the Trump administration, unveiled a five-year, $600 million increase in school funding Tuesday evening. When lawmakers dug into that proposal Wednesday, they griped about key details.
For one, they found irony in Brownback relying on a two-year $1.2 billion tax hike passed last year. After all, the governor vetoed it and forced his own party’s leaders to muster an override.
For another, even that money isn’t enough. It’ll only edge up toward Brownback’s school funding goal in the first two years. By the summer of 2019, the state would stare down another deficit. The governor’s plan doesn’t explain where Kansas would find even more school dollars in years three, four and five.
“This is not balanced,” said Republican Rep. Troy Waymaster, head of the House budget committee. “We’re going to have to find a way to balance the budget.”
Sen. Laura Kelly, a Democrat on the Senate budget committee who is running for governor, called it “mean-spirited” to make lawmakers clean up the mess.
“We’re going to have to be the bad guys,” she said.
Salina conservative J.R. Claeys, one of the Republican representatives who stood by Brownback’s 2012 signature tax cuts when others united to undo them last summer, tweeted that Brownback had “waved the white flag of surrender from the dome, and tossed every ally he had left under the bus.”
Brownback long touted the principles of small government and economic growth through tax cuts, but is now promising schools a growing piece of a pie made bigger through tax hikes.
The governor proposed to spend a combined $325 million more across the state budget between now and mid-2019.
His budget director, Shawn Sullivan, credited the “Trump economy” for the expectation of rising state revenues.
“That is in stark comparison to what we’ve had the last couple years,” he said. “So Hopefully that continues and picks up even more with (recently passed federal) tax cuts.”
He also acknowledged that last year’s tax hike made a difference.
Brownback’s $600 million school funding proposal — meant to end a long-running school finance lawsuit — is closer to a $500 million increase, lawmakers learned, because it includes money they already promised to schools.
The money-for-schools problem dwarfs all other friction points politicians will war over in the months ahead, but the state budget has other far-reaching ramifications. Among the moves Brownback proposed for the two-year spending plan:
Teacher pay in Kansas rose an estimated 4 percent this year because of court-ordered funds, but districts say the real key to hiking salaries beyond that would depend on the state sending them more money year after year.
The college credit idea is similar to a 2012 Brownback initiative that let high-schoolers into technical colleges for free. The program grew rapidly and is now underfunded, so the governor wants to fix that with an infusion of $15 million.
Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Kansas City man has been charged with fatally shooting the mother of his 2-year-old son after her body was found partly unclothed and bound with duct tape near the apparently unharmed child.
Prosecutors announced Tuesday that 23-three-year-old Joseph Gonsalez is charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and child endangerment in the death of 19-year-old Elizabeth Richards.
Richards had dropped off the boy Saturday with Gonsalez, who lived with his parents. They found her body after returning home.
Police say Gonsalez was found about 3 miles away with a gunshot wound in his abdomen and wearing no pants or shoes. He’ll be transferred to jail when he’s released from the hospital. A prosecutor’s spokesman didn’t immediately return an email message about whether Gonsalez has an attorney.
TOPEKA – A Kansas man pleaded guilty Wednesday to five bank robberies in four states, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Dakota Shareef Walker, 21, Topeka, pleaded guilty to the following robberies:
U.S. Bank, 5730 Southwest 21st, Topeka, Nov. 28, 2016.
U.S. Bank, 221 West Gregory Blvd, Kansas City Missouri, Nov. 23, 2016.
U.S. Bank, 748 Main Street, Evanston, Wyo, Dec. 6, 2016.
U.S. Bank, 25 East 50 South, Malad City, Idaho, Dec. 14, 2016.
Wells Fargo Bank, 5 North State Street, Preston, Idaho, Jan. 9, 2017.
In each case, Walker gave tellers a note warning not them not to activate any alarms or to make any sudden moves.
JEFFERSON COUNTY — Three people were injured in an accident just before 2p.m. Wednesday in Jefferson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Pontiac G6 driven by Jessica Lynn Harvey, 41, Topeka, was eastbound on U24 at Kiowa Road. The vehicle crossed the center line crashing head on into a 1991 Jeep Cherokee driven by Caitlyn Marie Midyett, 26, Topeka.
Harvey Midyett were transported to KU Medical Center. A passenger in the Jeep Nathan Bingham, 4, Topeka, was transported to the hospital in Topeka. All there properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A former Olathe School teacher and coach has admitted to having a sexual relationship with a student.
Michael Jasiczek pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to two federal charges involving having sex with a student over the age of 16. A third charge was dropped.
Prosecutors determined the relationship was consensual. But under state law, it is a felony for teachers and authority figures to have sexual relationships with students at the same school.
Jasiczek, a social science teacher and assistant football coach, was placed on administrative leave in May and was later fired.
He was a teacher at Olathe South High School for more than a decade. He coached football, ran a weightlifting club and was called “Coach Jazz” by students and staff.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Latest on Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens’ State of the State address delivered Wednesday night to a joint session of the Missouri Legislature (all times local):
Gov. Eric Greitens’ pledge for a bold tax cut is drawing a mixed reaction among Missouri lawmakers who will be crafting the state budget.
During his State of the State address Wednesday night, the Republican governor promised to unveil a plan next week that he said would be “the boldest state tax reform in America.”
Republican House Speaker Todd Richardson said the House “has a strong desire to work on tax reform.”
But Rep. Justin Alferman, the Republican vice chairman of the House budget committee, said he was surprised by how aggressive of a tax cut the governor appears to be seeking.
Democratic Sen. Jill Schupp said she is concerned that the state can’t afford it.
Missouri recently reduced its revenue projections for the current year.
7:50 p.m.
Missouri Democrats say Republican Gov. Eric Greitens has failed to follow through on his campaign pledge to clean up state government.
House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty delivered the Democratic response Wednesday night to Greitens’ State of the State address.
She said Greitens’ administration “has been stained by ethical failings, disdain for the law and a complete lack of transparency” during his first year in office. She noted, among other things, that Greitens benefits from a “dark money” committee that doesn’t have to reveal its donors.
Greitens called on lawmakers to ban lobbyist gifts.
But some senators have been reluctant to do so without also shedding more light on his secret donations.
7:35 p.m.
Gov. Eric Greitens is touting his efforts to shrink the size of state government in both large and small ways.
During his State of the State address Wednesday night, Greitens said his administration was removing one out of every three regulatory requirements in Missouri.
He also touted the sale of four state airplanes and 30 cars to save several hundred thousand dollars. And he said he would save about $3,600 in printing costs by instead putting the state budget online.
Despite such cost saving measures, Missouri’s total state budget has continued to grow to more than $27 billion in the current year.
Unlike previous governors, Greitens did not detail his budget proposal during the State of the State address. He says that will come later.
7:15 p.m.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is challenging lawmakers to say “no” to lobbyist gifts as part of an effort to clean up the state capitol.
Greitens used his second State of the State address Wednesday to repeat one of the themes from his first speech. But the Republican governor added a new twist to his call for a law banning lobbyist gifts, urging lawmakers in the meantime to simply refuse to accept them.
Earlier Wednesday, the House gave initial approval to legislation limiting lobbyist gifts. A similar bill passed the House last year but died in the Senate.
Some senators have been reluctant to pass the bill without attaching provisions shedding light on secret “dark money” donations, such as those that have flowed to a committee created to promote Greitens’ agenda.
7 p.m.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is promising to deliver “the boldest state tax reform in America.”
During his State of the State address Wednesday night, Greitens pledged to lay out a “detailed, thoughtful and thorough plan to cut taxes” early next week. The Republican governor says he wants lower taxes both for people and businesses. But he didn’t reveal any further specifics.
The call to cut taxes comes as Missouri already is implementing the first phase of a state income tax cut passed several years ago. It also comes as a new federal income tax cut is expected to further reduce Missouri revenues.
Missouri recently cut its projected revenue growth in half for the current year, and is forecasting only modest growth for the next budget year.
1:45 p.m.
Missouri Republican Gov. Eric Greitens is set to give his second State of the State speech.
Greitens will address the Republican-led Legislature Wednesday night at the Capitol to lay out priorities. He’ll release his budget proposal later.
The first-time elected official has previously said he wants to enact tax changes, help veterans and improve the state’s foster care and adoption programs.
Greitens has clashed with lawmakers in the past, even those from his own party. While he signed major GOP priorities last year including a right-to-work law, he had a sometimes rocky relationship with lawmakers and was publicly critical of them.
Republican legislative leaders say they’ll still work with him, although he’s already frustrated some by replacing State Board of Education appointees in an attempt to oust the education commissioner.
PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. (AP) — The family of a pregnant woman who died when the vehicle she was in was hit by a driver fleeing police is suing the city of Prairie Village.
The lawsuit was filed by the husband and two children of Denisse Lopez, who died in January 2016.
The crash occurred in Overland Park when 23-year-old Raphael Sherman, of Shawnee, was trying to escape Prairie Village police. He ran a red light and hit the vehicle Lopez was riding in. The lawsuit alleges the chase was unsafe because of traffic conditions.
Lopez’s baby boy was successfully delivered before she died.
Sherman is serving a prison sentence of nearly 12.5 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
City Administrator Wes Jordan said the city will not comment on the lawsuit.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — An elder of a Kansas City, Missouri church is jailed without bond in the death of his wife, who was an associate pastor.
Johnson County, Kansas, jail records show that 30-year-old Robert Lee Harris, of Overland Park, Kansas, is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder. No charges have been filed in the death of his wife of 18 months, 38-year-old Tanisha Harris.
The Kansas City Star reports that she was an associate pastor at Repairers Kansas City, a non-denominational church. Pastor Carlton Funderburke described the newlyweds as “loving” and said there were “no signs at all” of trouble.
Police said officers responded Monday to the couple’s apartment about a domestic disturbance and returned when Harris reported that his wife was missing. Her body was found later in Raymore, Missouri.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — A Kansas man has been convicted of fighting with and threatening law enforcement officers at the federal courthouse in Kansas City, Missouri.
A federal jury on Tuesday found 31-year-old James Everett, of Kansas City, Kansas, guilty of three charges arising from a confrontation in March 2016.
Prosecutors say when Everett was about 10 yards from the courthouse entrance when he began yelling and demanding to speak to a federal judge. When four federal officers responded, Everett threatened to shoot the officers. Four federal officers and two Kansas City police officers were needed to restrain Everett.
Three federal officers received medical treatment after the encounter.
Investigators later found a handgun in Everett’s car. Because he was a convicted felon, Everett was not allowed to own a weapon.
