JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s re-election campaign says she raised close to $2.9 million in the past few months.

A Monday release from the senator’s campaign says she now has more than $9 million in cash on hand to spend on a run for a third term.

McCaskill is running for re-election in a state won by President Donald Trump, and she’s considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents.

Republican contenders include Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who is considered a rising star in his party.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A state audit shows Missouri is paying out income tax refunds later and later because the state is short on cash.

Democratic Auditor Nicole Galloway released an audit Monday that said the state paid roughly $423,000 in interest on late refunds to nearly 155,000 taxpayers last fiscal year.

That’s up from fiscal year 2016, when the state paid about $306,000 in interest for about 83,000 late refunds.

According to the audit that’s because the state has less cash on hand to pay out refunds. Galloway’s office says the state’s cash reserve has gone down since the recession.

By John Hannah

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are preparing to open their annual session facing a court mandate to boost spending on public schools with little appetite to do what could be necessary to pay for it.

The Republican-controlled Legislature was scheduled to convene Monday afternoon for short, mostly ceremonial meetings to start the traditional 90-day clock. GOP Gov. Sam Brownback, waiting to depart for an ambassador’s post, will give the annual State of the State address Tuesday evening and lay out budget proposals Wednesday.

The big question ahead of Brownback’s speech was what he will propose as a response to the state Supreme Court’s ruling in October that Kansas’ total aid to its 286 school districts of about $4.3 billion a year is insufficient under the state constitution. Brownback promised to have a plan but divulged no details beforehand.

Many legislators, particularly Republicans, are frustrated because they approved a school funding law last year that phased in a $293 million aid increase over two years. They also raised income taxes by roughly $600 million a year to help pay for it and balance the state budget, overriding Brownback’s veto of a bill that rolled back past tax cuts he had championed.

“It’s a tough process,” Brownback said during an interview. “It will be a difficult topic.”

The Supreme Court also said parts of the school funding law, in how funds are distributed, are unfair to poor school districts, but lawmakers expect to wrestle most with how much to increase spending. The court did not set a specific figure but hinted in its decision that it expects aid to rise by as much as $650 million a year.

“My legislators are repulsed at the thought of another tax increase,” Senate President Susan Wagle, of Wichita, speaking of fellow GOP senators. “It’s not going to happen.”

Yet legislators in both parties also are put off by the idea of big cuts in spending on universities, social services and public safety so that the dollars can be shifted to public schools.

“There’s not an easy fix, either the revenue side or on the budget side,” said House Majority Leader Don Hineman, a Dighton Republican. “I don’t think anyone has the answer right now.”

Brownback’s future creates an additional complication. He and legislators don’t know when he’ll resign, elevating Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer to governor.

President Donald Trump nominated Brownback as U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom in July. But the U.S. Senate did not vote on his confirmation by the end of the year, requiring him to be nominated again. The delay has led to an awkward transition period.

JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspect on drug charges.

Just after 2:30 p.m. Saturday, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant on 205 E. Jones Street, according to a media release. The warrant was issued as a result of a drug investigation conducted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies arrested Robert Neal Kirk, 54, of   Topeka, for possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia. They arrested Darren Dale McManus, 51, Hoyt, for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. They also arrested Paul George Tuckwin, 53, Mayetta, for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug

paraphernalia. All three remain jailed Jackson County Jail. Bond is pending on all three.

DICKINSON COUNTY– One person was injured in an accident just before 3p.m. Sunday in Dickinson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Kenworth Semi driven by Jeffrey Monroe Jones, 47, Gore, OK. was eastbound on Interstate 70 three miles west of the Chapman exit.

The semi was moving to the inside and slowing for emergency vehicles.

A pedestrian identified as Andre Levar Murphy, 38, Manhattan was in custody by Dickinson County Deputies and on both knees in the south ditch, according to the KHP.  The semi hit Murphy after he stood up and ran across both eastbound lanes of traffic.

Murphy was transported to the hospital in Salina.  Jones was not injured. Authorities did not release details on Murphy’s arrest Sunday evening. He has four previous drug convictions in Riley County, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — A Missouri man suspected of dozens of burglaries has pleaded no contest to one of the burglaries in Lyon County.

Joseph Paul Jones Jr., of Springfield, Missouri, had faced 40 counts in Lyon County related to a series of break-ins in 2014. In return for his plea and an agreement to pay restitution on 38 of 40 counts, the state dismissed the other burglary counts.

The Emporia Gazette reports Jones pleaded no contest to a burglary at a cafe in Emporia in May 2014. Prosecutors say Jones committed several burglaries in Emporia before going to Hutchinson, where he continued his break-in spree.

A Reno County jury found Jones guilty in January 2015 of 39 counts for burglarizing 19 businesses in the Hutchinson area.

NEW YORK (AP) — Pro racecar driver Scott Tucker was sentenced to over 16 years in prison Friday after his conviction for running a payday loan business that prosecutors say cheated millions of financially struggling Americans.

U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel said it was “staggering” how many people nationwide were affected by Tucker’s business.

Over a 15-year period, more than 1 percent of the U.S. population became victims of the business, Castel said as he sentenced Tucker to 16 years and eight months in prison.

Photo: Tucker-at-2012-Mosport on Flickr. Scott Tucker Mosport 2012 http://t.co/7MoyazhMcy

— Scott Tucker (@TheScottTucker) January 13, 2014

The judge said the business was “a fraud from the beginning” and a scam “to extract money from people in desperate circumstances.” He added it “created heartbreak and sorrow … not just a financial loss.”

In a letter to the court, the 55-year-old Tucker of Leawood, Kansas, defended his business practices and implied he was misunderstood.

Castel ordered him to immediately begin serving the sentence and he was led from court in handcuffs, but only after he removed his suspenders.

Timothy Muir, 46, a lawyer from Overland, Kansas, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his conviction at the same October trial as Tucker.

Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney Joan Loughnane said in a release that the business the men ran from at least 1997 through 2013 is now closed.

“For more than 15 years, Scott Tucker and Timothy Muir made billions of dollars exploiting struggling, everyday Americans through payday loans carrying interest rates as high as 1,000 percent,” she said. “And to hide their criminal scheme, they tried to claim their business was owned and operated by Native American tribes.”

Prosecutors said Tucker’s lending enterprise, based in Overland Park, Kansas, employed over 1,500 people as it did business as Ameriloan, Cash Advance, OneClickCash, Preferred Cash Loans, United Cash Loans, US FastCash, 500 FastCash, Advantage Cash Services and Star Cash Processing.

They said Tucker, who hasn’t raced professionally in several years, and Muir, the company’s general counsel, charged interest rates ranging from 600 percent to over 1,000 percent, generating over $3.5 billion in revenue from just 2008 to June 2013 alone.

The loans were issued to over 4.5 million struggling people in all 50 states, the government said.

It said the jury saw evidence that many loans were issued in states, including New York, with laws that banned lending at the exorbitant interest rates Tucker charged and that the company provided scripts to its employees to read to individuals who complained that the loans were illegal.

In his letter to the judge, Tucker asked for mercy but defended his intentions.

“I am remorseful, your honor, for having failed to accurately display, convey and live up to the vision I had. I am remorseful, your honor, to have left a single person with the misperception that I do not recognize my responsibility to live as a good and fair business man, employer, and American citizen,” he wrote.

He also said the legal process had “taken its toll,” leading his brother and business partner to commit suicide.

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN

The fight over whether Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach violated the constitution in his quest to demand proof of citizenship from voters goes to trial, with a ruling Wednesday that could complicate his case, in March.

A federal judge tossed aside some testimony Kobach had hoped to present in his long-running contention that voter fraud is commonplace. The decision came the same day President Donald Trump scrapped a commission, led by Kobach, designed to document what both men have said is widespread cheating at the polls.

In a statement, the White House said states were refusing to cooperate with the commission’s work. The panel also faced numerous lawsuits from civil rights groups.

Evidence thrown out Wednesday by a U.S. District Court judge in Kansas included some testimony from Hans von Spakovsky, another member of Trump’s voter fraud commission.

The court said von Spakovsky lacks direct knowledge or academic training related to some of his claims, including that a survey shows Kobach’s citizenship law isn’t a burden on voters.

“It is clear that von Spakovsky is not qualified to testify as an expert about this survey,” Judge Julie Robinson wrote.

A spokeswoman for Kobach didn’t respond to a request for comment late Tuesday afternoon.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the League of Women Voters and other plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Kobach, had attacked von Spakovsky’s credentials and methodology.

“We’re certainly pleased,” ACLU attorney Doug Bonney said.

Yet over the ACLU’s objections, von Spakovsky will testify on other matters related to voter fraud. And Kobach will get to keep expert testimony from Jesse Richman, a political science professor at Old Dominion University in Virginia.

Kobach says Richman’s research indicates voting by non-citizens is a substantial problem. But many other studies suggest that voting by non-citizens is remarkably rare.

It’s unclear what weight the court will give to Kobach’s experts. The two sides will battle that out at trial.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — The operator of a home day care in Overland Park where a baby died last year has pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts in the case.

The Kansas City Star reports that 55-year-old Bilma Maese-Sanchez entered the plea Friday in Johnson County District Court to child endangerment and operating an unlicensed day care facility. She was sentenced to a year of probation.

Prosecutors say 7-month-old Gabriel Omar Rivera-Contreras, of Lenexa, died at her home on Feb. 4. An autopsy showed the cause of death as sudden infant death syndrome.

Maese-Sanchez was not accused of intentionally hurting the child, but prosecutors say she placed the child in a situation where his “life, body or health could have been endangered.”

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a homicide suspect shot by police in Missouri after he led them on a high-speed chase with murder, kidnapping and other counts.

The Kansas City Star reports that 28-year-old Jeremy Comstock was charged Friday in Wyandotte County, Kansas, with first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping. He was also charged in Clay County, Missouri, with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and resisting a lawful stop. His bond has been set at $250,000.

Kansas City, Missouri police say officers began chasing Comstock near Smithville on Thursday and continued until his vehicle spun out of control on Interstate 35 in northern Kansas City. Police say officer then shot Comstock, but his injuries are not life-threatening. A woman who was in Comstock’s van surrendered.

Police in Kansas City, Kansas, say Comstock is a suspect in the death of a man who was found shot inside a pickup truck earlier Thursday.