BUTLER, Mo. (AP) — Authorities have arrested two people in Kansas after a woman’s body was found in a Missouri lake.

Thirty-three-year-old Samantha McCoy and 43-year-old Monte McCoy were charged Thursday with first-degree assault.

They aren’t charged in the death of 69-year-old Cindy McCoy, whose body was found Thursday afternoon in a vehicle in the eastern Missouri town of Butler.

But the arrest warrant for Monte McCoy says he and Samantha McCoy acted together and “knowingly attempted to kill or cause serious physical injury to” Cindy McCoy by striking her with a vehicle.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation also had sought Samantha McCoy as a person of interest.

The two suspects are jailed in Linn County, Kansas. Their relationship wasn’t released. No attorneys are listed for them in online court records.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri lobbyist strategizing how to advance a measure to help college students like his son who have been disciplined for sex-discrimination complaints suggested pushing the idea that the real problem on campuses is not rape but women regretting casual sex, emails obtained by The Associated Press show.

The documents offer a glimpse into how the connected Capitol insider worked to craft legislation and lobbied lawmakers to change how colleges and universities across the state handle claims of sexual harassment and rape after his own son’s expulsion. The proposals, which appear unlikely to pass this year, have been slammed by one critic as “revenge legislation.”

The emails, obtained through an open-records request, show that lobbyist Richard McIntosh sent detailed edits last year to legislative staffers writing the House version of the Title IX overhaul. One edit that appears to be from McIntosh recommends adding “specific language allowing decisions prior to this legislation to be reviewed.” That would enable McIntosh’s son to appeal his expulsion to a state panel on which his mother sits .

The federal Title IX law bars sex-based discrimination in education, including sexual harassment and assault.

In one November email, McIntosh asked staffers to add a provision to make the changes take effect immediately if signed into law.

“Do you think that passes the smell test in the House to garner the number of votes for an emergency clause?” McIntosh wrote.

Emails also give insight into McIntosh’s strategy to persuade lawmakers to enact the proposals.

He suggested that taking a “couple of shots at the rape equals regret wouldn’t hurt” in a February email to Republican Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, which he also forwarded to other supporters shortly before a Senate Education Committee hearing on the legislation. The email includes a link to a blog on the men’s rights website avoiceformen.com in which the author argues that “women, more than men, regret casual sex, and it is these unsatisfying sexual unions caused by regret — not rape — that is the real sex problem on campus.”

Sexual assaults are among the most underreported types of crime, according to researchers, and false reports are rare. FBI statistics show that only 2% to 8% of sexual assault reports turn out to be false.

A column from conservative news website Daily Wire that McIntosh shared with House bill sponsor Rep. Dean Dohrman and legislative staffers argues that the #MeToo movement is an example of “mass hysteria” and compared it to the Salem witch trials. In that metaphor, the modern “witches” are people accused of rape.

Pending Missouri bills pushed by McIntosh would allow accused students to hire attorneys and cross-examine witnesses, including their accusers. Cases could be appealed to a panel known as the Administrative Hearing Commission, which currently includes McIntosh’s wife and the mother of his son.

Proponents of changing Title IX proceedings say the current process does not give accused students a fair shot at defending themselves.

Colleges and universities, victims’ rights advocates and the Missouri NAACP president all oppose the effort, citing concern about the potential chilling effect on victims.

Dohrman has said McIntosh asked him to carry the legislation and said McIntosh told him that his son was expelled following a Title IX complaint at Washington University, a private school in St. Louis. The specific allegations are not public.

McIntosh has previously declined to comment when asked by AP about his son’s expulsion and did not return requests for comment Wednesday. His wife, Audrey Hanson McIntosh, also did not return AP requests for comment.

It’s not uncommon for lobbyists to work directly with legislative staffers to draft bills, according to Mike Reid, the lobbyist for the lobbying group Missouri Society of Governmental Consultants. He defended the practice, saying that “many lobbyists are the experts in certain areas.”

McIntosh’s emails also indicate that his wife played a role in the legislative effort.

He suggested in November that House staff add the “AHC language that I sent you from Audrey yesterday.” He listed both his and his wife’s personal contact information in an October email to the House bill sponsor and staffers.

The efforts have been aided by wealthy St. Louis businessman and Washington University trustee David Steward, who co-founded World Wide Technology. McIntosh has lobbied for World Wide Technology since 2000.

The recently formed Missouri Campus Due Process Coalition is bankrolled by Kingdom Principles, a nonprofit that is at least partly funded by Steward. McIntosh is listed as the registered agent for Kingdom Principles and was among 29 lobbyists the group hired for the 2019 session.

After the Kansas City Star first reported on the link between the legislation and McIntosh’s son last week, Republican Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden said it’s doubtful the bill would come up for debate again this session. The deadline to pass bills is May 17.

“It’s unfortunate that something of this magnitude that maybe should require attention was brought about in this way,” Rowden told reporters. “Hopefully it doesn’t greatly diminish the more robust policy conversation that can and should happen around Title IX.”

Republican House Speaker Elijah Haahr on Thursday said he does not plan to bring the bill up for debate in the House this session.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A former college softball player fatally shot while driving in eastern Iowa will be memorialized Friday at a funeral Mass in her Kansas hometown.

Micalla Alexis Rettinger was shot early Sunday morning as she drove over a wooded area along the Cedar River in Waterloo. The 25-year-old former University of Northern Iowa softball player pulled over along U.S. Highway 218 and died. The bullet also struck one of her passengers: her 32-year-old boyfriend, Adam Kimball. He was hospitalized and the bullet was recovered.

pic.twitter.com/1XkqnIGKk8

— CVCrimestoppers (@CVCrimeStopper) May 2, 2019

At least $58,000 has been offered as a reward for information leading to an arrest.

The Mass is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Lenexa, Kansas. She had been living in Waterloo since graduating in 2016 from the university.

By JOHN HANNA

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas revived tax relief legislation Thursday night without assurances that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly would accept a new, smaller plan for helping individuals and businesses who are paying more in state income taxes because of changes in federal tax laws.

The Senate approved, on a 27-13vote, a measurethat is less than half the size of a tax relief bill that Kelly vetoedin March after describing it as fiscally irresponsible. Drafted by GOP negotiators for the House and Senate, it would save taxpayers roughly $90 million during the budget year beginning in July and about $240 million over three years. The House could vote on it as early as Friday to determine whether the bill goes to Kelly.

Kelly has urged legislators to wait until at least next year to pursue tax legislation, arguing that Kansas must be sure first that its finances are stable. However, Republican leaders made tax relief a top priority and contend the state is receiving a “windfall” that it doesn’t deserve because of the federal tax changes at the end of 2017.

The Senate’s vote came a day after the Kansas Department of Revenue reported that the state collected $81 million more in taxes than anticipated during April.

“How dare we realize in one month the money it takes to pay for this bill, knowing that it’s going to increase for many months to come, and not pass the savings on to Kansas businesses and Kansas individuals?” said Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican.

Kelly framed the first, larger tax relief billas an irresponsible return to a tax-cutting experiment under former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback that made Kansas nationally notorious because of the persistent budget woes that followed. Bipartisan legislative majorities repealed mostof the Brownback tax cuts in 2017, and Kelly ran successfully againstBrownback’s political legacy last year.

“Folks, we’re playing the same game,” said Sen. Tom Holland, a Baldwin City Democrat.

The governor said Thursday that the state has in recent years made “impulsive, poorly reviewed” tax changes and instead should do a comprehensive study of its tax system.

“Above all, I believe this discussion should be guided by a thoughtful, data-driven, big-picture vision for Kansas — not by a hasty attempt to achieve an immediate political victory,” Kelly said in a statement.

Wagle said supporters of the first tax bill, including the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, cut back on the potential cost of the state with the second bill to make it more palatable to Kelly.

But Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, predicted, “This bill is destined for a veto.”

Like other states, Kansas faced revising its income tax code because it is tied to the federal tax code. The federal tax changeschampioned by President Donald Trump lowered rates but also included provisions that raised money for Kansas, in part by discouraging individual filers from claiming itemized deductions.

“This is clearly a tax increase if we don’t fix this,” said Sen. Rick Billinger, a Goodland Republican.

Like the earlier bill Kelly vetoed, the new measure would allow individuals to itemize on their state tax returns even if they do not itemize on their federal returns. The bill also provides relief to corporations, particularly large firms with operations outside the U.S., but it is less weighted toward those business taxpayers than the previous measure.

Unlike the earlier measure, the new plan does not attempt to apply the changes retroactively so that filers could receive refunds on what they paid this spring for 2018.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — General Motors officials met behind closed doors with Gov. Mike Parson and other state and local leaders Thursday to discuss a possible $1 billion expansion of the company’s truck and van plant in Wentzville.

Missouri will compete with other states for the expansion project, and it remains unclear what incentives the company is seeking or the potential cost to taxpayers, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported .

The project would include an unspecified number of new jobs, but few other details were released.

“I’m excited that Missouri has a seat at the table to compete for a tremendous opportunity that will provide a boost to our state and to our regional economy,” Parson told reporters.

The incentive package likely will be a combination of infrastructure spending, tax incentives and subsidies, Parson said.

Any proposal would have to be approved by the Legislature, which is approaching the final two weeks of this year’s session. Parson and others said they believe a package could be done quickly and would not require a special session.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, said lawmakers and the governor’s office would work over the weekend on an incentive package and he expects to know the potential cost by next week.

Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, said state and company officials discussed a $22 million Fast Track scholarship program that could help land the project.

Eigel and other members of a Conservative Caucus have blocked passage of the program in a dispute over school choice tax breaks. Eigel said after Thursday’s meeting it was too early to say whether the caucus would continue blocking the scholarships but he called the GM deal and “unprecedented opportunity.”

The Wentzville plant currently employs about 3,500 workers, who build the mid-size Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks and GM’s full-size vans.

FINNEY COUNTY — Authorities in southwest Kansas are alerting residents of a new phone scam.

On Thursday, the Finney County Health Department in Garden City reported in a media release their phone number has been used in prank, recorded phone calls about false STD notifications.

The Health Department reminded the public they would never discuss private health information in a recording, always ask permission to discuss sensitive health information over the phone and will always identify as employees of the Finney County Health Department. The staff will also never discuss any health information in a voice mail.

If you’ve visited the health department for an STD, the health department will ask for your password or code to discuss any health-related issue over the phone.

When screening for STDs, the health department reminded they will never reveal the identity of the person that named them as a sexual partner.

If you receive a phone call that may seem suspicious, call the health department and staff will verify if we have attempted to contact you.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Pro-Life supporters are waiting until next year to try to overturn a Kansas Supreme Court decision protecting abortion rights.

Their plans signal that they may not have enough support yet to push the necessary state constitutional amendment through the Republican-controlled Legislature.

GOP legislative leaders were outraged by last week’s ruling but said they plan to take their time in responding to the ruling, despite the threat of state courts overturning existing abortion restrictions. Kansans for Life, the state’s most influential anti-abortion group, says it needs time to organize the push to get a proposition on the ballot.

Abortion opponents also fell just short this week of overriding Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of an anti-abortion bill. They would need the same two-thirds majorities to pass a constitutional change.

___

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A former professor at Miami University in Ohio has admitted to traveling to Missouri to have sex with a teen girl who was actually an undercover agent.

53-year-old Kevin Connor Armitage entered a guilty plea Wednesday to a federal charge.

Court records say he posted details online of past sexual experiences. He also said he would be visiting the Kansas City area and asked for a recommendation. An FBI agent who was monitoring the site replied to the post and provided a phone number that Armitage believed would connect him with a 14-year-old girl.

Armitage was arrested when he went to a restaurant where he had arranged to meet the person whom he believed was the teen’s cousin. Sentencing is set for Aug. 15.

WABAUNSEE COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug distribution charges after an arrest in northeast Kansas.

On Wednesday, a Wabaunsee County deputy and his K-9 Partner Karma came across a vehicle in which the driver had a suspended driver’s license. Karma alerted to the odor and presence of narcotics, according to a social media report.

The deputy arrested the driver, the vehicle was impounded and a search warrant was obtained for the vehicle.

Investigators located two bags containing several hundred pills and 10 wrapped bundles. The pills are suspected to be fentanyl and the bundles were also suspected to be heroin or methamphetamine mixed with fentanyl. The estimated street value of these drugs were over 9 million dollars.

The sheriff will release the suspect’s name after charges are filed.

The sheriff did remind that Fentanyl is a very dangerous substance and has been the cause of many deaths by overdose.
Over 100 deaths occurred in Kansas last year and recently there were 2 deaths in Riley County from fentanyl.