OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A man who was not in the country legally has admitted causing a traffic accident that killed a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy.
Adrian Espinosa-Flores pleaded guilty Thursday to reckless second-degree murder in the September 2016 death of Master Deputy Brandon Collins.
The Kansas City Star reports Collins was killed while conducting a traffic stop in Overland Park. A pickup driven by Espinosa-Flores ran into Collins’ parked vehicle, pushing it into the SUV the deputy had pulled over.
Espinosa-Flores also pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated battery for injuries suffered by people in the SUV.
Court documents say Espinosa-Flores’ blood-alcohol content was twice the legal limit when he was arrested.
Immigration officials will take Espinosa-Flores into custody after he completes his prison sentence.
ALLEN COUNTY — A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just after 9a.m. Thursday in Allen County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Chevy Uplander driven by Lisa Marie Strickland, 28, Coffeyville, was northbound on U.S. 169 four miles south of Iola.
The vehicle crossed the center line and stuck a head-on.
Strickland was pronounced dead at the scene. The semi driver Andrew Jeremiah Robinson, 38, St. Mary’s, was not injured. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
ST. LOUIS (AP) – A Democratic senator from suburban St. Louis who was censured by the Missouri Legislature for a Facebook post that hoped for President Donald Trump’s assassination is defending her new tweet that compares Trump to Adolf Hitler.
State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal posted a meme Thursday on Twitter that shows Trump taking off a shirt. By the time the shirt is off, Hitler’s face is revealed in place of Trump’s.
The meme is a parody of a much-criticized Dove body wash ad that shows a black woman removing her brown shirt to reveal a white woman underneath in a light-colored shirt.
Chappelle-Nadal is black and her mother is from Puerto Rico. She says she was upset by Trump’s tweets suggesting Puerto Rico must take on more responsibility for its Hurricane Maria recovery.
Claudette Humphrey, of Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas, speaks Wednesday to a legislative committee considering legislation on payday loans. credit STEPHEN KORANDA
Kansas lawmakers considered tighter rules on payday lending during a committee meeting Wednesday, but they ultimately decided not to recommend more regulations for the short-term loans.
Republican Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine chairs the Special Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance. He said Kansas officials should wait to see the effects of federal regulations recently released on the issue.
Some members of the committee weren’t happy with the lack of action. Rep. Randy Powell, an Olathe Republican, said the industry needs more regulation.
“I’m not a big government guy. I don’t like to see unnecessary regulation, but when you’re looking at 270 percent, 330 percent interest … they walk into these things having no idea what they’re getting into,” Powell said.
The committee could have recommended legislation for lawmakers to consider when the session starts in January. The bill before them to cap interest rates and add other requirements to short-term loans will still be available for consideration.
Alex Horowitz, a research officer with the Pew Charitable Trusts, told the committee that small loans can be a useful service for people — within limits.
“They can help people get through difficult stretches, but only if structured appropriately at affordable prices,” Horowitz said.
He noted that the short-term loans often carry high interest rates, which can mean that, for example, someone borrowing $300 for a five-month period would have to pay back a total of $750.
Claudette Humphrey used short-term loans in the past. She now works with Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas on a program that helps people get out from under that type of debt.
“People who live on fixed incomes and limited incomes are our most vulnerable,” Humphrey said. “I understand that maybe they didn’t pull themselves up by the bootstraps as some people think they can, but sometimes you don’t have bootstraps.”
Brad Smoot is with Anderson Financial Services, which runs LoanMax Title Loans. He said the bill the committee was considering could kill the industry, taking away an option for people who need short-term cash.
“It’s a good alternative to other lending options or no lending options, which unfortunately some people are faced with,” Smoot said.
Whitney Damron, who spoke to the committee on behalf of the Kansas Consumer Financial Services Association, said decisions about the loans should be left up to Kansans.
“Customers of payday loan lenders are qualified to make financial decisions for themselves without government interference,” Damron said.
Longbine said one issue people often don’t recognize is that ballooning interest costs are usually caused by having the short-term loans reissued over and over.
“Oftentimes, the companies are blamed for the cost of the loan, when had the loan been repaid on schedule, the cost would have been minimal,” Longbine said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s executive order on health care (all times local):
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to make lower-premium health care plans available to more Americans.
The president says the order will provide what he calls “Obamacare relief” for millions of Americans.
Trump is relying on the executive order because the Republican-controlled Congress has been unable to pass a plan to repeal and replace the Obama-era health care law.
Trump says the health care system “will get better” with his action, and the action will cost the federal government nothing.
The president says he still wants Congress repeal and replace the Obama health care law. But his says his order will give people more competition, more choices and lower premiums.
___
3:38 a.m.
President Donald Trump has made no secret he’s frustrated with the failure of Congress to repeal and replace “Obamacare.”
Now Trump will try to put his own stamp on health care with an executive order that aims to make lower-premium insurance plans available to more consumers. He will unveil his plan Thursday.
Administration officials say it will let groups and associations sponsor coverage that can be marketed across the land, reflecting Trump’s longstanding belief that interstate competition will lead to lower premiums.
Trump’s move is likely to encounter opposition from medical associations, consumer groups and even insurers — the same coalition that has blocked congressional Republicans. They say it would raise costs for the sick, while the lower-premium coverage for healthy people would come with significant gaps.
FAYETTE, Mo. (AP) – A judge this week ordered the Howard County coroner to release the transcript of an inquest that determined a Fayette teenager killed himself after persistent bullying.
Howard County officials said after the judge’s ruling on Wednesday that they will appeal the ruling. Attorney Richard Hicks said the coroner’s office will not follow the order because of the appeal.
The inquest in February found that bullying from the manager of a Dairy Queen where 17-year-old Kenneth Suttner worked was the principal reason he killed himself in December 2016. Witnesses at the inquest said Suttner also was bullied at school.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the Glasgow School District asked for access to the public records after the inquest but the coroner’s office has refused to release the records.
While Fall is most assuredly here, the next few days will see conditions that feel more like late Summer as southerly winds bring warm humid air back to the region. While this will make Friday and Saturday a bit warm for this time of year, it will also set the stage for rain and thunderstorms, starting as early as Saturday morning in far northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas, with the potential for storms to develop southeast across Missouri by late Saturday afternoon and evening. Otherwise, Fall like conditions will then return for the end of the weekend. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Patchy fog before 11 a.m. Otherwise, mostly cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 72. South southeast wind 7 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 59. South southeast wind 6 to 9 mph.
Friday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. South wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Friday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms. High near 81. Light south wind becoming south southwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: Showers and thunderstorms before 1 a.m., then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 a.m. Low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 60.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 67.
Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 46.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 71.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49.
TOPEKA- (AP) — A woman accused of fleeing from Kansas to Russia with her children amid a divorce has been indicted on a charge of international parental kidnapping.
The U.S. attorney’s office says grand jurors returned the indictment Wednesday against 37-year-old Bogdana Alexandrovna Mobley. She was arrested last month in Wichita, and investigators believe her three children remain in Russia.
Prosecutors say she left the U.S. three years ago with one child from her first marriage and another child from a second marriage. She gave birth to a third child about two months after returning to Russia.
Prosecutors say she allowed her ex-husband to communicate with the children by cellphone or Skype. He flew to meet her on the border of Poland and Russia in 2015 but wasn’t allowed to see the children.
LEAVENWORTH COUNTY ‑The Kansas City Chiefs won’t play the Steelers until Sunday but the Pittsburg quarterback has new fans in Kansas.
The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation this week selected the Bonner Springs Police Department’s K-9 program for a grant.
On social media they shared “Officer Bargerstock, and K-9 Scout would like to thank the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for choosing our department to receive a grant for our K-9 program. We are grateful for the grant opportunity the foundation provides to Police Departments and their K-9’s across the nation, and that we could be a part of it.”
Roethlisberger is scheduled to face the Chiefs at 3:25 p.m. Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri has more time to comply with stricter identification requirements under the Real ID Act.
The Department of Homeland Security is giving Missouri a grace period through Jan. 22, 2018 as it reviews the state’s request for another extension. The last extension expired Tuesday.
At issue is a federal law with tougher proof-of-identity requirements needed at airports, some federal facilities and military bases.
Some Missouri lawmakers worried about privacy pushed back against compliance with the federal law for years. But a new Missouri law that took effect in August will give residents the option to get compliant driver’s licenses or other ID cards.
Department of Revenue spokeswoman Anne Marie Moy says the agency asked for an extension through March 2019 as the state works to make those compliant licenses available.
