SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas has called for a school district in the Kansas City area to eliminate a policy prohibiting public complaints about individuals at board meetings.

The Kansas City Star reports that the ACLU sent a letter to the Shawnee Mission School Board Dec. 6 saying a policy approved last month violates constitutional rights to free speech.

The school board requires speakers participating in the open forum section of school board meetings to present information in a “positive” and “constructive way.” The policy says complaints against individual school board members or individual employees are considered inappropriate for the open forum.

ACLU official Doug Bonney says the First Amendment and case law gives individuals the right to express “sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.”

COLE COUNTY — A Missouri woman died in an accident just before 5a.m. Saturday in Cole County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Toyota Tundra driven by Gary T. Thomas, 76, Jefferson City, was attempting to reposition the vehicle in his driveway in the 7000 Block of Route Y.

The back of the SUV hit 75-year-old Carol S. Thomas as she walked around the rear of the vehicle.

She was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Debo Funeral Home.

The MSHP released no additional details early Saturday.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – An audit has found that the Missouri Department of Social Services mistakenly paid more than $19 million to child care facilities to subsidize low-income families and should refund the federal government.

The Columbia Missourian reports that the funds distributed through federal grants didn’t meet the government’s requirements for record-keeping.

The November audit by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General looked at a sample of 128 months of subsidized child care reports between 2013 and 2015. The audit found that all but four of those months contained inadequate attendance records.

Subsidized child care is funded through Social Security and state and federal block grants for low-income families who are in school, working or seeking employment.

The Social Services Department disputes the refund amount and says it’s conducting its own review.

By Stephen Koranda

Kansas lawmakers studying economic development policies say the Legislature should consider changes to a major incentives program next year.

During a meeting Wednesday at the Statehouse, a special committee recommended more study of the STAR bonds program, and members of both parties said they want more oversight.

Sen. Julia Lynn, an Olathe Republican, said there hasn’t been enough accountability in the program. She wants the state to use formulas that determine whether proposed projects will create enough economic development to outweigh their costs.

“If they cannot prove that they can produce a positive return on investment, then either you have to go back and look at the project again or you don’t do the project,” Lynn said.

Under the STAR bonds program, local governments issue bonds to help pay for development projects. Tax collections from the development projects are diverted away from state and local governments and used to pay back the bonds.

The program has been used for some high-profile developments, including the Kansas Speedway, as well as smaller projects. The redevelopment of the Heartland Park racetrack outside Topeka is a less-successful example. A bank eventually took over the track and sold it to a new owner.

The committee also heard about changing shopping trends that are creating struggles for brick-and-mortar retailers.

Sen. Tom Holland, a Baldwin City Democrat, said legislators should consider limiting STAR bonds to tourist destination projects and avoid retail developments. He said retail developments around a tourist attraction could be financed by private developers.

“If that kills the deal, then maybe it shouldn’t have lived in the first place,” Holland said.

Rep. J.R. Claeys, a Salina Republican, was hesitant to recommend any specific changes right away. He called the STAR bonds program “wildly successful.”

Claeys said lawmakers need more information, including input from local economic development officials, before proposing changes.

“We need to have measurement,” Claeys said. “I don’t want to make recommendations that might have unintended consequences by stopping a project from going forward that has merit.”

Kansas lawmakers reauthorized the STAR bonds program earlier this year, but only for a three-year period. They also put a one-year moratorium in place on any new projects while lawmakers study the issue.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A Kansas City man is charged with accidentally wounding a 15-year-old girl while attempting to rob a man who had arranged through Snapchat to meet up with the girl for sex.

The Kansas City Star reports that 20-year-old David Williams is charged with robbery and armed criminal action in the failed attack Wednesday in Independence. Bond is set at $50,000. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

Court records say the robbery victim told police that an armed man appeared after the girl got into his car. He said she began taking his wallet and cell phone. Court records say Williams then fired his gun when the man tried to flee, hitting the girl in the arm and leg. She fled in the victim’s car with Williams.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — An Independence police officer who was injured in a shooting in March received a rousing welcome home after months at a Nebraska rehabilitation center.

A full police escort that included horse-mounted Jackson County deputies led Tom Wagstaff to Independence police headquarters Friday afternoon.

The motorcade stopped briefly so Wagstaff could thank people who lined the streets to welcome him home.

Community residents are being urged to attend a special program honoring Wagstaff Saturday at the First Baptist Church of Blue Springs.

Wagstaff, a 15-year veteran with the department, was critically wounded March 29 when he was shot as he responded to a home invasion robbery.

Investigators say police and two of the men exchanged gunfire suspects fled from the home. Four suspects have been charged.

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INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri police officer who was critically wounded during a home invasion is headed home after months in a Nebraska rehabilitation center.

Officers and the public will converge Friday afternoon at Independence City Hall as Officer Tom Wagstaff is welcomed back with a police escort. A public ceremony is also planned for Saturday at a church in nearby Blue Springs.

Wagstaff was shot in the head in March when he responded to a report of an Independence home invasion. Investigators say police and two of the men exchanged gunfire when the men fled from the home. Four suspects have been charged in the home invasion.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a murder and have identified the victim.

On Thursday deputies and Investigators were dispatched to the Card Creek camping area in Montgomery County to meet with hunters who had discovered what they thought was a deceased female floating in the water approximately a quarter of a mile south of the boat ramp, according to a media release.

Deputies from MGSO and Paramedics from Independence Fire and EMS boarded the hunter’s boat and were taken to the location where the woman was last seen.

Paramedics loaded the woman later identified as Cindy “Pinky” Ann Easom, 33, Miami, Oklahoma, into the boat and transported her to Labbette Health Hospital in Independence where she was pronounced dead.

Investigators from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Kansas Bureau of Investigations are currently investigating the incident as a homicide.

Anyone who has information about the incident is asked to call the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – A southern Missouri woman has pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton items to customers throughout the country.

Federal prosecutors say 33-year-old Tonya Virtue, of Mountain Grove, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of smuggling goods into the United States in a scheme that netted $50,000. She sold the items through her online store, Soul Sisters.

Prosecutors say Virtue bought fabric and material with counterfeit Louis Vuitton trademarks from a Chinese manufacturer and used the material to make handbags and purses. She told customers the items were authentic Louis Vuitton merchandise.

Virtue must pay $50,000 to the government.

Her attorney, Dee Wampler, told The Springfield News-Leader that Virtue sewed fringe and Bible verses onto the handbags. He says she has no prior criminal record and is hoping for leniency.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Local officials say new limits on the ability to raise property tax revenues from one year to the next are hamstringing Kansas cities and counties as they attempt to cover rising health insurance costs for their employees.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that officials representing local governments voiced their concerns about the new law to an interim legislative committee Thursday. The law is commonly known as a property tax lid because it generally caps how much of an increase in property tax revenue cities and counties can levy from year to year at the rate of inflation, unless they get voter approval.

Opponents say cities throughout Kansas are facing increased costs for things like employee health insurance, and that the tax lid prevents them from keeping up with such costs.