ARNOLD, Mo. (AP) – Authorities say a suburban St. Louis police officer who was shot in the head by a handcuffed burglary suspect has survived surgery and is in stable condition.
Officer Ryan O’Connor was rushed to St. Anthony’s Medical Center in St. Louis County on Tuesday after being shot by 29-year-old Chad Klahs. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Captain Gary Higginbotham says Klahs apparently fatally shot himself after wounding the officer.
Police in Arnold, Missouri, posted on Facebook late Tuesday that O’Connor “against all odds” has “fought through the horrific incidents” and “remains in stable condition.” Higginbotham told KTVI-TV that O’Connor made it through surgery.
The hospital referred questions about the wounded officer to law enforcement early Wednesday. The sheriff’s office and police have responded to messages left by an Associated Press reporter.
JEFFERSON COUNTY — A Kansas man died in an accident just before 5p.m. Tuesday in Jefferson County.
First responders on the scene of Tuesday’s head-on crash-photo courtesy WIBW TV
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Ford explorer driven by Henry C. Carey Jr., 37, Topeka, was southbound on K4 at the Shawnee Jefferson County line.
The driver attempted to pass two slower vehicles on the left to avoid a rear-end collision and struck a northbound Hyundai Elantra driven by Thomas E. Prescott head-on. Vehicle 2 was northbound on K4 at the time of the accident.
Prescott was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics. Carey, Jr. was transported to the hospital in Topeka. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
JASPER COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before noon Tuesday in Jasper County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Dodge Challenger driven by Port A. Kenough, 27, Neosho, was westbound on Jung Boulevard west of Joplin.
The vehicle ran off the right side of the road, overturned and hit a mailbox.
A passenger Zachary A. Green 33, Galena, KS, was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene. Kenough was not injured.
Green was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP.
Interstate 70 just west of the traffic stop early Tuesday morning -image KDOT traffic camera
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on weapons charges after a Tuesday traffic stop that shut down Interstate 70.
Just before 2 a.m. Tuesday, police stopped an eastbound 2007 Mercedes on Interstate 70 just east of Macvicar for a traffic violation, according to a media release.
Through investigation of the traffic violations, officers located two firearms, a large amount of methamphetamine and other illegal substances. Also located in the vehicle were items of size and wiring to be determined suspicious devices.
Artrip-photo Shawnee Co.Crane-photo Shawnee Co.
Kansas Department of Transportation assisted with signage to indicate both west and east bound lanes of I-70 would be closed until the suspicious items could be deemed safe. TPD Bomb unit responded and determined the items to be non-hazardous, nonexplosive.
Federal partners in the ATF and DEA were called to assist as both occupants were determined to be felons in possession of firearms as well as illegal substances.
Deputies arrested Aaron Artrip, 27, of Hillsboro, MO for various traffic violations, various illegal substance related charges and Felon in Possession of firearms.
They also arrested Lindsey Crane, 24, of Fenton, MO for Felon in Possession of Firearms, Criminal Possession of a Firearms and various illegal substance related charges.
Both lanes of the Interstate were reopened just after 7a.m.
————-
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities reopened Interstate 70 just after 7 a.m. Tuesday following an investigation.
Just after 4 a.m. police and KDOT closed the Interstate in both directions from 4th to Gage in Topeka, according to the KHP.
The incident started as a routine traffic stop. Officers found a possible explosive devices, according to Shawnee County Communications.
Police have not released details on what they found.
——-
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are on the scene of a traffic stop that has closed Interstate 70, according to Topeka Police.
The incident started as a routine traffic stop. Officers found possible explosive devices, according to Shawnee County Communications.
A traffic stop with suspicious devices has both east and westbound lanes of I-70 closed until safety is ensured.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Kansas City man is facing a possible life in prison after being convicted of several sex crimes against children.
A Jackson County jury on Monday convicted 35-year-old Jesus Garcia guilty of four felonies involving children. The jury recommended Garcia serve three consecutive life sentences, plus 15 years.
His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 5.
The Kansas City Star reports that court documents show Garcia was accused in February 2016 of sexually assaulting three girls. The children’s mother took two of the girls to Children’s Mercy Hospital and told a social worker that Garcia had been sexually abusing them from 2014 to 2015.
Jackson County prosecutors originally charged Garcia with nine felony counts of child sex crimes.
CAMDENTON, Mo. (AP) – Missouri conservation officials are asking the public for help locating those responsible for dumping five deer and one turkey carcass near Camdenton.
The Springfield News-Leader reports the best pieces of meat were cut off the animals before the bodies were abandoned in mid-November.
Conservation agent Tyler Brown says he believes poachers were involved because too many deer were taken for one person and the turkey was shot out of season. He says about 100 pounds of meat were wasted.
Brown says no solid leads have come in but he hopes someone will call the Conservation Department Operation Game Thief hotline to help solve the case.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas teacher who was tripped by a student and knocked unconscious in her classroom is suing the school district for discrimination after she was discharged following an extended work leave.
The Kansas City Star reports that former McKinley Elementary School teacher Susan Miles filed a federal lawsuit Monday.
The lawsuit alleges Miles was injured after a student tripped her in April 2016. After returning to school in January, she learned she’d lost her job.
Miles alleges she experienced retaliation from the school’s principal and the school district in Kansas City, Kansas. She also alleges she wasn’t given a due process hearing when discharged.
Miles has also filed a disability discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The district didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped an assault charge against a former University of Kansas football player accused of threatening his girlfriend with a gun.
The charge against 20-year-old Maciah Long was dropped Tuesday after he agreed to plead no contest to marijuana possession.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports Long was sentenced to six months of probation and ordered to complete an anger management program.
Long was arrested in August after his then-girlfriend reported he threatened her with a gun during an argument. Prosecutors say the woman has moved out of state and didn’t want to participate in prosecuting the case.
Long, a sophomore, was dismissed from the team the day after he was arrested.
The native of Houston, Texas, played linebacker and tight end for the Jayhawks in 2016.
Rep. Blaine Finch, right, speaks during a meeting of a House-Senate committee starting work on the Legislature’s response to a court order on school funding. At left is Rep. Ed Trimmer. CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Kansas lawmakers began groundwork Monday for their response to the Kansas Supreme Court’s order to fix school finance by this spring. The same day, a Hiawatha senator announced he will seek to curb the court’s powers through a constitutional amendment.
Republican Sen. Dennis Pyle issued a news release saying the judiciary should not be allowed to close schools — a possible outcome if the Legislature fails to comply with the high court’s October ruling.
“Decision-making is best left to locally elected officials who are closest to the people, not bureaucrats or judges in Topeka,” Pyle said. “Unilaterally closing all schools based upon a lawsuit brought by a handful of districts is an extreme measure and is a bullying tactic at least.”
Amending the state constitution would take a two-thirds vote in each chamber and a majority vote in a public election.
Sobering budget projections
Pyle’s news release came a few hours into the first meeting of a House-Senate panel tasked with mulling options in the wake of the court order. Pyle isn’t on the committee.
The committee members received sobering state budget projections on their first day of work. Legislative staff presented estimates for the next several years that said the state would need to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in spending in 2020 and following years to make ends meet and curb the practice of diverting money from the state’s highway fund and pension liability.
The projections don’t factor in the effect of increased spending on K-12 schools, but lawmakers wouldn’t say whether more tax hikes are likely. Any increases would come on the heels of a $1.2 billion tax increase earlier this year.
“I don’t know,” Ottawa Republican Rep. Blaine Finch said. “That’s up to the Legislature as a whole, but it would seem from the opinion that the court is demanding some additional expenditure of funds.”
Rep. Ed Trimmer, a Winfield Democrat, said the budget projection presented Monday was a conservative one.
“I think there are some things that might improve the situation,” he said, “but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, of Overland Park, said budget projections don’t leave much room for additional school funding. CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, of Overland Park, expressed concern the projections only showed around $100 million in annual tax revenue growth. If lawmakers want to add $200 million or more to schools in the next budget year and years after that, he said, they’ll have to find a way to pay for it.
“Plus the rest of the state gets frozen — no (additional) money for Medicaid, no money for prisons,” he said. “Those are the kind of things that need to get fleshed out.”
Amendment appetite?
The October court ruling declared current state aid out of compliance with Kansas’ obligation to fund public schools. It set an April 30 deadline for lawmakers to address the situation and file written arguments showing they have done so. The ruling stems from a seven-year lawsuit sponsored by dozens of school districts.
Pyle was in the Senate in the summer of 2005, when lawmakers struggled to meet a similar court order during a special session.
Frustrated by the order then that Kansas add about $285 million for the coming school year, he and 13 other senators co-sponsored a resolution to bar the judiciary from interfering in school finance.
It was one of multiple proposals to rein in court powers that year by tweaking the constitution, but none made it to a public vote.
The committee may take a closer look at potential constitutional amendments later this month. Members signaled varying appetites for that Monday.
“I seriously doubt there are votes there to pass a constitutional amendment,” Trimmer said. “I don’t think it’s a realistic proposal. I think we just need to do what’s right, figure out a way to fund this.”
Denning indicated Attorney General Derek Schmidt is also working on constitutional amendment language for lawmakers.
“I think I’ve been very clear I would look at a constitutional amendment,” Denning said.
House Majority Leader Don Hineman, of Dighton, couldn’t point to a proposal that he would support but said “it’s worth having the conversation.”
“Whether we can reach agreement on language of what that amendment would say and how it would operate is a pretty large question,” he said, because securing a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate is “a pretty tall bar.”
Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.
