Rasool Samir-photo courtesy GCCC/city of Basketball Love
FINNEY COUNTY- (AP) — A Muslim student athlete who refused to observe the national anthem for religious reasons at a basketball game at a western Kansas college has been kicked off the team.
That has ignited concerns over whether Garden City Community College violated the civil rights of 19-year-old Rasool Samir, who continued shooting balls during the anthem Nov. 1, leading to a confrontation with a fan who accused him of disrespecting the flag.
The college says Samir was dismissed for a team rules violation, because he did not leave the court with his teammates when the anthem was played.
The American Civil Liberties Union has voiced concern that Samir may have been disciplined for exercising his First Amendment rights. It’s still gathering information and hasn’t decided whether to sue.
GREENE COUNTY — A Missouri teen died in an accident just before 9p.m. Wednesday in Greene County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Chevy Camaro driven by Savannah B. Williams, 16, Rogersville, was westbound on Farm Road 186 five miles west of Rogersvile.
The vehicle traveled off the right side of the road, struck a tree, overturned and caught fire. Williams was pronounced dead at the scene.
The MSHP did no have information whether she was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
Kylee Lang and Dylan Richardson. Photo courtesy Todd Weddle/Northwest Missouri State University.
Maryville, Mo. – Two Northwest Missouri State University students are the first to graduate from the Guard Officer Leadership Development (GOLD) program.
According to a press release from Northwest, the program is a partnership that develops commissioned officers for the Missouri Army National Guard (MOARNG) and provides a pathway to degree completion.
Dylan Richardson, a senior nutrition and dietetics major from Savannah, Missouri, and Kylee Lang, a senior criminology major from Hinton, Iowa, were commissioned in September at the state capitol building in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Being one of the Northwest program’s first commissioned officers is meaningful, Lang said, and it laid a foundation for her leadership and future.
“I am setting a standard, and I can lead others to do the same,” Lang said. “I hope that people can look up to me and see that this can be the end goal.”
Richardson added, “The GOLD Program is a great way for people to gain leadership experience and further their career in the Army National Guard. It also gives you the tools to succeed through Officer Candidate School (OCS) and get your commission.”
Northwest and the MOARNG launched the GOLD Program in 2016. It develops qualified Missouri citizens into commissioned officers through classroom instruction, leadership laboratories and a physical conditioning program.
MOARNG administers the program at Northwest and provides a commissioned captain or major to serve as professor of military science while Northwest provides a primary instructor to oversee the academic areas of the program. Northwest’s program operates out of the Garrett-Strong Science Building, where Capt. Tamir Middleton serves as the officer in charge.
Participants attend military science classes during their freshman, sophomore and junior years at Northwest. During the summer between their junior and senior years, participants are required to attend accelerated OCS training, which consists of eight weeks of intensive leadership training in South Dakota.
“When Officer Richardson and I went to OCS, we had skills that we had learned from going through the GOLD Program that others didn’t,” Lang said. “I see the GOLD Program as a milestone. Anyone I talked to at OCS who went through the GOLD Program previously, you could definitely see a difference. They were more confident, more prepared and less stressed.”
Richardson plans to pursue a dietetics internship with his active duty Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Lang plans to stay in the military and continue her education by pursuing a master’s in forensic psychology.
KANSAS CITY—(AP) — Court records say a man posed for photos with his dead wife, along with their newborn and toddler, before dismembering her body in a Kansas City hotel room.
The Kansas City Star reports that 35-year-old Justin Rey was charged Wednesday with abandonment of a corpse and child endangerment in Missouri’s Jackson County. Court records say his wife, Jessica Monteiro Rey, died after giving birth Oct. 20. Rey told police he dismembered her body in a bathtub two days later with the children present.
The remains were discovered Oct. 24 in a cooler at a storage unit in nearby Lenexa, Kansas. Rey had been sleeping there with the children.
He’s jailed on $1 million bond in Kansas on child endangerment charges. He doesn’t yet have an attorney in the Missouri case.
Another day of sunny fall weather is on tap today with temperatures near seasonal levels. Look for the gloomy cloudy skies to return with a chance of light rain and drizzle back in the forecast on Friday. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 52. Northeast wind 5 to 11 mph becoming south southeast in the afternoon.
Tonight: Increasing clouds, with a low around 45. South wind 9 to 11 mph.
Friday: A chance of drizzle before noon. Cloudy, with a high near 65. South wind 11 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Friday Night: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, then a chance of showers after 9 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Breezy, with a southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north northwest 15 to 25 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday: A chance of showers before noon. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 49. Breezy, with a northwest wind 22 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 26. Blustery.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 49.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 36.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 57.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 37.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 51.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 29.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is recalling nearly 49,000 trucks worldwide to fix a fuel tank problem that increases the risk of a fire.
The recall covers Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 3500 trucks from 2011 through 2015 with two fuel tanks.
Documents posted Thursday by the U.S. government say that the low-fuel-level sensor in the front tank can stick, causing the rear tank to over-fill the front tank. That can make the front tank expand and touch the drive shaft, possibly causing a hole and a fuel leak.
GM says it has no reports of fires or injuries from the problem.
Dealers will replace the rear tank fuel pump, update software and inspect the front tank. Owners will be notified starting Dec. 18 with parts available for repairs in February.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Missouri man who collected hundreds of thousands of images of child pornography over the past decade was sentenced in federal court Wednesday, according to Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
David William Ray, 40, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 12 years in federal prison without parole.
On April 5, 2017, Ray pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography between Oct. 17, 2016, and Jan. 26, 2017.
According to court documents, Ray came to the attention of law enforcement because he was uploading child pornography to Skype. Ray told investigators that he would pose as a single father who was sending sexually explicit images of his daughters in order to trade images of child pornography with other users on KIK and Skype.
Ray, who was actively engaged in trading, downloading, and viewing child pornography for the past decade, amassed well over 500,000 images and videos of child pornography. Ray told investigators that he was addicted to child pornography.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force.
Law enforcement authorities on the scene of Wednesday’s bank robbery-photo courtesy WIBW TV
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a bank robbery and have a suspect in custody.
Just after 4p.m. Wednesday, police responded to report of a bank robbery in the 3600 Block of SE 29th Street in Topeka, according to a media release.Patrons in in the bank reported a white male wearing sunglasses and a hoodie left in a silver Pontiac GrandAm after showing a note to the teller demanding money. No weapon was indicated or shown at the time. The indivdiual left with an undisclosed amount of money.
Just minutes later police spotted the suspect vehicle at 6th and Rice Road and attempted to stop the vehicle. The driver initiated a pursuit that drove through the eastern parts of the city, at one point ramming a police car and continued on through the Highland Park area finally stopping in the 21st and Maryland area after having at least one flat tire.
The driver was taken into custody. Police did not release the suspects’s name late Wednesday.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Gov. Eric Greitens’ efforts to replace Missouri’s top education official are set to come to a head during a closed State Board of Education meeting.
But it appears unlikely that there’s enough support among board members to oust Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven during Tuesday’s meeting.
Three members recently appointed by the Republican governor requested the meeting.
It takes five votes to fire Vandeven, and one of the five people Greitens appointed is hesitant. Unless Vandeven’s opponents can sway one of the three board members appointed under the previous governor, they’ll be at least one vote short.
Vandeven’s departure would allow Greitens to appoint a replacement. He flew in a former leader of a charter school management organization in August.
Requests for comment to the governor’s office were not immediately returned.
NEOSHO RAPIDS, Kan. (AP) — Human remains found more than six months ago in Lyon County still haven’t been identified.
A skull was found April 29 near the Neosho River just outside of Neosho Rapids. Lyon County officers later found more remains.
The remains were wrapped in a bed sheet and comforter. A digital watch also was found.
An autopsy indicated the remains were a male who might have been of mixed race. He was between 5-feet-4 and 5-feet-6 and possibly of middle-to-late age. His long hair was blonde, white or gray. The man also had scoliosis.
The man apparently died between 2013 and 2016.
Lyon County Sheriff Jeff Cope said says a private lab is testing DNA to help with identification and national organizations for missing people have been notified.
