By BRIAN GRIMMETT

The Department of Homeland Security is now taking public comment on a plan to release biological and chemical materialsat the former Chilocco Indian School near Arkansas City.

The release of the inert chemical and biological material at the abandoned school is meant to test how a potential chemical attack on the U.S. will impact people inside of houses differently than those outside.

DHS officials say they chose the school because the buildings on its campus are representative of typical homes and apartments found across the country. They are also far enough away from public buildings that officials believe the agents will dissipate before reaching them.

Congressman Ron Estes, who represents the area, says he was concerned when he first learned about the test’s proximity to Arkansas City.

“You know, it is important for all of our federal agencies to test their abilities in response to different threats, but I want to make sure that they were 100 percent certain this test is safe,” he says.

In the environmental assessment for the proposed test, DHS officials say the chemical and biological agents they will be using will pose no major risk to air quality, vegetation or wildlife. The first test is scheduled for January or February of 2018.

DHS will be accepting public comment on the proposed test until Dec. 8.

Follow Brian Grimmett on Twitter @briangrimmett

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Republican lawmaker from eastern Missouri has been chosen as the next House majority leader.

The House says that Rep. Rob Vescovo, of Jefferson County, was selected by Republican colleagues to take over for departing House Majority Leader Mike Cierpiot (SEER’-poy), of Lee’s Summit.

Cierpiot won a special election last week to fill a vacant state Senate seat.

Vescovo first was elected to the House in November 2014. As majority leader, he will guide the flow of business in the House by determining which bills to debate and when to do so.

The Legislature is scheduled to convene in regular session on Jan. 3.

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. (AP) – An 18-year-old Missouri man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to raping two young girls in Arkansas.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Carlo Love of Kennett, Missouri, was sentenced Monday and his prison term will be followed by a 10-year suspended sentence.

Prosecutors say the victims, ages 8 and 11, were at their grandfather’s house last November in Mississippi County, in northeast Arkansas, when Love asked if they wanted to “play a game.”

He then locked himself in a room with the girls.

The children were later taken to a hospital where DNA evidence was recovered.

Love was arrested two weeks later.

BELTON, Mo. (AP) – A civilian detention officer in Belton is charged with having sex with a prisoner.

Cass County authorities say 35-year-old Emmanuel Wilbourn is charged with two felony counts of having sexual contact with a prisoner.

The Kansas City Star reports the alleged victim, a 30-year-old woman, reported the incident Saturday.

Belton police say an investigation determined the contact had occurred at the Belton Police Department jail, and the employee was placed on leave “pending termination proceedings.”

Online court records don’t list an attorney for Wilbourn.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Lawyers for the family of a black Topeka man fatally shot by police say the city is trying to prevent his parents from viewing officers’ body camera footage.

Attorney Gillian Cassell-Stiga said Monday that the city initially agreed to allow Dominque White’s parents to see the body camera footage. But she said the city later said Kansas law allows it be viewed only by White’s four children, who range in age from 3 to 13.

Cassell-Stiga called that position “entirely ridiculous.”

City spokeswoman Molly Hadfield said Kansas law allows parents to view footage when a minor is the subject. Also heirs or estate administrators can view footage involving someone who has died. She said talks with the family are ongoing.

The 30-year-old White was shot Sept. 28 by two still-unidentified officers.

MISSION WOODS, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City council race was so close that it took a coin flip to pick a winner.

The Kansas City Star reports that William Young won the toss Monday for an at-large seat on the council for Mission Woods, which has fewer than 200 residents. He called tails.

Voters were supposed to pick five winners out of six candidates. Young and Michael Knierim tied for last, with 35 votes each. And even after Johnson County officials added in provisional ballots and crunched the final official results on Monday, the tie still existed.

It’s still possible that Knierim could request a recount because the race to represent the community in the northeast part of the county was so close. The deadline for doing so is late Tuesday.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – A 20-year-old Springfield man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his half-brother.

Brandon M. Johnson was charged Monday after his half-brother, 23-year-old Danny Dayton, was shot to death Saturday. Johnson was arrested Sunday in Webster County.

The Springfield News-Leader reports the two lived together. A probable cause statement said the shooting occurred as the brothers were leaving for work.

Johnson is being held in the Greene County Jail on $500,000 bond. He does not have an attorney listed in online records.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Wyandotte County District Attorney has filed charges against three men who were wounded in a shootout with FBI and Kansas City, Kansas, police officers last week.

Aggravated assault charges were filed Monday against 32-year-old Jason Trevillion; 27-year-old Ernest Jones; and 25-year-old Arthur Mitchell.

The Kansas City Star reports police said the gunfight started when several officers in the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force tried to stop a car in Kansas City, Kansas, on Nov. 6.

The three people in the car suffered non-life-threatening injuries. No officers were injured.

Further information on what prompted the officers to stop the car and how many officers were involved have not been released.

A police spokesman said Kansas City, Kansas, officers who were placed on leave are back on duty.