WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is taking some whole grains off the school lunch line.
A massive year-end spending bill released Tuesday doesn’t allow schools to opt out of healthier school meal standards championed by first lady Michelle Obama, as House Republicans had sought. But it would ease standards that require more whole grains in school foods.
The bill also would put off rules to lower sodium in school meals. Those rules were supposed to kick in by 2017.
Some school nutrition directors have lobbied for a break from the standards, which have been phased in since 2012. They say the rules have proven to be costly and restrictive. House Republicans have said they are an overreach.
Michelle Obama has said she will fight “to the bitter end” to ensure healthy meals in schools.
Madison “Al” and Lila Self- University of Kansas photo
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas has received a $58 million gift from the estate of a couple who are the most generous private donors in school history.
Madison “Al” Self and his wife, Lila, died in 2013, both at the age of 91. Their donation announced Tuesday brings the total they have given to the school to $106 million.
School officials say that places them among the most generous benefactors to graduate students at a public university in the U.S.
Of the $58 million gift, $39 million will go to the Self Graduate Fellowship Fund for doctoral students, $15 will go to the Self Engineering Leadership Fellows Program and the remaining $4 million will establish a new Self Graduating Senior Fellowship Fund.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Incoming Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer says he’s planning to have a former Republican primary rival serve in a key position in the office.
Selzer said Tuesday that Republican state Sen. Clark Shultz of Lindsborg has agreed to serve as the Insurance Department’s legislative liaison after Selzer takes office Jan. 12.
Shultz was appointed this year to fill a vacancy in the Senate after previously serving 17 years in the House, the last nine as Insurance Committee chairman. He is giving up his Senate seat.
He and Selzer were among five candidates in the Republican primary, which Selzer won. Selzer then defeated Democrat Dennis Anderson in last month’s general election.
As commissioner, Selzer will replace three-term Republican Sandy Praeger. She did not seek re-election this year.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a Kansas man with first-degree murder who they say shot and killed a woman in a Lowe’s Home Improvement store parking lot.
Wyandotte County prosecutors say 28-year-old George Lingenfelser killed 29-year-old Janet Billings on Sunday. He was charged Tuesday after turning himself in on Sunday.
Kansas City, Kansas, police say Billings and Lingenfelser are from Bonner Springs and knew each other. Their relationship is unclear. Officers found Billings’ body in the parking lot.
Lingenfelser is being held on $750,000 bond at the county jail. Online jail records didn’t indicate an attorney.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A unanimous Supreme Court has ruled that a juror’s comments during trial deliberations cannot be used to show dishonesty during jury selection.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the court on Tuesday that rules written by Congress that govern federal trials are intended to preserve the sanctity of jury deliberations. The court ruled in a case concerning injuries suffered in a traffic accident near Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
A motorcycle rider who had his left leg amputated as a result of the accident lost his negligence lawsuit, but sought a new trial based on one juror’s report of what another said during deliberations. The motorcyclist said the comments suggested that the second juror lied when she promised to be impartial during jury selection.
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is hoping you can help them investigate a vandalism case involving gun shots fired at the Southwest Livingston County R-1 School near Ludlow, Missouri.
Sheriff Steve Cox says they began investigating property damage at the school at 4944 Highway DD on December 8. Cox says their investigation showed a small caliber bullet had penetrated one pane of glass and fell to the bottom of the window without penetrating the second pane of glass. Further investigation showed a suspected small caliber bullet struck part of the front of the school.
“Nothing at this time suggests this crime took place at a time the school was occupied,” Cox says, “and there are no known threats which have been made. Preliminary investigation suggests the projectiles came from the highway to the south of the school.”
“Again, nothing in this investigation has yet suggested this was anything more than a night time property damage to the school. Should we obtain information or evidence which suggests differently we will certainly work with the school and make certain parents, staff and others are quickly notified of such.”
Investigators are reviewing video and continuing with the investigation in an attempt to determine who is responsible for this crime and deliver them to the Courts.
If you can help, call the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office at (660)646-0515 or you can call dispatchers at (660)646-2121. Tips may also be given to school officials.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has approved a bill aimed at reducing a suicide epidemic that claims the lives of 22 military veterans every day.
A bill named for Clay Hunt, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who killed himself in 2011, was approved Tuesday on a voice vote. The bill would require the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department to submit to independent reviews of their suicide prevention programs.
It also would establish a website to provide information on mental health services available to veterans, offer financial incentives to psychiatrists who agree to work for the VA and create a pilot program to assist veterans transitioning from active duty to veteran status.
The suicide rate among veterans is about triple the average rate for the general population.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two GOP leaders in the Kansas Senate are criticizing Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan for eliminating a projected $279 million shortfall in the current state budget.
Brownback’s plan would trim spending and divert funds for public pensions to general government programs. His administration unveiled it Tuesday.
Senate President Susan Wagle of Wichita said the governor is picking winners and losers by being selective in cutting. She said she prefers to see the burden of closing the budget shortfall spread evenly.
Senate Vice President Jeff King of Independence criticized the plan for diverting $41 million in contributions to the state pension system. King is chairman of the Senate pensions committee.
King said the plan threatens to undo gains made in recent years to improve the pension system’s long-term financial health.
St Joseph City Council member “Spanky” O’Dell was treated exactly the same way anyone else in similar circumstances is treated. The judge said so, the prosecutor said so, and his lawyer said so.
O’Dell on Tuesday pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of operating a motor vehicle with an excessive blood alcohol level, and was sentenced to one year of probation. The charges stemmed from a traffic stop last month. About an hour after he was pulled over, O’Dell’s blood alcohol level was tested by police at .067%, well below the threshold for drunk driving.
But in court he admitted that at the time he was driving he was breaking the law. That’s part of what lawyers call the “factual basis” for a guilty plea.
“In order to plead guilty, both he and his attorney have to agree that at the time he was operating the motor vehicle, his blood alcohol contest was above .08%,” says Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins. “That’s what his lawyer told the judge, and that’s why the judge accepted his guilty plea.”
According to experts, alcohol dissipates from your body at a rate of about .015% per hour. This figure is accepted by the law enforcement and scientific communities alike.
Scroggins was asked to handle what was originally a municipal court charge against Mr O’Dell, because of the potential for conflict of interest.
“I agreed to do that,” Scroggins said. “If it’s something that needs to be charged, I’ll charge it, and if it’s not, I won’t. It’s that simple.”
“He was not treated any better because he’s a city council member,” Scroggins said, “and it would not be appropriate for him to be treated any worse because he is a city council member.”
Scroggins says Mr O’Dell was polite and cooperative with the officer who pulled him over. The prosecutor also agreed with defense lawyer Jim Nadolski, who said Mr O’Dell has never been in trouble with the law and had a “spotless” driving record prior to this case.
“Ninety-five percent of first offenders in non-aggravated alcohol offenses, who are polite and cooperative with law enforcement, will get an identical or nearly identical sentence,” Scroggins said.
The Energy Department has again slashed its prediction for next year’s average price of gasoline across the U.S., this time to $2.60 a gallon.
That’s 23 percent below the projected average for this year and the lowest since 2009.
If that comes to pass, the price drop will save U.S. drivers $100 billion over the course of the year.
In its most recent short-term energy outlook, released Tuesday, the Energy Department cut its gasoline price forecast for 2015 by 35 cents a gallon. It was the second cut of more than 30 cents a gallon in two months.
The average national price of gasoline fell to $2.66 a gallon Tuesday, according to AAA, 61 cents less than last year. The national average has fallen every day since September 26.
MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press
