Three vehicles were damaged in a traffic accident early Friday morning in the 1500 block of Jules in Saint Joseph. Sergeant Brett Kelly says the driver of one car hit two parked cars at about 4:30 am.
Kelly says the driver may have been intoxicated. Investigation continues. There were no injuries.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas is offering a military mental health first aid course.
The course is designed to help active military members, veterans, their families and people who work with them recognize and respond to signs of mental illness. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the free class is planned for Saturday at the Lawrence campus.
Participants will receive certification as a Mental Health First Aider.
Organizers say the Mental Health First Aid program has trained more than 300,000 persons since its origin in 2008. A military-specific program began in April 2014 and works to help people recognize issues common to many veterans, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and substance abuse.
DETROIT (AP) — The government is telling Chrysler to speed up its recall of 1.5 million older Jeeps with gas tanks that can rupture in a rear collision.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent a letter to Chrysler saying that only 3 percent of the Jeeps have been fixed, more than a year after the recall began.
The Jeep Grand Cherokees and Libertys have gas tanks behind the rear axles that can rupture in rear collisions and catch fire. The remedy is to install a trailer hitch to protect the tanks in low-speed collisions. At least 51 people have died in crashes due to the problem.
The letter says Jeep owners have complained about being turned away by dealers for lack of parts.
Chrysler says it’s redoubling efforts to get ship parts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is telling the American people that the time to change the nation’s immigration system is now, and he’s taking action to make that happen.
Watch the address here (forward the video to 58:37)
In a nationally televised address from the White House, Obama says it doesn’t make sense to round up and deport millions of people living in the country illegally. He says his plan will let them come out of the shadows, but it’s not anything close to amnesty.
Obama’s plan will shield from deportation nearly 5 million immigrants now in the U.S. illegally.
Obama says that although there was a brief spike in unaccompanied children coming across the border over the summer, overall the number of people trying to cross the border illegally is at its lowest level since the 1970s.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The economic outlook for rural areas of 10 states in the Plains and the West improved in November, but the monthly survey of bankers doesn’t suggest much growth.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says low grain and energy prices continue to limit the economy in rural areas.
The overall economic index for the region improved for the first time since May, but it only reached the neutral score of 50. That’s up from 43.4 in October.
The survey indexes range from 0 to 100. Any score below 50 suggests decline in that factor in the months ahead.
Bankers from rural areas of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.
PITTSBURG- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 4 p.m. on Thursday in Crawford County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Jeep driven by Jackson Thiuru Rutere, 35, Pittsburg, was southbound on S. 200th Street 3 miles west of Pittsburg.
The vehicle left the roadway, entered the west ditch and overturned.
Rutere was transported to Via Christi
The KHP reported he was not wearing a seat belt.
Michael J. Silvy has been missing since Nov. 11, 2014. He was last seen in the area of East Lake and I-229. He was last seen wearing a dark T-shirt and jeans. He usually wears glasses. He is 33 years old, and is described as 5’11” around 250 lbs with shorter dark hair.
If you have information about his location or have had contact with him, contact the police department at 816-238-TIPS or the detective division at 816-271-5336.
TOPEKA — The Kansas African American Affairs commission is promoting “A New Black Friday,” a project first launched last year to encourage African-American families to share their family histories the day or weekend after Thanksgiving.
“African-Americans have made important contributions to Kansas history,” said Dr. Mildred Edwards. “Gathering these family histories will help us appreciate and better understand that rich heritage.”
Families are encouraged to speak with grandparents, great-grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, or any other elders about their memories by selecting questions from the KAAAC brochure. After conducting the interview, participants are asked to write a short essay of 500 to 700 words and submit it to the Kansas African American Affairs Commission on or before Jan. 1.
For more information on this program, visit www.kaaac.ks.gov.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are likely to consider diverting funds earmarked for highway projects to general government programs to help solve the state’s budget problems.
The chairmen of the House and Senate budget committee say such a step is an option as legislators work to close combined shortfalls of more than $714 million in the current and next state budgets.
Executive Vice President Bob Totten of the Kansas Contractors Association said Thursday that the group is concerned about the possibility but believes there’s bipartisan support for transportation projects.
Kansas started a 10-year and $8 billion transportation program in 2010. The program is financed outside the state’s main bank account with bonds, motor fuels taxes, vehicle registration fees and some sales tax revenues.
The state has diverted highway funds in the past.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A woman has been killed in a house fire in a neighborhood just west of downtown Topeka.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the fire was reported around 8:20 a.m. Thursday in the two-story home. Topeka Fire Marshal Mike Martin says crews likely will be on the scene “for most of the day.”
One person was able to escape, but a woman died inside the home. The fire sent smoke drifting above the downtown skyline for more than two miles away. The flames were so intense that an SUV that had been parked near the front porch also caught fire.
At one point, firefighters and police officers restrained a man after he sprinted toward the still-burning house, apparently trying to get inside.
