BELLEVUE, Iowa (AP) — Police officers from around the country are reaching out to support a fallen Iowa officer’s son.

Anamosa police Officer Mitch Kelchen died in a car crash over Labor Day weekend while off duty. After his death, Kelchen’s oldest son, Shane, collected business cards from other officers. But someone at his school destroyed the cards.

Since then, police departments have sent Shane more than 10,000 cards.

Des Moines television station KCCI reports that officers from Kansas City, Kansas, got involved and presented a special gift to the family Friday in Bellevue, Iowa. They gave him two frames full of more than 150 business cards, including one of Mitch Kelchen’s cards.

Shane’s mom, Tina Kelchen, says the support her family has received since her husband’s death has been more than she expected.

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) – Many Missouri counties won’t be reimbursed for state prisoners housed in their jails until 2018.

The Joplin Globe reports that the Legislature set aside about $40 million for the reimbursement program this year. But the state ran out of the allocated money catching up with back payments before the end of the fiscal quarter.

County officials say delays in reimbursement have made their budget problems more difficult.

Counties already pay a majority of prisoner housing costs. The County Commissioners Association of Missouri says housing an inmate costs about $45 a day. The state paid less than $21 a day last year.

Requests are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. State officials say faulty, duplicate and late requests have slowed the repayment process.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Fulton, Mo., man was charged in federal court Thursday with illegally manufacturing a firearm suppressor, or “silencer,” following his arrest for harassing a state worker involved with him losing custody of his children, according to Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Nathaniel Craig Carroll, 37, of Fulton, was charged in the U.S. District Court in Jefferson City, Mo., with illegally manufacturing a firearm suppressor. Carroll, who will have an initial court appearance at 1:30 p.m. today, remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017.

According to an affidavit filed in support of today’s federal criminal complaint, Carroll manufactured a suppressor (or “silencer”) following his recent arrest for harassing a state children’s division employee who is involved in a case where Carroll’s children were taken from the home.

On Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017, a judge in Callaway County determined that the case was going to move toward the permanent removal of the children from Carroll’s custody, which upset him a great deal. Immediately after the court hearing, the affidavit says, Carroll was seen at the Westlake Ace Hardware store. A Calloway County sheriff’s deputy was concerned that Carroll was intent on hurting himself because of what had happened at the hearing earlier, and therefore followed up with employees at the hardware store to determine what Carroll was purchasing.

According to the affidavit, Carroll purchased several items that could be used to manufacture a suppressor. Carroll allegedly made a statement to the store clerk about needing items to build a suppressor. Carroll does not have a federal license to manufacture a suppressor.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Carroll’s residence at approximately 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017. They found the suppressor on a shelf in the garage next to a baggie of suspected marijuana. Another suspected suppressor was found in a gun safe in the residence along with a rifle that was threaded to fit the suppressor that was next to it in the safe. This suspected suppressor appears to have been made from oil filters covered in an adhesive tape, a common method used for homemade “silencers.”  Items were also found in the garage that were consistent with parts used to build suppressors.

In addition to the suppressors, officers found 13 firearms inside the residence as well as over 1,000 rounds of assorted ammunition.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials are proposing a new version of the state’s privatized Medicaid program that would require about 12,000 adults to work.

The proposal was unveiled Friday as the state considers changes to a program that serves more than 400,000 residents.

Kansas currently has no work requirement for Medicaid recipients and it would be the first state in the country to do so.

Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration says requiring some people to work will improve their lives. Officials note that of the 12,000 people that would be affected, most already are required to work because they receive welfare assistance.

Advocates for Medicaid recipients say work requirements are illegal and were not allowed before President Donald Trump’s administration.

The proposal must be approved by the federal government.

By DAN MARGOLIES

Newly unsealed testimony given by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach suggests he knew that the federal motor voter law might have to be amended for states to require proof of citizenship for voter registration.

In a sworn deposition in a lawsuit challenging Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship requirement, Kobach acknowledged drafting proposed amendments to the National Voter Registration Act, the formal name of the motor voter law, after courts blocked the requirement for Kansas voters registering at DMV offices.

Read Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s deposition from Aug. 3, 2017
Kobach has resisted handing over documents that he brought to then president-elect Donald Trump, including the draft language, and fought to keep them under seal. But the ACLU, which filed the lawsuit, successfully argued that the changes Kobach proposed showed he didn’t think the Kansas requirement was in line with federal law.

The state’s Secure and Fair Elections Act, pushed by Kobach, requires new Kansas voters to provide proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate or passport to complete their state voter registration. The ACLU alleges the law violates the motor voter law, which only requires an attestation of citizenship under penalty of perjury.

One of Kobach’s proposed amendments was nearly identical to hypothetical language used by the ACLU in court documents to show how the motor voter law could be amended to allow states to require documentary proof of citizenship.

In his deposition, Kobach ridiculed the idea that the similarity in language was anything but a coincidence.

“I think it is inconceivable that I would have had your brief in my hand when drafting this,” Kobach said in response to questioning by ACLU attorney Dale Ho.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ordered excerpts from Kobach’s deposition unsealed Thursday. The excerpts show a sometimes combative Kobach responding to Ho’s questions about his proposals to amend the motor voter law, which Kobach said would have been necessary if the ACLU prevails in the case.

In response to Ho, Kobach, a Republican, denied that he drafted the proposed amendments in preparation for his meeting with Trump in November. Kobach insists that his proposal was a “draft of a draft” and that he wrote it in late summer or early fall of 2016, ahead of a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in the case, and well before the presidential election.

“I’m telling you flatly that I did not know I would ever be meeting with the president-elect when I drafted this because he was not (yet) elected.”

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld Robinson’s order blocking the proof-of-citizenship law in Kansas.

Kobach was photographed at his November 2016 meeting with Trump clutching a document with a list of priorities for the Department of Homeland Security. At the time, Kobach was a candidate to lead the department, which he acknowledges in his deposition.

The unsealing of portions of Kobach’s deposition came after Robinson earlier this month ordered the unsealing of heavily redacted portions of the documents he shared with the Trump transition team.

One document, which was mostly blacked out, listed 23 points. The third, under the heading “Stop Aliens from Voting,” says “Draft Amendments to the National Voter Registration Act to promote proof-of-citizenship requirements.”

Kobach contends that noncitizen registration is a pervasive problem, but one of Kobach’s own expert witnesses in the ACLU case said that no more than .07 percent of Kansas’ 1.8 million registered voters were noncitizens.

Kobach is vice chairman of the White House’s election integrity commission, which was established by Trump after he claimed that millions of people voted illegally last November — a claim widely discredited by election officials and experts.

Kobach also refers in his deposition to conversations he had with “a friend of mine,” Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican known for his hard-line views on immigration.

The congressman, Kobach said, had agreed to introduce legislation to amend the National Voter Registration Act as a contingency plan if the ACLU prevails in their lawsuit.

“If we lost this lawsuit … if it were necessary to amend the NVRA to restore the original meaning of the NVRA because you (the ACLU) had succeeded in changing it through litigation,” Kobach testified that he asked King, “would he be willing to carry an amendment if I ever gave one to him, and he said yes.”
Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor for the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.  

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas City man was indicted this week  on federal charges of robbing a bank in Overland Park, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Ryan Michael Cothern, 41, Kansas City, is charged with an Oct. 3, 2107, robbery at US Bank at 9900 West 87th Street in Overland Park.

It is alleged Cothern handed a clerk his cell phone on which he had written a memo saying, “Put the 50s and the 100s in the bag.

Do not put the dye pack in the bag. You follow these instructions and no one gets hurt and we can all go home.” Cothern was arrested shortly after the robbery when an Overland Park police officer stopped him in the 8300 block of Melrose Street.

If convicted, Cothern faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Overland Park Police Department and the FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Catania is prosecuting.

 

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – A recent report says fraternities and sororities at the University of Missouri operate in a free-for-all atmosphere with little oversight or guidance.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that consulting firm Dyad Strategies released its report of the university’s Greek system on Thursday. The report comes as the FBI investigates embezzlement by a now-fired employee at the Office of Greek Life after years of problems, including the near death of a student from alcohol poisoning.

The report offers almost 50 recommendations for action, ranging from stricter enforcement of alcohol policies to increased security at social events to prevent rapes and hazing.

University official Gary Ward says consultants will work with alumni, university supporters, students, staff and faculty to review the report.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Governor Eric Greitens has appointed 30 women to various state boards and commissions to fulfill a pledge his wife made earlier this month.

Greitens’s wife, Sheena Greitens, announced on Oct. 3 that her husband would appoint 25 women to boards and commission to honor the 25th anniversary of the Women’s Foundation.

The Women’s Foundation is a Kansas City-based group that works to promote equality and opportunity to women of all ages.

The First Lady said in a statement Friday that the new appointees will join a cabinet with a female majority to help make a difference on a wide range of issues.

The appointments were made to 16 boards or commissions that address issues ranging from child abuse and neglect to early education and homeland security.

By Rocky Robinson

SALINE COUNTY —Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan is advising drivers be extra careful when traveling the county in the early morning or evening after the Sheriff’s Office worked seven deer related accidents in just three days.

Tuesday morning between 6:40 and 7:15 a.m., deputies worked three deer crashes. Those accidents occurred near the intersection of Magnolia and Simpson, Kansas Highway 4 and Old 81, and Crawford and Holmes.

Wednesday at 10:55 a.m., a deputy was dispatched to Interstate-70, near the Halstead exit, for another deer versus vehicle crash.

Deputies worked three more deer related accidents Thursday, two of which were shortly before 8 a.m. near Donmyer and Mariposa, and Water Well and Link. Sheriff Soldan said that deer also become more active at dusk. The final accident occurred at around 7:15 p.m. at Kansas Highway 4 and Cunningham.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol’s website, “Because deer-breeding season runs from October and into December, law enforcement officers routinely investigate a large number of vehicle-deer crashes this time of year. The Kansas Highway Patrol advises all motorists to be aware of this potential danger and to use extra caution. The following defensive driving techniques could ensure your safety this fall and winter:

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol’s website, “Because deer-breeding season runs from October and into December, law enforcement officers routinely investigate a large number of vehicle-deer crashes this time of year. The Kansas Highway Patrol advises all motorists to be aware of this potential danger and to use extra caution. The following defensive driving techniques could ensure your safety this fall and winter:

• Stay alert, pay more attention to the road and roadside, and intentionally look for deer. Be especially alert at dawn and dusk, the peak movement times for deer and when visibility is low.
• Slow down at deer-crossing signs, which are posted where deer-vehicle collisions have repeatedly occurred, and near woods, parks, golf courses, and streams or creeks. At a reduced speed, you have a better chance of avoiding a deer.
• Deer usually travel in groups. When one deer crosses the road, there may be others about to cross. Slow down and watch for others to dart into the road.
• Slow down when approaching deer standing near roadsides. They have a tendency to bolt, possibly onto the roadway. Use emergency flashers to warn oncoming drivers after you see deer near a roadway.
• Always wear your seat belt. Statistics show that most people injured or killed in deer-related collisions were not wearing seat belts.
• The most serious crashes occur when drivers lose control of their vehicles trying to avoid an animal. Do not take unsafe evasive actions. It is usually safer to strike the deer than another object such as a tree or another vehicle.
• Motorcyclists need to be especially careful; fatality rates are higher in deer-motorcycle accidents than in deer-car crashes.
• If you hit a deer, pull over onto the shoulder, turn on your emergency flashers, and watch for traffic before exiting your vehicle. Do not try to remove a deer from the roadway unless you are sure it is dead; an injured deer could hurt you. If you have a cellular phone, dial *47 (*HP) for the nearest Highway Patrol dispatcher or *KTA for assistance on the Kansas Turnpike.
• Anyone involved in a vehicle-deer crash that results in personal injury or property damage that totals $1,000 or more is required to immediately report the crash to the nearest law enforcement agency. Failure to report any traffic crash is a misdemeanor and may result in suspension of driving privileges.”