JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The last of the 23 religious leaders who were charged after protesting at the state Capitol has been sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation.
Jesse Fisher, of Grandview, also was ordered during his sentencing Thursday not to participate in similar protests in the future.
Fisher and the other religious leaders mostly from the Kansas City and St. Louis areas were charged with misdemeanor trespassing after disrupting a Missouri Senate debate on Medicaid expansion in May 2014.
The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports Fisher entered an Alford plea, which admits no guilt but acknowledges the likelihood of conviction if the case went to trial.
In May, six of the 23 were also placed on probation. Sixteen other members of the group were pardoned in early January by then-Gov. Jay Nixon.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on Tiger Woods’ DUI case (all times local):
1:30 p.m.
Superstar golfer Tiger Woods has pleaded guilty to reckless driving and agreed to enter a diversion program to settle a charge of driving under the influence.
Woods entered the plea Friday in Palm Beach County, Florida. In the diversion program, Woods will spend a year on probation and pay a $250 fine and court costs. He also must attend DUI school, perform 20 hours of community service and attend a workshop where victims of impaired drivers detail how their lives were damaged. The judge indicated that he had already met those requirements.
Since he was intoxicated with prescription drugs and marijuana, he will also be required to undergo regular drug tests. He was arrested in May after being found passed out in his Mercedes.
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1:10 p.m.
Tiger Woods has arrived at a Florida courthouse to face a driving under the influence charge.
Woods is expected to plead guilty to reckless driving and agree to enter a diversion program. He arrived at the courthouse Friday in a sport utility vehicle. He was wearing sunglasses and a sport coat.
Police officers surrounded him as he walked down a hall in the courthouse.
Woods was arrested about 2 a.m. May 29 when officers found him unconscious in his Mercedes-Benz, which was parked awkwardly on the roadside and had damage to the driver’s side. It’s not clear how he damaged the car.
A toxicology report showed Woods had prescription drugs and marijuana in his system, but no alcohol.
In the diversion program, Woods will spend a year on probation and pay a $250 fine and court costs. Other requirements include attending DUI school, performing 20 hours of community service and attending a workshop where victims of impaired drivers detail how their lives were damaged.
His hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
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6:45 a.m.
Superstar golfer Tiger Woods is due in court to resolve a driving under the influence case, expected to plead guilty to reckless driving and agree to enter a diversion program.
The 41-year-old Woods was scheduled to enter the plea Friday in Palm Beach County, Florida. In the diversion program, Woods will spend a year on probation and pay a $250 fine and court costs. Other requirements include attending DUI school, performing 20 hours of community service and attending a workshop where victims of impaired drivers detail how their lives were damaged.
Since he was intoxicated with prescription drugs and marijuana, Woods also must undergo regular drug tests. He was arrested in May after passing out in his Mercedes on the side of a road.
CARTHAGE, Mo. (AP) – A former employee of the Carthage Health and Rehabilitation Center has admitted stealing more than $44,000 from center residents.
Kristi Metcalf, of Carthage, pleaded guilty Thursday to receiving stolen property and one count of abuse of a health care recipient.
The Joplin Globe reports Metcalf was a financial specialist assistant at the Carthage Health and Rehabilitation Center from March 2008 through July 2012.
An investigator with the attorney general’s office testified in March 2015 that she found 244 suspicious cash withdrawals from the trust accounts of four residents and one suspicious check withdrawal. She said the residents seldom, if ever, left the center because of their medical conditions and would not have been able to spend the amount of money that was withdrawn.
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — Kellogg is redoing its Corn Pops cereal boxes after a complaint that the art on the back is racially insensitive.
The box shows cartoon Corn Pops hanging out in a retail mall. Author Saladin Ahmed complained on Twitter that the cereal box is “teaching kids racism” because the only brown Corn Pop depicted is working as a janitor scrubbing the floor.
Kellogg is committed to diversity & inclusion. We did not intend to offend – we apologize. The artwork is updated & will be in stores soon.
Within hours of Ahmed’s tweet Tuesday, the Battle Creek, Michigan-based maker of cereals and Pop Tarts said the artwork had been updated and will reach stores soon.
Kellogg apologized and said it’s committed to diversity and didn’t intend to offend anyone.
USA Today reported about the Corn Pops complaint earlier.
JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man for alleged child exploitation.
On Wednesday, deputies in Jackson County completed an investigation into alleged possession of child pornography and arrested Leon Holloway, 52, Onaga, following a traffic stop in Hoyt.
Holloway was transported to the Jackson County Jail and is being held on a $25,000.00 Bond.
Our first freeze of the season is expected tonight as temperatures will drop into the upper 20s to lower 30s. Any sensitive vegetation will need to be protected or it may be damaged or killed. Some areas will not get a hard freeze tonight however, an area-wide hard freeze is expected tomorrow night with temperatures dropping into the mid to upper 20s. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 45. Breezy, with a northwest wind 16 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.
Tonight: Widespread frost after 3 a.m. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 28. Northwest wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.
Saturday: Widespread frost before 10 a.m. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 50. West northwest wind around 8 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 29. Light and variable wind.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 61. Light south wind becoming southwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 40.
Monday: A chance of rain before 1 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 51. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 48.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 56.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 40.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The owner of a Texas business pleaded guilty for his role in an $840,000 scheme to defraud a Missouri construction company.
Federal prosecutors say 49-year-old Brian Newkirk, of Houston, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of wire fraud in a scheme that involved defrauding the J.E. Dunn Construction Company.
Newkirk’s firm, Search Group International, was one of three businesses hired to find employees for the company. Prosecutors say he paid kickbacks to John Kirwin, of Lee’s Summit, who was an internal recruiter for J.E. Dunn.
Prosecutors say invoices submitted by Newkirk and another defendant, Debi Jordan, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, included highly inflated amounts or discussed employees that were never hired by the company.
Kirwin and Jordan also have pleaded guilty in the case.
GEARY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating one of a Kansas police chief on two criminal charges.
On October 22, the Geary County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to Grandview Plaza for a report of a disturbance.
During the investigation deputies arrested Grandview Plaza Police Chief Shawn Peirano on suspicion of Domestic Battery and Criminal Restraint, according to Brian Hornaday the Captain of Investigations for the Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s office reported no additional details.
Grandview Plaza Mayor Rick Geike confirmed that Peirano has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka woman has pleaded guilty to reduced charges in a baseball bat killing in a downtown Topeka apartment.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 31-year-old Ebony Lanay Porter will be sentenced in December after pleading guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary and interference with law enforcement. She initially was charged with second-degree murder as an aider and abettor in the killing last year of 52-year-old Mark Everett Johnson.
Co-defendant Arthur Lee Ford IV is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to intentional second-degree murder.
Authorities allege that Porter and Ford plotted to break into Johnson’s apartment. Porter and Johnson lived in the same building.
During the break in, Ford is accused of killing Johnson. Ford subsequently was spotted on an ATM security camera using Johnson’s stolen bank card.
