TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas reports that its unemployment rate dropped slightly to 3.8 percent in September but the state saw a small decline in the number of private-sector jobs over the previous year.

The state Department of Labor says the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was lower than August’s rate of 3.9 percent and the 4.3 percent rate for September 2016. Monthly unemployment rates this year have remained below those for last year.

But the number of private-sector, non-farm jobs was 5,000 lower in September than in September 2016. The decrease was 0.4 percent.

It was the sixth consecutive month with lower private-sector job numbers than in 2016.

But Department of Labor officials said Friday that the state is maintaining a healthy labor market that was stronger in September than in August.

GRETNA, La. (AP) — Trial for the suspect in last year’s shooting death of former NFL player Joe McKnight has been scheduled for Jan. 16.

Fifty-five-year-old Ronald Gasser faces a second-degree murder charge in McKnight’s death on Dec. 1, 2016.

Authorities have said McKnight and Gasser drove erratically and yelled at each other in a traffic confrontation before the shooting. They say the confrontation took place as they traveled over a Mississippi River bridge in New Orleans and onto roads in a neighboring district.

Prosecutors have cast Gasser as the aggressor. Gasser’s attorneys say he shot in self-defense.

New Orleans news outlets report the trial had been set next month but both sides requested more time to prepare.

McKnight played three seasons for the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – Few Missourians have lost in-home care and nursing home services despite recent funding cuts.

The Department of Health and Senior Services says only 35 people out of close to 60,000 had lost services at the end of September, although it hasn’t been long since funding cuts triggered more stringent eligibility requirements for aid for the elderly and disabled.

Services for about 8,300 people were put at risk after Gov. Eric Greitens in June vetoed a bill that would have prevented cuts.

House Budget Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick is among lawmakers brainstorming a plan to prevent anyone from losing services. He says potential solutions include limiting a tax break for low-income seniors and disabled renters.

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN

Fewer than 40 percent of Kansas students are on track to be academically prepared for college, community college or technical school as measured by their scores on the state’s standardized math and English tests.

Scores on English language arts tests went down for the second year in a row. About 38 percent of students scored proficient in that subject in spring 2017.

Math results dropped slightly after seeing a gain the year before. About 34 percent of students hit the state’s targets, according to results released Tuesday.

“If it remains that way, then it’s a serious concern,” said Jim Porter, chairman of the Kansas State Board of Education. “If it starts going up, which I anticipate that it will, then that just shows the trend is in the right direction.”

Kansas students take the state’s tests in third through eighth grades and again in 10th grade.

Education Commissioner Randy Watson said during the board’s meeting Tuesday in Topeka that the movement in scores is “not in the right direction.” In addition to not making gains in the rate of students scoring on track to be ready for college, the rate of students at the bottom of the four-tier scoring scale increased.

Watson said he expects to see gradual progress in coming years.

“We will not see, if we do this correctly, a dramatic increase like we saw under No Child Left Behind,” he said. “Because we don’t want to teach to the test.”

No Child Left Behind refers to a bygone federal law that Congress replaced in 2015. It fueled a rise in the prominence of standardized test scores to gauge school performance in an effort to shed light on and resolve systemic academic achievement gaps among certain student groups, such as children from low-income families and racial and ethnic minorities.

The law was unpopular because it set lofty goals tied to punitive measures for schools that failed to meet them. The new federal law is viewed as a step away from that punitive approach.

Kansas’ 2030 targets

The news that Kansas’ test scores are sagging comes just one month after the state submitted a school accountability plan to the federal government that sets aggressive targets for boosting math and reading scores by 2030.

Those goals would require schools to more than double proficiency rates by that year, which is when this year’s kindergarten class will graduate.

The proficiency rates for some groups of students — such as African-American children and English language learners — would need to triple by 2030 to hit the targets. That would require annual increases of more than 3 or 4 percentage points per year in the rate of kids scoring proficient.

The Kansas Association of School Boards, while calling the goal of boosting academic outcomes a moral imperative, has expressed concern that no state has achieved such high levels as measured by standardized testing.

Watson emphasized Tuesday that state math and English test scores are just one measure of student outcomes. The state is also looking at ACT scores, Advanced Placement scores, dual-credit enrollment among high school students and higher education continuation rates, among other figures, to try to piece together a portrait of how Kansas schools and their students are faring.

About half of Kansas high school graduates attain college or career credentials or are enrolled in college in their first two years after leaving school, according to the state education department.

Test scores used to be higher

In 2014, Kansas switched to more rigorous state tests, reflective of a change in state standards that raised the bar for what concepts students should master in math and English classes at each grade level.

State education officials have expressed hope that improving academic rigor in math and English language arts will reduce the rates of students who need remediation once they reach college. They also hope to better prepare students for careers, regardless of whether they plan to pursue college after graduation.

As predicted by state education officials, the switch to the new standards, called the Common Core, led to a steep drop in the rates of students hitting the higher targets. The Common Core targets were designed to indicate whether a child or teenager is on track for being academically prepared for college by the time he or she graduates high school.

Prior to the more rigorous state tests, about four out of five students scored proficient.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.

 

SHAWNEE COUNTY — A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 3p.m. Friday in Shawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Peterbilt semi driven by Patrick B. Schafer, 29, Perry, was westbound on U.S. 24 at Kaw Valley Road in the left lane.

The semi rear-ended a 2007 John Deere Combine driven by Andrew Joseph Voegeli, 25, Tecumseh, that was westbound in both lanes. The combine left the roadway to the west and fell into the creek.

Voegeli was transported to the hospital in Topeka.  Schafer was wearing a seat belt and not injured, according to the KHP.

U.S. 24 remains closed at K-4 and the inside lane of U.S. 24 starting at Happy Hollow Road are closed due to the collision over Soldier Creek, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. –  Two Missouri have been charged in federal court, in separate cases, with illegally possessing firearms, according to Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Ladame T. Smith, 23, and Lajuan Marquis Martin, 23, both of Columbia, were each charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in separate criminal complaints filed in the U.S. District Court in Jefferson City, Mo., on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. Martin and Smith are in federal custody and will have their initial court appearances today.

The first federal criminal complaint alleges that Smith, a felon, was in possession of a Zastava 7.62-caliber assault rifle and a Smith and Wesson 9mm semi-automatic handgun. The second federal criminal complaint alleges that Martin, a felon, was in possession of a Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun.

According to affidavits filed in support of the criminal complaints, Columbia police officers were conducting surveillance and observed Smith get into a red Pontiac Grand Prix. Because Smith had an active parole absconder arrest warrant, officers stopped the vehicle, which was driven by Martin. A detective saw the loaded Glock handgun on the driver’s side floorboard at Martin’s feet and the loaded assault rifle between the passenger seat and doorjamb where Smith was seated. As Smith was exiting the vehicle, the detective also saw the loaded Smith and Wesson on the front passenger seat where Smith had been seated.

Officers also smelled the strong odor of burnt marijuana emanating from the inside of the vehicle and observed Smith smoking a “blunt” (marijuana cigar). Officers found eight grams of heroin packaged in 15 individual baggies and two Alprazolam pills in Martin’s pants pocket.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Smith has prior felony convictions for unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful use of a firearm, burglary and stealing. Martin has a prior felony conviction for resisting arrest.

JEFFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens says the state no longer will make children in foster care pay a $15 fee to get copies of their birth certificates.

Greitens in a Friday statement said the change is aimed at making it easier for teenagers in foster care to get records needed to apply for a driver’s license and jobs.

First Lady Sheena Greitens suggested the change after youths in foster care complained to her about fees. She says the change will lower barriers for kids in foster care and help them develop life skills.

The new governor and first lady have said helping foster care children is a priority for them.

Greitens’ spokesman Parker Briden says costs to the state will be minimal but didn’t provide an estimated price tag.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. –  A Springfield, Mo., man identified during an online live-streaming session was sentenced in federal court Thursday for receiving and distributing child pornography, according to Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Michael V. Lucas, 32, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Lucas to a 15-year term of supervised released following incarceration.

Lucas, who pleaded guilty on May 3, 2017, admitted that he received and distributed child pornography from Jan. 1, 2016, to Sept. 22, 2016.

According to court documents, a federal law enforcement agent in Phoenix, Ariz., encountered a person later identified as Lucas among the participants who were live streaming images and videos of child pornography over the Internet on Sept. 15, 2016. During the live-streaming session, Lucas claimed to have molested two 13- and 16-year-old victims and said he would attempt to broadcast a future sexual encounter with the victims.

Lucas was partially visible in a reflection during the live stream. The federal agent engaged in two additional live-streaming sessions that day in which Lucas participated and continued to share images and videos of child pornography.

On Sept. 19, 2016, Lucas was identified by the agent posting messages in a known pedophile group. These messages described the number of videos he possessed as well as advertising his new Skype group. Lucas was live streaming videos of child pornography and his reflection could be seen. Lucas also shared two links to a Dropbox account that contained images of child pornography and claimed that he was in possession of more than 1,000 videos of child pornography.

On Sept. 20, 2016, Lucas was live streaming and moved the position of the camera to show his face. Lucas also displayed a handgun and loaded magazine for the weapon during the course of the stream.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Lucas’s residence on Sept. 22, 2016, and Lucas was arrested.