WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters have marched to the Capitol, where relatives of several black men who died in incidents with white police officers are addressing the crowd.
Civil rights organizations held the Saturday march and rally to bring attention to such deaths and call for legislative action.
Among the speakers were civil rights leader The Rev. Al Sharpton; the widow of Eric Garner, killed by an officer in New York; the parents of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old killed in Ferguson, Missouri; and the mother of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old killed in Ohio as he played with a pellet gun in a park.
Many asked the crowd to chant, “I can’t breathe.” Garner had gasped those words before his death while being arrested for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.
Protestors’ signs displayed that sentence as well as “Black Lives Matter” and “Who do you protect? Who do you serve?”
TRENTON- A Missouri man was injured in an accident just after 2 a.m. on Saturday in Mercer County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Chevy Camaro driven by Eric S. Virtue, 34, Princeton, was westbound on Route D one mile west of U.S. 65.
The driver lost control of the vehicle. It skidded across the road, traveled off the road, struck a fence and overturned.
Virtue was transported to Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported he was wearing a seat belt.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement after the Senate’s passage of the annual defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act:
“This is a win for our national security. In a time of constantly-evolving threats and priorities, we need a responsible, thorough framework for our country’s defense. This legislation further builds on our sweeping, bipartisan reforms that are changing how the military handles sexual violence, it fixes the Pentagon’s troubled POW/MIA recovery efforts, it guards against tax dollars being spent on Afghan infrastructure without any oversight, and it finally gives official designation to Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial. I’m pleased my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have gotten it across the finish line, and I look forward to the President signing it.”
McCaskill successfully won the inclusion of a number of her national security priorities into the legislation, including:
Provisions of the Victims Protection Act—a bipartisan package of additional reforms to supplement the sweeping changes passed into law by Congress last year on how the military justice system handles sexual violence. The Victims Protection Act—sponsored by McCaskill along with Republican Senators Kelly Ayotte and Deb Fischer—will:
Eliminate the “good soldier” defense for servicemembers accused of sexual assault under most circumstances,
Allow victims formal input on whether their case is tried in military or civilian court,
Allow survivors to challenge their discharge or separation from service,
Strengthen the role of the prosecutor in advising commanders on going to court-martial,
Boost accountability of commanders for setting appropriate command climate,
And extend protections to the Military Service Academies
Fixing POW/MIA recovery efforts:
Establishes a single Pentagon agency responsible for handling POW/MIA recovery and accounting efforts, which McCaskill discovered had been plagued by mismanagement and a lack of accountability
Terminating funding for unsustainable Afghan infrastructure projects:
Prohibits taxpayer funding from being used on projects in Afghanistan that cannot be overseen by American personnel
Along with Senator Roy Blunt, securing World War I memorial status for Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial:
Successfully designates the Liberty Memorial as the country’s official World War I Museum and Memorial
Establishes a World War I Memorial at Pershing Park in Washington DC, and authorizes the World War I Centennial Commission to improve and develop the site
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (AP) — A 29-year-old central Missouri man is dead after being hit by a train.
The Warrensburg Daily Star Journal reports Joseph Johnson was sitting on railroad tracks just west of Warrensburg at 9:10 a.m. Friday when the train’s engineer saw him but couldn’t get the train stopped in time to avoid hitting him.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis says the company provided “peer support” to help the engine crew cope with the death.
File this under the heading of, who would have ever thunk it?
What I’m referring to is the notion that today’s farmers need a prescription and a degree in chemistry to apply herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers to their land in order to grow and produce the food we eat every day.
About this time, you’re probably chuckling to yourself, smiling and thinking, “Ah that can’t be happening. What’s he writing about now?”
Read on.
Some environmentalists remain mighty concerned about the plant food, bug and weed control methods our farmers use today on their wheat, corn, beans, vegetables and other crops. They’re also concerned about chemical residue and how application exposure affects them and their fellow human beings.
As technology continues to improve, the tools producers require to grow food fall under closer scrutiny. Some clamor louder for stricter control or even elimination. Others already believe pesticide use should be by prescription only.
Here’s an example.
Say a farmer has a corn borer problem. If these radical environmentalists succeed, the producer might have to call in a specialist to look over the problem. Once the situation is diagnosed, the government specialist would write the food grower a prescription for chemicals, just like a doctor would for a sick patient.
The farmer’s next step would be to call a chemical applicator who would come to the farm and apply the designated herbicide or insecticide. This additional help would subtract from the farmer’s bottom line.
If you’re thinking this may be a bit extreme – could be, however, it’s a safe bet we will see farmers losing the use of more and more chemicals. It happens every year.
Today, some chemicals are being lumped into the restricted-use category. This removes them from the hands of the general farming public. Some of these chemicals will never be used again.
It seems every year there are more stringent requirements for applicators who apply chemicals. Farmers must plan ahead and take part in the development of new rules and regulations that will strongly impact the way they grow our food in the future.
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
CAMERON- A teenage driver was injured in an accident just before 11 p.m. on Friday in DeKalb County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Toyota Avalon driven by Ezekiel M. Bridgeman, 19, Winston, was northbound on Route EE three miles north of Cameron. The driver attempted to pass another vehicle, traveled off the road, struck a mailbox, hit the ditch and overturned.
Bridgeman was transported to Liberty Hospital
The MSHP reported he was not wearing a seat belt.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In small-town community centers, schools, churches and a vast city convention center, immigrant advocates are spreading the word about President Barack Obama’s plan to give a temporary reprieve to millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally.
The November announcement promising work permits and protection from deportation for some immigrants made a splash, but lawyers say the events are crucial to dispel rumors about eligibility, ward off fraud, and help people determine what they might need to apply.
In Los Angeles, advocates are hosting an information session for as many as 10,000 people at the city’s convention center Sunday.
Smaller workshops have been held across the country, including at a high school in Knoxville, Tennessee, a church in Goshen, Indiana, and an Islamic Center in New York City.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Montgomery County jury has found a Jefferson City woman guilty of first-degree involuntary manslaughter in a 2012 crash that killed a 35-year-old Parkville man.
The Columbia Missourian (columbiamissourian.com ) reports that 25-year-old Kelli Carin Smith was convicted Friday after two days of deliberation. The jury’s first round of deliberations lasted more than 10 hours and didn’t conclude until 2 a.m. Friday.
Truck driver Thomas Sullivan died in an early-morning crash on I-70 after colliding with Smith, who was traveling the wrong way on the interstate.
Smith’s lawyers argued at trial that the former Columbia resident was drugged and sexually assaulted before the crash after visiting several bars earlier that night.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Saturday is a rare date. And when it comes to remembering an anniversary or a birthday, it’s as easy as 12/13/14.
There won’t be another sequential calendar date for 20 years, when Jan. 2, 2034 arrives. It’ll take 89 years to get to Jan. 2, 2103.
Lottery players and Las Vegas take a particular liking to such sequences.
The county marriage license bureau in Las Vegas says it issued 4,333 licenses in just four days leading up to July 7, 2007 — more than half of what it typically issues in an entire month.
Dec. 13, 2014 is no different. One Las Vegas wedding chapel has 120 couples booked for ceremonies. A hotel-casino company is offering free weddings on its Strip-side observation wheel from 10:11 a.m. to 12:13 p.m.
LEAVENWORTH- A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just after 4 p.m. on Friday in Leavenworth County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Ford Ranger driven by Alexandra Wilson, 19, Dearborn, MO., was westbound on U.S. 24 at Stone Creek. The driver fell asleep and struck a 2004 Dodge 1500 driven by Mary E. Akors, 75, Kansas City, that was stopped at a red light.
Akors was transported to KU Medical Center. The KHP reported Wilson was possibly injured but not where she was treated. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
