SAM HANANEL, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a First Amendment test for the Supreme Court in a case being heard Monday.

At issue are the free-speech rights of people who use violent or threatening language on Facebook and other social media.

A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for posting graphically violent rap lyrics on Facebook about killing his estranged wife, shooting up a kindergarten class and attacking an FBI agent.

The man says he was just venting his anger over a broken marriage and that he never meant to threaten anyone.

But a jury convicted him of violating a federal law that makes it a crime to threaten another person. A federal appeals court rejected his claim that his comments were protected by the First Amendment.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will discuss the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, with his Cabinet, civil rights leaders, law enforcement officials and others Monday.

The White House says Obama’s Cabinet meeting will focus on his administration’s review of federal programs that provide military-style equipment to law enforcement agencies.

The president will also meet with young civil rights leaders to discuss the challenges posed by “mistrust between law enforcement and communities of color.” He’ll then meet with government and law enforcement officials, as well as other community leaders, to discuss how to strengthen neighborhoods.

Protests have continued in Ferguson, but have been more muted than the violence sparked last week by a grand jury’s decision not to indict a police officer in the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas House Speaker Ray Merrick faces a challenge from a fellow Republican for the chamber’s top leadership position for another two years.

And House Democrats are naming a new leader.

The House’s 125 members and members-elect had organizational meetings Monday at the Statehouse to pick leaders for 2015 and 2016.

Republicans will hold a 97-28 House majority when lawmakers open the 2015 session in January, and GOP members will designate the speaker.

Merrick, from Stilwell, is finishing his first, two-year term and is seeking another. His challenger is Rep. Virgil Peck of Tyro.

Democrats must replace Minority Leader Paul Davis of Lawrence. He gave up his House seat to run unsuccessfully for governor.

Reps. Tom Burroughs of Kansas City and Jim Ward of Wichita are vying for the job.

EL DORADO SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — This year’s effort to collect wildflower and grass seeds from surviving prairie remnants has wrapped up.
The Missouri Department of Conservation said in a news release that staff and volunteers netted about 6,500 pounds of seeds mixed with chaff. The seed will be used to plant about 300 acres of native wildflowers and grasses.

Today, only small remnants of the once abundant open tallgrass prairies remain in the state. The habitat loss has harmed several species, including Missouri’s greater prairie chickens.

Wildlife biologist Matt Hill says native seed harvest is an economic and ecologically-sound step in broad efforts to help prairie species. A key partner in the project is The Nature Conservancy of Missouri, which owns prairie land and provides financial support for seed collection efforts.

PORTLAND, Ore (AP) — Rev. Jesse Jackson called for peace and perseverance on Sunday he urged congregants in Portland to keep fighting for racial justice.

He gave a morning sermon at Emmanuel Temple, a day after 10 people were arrested in Portland following a protest related to the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting.

The Oregonian says  Jackson criticized the grand jury that decided Monday not to indict Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson. But Jackson also took aim at other systemic and national racial disparities.

Jackson delivered a similar speech at a gathering Saturday night. Portland police say that after Jackson left, some protesters marched around downtown and sporadically disrupted traffic. Officials say some bottles were thrown at officers and a police car was damaged.

The nine adults and one juvenile arrested will face charges that include disorderly conduct.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A prosecutor has decided that no criminal charges are warranted in the death of a Missouri woman at a Kansas jail.

Fifty-eight-year-old Brenda Sewell of Kansas City, Missouri, was jailed in Sherman County when she died Jan. 22. She and her sister had been arrested two days earlier for possessing a small amount of marijuana.

Relatives say Sewell wasn’t given an opportunity to make a phone call. They also contend jailers refused to give her prescription medication and were slow to help after she collapsed in her cell.

The Lawrence Journal-World  reports that Sherman County Attorney Charles Moser released the police investigative file exclusively to the newspaper this month. The report showed that Douglas County Attorney Charles Branson found that the correctional officers overseeing Sewell didn’t commit a crime.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — One person has been killed and another wounded in a shooting in Columbia.
Police said in a news release that the victims were found early Sunday while officers were responding to a report that shots had been fired.

Forty-year-old RickieDunn of Columbia was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An 18-year-old man is being treated for his wounds.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A 31-year-old Kansas City man has been charged with killing a man whose body was dumped in a rural area south of Kansas City.

Jackson county prosecutors said James Rhymer faces charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of David Mendez. Rhymer was arrested early Saturday after a standoff. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney. Prosecutors are seeking a $250,000 bond.

Court records say that a woman called police early Friday to report that Rhymer and another man entered the Independence home she shared with the victim. Records say the men left with Mendez and that Rhymer killed Mendez in a car in Kansas City.

Cass County sheriff’s deputies were led later that day to the body in a field south of Harrisonville.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Some Missouri lawmakers say they plan to make another run at reforming the state’s loose ethics laws, but campaign contribution limits probably won’t be on the table.

The Kansas City Star reports that state Rep. Noel Torpey is leading his party’s effort in the House, and the Independence Republican believes GOP leaders are on board for some level of ethics legislation.

Missouri law allows lawmakers to accept unlimited gifts from lobbyists and take in unlimited campaign donations. It lets legislative staffers work as paid political consultants during the session and allows lawmakers to become professional lobbyists the moment they leave office.

Democratic strategist Brad Ketcher says a ballot measure seeking radical ethics reform has been drafted in case lawmakers do nothing when their session starts in January.

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — The white police officer who killed Michael Brown has resigned from the Ferguson Police Department, nearly four months after the confrontation that fueled protests in the St. Louis suburb and across the nation.

Darren Wilson has been on administrative leave since the Aug. 9 shooting. His resignation was announced Saturday by one of his attorneys, Neil Bruntrager. Bruntrager says the resignation is effective immediately.

A grand jury spent more than three months reviewing evidence in the case before declining in November to issue any charges against the 28-year-old Wilson. He told jurors that he feared for his life when Brown hit him and grabbed for his gun.

The U.S. Justice Department is still conducting a civil rights investigation into the shooting and a separate probe of police department practices.