ALEX SANZ, Associated Press
JIM SALTER, Associated Press
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Authorities arrested three protesters during a third straight night of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
The heightened tension comes amid speculation that an announcement could come soon about whether to indict Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown.
St. Louis County police say large groups of protesters blocked traffic three times in the St. Louis suburb Friday night. That happened twice near the police station and once on West Florissant Avenue, the site of violent protests soon after Brown’s death. A motorist lost control and crashed into a light pole during the unrest on West Florissant.
Prosecutors said around noon on Friday that the grand jury was still in session. Brown’s family, police and activists have called for calm.
WASHINGTON (AP) — School kids are giving thanks to first lady Michelle Obama just in time for the holiday — with a sarcastic Twitter hashtag about unappealing school lunches.
Along with photos of unsavory-looking school meals, the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama was among the top trends on Twitter within the United States for a stretch on Friday.
The first lady has become the symbol of healthier school lunches as she has pushed for standards implemented in 2012 that require more fruits, vegetables and whole grains in the lunch line.
Many of the photos have a Thanksgiving theme while others are everyday meals. One of the most retweeted photos was from 17-year-old Hunter Whitney of Wisconsin, who posted a photo of a soupy Spanish rice gone wrong and an apple on his tray.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has sent nearly 100 additional agents to Ferguson, Missouri, to help law enforcement there as officials prepare for possible unrest ahead of a grand jury decision in the Michael Brown shooting.
A U.S. official said Friday that the agents will supplement the law enforcement presence. The official was not authorized to discuss the FBI plans by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A grand jury has been meeting to decide whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 shooting of the unarmed black 18-year-old. It’s not clear when that decision will be announced.
The Brown shooting has prompted weeks of unrest on the streets and occasionally violent clashes between police and protesters. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon earlier this week activated the National Guard.
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Federal indictments were returned Thursday charging that eight people who worked for Keebler Company in Kansas City, Kan., fraudulently received unemployment benefits, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom reported in a media release.
In September, similar indictments were filed against 16 people who worked for Keebler.
The new indictments allege that while working for Keebler each of the defendants received unemployment benefits by submitting false reports to the Kansas Department of Labor.
Defendants, who are charged in separate indictments with one count each of theft of government funds and one count of bank fraud, include the following:
Anthony Quiroga, Jr., 48, Shawnee, Kan., who is alleged to have fraudulently received $13,105.
Brian Parker, 51, Grandview, Mo., who is alleged to have fraudulently received $19,966.
Darren Coby, 52, Kansas City, Kan., who is alleged to have fraudulently received $10,824.
Darren Lewis, 46, Kansas City, Mo., who is alleged to have fraudulently received $11,100.
Jerry Jenkins, 51, Linwood, Kan., who is alleged to have fraudulently received $10,738.
Keith Holmes, 43, Kansas City, Mo., who is alleged to have fraudulently received $17,325.
Tammye Hill, 46, Kansas City, Mo., who is alleged to have fraudulently received $10,439.
Terry Richardson, 39, Kansas City, Mo., who is alleged to have received $10,682.
If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the theft of government funds, and a maximum penalty of 30 years and a fine up to $1 million on the bank fraud charge. The Kansas Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley is prosecuting.
Travel out to the fields of Kansas during November and you’ll see farmers wrapping up fall harvest. Combines chomp through fields of corn, milo, soybeans and sunflowers eager to dump the bountiful crops into waiting trucks and grain carts before Old Man Winter arrives with ice, snow and sleet.
Approximately 86 percent of the corn crop has been harvested, 72 percent of the soybean crop is in the bin, 52 percent of sorghum is out of the field and 57 percent of the sunflowers remain to be cut.
Today’s green, red and silver monsters move through the fields like tanks rolling through a war game. All across Kansas, farmers pilot these 12-ton behemoths as easily as the family car.
On gravel and blacktop roads tandem trucks and semis race back from the elevators so the machines can fill them up again. Fall harvest in Kansas marks that magical time of the year when the world’s best producers of food and fiber reap what they have sowed.
This bountiful production underscores the importance of farming and ranching in Kansas. Our Kansas farmers, and their contemporaries across this great land, continually risk all that is theirs for a successful harvest.
They work with the land, chemicals, computers and livestock. They must understand markets, people, soil, crops and climate. Their livelihood is largely dependent upon factors that are oftentimes completely out of their control.
Still, farmers farm to succeed. They farm to grow and harvest crops and produce livestock. Farmers see their vocation not only as a business, but also as a way of life to preserve in good times and bad. They have their feet planted firmly in their soil. They are dedicated to the land and providing us with the safest, most wholesome food on the planet.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the average person consumers approximately 194 pounds of cereal products annually. When you couple that with approximately 66 pounds of oils, 115 pounds of red meat and 63 pounds of poultry it’s readily apparent why Kansas harvest is an important time.
Today’s consumer has the option of using nearly 4,000 different corn products. These uses range from corn flakes to corn sweeteners. Corn and milo remain the top source of livestock feed.
Countless foods are made from today’s fall soybean crop. Some of these include crackers, cooking oils, salad dressings, sandwich spreads and shortenings. Soybeans are used extensively to feed livestock, poultry and fish.
Sunflowers from the Sunflower State can be used as an ingredient in everything from cooking to cosmetics and biodiesel cars. And as you probably already know, they’re a really tasty snack – and healthy too.
So if you have an opportunity to visit our state’s fertile fields this fall, think about the professionals who are busy providing the food we find on our tables each and every day. Tip your hat, raise an index finger above the steering wheel of your car or give a friendly wave to these producers of food and fiber who are dedicated to feeding you and the rest of the world.
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, Chairman of the Senate’s panel on Consumer Protection, this week grilled automakers on whether they have adequately responded to recalls of Takata driver and passenger side airbags.
McCaskill questioned executives from Chrysler and Honda on confusion about the scope and severity of the Takata recall, as well as the remedies available to consumers.
“What’s going on here is a refusal to characterize a problem in a way that is clearly understandable to the consumer.” McCaskill said. “We have had more recalls in the last year and a half in American car manufacturing than in the history of American car manufacturing. Probably more in the last year than in many, many years combined. The problem is, I don’t think the people who are driving these cars understand the risk. Because you guys aren’t even comfortable with being consistent as to whether or not you’re telling [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] it’s a service campaign or a safety recall. Other than avoiding litigation and liability, why would you differentiate between a service call and a safety recall?”
According to reports, Takata employees conducted tests on airbags a decade ago and identified safety problems, which were subsequently covered up by company leadership. Currently, at least 7.8 million vehicles in the United States are subject to recalls or service campaigns due to Takata airbag rupture risks, with five deaths being tied to the defects.
“I’ll tell you what, if I get a letter saying ‘we’re investigating something, would you bring your car in so you can help us?’ I’m busy,” McCaskill continued. “If I get a letter that says, ‘if you drive this, you could have a piece of shrapnel embedded in your eye, if you daughter is sitting in the seat next to you she could be blinded or you could die’ that’s a lot different than ‘hey, we’re checking out an investigation, could you bring it in so we can check it out?’ I think that too many lawyers—we found this in GM, as you all know, you had to have followed it closely—there were lawyers that were trying to avoid litigation. There were not lawyers that were trying to make sure every consumer knew the danger. And we have got to get out of this defensive crouch about liability litigation, and get into an offensive position about making sure drivers are safe. And until your companies decide to do that, until NHTSA is a more capable and aggressive partner in that, consumers are going to be in the dark.”
This week, McCaskill responded to NHTSA’s announcement that it is calling for a national recall of vehicles with driver side airbags made by Takata that are currently covered by regional recalls or regional service campaigns. McCaskill also responded to reports that the Justice Department has issued Takata a federal grand jury subpoena, and had previously called on the Justice Department to consider criminal charges against Takata.
On Wednesday, McCaskill responded to the nomination of Dr. Mark Rosekind to be NHTSA Administrator, saying she looks forward to his answers on how to restore the public trust in the agency and implement cultural changes there, since the agency has been without an Administrator for too long.
Earlier this year, McCaskill led the Senate’s investigation into recent recalls at General Motors. McCaskill led three Senate hearings into issues surrounding 2.6 million vehicles recalled for defective ignition switches that have been linked to a number of deaths, and also held a hearing on bipartisan rental car safety legislation that she has introduced.
TOPEKA — More Kansas kids may soon get free breakfast at school.
A program called Breakfast in the Classroom has added Kansas and six other states to the list of those eligible for its grants, bringing the total number of states to 18. The program has been in place since 2012 in the Kansas City, Kan., school district, but schools throughout the rest of Kansas will be eligible to apply this year.
Schools that take part in this private initiative offer breakfast to all students at no charge. Breakfast is served in the classroom rather than the cafeteria.
The idea is to maximize participation in the federal School Breakfast Program by eliminating obstacles that keep students from starting the day with a healthy meal. Those include school bus schedules, late arrivals to school, pressure to go directly to class and reluctance to be labeled as “low-income” by attending the breakfast program.
According to a 2013 analysis by the Food Research and Action Center, most U.S. schools participate in the federally funded School Breakfast Program, but only half of the low-income children eligible for a free or reduced-price breakfast are actually eating it.
“The benefits of children eating breakfast at school are well-documented and expansive,” said Princess Moss, secretary-treasurer of the National Education Association.
She said those benefits include better performance on standardized tests, better attendance and less disruption in the classroom.
The number of affected schools and children in Kansas won’t be known until after school districts apply for the funding. Until now, no state has had more than two school districts approved for the grants. The funding is for equipment and startup costs to change the way the food is delivered — not for the food itself. That comes via the federal School Breakfast Program.
During the last four years, 37,000 children have benefited from Breakfast in the Classroom. The Wal-Mart Foundation provided $5 million to fund the program this year.
The consortium of national education and nutrition organizations that run the program, known as Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom, anticipates adding another 25,000 students over the next two years.
More than 3,000 kids in 13 Kansas City, Kan., schools have taken part in the program. District spokeswoman Tammy Dodderidge said teachers have noticed a sharp drop in the number of students bringing soft drinks and chips to school since they began getting breakfast at school.
Almost 90 percent of the students in the Kansas City, Kan., school district qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Before Breakfast in the Classroom, only 37 percent of the students in the 13 participating schools took part in the breakfast program.
The program chooses individual school districts based on the number of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals and participate in the federal school breakfast program and the level of local support.
Bryan Thompson is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas
SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A man accused of fleeing from Texas and Montana amid child molestation investigations has been captured in southwest Missouri.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that Springfield police arrested 55-year-old Johnny Benjamin Napier on Thursday at a trailer park after getting a tip from a neighbor. A federal arrest warrant had been issued for Napier in April in Montana after he was charged federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney.
The FBI says that Napier left Comanche, Texas, in 2011 after he was charged in a molestation case. Authorities allege he then moved to Baker, Montana, but disappeared in August 2013 amid a molestation investigation there. He later was charged in Montana.
Authorities say Napier had been using the name Sean Denning.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A months-old phone scam that originated in Los Angeles is now targeting people across the country.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Rouzan says deputies fielded up to 100 calls Friday morning from people reporting scam calls in Florida, Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, New York, Kansas, New Jersey, Illinois and Indiana.
The callers often spoof the Sheriff’s Department number, telling victims they have a warrant in the system or missed jury service and must pay $150 to $25,000 to remedy the situation.
They’re told to purchase a Green Dot pre-paid card at a store for payment. Rouzan says people can’t recover the money once it’s spent.
Rouzan says call recipients should inform local authorities, the LA County Sheriff’s Department and monitor their accounts for identity theft.
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — President Barack Obama says his message to Ferguson, Missouri, as it awaits a grand jury’s decision in this summer’s fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man is to keep protests peaceful.
Obama says everyone has the right to express their views and to peacefully assemble to protest actions they think are unjust.
But he says using any event as an excuse for violence is contrary to the rule of law.
Obama commented in an interview with ABC News that’s scheduled to air on Sunday. The network released his comment about Ferguson on Friday night.
A grand jury is deciding whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The incident sparked days of sometimes violent protests in the St. Louis suburb.
ALEX SANZ, Associated Press
