OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 22-year-old Omaha man accused of severely beating two cats — one of which died — has been charged with a felony count of animal cruelty.
Nathaniel Gilreath was arrested early Friday morning on a warrant charging him with the count.
The Nebraska Humane Society says that on Feb. 12, it seized a cat after someone reported the animal had been beaten by Gilreath. A veterinarian determined that the cat had a broken jaw and chipped teeth and that it was thin and dehydrated, likely because its injuries made eating and drinking difficult.
The Humane Society said its investigation also showed Gilreath beat another cat that died of its injuries about a month ago.
If convicted, Gilreath could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
TOPEKA (AP) — It’s time to spring forward this weekend, as the country makes the switch to daylight-saving time.
Like those in almost all other states, Kansans and Missouri will trade an hour of sleep starting Sunday morning for an extra hour of sunlight in the evening.
The government expanded daylight-saving time in 2007 in an effort to save energy. It now begins on the second Sunday in March and continues until the first Sunday in November.
The official change occurs at 2 a.m. Sunday, local time, although people often change their clocks before going to bed Saturday night.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Families may have to pick up more of the tab if they want to send their gifted students to the University of Missouri for a one-month summer program.
Missouri Scholars Academy Director Steve Keller said putting the burden of paying more on the backs of students and their families is not the best answer. But after Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed and withheld funding, Keller says it’s the only option, The Columbia Daily Tribune reported.
The program costs about $450,000, and the state and the university have chipped in around $150,000 each since 2009. The cost to families has been around $500 per student, with students in financial need attending for a discounted rate or for free. Nixon said he needs to cut money to prevent the budget from becoming unbalanced and has accused the legislature of irresponsible spending and passage of tax-cut legislation.
The program shares a budget line at the state level with the Missouri Fine Arts Academy. Both programs were affected by Nixon vetoing $550,000 of the $750,000 that the General Assembly appropriated for the two academies. Nixon withheld the remaining $200,000.
Keller said he has no idea whether that money will be released. If Nixon continues to withhold the funds, Missouri Scholars Academy leaders plan to charge students and their families $1,000.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) introduced the bipartisan Railroad Safety and Positive Train Control Extension Act this week, which would extend the deadline for full implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) to 2020 to help ease the regulatory burden and costs for passenger and freight railroads.
Missouri has 4,400 miles of main rail track that are operated by 19 different railway companies. Blunt’s bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (S.D.), Ranking Member Bill Nelson (Fla.), and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (Mo.).
“We must work to do everything we can to improve train safety and accident prevention without burdening our nation’s freight and passenger rail industry,” said Blunt. “Unmanageable deadlines could result in higher costs and a disruption of service. This bipartisan bill will help ease the Positive Train Control deadline to give railroads in Missouri and nationwide enough time to fully and safely implement this new technology.”
PTC is a technology designed to automatically stop or slow a train before certain collisions. The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 mandates that PTC must be installed by December 31, 2015. PTC is mandated on tracks that carry passenger rail and certain hazardous materials, and will cover around 60,000 tracks in total nationwide.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City, Missouri, man has been ordered to spend 20 years in prison for wounding his girlfriend during a 2013 shooting that left her confined to a wheelchair.
A Jackson County judge sentenced Derrick Day to a 20-year term on Day’s conviction of a first-degree assault county, and 10 years for armed criminal action. The judge ordered the terms to be served simultaneously.
Prosecutors say Day followed his girlfriend’s car and crashed into it on July 3, 2013, before firing a gunshot into the vehicle, striking the girlfriend in the neck.
Prosecutors pursued the case even though the victim refused to cooperate with the investigation.
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Opponents of Common Core are using a recent Missouri court ruling as fodder to ax tests based on the national education standards.
A central Missouri judge said last month that the partnership with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is an illegal interstate compact.
In response, a Missouri House panel stripped funding for membership in the consortium. A North Dakota lawmaker also is citing the ruling in pleas to cut ties with the Common Core-aligned test group.
The lawmakers’ response to the ruling comes as other states also are re-evaluating their participation in Common Core standards, which were initially adopted by 45 states. Critics say there wasn’t enough local input.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 35-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, woman is jailed on $250,000 bond after being accused of abusing two of her children who included one found dead in the family’s home.
Jackson County prosecutors charged her with four counts of child abuse or neglect related to two children, ages 3 and 2 years old. The younger child was found dead of unspecified causes Thursday, and the 3-year-old was treated at a hospital.
Two of the woman’s other children, ages 9 and 5, also were found in the home.
Court documents allege the woman told police she didn’t hit the children and insisted one child burned another with a heated knife “because God had told him to do so.” Police say the woman later admitted hitting the victims with a plastic rod.
CAMERON- Two people were injured in an accident just after 11:30 p.m. on Friday in DeKalb County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Ford Windstar driven by Keith A. Brookshier, 29, Cameron, was eastbound on U.S. 36 two miles west of Cameron.
The vehicle traveled off the north side of the road in the median, struck an embankment and crossed the westbound lanes of U.S. 36. The vehicle continued down an embankment and struck a fence at the bottom of the embankment.
Brookshier and a 2-year-old child the van were transported to Cameron Regional Medical Center.
The MSHP reported both were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
Billed as “Nearly everything an agribusiness professional would need or want,” this year’s 54th edition of the Western Farm Show lived up to its slogan.
Each year thousands of farmers, ranchers, school children, FFA youngsters and urbanites attended the two-day event at the American Royal Complex in Kansas City.
Farmers and ranchers spend hours walking around the 400,000 square feet of displays of machinery, buildings, livestock equipment, tools, feed and seed and the more than 500 exhibits.
Veteran Doniphan County farmer Neil Coufal has attended the farm show since he was a kid nearly 60 years ago. Like so many of his peers, he attends the annual event to walk around and see what’s new. He drove 70 miles to the show.
Coufal likes to look at and learn about new farm and ranch products. It’s also a day to leave the farm behind and visit with those attending the show.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Coufal says. “It’s an opportunity to see friends and neighbors.”
The Doniphan County farmer/stockman spends most of the day at the Western Farm Show. He takes his time and it usually takes hours to see all he wants to see.
A couple years back, Coufal purchased a chopper for his combine. Equipment dealers at the show often run specials.
At the 2015 edition, Coufal visited the Abilene Machine display. Here he inquired about side mirrors for his tractor.
“I pull a grain cart behind my tractor and it’s difficult to see around the sides of the cart driving down the road,” he says.
While visiting with a salesperson at the exhibit, Coufal asked for a quote and plans to buy the mirrors.
Hardi North America from Davenport, Iowa displayed their sprayers at this year’s show. The company, which originated in Ontario, specializes in sprayers.
Sprayers range from small pull type units to the large 1,300 gallon self-propelled machine with 132-foot booms. Hardi’s target audience ranges from small farmers to commercial applicators.
Jeremy O’Hare, Hardi rep., says the show offers a “terrific” venue to showcase their equipment.
While most of the farm show-goers include farmers and ranchers from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, approximately 3,000 high school students affiliated with FFA attend the two-day event as do people from the Kansas City area.
Many of the city dwellers grew up on a farm or still have parents farming. Some are still interested in seeing and learning about what’s happening in agriculture.
This show provides a great opportunity to talk to manufacturers and suppliers without experiencing the pressure of buying such equipment. It kind of blows some of us away seeing what’s going on in this industry today.
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
Lawmakers in several states are seeking to address the problem of sexual assaults on college campuses, but their bills have encountered criticisms and legal complexities. Among the contentious measures, some are viewed as infringing on victims’ rights and others as too favorable to accused students.
In three states, lawmakers had hoped to pass bills requiring college officials to promptly report all alleged on-campus sexual assaults to local police. The bills’ supporters said too few cases get reported, citing Justice Department estimates that only 20 percent of campus sexual assault victims go to police.
However, each bill has faced forceful opposition. A measure in Virginia was scaled back before winning approval, and sponsors of measures in Rhode Island and New Jersey now say they are open to amendments to address objections.
