FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A Kansas man wanted for alleged sexual exploitation of a child has been arrested in northern Arizona.

The U.S. Marshals Service announced Thursday that 48-year-old John Thomas was taken into custody after leaving a Chino Valley home in a vehicle.

Federal authorities say Thomas had dramatically changed his appearance but still was identified and arrested without incident.

He was booked into the Yavapai County Jail, where he will be held pending extradition back to Riley County in Kansas.

Riley County police say Thomas allegedly was in possession of numerous images of child pornography and a warrant was issued for his arrest in February.

Authorities say information was developed recently that Thomas was most likely residing in Arizona and Chino Valley police assisted the Marshals Service in the arrest.

DENVER (AP) — Ten sheriffs from three different states are suing Colorado for legalizing marijuana.

The sheriffs are from Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. They say in a lawsuit filed Thursday that Colorado’s 2012 marijuana legalization vote violates federal law and shouldn’t be permitted.

The sheriffs were joined by county attorneys from Kansas and Nebraska. They are asking a U.S. District Court in Denver to nullify the marijuana amendment to Colorado’s constitution.

The lawsuit is the latest legal challenge to legal weed. Separately, Nebraska and Oklahoma have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down marijuana legalization in Colorado. The Supreme Court hasn’t said yet whether it will hear that case.

And a group of Colorado citizens have filed their own federal challenge, saying marijuana reduces property values.

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — The police chief in Ferguson, Missouri, says he’s still reviewing a Justice Department report that lays bare what U.S. investigators contend are racist, profit-driven law enforcement practices in the St. Louis suburb.

Thomas Jackson, in a text exchange Thursday with an Associated Press reporter, declined an interview request about the government report that calls for sweeping reforms of Ferguson’s police force and municipal court.

Jackson has not spoken publicly in recent weeks as federal investigators neared the end of their monthslong probe of his department following last August’s shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by then-officer Darren Wilson.

The Justice Department on Wednesday cleared Wilson in its investigation of whether he violated Brown’s civil rights.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A measure that would waive penalties for those who agree to pay overdue Missouri taxes has gained approval in the House.

House members voted 141-7 Thursday to send the tax amnesty proposal to the Senate.

Delinquent taxpayers would need to pay their bills between July 1 and Sept. 30 to qualify.

Legislative researchers estimate the measure would bring in nearly $20 million in additional general revenues next fiscal year.

That additional revenue is included in the proposed 2016 budget approved by the House Budget Committee on Tuesday.

But similar tax amnesty proposals have stalled in previous years in the Senate.
Democratic Rep. Rep. Gail McCann Beatty criticized colleagues for including the tax amnesty revenues in the budget plan even though the bill’s Senate prospects are uncertain.

Jefferson City, Mo. – Attorney General Chris Koster announced in a media release today a series of lawsuits against companies for violating Missouri’s telemarketing and No Call laws. The actions announced today coincide with National Consumer Protection Week. Unwanted telemarketing calls and abusive treatment by telemarketers annually rank highest on the list of complaints received by the Attorney General’s Office.

Today, Koster announced a civil lawsuit against AAA Anytime Duct Cleaning, its owners, and a St. Louis manager for abusive telemarketing practices and fraud. In addition to hundreds of No Call complaints, Missouri consumers have complained to the Attorney General’s Office about abusive practices by Anytime’s telemarketers, including being cursed at or threatened for refusing to purchase the company’s air duct cleaning services.

Koster asserts Anytime engaged in various forms of consumer fraud, including a “bait and switch” scheme in which the company would advertise one price for air duct cleaning services but charge another. In several examples, Anytime advertised a price of $44.95 to clean air ducts, but attempted to charge consumers over $1,000. Consumers stated the company regularly lied to consumers about needing “super cleaning” services which cost thousands of dollars, or the need to install UV lights in their vents to kill mold, when neither service was actually needed.

Koster is asking the St. Louis County Circuit Court to permanently bar Anytime from telemarketing, advertising, or offering duct cleaning services in the state of Missouri. Earlier this week, the court issued a temporary restraining order barring Anytime from operating in the state until the next hearing in the case on March 12.

Koster also filed suit against two home improvement companies for calling consumers on the No Call list attempting to sell home improvement services. The cases are against Minnesota-based EZ Home Solutions, Inc., and Integrity Home Solutions of St. Peters, Missouri. In both cases, Koster is asking the court to impose up to $5,000 in penalties against the companies for each violation of the No Call law. Koster has further alleged that EZ Home Solutions falsely claimed to consumers that their registrations on the No Call list had become “inactive” or “expired.” Registrations on the Missouri No Call list have no expiration date.

Finally, Koster announced a settlement reached with Texas-based Touchstone Communications-II, LLC. Under the agreement, which was filed in Cole County Circuit Court, Touchstone has paid $18,000 and has agreed to stop calling any Missouri number on the No Call List without the express permission or a business relationship with the person being called. Touchstone sells a variety of products by phone, including home security systems and home financing.

Koster reminds Missourians they can register their telephone numbers with the Missouri No Call list online or by calling 866-No Call 1 (866-662-2551). To-date, Missourians have registered 4.5 million cell phone and landline numbers with the No Call list. Consumers who have registered for the No Call list but receive solicitation calls can file a complaint at 866-Buzzoff (866-289-9633) or online.

National Consumer Protection Week is a coordinated campaign that encourages consumers nationwide to take full advantage of their rights and make better-informed decisions. More information is available online at ncpw.gov.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear arguments over same-sex marriage on April 28.

The court released its calendar Thursday for the final two weeks of arguments this term and allotted the gay marriages cases two-and-a-half hours on the last Tuesday in April.

The cases come from the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, so far the only federal appellate court that has upheld state bans on same-sex marriages since the justices’ 2013 ruling striking down part of the federal anti-gay marriage law.

Lawyers on both sides will get 90 minutes to argue whether gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry everywhere in the U.S. Another hour will be devoted to the question of whether states must recognize same-sex unions performed elsewhere.

A decision is expected before July.

JIM SALTER, Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Lawyers for the parents of an unarmed, black 18-year-old who was fatally shot by a white police officer in a St. Louis suburb have announced plans to file a civil lawsuit against the city of Ferguson and former Officer Darren Wilson.

Attorney Daryl Parks says the wrongful death suit will be filed soon, but didn’t elaborate.

The comments at the news conference Thursday in north St. Louis County came in response to the findings of a Justice Department investigation that accused the Ferguson police department of unfairly targeting blacks but cleared Wilson in Michael Brown’s death.

Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, and his father, Michael Brown Sr., attended the news conference at Greater St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church, but they didn’t speak or take questions.

JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republicans in the Kansas Legislature have outlined a school funding plan that they say brings stability to providing aid for local school districts.

The proposal unveiled Thursday by the chairmen of the Legislature’s budget committees replaces the state’s existing formula for distributing aid to school districts.

Districts instead would receive “block grants” based on their current aid, including the state’s contributions for teacher pensions. State aid including pension payments is about $4 billion annually.

GOP leaders said total state aid for schools would increase over the next two years, but budget projections have shown the state’s pension contributions rising.

The plan would allow districts to continue raising the same local property tax dollars to supplement their state aid. They’d also get more flexibility in tapping reserve funds.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Missouri health department is investigating whether the staph bacteria caused the deaths of two St. Charles County residents.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch  reports that officials confirmed Wednesday that there are looking into whether staph, also known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is linked to the February deaths of a 48-year-old woman and her 19-year-old son.

The St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment said in a statement Friday that the deaths appeared to be isolated and there was no risk of a public health risk.

In a 2013 report from the Centers for Disease Control said that about 80,000 people were infected with the bacteria each year, and about 11,000 people die.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill released the following statement after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the conclusion of the U.S. Justice Department’s investigations into the shooting of Michael Brown and police practices in Ferguson, Mo.:

“These reports conclude an exhaustive, meticulous, and independent review of the facts surrounding this tragedy, as well as unacceptable police and court practices that led to a boiling point in this community. What Ferguson needs now is for all of us to forge solutions that will heal and strengthen our state, and rebuild trust that’s been badly broken. I’m committed to doing exactly that.”

McCaskill is currently drafting legislation to prioritize federal resources for body-cameras for police officers and more oversight of federal grant and equipment programs—moves she has said will better protect both police and civilians.