SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A Springfield mother has been arrested after police say she brandished a fake handgun when an elementary school principal tried to prevent her from leaving with her child.

The Springfield News-Leader reports 43-year-old Carrie Brooks has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon. Springfield police say she tried to take her 8-year-old daughter from Pittman Elementary on Friday but doesn’t have custody of the child.

The principal tells police that Brooks pulled what appeared to be a pistol out of her pocket when confronted but didn’t point it at anyone. Police say the weapon looks like a gun but is a knife.

No injuries were reported.

Brooks is being held at the Greene County Jail on $35,000 bond. It wasn’t immediately clear if she has an attorney.

MANHATTAN, KAN. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Health Subcommittee, issued the following statement regarding the isolated patient at The University of Kansas Hospital:

“While it is good news that the preliminary test results are negative, a possible patient with Ebola in Kansas is a serious development and reiterates the need for us to heighten coordination and vigilance. I have spoken with hospital administrators who will continue to treat the isolated patient with an abundance of caution. I have also asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to expedite the confirmatory test to definitively rule out any possibility of Ebola. I will continue to be in touch with The University of Kansas Hospital and the CDC to monitor the situation.”

On Oct. 6, 2014, Sen. Moran called on the CDC to implement Ebola-specific screenings at U.S. airports. On Oct. 1, 2014, Sen. Moran issued a statement on the United States’ response to the nation’s first Ebola case.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police are searching for whoever stole a century-old bronze urn from an area cemetery.

Police say the 3-foot tall and 3-foot wide urn was taken Sunday night or Monday morning. It was placed at the cemetery between 1912 and 1917 to mark the grave of Bell Hurley.

The urn stood on top of a hill next to a 40-foot obelisk honoring her husband, James Hurley.

A historian tells the Topeka Capital-Journal the urn and obelisk have been major sights at the cemetery and were meant to memorialize the couple that contributed to the Santa Fe Railroad.

James Hurley was a general manager of the railroad and employees raised money for two years to help purchase the obelisk and urn.

Police are investigating and have asked for the public’s assistance.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Missouri conservation officials are scaling back their proposed regulations for deer farms and hunting preserves.

The Department of Conservation is still recommending that Missouri ban the importation of deer from other states as part of an effort to guard against the spread of chronic wasting disease.

But department staff members are dropping a recommendation to require double fencing around farms that hold captive deer for breeding or hunting purposes.

The state Conservation Commission is to consider the recommended rule changes during a meeting Friday.

The proposed deer regulations have been controversial at the state Capitol. Lawmakers who were frustrated with the department passed a bill this year that would have shifted regulatory oversight to the Department of Agriculture. But lawmakers failed to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto.

TOPEKA, KS – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan) today called for the President to finally take a proactive leadership role in battling the Ebola crisis and for an immediate travel ban from the countries in West Africa currently ravaged by the deadly virus.

“I have no confidence in how the Obama Administration is managing the Ebola crisis, and neither do the people of Kansas,” Senator Roberts said. “We are facing a potential national health emergency that could overwhelm our health care system, threaten the economy, and place national security at risk if not handled properly.

“I call on the President to actually lead on this issue, take emergency action and protect American lives before we have an epidemic here at home.  We cannot afford to be reactive or ‘lead from behind’ with a deadly and easily spread threat like Ebola.”

Infectious disease experts have said stopping the spread of Ebola is the only way to control an outbreak.  Therefore, Senator Roberts has called for a complete and immediate travel ban from the infected West African nations. All individuals attempting to enter the United States who have traveled to the affected area within the last 30 days must quarantine outside the country, and the effort to protect American lives from this deadly disease should be swift, transparent, and fully coordinated within our national security apparatus

Senator Roberts continued, “There are now more than 8,000 cases of Ebola spreading through West Africa and 4,000 deaths. The cases of Ebola in the United States came to our shores on a plane from Liberia. West Africa is the source of this potential pandemic, and we should fight this virus there, at its source, not on our borders or in our airports. The President has failed to secure our borders, and he is now failing to lead during this crisis.

“From the crisis in the Middle East with ISIS, to the standoff in Ukraine with Russia, and now to the spread of Ebola from West Africa to our own shores, this Administration has consistently been two steps behind and asleep at the wheel. We cannot afford the risk of President Obama’s inaction and failure to lead. American’s are frightened, and they deserve better.”

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is weighing what to do about a state regulatory board made up mostly of dentists that is trying to prevent lower-cost competitors who aren’t dentists from offering teeth-whitening services.

The outcome in the antitrust case argued at the high court Tuesday could turn on how the justices’ decision affects brain surgeons, lawyers and others whose practices often are regulated by other members of their profession.

Several justices worried aloud about dissuading people from serving on these state boards by opening their decisions to second-guessing by the courts. Justice Stephen Breyer was among members of the court who wanted to be sure that, whatever the court decides, brain surgeons and not bureaucrats will make decisions about the practice of neurology.

 

OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) — A county attorney says police and sheriff’s deputies were justified in the fatal shooting of an unarmed eastern Kansas teenager.

KSHB-TV reports Franklin County Attorney Stephen Hunting issued his ruling Tuesday in the death of 18-year-old Ottawa resident Joseph Jennings on Aug. 25.

The shooting took place in a parking lot after police received a 911 call about a man waving a handgun and putting the weapon in his waistband. The caller turned out to be Jennings.

The responding officers told him to raise his hands. Instead, the county attorney’s report says, Jennings pulled a dark item from his waistband and pointed it toward some officers, who opened fire.

The item turned out to be sunglasses. Relatives have said Jennings was depressed and may have wanted to goad police into killing him.

 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Opponents of a new Missouri constitutional amendment creating a right to farm have asked the state Supreme Court to overturn the election results.

A legal challenge filed Tuesday with the state’s highest court contends the ballot summary presented to voters was misleading and inaccurate.
Constitutional Amendment 1 passed by a margin of just 2,375 votes out of nearly 1 million cast in an August election.

It makes Missouri the second state besides North Dakota to place farming rights in its constitution.

The ballot said the measure ensures “the right of Missouri citizens to engage in agricultural production and ranching practices.”
The legal challenge says that was misleading because the rights are not limited to Missouri citizens but could apply to any farmer or rancher, including a foreign-owned corporation.

NEW YORK (AP) — Nike’s Converse brand is suing 31 companies, saying they are selling knockoff versions of its Chuck Taylor shoes.

Converse is suing Skechers USA, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., FILA, Ed Hardy, K-Mart Corp. and Ralph Lauren Corp., among many others. It says the companies are infringing on trademarks that cover the look of the shoe and the diamond pattern on the bottom of the sole.

The North Andover, Massachusetts, company filed its lawsuits in the Eastern District of New York and in the International Trade Commission. Converse says look-alike Chuck Taylor shoes have become more common in recent years, and says it has served about 180 cease and desist letters related to the issue since 2008.

Nike Inc. acquired Converse in 2003.

The New York Times first reported on the suit.