TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Transportation Secretary Mike King says he has paid an income tax bill of more than $250,000 after the IRS filed a tax lien against him last month.
King tells The Wichita Eagle that the amount was the balance of personal income tax that he and his wife owed from the sale of his construction company in 2012.
King says he had been making payments on the debt and was surprised by the lien. He says he doesn’t know why the IRS filed it.
An IRS spokesman says the agency can’t comment on specific cases.
King says the original amount of taxes owed from the sale was more than $400,000.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri is investigating how federal grants are spent on campus after a wildlife biologist’s complaint to the federal government and a subsequent lawsuit.
Assistant professor Dylan Kesler’s False Claims Act suit alleged that two colleagues in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences improperly paid their spouses from pools of federal scientific research money while the women remained home with newborns.
University officials called Kesler’s complaint “unfounded” after the Justice Department decided to not pursue the case.
Accounting records reviewed by The Associated Press show that soon after university officials met with federal prosecutors, a campus fiscal office transferred nearly $60,000 in state funds to replace federal grants paid to one of the women.
NEW YORK (AP) — Coke, Pepsi and Dr Pepper say they’ll work to reduce the calories Americans get from beverages by 20 percent over the next decade by more aggressively marketing smaller sizes, bottled water and diet drinks.
The announcement was made at the Clinton Global Initiative Tuesday and comes as the country’s three biggest soda makers face public pressure over the role of sugary drinks in fueling obesity.
In many ways, the commitment follows the way customers’ tastes are already changing. People have been moving away from soda on their own for several years because of concerns about sugar. But the industry group says the new commitment will accelerate the calorie-cutting.
Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says the announcement shows “the industry is seeing the writing on the wall.”
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is coming to Kansas to stump for Sen. Pat Roberts’ re-election campaign.
A person familiar with the Roberts campaign told The Associated Press that Palin will be at a pancake breakfast in Independence on Thursday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information publicly.
Palin’s appearance is part of a week of events featuring Republican heavyweights. Roberts is locked in a competitive race with independent candidate and Olathe businessman Greg Orman.
Former GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole was stumping Monday and Tuesday for Roberts. Arizona Sen. John McCain had an event Wednesday in Overland Park, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is expected to be in Wichita on Monday.
NEVADA, Mo. (AP) — Republicans will be meeting in rural western Missouri to select a new candidate for the state House following the death of the incumbent, Randy Pike.
Members of the 126th House District Committee are to meet Tuesday to choose a replacement candidate for Pike, who died Saturday.
Committee Chairman Jerry Wadel said several people have expressed interest.
Under Missouri law, local party committees are responsible for selecting new candidates when the incumbent or the original nominee dies with more than a month to go before an election.
Pike was 60 years old. He was a Republican from Butler who had served in the House since 2013 and previously was the Bates County northern commissioner. He was to face Democrat Sam Foursha and Constitution Party candidate William Gilmore in the November election.
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Residents have rebuilt a memorial just hours after it burned down at the site where a Missouri police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown.
The memorial was destroyed when a fire broke out before dawn Tuesday on Canfield Drive, the street where Ferguson officer Darren Wilson shot Brown. The blaze angered many people who live near the scene. One man said it was like a grave being desecrated.
Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson says the cause is under investigation. He says the first officer to arrive tried to extinguish the blaze but couldn’t. The Fire Department eventually put it out.
Brown’s Aug. 9 death led to unrest in the St. Louis suburb. Investigations into the shooting by a state grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice are ongoing.
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FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — A fire has destroyed one of two memorials at the site where 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
Ferguson resident Meldon Moffitt said the fire started around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday on Canfield Drive, the street where Brown was fatally shot Aug. 9 by Ferguson police office Darren Wilson.
About two dozen residents gathered at the site Tuesday morning, many of them angry. One man said it was like a grave being desecrated.
Ferguson police spokesman Devin James says the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Brown’s death led to several days of protests and unrest in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb. Investigations into the shooting by a state grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice are ongoing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran issued the following statement regarding the U.S. response to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS):
“I believe ISIS is a real threat to the safety and security of Americans, and the U.S. response and policy toward ISIS deserves more than a few sentences in a $1 trillion stopgap spending bill passed moments before adjournment for the mid-term elections. The Administration has portrayed that we are taking action to reduce the viability of ISIS, while it is more likely we are arming and training rebels that will ultimately use the weapons against our allies. There must be a discussion about the safeguards needed to ensure we aren’t arming the next Taliban or Al Qaeda 10 years down the road. These weapons could also quickly fall into the arms of ISIS – one must only look to the terrorists’ success overrunning Iraqi troops to gauge the likelihood of these weapons being used against us.
“While I believe forceful and effective action must be taken to successfully confront ISIS, our course of action deserves a full and open debate by Congress for the benefit of the American people. Too many Presidents have begun a battle trying to convince Americans that not much will be required for victory – in this case, by arming rebels in Syria – and that we can have success without sacrifice. The fight against ISIS must be well planned and thought out in order to earn the support of the American people.”
SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A second supervisor at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners has admitted that he urged a prisoner not to report an assault by a guard.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Monday that 39-year-old Justin K. Flowers of Ozark pleaded guilty to persuading the inmate not to report a possible federal crime. Another supervisor, 42-year-old James C. Myrick of Nixa pleaded guilty last week to the same charge.
Prosecutors say the two men offered inmate Shawn Springer a better cell if he didn’t report being hit by a guard in December 2012. Springer had a confrontation with the guard’s wife, a prison nurse.
The Springfield News-Leader reports after the assault was discovered when Springer discussed it with a psychologist, the two men at first said his injuries were pre-existing.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Kansas Supreme Court ruling could lead to the early release of more than 200 dangerous inmates.
The ruling, first issued in May and clarified on Friday, concerns whether a defendant’s prior felony convictions are classified as “crimes against persons” or “nonperson” crimes under state guidelines in place since July 1, 1993. Nonperson crimes such as forgery or theft generally bring shorter sentences.
The Kansas City Star reports the court ruled in May that all felony convictions from other states before July 1, 1993, should be considered nonperson crimes for sentencing purposes. It clarified Friday that the ruling pertained only to out-of-state convictions.
Scott Schultz, executive director of the Kansas Sentencing Commission, says an estimated 235 inmates could have their sentences reduced because of the ruling.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the participation of five Arab nations in airstrikes against militants in Syria “makes it clear to the world this is not America’s fight alone.”
Obama says the joint fight against the Islamic State will take time but is vital to the security of the United States, the Mideast and the world.
The U.S.-Arab airstrikes Monday night targeted the group’s headquarters in eastern Syria.
Obama say the U.S. is “proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder” with Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in conducting the strikes.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — There were two groups of air strikes in Syria overnight. The U.S. and five Arab countries launched airstrikes on Islamic State group targets in eastern Syria, which were followed by a unilateral U.S. attack on what Washington calls an al-Qaida affiliate. Syrian activists say the air strikes caused casualties among Islamic State group militants and some civilians.
