BRIAN MELLEY, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — They were killed in Wisconsin, New York and California. Some were shot on the street. One was killed in a Wal-Mart. Another died after being placed in a chokehold. All died at the hands of police and all have been united by one thing: the killing of Michael Brown.

Details may differ, circumstances of their deaths may remain unknown, but the outrage that erupted after the Aug. 9 shooting of the unarmed, black 18-year-old by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the nation.

While there’s been nothing approaching the violence and destruction seen in the St. Louis suburb, demonstrations fueled by a sense of injustice and buoyed with the help of social media have rolled across cities this month.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Letters from Willa Cather, the renowned author of “My Antonia” and “O Pioneers,” are expected to be available online in January 2018.

The letters will be digitized under a grant of nearly $272,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities. “The Complete Letters of Willa Cather” will be published online as part of the Willa Cather Archive. The archive is a venture of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Digital Research in the Humanities

Cather was born in 1873 in Virginia and lived there for nine years before moving with her family to Nebraska. The family resettled to Red Cloud in 1885. She graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1895. She died in 1947.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State University researchers have found widespread variations in the food safety practices used in different countries.

The researchers worked with 100 consumers from India, Korea, Thailand, Russia, Estonia, Italy, Spain and two U.S. cities. From country to county, there were differences in how poultry and eggs are consumed, stored, handled and prepared.

For instance, most of the consumers in Argentina and Colombia stored meat on higher shelves, putting them at a higher risk for contamination. That’s because juices from the meat can leak onto ingredients on lower shelves.

Differences also were found among countries in how eggs are stored and cuttings boards are cleaned.

The findings were published in the journal Foods. The study is part of a larger project to develop science-based messages about food safety.

BY ROBERT OVERMANN

With Missouri Farm Bureau’s impending centennial anniversary on March 24, 2015, I had an opportunity this summer to work on a project no Farm Bureau intern or staff has embarked on before me — I was tasked, in part, with telling the storied history of Missouri Farm Bureau’s first 100 years.

At first, it was just a job. I researched, I wrote, I scoured through boxes of old photographs, then I wrote some more. I sorted and I annotated, and then tried my best to tell the story I was discovering to others.

As the ebb and flow of the organization became clearer to me, I began to see the personalities behind Farm Bureau’s history. While many of these persons are now deceased, I was able to follow their careers and, more importantly, their contributions to fellow Missourians through pages of history books and Missouri Farm Bureau News.

Fortunately, some of these personalities are still alive, and I was able to speak with them firsthand. I was able to hear directly from them how they impacted the future of Farm Bureau and the lives of others. They told their tales better than I ever could, and that, to me, is what brings Farm Bureau’s past to life. It’s what made my experience so vibrant, and I hope I told their stories well.

So, I would like to dedicate my time working on the publication to the Jayne Glosemeyers of the world. Jayne forsook 15 years of her life to stand up for 1,000 of her neighbors in the federal court system, many of whom she had surely never met before. The Steve Raulstons, so vital to Farm Bureau. Steve spent his career serving Missourians in times of disaster, delivering life insurance disbursements to grieving family members and comforting others who lost their homes to a fire. Finally, the Max Oylers, growing in number. Max spent more than half a century serving agriculture, without recompense, as a county Farm Bureau board member.

These people are not wealthy executives, nor seekers of the spotlight. They are the bread and butter of Farm Bureau, no different than you or I. Farm Bureau’s membership roster is full of these personalities, deceased and living, who have made the organization what it is today.

Regardless of whether you’re a member or not, I hope you’ll take the time to look around you and appreciate what your fellow Missourians are doing in service to one another. These people can be found in the unlikeliest of places — at your place of work, your circle of friends, at the grocery store and perhaps even in your own household. Many of those who make the most significant impacts are too busy working on the behalf of others to be heralding their own efforts to anyone who will listen.

Though my internship with Missouri Farm Bureau has come to an end, I have heard some incredible stories. I have met some fascinating characters who aren’t basking in the limelight, but, in my opinion, certainly deserve to.

Listen to those around you, especially those working quietly on your behalf without ever having met you. They ought to be recognized, and their stories need to be told.

Robert Overmann, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., is a student at Truman State University and a summer intern for Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – Missouri farms that have been in the same family for at least 100 years will be recognized at an event in southwest Missouri.
The “Salute to Century Farms” is being held Tuesday night at the Round Barn Event Center east of Ash Grove. The site features a barn built in 1880 that is thought to be the earliest round barn in Missouri.
Besides recognizing century farms, an assistant dean of agriculture extension at the University of Missouri will discuss the 100 year history of Cooperative Extension and the challenges facing family farms in the coming 15 to 20 years.
The event also will include music, food and a silent auction that will raise money for the Greene County Extension.

OLATHE, Kan- Three people were injured in an accident just after 5:30 p.m. on Saturday in Johnson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a KHP 2013 Chevy Tahoe driven by Trooper Christopher Beas, 37, Edgerton, was westbound on 119th Street in Olathe turning southwest onto Interstate 35 with lights and sirens.

A 2008 Chevy Impala driven by Boyce R. Gabehart, 70, Olathe, was eastbound on 119th Street and struck the Tahoe on the passenger side and pushed it into the guardrail.

Trooper Beas, Gabehart and a passenger in the Impala Margaret J. Gabehart, 68, Olathe, were transported to Olathe Medical Center.

The KHP reported all were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Republican Party has sent out a newsletter that offers advice on dealing with “trolls” from the Kansas National Education Association.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the newsletter sent Friday talks about clashes with “KNEA Trolls” in a section titled “HOW TO DEAL WITH TROLLS WHO CHALLENGE THE EDUCATION REFORM BILL.”

The Legislature passed a school finance bill in April that coupled increased funding with several reforms, including the elimination of state-mandated hearings before a public school teacher can be fired.

The KNEA opposed the bill and has dogged conservative candidates throughout the summer.

Kansas GOP executive director Clay Barker says the intent was to show members how to combat falsehoods. KNEA spokesman Marcus Baltzell stressed in an email that the organization represents thousands of eligible voters.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Kansas City man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the co-sleeping death of his infant daughter.

The Kansas City Star reports that 22-year-old Deonte J. Barnett is charged in Jackson County Circuit Court in the February death of 9-month-old Aubrie Barnett. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney.

Jackson County prosecutors said Barnett had been counseled on the dangers of sleeping with a baby after the child was hospitalized previously.

Court records say Barnett told police that he and the baby fell asleep together and that when he awoke he was lying on top of her. Barnett said the baby was limp but breathing slightly, so he put her in a stroller and went back to sleep.

When he awoke, the girl was unresponsive.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Crews are demolishing a northeast Kansas City church that partially collapsed with children inside.

The Kansas City Star  reports that demolition began Thursday on the Rios De Agua Viva Church and continued Friday.

Walls at the church collapsed Aug. 7 with more than 60 people inside, including children attending a vacation Bible school. No one was injured.

The city determined the rest of the three-story building must be demolished because structural engineers found that it was unsafe.

The building was insured and the church said previously that it was planning to move to Kansas City, Kansas.

WESTMORELAND, Kan. (AP) — A St. Marys man has been convicted of unintentional second-degree murder in the New Year’s Day shooting death of a friend.

Twenty-two-year-old Pablo Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 25 for the killing of 24-year-old Levi Bishop of Rossville.Pottawatomie County jurors returned the guilty verdict Thursday.

The Manhattan Mercury reports that Bishop was shot while riding around St. Marys with Gonzalez and two others looking for another party to ring in the New Year. They all had been drinking heavily.

The defense described what happened as an accident. Gonzalez testified that he had put the gun to his own head, thinking it was unloaded.

He said Bishop told him not to, but he turned the gun on Bishop, saying it wasn’t loaded and pulled the trigger.