KANSAS CITY- The Kansas Highway Patrol is investigating an accident that injured 4 people on Sunday afternoon in Wyandotte County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Mercedes SUV driven by  Julia Dinora Rivera, 36, Kansas City and a 2002 Hyundai driven by Kimberly Ann Brocklehurst, 36, Overland Park were on the ramp from southbound Interstate 435 to eastbound Interstate 70.

The Mercedes changed lanes to the left striking the Hyundai in the passenger side.

Both vehicles spun out of control, leaving the roadway to the right. The Mercedes overturned multiple times, ejecting three of the four occupants. The Hyundai came to rest in the right ditch.

Rivera and a passenger in the Mercedes Nesario Gallo, 48, Kansas City were transported to KU Medial Center. Two children in the Mercedes were transported to Children’s Mercy. Brocklehurst was not injured.

The KHP reported the occupants of the Mercedes were not wearing seat belts.

WICHTA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback is campaigning on his administration’s efforts to fight against what he calls federal government overreach.

The Republican governor found a friendly audience for his re-election pitch Monday at the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association convention.

Brownback recounted steps the state is taking to fight the listing of the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species. He says the bird’s population numbers are up 20 percent in Kansas.

He also talked about efforts to counter an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to expand the definition of waters of the United States, which he claims would encompass ponds and puddles.

Brownback says water is inherently a state issue, and he wants the federal government to withdraw its proposed rule.

Another area of contention is federal pollution rules over coal.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police say an officer shot and killed a dog that was trying to attack children who were getting on a school bus.

Lt. Scott Gilchrist said in a news release that officers responded to a call in southeast Topeka Monday morning that two pit bulls were trying to attack the children.

Gilchrist says one of the dogs charged an officer, who shot it after not being able to subdue the dog with his baton.

Animal control officials picked up the deceased dog and are trying to find the second dog.

The incident remains under investigation.

 

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A new American Bar Association study says Missouri’s publicly funded criminal defense lawyers are so overworked that it could raise constitutional issues.

The Kansas City Star reports the state’s 376 attorneys represent more than 98 percent of poor defendants charged in Missouri with state crimes.

The news that the public defenders are overworked is not new. Consultants have warned for the years that Missouri was operating a “constitutionally inadequate” public defender system.

ABA president William Hubbard says his organization believes it’s time to stop studying the problem and start solving it.

The study found that public defenders are spending far fewer hours preparing cases than is necessary to provide their clients with “reasonably effective” representation.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A 1-year-old Springfield boy died when he was run over by a vehicle.

Springfield Police Lt. Eric Reece said police were called to the home of relatives in north Springfield Sunday evening. The toddler had been run over by a truck in the backyard of the home.

Reece says no foul play is suspected.

The Springfield News-Leader reports the boy’s parents were not at the home at time of the accident.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Army investigators are warning about a scam by which phony soldiers use tales of war to steal cash from unsuspecting civilians.

The Gazette reports the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command has received numerous reports from victims around the world who have been duped by people impersonating soldiers.

The scam starts with a post on social media or a personal ad on a dating site, and the fake soldiers often use the name and rank of a real soldier and pictures from overseas swiped from the Internet. CID spokesman Chris Grey says the scammers often request money to buy “leave papers” from the Army, to help pay for medical expenses from combat wounds or for the soldier’s flight home.

Investigators say people shouldn’t send money to anyone overseas unless they know them personally.

DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans got their man — and woman — in a half-dozen House primaries as establishment conservatives knocked out right-flank candidates.

The results improved the party’s chances of winning in competitive congressional districts and increasing its majority in November.

With little fanfare, GOP party favorites prevailed in New York, Iowa, New Jersey and Virginia. The outcome mirrored the Republican dynamic of the Senate, where incumbents and establishment-backed candidates beat back tea party challenges in the primaries.

Arizona poses the next test of whether the GOP can extend its establishment streak.

In the 1st Congressional District, a bruising, three-way primary pits state House speaker Andy Tobin against businessman and rancher Gary Kiehne and state lawmaker Adam Kwasman.

The winner of the Aug. 26 primary will face Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick.

NEW YORK (AP) – A preliminary private autopsy has found that Michael Brown who was killed by a white officer in Missouri was shot at least six times, including twice in the head.

The New York Times reports that the autopsy by Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City chief medical examiner, found that one of the bullets entered the top of Michael Brown’s skull, suggesting that his head was bent forward when it suffered a fatal injury.

The shooting has spurred a week of rancorous protests in suburban St. Louis.

Baden told the newspaper that Brown was also shot four times in the right arm and that all the bullets were fired into his front.

Baden did not return a message left by The Associated Press earlier Sunday.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City, Kansas, police say an officer shot and wounded a man suspected of being involved in a homicide last week.

The man was shot Saturday night after a chase. Police say when the suspect’s car crashed, he got out of the car with a gun in his hand and an officer shot him.

The man is expected to recover.

Police have not released his name but described him as a white man in his 30s who was wanted in connection with a homicide last weekend. The suspect is also the subject of a federal arrest warrant.