WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) released the following statement today from Missouri:

“Today, I spoke with Attorney General Eric Holder about the continued investigation in Ferguson, and I continue to monitor what I believe is close coordination between county and federal authorities. It’s important to remember that this tragedy began when a young man lost his life, and I support local and federal officials in their efforts to conduct open, transparent, and parallel investigations into what happened here. Michael Brown’s memory, his family, and his community are not well-served by more violence.”

The Associated Press also reported that Holder is promising the family of an unarmed black teenager shot by police in Missouri a full, independent civil rights investigation.

Holder’s promise came Thursday in a telephone call with the family of 18-year-old Michael Brown. A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that Holder spoke to the Brown family while they visited the U.S. attorney’s office in Missouri.

The official was not authorized to be identified by name and requested anonymity to discuss Holder’s call.

 

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A bicyclist who was struck and killed by a pickup truck in northeast Kansas has been identified as a 66-year-old university librarian.

The Douglas County sheriff’s office says the collision happened Wednesday afternoon south of Clinton Lake, near Lawrence.

WIBW-TV reports the bicyclist was identified Thursday as Lawrence resident Cal Melick, who worked as a public services librarian at Washburn University in Topeka.

Deputies said Melick was riding eastbound when he was hit by a westbound pickup truck that was trying to pass another vehicle.

The 69-year-old pickup driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal authorities say they have no plans to file charges against a company that contracted to provide dental services for the Kansas Army National Guard.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Wichita confirmed Thursday that the FBI has concluded its investigation of Dentrust, a Pennsylvania company that performs dental screenings and treatment for Guard soldiers.

Both state and federal governments prohibit employees from accepting gifts from outside entities.

The company’s attorney says the investigation stemmed from a coupon that a dental worker gave a Guard member who mentioned he was going skiing. The coupon saved the Guard member $17.

Attorney Ernest Baynard says Dentrust had no knowledge of the coupon or the interaction, and that no other interactions of any type were found. The federal reporting limit for gifts is $40.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Restaurant patrons throughout the Kansas City metro area are being urged to be careful with their wallets.

KMBC-TV reports police have widened their investigation into a series of wallet thefts from women’s purses, apparently by a group of traveling thieves. In many cases the purses were left open and hanging on the backs of restaurant chairs.

The thieves quickly run up thousands of dollars in charges on stolen credit cards and bank cards. Investigators said some gift cards bought with the stolen cards have been spent in St. Louis, Chicago and Wisconsin.

Police believe the thieves are from outside the Kansas City area and have been traveling across the Midwest. Surveillance pictures released this week show two men and three women thought to be involved.

 

DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press
JIM SALTER, Associated Press

FLORISSANT, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon says the Missouri State Highway Patrol will take over the supervision of security in the St. Louis suburb that’s been the scene of violent protests since a police officer fatally shot an unarmed black teenager.

The Associated Press

President Barack Obama has called for peace and calm in Ferguson, Missouri, the St. Louis suburb where an unarmed black teenager was fatally shot over the weekend by a white police officer. Obama has been involved in other high-profile cases with racial overtones: the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watchman and the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A police officer charged with shooting an unarmed panhandler resigned Thursday, the Springfield Police Department said.
“Today, Officer (Jason) Shuck submitted a letter of resignation from the SPD,” Chief Paul Williams said in a news release. “I have accepted his resignation, effective immediately.”

On May 9, Springfield resident Eric Butts, 27, was standing outside a store with a cardboard sign saying he had lost his job and needed help to support his pregnant wife. Police were called because he had an outstanding arrest warrant after failing to appear in court for a parole violation.

Shuck said he accidentally shot Butts with a gun instead of a stun gun when Butts tried to flee, authorities said. According to a probable cause statement, Shuck officer told a Springfield police detective that “the best explanation that I have is that my … brain was saying Taser … but my body moved faster than my brain.”

Butts was hit in the lower back and suffered serious intestinal injuries that require him to use a colostomy bag, the Springfield News-Leader  reported. Butts was scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday to reverse the colostomy.

Shuck faces up to a year in jail if convicted of a misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault. He is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 26 in Greene County.
A message seeking comment was left with Shuck’s attorney Thursday.
The department awarded Shuck a meritorious service award last year.

TOPEKA (AP) — A Kansas Court of Appeals judge is this year’s recipient of the national William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence.

The National Center for State Courts announced its selection of Judge Steve Leben on Thursday. Leben will receive the award from U.S. Supreme Court Chief John Roberts in November.

The Rehnquist Award is presented to a state court judge who demonstrates excellence in fairness, integrity, ethics, intellectual courage and other qualities.

The Center for State Courts noted what it calls Leben’s groundbreaking work in procedural fairness, including an influential national paper on the topic.

Leben is a former Johnson County district judge. He was serving as president of the American Judges Association when he was appointed to the state Court of Appeals in 2007.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An environmental group says companies engaged in an oil and gas drilling method known as fracking have used chemicals that can cause cancer in four wells in Kansas.

Industry representatives on Wednesday denied the allegations in a report issued by the Environmental Integrity Project.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the group says the chemicals used to extract gas from the four wells included kerosene, diesel and other hydrocarbons for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Katie Brown, a spokeswoman for a program of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, says the industry has adequate safeguards to protect public health. She also says permits to use kerosene weren’t required when most of the wells were in use.