JULIE PACE, AP White House Correspondent

EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP) — President Barack Obama says that while the shooting death of a Missouri teenager has prompted “strong passions,” people should remember Michael Brown through “reflection and understanding.”

Obama’s comments came in a written statement about 18-year-old Brown. The unarmed teen was fatally shot by a police officer Saturday while walking on a street near his suburban St. Louis home.

Witnesses have said the officer was white and Brown was black. The shooting has prompted violent protests in Brown’s community.

Obama says he and wife Michelle send their deepest condolences to Brown’s family and community. He says the Justice Department is continuing to investigate the situation along with local officials.

The president also called on people to comfort each other “in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. ”

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas is urging the Kansas Supreme Court to uphold a judge’s finding that the state’s criminal offender registry is unconstitutional.

The registry includes sex offenders as well as people convicted of certain violent crimes and drug offenses.

The ACLU said in a filing Tuesday that instead of improving public safety, the registry laws impede offenders from reintegrating into a community.

The arguments come in a lawsuit filed by a child molester seeking to have his name removed from the Kansas offender list. Shawnee County Judge Larry ruled a law extending his registration requirement was a punishment that couldn’t be retroactively enforced under the U.S. Constitution.

But the National Center for Victims of Crime says upholding the ruling would “profoundly affect” victims.

IOLA, Kan. (AP) — A southeast Kansas man has won a seat on the Allen County Commission thanks to the luck of a draw.

The Iola Register reports Jerry Daniels and Jim Mueller were vying for the Republican nomination in last week’s primary election.

A recount by hand confirmed the initial electronic tabulation of a tie, with each candidate receiving 255 votes. So on Monday, County Commission chairman Jim Talkington reached into a bowl and pulled out a slip of paper with Daniels’ name.

Mueller, of Moran, said he won’t seek a second recount.

Daniels, who lives in Humboldt, doesn’t have a Democratic opponent in November’s general election, meaning he’ll fill a vacant seat on the commission in January.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Shaprton is calling on police to release the name of the officer who fatally shot an unarmed Missouri teenager while also pleading that protests remain peaceful.

Sharpton appeared Tuesday at a St. Louis news conference with the family of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was killed Saturday while walking on a street near his home in Ferguson. Witnesses have said the officer was white and Brown was black.

The shooting has led to looting and clashes between police and protesters. The Ferguson police chief backed off plans earlier Tuesday to identify the officer because of death threats.

Sharpton described Brown as a “gentle giant.” He says that to become violent because of his death is to betray his name.

By Dan Margolies, KCUR

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas improperly billed Medicaid for nearly $11 million in school-based health services, a government watchdog has found.

In a report released Monday, the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determined that Kansas received $10.75 million in unallowable reimbursements for services provided during the one-year period from July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010.
The overcharges occurred because the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Division of Health Care Finance “did not have adequate policies and procedures” to monitor the program and to ensure it complied with state and federal requirements, the report stated.

The KDHE division administers the program, which allows states to use Medicaid to help pay for physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, psychological counseling and other “medically necessary” services provided to schoolchildren.

KDHE in 2006 contracted with Public Consulting Group Inc., a private contractor, to oversee parts of the program.

The inspector general is recommending that Kansas refund the money to the federal government.

KDHE officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Scott Brunner, a former Kansas Medicaid director, said the amount in question “was not that big of a deal” in the context of the overall Medicaid budget. Brunner now a senior analyst at the Kansas Health Institute, a nonpartisan policy and research organization that also houses the editorially independent KHI News Service.

“But school-based claiming was one of the services that the federal government and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services were very concerned about because it’s not a traditional health care service or in a traditional health care setting,” he said. “And allowing schools to be paid for some of the administrative costs also tended to raise some eyebrows by the federal partners.”

A report in 2010 on Missouri’s school services program recommended that Missouri refund nearly $20.5 million. That report found similar problems in the way Missouri claimed reimbursement.

In Kansas, Public Consulting used what the inspector general’s report describes as “random moment sampling” to figure out how much to bill Medicaid, eliminating the need to submit claims for the services that school districts provided.

According to the report, KDHE’s Division of Health Care Finance accounted for only $17.1 million of the $24.8 million in interim payments made to the 288 participating school districts.

The report said that, as a result of that omission, the state received $5.4 million in unallowable reimbursements. It also said that the state received another $4.7 million in unallowable payments based on sampling errors, about $643,000 that was not supported by internal cost reporting and about $11,000 based on overstated employee benefit and supply costs in the KCK school district.

– Dan Margolies is health editor at Heartland Health Monitor, a reporting collaboration among KCUR Public Media, KCPT Public Television and KHI News Service.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union and an attorney say convicted national security leaker Chelsea Manning isn’t receiving medical treatment for her gender identity condition as previously approved by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

The ACLU and Manning’s civilian attorney sent a letter Tuesday to the U.S. Department of Defense and the federal military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas threatening to sue if Manning does not receive treatment for gender dysphoria, the sense of being a woman in a man’s body.

Manning, who changed her name from Bradley after her conviction, is serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth for giving WikiLeaks classified documents. She has asked for hormone therapy and to be able to live as a woman.

Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for the U.S. Army and the prison.

On August 11, 2014, at approximately 11:55 am, Marin County Communications received a 9-1-1 telephone call reporting a male adult had been located unconscious and not breathing inside his residence located at 95 St. Thomas Way in unincorporated Tiburon, CA. The caller was distraught and indicated an apparent suicide due to a hanging had taken place and rigor mortis had set in.

The Sheriff’s Office, as well as the Tiburon Fire Department and Southern Marin Fire Protection District were dispatched to the incident with emergency personnel arriving on scene at 12:00 pm. The male subject, pronounced deceased by firefighters from the Tiburon Fire Department at 12:02 pm has been identified as Robin McLaurin Williams, a 63 year old resident of unincorporated Tiburon, CA.

Preliminary information developed during the investigation by Coroner Division personnel has revealed Mr. Williams had been seeking treatment for depression. Mr. Williams was last seen alive by his wife at approximately 10:30 pm on August 10, 2014 when she retired for the evening in a room in the house. It is unknown at this time when Mr. Williams’ retired for the evening in a bedroom in his home. At approximately 10:30 am on August 11, 2014 Mr. Williams’ wife left the home believing Mr. Williams to still be asleep. Mr. Williams’ personal assistant became concerned at approximately 11:45 am when he failed to respond to knocks on his bedroom door. At that time the personal assistant was able to gain access to Mr. Williams’ bedroom and entered the bedroom to find Mr. Williams clothed in a seated position, unresponsive, and with a belt secured around his neck with the other end of the belt wedged between the closed closet door and door frame. His right shoulder area was touching the door with his body was perpendicular to the door and slightly suspended.

Mr. Williams was cool to the touch with rigor mortis present in all of his extremities and livor mortis positioned appropriately for the position he was located in. The inside of Mr. Williams’ left wrist had several acute superficial transverse cuts. A pocket knife with a closed blade was located in close proximity to Mr. Williams. The pocket knife was examined and dry red material was located on the blade which appeared consistent to dried blood. It is unknown at this time if the dried red material is in fact blood or if it is Mr. Williams’ blood, but scientific testing will be conducted to evaluate its investigative value.

Mr. Williams was transported from the scene to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office Morgue by the Coroner Division
pending a forensic examination which was conducted this morning prior to this press conference. The forensic examination, conducted by Dr. Joseph Cohen who is the Sheriff’s Office Chief Forensic Pathologist, did not reveal any injuries indicating Mr. Williams had been in a struggle or physical altercation prior to him being located deceased.

The preliminary results of the forensic examination revealed supporting physical signs that Mr. Williams life ended from asphyxia due to hanging. Toxicology testing will be conducted to determine if Mr. Williams had any chemical substances in his system at his time of death.

Toxicology results will not be available for approximately 2 – 6 weeks while the testing is being performed.

Please note this is an active investigation into the cause, manner, and circumstances of Mr. Williams’ death. The final cause and manner of death will not be certified until the conclusion of the investigation which is several weeks away.

When the investigation is concluded and our final results are ready for dissemination a press conference will be scheduled.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service says it lost $2 billion this spring despite increasing its volume and charging consumers more money to send mail.

The agency’s quarterly loss was significantly higher than its $740 million loss during the same three-month period last year. The agency said revenue jumped 2 percent compared to last year. But because of compensation and benefit costs, the agency continues to face a deficit.

Agency officials said the Postal Service would likely remain in bad shape unless Congress acts on reform legislation. In a statement released Monday, the agency said it would have to default on a congressionally mandated payment of $5.7 billion this September for health benefits for future retirees.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback says he’ll work to create 100,000 new private-sector jobs over four years if he’s re-elected.

Brownback announced his goal Tuesday as part of a platform that his campaign calls “Road Map 2.0.” It follows up on a set of goals he outlined in seeking his first, four-year term in 2010, called “The Road Map for Kansas.”

The governor was having rallies in Overland Park, Topeka and Wichita to unveil his platform.

Brownback said four years ago that he wanted to increase private-sector employment. Since he took office in January 2011, the state has added nearly 55,000 private sector jobs.

Critics note that the percentage of job growth is lower than the U.S. figure.

Brownback faces a tougher-than-expected race against Democratic challenger Paul Davis.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Student scores on standardized tests are down in most subjects in Missouri.

Statewide figures released Tuesday by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education show that fewer students scored “proficient” or better this year on tests for communication arts, mathematics and science, compared to last year. The only overall improvement was in social studies.

The State Board of Education was meeting Tuesday to discuss the test results. Several explanations were offered, including the use of new test questions and the loss of instructional time this past school because of severe winter weather.

Test results for specific districts are to be released later this month.