WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) spoke on the U.S. Senate floor today to debunk false claims made by Senate Democrats regarding the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which found that the Obama Administration infringed on Americans’ First Amendment right to freedom of religion.
Author: Stan Unruh
Lawsuit over search for Earhart’s plane before court
BOB MOEN, Associated Press
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The search for Amelia Earhart’s missing airplane could land in front of a federal jury.
A federal judge in Wyoming heard arguments Thursday in a lawsuit filed by a man who says he was defrauded of $1 million by organizers of a search for Earhart’s airplane, which disappeared in 1937.
Tim Mellon says the Pennsylvania-based International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery and its executive director actually found Earhart’s plane in 2010. Mellon argues the group kept the discovery secret so it could keep seeking money from him.
The group says there’s no proof it found Earhart’s plane.
Lawyers argued in Casper whether the lawsuit should be dismissed or whether a jury should decide if Earhart’s plane has been found.
U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl will issue a ruling later.
Highway shooting involved debt, romance troubles
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A man and woman will go on trial Sept. 15 on charges of attempted first-degree murder charges in the shooting of another man as he drove on a highway near Lawrence.
Brittany Smith and Edward Parker of Lawrence are charged in the May 26 shooting of Skylar Workman on Highway 59. Workman is recovering from severe injuries.
At the end of a two-day preliminary hearing Thursday, Parker was arraigned and pleaded not guilty. Smith will be arraigned and enter a plea Aug. 15.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that testimony during the hearing indicated Parker was angry that Workman was texting his girlfriend, and that Workman owed money to two of Parker’s friends. Workman had once dated Smith, who allegedly told investigators she was still in love with him.
Driver ejected in Thursday morning Nodaway Co. crash
MARYVILLE- A driver was seriously injured in a crash just after 5 a.m. on Thursday in Nodaway County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Saturn Ion driven by Anthony C. Bodle, 25, Ravenwood, was westbound on Mo 46 one mile west of Maryville.
The vehicle traveled off the south side of the highway and struck a MoDot sign.
The driver began to apply the brake and turn causing the vehicle to overturn. The driver was ejected.
Bodle was transported to St. Francis Medical Center.
The MHP reported he was not wearing a seat belt.
Lesbian sues Kansas City diocese over firing
RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer
A parish food pantry worker who was fired over her marriage to another woman is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
Colleen Simon says the diocese and parish knew before Simon was hired that she was married and her wife was a well-known community leader. She was fired when the couple was mentioned last April in a newspaper article.
The diocese plans to release a statement later Thursday.
The Missouri lawsuit is among a growing number of clashes over gay rights between Catholic leaders and their employees.
Dioceses in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Honolulu; Oakland, California, and elsewhere have added morals clauses to their teacher contracts barring public support for gay rights. As a result, more than 15 employees have lost their jobs or resigned since 2010.
Mo. man pleads guilty in Kansas lightning rod scam
The Office of Kansas Attorney General
SCOTT CITY – A Missouri man was ordered to repay a total of $75,000 to two Scott County consumers last week after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit theft, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.
Donald Anthony Moses, 52, Neosho, Mo., was sentenced by District Magistrate Judge James R. Collins to 24 months of probation with an underlying sentence of 18 months in prison. Moses pleaded guilty in June to a charge of conspiracy to commit theft.
Two other defendants have been charged in connection with the case. One has been convicted and awaits sentencing; the other is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The state alleged that Moses stole funds from two Scott County senior citizens in a lightning rod insurance scam arising from a door-to-door sale. The case was investigated by the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division. Assistant Attorneys General Robert Novak, Adrian Serene and Jackie Williams prosecuted the case.
Former Northwest professor wins legal victory in drug case
MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A former Northwest Missouri State University professor who came to the attention of law enforcement authorities after a Facebook posting has won a victory on court.
Matthew Rouch was arrested nearly a year ago on charges of cultivating marijuana at his home. Authorities went to his home after seeing a Facebook post by Rouch that officials believed was threatening, but that Rouch insisted was a joke.
The Maryville Daily Forum reported Wednesday that Nodaway County Judge Roger Prokes earlier this month ruled the search warrant officers used to enter Rouch’s home was invalid, and all evidence collected in the search would be inadmissible in court.
No charges were ever filed in relation to the Facebook posting.
Rouch later resigned his position on the university’s communications faculty.
Malaysian passenger plane reportedly shot down
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A Malaysian Airlines plane has apparently been shot down over eastern Ukraine.
A Ukrainian official says a passenger plane with 295 people aboard was shot down over a town in the country’s east. And Malaysian Airlines tweeted that it lost contact with one of its flights over Ukrainian airspace.
An adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister said on his Facebook page that the plane was flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet. He said it was hit by a missile fired by a type of launcher that can fire missiles as high as 72,000 feet.
The government in the Donetsk region of Ukraine says the plane crashed near a village called Grabovo, which it said is currently under the control of armed pro-Russian separatists.
The region has seen severe fighting between Ukrainian forces and the separatists in recent days.
Yesterday evening, Ukrainian officials say, a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by an air-to-air missile from a Russian plane. It adds to what Ukraine says is mounting evidence that Moscow is directly supporting the separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
KDHE: Another Public Exposure Point to Measles
Wichita, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Sedgwick County Health Department (SCHD) identified another possible exposure to measles in Wichita at the South Lakes Sports Complex on the fourth of July. Potential exposure occurred from a previously identified case, however there have been no confirmed cases associated with this event.
Eight teams from Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas attended the informal softball tournament. KDHE and SCHD are working with health officials in Texas, Missouri and Nebraska.
KDHE is asking anyone who attended the event or participated in the event and developed an illness with fever and rash to contact their healthcare provider. Healthcare providers who have questions should call the Kansas Department of Health and Environment at 877-427-7317 or the Sedgwick County Health Department at 316-660-7424.
Measles is a respiratory disease caused by a virus. With the creation of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, measles cases have generally been rare in the United States; however, it still sickens approximately 20 million and kills 164,000 people worldwide each year. There has been a resurgence of measles cases in the United States in 2014. From January 1, 2014 through July 11, 2014, 566 confirmed measles cases have been reported in 20 states. This is the highest number of cases since indigenous measles elimination was documented in the U.S. in 2000.
Most measles cases in the United States have occurred among persons who are not immunized. “The best way to keep from getting the disease is by being vaccinated. Protect children by making sure they have the MMR vaccine when they are 12 to 15 months old, and again before they enter kindergarten,” said Robert Moser, M.D., KDHE Secretary and State Health Officer.
Measles is highly contagious and is spread through the air by breathing, coughing, or sneezing. The signs and symptoms of measles typically begin one to two weeks after someone is exposed to an infected person. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected with the measles virus.
Symptoms include:
- Fever
- Blotchy rash on the skin, which spreads from the head to the trunk then to the lower extremities (Measles can be spread to others from four days before to four days after the rash appears.)
- Cough
- Runny nose
- Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)
- Feeling run down, achy
- Tiny white spots with bluish-white centers found inside the mouth (Koplik spots)
Nearly one in three persons who get measles will develop one or more complications, some of which may be serious. These include pneumonia, ear infections, or diarrhea. Encephalitis, which is a severe inflammation of the brain, may also occur in some cases.
“If you have a fever, stay home except to see a healthcare provider. If you need to visit your healthcare provider, call ahead so appropriate measures can be taken to protect other patients and staff,” said Adrienne Byrne-Lutz, SCHD Interim Director.
People at high risk for severe illness and complications from measles include infants and children aged <5 years, adults aged >20 years, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems.
Woman charged in case against U.S. seed corn firms seeks release
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Chinese woman charged in Iowa with conspiring to steal trade secrets from U.S. seed corn companies is asking to be released on bond while she awaits trial.
Mo Yun is one of seven people associated with Chinese agriculture biotechnology company DBN Group to be indicted in the case. The U.S. government says DBN’s employees conspired to take hybrid seed corn from fields in Iowa and Illinois to duplicate the genetic traits American companies have spent millions of dollars to develop.
The 42-year-old Mo was arrested in California on July 1.
Prosecutors want her held until her trial, which is set for Dec. 1 in Des Moines. They say she has every incentive to return to China, which has no extradition treaty with the U.S.