SIKESTON (AP) – County prosecutors in Missouri are headed for a big raise and there’s nothing they or county officials can do to stop it.

The Sikeston Standard Democrat reports the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services told Mississippi County’s clerk the pay increase is effective July 1.

State law sets the pay for full-time prosecuting attorneys at the same amount as associate circuit judges. In Mississippi County those salaries will go from $116,000 a year to $133,716.

The increase won’t go into effect for places like Bollinger and Perry counties, which have only part-time prosecutors.

The pay for associate court judges is set by law at 73 percent of the salary for a federal magistrate judge.

The raises cannot be withheld by the county commission nor refused by the prosecutor.

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MICHAEL FELBERBAUM, AP Tobacco Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The public will have more time to weigh in on a federal proposal to regulate electronic cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday the public comment period slated to end July 9 is being extended until Aug. 8.

In April, the agency proposed banning sales of e-cigarettes to anyone under 18, adding warning labels and requiring product approval. But it didn’t immediately restrict marketing or ban fruit or candy flavors, measures that some anti-smoking groups and members of Congress are demanding.

The FDA also proposed extending its authority to regulate cigars, hookahs, nicotine gels and pipe tobacco.

The agency has received more than 33,700 comments on the proposal. By comparison, it received around 176,000 comments on potential menthol cigarette regulations during a 120-day comment period.

HUMBOLDT, Neb. (AP) — Investigators looking into the shooting earlier this month of a Richardson County Sheriff’s deputy have determined that the deputy staged the shooting and lied about being ambushed by an unknown assailant.

Richardson County Deputy Sheriff Joshua Nincehelser was fired and arrested Friday. He is charged with felony criminal mischief, false reporting and several other counts.

On June 9, Nebraska law enforcement agencies launched a frantic search after Nincehelser reported he had been shot in the arm by a driver he had pulled over. Nincehelser said the driver fired several shots, hitting Nincehelser’s patrol car, too.

Now, investigators say Nincehelser has acknowledged he shot himself, then fired several shots into his patrol car.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Messages urging Governor Jay Nixon to veto Missouri legislation dealing with deer are outnumbering those calling for him to sign the bills.

Nixon’s office received a few hundred letters and electronic messages in the weeks after the legislative session’s end. More than five times as many messages called for Nixon to veto the law versus those who want him to sign it, according to a review by The Associated Press.

Lawmakers passed measures that would classify captive deer as livestock and give the Agriculture Department responsibility for the industry. The Agriculture and Conservation departments currently oversee it.

The legislation comes as conservation officials have advanced rules intended to combat chronic wasting disease that the deer industry contends are unnecessary and would force operators out of business.

AAA Media Release

AAA is encouraging General Motors to work with independent repair shops to improve timeliness of recalls.

General Motors’ steps to change its corporate culture and take responsibility for failing their customers are essential. However, with more than 20

million vehicles recalled this year, General Motors (GM) CEO Mary Barra’s congressional testimony related to the status of recall

repairs was very disturbing. Millions of motorists remain at risk, yet GM has only shipped 400,000 parts for recalled vehicles. GM must take

steps to ensure the millions of motorists who own unsafe vehicles understand the severity of the issue and the need to have their

vehicle fixed. The volume of recent recalls may result in a “so-what” attitude among many consumers who have not experienced problems with

their vehicle.

With only 4,300 GM dealers in the U.S. tasked with making millions of warranty repairs, these critical safety repairs could be significantly

backlogged. With an issue like this, days delayed can equal lives lost. Independent repair shops number in excess of 80,000 in the U.S.

and many consumers already turn to them to assist with vehicle

maintenance and repair needs. GM could look to work with the

independent repair network for some of the simpler recalls, thus

allowing GM dealers to focus on the more critical recall work.”

ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Universities across the nation are in the midst of a campus housing boom.

Kansas Sunshine Coalition for Open Government

The Kansas Sunshine Coalition for Open Government has selected four Johnson County area recipients to receive its 2014 Friend of Open Government Award, it was announced in Topeka today.

This year’s recipients include Rep. John Rubin, Shawnee; Robert and Adlynn Harte, Leawood, and Karen Dillon, a producer with KSTB TV in Kansas City. This year’s awards are based on the four designees’ untiring efforts to open court records for probable cause affidavits supporting arrest and search warrants that a Kansas statute has sealed for 35 years. Thanks in large part to their work, the Legislature enacted a bill unsealing these court records beginning July 1. They had been closed since 1979.

The awards will be presented immediately following a seminar the Sunshine Coalition is co-presenting on the Kansas Open Records and the Kansas Open Meetings Acts that will be presented July 28 from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Johnson County Library, 9875 W. 87th Street, in Overland Park.

Rep. Rubin was instrumental in authoring and then tirelessly guiding the bill the open records bill through the House and Senate and eventual signing by the governor. Besides drafting the legislation and testifying before the Judiciary Committees of each House, Rubin contacted and met with many of his legislative colleagues to gain its enactment.

The legislation was prompted by a raid at the Hartes’ Leawood residence that had been based on an affidavit that erroneously concluded there was probable cause to conduct the early morning search of their home. After Johnson County law enforcement officers found nothing illegal at their home and admitted the search was improperly carried out, the Hartes spent $25,000 in legal fees and a year of their time trying to learn why they were singled out for the full battle dress drug raid. They followed up by contacting Rubin and Karen Dillon, who at the
time was a reporter with the Kansas City Star.

Dillon researched and reported the story for the Star and later for KSHB’s Channel 41, where she now works. Dillon produced an expose on closed records in Kansas that was entitled “Dark State,’ for the television station.
The Hartes reported that based on Dillon’s news coverage more than anything else, they were finally able to receive a copy of the affidavit that was used for the search of their home. (The search was based on the innocent purchase of hydroponic growing supplies for their son’s school experiment to grow tomatoes indoors, and a faulty analysis of leaves found in the Hartes’ trash, which turned out to be green tea leaves when examined more thoroughly in a laboratory.) The Hartes appeared several times before legislative committees to tell their story and urge legislators to open these court records.

Thanks to the work by all four recipients of this year’s Friend of Open Government award, the citizens of Kansas will now be able to learn the contents of these previously secret court records. “This legislation marks a huge change in government transparency of court records. No longer may Kansas citizens be arrested or their homes searched without being able to examine the sworn statements of law enforcement officers that they are based on,” said Ron Keefover, president of the Sunshine Coalition, who joined both the Kansas Press Association and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters to support the affidavits bill as their major goal during the 2014 Legislature.

The Sunshine Coalition for Open Government is a statewide organization of journalism and law professors, members of the news media and other private citizens committed to promoting open government in Kansas. Its Board members include the Executive Directors of the Kansas Press Association, Kansas Association of Broadcasters and representatives of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Kansas League of Women Voters, among others. It is housed at the Elliott School of Mass Communication at Wichita State University, where the Coalition was founded in 2000.

PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats’ campaign arm says it raised $7.3 million last month.

A summary of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s fundraising in May released Friday shows the group sitting on $45.9 million in the bank. The group has asked television stations to set aside $44 million in advertising time starting this fall.

House Republicans, who are defending their majority, also faced a Friday deadline to disclose their May fundraising but have not yet released their figures. Redrawn congressional districts after the 2010 census heavily favor Republicans, and Democrats face long odds at ousting the GOP from the majority.

Even so, House Democrats have outraised their Republican rivals in 14 of the last 16 months.