OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A 33-year-old Kansas man has pleaded guilty in the death of a former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader in a traffic crash while he was fleeing from police.

The Kansas City Star reports Roy Lee Maney of Shawnee pleaded guilty Wednesday to reckless second-degree murder and leaving the accident scene in the collision that killed 30-year-old dance instructor Tiffany Mogenson in October 2013.

In a plea deal, Johnson County prosecutors dismissed charges of aggravated battery and obstructing the legal process.

Mogenson’s husband called the plea agreement “absolutely sickening” and has hired attorneys to ask the judge to not accept the plea.

Mogenson was stopped at a Prairie Village intersection when Maney’s car hit the back of her vehicle at an estimated 90 mph, killing her instantly.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo –  A Kimberling City, Mo., man who worked as an emergency room physician was sentenced in federal court on Tuesday for failing to file tax returns despite earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in income each year, according to Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Phillip Edward Psaltis, 65, of Kimberling City, was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to two years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Psaltis to pay $1,581,594 in restitution to the IRS, the Missouri Department of Revenue and the Oklahoma Department of Revenue.

Psaltis worked as an emergency room physician at Lawton Indian Hospital in Lawton, Okla., in 2011 and at Claremore Indian Hospital in Claremore, Okla., in 2010. Psaltis worked as an emergency room physician at Barton County Memorial Hospital in Lamar, Mo., from 2006 to 2009 and at Pike County Memorial Hospital in Louisiana, Mo. in 2008 and 2009.

On Oct. 9, 2014, Psaltis pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to file an income tax return. Psaltis admitted that he has failed to file federal income tax returns since 2002. The two specific charges to which Psaltis pleaded guilty relate to his failure to file a federal tax return for 2009, when he earned approximately $450,664, and for 2010, when he earned approximately $433,339.

Psaltis admitted that he failed to file federal income tax returns for 2009, 2010 and 2011. Psaltis’s unreported income during those years totaled $1,204,786 and the total tax loss was $377,022. Psaltis also owes $551,434 in outstanding federal taxes for the years 2002 through 2008. Because Psaltis did not file his 2012 tax return, it is estimated that he will owe approximately $128,109 in tax liability for 2012.

In addition to the federal taxes owed, Psaltis owes $62,259 in Missouri and Oklahoma state income tax for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. Psaltis’s medical license was suspended three times – on Dec. 14, 2009, on July 16, 2012, and on June 11, 2013 – for delinquency of Missouri state taxes or failure to file state income tax returns.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.

by ANDY MARSO

A Kansas House committee unanimously passed a bill Tuesday to allow for tax-free savings accounts for children with disabilities. But even as they sent the bill to the full House, committee members expressed concerns that cost could keep it from coming up for a vote there.

House Bill 2100 would allow the families of Kansas children with disabilities up to age 26 to set aside up to $14,000 a year for them, with up to $100,000 not counting against their Medicaid benefits. The money can be withdrawn tax free to pay uncovered disability expenses, like transportation and housing accommodations.

The measure has widespread support, but Kansas is struggling to balance its budget for the current fiscal year and future years. Members of the House Children and Seniors Committee said they fear that the administrative costs of setting up the accounts, though relatively low, could derail the bill.

“My hope is that it is not a barrier,” said Rep. Susie Swanson, a first-term Republican legislator from Clay Center. “But I’m afraid it will be.” The bill’s price tag is complicated because Congress first allowed states to set up the disability savings accounts in December, and no states have done so yet.

The state treasurer’s office originally estimated that it would need $50,000 in fiscal 2017 as a one-time administrative cost, but committee members discovered Tuesday that the fiscal estimate might shift because it’s based on that administrative cost being taken over by a third-party financial firm, and finding such a firm could take longer than anticipated.

“The hope is that those expenses in the future would be borne by the contractor that we’d hire,” said Scott Gates of the treasurer’s office, “and they would pay for that through fees they’d charge the account holder.”

There’s also some uncertainty about the ongoing impact to the state’s tax receipts, because those who use the accounts would be deferring some income that otherwise would have been taxable.

“We’re not exactly sure what the ongoing long-term fiscal impact is going to be because we’re not sure how many people are going to take advantage of this,” said Rep. Erin Davis, a Republican from Olathe who sponsored the bill. “This is still a fluid process.”

Davis said “all efforts are being made to keep the fiscal note as low as possible,” adding that she hoped cost would not keep the House leadership from scheduling a vote on the bill. But she acknowledged Swanson’s concerns and said the fiscal note could be a factor in whether the bill clears its next hurdle.

Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Democratic Missouri senator says her bill to change police-conduct laws would help restore trust in democracy following civil unrest in Ferguson.
Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, of University City, outlined her bill during a Senate committee hearing Wednesday. It would change laws on the use of deadly force by police, require special prosecutors in police shootings and encourage police body cameras.
She says the conduct of police toward people protesting the fatal shooting of Michael Brown was an embarrassment to the state.
Her bill lays out conduct standards for police during peaceful protests, which she says would help restore faith in the justice system and protect citizens’ constitutional rights.
The legislation also requires law enforcement officers to identify themselves with nametags during protests and bans the use of hogtying.

ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top government regulator says Internet service providers — including those selling wireless broadband — should be regulated more heavily to prohibit them from slowing down or speeding up web traffic.

In an op-ed to Wired magazine posted online Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said his plan would regulate Internet service similar to phone service, by applying a section of the 1934 Communications Act. He wrote that using enforceable, defined rules will prevent broadband providers from blocking or throttling content.

The FCC will vote Feb. 26 on his proposal.

Net neutrality is the idea that Internet providers should not move some content faster than others or enter into paid agreements with companies such as Netflix to prioritize their data.

Broadband providers have questioned the fairness of this approach.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A proposal to bring indoor skydiving to a Kansas City suburb hit an obstacle when city council members questioned the peculiar shape of the building.

IFly Indoor Skydiving, of Austin, Texas, wants to open a business in Overland Park. The 60-foot building would have two columns on each side of a wind tunnel, allowing customers to free fall and float.

Members of the Overland Park City Council said Monday they were concerned about placing such an odd-looking building in a main part of town, particularly if the business closed.

The Kansas City Star reports an IFly representative said the base of the building is the size of a typical restaurant and the structure above could be removed, although none of the company’s venues across the country have closed.

COLUMBIA (AP) – The director of the University of Missouri libraries is defending his decision to approve the destruction of almost 190,000 documents that were damaged by mold.

A university faculty committee says libraries director Jim Cogswell ignored a pledge to keep them informed about efforts to save about 629,000 books and documents that were damaged by mold at an off-campus location in 2013.

Cogswell says the 188,000 books, documents and journals destroyed starting in February were duplicates or documents that will be replaced with the help of a $400,000 grant.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports a Faculty Council committee says it has lost trust in Cogswell because he was supposed to keep them updated on saving the materials.

Cogswell apologized for the lack of communication but says he acted correctly.

DIXON, Mo. (AP) — A central Missouri woman is facing charges after her daughter died of a fatal overdose on Christmas Eve.
KRCG-TV reports the Dixon woman was arrested Tuesday night and booked into the Maries County jail facing charges of second-degree murder and distribution of a controlled substance.

Deputies who were called to the family’s home on Dec. 24 found a 16-year-old girl dead in her bed of an overdose.

Sheriff Chris Heitman says Missouri law makes giving someone drugs that subsequently kills them is grounds for a second-degree murder charge.Two other people in the house, including the suspect’s son, were arrested on drug charges.
A 10-year-old girl in the home is in state protective custody.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police say officers shot and injured a man during a domestic disturbance.
Spokesman Darin Snapp says officers called to a home in northern Kansas City early Wednesday found a woman on the ground in the front yard and her husband standing over her with a rifle. He says the woman had already been shot in the leg and the man appeared to be ready to shoot her again.
Snapp told KCTV5  that when the man held the rifle as if he was going to shoot, two officers fired, hitting him in the side.
The man and his wife were taken to a hospital. Both are expected to survive.
Two children in the home, ages 6 and 10, were asleep during the confrontation.
No officers were hurt.