ERIK SCHELZIG, Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Google is bringing its ultra-fast fiber optic Internet service to four metro areas in the Southeast.

The company announced Tuesday that it will add gigabit-speed service over new fiber-optic cables in Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta; and Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte in North Carolina. Google says five other metro areas remain in the running.

At speeds of more than 50 times the national broadband average, gigabit service can download an entire movie in less than two minutes.

Google Fiber is available in Kansas City, Missouri; Kansas City, Kansas; Provo, Utah; and Austin, Texas.

Prices for Google Fiber are comparable to or below what most households already pay. For example, in the two Kansas City markets, Google Fiber charges about $70 per month for just high-speed Internet service, or $120 for an Internet and TV package.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A Florida woman is suspected of drowning a 2-week-old puppy in a Nebraska airport bathroom so she could board a plane.

Grand Island Police Sgt. Stan Steele says 56-year-old Cynthia V. Anderson of Edgewater, Florida, was denied access to a flight Friday at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport because the puppy was so young and not properly contained. Steele says she tried to conceal the Doberman in her carry-on bag.

He tells The Grand Island Independent Anderson then was seen entering a bathroom before another woman reported finding a dead Doberman puppy in the toilet.

Steele says the Central Nebraska Humane Society conducted an autopsy. It determined the animal’s cause of death was drowning.

Anderson was arrested on animal abuse charges. She’s being held in the Hall County Jail.

JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri secretary of state is pushing a bill that would allow the state to keep human trafficking victims’ addresses secret.

Secretary of State Jason Kander on Tuesday announced legislation that would expand the Safe at Home program to cover those victims.

The program gives confidential addresses to survivors of domestic violence, rape and some other crimes. The aim is to prevent the victims’ assailants from tracking where they live and potentially harming them again.

Sex trafficking survivor and advocate Katie Rhoades says her pimp threatened her with violence before she escaped. She says the legislation could help other survivors who later worry about their own safety.

North Carolina, Washington, Oregon and Maryland have similar programs for human trafficking victims.

JEFFERSON CITY – St. Louis County Assessor Jake Zimmerman says he is running for attorney general in 2016.

Zimmerman announced his candidacy Tuesday, setting up a potential Democratic primary against state Sen. Scott Sifton of St. Louis County, who already has entered the race.

The Missouri attorney general’s office will be open next year because Democratic incumbent Chris Koster is running for governor.

Zimmerman says he served as an assistant attorney general in 2002 and 2003. He later spent several years in the Missouri House representing a St. Louis County district. Zimmerman was elected as assessor in 2011 and re-elected last fall.

State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, of Columbia, is the only Republican in the attorney general’s race.

by MIKE SHERRY

The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City will help three Kansas City safety net clinics share patient data electronically with providers throughout Missouri.

The foundation said in a news release Monday that it’s paying $375,000 to hook up Swope Health System, Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center and KC CARE Clinic to Missouri Health Connection (MHC).

The funding will also help another Kansas City nonprofit, Artists Helping the Homeless, make referrals to hospitals and clinics via encrypted emails.

Based in Columbia, Mo., MHC is the state-designated health information exchange provider. It has a network of more than 7,000 physicians along with more than 70 hospitals and 350 clinics and community health centers.

MHC also connects with the Missouri Medicaid program.

According to the foundation, the three Kansas City clinics serve more than 68,000 patients combined at 17 sites.

Foundation officials said they are making their contribution in conjunction with a grant from Saint Luke’s Health System.

“The benefits of information technology are not an event, but an evolution, and we appreciate the willingness of providers to work on these complex efforts on behalf of their patients,” Dr. Bridget McCandless, president and CEO of the foundation, said in the release.

Editor’s note: The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City helps fund Heartland Health Monitor’s health coverage.

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

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas would increase penalties for home burglaries under a bill being considered in the state Senate.

The Senate Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee held a hearing Tuesday on the measure. The bill would increases penalties for any home burglary and sentences for the intent to steal a firearm. Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson testified that burglary victims are frustrated that perpetrators often get off with probation.

The bill would make the potential prison sentence for any home burglary six months longer for a first-time offender, for a maximum of 19 months.

Thompson said it’s not clear how much the measure would increase prison populations but a proposed amendment hopes to alleviate that issue. The amendment would lessen penalties for repeat shoplifters, downgrading such offenses to a misdemeanor.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas would increase the penalties for burglarizing a home, building or vehicle intending to steal a firearm under a bill before a state Senate committee.

The Senate Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee was having a hearing Tuesday on the measure. The bill also increases the penalties for any home burglary.

State law currently doesn’t make a distinction when a burglar intends to steal a gun.

The bill would allow a judge to sentence a first-time offender to up to two years and 10 months in prison for burglarizing a home, building or vehicle intending to steal a firearm.

The bill would make the potential prison sentence for any home burglary six months longer for a first-time offender, for a maximum of 19 months.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House committee is considering a bill that would ban the use of carbon monoxide to euthanize animals.

The proposal would amend the Kansas Pet Animal Act to prohibit animal control officers and shelters from using carbon monoxide, in favor of a lethal injection, which is considered less painful.

William Brown, animal health commissioner for the state Agriculture Department, says most gas chambers for animals in Kansas have already been shut down. He says his department is aware of only four in the state and none is being used.

The Wichita Eagle reports supporters of the bill want to ensure that no one ever uses the chambers again.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police say a man died when he was hit by a city bus on a highway in central Kansas City.
The man was hit Monday evening on northbound Highway 71. Police say two buses were driving in tandem on the highway when the accident occurred.

No passengers were on either bus and both drivers stopped to talk to police.
Sgt. Bill Mahoney says the man probably was trying to cross the road but he might have been walking and drifted into the lane of traffic.
Relatives told local media that the middle-aged man lived in the area. The accident occurred near where people had pulled down fencing to make it easier to walk across the highway.

WHEATLAND – School is back to normal today after a man fleeing law enforcement ran through Wheatland High School on Monday.

Gove County Sheriff Alan Weber reported law enforcement attempted to stop a 2014 Kia with Florida license plates on Interstate 70 in Thomas County.

The driver Jeron Thibeaux, 31, Kansas City, refused to stop and travelled into Gove County.

Deputies successfully used stop sticks just east of Grinnell.

Despite that the suspect continued down the interstate, took the Grainfield exit and abandoned his vehicle after hitting a highway fence.

Gove County Deputy Tony Dinkel contacted Wheatland High School and it was placed on lockdown.

Weber said the suspect entered a door on the south side of the school that had been left open for a delivery.

The suspect ran through the building, exited a door on the west side of the school and was taken into custody about 100 yards west of the building.

USD 292 Superintendent Gary Kraus had no comment on the incident except to confirm the school was in lockdown for 15-20 minutes.

Thibeaux was transported to Gove County Medical Center for treatment of a head injury from the accident. He is being held in the Thomas County Jail.