Federal regulators say rules against making cellphone calls during airline flights are “outdated,” and it’s time to change them. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a statement Thursday the commission is proposing greater in-flight access to mobile broadband. The proposal will be considered at the commission’s meeting next month. Tell us what you think in the comment section below and participate in the poll. [polldaddy poll=7585160]
 
(AP) — Police say four people were arrested after a shooting in which at least one bullet entered an elementary school in Kansas City, Kan.
No one was injured in the shooting Wednesday near Whittier Elementary School.
Police on Thursday chased a vehicle thought to be connected to the shooting. The vehicle eventually was stopped by a tire-puncturing device on Interstate 670 and the four people were taken into custody.
(AP) – The Department of Transportation said seat belt use has remained stagnant at 79 percent compared to the nationwide average of 85 percent. Use among Missouri teens increased by a single percentage point from 66 percent to 67 percent.
Officials said 62 percent of the more than 600 roadway deaths this year were not wearing a seat belt.
Missouri law officers said they will be participating Monday in a statewide enforcement effort focused on seat belts and child restraints.
(AP) — A 25-year-old northeast Kansas man has been charged in head-on crash that killed a Topeka man in 2010.
Aaron Emerson Meade, of Meriden, is charged with involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence after a crash in March 2010 that killed 50-year-old Neil L. Highsmith.
Shawnee County District Court records show Meade was charged Nov. 15. He was booked into the Shawnee County jail Thursday, where he was being held on a $50,000 cash or surety bond.
Lee McGowan, chief of staff for the county district attorney’s office, said he couldn’t comment on the case or why it took more than 3½ years to file charges.
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, issued the following statement regarding U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and Senate Democrats’ decision to launch the so-called “nuclear option”:
“This power grab by Leader Reid and Senate Democrats is simply an attempt to shift the focus away from the disastrous ObamaCare roll-out. The Democrats decided all on their own to involve the government in every American’s health care. Now, the Democrats want to make decisions all on their own about every federal judge. Neither of these things will produce a result the American people deserve.”
The City Council in Kansas City has approved studying several corridors as the next phases for a city streetcar system.
The Kansas City Star reports the city council approved the study Thursday. The evaluation, which should be completed by April, would set the stage to build the next eight to 10 miles of streetcar line over the next decade.
City officials say any streetcar system would be part of a larger transportation network that would also be linked together by buses.
A 10-mile streetcar expansion is projected to cost up to $400 million, and the funding method hasn’t been set. Leaders hope federal and state dollars and other money could provide half the cost. Local dollars may have to cover up to 50 percent of the cost.
(AP) A former Jackson County court administrator has pleaded guilty to embezzling about $77,000 in court funds.
58-year-old Teresa L. York waived indictment Thursday and pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of mail fraud.
Authorities accused her of embezzling about $77,000 by charging court credit cards for personal items. She agreed in her plea deal to forfeit $77,778.
York worked at the courthouse since 1984 and was named court administrator in 2003. As administrator, she was responsible for overseeing several hundred court employees.
The investigation began in the spring of 2012, when Jackson County officials found concerns regarding court expenditures. York resigned in July 2012.
Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed to a state appeals court an attorney whose practice focused on workers’ compensation law.
Phil Hess, of Sunset Hills, was named Thursday to the Missouri Court of Appeals’ Eastern District. Hess has practiced law in St. Louis for more than 30 years and was the president of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys from 2011 to 2012.
Under Missouri’s judicial selection process, a state commission selects three nominees for vacancies on appellate courts. The governor appoints one who later appears on the ballot for a retention vote.
Hess is replacing Judge Kathianne Knaup Crane, who retired in August. The other finalists were James Dowd and Michael David, who is a circuit judge in St. Louis.
The reward has been increased for information in the death of Kansas City area man who was shot and killed while he was jogging.
The Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers said in a release Thursday that a family member has donated more money to the reward fund for information in the death of 60-year-old Harry Stone. Crime Stoppers says the total possible reward is up to $5,775.00.
Police are looking for a dark, four-door car with at least two occupants who fled the scene.
(AP) — The Missouri Department of Transportation is seeking the public’s help in finding a hand-held radio that was stolen from one of the department’s motorist assist trucks.
The department said in a release the truck was stolen Thursday from the department’s Motorist Assist facility in Kansas City and recovered minutes later. But the hand-held radio programmed only for Kansas City Police and MoDOT frequencies was missing. MoDOT says police have deactivated the radio, which won’t receive or transmit radio calls.
MoDOT Incident Management Coordinator Rusty James says the truck was found in Kansas City using GPS equipment. But the suspect fled before police arrived.
James says the thief also drove through and destroyed a gate at the facility and caused extensive damage to the truck.
