WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill used a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee meeting to discuss the urgent need for reforms to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to help protect delivery service for Missourians in rural communities.

“Speaking on behalf of hundreds of thousands of rural Missourians, where that post office is a lifeline to the economic vibrancy of that community—I think we are going to be held accountable if we don’t do the really hard work of getting some of these really difficult questions hammered out on the Postal Service,” said McCaskill, who was born in Rolla, Mo. “It is essential to rural America. If we allow this to go to the lowest common denominator, once again, rural America will get the short shrift.”

McCaskill recently authored a letter along with a bipartisan group of 29 Senate colleagues, demanding a delay in the planned consolidation of up to 82 USPS mail processing facilities. The Senators urged the USPS to fulfil its obligations to adequately study the impact of the consolidations, and to inform the public of those impacts, which the USPS Inspector General found that it failed to do.

McCaskill continued: “I think we all know in our gut that if we allow [the Postal Service] to be totally privatized, that it will be our rural constituency that will pay a very heavy price. And I think we have the best postal service in the world, and I think if we allow it to atrophy and say, ‘well, just let privatization take over, let it just be private,’ I’m going to have a hard time explaining that to my rural constituency why we weren’t there for them at this incredibly important time in the history of the postal service.”

Last year, as the U.S. Senate considered legislation reforming the Postal Service, McCaskill won a victory for rural Missouri post offices after the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved her proposals to increase protections for rural post offices and postal delivery standards. McCaskill also worked with North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp to protect mail processing facilities from closure and preserve six-day mail delivery. The committee voted 9-1 to strengthen the finances of the Postal Service and keep rural post offices open. McCaskill pledged to continue working to improve the bill as consideration continues.

In the previous Congress, McCaskill successfully helped win Senate passage of a sweeping, bipartisan reform bill to keep hundreds of rural post offices in Missouri open and operating—which Republicans in the U.S. House refused to bring up for debate.

DETROIT (AP) — Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche are recalling about 27,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. to fix fuel leak problems.

The recalls cover the Audi A6 and Volkswagen Touraeg hybrid from the 2012 model year, the Audi A7 from 2012 and 2013, and the Audi Q7, S4 and S5 from 2011 through 2012. All the vehicles have 3-liter V-6 engines. Porsche is recalling the Cayenne and Panamera S hybrids from 2011 to 2012 for a similar problem.

Volkswagen, which makes all three brands, says vibration during driving, and production issues can cause leaks in rare cases. VW says it’s not aware of any fires caused by the problem.

VW will notify owners in March and dealers will replace the fuel injector rails and seals for free.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced in a media release on Monday that 26 defendants have been indicted in a $16 million drug-trafficking conspiracy that involved smuggling large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin from Mexico for distribution in the Kansas City, Mo., metropolitan area.

Operation Signed and Sealed was a two-year, multi-agency investigation into a drug-trafficking organization that sold over 700 pounds of methamphetamine, 250 kilograms of cocaine and multiple kilograms of heroin in the Kansas City metropolitan area, with an estimated total value of more than $16 million.

Jose Ramon Soto-Garcia, also known as “Monky,” “Mon,” and “Ramon Del Monte,” 27, Jesus Hernandez-Mujica, also known as “Chenton,” 32, Ricardo Hernandez-Mujica, also known as “Pollo,” 29, Maurio Belgrave, 31, Nefeg Isaac Aguilar-Valle, 27, Alejandro Salas, also known as “Oliver Echeverry-Flamenco” and “Panocha,” 30, Sergio Flores, 43, Sylvia Marron, 37, and Ivan Orion Rueda-Simental, 22, all of Kansas City, Mo.; Missael Guadalupe Soto-Vejar, also known as “Missa,” “Narizon,” and “Flaco,” 26, and Dennys Eliceo Sermeno-Campos, 27, both of Independence, Mo.; Aurelio Jimenez-Cimental, 31, Iriarte Tadeo-Soto, also known as “Tantan,” 24, Antonio Arroyo-Cardenas, also known as “Cholo,” 30, and Jose Gabriel Bernardo-Vasquez, 32, all of Kansas City, Kan.; Rosalia Avila, also known as “Rosalia Diaz” and “Rosalia Flores,” 27, of Overland Park, Kan.; Luis Miguel Lopez, also known as “Tito,” 29, of Shawnee, Kan.; Gilberto Castillo-Soto, 38, of Culiacan, Sinoloa, Mexico; Victor Manuel Castillo-Soto, 40, and Aurelia Castillo, 37, both of Van Nuys, Calif.; Jose Carlos Zazueta-Valenzuela, 26, Francisco Alvarado-Soto, 28, and Monica Soto-Garcia, 29, all of Sun Valley, Calif.; Frankie Eleazar Perez, 32, of Madera, Calif.; Oscar Alberto Lopez-Perez, 32, of Medellin, Colombia; and Myrna Nora Saenz, 33, address unknown, were charged in an 11-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury on Dec. 18, 2014. That indictment was unsealed and made public following the arrests and initial court appearances of several defendants.

Jose Soto-Garcia, Jesus Hernandez-Mujica, Ricardo Hernandez-Mujica, Rueda-Simental, Soto-Vejar, Jimenez-Cimental, Tadeo-Soto, Arroyo-Cardenas, Gilberto Castillo-Soto, Victor Castillo-Soto, Zazueta-Valenzuela, Alvarado-Soto and Monica Soto-Garcia are all citizens of Mexico. Aguilar-Valle is a citizen of Honduras. Sermeno-Campos is a citizen of El Salvador.

The federal indictment alleges that all 26 defendants participated in a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, five kilograms or more of cocaine and one kilogram or more of heroin from June 2013 to June 2014.

According to the indictment, the drugs were transported from Mexico by Gilberto Castillo-Soto to California and then transported or shipped by his brother, Victor Castillo-Soto, and Zazueta-Valenzuela to Kansas City, Mo. Allegedly aiding in the California portion of the drug-trafficking operation were Monica Soto-Garcia (Zazueta-Valenzuela’s wife and Ramon Soto-Garcia’s sister), Aurelia Castillo (Victor Castillo-Soto’s wife) and Perez. In addition to transporting the drugs themselves, conspirators also paid couriers to deliver drugs to the Kansas City area.

The drugs arrived at the residences of co-conspirators, the indictment says, such as Aguilar-Valle, then were picked up by Ramon Soto-Garcia. Ramon Soto-Garcia, along with Missael Soto-Vejar, allegedly distributed the drugs to other members of the conspiracy, including Aurelio Jimenez-Cimental, brothers Jesus and Ricardo Hernandez-Mujica, Antonio Arroyo-Cardenas, Alejandro Salas, Dennys Sermeno-Campos, Jose Bernardo-Vasquez, Ivan Rueda-Simental and Iriarte Tadeo-Sosa. These individuals allegedly supplied drugs to their own customers. Because Ramon Soto-Garcia did not communicate well in English, the indictment says, he employed his girlfriend, Rosalia Avila, to help translate for him and also to transfer funds to pay for the narcotics.

The money from the drug sales was transferred back to California in a number of ways, according to the indictment, such as shipments in computer towers by Dennys Sermeno-Campos and the electronic transfer of funds by Rosalia Avila. Once in California, the indictment says, the money would be physically transported to Mexico by Francisco Alvarado-Soto.

For example, the indictment alleges that Dennys Sermeno-Campos attempted to ship $76,000 that had been wrapped in eight bundles in duct tape, carbon paper and dryer sheets and concealed within a hollowed-out computer tower from Raytown, Mo., to Sun Valley, Calif., on July 15, 2013. According to the indictment, federal agents also seized a total of approximately $180,000 that was similarly hidden in two computer towers on Sept. 10, 2013. They also seized $80,025 that was hidden inside a microwave oven on Sept. 17, 2013, and $70,000 that was hidden inside a CD player on Sept. 26, 2013.

The indictment also alleges that Aurelio Jimenez-Cimental arranged a meeting between an undercover law enforcement officer of the Jackson County Drug TaskForce and Oscar Lopez-Perez and Victor Castillo-Soto to discuss moving money to California. During that Oct. 4, 2013, meeting, Oscar Lopez-Perez and Victor Castillo-Soto allegedly attempted to give the undercover officer $350,000 to transport.

In addition to the drug-trafficking conspiracy, several defendants are also charged with participating in a money-laundering conspiracy. The indictment alleges that Jose Soto-Garcia, Gilberto Castillo-Soto, Victor Castillo-Soto, Jose Zazueta-Valenzuela, Missael Soto-Vejar, Oscar Lopez-Perez, Aurelio Jimenez-Cimental, Francisco Alvarado-Soto, Rosalia Avila, Dennys Sermeno-Campos and Aurelia Castillo participated in a conspiracy to conduct financial transactions that involved the proceeds of the unlawful drug-trafficking activity to promote the activity; these transactions allegedly were designed in whole or in part to conceal the nature, the location, the source, the ownership and the control of the proceeds.

In addition to the conspiracies, Jimenez-Cimental is charged with two counts of distributing cocaine, two counts of distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and one count of distributing heroin. Aguilar-Valle and Salas are also charged with one count of possessing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

Hernandez-Mujica is also charged with one count of possessing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and with one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Aguilar-Valle is also charged with one count of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. The indictment alleges that Aguilar-Valle was in possession of a Taurus .45-caliber pistol on June 18, 2014.

The federal indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require all 26 defendants to forfeit to the government $16,017,200, which represents the proceeds obtained as a result of the alleged offenses.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce E. Clark. It was investigated by the Jackson County Drug Task Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Kansas City, Mo, Police Department.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Springfield police say they have arrested a man in connection with the shooting of an officer.
The Springfield News-Leader reports 30-year-old Aaron Pearson was seriously injured after being shot during an investigation early Monday into suspicious activity behind a closed business, where three people were hanging out.
He was taken to a local hospital, where he remained Monday night.
Police say officers searched around seven hours to find the man suspected of shooting Pearson. Authorities say a man was arrested less than a block away from where Pearson was shot.
Police Chief Paul Williams announced the man is the focus of detectives’ investigation of the shooting and no other suspects are being sought.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Two more cases of a deadly deer disease have been found in Missouri.

The Missouri Department of Conservation on Monday reported that a Macon County adult buck and an adult doe in Adair County tested positive for chronic wasting disease.

That brings the total free-ranging deer that have tested positive for the disease this hunting season to 15.

Eleven captive deer on farms have tested positive for chronic wasting disease.

The disease first was found in a private hunting reserve in 2010. Missouri officials in October toughened regulations for deer ranches and preserves to stop the disease’s spread.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A Missouri bill to link the length of unemployment benefits to the unemployment rate has approval from a House panel.

The bill approved Monday also would increase the amount of money the state must have saved to pay for benefits before reducing how much businesses need to contribute.

Supporters of the bill said they want to make sure the state’s unemployment trust fund does not run out of money in the future.

Missouri’s unemployment fund had to borrow money from the federal program in 2009 and paid it off last year.

When a state trust fund is in debt to the federal government, businesses lose out on part of a federal tax credit.

The bill also requires a state board consider alternative financing next time the trust fund needs money.

YOUKYUNG LEE, AP Technology Writer

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Facebook suffered a widespread outage lasting roughly 40 minutes on Tuesday affecting users in the United States, Asia, the U.K. and Australia.

The social media giant’s Instagram service was also briefly inaccessible.

Instagram said on its Twitter account that it was aware of an outage and was working on a fix. There was no immediate statement from Facebook.

Facebook has about 1.25 billion users and Instagram has some 300 million.

News of the Facebook outage set rival social network Twitter alight.

As access to Facebook returned in Asia, some users reported that the site was loading or responding slowly.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — National anti-tax activist Grover Norquist is urging Kansas legislators to reject Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposals to increase the state’s tobacco and alcohol taxes to help close state budget shortfalls.

Norquist sent a letter Monday to legislators, saying the proposed tax increases would hurt poor and working-class taxpayers the most.

Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform and previously has praised Brownback for successfully persuading Kansas lawmakers to slash the state’s personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013.

The state is facing budget shortfalls totaling more than $710 million in its current budget and its budget for the fiscal year beginning in July.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Brownback shrugged off the criticism, saying in a brief interview Monday that his proposals are a starting point.

By Dave Ranney

A member of the House Social Services Budget Committee on Thursday objected to Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan for using $14.5 million from the Kansas Endowment for Youth to fill part of a $280 million hole in the current fiscal year’s budget. “This is a problem, in my view,” said Rep. Stephanie Clayton, a Republican from Overland Park.

She asked the committee’s chair, Rep. Will Carpenter, a Republican from El Dorado, “Is there anything we can do to prevent this sweep?” Carpenter, who’s new to the committee, said he wasn’t sure but would find out. The exchange came midway through an informational briefing on the state’s tobacco master settlement agreement revenues and how they are spent. In keeping with state statutes, settlement revenues – between $50 million and $70 million, typically – each year are deposited in the Kansas Endowment for Youth (KEY) fund.

Historically, most of the money in the KEY fund is transferred to the Children’s Initiatives Fund, where it’s used to underwrite programs and services that promote early childhood development. But there’s been little to stop lawmakers from using KEY fund monies to offset projected shortfalls in the state budget. Since 2001, lawmakers have tapped the KEY fund for more than $165 million outside of its intended purpose. “This is a pet peeve of mine – across the board, not just with the KEY fund,” Clayton said after the committee meeting. “I feel like we’re lying to the taxpayers. We tell them we’re going to use this money for this purpose, and then we sweep it for something else. I mean, from a transparency, populist, almost-Tea Party perspective, we shouldn’t be sweeping. We shouldn’t be lying.”

Rep. Nancy Lusk, a Democrat from Overland Park, shared Clayton’s concern. “The money needs to go to where it was intended to go,” she said. In additional to taking $14.5 million from the KEY fund in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30,

Brownback has proposed tapping the fund for $9.1 million in fiscal 2016 and $8.2 million in fiscal 2017. “That means we’re looking at a $32 million sweep over the next three years,” said Shannon Cotsoradis, president and CEO of the advocacy group Kansas Action for Children. In each of the three years, she said, the KEY fund will be depleted, setting the stage for significant reductions in children’s services.

Shawn Sullivan, the state budget director, has said that the proposals only transfer excess money out of the endowment above the amount traditionally needed to fund Children’s Initiatives Fund programs. But the endowment is meant to hedge against depleting tobacco settlement revenue, and Cotsoradis spent much of this week warning legislators that if the KEY fund is depleted and settlement revenues fall short of projections, they will be forced to make deep cuts in current year spending. “The way the Children’s Initiatives Fund is set up, it’s spent before the payments come in, which is usually sometime in April,” she said. “

So if, by chance, the payments – there are two – come in at less than expected and the KEY fund is at zero, there will have to be substantial cuts made in early childhood programs in the final quarter of the fiscal year. “There would be no hope for backfilling because the KEY fund will be empty,” she said, “and, as everybody knows, there’s no money in the state general fund.” The situation, Cotsoradis said, is due to worsen in 2017 with the phasing out of what’s known as the “strategic contribution” portion of the settlement payments.

“We’re looking at a reduction of 20 percent in 2017,” she said. “That’s just around the corner, and there won’t be anything in the KEY fund.” Since 1999, the state has received more than $817 million in master settlement payments and interest earnings.

 

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