(AP) — A northwest Missouri man convicted of killing his 7-year-old son admits that he strangled a cellmate in the Buchanan County jail.
Tony Ray King
Twenty-nine-year-old Tony King, of Bethany, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder in the death of 25-year-old Michael A. Bozarth in June. King told Buchanan County Judge Dan Kellogg that he strangled Bozarth.
At the time, King was awaiting sentencing for the January 2012 death of Jeremiah Lamm, whose body was found in their burned-out mobile home in Harrison County. He was sentenced in July to life in prison plus two 15-year sentences in the boy’s death.
Bozarth, a registered sex offender from St. Joseph, was in jail on pending charges.
(AP) — A southwest Missouri drug task force has seized bags of candy infused with marijuana.
John Luckey, with the Southwest Missouri Drug Task Force, said the candy was shipped from Colorado to Pineville, in McDonald County. However, no one lived at the Pineville address. Luckey says officers hoped someone would try to pick up the package but no one ever did.
He says the candy resembled lemon drops, gummy bears and mints. It was clearly labeled with how much THC was in each piece. THC is the chemical that makes pot users high.
Luckey says he’s concerned children will pick up the candy.
Barry County Sheriff Mike Epperly displayed bags of the candy Thursday at his office in Cassville to make parents aware of the products.
AP) — The University of Kansas Medical Center is planning a $3 million project to study the role of exercise in preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
The study will be funded by the National Institutes of Health. The medical center is looking for 100 healthy people 65 or older to participate in the trial.
Participants who are at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease will walk on a treadmill regularly for one year. They will then undergo brain scans to determine if the exercise is reducing the risk of getting Alzheimer’s.
(AP) — St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar says he plans to seek the death penalty in the killing of a woman in O’Fallon.
Lohmar announced Thursday that investigators have found aggravating circumstances that warrant asking a jury to consider the death penalty against 63-year-old Terry Glennon Culberson.
Culberson is charged with first-degree murder in the February death of his ex-girlfriend, 55-year-old Dorothy Hall. Her body was found in Culberson’s home with several gunshot wounds to the head.
Culberson fled after the shooting but he was captured in Oklahoma about 10 days later. He remains in custody on a $500,000 cash-only bail. A trial date has not been set.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/18ugZyY ) that Culberson was previously convicted of assault with intent to kill with malice.
Auditions for the production of My First Time are scheduled for Monday, September 30th and Tuesday, October 1st at 5 pm at The Landing Playhouse. Ages 18 and older.
Please read the script and choose one of the “stories” to present at the audition.
No memorization necessary. The script can be found online if you Google search “My First Time play script”. Contact the office at (816)232-1778 or Lindsay Prawitz at (816)262-4543 with any questions.
(AP) — Republican Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is making a return trip to Missouri, whose Democratic governor he criticized during an August visit for vetoing tax-cut
Perry in Missouri to launch new ‘economic freedom’ group
legislation.
Perry scheduled a stop Friday afternoon in St. Charles to unveil a nonprofit group called Americans for Economic Freedom.
On Saturday, he’ll speak to GOP conservatives at a regional meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference. The daylong conference is also taking place in St. Charles.
Perry met privately in August with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce in Clayton and held a political rally in Chesterfield. He also criticized Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto in a series of late-summer radio ads while urging Missouri businesses to relocate to Texas.
Perry is considering whether to run for president in 2016 after an unsuccessful 2012 effort.
(AP) — Missouri conservation officials say hunters should see greater numbers of mature turkeys but fewer young turkeys this fall.
The Conservation Department says heavy rain during the April and May incubation period can reduce the number of hens that successfully nest. Dampness makes it easier for predators to smell and find nests. Cool weather from late May through June can reduce survival after hatching because young turkeys are susceptible to chilling.
However, there was good turkey reproduction during the two previous years. Conservation officials say that means a better chance of finding birds with long beards and meaty bodies.
Missouri’s fall firearms turkey season starts Tuesday and ends Oct. 31.
(AP) — Two pioneering researchers in the field of autism are scheduled to speak next month at a two-day conference on the disorder at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park.
Robert Koegel and Lynn Kern Koegel will make their presentation at noon Oct. 18 during the conference, titled “Beyond the Diagnosis: Autism Across the Lifespan.”
The college says the Koegels developed a treatment at the University of California, Santa Barbara, that targets core features of autism to produce rapid and widespread gains in social, communicative and behavioral areas.
The conference takes place Oct. 18 and 19, co-sponsored by the community college and the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training at the University of Kansas.
Citing concern for many students still struggling in Kansas City, today the Commissioner of Education, Chris L. Nicastro, notified the Superintendent of Kansas City
Commissioner of Education, Dr. Chris L. Nicastro
Schools, Dr. Steve Green, that the Department would not recommend changing the district’s accreditation.
At the September State Board of Education meeting, Dr. Green requested that the Department recommend changing the district’s accreditation and that the State Board classify the district as provisionally accredited. This issue will be on the State Board of Education’s October agenda. Any response from the Board would come after the October meeting.
The district’s first performance report under the Missouri School Improvement Program 5 (MSIP 5) showed progress in science and math, but less than 30 percent of students are proficient in those subjects. In English language arts and math, almost 70 percent of Kansas City students are not reading or performing math at grade level. The data suggest that the district has hard work ahead to improve student performance.
“We were pleased to see the progress students made in Kansas City schools this year in science and math,” said Nicastro. “But we must do what we believe is in the best interests of the children.”
In a letter, the Commissioner explained that one year of district performance was not sufficient to determine a sustainable positive trend in the district. MSIP 5 recognizes progress in school districts, but the program needs at least two to three years of information before determining school district performance trends. It is the first year of the MSIP 5 accountability system.
The State Board of Education classified the Kansas City Public School District as unaccredited in 2012. This is the first year since then that the district’s annual report rated its performance in the provisionally accredited range.
The Department will continue to work closely with the Kansas City School District to help sustain its improvement efforts.
