Independence Day might seem to be an unlikely time to deploy members of the Missouri Air National Guard to Afghanistan, but for members of the 139th Airlift Wing in St Joseph, it is perfectly appropriate.

“In the military, there are no holidays,” according to Lieutenant Colonel Barb Denny.  “The fact that we’re leaving on the Fourth of July, I think, just drives home the fact that we’re fighting for freedom.”

“That’s why we’re going, and the Fourth of July is just the perfect day to send folks off in that manner.”

More than 40 members of the wing gathered at Rosecrans Airport Wednesday morning to begin a deployment to the Afghanistan Theater.  The flight crew and maintenance personnel are expected to be overseas for about four months.

Nearly half of all the Kansas counties, including Atchison, have declared a burn ban until further notice because of the hot and dry conditions.

Atchison county Kansas issued a burn ban last week.

The ban does not include fireworks. Officials urged cation however using fireworks with the hot and dry weather conditions.

The Kansas adjunct general’s office said this week 45 of the 105 counties have a burn ban in place.

Stafford county in south central Kansas has strong restrictions in place, meaning burning is not allowed unless the fire department deemed the site safe for burning.  

Gov. Sam Brownback said Tuesday that 36 counties are in drought emergency, 55 counties are in drought warning status and 14 are in watch status. 

Meanwhile state officials want to curb use of fireworks at state parks and lake for the July 4 holiday.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism said Tuesday that only two of the state’s 26 state parks will allow personal fireworks to be used on the holiday. Visitors may use them in restricted areas of Perry State Park and at Elk City State Park.

 

A boil advisory was issued Tuesday for Dekalb and surrounding areas.

The advisory is for Buchanan County Public Water Supply District one.  District officials say the boil advisory stems from low water line pressure from a power failure.

The boil advisory is until further notice.

A second former Kansas City, Kan., police officer has been sentenced to federal prison for stealing electronics from houses where his special unit served search warrants.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says 34-year-old Jeffrey M. Bell was sentenced Tuesday to eight months behind bars for violating a federal civil rights law. He and two other members of the Police Department’s Selective Crime Occurrence Reduction Enforcement Unit were charged after a sting operation in January 2011.

Thirty-two-year-old Darrell M. Forrest was sentenced last month to 12 months and a day in prison, and 34-year-old Dustin Sillings is to be sentenced Thursday on the same charge.

Bell acknowledged stealing games from the sting house and three or four PlayStation games and one PlayStation player during previous SCORE Unit searches.

A Kansas City police officer has been charged with corruption after prosecutors say he demanded two women have sex with him in exchange for not arresting them. 47 year old Jeffrey Holmes was released on $75,000 bond Tuesday after being charged with two counts of acceding to corruption by a public servant. The police department says Holmes has been suspended without pay. He has been on the force for 13 years.

Prosecutors say Holmes had sex with the women at different motels in March and April in exchange for not arresting them. One of the women told police she was working as a prostitute. The other said she had outstanding warrants and marijuana in her motel room when she met Holmes.

Attorney General Chris Koster reminds us that Missouri’s hot weather rule prohibits utilities from disconnecting electrical services due to nonpayment when the temperature exceeds 95 degrees.

If they do you should call Koster’s consumer hotline at 1-800-392-8222 for assistance.

The Consumer Protection hotline is operated during normal business hours. Consumers should also remind the utility that it is barred from disconnecting service under Missouri State Statute 660.123.

“Missouri’s hot-weather rule, like our cold-weather rule, serves as an important protection for people in extreme weather conditions,” Koster said. “I believe most utility companies will be diligent in following the rule. However, if a utility mistakenly shuts off a consumer’s electricity, we will be there to work on behalf of the consumer to get electricity restored.”

Missouri’s hot weather rule automatically goes into effect when the temperature is projected to exceed 95 degrees, or when the heat index is projected to exceed 100 degrees. Those temperatures are currently predicted through the Fourth of July and next weekend.

Platte County prosecutors have charged a Kansas City police sergeant with stealing more than $75,000 from his 67-year-old mother while she was in a nursing home.

Mark Stinson, 43, was charged with misappropriating funds from a nursing home resident.  Zahnd said Stinson faces up to four years in prison if he is convicted.

According to court documents, Stinson was given the authority to control his mother’s finances after her husband died.

Instead, officials say wrote checks to himself and for personal expenses, and stopped paying his mother’s rent payments at the nursing home.  She was evicted in March 2011.

Investigators allege that Stinson accessed his mother’s money for personal expenses over a two-year period beginning in 2008.  Stinson allegedly wrote checks totaling $66,390 payable to himself or to cash and distributed more than $9,600 for personal expenses.

Stinson has been with the police department for 17 years, but a police spokesman says he has been suspended without pay.

A judge has ordered Stinson to have no contact with his mother the victim.