TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former federal prosecutor who’s been an executive in a company that invests in medical marijuana has launched his campaign as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kansas.

Kansas City-area attorney Barry Grissom entered the race Monday after months of hinting that he would run. Four-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts is not seeking re-election in 2020.

Grissom served as U.S. attorney for Kansas from 2010 to 2016 as an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama. He has since served as corporate counsel and a vice president for Nevada-based Electrum Partners.

Grissom jumped into the race after state Sen. Barbara Bollier said she may seek the Democratic nomination. Bollier won her Kansas City-area district as a moderate Republican and switched parties last year.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The family of a man charged in the shooting death of a Missouri police officer has apologized to the officer’s family.

In a statement, relatives of 26-year-old Bonette Kymbrelle Meeks offered their “deepest sympathy” to the family of North County Police Cooperative Officer Michael Langsdorf. Meeks is jailed without bond on charges of first-degree murder and three other felonies.

His father, Bonette Meeks Sr., told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the family is “devastated” and wishes it could “take back that day.” The 40-year-old officer was fatally shot June 23 while answering a call about a bad check at a market in the St. Louis County town of Wellston.

Langsdorf’s funeral is at 10 a.m. Monday at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, followed by burial at Resurrection Cemetery.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have found the body of a missing teen in the back of a tractor-trailer in Kansas City, Kansas.

17-year-old Jasmine Mills, of Olathe, had been missing for two days when her remains were found Saturday morning in an industrial area near the Kansas River. Her mother, Deanna Peters, says her daughter was supposed to go do some odd jobs for an adult friend when she was last seen.

Peters says the friend Jasmine was supposed to be working for told her Jasmine never arrived. Peters is waiting for police to determine what caused her daughter’s death.

Police in Kansas City, Kansas, and Olathe are investigating. Olathe police have released little information except to say the death is suspicious.

MILLER COUNTY, Mo. — One person died and five were injured after two boats collided just after 10p.m. Saturday at Lake of the Ozarks.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Formula Cruiser driven by Bradley Siebenek, 37, Holts Summit, was headed downstream at the four-mile mark of the Osage Arm. A 2002 Formula cruiser driven by Kelly L. Wise, 59, Atlantic, IA., was headed upstream when the boats collided.
The body of Jason Russell, 39, Eugene, was recovered by divers at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in 80 feet of water, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol

EMS transported Siebeneck and passengers in the 1999 Formula Brian D. Basham, 42, Eldon, Wise and a passenger in the 2002 Formula Tammy Wise were transported to Lake Regional Hospital.

Nathan P Sneller, 37, Jefferson City, was airlifted to University Hospital. They were not wearing life jackets, according to the MSHP.

SHWWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an arson fire and have a suspect in custody.

Just after 1p.m. Saturday.  fire crews responded to a structure fire located at 911 SE Bellview Avenue in Topeka, according to Fire Marshal Michael Martin.

Upon arrival, fire crews found the two story wooden frame residential structure with smoke showing. Firefighters began an offensive fire attack, keeping it confined to the structure of fire origin.

A preliminary investigation indicates the fire was intentionally set, according to Martin. The estimated dollar loss – $15,000.00; of which all is associated with structural loss.

During the course of the investigation a suspect was identified.  Police arrested 32-year-old Wesley E. Howell. He booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of arson.

There were no injuries reported.

MARION COUNTY — Emergency crews continued the search for a missing boater on Sunday at the Marion Reservoir, according to the sheriff’s department.

Just before 1:30a.m., the sheriff’s office received a report of the missing boater identified as a 46-year-old from Eudora.

Authorities located the victim’s truck and boat trailer at the Marion Cove boat ramp, according to the sheriff’s department.

Just after 3a.m. Sunday, crews recovered the unoccupied boat floating against trees along the north side of the reservoir near Nighthawk Road.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office, boats from the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, and a Kansas Highway Patrol aircraft were assisting in the search.

The family has asked for the name to be withheld.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man who has spent nearly three decades in prison for the 1989 killing of Oregon’s prisons director was freed Friday while the state appeals the ruling that led to his release.

Frank Gable left prison after a U.S. magistrate found in April that the trial court made an error in excluding evidence of third-party guilt.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta also found that Gable’s attorneys provided him with “ineffective assistance in failing to assert Gable’s federal due process rights in the face of the trial court’s error.”

Gable, now 59, left the prison in Lansing, Kansas, and had to report directly to a federal probation officer in Kansas City. He’ll be allowed to live with his wife in Kansas.

“We don’t really want to talk about the case or nothing, just glad to be out,” Gable told Fox 4 News.

“He thanks those who believed in his innocence all these years,” said Nell Brown, one of two assistant federal public defenders who represented Gable in challenging the murder conviction.

Francke’s brothers, Pat and Kevin Francke, have been staunch defenders of Gable and believe he was wrongly convicted.

Gable was convicted in the stabbing death in Salem of prisons chief Michael Francke, 42, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

He must participate in drug and mental health assessments and counseling as directed by the U.S. Pretrial Services Office. Gable was not placed on electronic monitoring, although the state urged it.

The April ruling came after multiple witnesses recanted their testimony and defense lawyers cited a record of improper interrogation and flawed polygraphs used to question witnesses and shape their statements to police.

Acosta then ordered Gable to be released or retried within 90 days of his order.

The state’s appeal contends another man’s confession was unreliable because he had changed his account multiple times.

Acosta agreed to put his order to retry Gable on hold while the state’s appeal is pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The first authorized marijuana farmers in Missouri will have to commit a crime to begin growing, and regulators are expected to turn a blind eye.

In November, Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana and marijuana-infused products for patients who suffer from serious illnesses.

But it doesn’t indicate how growers should get their first seeds, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. It is a felony to acquire new marijuana plants or seeds already in Missouri, or to get them from one of the 32 other states with legal marijuana.

“It’s a real sticky situation,” said Zachary Post, who recently launched a Florissant business that offers to teach state-approved marijuana patients how to grow cannabis at home. “It’s legal to grow cannabis, but it takes a seed to grow it, but we’re not going to tell you where you can get it. It’s weird.”

Medical marijuana can’t be grown, used or sold until authorized by state regulators. That could be as early as December for businesses owners applying to commercially grow marijuana, and as early as July 28 for patients applying to produce it at home.

After Dec. 31, 2020, Missouri requires that anyone lawfully growing marijuana must get seeds or plants from a business approved by the state. But it takes months for a crop to develop, so farmers certified by January won’t have any legal in-state sources for marijuana seeds or young plants. Sales of marijuana and infused products aren’t projected to begin until spring.

Until then, it will probably be “don’t ask, don’t tell,” said Morgan Fox, with the National Cannabis Industry Association. Most states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational use didn’t ask where growers had obtained their first seeds and plants to begin growing, he said.

“By and large, it’s one of those things where law enforcement just agrees to look the other way,” Fox added.

In early June, applications for medical marijuana identification cards became available in Missouri. Missouri plans to license more than 300 medical marijuana-related businesses this year.

The Department of Health and Senior Services will start accepting applications for growing and distributing marijuana Aug. 3.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — After two months, law enforcement authorities have not announced an arrest in the shooting death of 23-year-old Dwane Simmons and wounding of 23-year-old Corey Ballentine, both members of the Washburn University football team.

Over the past week, an anonymous donor came forward with a $5,000 reward leading to an arrest in the shooting death of Washburn football player Dwane Simmons, according to a media release.

Just before 1a.m. April 28, police responded to the 1400 Block of SW 13th in Topeka after report of a disturbance with gunshots. Upon arrival, officers discovered a victim identified as 23-year-old Dwane Simmons. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Another victim from the same incident identified as 23-year-old Corey Ballentine arrived at an area hospital by private vehicle with a non- life-threatening gunshot wound.

Simmons was a junior mass media major from Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

Investigation has determined that this incident occurred during a social gathering outside of a residence, according to a media release. There were dozens present at the social gathering.

In addition to the $5,000, Crime Stoppers is also offering up to a $2,000 reward. You can call us to report tips anonymously at 785-234-0007 or online at p3tips.com/128.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is encouraged to contact the Topeka Police.

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN

Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado.

The national measles outbreak — numbering more than 1,000 cases so far — hasn’t hit Kansas yet, but it has crept awfully close to home.

State health officials think a case in Kansas looks nearly inevitable. And the state’s annual survey of kindergartener vaccination rates suggests some counties do better than others at getting little kids their potentially life-saving shots of MMR vaccine.

But while measles snags all the headlines, doctors, nurses, and public health workers worry not just about that, but about other vaccine-preventable diseases that rarely raise the same alarms for the public.

The best evidence suggests hundreds of thousands of Kansans lack one shot or another — or  several. Those inoculations have the potential to save lives from pneumonia, cancer and other threats.

Why so many under-vaccinated people?

As best as public health experts can tell, religious objections and the anti-vaccination movement account for just a tiny sliver of the myriad reasons.

More commonly, the obstacles involve busy work lives, rural distances, poverty, spotty vaccine records, health providers with gaps in vaccine stock or limited walk-in hours, and the public’s lack of knowledge about things like adult vaccine schedules.

Vaccine schedule for adults: What shots are recommended and when?

Schedule for children/teens: What shots are recommended and when?

Every age group is affected, from infants to the elderly. Though Kansas theoretically requires shots against illnesses such as measles, whooping cough and polio for school attendance, 15% of kindergartners last year weren’t up to date on those.

If this all sounds dismal, some public health experts see cause for optimism.

Changing the mind of someone truly opposed to vaccines can seem daunting, even amid outbreaks of illnesses such as measles. This despite the risks of foregoing shots: hospitalization, brain damage, deafness or even death. A 105-degree fever is common with measles, Mayo Clinic says.

“They cannot be swayed,” pediatrician Barbara Pahud said. “Focus on this ginormous group in the middle …. They’re already on board for some vaccines, so there is hope if you want to see it that way.”

That “ginormous” middle group of under- or unvaccinated people greatly outnumbers those who reject all vaccines based on religion or other beliefs. Researchers peg the latter group at just 1 to 3 percent of the population, said Pahud, a specialist in infectious diseases at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and an associate professor at the University of Kansas and University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Read about the known side effects of specific vaccines here. No evidence links vaccines to autism, a myth that got its start with a debunked academic article.  Read Autism Speaks’ FAQ page on what does and doesn’t cause autism here.

Numbers speak loudly

Health is a numbers game. You can’t be certain pneumonia won’t get you, but you can reduce your risk with two vaccines against bacterial pneumonia recommended for adults ages 65 and older. Bacterial pneumonia hospitalizes hundreds of thousands of Americans a year and kills tens of thousands.

Likewise, researchers estimate inoculation against the cancer-causing HPV virus would wipe out 80 percent of the tens of thousands of cancer cases it causes across the country each year. (The vast majority of people pick up HPV at some point in their lives, though most clear it out of their bodies naturally without necessarily ever knowing.)

“Just imagine: Almost everybody knows a woman who’s had an abnormal pap smear,” said Edward Ellerbeck, chair of preventive medicine and public health at KU’s School of Medicine. “And imagine now, ‘Oh, I don’t have to worry about abnormal pap smears.’”

The HPV vaccine eliminates the number one cause of those worrying results.

Yet surveys and other sources that the federal government uses to gauge vaccine rates suggest just half of Kansas teens get even the first dose of the two-to-three dose HPV vaccine. The same problematically low rates apply to the state’s elderlyand the recommended pneumonia immunizations.

Minors without insurance, with poor-quality insurance or on Medicaid qualify for free vaccines against 16 diseases, including HPV and measles. Read more.

That frustrates groups trying to rein in the havoc these diseases wreak on our health, happiness and pocketbooks. Compared to other measures we should take to safeguard ourselves — exercise more, eat healthier, quit smoking — a shot in the arm is an easy lift.

“If there was a vaccine against breast cancer or lung cancer or prostate cancer, we’d probably run out of vaccine,” said Dan Leong, of the American Cancer Society in Kansas.

It’s tempting to conclude Kansans simply don’t want the HPV vaccine for cultural reasons. That theory seems less convincing when the best data available, though imperfect, suggest many more teens get the shots in other states. That includes nearby states with similar populations and cultural attitudes.

Checking records

It’s difficult to single out what hurdles stand between Kansans and vaccines⁠ — HPV or otherwise. Public health experts see a patchwork of barriers large and small, some of which are counterintuitive.

Last month, the Immunize Kansas Coalition launched a video campaign targeting not just parents but fellow doctors. Why? Because some physicians don’t talk to parents about the HPV vaccine. For that matter, says Wichita pediatrician Gretchen Homan, some don’t talk to patients about other vaccines, either.

Sometimes doctors assume parents will say no. Other times, they may not have the vaccines on hand.

“They don’t even pull up a vaccine record on the kids that they see,” said Homan, a professor at the KU School of Medicine in Wichita. “Because they’re not stocking those vaccines, they don’t even check the status and don’t have the conversation.”

That can leave families mistakenly thinking they’re up to date on all their shots, or that inoculation isn’t important. She encourages doctors and nurses to check vaccine records no matter what, and tell patients about locations that stock what they need.

Families, meanwhile, should feel free to ask.

“Say, ‘Hey, I’ve heard there are three vaccines due at this age,’” she said, “‘and I want to know about all of them.’”

Other hurdles

Getting a handle on the problem is tough in part because of gaping holes in what we know about who does and doesn’t get vaccines.

“Our struggle right now is really being able to know what the true vaccination rate is in any county,” said Phil Griffin, who heads immunization programs at the Kansas State Department of Health and Environment.

State and federal vaccination estimates both have their limits. Kansas calculates rates among kindergartners annually with cooperation from a solid sampling of schools that provide more precise data than some of what the Centers for Disease Control publishes.

The CDC rate calculations, though, cover a wider range of shots and age groups.

But state health officials will gradually get a better picture of immunization rates across the state in coming years. Lawmakers tightened rules for electronic vaccine records starting next year.

That same change will fill in some of the gaps for health providers who often don’t know which shots a new-to-them patient has yet to get. Doctors and pharmacists will gain more consistent access to vaccine histories, as long as the shots occurred in-state.

Griffin hopes that will boost vaccine rates. Think of a person dropping by a local pharmacy for a flu shot, for example. He or she could easily find out whether they need a pneumonia shot, too. And if so, get it then and there.

A few other efforts going on to boost vaccine rates in Kansas:

• Starting this fall, Kansas plans to phase in two more vaccine requirements (hepatitis A and meningococcal ACWY) for school attendance. Inoculation rates for both would likely increase, though the hep A rates were already fairly strong because they’re required for day care in Kansas. On Thursday, parents opposed to vaccinations protested the state’s plans at a public hearing.
• The state recently hired an epidemiologist to dig into vaccine rates across the state, is chasing grants to support the effort, and working closely with individual health providers on a regular basis to improve their practices.
• Lawmakers also recently expanded vaccine access by letting pharmacists give more shots. That may particularly benefit teenagers who no longer visit their pediatricians as often, but who still lack a number of vaccines.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @Celia_LJ or email her at celia (at) kcur (dot) org.