MCDONALD COUNTY, Mo. — A Kansas man died in an accident just after 6:30p.m. Friday at the Elk River below the low head dam at Noel, Missouri.

An unidentified woman swimming was swept underwater by the dam, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Jacob T. Farley, 26, Wichita, entered the water downstream in an attempt to rescue her.

A fire crew from Noel arrived on the scene and used a throw rope to rescue the woman. Farley drowned. The McDonald County Coroner pronounced him dead at the scene.

By NOMIN UJIYEDIIN

“A Clockwork Orange.” “Invisible Man.” “Twelve Years a Slave.”

Issues of Bloomberg Businessweek, Us Weekly, Elle.

“Excel 2016 for Dummies.” “Tarot Fundamentals.” “Electrical Theory.”

Over the past 15 years, the Kansas Department of Corrections banned those titles, and about 7,000 others, from its prisons across the state.

The department says it censors books and magazines that could threaten security. But others argue that the size of the list and the broad topics covered under censorship guidelines limit inmates’ education, make their time in prison that much less bearable and further cut them off from an outside world to which they’ll eventually return.

Interim corrections secretary Chuck Simmons said the department prioritizes safety over giving inmates an unlimited selection of books and magazines.

“We censor based on the impact, or potential impact, on the security and operations of the correctional facility,” he said. “There are other publications that the inmate has access to that can accomplish the same purpose in their education or rehabilitation goals.”

For example, books and magazines about tattoos are forbidden because tattooing isn’t allowed in prisons. The prisons also ban books containing descriptions of drugs and violence.

Books about electronics and information technology are considered possible security risks. “The Turner Diaries” — inspiration for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing — and Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” are on the list.

Censorship Process

The evaluation of books and magazines begins in each prison’s mailroom, Simmons said. First, staff skim through every publication sent to inmates. Materials flagged for possible censorship then go to the mailroom supervisor at the prison in Lansing. There, a final decision is made on whether to ban a publication across the system.

“None of our staff have time to read the full content of all of the publications that come through the correctional facilities,” Simmons said. “It is a significant number.”

Inmates have the chance to appeal censorship decisions within 15 days. In the past 15 years, 1,622 appeals have been filed. Only 141 were successful. If a book or magazine is ultimately banned, an inmate must pay to have it sent back or it will be destroyed.

Simmons said the list of banned items accounts for a small percentage of the titles sent to inmates over the past 15 years. A department spokeswoman said she couldn’t provide an estimate of the total number of books and magazines received in mail rooms. But she said the state’s eight adult prisons house 100,000 books altogether.

The department said it plans to develop a training program to teach Lansing staff about censorship standards. And from now on, officials will take another look at censorship decisions about some topics, including art books, mainstream magazines, information technology and  vocational skills like plumbing and welding.

Information Access

The full list of banned books surfaced when Books To Prisoners, a Seattle-based nonprofit group, tweeted the results of an open records request filed with the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Michelle Dillon, a volunteer with the organization, wrote the tweet. She works for the Human Rights Defense Center, the nonprofit that filed the records request and publishes the monthly magazine Prison Legal News. She said she was shocked by the length of the list and many of the titles on it.

“Ultimately, it comes down to control of the population, which I think is especially reflected in the breathtaking array of books that Kansas has made a decision to ban,” she said in a phone interview. “Most of them, I think that the general population would agree are very nonsensical.”

The list includes biographies of musicians such as Kurt Cobain and Tupac, memoirs by raunchy comedians Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce and novels by bestselling authors like Nora Roberts and Dean Koontz.

Also banned are issues of comics like “Deadpool” and “The Walking Dead,” Japanese manga, and books and magazines about LGBTQ topics.

Many publications by and about people in prison also make it on the list: Prison Legal News, the Incarcerated Worker newsletter, “A Queer Prisoners Anthology,” and “Are Prisons Obsolete?” by communist and civil rights activist Angela Davis.

    See the full list of banned publications in Kansas prisons here.

Dillon said limiting access to those books can severely impact inmates’ ability to learn and keep in touch with current events.

“We take for granted that we have the internet and we can look up all of these kinds of information,” she said. “But information access in prisons is extremely constrained.”

She said prison libraries are an option, but they might not offer what inmates actually want to read or learn.

“Although we love prison libraries, they don’t fulfill all of the needs that prisoners have for accessing information,” Dillon said. “They’re closed during certain hours of the day. They might be understaffed, underfunded.”

Ultimately, she says banning reading materials could go against one goal of prisons: to rehabilitate the people inside.

“Do we want to just lock people away inside of bare concrete walls for years and decades on end?” she said. “If you eliminate books, the wide range of information and ideas and engagement with the world that books represent, what are you doing for prisoners?”

N.K. Jemisin, a science fiction and fantasy author whose works are banned in Kansas prisons, agrees.

“They need to be able to read things that are actually enriching to their experience, helping them process whatever it was that they did,” she said in a phone interview. “We’ve got a problem where people go into prison and they come out worse. Maybe reading some books would help.”

Jemisin said she didn’t know why three of her books — a fantasy trilogy starring gods and demons — were censored.

“There’s nothing based in the real world happening there,” she said. “I don’t even think most of my stuff is set on Earth.”

A Connection to the Outside

Reading gave Hannah Hudson a virtual escape from her 30-day stint in the Johnson County jail. She spent much of the time reading from a cart of books. She read titles by James Patterson and Danielle Steel — authors who appear on the list of books banned in Kansas.

“Reading books honestly helps pass the time in prison,” she said. “It gets you out of your head a little bit.”

Hudson still has friends in prison in Kansas. Earlier this year, she tried to send them books so they knew she was thinking of them. But only one made it through: a Bible.

She tried sending a few others: Patterson’s “The Black Book,” novels by bestselling author David Baldacci and a subscription to Prison Legal News. But her friends received notices that the books were contraband and would be destroyed.

“James Patterson’s like gold in jail. That’s the one everybody wants to read,” Hudson said.  “To see it be banned is unfortunate and shocking.”

Hudson faces federal charges for distribution of methamphetamines — the maximum sentence is life in prison. For her, reading is a way to connect to the outside world that she might be leaving behind.

“I will be incarcerated potentially for a long time,” she said.

“There’s not much you can get in jail: a letter or a postcard, a picture, a book,” she said. “To deny people the opportunity, not only to read, but just to get something from home, I think is unfortunate.”

Nomin Ujiyediin for the Kansas News Service. You can send her an email at nomin at kcur dot org, or reach her on @NominUJ

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missourians looking for physicians to certify them to buy medical marijuana when it becomes available next year are running into resistance from doctors who are reluctant to prescribe the substance.

Instead, would-be users are turning to pop-up and specialty clinics advertising certification for about $200 or less.

“The simple fact is that most doctors are uninformed about the use of marijuana as medicine,” said Dan Viets, the head of the Missouri Medical Cannabis Industry Association.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Missouri is the 33rd state to legalize marijuana for medical use. In other states, most marijuana patients have been certified by a small number of independent physicians or marijuana-specific clinics, Viets said.

The state’s physicians’ lobby Missouri Medical Association opposed the ballot initiative voters approved in November that legalized medical marijuana. The association isn’t taking a stance on whether doctors should certify medical marijuana patients, but isn’t recommending it.

Marijuana isn’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and the federal government classifies it as an illegal drug. There are no federally approved standard dosages or safety testing and no insurance coverage. All that is leading some doctors to shy away from certifying patients.

“I don’t think doctors are hostile,” Viets said. “But most doctors work for somebody other than their patients: a hospital or a clinic or some type of corporation, and in many cases it’s that corporation which is reluctant.”

The medical association thinks all treatments and therapies should be studied rigorously and be “evidence based,” said Jeff Howell, director of legislative affairs. “Marijuana does not currently meet those standards.”

Specialty clinics are filling in the gaps.

Psychiatrist Zinia Thomas has certified more than 30 people for medical marijuana at her alternative medicine clinic in Brentwood. On June 15, she offered to certify people at a party at Fried STL, a downtown cannabis-themed restaurant that serves fried food.

Thomas said the intent was to offer a stigma-free place where for $99 qualifying patients could get certified after providing their medical records, watching an informational video, undergoing a psychiatric exam and visiting with her.

“We’re bringing it to them, in an environment where they’re comfortable and feel free as a patient, not a sort of ‘illegal drug user,’” she said.

To qualify for medical marijuana, a patient must have one of several conditions including cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, migraines or PTSD.

The Missouri process for doctors to certify patients to buy marijuana started on June 4. Residents can start applying with the state on June 28.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Roughly 200 people gathered in the state capital to protest against Missouri’s strict abortion law.

The protesters marched to the governor’s mansion in Jefferson City Saturday morning.

Missouri has passed new restrictions on abortions in the hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 that legalized abortion nationwide.

Liz Victrola says she joined the protest to remind lawmakers that they can be voted out if they don’t listen to women’s views.

The state health department notified the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis that its abortion license will not be renewed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday delayed a nationwide immigration sweep to deport people living the United States illegally, including families, saying he would give lawmakers two weeks to work out solutions for the southern border.

The move came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump on Friday asking him to call off the raids. But three administration officials said scrapping the operation was not just about politics. They said Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders had expressed serious concerns that officers’ safety would be in jeopardy because too many details about the raids had been made public.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to speak about private discussions.

“At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “If not, Deportations start!”

The operation, which sparked outrage and concern among immigrant advocates, had been expected to begin Sunday and would target people with final orders of removal, including families whose immigration cases had been fast-tracked by judges.

The cancellation was another sign of the Trump administration’s difficulty managing the border crisis. The number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has risen dramatically under Trump, despite his tough rhetoric and hard-line policies. Balancing a White House eager to push major operational changes with the reality on the ground is a constant challenge for the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump gave the first public word of the planned sweep earlier this week, saying in a tweet that an operation was coming up and the agency would begin to remove “millions” of people who were in the United States illegally. Later, leaks to the media included sensitive law enforcement details, such as the day it was to begin, Sunday, plus specific cities and other operational details.

On Saturday, ICE spokeswoman Carol Danko criticized the leaks in context of their potential impact on ICE personnel, saying in a statement that “any leaks telegraphing sensitive law enforcement operations is egregious and puts our officers’ safety in danger.”

Pelosi called Trump on Friday night and the two spoke for about 12 minutes, according to a person familiar with the situation and not authorized to discuss it publicly. She asked him to call off the raids and he said he would consider the request, the person said.

It’s unclear what else was said during the call. But in a statement Saturday before the president’s decision was announced, Pelosi appealed to the same compassion Trump expressed in declining to strike Iran because of the potential for lost lives.

“The President spoke about the importance of avoiding the collateral damage of 150 lives in Iran. I would hope he would apply that same value to avoiding the collateral damage to tens of thousands of children who are frightened by his actions,” she said.

She called the raids “heartless.”

Pelosi responded to Trump’s announcement with her own tweet, saying: “Mr. President, delay is welcome. Time is needed for comprehensive immigration reform. Families belong together.”

Halting the flow of illegal immigration has been Trump’s signature campaign issue, but Congress has been unable to push his proposals into law with resistance from both Democrats and Republicans. Bipartisan talks over the immigration system have started and stalled but are again underway among some in the Senate.

Lawmakers are considering whether to give $4.6 billion in emergency funding to help border agencies struggling to manage a growing number of migrants crossing the border. The measure passed a Senate committee on a 30-1 vote. But the House is considering its own measure. Funding is running out and Congress is trying to approve legislation before the House and Senate recess next week.

Earlier Saturday, Trump hinted the operation was still on, saying the people ICE was looking for “have already been ordered to be deported.”

“This means that they have run from the law and run from the courts,” Trump said.

Coordinated enforcement operations take months to plan . Surprise is also an important element. ICE officers don’t have a search warrant and are working from files with addresses and must go to people’s home and ask to be let inside. Immigrants are not required to open their doors, and increasingly they don’t. Officers generally capture about 30% to 40% of targets.

The planned operation was heavily criticized by Democratic lawmakers as cruel, and many local mayors said they would refuse to cooperate with ICE. Immigrant advocates stepped up know-your-rights campaigns.

Another complication is that ICE needs travel paperwork from a home country to deport someone, so immigrants often end up detained at least temporarily waiting for a flight. ICE was reserving hotel rooms for families in the event the operation went off as planned Sunday.

The adult population of detainees was 53,141 as of June 8, though the agency is only budgeted for 45,000. There were 1,662 in family detention, also at capacity, and one of the family detention centers is currently housing single adults.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Residents of a Kansas City, Kansas neighborhood have filed a federal lawsuit over flooding during the summer of 2017 that accuses businesses and local officials of negligence.

The lawsuit filed earlier this month by five residents in the U.S. District Court for Kansas accuses the companies of leaving debris in a drainage creek west of the Argentine neighborhood. It also names the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, as a defendant.

OPFD helping numerous people out of high water. Please don’t drive into water over the roadway! pic.twitter.com/mC68U7nkyZ

— Overland Park Fire (@OPFDMedia) August 22, 2017

The lawsuit claims the debris clogged the creek, resulted in significant flooding and property damage and wasn’t cleared away until residents complained.

The Unified Government declined to comment. One of the companies being sued is the BNSF Railway and it said it was not responsible for the flooding.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Missouri Rep. William Clay Jr. has joined two other Democratic congressmen in sponsoring a resolution to impeach President Donald Trump.

Clay announced Friday that he was signing on to a resolution with a single article of impeachment accusing Trump of attempting to obstruct the FBI investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Clay said impeachment is the only remedy available under the U.S. Constitution to hold Trump accountable.

The resolution was introduced in January by Rep. Brad Sherman of California with Rep. Al Green of Texas as a co-sponsor.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is attempting to restrain the push for impeachment. Some Democrats fear an impeachment effort will help Trump politically.

KANSAS CITY(AP) — Two Mexican nationals have been sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy that distributed more than 14 kilograms of heroin in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Federal prosecutors say 46-year-old Julian Felix-Aguirre was sentenced Wednesday to 24 years and seven months in prison without parole. And 38-year-old Martin Missael Puerta-Navarro was sentenced to 14 years and eight months without parole.

The two are among 26 people charged in the case, with 16 of them now sentenced.

Prosecutors say the drug ring worked with the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico to establish stash houses, build hidden compartments in vehicles, and receive and sell black tar heroin.

Court documents say 66-year-old Dennis McLallen, of Overland Park, Kansas, was the direct contact with Mexico-based drug suppliers. He is serving 15 years without parole.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on a dispute between the Missouri state health department and a St. Louis clinic over the clinic’s license to perform abortions. (all times local):

2p.m.

The director of Missouri’s health department says Planned Parenthood corrected just four out of 30 deficiencies cited at its abortion clinic in St. Louis, prompting the department’s action to decline to renew its abortion license.

Dr. Randall Williams spoke Friday at a news conference in Jefferson City, hours after the state informed Planned Parenthood of its decision. He did not elaborate on the deficiencies.

A judge’s preliminary injunction remains in place, meaning abortions can continue at Missouri’s only abortion clinic. St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer will issue a written order outlining next steps, but it isn’t clear when.

M’Evie Mead, director of Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri, says the state continues to try and “weaponize” the licensing process as part of its effort to end abortion in Missouri.

Health department officials have cited concerns at the clinic, including that three “failed abortions” required additional surgeries, and another led to life-threatening complications.

___

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri’s health department has declined to renew the abortion license for the state’s lone clinic, but a court order allows the St. Louis Planned Parenthood affiliate to perform the procedure — for now.

The state notified the clinic of its decision Friday morning before a court hearing. St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer said a preliminary injunction he previously issued to allow the clinic to continue perform abortions would remain in place for now.

Stelzer said he would issue a written order outlining next steps, but he was not sure if the order would come on Friday.

Missouri’s health department allowed the clinic’s license to perform abortions to lapse effective June 1. Rulings by Stelzer allowed the clinic to continue to perform abortions temporarily after the clinic took the state to court over the dispute.

Stelzer had told the state it couldn’t simply let the license lapse but had to renew or deny it.

“The Court does not believe that an ‘official action’ can include non-action,” Stelzer wrote in a June 10 ruling granting a preliminary injunction.

He gave the health department until Friday to decide.

According to Planned Parenthood, no state has been without a functioning abortion clinic since 1974, the year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Health department officials have cited concerns at the clinic, including that three “failed abortions” required additional surgeries and another led to life-threatening complications for the mother, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing a now-sealed court filing.

Planned Parenthood leaders say top-level care is provided at the clinic, and the license fight is just part of an effort by an anti-abortion administration to eliminate the procedure in Missouri.

Missouri is among several conservative states, emboldened by new conservative justices on the Supreme Court, to pass new restrictions on abortions. Officials in those states are hopeful that federal courts will uphold laws that prohibit abortions before a fetus is viable outside the womb, the dividing line the high court set in Roe.

Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation on May 24 to ban abortions at or beyond eight weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest.

Planned Parenthood appeared to escalate its fight with Missouri on Thursday when it stopped performing one of two state-mandated pelvic exams for women seeking abortions. The health department requires a pelvic exam during a consultation at least 72 hours before the procedure, and a second exam at the time of the abortion.

Dr. Colleen McNicholas, an abortion provider at the clinic, said the preliminary exam is invasive and unnecessary.

The number of abortions performed in Missouri has declined every year for the past decade, reaching a low of 2,910 last year. Of those, an estimated 1,210 occurred at eight weeks or less of pregnancy, according to health department data.

In fact, more Missouri women are getting abortions in Kansas than in Missouri. Information from the state of Kansas shows that about 3,300 of the 7,000 abortions performed there last year involved Missouri residents.

Kansas has an abortion clinic in Overland Park, a Kansas City suburb just 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the state line.

The nearest clinic to St. Louis is in Granite City, Illinois, less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) away. Illinois does not track the home states of women seeking abortions so it’s unknown how many Missouri residents have been treated there.

———–

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The battle over Missouri’s only abortion clinic is back in court Friday, the deadline a judge imposed for the state to decide whether to renew the clinic’s license.

Missouri’s health department allowed the St. Louis Planned Parenthood clinic’s abortion license to lapse effective June 1. Rulings by St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer allowed the clinic to temporarily remain open.

Stelzer also told the state it can’t simply let the license lapse but must either renew it or deny it. “The Court does not believe that an ‘official action’ can include non-action,” Stelzer wrote in a June 10 ruling granting a preliminary injunction.

He gave the health department until Friday to decide. The decision could be announced at the court hearing.

According to Planned Parenthood, no state has been without a functioning abortion clinic since 1974, the year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Health department officials have cited concerns at the clinic, including that three “failed abortions” required additional surgeries and another led to life-threatening complications for the mother, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing a now-sealed court filing.

Planned Parenthood leaders say top-level care is provided at the clinic, and the license fight is just part of an effort by an anti-abortion administration to eliminate the procedure in Missouri.

Missouri is among several conservative states, emboldened by new conservative justices on the Supreme Court, to pass new restrictions on abortions. Officials in those states are hopeful that federal courts will uphold laws that prohibit abortions before a fetus is viable outside the womb, the dividing line the high court set in Roe.

Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation on May 24 to ban abortions at or beyond eight weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest.

Planned Parenthood appeared to escalate its fight with Missouri on Thursday when it stopped performing one of two state-mandated pelvic exams for women seeking abortions. The health department requires a pelvic exam during a consultation at least 72 hours before the procedure, and a second exam at the time of the abortion.

Dr. Colleen McNicholas, an abortion provider at the clinic, said the preliminary exam is invasive and unnecessary.

The number of abortions performed in Missouri has declined every year for the past decade, reaching a low of 2,910 last year. Of those, an estimated 1,210 occurred at eight weeks or less of pregnancy, according to health department data.

In fact, more Missouri women are getting abortions in Kansas than in Missouri. Information from the state of Kansas shows that about 3,300 of the 7,000 abortions performed there last year involved Missouri residents.

Kansas has an abortion clinic in Overland Park, a Kansas City suburb just 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the state line.

The nearest clinic to St. Louis is in Granite City, Illinois, less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) away. Illinois does not track the home states of women seeking abortions so it’s unknown how many Missouri residents have been treated there.