FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Michael Brown’s mother was defeated Tuesday in her bid for a seat on the City Council in Ferguson, Missouri, where her son died in a police shooting that helped give rise to the national Black Lives Matter movement.

Lesley McSpadden finished third in a three-way race in Ferguson’s 3rd Ward. Unofficial St. Louis County election results show the winner was Fran Griffin. The race also featured Keith Kallstrom, who was the incumbent.

“I congratulate Fran on her victory. I feel proud of the positive race we ran, and I loved talking to the Ferguson community,” McSpadden said late Tuesday night in an emailed statement. “Tomorrow, the work continues and I intend to be a part of it no matter my position. I’m not going anywhere.”

Brown, a black 18-year-old, was fatally shot by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014, touching off months of protests and violence. Wilson claimed he was forced to shoot when the unarmed Brown came at him menacingly after attacking the officer during a street confrontation. A St. Louis County grand jury’s November 2014 decision not to indict Wilson sparked renewed unrest in the St. Louis suburb, where two-thirds of the 21,000 residents are black.

“I wanted to go back and do something right in a place that did something so very wrong to my son, and I think that’s what my son would want as well,” McSpadden, 39, said in an interview with The Associated Press prior to the election. She had pledged to make police accountability one of her top priorities.

McSpadden, who spelled her first name “Lezley” for an autobiography but said she otherwise goes by Lesley, was new at being a candidate but has been at the edge of politics since her son’s death. She’s been front and center in the national Black Lives Matter movement. She endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in early 2016, at a time when Clinton was fending off a primary challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

She was among seven “Mothers of the Movement” who appeared on stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2016. Those mothers lost children in police shootings, in police custody or from gun violence. Also in 2016, McSpadden testified in favor of a Missouri Senate bill aimed at increasing use of police body cameras.

In the aftermath of Brown’s death, Ferguson’s criminal justice system drew heavy criticism for its treatment of poor and minority residents. Police were accused of singling out blacks for unnecessary traffic stops and harassing them on the street. The municipal court was accused of heaping on fines for minor offenses.

While the U.S. Department of Justice also found no grounds to prosecute Wilson, the agency’s blistering report of the police and municipal court practices led to a consent agreement requiring reforms that are still being implemented.

McSpadden’s campaign drew skepticism from some in Ferguson. LaTasha Brown, president of the Southeast Ferguson Neighborhood Association, said she was concerned that McSpadden mostly campaigned from afar rather than getting in touch with the community.

“The 3rd Ward needs somebody who’s going to mingle with the people,” Brown said. “You can’t make change from a distance. If you don’t know what your constituents are going through, if you’re not there to hear what they’re saying, how can you lead these people and make decisions for these people?”

Griffin did not immediately return a phone call for comment Tuesday night. Both she and Kallstrom have long been active in Ferguson.

Griffin has served on several boards and commissions, including serving on the city’s Parks and Recreation Board. Kallstrom was a councilman for 10 years, took seven years off, then won three-year terms in 2013 and 2016.

McSpadden said she moved to Ferguson a year ago from a neighboring community specifically to run for the council.

“I wanted to come back to a place that caused me so much pain and did me so wrong, and to do something right,” McSpadden told the AP.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Animal control officers in Kansas City, Missouri, are investigating how the dismembered remains of a horse ended up in a city park.

A man playing disc golf found the remains Monday evening in Kessler Park.

Police spokesman Capt. Tim Hernandez says the horse appeared to have been prepared for consumption. After the meat was removed, the carcass was placed in a barrel and dumped in the park.

The horse’s head, hooves, legs, entrails, ribs and lungs were scattered in the area.

Hernandez said in a news release that a veterinarian will determine the time and cause of the horse’s death.

Animal control will lead the investigation unless it is determined the horse was stolen.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Two teenagers from Topeka are charged with attempted first-degree murder and robbery in the shootings of two brothers at a Holcom Park Rec Center in Lawrence.

Benson Edwards Jr., and Sahavione Caraway, both 17, made their first appearances Tuesday in Douglas County District Court. Both pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors could decide to try both as adults.

The charges allege that the defendants shot the two victims several times on Friday afternoon at Holcom Park during an attempted robbery.

Police haven’t released the names of the brothers, who are 18 and 16. On Tuesday, the older brother was in critical but stable condition and the younger was in stable condition.

Edwards also is charged with criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Edwards and Caraway remain in juvenile custody.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A criminal trial of a priest charged with molesting a child has been delayed until at least summer.

The trial of Rev. Scott Kallal was set to begin April 15 in Wyandotte County District Court. But a hearing last week, the court granted Kallal’s request for more time. A status conference is set of June 7.

Kallal was charged in in 2017 with two felony counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. He has pleaded not guilty.

He was suspended from public priestly ministry in 2017 as associate pastor at Holy Spirit Church in Overland Park.

In January, Kallal was on a list of 22 priests the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas said have had substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors made against them in the past 75 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — One year out from the start of the 2020 census, Census Bureau officials set out to demonstrate the importance of the head count for all Americans. President Donald Trump offered a different message, saying the count will be “meaningless” if it doesn’t include a citizenship question.In a tweet Monday, Trump blamed “Radical Left Democrats” for opposing the “all important” question on citizenship.

Can you believe that the Radical Left Democrats want to do our new and very important Census Report without the all important Citizenship Question. Report would be meaningless and a waste of the $Billions (ridiculous) that it costs to put together!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2019

On Tuesday, a Democratic-controlled House panel voted Tuesday to subpoena documents and a witness related to the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

The vote was 23-14, with Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan being the only Republican to join with Democratic lawmakers in the vote.

Democrats say they want specific documents that will determine why Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross decided to add the question. They say the Trump administration has declined to provide those documents despite repeated requests. The vote is the latest example of the ways Democratic lawmakers are using their majority to aggressively investigate the inner workings of President Donald Trump’s administration.

Ross said the decision in March 2018 to add the question was based on a Justice Department request to help it enforce the Voting Rights Act.

The official counting begins on April 1 next year. To mark the date one year out, Census Bureau officials held a briefing Monday to begin raising awareness and project confidence that they’re up to the monumental task.

Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham declined to answer a question about the president’s tweet, saying “we really want to restrict our comments to talking about the great job we’re doing, where we are and how it’s going to help this nation.”

Dillingham noted that the census for the first time will give people the chance to respond online. People can also respond by telephone and mail. He cited how easy it will be to provide requested information and to assure that the information will be secure and confidential.

“But probably the message we really want to emphasize is how important it is,” Dillingham said. “We now live in an information age where accurate data improves the quality of our lives and supports our thriving economy.”

The decennial census is used to help determine how about $675 billion in federal dollars is distributed each year. State and local governments use it to make decisions about where to locate schools and health clinics and provide social services and improve roads and bridges. The survey results are also used to distribute electoral college votes and congressional district seats.

The citizenship question has been caught up in litigation in federal courts, where lower courts have ruled that the administration’s haste to include the question violated federal law and the Constitution.

Trump tweeted that without a citizenship question, the “Report would be meaningless and a waste of the $Billions (ridiculous) that it costs to put together!”

Against the advice of career officials at the Census Bureau, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross decided last year to add the citizenship question to the survey for the 10-year headcount, saying the Justice Department requested the question to improve enforcement of the federal Voting Rights Act.

The Supreme Court is hearing the Trump administration appeal of a federal judge’s ruling in New York that the decision violated federal law. Since then, a judge in California has said a citizenship question also would violate the Constitution.

A resolution of the citizenship matter is needed soon to allow the government to start printing the census questionnaire.

Michael Platt Jr., an assistant secretary at the Commerce Department, said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press the department believes “the rush to issue a subpoena is premature.” Platt said the department’s staff is working at full capacity on “both its normal business and its multiple Congressional engagements, and I believe your one-day response demand is inconsistent with your constitutional obligation to accommodate the department.”

“We respectfully request adequate time to consider your letter and requests,” Platt wrote Monday.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — An 18-year-old who was named as a person of interest in the killing of a suburban Kansas City teen has been charged with shooting at an officer.

Matthew Lee Bibee Jr. was charged Tuesday with attempted capital murder, attempted first degree murder, attempted aggravated robbery, battery against a law enforcement officer and battery. None of the charges appear related to the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Rowan Padgett on Friday in Olathe.

Police say Bibee was wounded Sunday in an exchange of gunfire with officers who were responding to an armed robbery attempt in which shots were fired. Bibee was treated at a hospital before he was taken to jail. No one else was hurt.

Bibee’s bond is set at $1 million. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former Missouri deputy and correctional officer on death row for a double killing is getting a new sentencing.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Marvin Rice deserves a new penalty phase after being sentenced to death for killing his ex-girlfriend in a child custody dispute.

Supreme Court judges said that prosecutors violated his right against self-incrimination by drawing the jury’s attention to the fact that he didn’t testify.

Rice also is getting a new trial in the killing of his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend.

Judges ruled that the lower court made an error in a ruling about jury instructions in that case.

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office fought in favor of the convictions and sentencings against Rice. A spokesman did not immediately comment Tuesday.

Topeka – On behalf of thousands of Kansans struggling to secure affordable healthcare, Governor Laura Kelly held a press conference Tuesday morning calling on the Kansas Senate leadership to allow a vote on Medicaid expansion this week.

The time for blocking progress has long since passed. Now is the time for a vote in the Senate on Medicaid expansion. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/vfQGWQzRYP

— Governor Laura Kelly (@GovLauraKelly) April 2, 2019

“By design, the legislation I presented was very similar to a plan that passed the legislature in 2017 with strong bipartisan support. That’s why I’m disappointed with Senate leadership for blocking the debate and the committee process,” Governor Kelly said. “Now with the regular session winding down, “halfway there” isn’t good enough.”

Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle issued her own statement against Medicaid expansion.

@GovLauraKelly is pushing for a socialist, Bernie Sanders-endorsed health care plan. Medicaid needs reform, not expansion. We cannot surrender to the mess of Obamacare in Kansas. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/i0bJb3sOVm

— Susan Wagle (@SenatorWagle) April 2, 2019

 

Almost two weeks ago, a bipartisan coalition in the Kansas House passed Medicaid expansion. Governor Kelly applauded this coalition during Tuesday’s press conference, recognizing their strength and determination in moving Medicaid expansion forward.

“I have always endorsed efforts to carefully study issues before taking action,” Governor Kelly said. “But when it comes to Medicaid expansion, “study” is a code word for “stall.” The House did what’s right for Kansas – I’m calling on the Senate to do the same.”

During Tuesday’s press conference, Governor Kelly outlined the timeline of Medicaid expansion in recent years. In 2011, Governor Sam Brownback asked Kansans to wait until after the 2012 Presidential Election to act on Medicaid. After the 2012 election, Kansas still failed to act. Brownback then insisted Medicaid could not be expanded until the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Supreme Court upheld the ACA in 2015. Kansas still did not act. When the Legislature overwhelmingly approved Medicaid expansion in 2017, Brownback vetoed the bill.

In a media release from the governor’s office, she reminded that by not expanding Medicaid, Kansas has forfeited over $3.2 billion of our tax dollars to other states. The economic benefits of expansion have been clearly documented. The governor noted in the press conference that there have been 300 published studies and reports on the positive impact of Medicaid expansion in other states, including:

• A reduced poverty rate;
• A growth in the number of healthcare related jobs, spurring economic growth;
• A healthier, insured population;
• A significantly lower level of uncompensated care for health facilities.

Medicaid expansion passed the Kansas House of Representatives on March 21. The governor released her plan on January 29, 2019. Neither chamber held hearings on the bill or scheduled a floor vote.