BOURBON COUNTY — Two people died in an accident just after 5:30a.m. Friday in Bourbon County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Mercury Sable driven by Brenton T. Handly, 29, Nevada, MO., was eastbound on U.S. 54 just east of Fort Scott.
The driver attempted to pass another vehicle and struck a 2013 Chevy Malibu driven by Adam W. Bancroft, 48, Fort Scott, head-on.
Handly and Bancroft were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that videos from white officers’ body cameras do not show conclusively that a black suspect reached for a gun in a pocket of his shorts before Topeka police shot him to deathin September 2017.
Police on the scene of the shooting investigation-photo courtesy WIBW TV
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree said this week that the video footage was “equivocal, at best” in a ruling that allows attorneys for suspect Dominique White’s family to question two officers.
White’s father filed a civil rights lawsuit in June 2018 on behalf of himself and White’s four young children against the city, Officers Michael Cruse and Justin Mackey and five unnamed officers. The family contends that White’s shooting wasn’t legally justified.
The city has asked to have the lawsuit settled in its favor and dismissed before a trial, arguing that the officers’ use of deadly force was reasonable, so that neither they nor the city can be sued for damages. The local district attorney declared the shooting justified, and an internal police review said the officers followed department procedures.
“But, a reasonable jury could conclude that Mr. White momentarily lost his balance after spinning out of Officer Cruse’s grasp, then moved his hand consistent with a running motion, but did not reach for his pocket,” Crabtree wrote in his decision.
Police were responding to reports of gunfire near a park when they confronted the 30-year-old White. He was armed and just months out of prison after being prosecuted for burglary and illegal gun possession. Officers shot him as he fled.
Attorneys for the city and the officers argued that Cruse and Mackey did not need to be questioned by the White family’s lawyers because the body camera footage showed that White reached for a gun in a pocket.
But Crabtree disagreed, saying in his decision that “the videos alone” from Cruse and Mackey’s body cameras do not establish that White reached for a gun. The judge said he would have to rely on Cruse’s and Mackey’s statements to reach that conclusion.
“The court has viewed both videos multiple times and finds the videos equivocal, at best, on whether Mr. White reached for his gun,” Crabtree wrote.
The judge also said lawyers for the White family could seek information from the city about statements Cruse and Mackey made about their decisions to fire their weapons.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has approved a disaster declaration covering more than half of the Kansas’ 105 counties.
The federal assistance approved Thursday will provide service and funds to help recovery from severe weather that began on April 28 and included tornadoes and flooding.
The declaration provides funding for emergency work, repair and replacement of damaged facilities and mitigation of hazards.
Kansas received 10.26 inches of rain in May, more than double the 30-year average of 4.12 inches.
And an EF-4 tornado that hit May 28 caused substantial damage in parts of Douglas and Leavenworth counties.
USDA offices in Washington DC photo by Melisa Gregory
An organization representing agricultural economists says a relocation effort by the Department of Agriculture will cost taxpayers. The Agricultural and Applied Economics Association claims the plan by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue would cost taxpayers $83 to $182 million dollars, instead of saving them $300 million as USDA claims.
Secretary Perdue is planning to move the Economic Research Service and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture away from Washington, D.C. and to the Kansas City area. Three AAEA member economists reviewed USDA’s cost-benefit analysis. The review found that USDA overstated the cost of keeping the agencies in Washington D.C., and that USDA had failed to take account of the value of research and data lost through resignations and retirements.
Additionally, the organization says a rushed, unplanned move will “undermine the quality of USDA agricultural economic information at a critical time for the nation’s agricultural and rural economy.” Given the economy, AAEA president David Zilberman says, “This is the worst possible time” for such a much by USDA.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his mother.
David E. Wood photo Shawnee Co.
Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced Thursday that David Wood Jr., 43, Topeka, is charged in the death of 69-year-old Kyong “Carol” Wood. He is also charged with felony interference with law enforcement.
Investigators say the victim was found dead Sunday inside her home. Kagay says she died from blunt force trauma.
David Wood was arrested after a nearly five-hour standoff. He surrendered when police fired tear gas into the house.
Wood is being held in the Shawnee County Jail and on $1 million bond.
Signing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement/Photo courtesy of the U.S. Trade Representative Office
Mexico this week became the first country to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. As expected, Mexico’s Senate quickly approved the agreement this week with an overwhelming majority. Canada is likely next of the three member countries to consider and approve the trade deal that will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited with congressional leaders and President Trump in Washington this week, pressing the U.S. to approve the deal. Multiple trade hearings in Washington D.C. probed the issue this week as well. Canada is expected to approve the measure before September, possibly sooner than later. The U.S., which prompted the trade talks in 2017, faces roadblocks.
Republicans expect to pass the agreement and are calling on Democrats who lead the House to call for a quick vote. However, Democrats want to thoroughly review the agreement to ensure enforcement. President Donald Trump wants the U.S. Congress to ratify the agreement before leaving for an August recess, but the timeline to passage is unclear.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on The United States and Iran’s tensions over the shoot-down of a massive U.S. drone (all times local):
President Donald Trump says the U.S. was “cocked and loaded” to retaliate against Iran for downing an American drone, but canceled the strikes 10 minutes before they were to be carried out after being told some 150 people could die.
….On Monday they shot down an unmanned drone flying in International Waters. We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not….
Trump tweeted Friday that the U.S. was ready to “retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die.” He said a general told him 150 people, and he canceled the strikes as “not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone.”
Trump tweeted that the U.S. will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. But he says he’s in no hurry to respond to the downing of the U.S. surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz.
He says U.S. sanctions are crippling the Iranian economy and that more are being added.
The ISR Flight path and grid plots for the RQ-4A shot down by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. “This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset that had not violated Iranian airspace at any time …” – Lt Gen Joseph Guastella, @USAFCENTpic.twitter.com/uczI5HF68b
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday the U.S. was “cocked and loaded’ to retaliate against Iran for downing an American drone, but he canceled the missile strikes 10 minutes before they were to be executed after being told some 150 people could die.
Trump tweeted Friday that the U.S. will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, a major longtime demand by the U.S. and its allies. But he said he’s in no hurry to respond militarily to this week’s downing of the huge U.S. surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. His statement was the latest indication that he does not want to escalate the clash with Tehran, but he didn’t rule out a future U.S. strike.
He said U.S. economic sanctions are crippling the Iranian economy and more are being added.
Iran claimed Friday it had issued several warnings before shooting down the drone over what it said was Iranian territory.
Farmers who planted cover crops on prevented plant acres can hay, graze or chop those fields earlier than November this year. The Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency adjusted the 2019 final haying and grazing date from November 1 to September 1 to help farmers who were prevented from planting because of excess rainfall this spring.
RMA says silage, haylage and baleage should be treated in the same manner as haying and grazing this year. Producers can hay, graze or cut cover crops for silage and hay on prevented plant acres on or after September 1 and still maintain eligibility for their full 2019 prevented planting indemnity. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson welcomed the announcement, stating farmers “are in need of options and common-sense flexibility.”
The Farm Service Agency will also extend the deadline to report prevented planting acres in select counties, and USDA will hold special sign-ups for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to provide cost-share assistance in the planting of cover crops on impacted land.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former Missouri trooper who was convicted of a misdemeanor in the drowning death of a handcuffed Iowa man has lost another attempt to get his job back.
Brandon Ellingson sits in the back of a State Highway Patrol boat on the Lake of the Ozarks after arrested by Piercy
The Missouri’s Department of Public Safety again revoked Anthony Piercy’s license to be an officer this week. Deputy director Kenny Jones wrote that “an individual in custody is entitled to safe treatment from his arresting officer.” Jones’ decision was in response to a judge reversing the initial revocation of Piercy’s license last month because the agency didn’t provide an adequate explanation.
Piercy was driving 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson, of Clive, Iowa, for a breath test at the Lake of the Ozarks in 2014 when Ellingson fell off the boat and slipped out of an improperly secured life vest.
JASPER COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 7p.m. Thursday in Jasper County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 International semi driven by Robert G. Horton, 47, Diamond, was westbound on Interstate 44 one mile east of Duenweg. The semi struck the median cable, caught fire and crossed into eastbound traffic.
The semi struck the towed unit of a 2012 Freightliner semi. The towed unit’s rear axles struck a 2012 Hyundia. That pushed the Hyundia into a 2018 Dodge Ram.
Horton was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to the Jasper County Coroner’s office.
The Hyundai driver Metasha M. Olsen, 46, Bartlesville, OK., and the driver of the Freightliner semi Ernesto AGUAYOCHAVEZ, 48, Corona, CA. were transported to Mercy hospital in Jasper.
The driver of the Dodge Ram James T. Barnes, 33, Tecumseh, was not injured. All four were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the MSHP.
Farmers who planted cover crops on prevented plant acres can hay, graze or chop those fields earlier than November this year. The Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency adjusted the 2019 final haying and grazing date from November 1 to September 1 to help farmers who were prevented from planting because of excess rainfall this spring.
