U.S. wheat growers are thrilled about a joint announcement from Washington and Brazil that says the South American country will establish a 750,000-ton quota for tariff-free wheat imports. A Small Grain Dot Org article says U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers welcome the announcement because it fulfills a longstanding obligation under Brazil’s World Trade Organization commitments.
U.S. Wheat Associates Chairman Chris Kolstad says they’re grateful to the Trump Administration for championing the interests of U.S. farmers. “Specifically, we say thank you to Chief Agricultural Negotiator Gregg Doud and USDA Under Secretary Ted McKinney for prioritizing Brazil’s WTO commitments,” he says. “This new opportunity gives us a chance to build stronger relationships with Brazilian millers and a more consistent market there for U.S. wheat.”
Brazil was the largest importer of wheat in Latin America, as well as the fourth-largest in the world during the 2017-2018 marketing year. The move could bring some relief to U.S. farmers who have lost export sales after President Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and slapped tariffs on major trading partners, which prompted retaliation against U.S. farm goods.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged scam aimed at registered offenders in Kansas.
According to a media release from the sheriff’s department, registered offenders reported receiving calls from a person posing as a deputy from the sheriff’s department. The caller claims the offender is not in compliance and urges the offender to send money to pay the fines or bond.
The Montgomery County sheriff reminded the public they do not call offenders or anyone to collect money. Investigators are working to learn the identity of the callers and bring them to justice, according to the release.
Anyone who receives a similar call should hang just hang up. If you received a call, the sheriff’s office wants you to contact law enforcement.
KANSAS CITY— A Kansas felon who rammed a police vehicle and crashed into two more cars while leading officers on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle was charged in federal court Wednesday with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Chance Ayers-photo Jackson County
Chance Ayers, 24, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, according to the United State’s Attorney.
In an affidavit filed in support of Wednesday federal criminal complaint, on March 3, 2019, a Kansas City police detective saw Ayers driving a maroon 2002 Mercury Sable, which had been reported stolen when the keys were taken during a burglary earlier that day. The detective followed Ayers to a gas station, where he pulled up next to the front of the building. A police captain, dressed in full police uniform and driving an unmarked police vehicle equipped with emergency lights and siren, arrived to conduct a car check. The captain activated his lights, got out of his vehicle, and made verbal contact with Ayers.
When Ayers saw the captain, the affidavit says, he immediately put his car in reverse and backed up until he struck the front of the captain’s police vehicle. Ayers continued to accelerate in reverse and the Mercury began pushing the parked police vehicle backward. The captain was dragged backwards through the parking lot as he struggled with Ayers through the driver’s window of the Mercury in an effort to get Ayers to stop. The captain was able to disengage from Ayers and the Mercury before it entered 11th Street. Ayers continued to push the police vehicle until it struck a wooden utility pole, which sheared off. Ayers then placed the Mercury in drive and fled westbound on 12th Street.
A civilian police department employee, who was seated in the front passenger seat of the police vehicle, was treated at a hospital for neck and back pain. The police vehicle was towed from the scene.
A Kansas City police officer soon located Ayers, who was traveling at a high rate of speed, near 12th Street and Chestnut. The officer activated his emergency lights and siren and attempted to stop the vehicle, the affidavit says, but Ayers refused to stop. Ayers allegedly ran multiple red traffic signals as he traveled at a high rate of speed. Ayers made a wide turn onto 71 Highway, almost driving off the road. Ayers continued to drive at a high rate of speed in rainy conditions on 71 Highway, the affidavit says, weaving in and out of all three lanes. When Ayers exited 71 Hwy at 39th Street, he caused an accident with another vehicle, but did not stop. The officer pursuing Ayers was unable to continue the pursuit and lost sight of Ayers after he exited at 39th Street.
Ayers eventually wrecked into a parked car on Wayne Avenue. A police sergeant saw Ayers run from the vehicle towards Highland Avenue. The sergeant located an open garage door of an abandoned residence at 4316 Highland Avenue and heard noises inside. A perimeter was set up and Ayers was eventually taken into custody inside the residence. Ayers had two 12-gauge shotgun shells in his right front pants pocket at the time of his arrest.
The Mercury had major damage, and was towed from the scene. Inside the vehicle, officers found a loaded New England 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun on the driver’s side floorboard. Two more shotgun shells were found on the floor next to the shotgun.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Ayers has prior felony convictions for burglary, theft and criminal damage, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections. He was on state parole at the time of the alleged offense.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State officials say the flooding that swept Nebraska has caused nearly $1.4 billion in estimated losses and damage.
Gov. Pete Ricketts said Wednesday that roads, levies and other infrastructure have sustained an estimated $449 million in damage. Damage to private homes and businesses has reached $85 million so far, and farmers have experienced $400 million in cattle losses and $440 million in crop losses.
HWY 34 bridge in Plattsmouth. The impacts to transportation in Eastern Nebraska will require a great deal of patience. Thankfully Nebraskans are known for this quality! pic.twitter.com/VoSb9bsbIJ
Ricketts says an estimated 2,067 homes and 341 businesses have been damaged or destroyed in the flood.
Ricketts stressed that the numbers are preliminary and subject to change. The numbers were included in the governor’s request for expedited assistance from the federal government.
We understand how important your pets are.
So when troopers come to the rescue, the pets gets rescued too.
(Not pictured: a massive dog who got to ride in the NSP helicopter!)
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The murder trial of a Lawrence man who has been in custody for more than four years will be delayed to give attorneys time to assess new evidence from the victim’s recently unlocked phone, a judge has ruled.
Rontarus Washington, Jr. after his arrest four years ago in Mississippi-photo courtesy Washington Co.
Rontarus Washington Jr., 22, was set to go on trial Monday for first-degree murder and aggravated burglary charges in the November 2014 slaying of 19-year-old Justina Altamirano Mosso. But Judge James McCabria this week pushed the trial back until September.
Washington has been held at the Douglas County Jail since March 2015. McCabria said he understood the delay was frustrating, but that he felt it was necessary to give time for attorneys to sift through the data from Mosso’s phone.
“It’s kind of a critical piece of evidence,” said prosecutor C.J. Rieg. “That’s why I’ve been trying to get it open for the past four years.”
Mosso was found stabbed and bludgeoned inside the Lawrence apartment of her estranged husband, Felipe Cantu Ruiz. Ruiz had testified that he moved out of town with a friend on Nov. 7 and had left her the keys.
Washington lived in an apartment on the same floor as Ruiz. Washington had told detectives he entered Ruiz’s apartment that night to steal money and found a dead woman in the bathroom.
Lawrence police said they found Mosso’s phone several weeks after the slaying on the roof of the apartment complex, wrapped in mismatched socks whose corresponding pairs were found in Washington’s apartment.
Rieg said she learned that the Heart of America Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory in Clay County, Missouri, had the software capabilities to open Mosso’s phone in February. McCabria ordered the FBI electronics lab to unlock the phone, and attorneys received the data earlier this month.
Washington’s attorney, Angela Keck, said it would be foolish to go to trial without looking through the phone data for evidence that could help the defendant.
Washington and attorneys will meet with the judge next week to set a new trial date, which is tentatively scheduled for mid-September.
96-year-old Dorwin Lamkin of Overland Park, Kansas, died March 17. A cause of death was not disclosed.
Born in Wisconsin, Lamkin joined the Navy in 1940. He was a corpsman on the USS Nevada when the Japanese attacked at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941.
Lamkin later served at several battles while on the USS San Francisco in 1943 and 1944. He was awarded several medals and citations.
He was the longtime president of a chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and helped lead the drive to create the Pearl Harbor Memorial Park in Mission, Kansas.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 3-year-old boy is dead after breaking away from his father’s hand in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, running into traffic and being struck by a gas company truck.
First responders on the scene of the fatal accident photo courtesy KCTV
The accident happened around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. The boy was in critical condition when officers arrived, but died at a hospital. His name has not been released.
A preliminary investigation showed that the child and his father came out of a store on 11th Street when the child “broke away from his father’s hand” and ran between two parked vehicles into the street.
He was struck by a truck belonging to Spire, a company based in St. Louis.
Police say the truck driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with police.
TOPEKA, KAN. – A Kansas man pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge that he drove to Missouri to meet what he believed was a mother who was willing to sell her 10-year-old daughter for sex, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Michael David Mitchell, 64, Ottawa, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of interstate travel to engage in unlawful sexual conduct. The investigation began when investigators received information that Mitchell was looking for a woman with a minor child who he could make his sex slaves.
Mitchell communicated with an undercover investigator posing as a broker who could find Mitchell what he wanted. In his plea, Mitchell admitted that in June 2017 he drove from Ottawa, Kan., to Independence, Mo., to meet a woman he had been told was willing to make the deal. He brought money with him to pay a $5,000 finder’s fee.
Sentencing is set for April 24. He faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Some crop art in Central Texas features the face of Democrat Beto O’Rourke as the former congressman runs for president.
Photo credit Stan Herd Arts
A field near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has been carved out with a 2-acre circle, an image of the El Paso politician’s face and the words “Beto 2020.”
Kansas artist Stan Herd says he wanted to show his support for O’Rourke, who rose to prominence in his failed 2018 bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
Herd says he used grass, mulch, clay to create the portrait, which was unveiled Sunday at Carson Creek Ranch on land donated for the project. Herd expects the portrait, visible from flights above the field, to last about two weeks before deteriorating due to weather.
Livestock groups warn any trade allowing Brazil to export beef to the U.S. would put the U.S. beef industry at risk. President Donald Trump and his counterpart from Brazil discussed trade issues Tuesday, including beef, sugar and ethanol.
However, some livestock groups expressed concern regarding the potential reopening of fresh beef exports to the U.S. market. The United States Cattlemen’s Association reiterated its strong opposition to the move that the organization says would compromise the “health of the domestic cattle herd for the sake of increased beef exports, especially from a country marred by scandal.”
The group urged President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to strongly consider potential animal health issues stemming from possible trade with Brazil, including the 2017 discovery that Brazilian meat inspectors had been caught accepting bribes to allow expired meats to be sold and sanitary permits to be falsified.
U.S. wheat growers are thrilled about a joint announcement from Washington and Brazil that says the South American country will establish a 750,000-ton quota for tariff-free wheat imports. A Small Grain Dot Org article says U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers welcome the announcement because it fulfills a longstanding obligation under Brazil’s World Trade Organization commitments.
Livestock groups warn any trade allowing Brazil to export beef to the U.S. would put the U.S. beef industry at risk. President Donald Trump and his counterpart from Brazil discussed trade issues Tuesday, including beef, sugar and ethanol.