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Lawrence commission backs plan to cut pot fines to $1

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The Lawrence City Commission is backing a plan that would decrease the fine for possessing small amounts of marijuana to $1.

Lawrence Commissioner Matthew Herbert during Tuesday’s discussion -image courtesy city of Lawrence

The commission voted 4-1 Tuesday to amend the city ordinance related to penalties for marijuana possession. The change would apply to people age 18 and older convicted of possessing 32 grams or less.

Commissioner Matthew Herbert says the vote sends a message to state lawmakers, especially since surrounding states have legalized marijuana in some form.

Missouri voters in November approved medical marijuana.

But Commissioner Stuart Boley, who cast the lone dissenting vote, says he’s concerned that people will be confused because while the fine for the first and second offenses will be $1, the third marijuana possession offense constitutes a felony under state law.

The Focus on Missouri Agriculture photo contest is back for a 10th year

(MODA) The Missouri Department of Agriculture launched the 10th annual Focus on Missouri Agriculture photo contest on Monday, March 11, asking Missourians to share the unique stories and images of agriculture through photographs.

The contest, which runs through June 14, is an opportunity for amateur photographers across the state to submit their best images of Missouri agriculture. That image may take shape through a breathtaking farm landscape, an aerial shot of harvest, a farm tractor that has been in the family for years or a fun moment captured on a mobile device showcasing farm life.

“Our annual photo contest is one of the best ways for farmers and ranchers across Missouri to share their stories,” said Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn. “Showcasing the legacy of Missouri agriculture fits right into our reachMORE pillar here at the Department, and there is no better way to jumpstart the contest’s 10th year than to kick it off during National Agriculture Week.”

The Focus on Missouri Agriculture Photo Contest is open to Missouri’s amateur photographers of all ages. Participants may enter up to three photos in each of the six categories. The photo contest categories are: Beauty of the Farm, Faces of the Farm, The Farmer’s Life, Pride of the Farm and Farm Selfie. Children’s Barnyard, a special category for budding photographers ages 12 and under, is back for the 10th annual contest as well.

Man found dead in SW Missouri home after standoff

GALENA, Mo. (AP) — A man suspected of shooting at southwestern Missouri deputies is dead after apparently shooting himself during a lengthy standoff.

Law enforcement authorities in the scene of the standoff -photo courtesy KYTV

Deputies responded to a domestic call at a Stone County home around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday and found a woman outside. As deputies were talking to her a man allegedly fired several shots at the deputies. The deputies weren’t hit but three bullets struck a patrol vehicle.

Deputies entered the home after a five-hour standoff and found the man dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The sheriff’s office says the deputies never fired their weapons.

The man’s name has not been released.

Three deputies were being evaluated for injuries from a barbed-wire fence sustained as they took cover from the shots.

China Could Triple U.S. Ag Purchases

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue this week again said China could triple its purchases of U.S. agricultural products. The U.S. and China are still hashing out the details of a trade agreement, now thought to conclude in June.

Perdue told Bloomberg Television this week “we could easily see, if we are able to come to a trade resolution, a doubling or tripling” of normal ag purchases by China over a period of two to five years. China has averaged about $20 billion a year of U.S. ag purchases, before the trade war beginning last year. As part of the talks, China earlier proposed to buy an additional $30 billion of U.S. ag products.

Additional massive purchases of U.S. farm products, particularly pork and soybeans which China has targeted in the trade war, would likely be a huge boon for the United States. China began “good-faith” purchases of U.S. agricultural products as the trade talks began in December.

Fire Marshal: Explosive device causes damage to NE Kansas home

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating after an explosion on the front porch of a home early Wednesday in Shawnee County.

First responders on the scene of Wednesday morning investigation -photo courtesy WIBW TV

Just after 12:30a.m., fire crews and police responded to a home in the 300 Block of SW Harrison in Topeka, according to Fire Chief Michael Martin.

An investigation revealed some type of explosive device was used. The explosion caused approximately $2000 damage to the home at 306 SW Harrison. Flying debris caused an additional $500 damage to the home at 302 SW Harrison, according to Martin. The Topeka Police Department bomb squad assisted at the scene to search for additional explosive devices.

There were no injuries reported.

Kansas House bill changes criminal penalties for abusing a child

By Grant Heiman
KU Statehouse News Service

TOPEKA — A recent bill introduced to the Kansas House of Representatives changes the criminal penalties for abusing a child.

in January 2018, Aaron Peck was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the child abuse related death of an infant girl in Shawnee, Kansas. Photo courtesy KBI offender registry

House Bill 2394 decreases the level of severity for child abuse while adding the separate crime of aggravated abuse of a child.

“This legislation is extremely important to proportionately respond to extreme and serious abuse of a child,” said Kim Parker, prosecutor coordinator for the Kansas County and District Attorney’s Association.

The current Kansas statutes regarding child abuse group all acts of child abuse together as severity level 5 regardless of the amount of harm done to the child. For example, rape is a severity level 1 felony while a first-time misdemeanor is a severity level 10.

“Many of the acts of abuse perpetrated on children are overlooked by [the current] statute,” Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said in his testimony to the committee. “Furthermore, many acts of abuse against children vary in the nature of their severity, a consideration also not taken into account by our current statutory language.”

The bill would decrease the level of severity from 5 to 7, or 9, depending on the nature of the abuse. The change in severity would alter sentencing regulations to “proportionately respond to extreme and serious abuse of a child,” according to Parker.

The Office of Judicial Administration notes the bill could increase the number of cases filed in district court, which would result in more time spent by court employees and judges processing and deciding these cases. A financial effect cannot be estimated until the judicial branch has operated under the bill’s provisions.

The KCDAA and the Leavenworth County attorney supported the bill while the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, Kansas Sheriffs Association and Kansas Peace Officers Association testified as neutral.

The neutral groups recognized the positive intentions of the bill but noted that the vagueness within the bill “may unintentionally include law enforcement use of force or restraints.”

Grant Heiman is a University of Kansas junior from Wichita majoring in journalism.

Amtrak service between KC and St. Louis temporarily suspended due to flooding

Increased rail traffic caused by freight trains being diverted to the Union Pacific Railroad route between St. Louis and Kansas City has led to a temporary suspension of Amtrak Missouri River Runner service in this corridor, according to an advisory from the railroad.
The additional freight train volume is due to historic flooding in the Central U.S. Chartered buses will cover the Amtrak route and stop at all stations as close to the train schedules as possible, but delays are to be expected.
Anyone planning to travel should check their train status on Amtrak.com or our smartphone apps prior to departing, allow extra time to get to the station and be extremely careful in stations and on platforms.
Customers with reservations on trains that are being modified will typically be accommodated on trains with similar departure times or another day.
Amtrak will gladly waive additional charges for customers looking to change their reservation during the modified schedule by calling our reservation center at 800-USA-RAIL.
Customers with travel plans can review refund information on Amtrak.com. Service Alerts, Passenger Notices and, other announcements are posted at Amtrak.com/Alerts.

Floodwaters threaten millions in crop and livestock losses

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farmer Jeff Jorgenson looks out over 750 acres of cropland submerged beneath the swollen Missouri River, and he knows he probably won’t plant this year.

But that’s not his biggest worry. He and other farmers have worked until midnight for days to move grain, equipment and fuel barrels away from the floodwaters fed by heavy rain and snowmelt. The rising water that has damaged hundreds of homes and been blamed for three deaths has also taken a heavy toll on agriculture, inundating thousands of acres, threatening stockpiled grain and killing livestock.

In Fremont County alone, Jorgenson estimates that more than a million bushels of corn and nearly half a million bushels of soybeans have been lost after water overwhelmed grain bins before they could be emptied of last year’s crop. His calculation using local grain prices puts the financial loss at more than $7 million in grain alone. That’s for about 28 farmers in his immediate area, he said.

“The economy in agriculture is not very good right now. It will end some of these folks farming, family legacies, family farms,” he said. “There will be farmers that will be dealing with so much of a negative they won’t be able to tolerate it.”

Jorgenson, 43, who has farmed since 1998, reached out to friends Saturday, and they helped him move his grain out of bins to an elevator. Had they not acted, he would have lost $135,000.

Vice President Mike Pence surveyed flooded areas in Nebraska Tuesday, where he viewed the raging Elkhorn river, talked to first responders and visited a shelter for displaced people. He promised expedited action on presidential disaster declarations for Iowa and Nebraska.

“We’re going to make sure that federal resources are there for you,” Pence told volunteers at Waterloo, a town of less than 1,000 residents about 21 miles west of Omaha that was virtually cut off by the floodwaters.

The flooding is expected to continue throughout the week in several states as high water flows down the Missouri River. Swollen rivers have already breached more than a dozen levees in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.

The water rose so quickly that farmers in many areas had no time to get animals out, said Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University.

“Places that haven’t seen animal loss have seen a lot of animal stress. That means they’re not gaining weight and won’t be marketed in as timely a manner, which results in additional cost,” he said.

In all, Nebraska Farm Bureau President Steve Nelson estimated $400 million of crop losses from fields left unplanted or planted late and up to $500 million in livestock losses.

In a news release issued Tuesday, Gov. Pete Ricketts said there have been deadlier disasters in Nebraska but never one as widespread. He said 65 of the state’s 93 counties are under emergency declarations.

In neighboring Missouri, water was just shy of getting into Ryonee McCann’s home along a recreational lake in Holt County, where about 40,000 acres and hundreds of homes have been flooded. She said her home sits on an 8-foot foundation.

“We have no control over it,” the 38-year-old said. “We just have to wait for the water to recede. It’s upsetting because everything you have worked for is there.”

The Missouri River was forecast to crest Thursday morning at 11.6 feet above flood stage in St. Joseph, Missouri, the third highest crest on record. More than 100 roads are closed in the state, including a growing section of Interstate 29.

Leaders of the small northwestern Missouri town of Craig ordered an evacuation. The Holt County Sheriff’s Department said residents who choose to stay must go to City Hall to provide their name and address in case they need to be rescued.

In nearby Atchison County, Missouri, floodwaters knocked out a larger section of an already busted levee overnight, making the village of Watson unreachable, said Mark Manchester, the county’s deputy director of emergency management/911.

Officials believe everyone got out before thousands of more acres were flooded. But so many roads are now closed that some residents must travel more than 100 miles out of their way to get to their jobs at the Cooper Nuclear Station in Nebraska, he said.

“It’s a lot harder for people to get around,” Manchester said.

River flooding has also surrounded a northern Illinois neighborhood with water, prompting residents to escape in boats. People living in the Illinois village of Roscoe say children have walked through floodwaters or kayaked to catch school buses.

Flooding along rivers in western Michigan has damaged dozens of homes and businesses.

Game Wardens mourn the loss of K9 who saved NE Kansas girl

Game Wardens with the Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism are mourning the death of a special K-9.  On their social media page, wardens reported that K-9 died Tuesday just 14 months following her retirement.

photo courtesy KDWP&T

According to the wardens, “Meg is credited with making a multitude of poaching cases, apprehension of many fugitives, and providing critical evidence recovery in murder investigations.

She has also been credited for saving lives including a three-year-old girl in Jackson County in 2016 who went missing from her home during an extremely hot day.

Meg was a true public servant, and a Kansas Game Warden to the end. We will miss you girl, rest easy.”

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