CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — A  Missouri woman has been sentenced to four years in prison after a toddler she was baby-sitting was mauled to death by a dog.

Erica Jordan, 33, Cape Girardeau, pleaded guilty in December to involuntary manslaughter in the March 2018 death of 13-month-old Loxli Chavez.

Lewis was given the maximum sentencing recommended by prosecutors in her sentencing in January.

Jordan told police she was temporarily keeping the dog, a pit bull/Labrador/malamute named Smokey, for her brother. Prosecutors said Jordan knew the dog could be violent.

Police Sgt. Darren Estes wrote in a probable cause statement that Jordan said the dog had also bitten her son but that she thought he had calmed down after being neutered.

Loxli’s mother told police Jordan had assured her the dog was not a risk to children.

RILEY COUNTY — Authorities are still working to determine the cause of a fatal Thursday morning fire in the Riley County community of Ogden.

Four people died in the blaze. Their bodies were transported to Topeka for an autopsy and to confirm their identities, according to Riley County Rural Fire District 1 Chief Pat Collins.

Investigators with the Kansas Fire Marshal’s office, ATF and local officials believe the fire started along the east wall near the end of a couch, according to Collins. “We may never know exactly what started the fire,” he said.

Several firefighters also suffered minor injuries while working in the extreme cold.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is unwilling to budge much on a proposed list of bridges slated for repair under a $350 million bond plan he’s pitching, the Republican told members of The Associated Press and Missouri Press Association on Thursday.

When asked by AP how open he is to adding or changing bridges on the project list, Parson said “not much.”

His comments come after several state senators from the St. Louis and Kansas City areas criticized the proposal for including too few bridges from those regions.

Parson during his State of the State address this year proposed fixing 250 bridges by borrowing $351 million, which he said would free up money for other roads and bridges across the state.

The list of 250 bridges comes from a broader statewide construction plan of priority projects already slated for repair that was chosen by regional and metropolitan planning commissions, Transportation Department Director Patrick McKenna said. From that list, Parson worked with the department to identify bridges that could be completed quickly and for less than $8 million.

McKenna said keeping the per-project price tag low means more bridges can be repaired with the money. But he said that also means it tends to go toward projects in rural areas, where bridges often are smaller and less expensive to fix.

Of the 250 bridges slated to be repaired or replaced in the next four fiscal years, 28 are from the Kansas City area and 14 are from the St. Louis area.

The possibility of getting more of the $350-million pie is putting some Democrats and Republicans on the same page.

Democratic Sen. Jason Holsman said residents from his hometown of Kansas City, as well as the St. Louis region, understand that revenue from those areas is used to help rural Missouri, “but that doesn’t mean that we’re also not going to fight for what we believe is our equitable portion of those resources.”

Asked whether he’s concerned about politics and earmarking influencing the project list, he said “that’s the business we signed up for.”

“I mean, that is literally what we do,” Holsman said.

Senate President Pro Sen. Dave Schatz, who introduced legislation outlining Parson’s proposal, said he’s open to adjusting the criteria used to pick bridges for repair.

But the Sullivan Republican said if negotiations become about how much of the money each lawmaker can manage to put toward their district, “I’m not in favor of that.”

Parson on Friday is visiting a southwestern Missouri bridge slated for repair as part of his push for the bonding project, and a hearing on Schatz’ legislation is scheduled for Tuesday.

By JOHN HANNA

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kansas have advanced tax relief and pension proposals that would thwart Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s plans for boosting spending on public schools, quickly setting up a test of whether she can build bipartisan coalitions in the GOP-dominated Legislature.

A Senate committee Thursday endorsed a bill designed to prevent Kansas residents and businesses from paying more income taxes to the state because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017. Republican leaders have made eliminating the revenue “windfall”a top priority.

The tax committee’s voice vote came a day after the Senate budget committee backed a bill to make a $115 million payment before July to the state’s pension system for teachers and government workers. It is money the state shorted the pension system in 2016 — with added interest, but the measure runs counter to Kelly’s budget plans.

The Senate expects to debate both bills next week. Meanwhile, Kelly has called on legislators to pass a bill in February to phase in a $364 million increase in aid to public schools funding over four years in hopes of ending an education funding lawsuit filed in 2010.

Projections this week from legislative researchers suggest that the state can’t enact the Republicans’ tax relief plan while also boosting education funding as much as Kelly wants without facing a small budget shortfall by 2022. Adding the pension payment to the mix would widen the gap.

“That will make it much more difficult to look at what we should be paying for,” said state Sen. Pat Pettey, a Kansas City Democrat.

Kelly has little choice but to work with moderate Republicans to get her initiatives passed. But moderates will have to break with their conservative GOP leaders on tax relief, an issue that has broad appeal with the party’s right-leaning base.

The federal tax changes championed by President Donald Trumpcut rates and are designed to stimulate the economy. But they included provisions that inadvertently raise extra revenue for Kansas because of how its income tax code is tied to the federal code.

Kansas doesn’t allow filers to claim itemized deductions on their state forms if they don’t itemize on their federal returns. Changes in federal law discourage itemized deductions.

Republican legislators also worry that the state will start taxing foreign income earned by individuals and corporations that it hasn’t touched previously. The tax committee heard testimony that the coming change will hurt the state’s business climate.

“We’re going to lose a bunch of jobs,” said Sen. Julia Lynn, a conservative Olathe Republican. “That’s my issue, pure and simple.”

The Kansas Department of Revenue estimatesthat the tax relief bill would cost the state — and save taxpayers — $192 million during the budget year beginning in July. Kelly spokeswoman Ashley All called the bill “irresponsible” and said the state should focus on stabilizing the budget while “reinvesting in schools and roads.”

“The state’s financial outlook continues to be very uncertain and we have very little room for error,” All said.

Department of Revenue officials acknowledge that it’s been difficult to pin down the size of any windfall and the GOP tax bill’s effects.

Sen. Vic Miller, a Topeka Democrat and former department official, said the state is “still guessing” and even Wagle called the projections “a shot in the dark.”

“We might as well shake our Magic 8-Ball,” said Sen. Tom Holland, a Baldwin City Democrat. “What if it’s a whole lot more?”

Democrats also argue that increased spending on public schools is a bigger priority because of the education funding lawsuit. The Kansas Supreme Court ruledthat a law enacted last year to boost funding wasn’t sufficient because it didn’t account for inflation.

Kelly’s plan represents education officials’ best guess for complying. A Senate committee will begin hearings on her plan next week.

But GOP leaders are resisting. They argue that the spending couldn’t be sustained without a tax hike — and they view failing to pass the GOP’s tax relief bill as raising taxes.

“We have a governor who has a big-spending agenda,” said Senate President Susan Wagle, a conservative Wichita Republican. “She’s in a corner.”

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A man arrested at a Kansas storage unit with two of his children and his dismembered wife’s remains has been convicted of three felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

Jurors deliberated until around 12:30 a.m. Thursday before finding 36-year-old Justin Rey guilty of the felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and contributing to a child’s misconduct.

Rey said he cut up his wife, Jessica Monteiro Rey, after she died in October 2017 after giving birth at a Kansas City, Missouri, hotel. He was arrested with the couple’s newborn and 2-year-old at a storage unit in nearby Lenexa, Kansas. Authorities say they found child porn images after Rey asked them to look at his phone for evidence he thought would help him at trial.

Sentencing is set for March 27. Rey also is charged with abandonment of corpse in Missouri and with killing a California man. He isn’t charged with killing his wife.

RILEY COUNTY—Authorities are investigating a fatal Thursday morning house fire. The fire in Ogden claimed four lives., according to Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins. 

Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins confirmed that authorities investigating the fatal fire in Ogden early Thursday morning are working to positively identify the victims, notification of next of kin and the cause of the fire. Four people were pronounced dead at the scene.

Collins said multiple agencies are helping with the investigation. Work is being done to dig through the debris at 208 Riley Avenue to determine what  caused the fire.

Collins noted several firefighters slipped on the ice. “It got really slick here, fell down, they’re all doing alright now but I think they’re going to be really sore come nightfall or tomorrow. Two of the firefighters were treated by EMS on scene but no one required transport to a hospital.

Cold weather early Thursday morning made it difficult to fight the fire. “The cold, it was really bad trying to get around, move around, and do things. I don’t know that it was a big factor on the initial attack but as the morning went on it made it hard to get around, get upstairs, move around the trucks.” The City of Ogden brought in salt and sand and helped spread it out, which helped improve the conditions.

The building that burned had a residence upstairs and business history in the past. Collins noted in the 1960s it was a bar and later became a location where first radios and then videos were sold. The downstairs business area was not in use at the time of the fire. “There was only one way to the upstairs, up a pretty steep set of stairs and we haven’t found any smoke detectors in the building.”

The first truck on the scene was from the Manhattan Fire Department. “They made entry to the front door and actually found one victim by the front door. They were in rescue mode so they were trying to get to other parts of the building upstairs where we knew the bedrooms were and couldn’t get up the stairs. So actually made entry through a front window and we found the other three victims in one of the bedrooms.” Riley County firefighters also responded and helped battle the blaze.

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RILEY COUNTY — Authorities are investigating a fatal Thursday morning house fire. The fire in Ogden claimed four lives., according to Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins. 

At 3:43 a.m. the Ogden, Riley and Manhattan Fire Departments were dispatched to 208 Riley Avenue in Ogden for a report of a structure on fire with multiple people entrapped. Upon arrival, crews found a two-story structure with heavy smoke showing. Crews entered the building and performed search and rescue operation along with extinguishing the fire.

Crews quickly removed one person from the building and upon re-entry three more people were located. All of four of them were pronounced dead at the scene.

The identifies of the victims have not yet been released. The owner of the structure has been identified by authorities as Roger Harris. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Riley County Fire Department, Riley County Police Department, Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Manhattan Fire Department.

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OGDEN, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say four people are dead after a fire in a Kansas neighborhood.

The structure fire was first reported shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday in Ogden, about 10 miles southwest of Manhattan. Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins says the state fire marshal is on scene.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Traffic is being diverted around the area.

No other details were immediately released, including the names of the victims. State and county fire officials didn’t immediately return phone messages from The Associated Press.

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RILEY COUNTY — Authorities closed the 200 Block of Riley Avenue early Thursday, according to the Riley County Police.

First responders are on the scene of a structure fire in Ogden.
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We will report additional details as they become available.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A state panel has ruled that the Kansas City Chiefs owe $930,000 in back tax plus interest on the decade-old Arrowhead Renovation.

At issue was the team’s argument that it didn’t owe taxes on hundreds of items it bought to outfit the new Arrowhead. The Administrative Hearing Commission disagreed in its ruling Tuesday.

The case stems from a 2014 audit in which the Missouri Department of Revenue challenged sales tax exemptions on $23 million in purchases. The state auditor found that items such as leotards for cheerleaders and weight-lifting equipment didn’t fall under the public purpose of fixing up the stadium.

The Chiefs’ lead attorney says the team will likely appeal. The Missouri Department of Revenue has previously said it won’t comment on pending litigation.

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NEW YORK (AP) — A former Oklahoma State assistant basketball coach pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking bribes from business advisers to steer them to star college athletes expected to turn pro.

Lamont Evans, 41, entered the plea in New York federal court to conspiring to commit bribery. He admitted receiving $22,000 to steer the players at the University of South Carolina and Oklahoma State University to certain financial advisers and business managers, attorney Johnny McCray said.

Evans also agreed to forfeit the bribe money he received from two financial advisers as part of the deal he signed Thursday.

“I now know that accepting those funds in exchange for introducing them to any one player was wrong and violated the law,” he said.

Evans graduated with a degree in social science from K-State in 2009. He worked with the Wildcat basketball program as a Student Assistant from 2008-09, a Graduate Manager from 2009-2011, and an  Assistant Coach 2011-12, according to his OSU bio.

Sentencing was set for May 10 on a charge that carries the potential for up to five years in prison, though a plea agreement between Evans and prosecutors recommends no more than two years behind bars.

Judge Edgardo Ramos also warned that he could be deported because he is a citizen of Barbados, though he lives in Florida. He was a resident of Stillwater, Oklahoma, at the time of his arrest.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement that Evans abused his position as a mentor and coach for personal gain.

“A scheme Evans apparently thought was a slam-dunk actually proved to be a flagrant foul,” he said.

“He accepted responsibility for what happened. He will be making a vigorous appeal for the lowest sentence possible,” attorney Johnny McCray said.

Evans is the third former NCAA assistant coach to plead guilty in the case. The prosecution has revealed how well-connected mentors sometimes paid family members of top-tier athletes to steer the NBA-destined youngsters to schools or managers.

In recent weeks, similar pleas have been entered by former University of Southern California assistant basketball coach Tony Bland and ex-University of Arizona assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson. Both are awaiting sentencing. Former Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person is scheduled for trial in June.

“These guys are scapegoats,” McCray said. “The bigger name coaches were not touched here. It’s really sad.”

He added: “I think this is overkill. They could have used the sanctions available within the NCAA, which has the ability to permanently bar a coach from coaching.”

When arrests were made in September 2017, prosecutors said Evans committed his crime in 2016 and 2017 when he accepted the bribes from a New Jersey-based financial adviser and another person cooperating with the investigators and posing as a business adviser to athletes.

They said Evans then falsely touted the services of the men to young athletes and their families, boasting falsely that the man cooperating with law enforcement was “my guy” and “has helped me personally.”