MIAMI COUNTY —One person died in an accident just before 4a.m. Sunday in Miami County.

A 2016 Jeep Wrangler driven by Jacob Knapp, 29, was traveling south in the northbound lane of Highway 69 just north of 223rd Street, according to the Miami County Kansas Sheriff’s Department.

The Jeep struck a 2011 Chevy Malibu driven by Charlene Crabbe, 44. The Jeep then caught fire.

A passenger in the Malibu Joshua Alexander Kinsey, 25, Kansas City, Kansas, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff’s department.

Crabbe suffered critical injuries. She and Knapp were transported to local hospitals. The accident remains under investigation.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The University of Missouri-Kansas City expects to provide 400 more scholarships to low- and moderate-income students.

Chancellor C. Mauli Agrawal announced Thursday that the university is partnering with the nonprofit KC Scholars to expand its scholarship program. The university and KC Scholars will each contribute $10 million.

The Kansas City Star reports the university currently has 46 KC Scholar recipients enrolled. The new program will add 400 scholarships over nine years. Each scholarship will be worth $10,000 a year for five years.

The first 80 students in the Kansas City metro area who are receiving the new scholarships will be notified Monday and Friday.

KC Scholars was launched with a $79 million contribution from the Kauffman Foundation in 2016 to help needy students afford college.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A former housekeeper has admitted stealing more than $500,000 in jewelry while working for a woman in Stillwell.

43-year-old Sabina Garcia-Rivera, of Olathe, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of felony theft and three counts of making a false writing.

She was charged in January with stealing the jewelry over two years before the thefts were discovered in 2017.

The false writing charges involve false statements Garcia-Rivera made while pawning some pieces of the jewelry.

Prosecutors say she pawned several pieces for far less than they were worth.

Under terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors will seek a sentence of three years and two months. The defense will ask for a two-year sentence. She will also be required to make restitution.

TOPEKA —The United State Marshal’s Service and FBI are alerting the public of several nationwide imposter scams involving individuals claiming to be U.S. Marshals, court officers or other law enforcement officials.

Anyone receiving the calls is asked to contact their local FBI office and file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission which has the ability to detect patterns of fraud from the information collected and share the information with law enforcement, according to a media release from the U.S. Marshals’ office in Kansas City.

During the calls, scammers attempt to collect a fine in lieu of arrest by purchasing a pre-paid debit card, green card or similar gift card and read the numbers over the phone to satisfy the fine.

Scammers use many tactics to sound credible. They use badge numbers, names of actual law enforcement officials, federal judges and court addresses. They also spoof their phone numbers to appear on Caller ID as though calling from court or a government agency.

The U.S. Marshals Service will never ask for credit/debit card numbers, wire transfers or bank routing numbers for any purpose.

Don’t divulge your personal or financial information to unknown callers. Report these calls to the FBI and the FTC.

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal health officials have reported the first death in an ongoing salmonella outbreak linked to raw turkey.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the death was in California but didn’t have any immediate details. Since last November, the agency said 164 people have fallen ill in 35 states, with the most recent case being reported on Oct. 20.

No products have been recalled, and the agency hasn’t recommended that people avoid turkey. But it said it believes the outbreak is widespread and ongoing, and it reminded people to properly cook and handle turkey with Thanksgiving approaching.

“We are still seeing new illnesses being reported on a weekly basis,” said Colin Basler, an epidemiologist with the CDC.

Basler noted there is a lag time between when a person gets sick and when the illness gets reported to health officials. The California Department of Public Health did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional details about the death.

A single supplier hasn’t been identified in connection with the outbreak. The rare salmonella strain was identified in live turkeys, as well as in ground turkey, turkey patties and raw turkey pet food.

The National Turkey Federation said in a statement that its members have reviewed their salmonella-control programs. The industry group said programs include vaccination and sanitation, such as wearing protective boots and clothing to reduce birds’ exposure to pathogens.

To limit risk, the CDC recommends cooking turkey to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees, and washing hands and counters that have touched uncooked meat.

Salmonella can be found in a variety of foods, including packaged foods. This week, Conagra Brands recalled 2.4 million boxes of Duncan Hines cake mix because of a link to salmonella.

The CDC estimates salmonella causes about 1.2 million illnesses a year. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps and can last up to seven days. Illnesses are more likely to be severe in the elderly and infants, according to the CDC.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Court records say a man accused in a suburban Kansas City hit-and-run crash that left two people dead had been speeding and “jockeying back and forth” with one of the victim’s vehicles beforehand.

Prosecutors released the affidavit Thursday in the case against 45-year-old Bradley Woodworth, of Olathe. He is charged with leaving the scene of the Oct. 6 wreck that killed 18-year-old Matthew Bloskey and 20-year-old Samuel Siebuhr.

Woodworth is accused of driving the minivan that was seen jockeying for position with Siebuhr’s car before the two vehicles made contact in Overland Park. Siebuhr’s car then spun out of control and went over the median, where it was struck and knocked sideways. It then was hit by the vehicle that Bloskey was driving.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri drivers will be getting new red, white and blue license plates to commemorate the state’s upcoming bicentennial.

The new plates will be distributed when vehicle owners apply for or seek to renew their license plates over the next couple of years. State officials aim to have the plates in place before Missouri’s 200th anniversary in 2021.

The bicentennial design features red and blue wavy lines to represent Missouri’s rivers, with the state seal in the middle. The new design will replace the current “bluebird” models that feature the state bird atop a hawthorn, the state floral emblem.

The new license plates cost the state about $17 million. The money will be returned by charging residents extra fees for regular personalized plates.

By DAN MARGOLIES

A Kansas law prohibiting drug-induced abortions via telemedicine is being challenged by a women’s health clinic in Wichita that provides abortions.

Trust Women Wichita on Thursday filed a lawsuit seeking to block the law from taking effect on Jan. 1.

“Our mission as an organization is to provide reproductive health care to people in the state of Kansas and elsewhere, and to provide that care to underserved communities,” said Julie Burkhart, founder and CEO of Trust Women Wichita.

“So this (telemedicine) is a way for us to reach underserved communities and a way to expand access to abortion care.”

Kansas already requires a physician to be present for medication abortions. The procedure entails the administration of two pills – one in the clinic and the other outside the clinic. The complication rate is low.

“This ban has no medical basis; its sole purpose is to create more hurdles for Kansas women seeking an abortion,” Nancy Northrop, CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the suit on behalf of Trust Women, said in a statement. “In all medical contexts except abortion, Kansas authorizes physicians to use telemedicine to provide treatment and prescribe medication.”

The Kansas Telemedicine Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Jeff Colyer in May, is intended to encourage the use of telemedicine – the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients using telecommunications technology. The measure defines telemedicine and requires insurers to cover services provided via telemedicine in the same way they cover in-person office visits.

Anti-abortion language was thrown in at the last minute and was opposed by then-Sen. Laura Kelly, a Democrat who this week was elected governor of Kansas and will be sworn in Jan. 14.

“The bill has been hijacked and highly politicized by inserting an unnecessary and unprecedented non-severability clause,” Kelly told the Topeka Capital-Journal at the time.

Kelly was referring to a provision in the law that would automatically wipe the entire telemedicine law off the books if the abortion ban is struck down.

Burkhart said the situation “illustrates how abortion care should not be segregated out from health care, because abortion care is health care.”

Kansans for Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion organization, fought to keep the non-severability clause in the bill in order to discourage court challenges.

In its lawsuit, Trust Women says there is no medical justification for prohibiting medication abortions administered through telemedicine.

“Studies have shown that telemedicine improves access to early medication abortion in underserved areas, enables women to be evaluated and treated sooner, and provides them with greater choice of abortion procedure,” it says.

The Wichita clinic says nearly half its abortion patients last year had medication abortions. Since introducing telemedicine, it’s been able to expand the provision of medication abortions from two days a week to additional weekdays and Saturdays, it says.

“Trust Women intends to further expand access to abortion care by offering medication abortion via telemedicine during evening hours and in more rural locations throughout Kansas, so that women are able to receive care closer to their homes,” the lawsuit states.

Trust Women Wichita is one of a handful of abortion facilities in Kansas. Others include Planned Parenthood facilities in Overland Park and Wichita, and the Center for Women’s Health in Overland Park.

The telemedicine ban is one of several abortion restrictions enacted by Kansas, as Trust Women Wichita’s lawsuit notes. Other restrictions include a ban on abortion after 22 weeks unless the mother’s life or health is imperiled; a ban on dilation and evacuation abortions; and a mandatory 24-hour wait period for women seeking abortions.

Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.

WICHITA– A Mexican citizen pleaded guilty this week to unlawfully driving himself and 10 other illegal aliens from Arizona to Kansas, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Alex They Maya-Dimas, 37, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty to one count of transporting illegal aliens. In his plea, he admitted he was driving a 2002 GMC Yukon when a Ford County deputy stopped him.

Maya-Dimas and 10 other occupants of the vehicle were Mexican citizens who were in the United States illegally. The passengers told investigators Maya-Dimas drove them from Arizona to Kansas City through Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 24. He faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) – Investigators say a house fire that killed an elderly woman in western Missouri likely started in an electrical fan in the home’s living room.

The fan was located between a couch and chair in the living room.

Police say the woman was pulled from the burning home last Monday after being found in a hallway. Emergency responders began CPR before pronouncing her dead. Her name has still not been released. Police say she lived in the home with her husband and daughter.

A statement from the state fire marshal’s office says the fire has been listed as accidental.