ST. LOUIS (AP) – Missouri voters on Tuesday will consider Constitutional Amendment 1, a ballot measure that would change the way legislative districts are redrawn after a census.

Currently, state House and Senate districts are redrawn by bipartisan commissions appointed by the governor. Nominees are submitted by the Democratic and Republican parties.

Amendment 1 would create a new position of nonpartisan state demographer who would propose maps to commissioners that reflect the parties’ share of the statewide vote in previous elections for president, governor and U.S. senator. Criteria of “partisan fairness” and “competitiveness” would outrank more traditional criteria such as geographically compact districts.

Many Republicans say the move is designed to dilute GOP influence in the Legislature.

The measure also seeks to reduce lobbyist influence and puts new limits on contributions to legislative candidates.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating the cause of a fire and have made an arrest.

Just before 2p.m. Sunday, the Topeka Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire located at Providence Living Center, 1112 SE Republican in Topeka, according to Fire Marshal Michael Martin.

The facility was evacuated and the fire was quickly extinguished.

Fire crews discovered a fire had occurred in one of the rooms within the multi-person facility.

The Topeka Fire Department Investigation’s Unit responded to the scene to perform an origin and cause scene investigation.  As a result of the investigation, police arrested 32-year-old Tamisha L. Brown for Aggravated Arson, according to Martin.

Crews in Topeka responded to four additional weekend fires including fires blamed on careless smoking at an apartment at 4420 SW 34th Street and at 5991 SW 22th Street,  an electrical fire 507 NE Paramore and another suspicious fire at a home 1401 SE Washington Street, according to Martin.  There were no injuries reported in the fires, according to Martin.

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A convicted felon who was under house arrest was indicted Friday on a federal charge of escaping custody, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Joaquin Florez, 42, Kansas City, Kan., is charged with one count of escaping federal custody. According to documents filed in the case, Florez was sentenced to federal prison in 2015 after being convicted on a drug charge. He was transferred from federal prison to home confinement in Kansas City, Kan.

On Sept. 13, 2018, the Bonner Springs Police Department notified the U.S. Probation Office that Florez was involved in a police chase in Bonner Springs. On the same day, Florez called the Grossman Residential Reentry Center in Leavenworth to say he was in a bind. He said he had purchased a vehicle and allowed a friend to drive it. He said the friend was involved in a chase with police. The director of the center ordered Florez to return to the center immediately. Florez did not report as required.

If convicted, he faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The Lawrence school district will survey whether students, parents and staff would support starting high school classes later in the morning.

Lawrence Deputy Superintendent Anna Stubblefield said the surveys will be sent no later than Nov. 12. A phone survey of randomly selected parents also will be conducted.

Phone and online surveys done last school year showed wide support for the change among district parents and high school staff.

The district surveys will ask respondents if they prefer keeping the high school start time at 8:05 a.m. and release time at 3:10 p.m. It will also propose possible changes, such as from 8:30 a.m. and 3:35 p.m., or 9 a.m. and 4:05 p.m.

School board member Rick Ingram says the district will consider the possible challenges of the changes.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education wants feedback on a draft framework for a system to rate the state’s child care centers.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that the state agency has sent out surveys on the draft framework, which includes information about staff qualifications, continued training, accreditation and family engagement. The system is designed to help parents identify high-quality child care providers and to show such providers how to improve.

The Missouri General Assembly in 2016 lifted a ban on quality rating systems for child care centers. The Legislature allocated nearly $60,000 this year to start the process of developing the framework.

Early learning coordinator Jo Anne Ralston says the department is seeking responses until Nov. 5, but may extend the deadline.

BY SAM ZEFF

Millions of dollars have been spent on the governor’s race in Kansas. Money has poured in from all over the country.

But a new player has entered the fray — the American Civil Liberties Union.

An ACLU TV spot went up on cable and broadcast this week. Titled “The Rule of Law,” it starts out like any other opposition ad.

“Kris Kobach took an oath to uphold the constitution and then as secretary of state, he was held in contempt of court for refusing to follow court orders,” the narrator says, backed by somber music. It goes on to say Kobach wanted to defy the state supreme court’s ruling to increase school funding, “threatening children with disabilities.”

But suddenly the spot changes and says this: “Regardless of who you vote for on Nov. 6, we, the people, must demand that politicians respect the rule of law,” as pictures of all five candidates are revealed. “The ACLU does not endorse or oppose candidates.”

If it endorsed or opposed a candidate the organization would lose its tax-exempt status.

While the ACLU says it “has not singled out any candidate for scrutiny,” it walks right up to the line, says University of Kansas political science Professor Patrick Miller.

“At least they are open about who is paying for this and it’s not a dark money ad,” he told KCUR.

The ad is “clearly about issues and facts,” says Kansas ACLU Executive Director Micah Kubic. “What people do with those facts, they do.”

Kubic wouldn’t say how much the ACLU is spending on the spot. He would only say the organization is making a “significant expenditure.”

The ACLU tested a similar approach  in this summer’s race for St. Louis County Prosecutor. The organization had repeatedly clashed with long-time prosecutor Bob McCulloch. The ACLU created a website and ran radio ads discussing McCulloch’s record. It did not specically oppose McCulloch or back his opponent Wesley Bell. In the end Bell won with 57 percent of the vote.

After McCulloch was defeated, the ACLU seemed to crow just a bit in a news release.

“We wanted voters to know that this election will have a major impact on matters like curbing mass incarceration, holding police accountable, and reducing the inequalities based on race and income in our criminal justice system,” the group said.

The ACLU entered the Kansas governor’s race during the primary when it sent out mailers comparing Kobach to Gov. Jeff Colyer. While some believed the mailer was an attack on Kobach, the ACLU insists it was purely educational.

“The ACLU of Kansas criticized both of the leading Republican candidates in the primary, and has critiqued the positions of all of the gubernatorial candidates in the general election, as well,” Kubic said in a statement to KCUR.

The ACLU is now running this type of campaign around the country. It has ads running in the hotly contested race for Georgia governor and in the race for Arizona secretary of state, according to ACLU spokesperson Thomas Dresslar. It is also weighing in with ads on ballot issues in seven states. That includes the one in Florida that would restore voting rights to people convicted of crimes.

Sam Zeff is KCUR’s metro reporter in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can follow Sam on Twitter @samzeff

MCALLEN, Texas (AP) — Federal authorities have awarded a $145 million contract to a Texas company to build 6 miles of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said Friday that SLSCO will begin construction of an 18-foot (5.5-meter) reinforced concrete levee wall in February in the agency’s McAllen Station region. The company will also increase the height of existing fences.

It will be the first section of President Donald Trump’s border barriers in the Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings.

The government recently completed construction of a 2-mile (3-kilometer), 30-foot tall (9-meter) section of fencingalong the border in California.

Trump has been ramping up anti-immigration rhetoric heading into Tuesday’s midterm elections and has ordered troops to the border to meet a caravan of Central American migrants slowly traveling through Mexico.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A 38-year-old Lawrence man has admitted making more than 100 calls to 911 threatening to commit sexual assaults, which apparently never occurred.

Justin Allen Roehrich pleaded no contest on Wednesday to three counts of making a false alarm.

Prosecutors said Roehrich made 122 calls to 911 dispatchers in Leavenworth County. He told dispatchers his name was “Jesse.”

Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said officers who investigated the calls found no evidence that anyone was harmed or threatened.

The charges stem from three calls during which Roehrich said he was going to perform sexual acts on drugged, underage girls.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri voters have a long history of rejecting general tax increases. But supporters of a proposal to gradually raise the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon believe this could be the year that people say “yes.”

With just days to go before Tuesday’s election, there is no organized opposition to Proposition D, and not a penny raised to counteract the nearly $5 million raised by supporters.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe both have been traveling the state promoting the gas tax.

At least 30 other states have raised transportation taxes or fees over the past six years.

Missouri’s gas tax has not changed since 1996.

In 2014, Missouri voters rejected a proposed sales tax for roads. They also defeated a transportation tax plan in 2002.

LAGRANGE, Ga. (AP) – A west Georgia police department is seeking help solving the 15-year-old killing of a Missouri railroad contractor

LaGrange Police Detective Ley Wynne says William Kent Adams of Arcadia, Missouri, was found dead in his car in April 2003.

Adams was in Georgia working for a company that cleans railroad crossings.

The LaGrange Daily News reports an autopsy showed Adams had a gunshot wound to his chest, with officials ruling it a homicide.

Police interviewed some people but never settled on a suspect. Adams wasn’t seen on surveillance video from a nearby store.

Wynne says the case is difficult because Adams wasn’t from LaGrange, so there were no local residents to interview about friends or habits.

Anyone with information can call Troup County Crime Stoppers at 706-812-1000 or Wynne at 706-883-2609.