The Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration is inching towards a joint regulatory approach for cell-cultured, or so-called lab-grown meats. Agri-Pulse reports Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb “drew no lines in the sand” throughout a two-day meeting on the subject. Gottlieb told reports that FDA and USDA have worked together in the past, adding “I think this is going to be another one of those cases.” Memphis Meats, a company producing lab-grown meats, along with the North American Meat Institute, filed a joint letter as the first to suggest a joint regulation between USDA and FDA. The letter suggested that FDA handle pre-market safety approval, and then oversight can be shifted to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. There is no timeline reported for the regulation, but Perdue said if it can be done in 2019, “that would be probably pretty fast for federal purposes.”
Category: News
Kansas man receives parole for 1993 murder
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man convicted in a 1993 carjacking and murder in Topeka has been granted parole, but he won’t get out of prison right away.
The Kansas Department of Corrections says 43-year-old Joshua Kaiser was granted parole recently in the death of 33-year-old Tim Riley of Topeka.
Corrections spokesman Samir Arif says Kaiser will still serve a 32-month sentence for an aggravated battery committed in Reno County.
Kaiser’s sentence for that crime is expected to end January 2021.
Kaiser and 42-year-old Jason Schaeffer, an inmate at Ellsworth Correctional Facility, were convicted of crimes linked to Riley’s murder.
Authorities said Riley was robbed of his car outside his central Topeka home, forced at gunpoint into the trunk and driven to another area, where he was fatally shot.
Nearly 200 pounds of marijuana confiscated in 2 stops on I-70
BOONVILLE, Mo. (AP) – Authorities say two Interstate 70 traffic stops netted nearly 200 pounds of marijuana this week in the same central Missouri county.
The first traffic stop happened Monday in Cooper County. Court documents say a trooper found four large duffel bags containing 112 pounds of marijuana that was wrapped in the same number of individual bundles.
The second traffic stop happened Tuesday after a motorist was seen following another vehicle too closely. The trooper noticed that the driver was nervous and asked to search the vehicle. The search yielded two bags filled with around 80 pounds (36 kilograms) of marijuana.
Former KC fire captain faces more for charges of selling guns to felons
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A former Kansas City fire captain faces more charges for allegedly selling guns to felons.
The grand jury indictment returned Wednesday in the case against 53-year-old James Samuels contains five additional counts of selling a firearm and ammunition to a prohibited person. The 14-counts indictment also has two additional counts of knowingly transferring a gun for use in a violent crime.
Samuels resigned from the Kansas City Fire Department on Oct. 8, four days after he was arrested. He remains jailed without bond.
The indictment alleges that Samuels had been involved in illegally dealing numerous firearms since 2014.
University of Missouri receives $22.4M in grants for rural education
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – The University of Missouri College of Education has received a total of $22.4 million in grants, which will support rural education in Kansas and Missouri, and help schoolchildren develop social skills.
The university announced Wednesday it received an $18.6 million from two federal grants, which will be matched by $3.8 million from Kansas City Audio-Visual.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the grants will go toward increasing science, technology, engineering and math education in 58 high-need, rural middle schools in Missouri and Kansas over five years. Around 406 teachers and 26,796 students are expected to benefit.
A smaller portion of the money will help develop social skills in schoolchildren.
The grants were awarded to the Enhancing Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies, or eMINTS, National Center in the college.
Parole denied for school janitor who killed Kan. girl in 1974
PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. (AP) — Parole has been denied for a school janitor who subdued a 13-year-old girl with chloroform more than 40 years ago as she walked home from a suburban Kansas City pool and then killed her.
Kansas Prisoner Review Board has ruled that 71-year-old John Henry Horton will have to wait until 2023 for his next chance to be released from prison.
He wasn’t arrested until 2003 for the 1974 death of Liz Wilson. She vanished while cutting through the parking lot of Shawnee Mission East High School. Her remains were found six months later.
Horton was sentenced to life in prison. But life, under Kansas law in force at the time of Liz’s death, meant serving only 15 years before being eligible for parole.
Kan. man admits using brother’s identity to get a loan, buy a car
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man pleaded guilty today to assuming his brother’s identity to get a loan and buy a car, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
John Nolan, Jr., 64, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. In his plea, Nolan admitted he fraudulently used his brother’s Social Security number to purchase a Chevrolet Suburban from a car dealership in Merriam, Kan. Nolan filled out a Wells Fargo credit application using his brother’s name, date of birth and Social Security number. He also provided a driver’s license with Nolan’s picture and his brother’s identifying information. Nolan’s brother was living in Saudi Arabia and had not communicated with the defendant for years.
Sentencing is set for Jan. 24. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 30 months in federal prison.
Mo. teen charged after holding victim at gunpoint in video
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) – A 17-year-old Missouri boy has been charged with pointing a gun at the head of a kneeling 13-year-old after a video of the incident was widely shared on social media.
Alexander Schrader, of Independence, was charged Wednesday with first-degree robbery for allegedly taking money from the younger teen. A police detective wrote in charging documents that Schrader pressed a semiautomatic handgun against the victim’s head Saturday while another teen told the boy to kiss his feet. A video also shows a friend of Schrader punching the victim in the face in an Independence neighborhood. The boy was bruised but refused medical treatment.
The juvenile that punched the boy and another juvenile that recorded the incident also were arrested. Police spokesman John Syme says he doesn’t know if they have attorneys.
JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an assault and have a suspect in custody.
According to Independence Police, Alexander Schrader, the person of interest in an assault case, turned himself him at IPD police headquarters on Tuesday. Two other juvenile subjects have also been taken into custody.
Authorities have not released details on criminal charges.
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JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an assault and searching for a person of interest.
According to a report from Independence Police Department, a disturbing video is being shared on social media showing someone pointing a pistol at a juvenile victim, who is later punched several times by another person.
Police have received numerous calls from the public about this case. Just before 9:30 PM Monday, the Independence Police Department received a report of this incident that occurred on Saturday.
The IPD criminal investigations unit is currently investigating this case and the suspects have already been identified and is being sought.
Detectives would like to speak with 17 year old Alexander (Alex) Schrader. He is white male, approximately 5-foot-5, 120 lbs, with blue eyes and blonde hair.
Anyone who knows where Alex is, please call the Tips Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS, IPD tips at (816) 325-7777 or email leads@indepmo.org
Missouri Uber driver reports being raped by customer
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) – Joplin police are investigating an Uber driver’s report that she was raped by a customer.
Capt. Trevor Duncan says police learned of the attack when the 50-year-old woman sought treatment Sunday at a Joplin hospital.
The Joplin Globe reports the Uber driver told police she drove two men to a downtown Joplin bar Thursday and noticed later that one of them left his wallet in the car. She contacted the man and agreed to take his wallet to him at a bar.
The men invited her to join them for a drink when she quit driving for the night. She told police when she returned, one of the man passed out in a truck where they were talking but the other sexually assaulted her.
No one has been arrested.
2 Missouri women killed in crash near Kansas City
LAFAYETTE COUNTY — Two people died in an accident just after 11:30p.m. Tuesday in Lafayette County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Ford passenger vehicle driven by Dana M. Smith, 53, Kansas City, was westbound on U.S. 24 just west of Appletree Lane.
The Ford crossed the center line into the path of a 1999 Dodge passenger vehicle driven by Ashlee A. Watson, 27, Claycomo. Upon impact, both vehicles rotated counter-clockwise and came to rest blocking the road.
Smith and Watson were pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger in the Dodge Trevor J. Tackett, 30, was flown to Truman Medical Center for treatment of serious injuries. Watson was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP.