Kansas prosecutor retires amid protest

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prosecutor is retiring amid calls for her to step down after a Missouri judge overturned the double murder conviction of a man whom she helped send to prison more than two decades ago.

The Douglas County, Kansas, district attorney’s office said in a statement this week that Chief Assistant District Attorney Amy McGowan is transitioning her cases to other attorneys in preparation for her Nov. 1 retirement. The statement provided no other explanation.

McGowan had been the subject of recent protests by the KC Freedom Project after a judge found that, while working in the Jackson County, Mo., prosecutor’s office, she failed to disclose exculpatory evidence in Ricky Kidd’s case. He was freed from prison in August after a judge found clear and convincing evidence that he was wrongfully convicted of the February 1996 deaths of George Bryant and Oscar Bridges in Kansas City, Missouri. Prosecutors subsequently decided not to retry him.

“She should be disbarred,” Kidd told The Kansas City Star’s Editorial Board in September.

McGowan also was accused of withholding evidence in the case against Richard Buchli II, a Kansas City attorney who spent about five years in prison in the 2000 death of his law partner before his conviction was overturned. Charges later were dismissed. And in 2013, the Kansas Supreme Court found McGowan made improper comments during closing arguments in five cases between 2007 and 2009. In one instance, the court vacated a sentence in a child-exploitation case.

After Kidd was freed, protesters held signs and chanted in Douglas County and in downtown Topeka in front of the state agency tasked with investigating complaints against attorneys.

The Douglas County prosecutor’s office previously defended McGowan in a statement, saying that while she did make errors in Kidd’s case, the verdict was overturned primarily because the main witness recanted.

“False and grossly misleading rumors are being spread that Ms. McGowan was ‘found guilty,’ ‘convicted,’ and ‘disciplined,’” the statement said. “Ms. McGowan has never been convicted nor disciplined by the Missouri Court System or the Kansas Supreme Court.”

Teacher strike affecting Chicago athletes

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A strike by school teachers in Chicago has spread from the picket line to the playing field.

Thousands of high school athletes, shut out of class for more than a week, are arguing, rallying and even filing lawsuits for the chance to compete in post-season play. Hanging in the balance, they say, are not just the pursuits of state-championship glory and lifelong memories, but scholarships that for some represent a lone opportunity to attend college and, in some cases, escape drugs and violence in city neighborhoods.

“We’ve been working for this goal of making this stage, running in the postseason, since June,” said Ian Bacon, a senior cross-country runner at Jones College Prep and a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed Thursday against the Illinois High School Association. “This fight … it’s not just for us. It’s for all the future student-athletes that may find themselves in this situation.”

About 25,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union walked out Oct. 17 . They continue to negotiate with administrators for the nation’s third-largest school system, but disagreement remains over issues such as class sizes and staffing. The work stoppage also idled action on the gridiron, tennis court, soccer field and cross-country course.

CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates, a basketball player in her Indiana school days, was sympathetic to the young competitors, saying, “This sucks.”

“Student athletes spend a lot of time in preparation to make sure that they can meet the highest level of competition,” Gates said. “I am not going to say anything to them that’s going to make this feel any better because it will never feel any better.”

A Chicago Public Schools spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The strike came at the very moment competitors were gearing up for state playoff runs. Solorio Academy missed its chance to win a second state soccer championship in three years because the tournament began last week. The lawsuit by Jones Prep and other cross-country teams argues that a different interpretation of an IHSA rule could still allow runners to answer the state-meet gun on Nov. 9. Football teams that have completed eight games and won at least five were expected to be seeded for the playoffs by the IHSA Saturday. But IHSA rules stipulate that the strike must end by Tuesday night, allowing the teams to suit up for three days of practice before going full-tilt in the first playoff round Nov. 2.

Simeon Career Academy at 6-1 is ranked third in the state in Class 6A by The Associated Press, but was ineligible for the playoffs because a regular-season game fell through, leaving the team short of the eight required. The IHSA agreed on Friday to waive that rule for Simeon and two other schools, allowing them to be seeded, but rejected Simeon’s request to skirt the three-practice requirement. That means the strike would have to end by Wednesday to give eligible schools a chance to play.

Also Friday, the cross-country runners’ request for a judge to let them participate in state-qualifying races Saturday played out in a packed Cook County courtroom, but there was no immediate ruling.

The post-season, players say, is what piques college recruiters’ interest.

“We don’t have the opportunity to make it out of Chicago,” said Khalyl Warren, a Simeon Career Academy senior. “We’re talking about kids who, all their lives, they’ve been through struggles and been through things that no child should have to go through, gangbanging in most of our areas, drug-selling. Sports is the only way out.”

Warren, a 6-3, 290-pound offensive lineman who’s accepted a football scholarship from Southeast Missouri State, organized a rally by idled players outside Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office Friday morning to call for an end to the strike.

 

MISSING THE post-season hurts college recruits’ chances of playing on the next level, said Josh Helmholdt, Midwest analyst for Rivals, a media organization that rates prep gridders. But the greatest impact is on elite athletes who are juniors hoping to sign letters of intent to major college programs before next fall and on lower-level seniors still scrapping for scholarship offers from smaller schools.

It’s not hopeless, Helmholdt said, but playoff games do provide talent showcases.

“You’re losing more valuable games as it relates to your overall resume,” Helmholdt said. “A college coach who sees something against semifinal opponent, that carries more weight than doing it against a team you blew out 48-0.”

Bogan High School senior quarterback James Brown, whose 3-4 team was less concerned about playoff laurels than enjoying “Senior Night” and other end-of-season festivities, said he believes his small-school scholarship hopes were hampered during an awkward telephone conversation last week in which he was embarrassed to tell a football coach that he wasn’t playing because of the strike.

“This has got to end,” Brown said. “It’s too much for everyone. People are suffering and we need our education.”

Lincoln Brady

Lincoln Timothy Brady, son of Scott and Krista Brady, Moran, was born Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019, at Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute.

Lincoln weighed 9 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 21.5 inches long.

Lincoln joins siblings Jayden, 5, and Myles, 2. 

His maternal grandparents are Daryl and Sandra Drake. Paternal grandparents are Tom and Doreen (deceased) Brady.

Nations pledge $9.8B to global climate fund to help the poor

PARIS (AP) — Rich countries have pledged $9.8 billion to help poor nations tackle climate change, the Green Climate Fund said Friday, as environmental activists slammed the United States for refusing to contribute and other nations for giving too little.

Yannick Glemarec, the executive director of the Green Climate Fund, said 27 countries announced contributions by the end of a two-day conference in Paris.

The United States did not make any pledge, as U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to stop paying into the fund. Former U.S. President Barack Obama pledged $3 billion toward the fund, but Trump moved to withhold $2 billion of that after taking office.

The Climate Action Network, which is made up of more than 1,300 non-governmental organizations, castigated both the U.S. and Australia for refusing to pitch in.

They “have turned their backs on the world’s poorest and have once again isolated themselves in global efforts to respond to the climate emergency,” the network said.

It also named Canada, the Netherlands, Portugal, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Austria and Belgium as countries that “failed to deliver their fair share” and called on them to make up the shortfall.

Oxfam International’s Armelle Le Comte called the failure of the United States and Australia to provide funding “appalling.”

But the Green Climate Fund’s Glemarec put an optimistic spin on the shortfalls.

“We will most likely be able to find additional resources” before the United Nations’ annual climate conference, which will be held in December in Santiago, Chile, Glemarec said.

Glemarec said the extra money will increase the fund’s capacity from about $1.4 billion per year now to $2.4 billion per year in the period from 2020-2024.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, speaking earlier Friday, praised “a great success” that he attributed largely to European countries, noting that almost half of the amount was being provided by France, Germany and Britain alone.

“Many countries will double their contributions,” Le Maire said.

The South Korea-based fund, which provides money to help developing countries reduce their emissions and cope with the impacts of climate change, says it has nearly exhausted some $7 billion received following an initial funding round five years ago.

DeVos held in contempt of court over loan forgiveness

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt of court for violating an order to stop collecting loans from thousands of former for-profit college students.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim issued the ruling Thursday in San Francisco. She also fined the Education Department $100,000.

Kim previously ordered DeVos to stop collecting federal loans from former Corinthian Colleges students who applied for loan forgiveness after the chain shut down in 2015 amid allegations of fraud.

The Obama administration sought to make it easier for defrauded students to get loans forgiven, but the Trump administration has worked to tighten the rules.

The Education Department acknowledged in September that it continued to collect loans from more than 3,000 former Corinthian students, prompting Kim’s response.

The department did not immediately comment.

A look back in time

Twenty years ago

October 1999

The Iola City Parks Department is preparing a base in Cofachique Park at the north edge of Iola on State Street for a M110A2 self-propelled Howitzer which has been donated to Iola by the U.S. Department of the Army. Parks Superintendent Berkley Kerr said concrete will be poured for the base early next week and the motorized weapon could be on display as early as December.

*****

City commissioners donated $2,000 to the Millennium Blast 2000 party and fireworks display scheduled for Dec. 31 in Riverside Park. Bonnie Steward, a leader in the celebration committee, told commissioners Tuesday afternoon that about $4,000 has been given or pledged for the project and that $5,000 was needed by Nov. 1, next Monday, as a first payment on the fireworks. 

*****

Iola firefighters are going to sell baked goods, wash cars and do whatever else they must to raise about $20,000 to buy a thermal imaging camera. Fire Chief Don Leapheart said a thermal imaging camera would permit firefighters to see through smoke and darkness to find victims. The camera will also allow firefighters to find hot spots after a fire appeared to be extinguished. He said the firefighters want to raise the money rather than have the city buy the camera because it would mean so much to them personally.

Yvette Morrison

Yvette Deanne Morrison, age 69, of Iola, died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019, at Select Specialty Hospital in Wichita. 

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m., Monday at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Service chapel, 1883 US Hwy 54. Burial will follow in the Le Roy Cemetery. The family will greet friends from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. 

Church asks ‘Who are you?’

Howard Reiter gave the Communion Meditation “God is Great!” 

Pastor Chase Riebel gave the sermon asking “Who are you?” Small groups were formed based on the movie “Overcomer.” Truth is under attack. Satan’s lies are effective when we don’t guard against them. The teachings of Jesus have the power to answer our questions and change who we are. When a person’s identity is rooted in anything but Christ, change must occur. So what do you allow to define you? Does your identity match who Jesus is calling you to be? 

To hear this sermon in its entirety, go to http://www.colonychristianchurch.org. 

Men’s Bible study is at 7 a.m. Tuesdays. Youth group is at 7 p.m., Wednesdays. Small groups Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Movie night is at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Disposal of leftover prescriptions, vaping devices planned

 Allen County residents can dispose of unused prescription drugs at a special event this weekend to recognize National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. New this year, residents also can dispose of electronic vaping devices and cartridges.

“Vaping has been declared a serious health epidemic and I feel it will also cause a recycling nightmare,” Jessica McGinnis, Drug Free Community Coordinator with Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center, said. “E-cigarette waste disposal is a significant environmental problem. The cartridges hold flavored nicotine or cannabis solution and contain harmful chemicals that must be dealt with as hazardous waste. I’m happy to see that the DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back is taking this seriously.”

Locally, prescription medications and vaping devices can be dropped off from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Iola Police Department and Humboldt Police Department. Educational material will be offered during the event. The service is free and anonymous.

Unused or leftover prescription drugs can be dropped off throughout the year at stations in Moran, Humboldt and Iola. The special event is organized as a way to educate the public about the danger of keeping unused or leftover medications, where they are vulnerable to misuse, theft or abuse by family members and visitors, including children and teens.

McGinnis recommends residents black out their personal information on the label or remove the label. Also, some prescriptions should not be flushed, as most of the chemicals in the drug passes through treatment plants or septic systems and can end up in nearby rivers and lakes. The FDA has a list of drugs that can be flushed. This list can be found at FDA.gov website.

It’s dangerous to throw prescriptions in your trash, where others can take and use it. That also makes you a target, as thieves might return to look for more medications in your home, McGinnis said. She also advises residents to lock up prescription drugs, especially if you have children or teens in your home.

 To dispose of vaping devices, remove lithium ion batteries before dropping off the devices. If batteries cannot be removed, consult with stores that recycle lithium ion batteries.

The local event is sponsored by Allen County Multi-Agency Team-ACMAT and Thrive Allen County.