Breaking News
Kansas boy, 14, charged with fatally shooting stepbrother, 9
Jun 2, 4:28 PMSALINA, Kan. | A 14-year-old boy has been charged with fatally shooting his 9-year-old stepbrother at their rural Kansas home.
KC man accused of killing neighbor who allegedly threw brick through window
Jun 2, 4:33 PMAn east Kansas City resident has been charged with one count of second-degree murder in the shooting death Tuesday of a neighbor. Police arrested Michael J. Thompson, 41, Tuesday after responding to a call just after 1 p.m. in the 8600 block of Roberts Avenue, where they discovered Darrell D. Dancy, 20, dead in a side yard.
NAACP lineup for KC convention includes Jackson, Sharpton
Jun 2, 4:18 PMThe NAACP is announcing its lineup for its 2010 convention in Kansas City.
NBC Action Weather | Mostly sunny Thursday, high 84
Jun 2, 4:10 PMKSHB meteorologist Gary Lezak says we are in between storm systems and that it should be dry until sometime Friday or Friday night. Thunderstorms may develop and move in later Friday evening, hopefully after all of the evening activities.
Nixon signs Missouri drunken driving overhaul
Jun 2, 3:00 PMJEFFERSON CITY | Gov. Jay Nixon has signed drunken driving legislation designed to steer people toward treatment programs and help track repeat offenders.
Charges filed in savage beating, robbery in Brookside
Jun 2, 3:11 PMTwo south Kansas City men were charged today in the robbery and savage beating of a couple in the Brookside area early Friday. One of the victims was kicked and stomped on the face and head even after being knocked unconscious, according to court records.
Blue Springs man sentenced for having child porn
Jun 2, 1:58 PMA Blue Springs man was sentenced today to six years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. A 2008 tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led investigators to David Anthony Dunn, who admitted that he used a home computer to download images of child pornography. He told investigators he had been doing it since 2001.
Two KC teens charged in high-speed chase
Jun 2, 3:58 PMFelony charges were filed today against two Kansas City teenagers arrested after allegedly leading police in a high-speed chase Monday. The chase reached speeds of more than 100 mph but ended when the vehicle, which had been reported stolen in February, ran out of gas, according to court records.
Royals’ pitching prospect Duffy is back
Jun 2, 3:15 PM
Left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy has returned to the Royals’ year-round complex in Surprise, Ariz., in order to resume his career. Duffy, 21, left camp on March 24 in order to “reassess his life priorities,” according to assistant general manager J.J. Piccolo at the time. Duffy made no public statement when he departed and has yet to do so since returning.
KC tax collections fall short, audit says
Jun 2, 10:54 AMKansas City Council members always say they want the city to collect every dollar of revenue owed. But a new audit out today finds the city falls far short in that function.
Early morning storm knocks out power to parts of metro area
Jun 2, 8:59 AMSeveral thousand of people were without power as storms rolled through the area early this morning. Kansas City Power & Light reported on their website that a total of 8,838 customers lost power since 8:45 p.m. Tuesday. As of 8:35 a.m. today, power had been restored to all but 4,265 customers.
20 people flee to safety after lightning strike causes apartment fire
Jun 2, 1:35 PMTwenty people, including children, fled to safety early this morning after lightning ignited a blaze at the building containing their apartments. The fire broke out about 6:30 a.m. today at a commercial building that houses a dentist office on the first floor and nine apartments on the second floor. The building is located at North 14th Street and Central Avenue in Kansas City, Kan.
Police ask for help identifying suspect in Gladstone theft
Jun 2, 9:21 AM
Gladstone police and the Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline are seeking help in identifying a man suspected of using a credit card stolen from an automobile. A purse containing credit cards was stolen last week from a vehicle in the victim’s driveway in the 6300 block of North Monroe Avenue in Gladstone.
Standoff with police ends without injuries in Northland
Jun 2, 10:53 AMA possible robbery suspect held police at bay for about 6 hours before surrendering early this morning. No one was injured in the standoff, which ended about 4:15 a.m. today. Police arrested a 30-year-old man on three felony warrants from Jackson County along with the residential robbery investigation.
Blaze damages high rise near Crown Center
Jun 2, 4:06 PM
A stovetop fire led to a three-alarm fire response at an apartment tower near Crown Center about 12:10 p.m. Wednesday, the Kansas City Fire Department reported. The fire was in a unit on the 18th floor of the San Francisco Tower, a condominium complex at 2510 Grand Avenue. No one was injured. As a precaution, firefighters evacuated the first 22 floors of the building, which stands more than 30 stories tall.
Suspect in recent Waldo-area rapes faces more charges in 1980s cases
Jun 2, 1:42 PM
The Kansas City man allegedly linked by DNA to four 1980s sexual assaults in the Waldo area was arraigned on 18 felony charges this morning. Bernard Jackson, who Kansas City police have also called a person of interest in a more recent string of Waldo-area sexual assaults, did not speak during the brief hearing in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Police: Roommate stabs man for interrupting laundry
Jun 2, 1:55 AMA man in Lawrence apparently stabbed a roommate who interfered with his laundry. The victim, in his 30s, arrived at Lawrence Memorial Hospital around 9 p.m. Tuesday with a 12-inch gash on his back.
Family, friends mourn teen slain in KC
Jun 1, 11:26 PM
Flowers and a cross decorated the Garcias’ front lawn Tuesday. Neighbors, family and some of 16-year-old Juan C. Garcia’s many school friends gathered on the family’s front porch to grapple with grief and anger over the standout East High School student’s Memorial Day shooting.
One shot dead, man in custody
Jun 1, 9:29 PMA 21-year-old east Kansas City man was shot and killed today and the suspected shooter was in custody. Police responding at around 1 p.m. to the 8600 block of Thompson Avenue found a man in the grass with no signs of life. Authorities pronounced him dead at the scene. Witnesses told police the victim allegedly had damaged property belonging to the suspected shooter.
Man charged in deaths of brothers
Jun 1, 9:28 PMA Kansas City man charged in the deaths of two brothers found last week in a shopping cart behind an abandoned building made his first court appearance today. Loyal R. Hayes, 23, is charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Joseph Hooker and John Hooker.
Police identify shooting victim as teen
Jun 1, 9:28 PMPolice have identified the victim of a fatal Memorial Day shooting in northeast Kansas City as 16-year-old Juan C. Garcia. Garcia, of Kansas City, was shot about 3:20 p.m. in the 1500 block of Belmont Avenue.
FBI dubs man who robbed 21 banks 'Granddad Bandit'
Jun 1, 9:17 PMA bald, heavyset man who has robbed 21 banks in the eastern and central U.S. is proving to be so elusive that the FBI has given him a name — the “Granddad Bandit” — and the agency announced plans Tuesday to post a digital picture of him on billboards in several states in hopes of catching him.
Army Corps hears from public about Missouri River
Jun 2, 2:11 AMMissouri farmers, lawmakers and utility officials are asking the federal government to preserve downstream flows of the Missouri River but also to protect against floods.
Shawnee pub to have fundraiser for family of fallen firefighter
Jun 1, 6:09 PMA pub in Shawnee will hold a fundraiser Friday to raise money for the family of Shawnee firefighter John Glaser, who died while searching a burning house on May 22. Waxy O’Shae’s Irish Pub, 11900 Shawnee Mission Parkway, will have the fundraiser with silent auction. Events will start at 5 p.m. and lasting until the pub closes.
Doctor: Cancer-cluster unlikely at Bannister plant
Jun 1, 5:10 PMA federal doctor downplayed the possibility of a cancer cluster at the Bannister Federal Complex today during a town hall meeting for current employees.
Brothers guilty of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter in OP case
Jun 1, 4:05 PMFour men walked toward five youths in a parked car in Overland Park to fight them. One youth started shooting. Within two minutes on Feb. 6, 2009, Donte Robinson, 21, of Merriam, was dead and another man was wounded. This week, Johnson County jurors struggled with the legal line between self-defense and manslaughter.
Bank robbery charge filed for man who surrendered
Jun 1, 3:28 PMFederal prosecutors in Kansas today charged a man with robbing a bank in Overland Park on Friday. Larry L. Rice, 60, of Abilene, Kan., turned himself in at the Johnson County jail on Saturday morning in connection with the robbery of the Bank of the West in a grocery store at 8900 W. 135th St.
Man accused of deliberately setting fire to a Hospital Hill business
Jun 1, 2:45 PMA man who was previously convicted of arson was charged Tuesday with setting fire to a Hospital Hill area business and is being investigated for several vehicle fires in the area.
Man in custody after fatal shooting on Thompson Avenue
Jun 1, 2:44 PMA 21-year-old east Kansas City man was shot and killed today and the suspected shooter was in custody.
Defendant in killings of two brothers appears in court
Jun 1, 2:21 PMA Kansas City man charged in the deaths of two brothers found last week in a shopping cart behind an abandoned building made his first court appearance today. Loyal R. Hayes, 23, is charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Joseph Hooker and John Hooker.
Two men accused in Tutera killing enter pleas of not guilty
Jun 1, 2:11 PMTwo men who are charged in the killing of a Kansas City businessman last week made their initial court appearances Tuesday morning.
Texas vows not to be left on sideline of conference expansion
Jun 1, 9:14 PMTexas athletic director DeLoss Dodds began what could be a pivotal four days of Big 12 Conference meetings with the strongest indication yet that his program will join Missouri and Nebraska in listening to more lucrative offers from other conferences.
Kansas attorney general files brief in Supreme Court challenge to funeral protests by Phelps church
Jun 1, 1:58 PMKansas Attorney General Steve Six has filed brief with the U.S. Supreme Court over funeral protests by a Topeka-based church.
Kansas House members ponder ouster of speaker
Jun 1, 1:50 PMTOPEKA | Some Kansas House members are considering an attempt to oust the chamber’s conservative Republican speaker, prompted by the legislative successes of a coalition of Democrats and GOP moderates.
Students organizing first sorority at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence
Jun 1, 1:50 PMLAWRENCE | A pair of students at Haskell Indian Nations University are trying to start up the school’s first sorority.
Al and Tipper Gore, married 40 years, to separate
Jun 1, 2:16 PM
Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, are separating after 40 years of marriage that included a White House run when their sunny relationship offered a counterpoint to President Bill Clinton's philandering.
GOP Senate candidate in Missouri opts for ‘more mature’ look, ditches hairpiece
Jun 1, 1:10 PMChuck Purgason, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, has a new look. Purgason has stopped wearing a hairpiece — publicly revealing his receding hairline for the first time in nearly two decades.
New Olathe interchange starts opening today
Jun 1, 12:39 PMThe new Lone Elm Road interchange in Olathe will start to open in phases sometime this afternoon. Highway crews will open two lanes in each direction on the bridge that will cross I-35 in southern Olathe.
Governor, others to break ground for expansion of Kansas 18 highway
Jun 1, 1:49 PMTOPEKA | Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson is expected to be on hand Wednesday to mark the final major Kansas project funded by the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009. The event starts at 10 a.m. on Kansas 18 near Ogden. State officials say the two-mile project includes expansion of the highway to four lanes, construction of several bridges and relocation of railroad tracks.
Racial disparity growing in police traffic stops, Missouri attorney general finds
Jun 1, 3:24 PMJEFFERSON CITY | Black motorists in Missouri are being stopped by police at an increasingly disproportionate rate compared with white and Hispanic motorists, according to a report released Tuesday by the attorney general. Missouri’s 10th annual traffic stop analysis shows black motorists were 70 percent more likely than white drivers — and twice as likely as Hispanic motorists — to be stopped by law enforcement officers in 2009.
NATION & WORLD
AP Sources: Admin talked jobs with Romanoff
Jun 2, 4:23 PM
Administration officials dangled the possibility of a job for former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff last year in hopes he would forgo a challenge to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, administration officials said Wednesday, just days after the White House admitted orchestrating a similar job offer in the Pennsylvania Senate race.
China says no thanks to US defense chief
Jun 2, 5:57 AMChina has ruled out a stopover by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who had hoped to make improved military ties with Beijing the centerpiece of his trip to Asia this week.
Black lawmakers want to limit new ethics office
Jun 2, 4:28 PM
Stung by a series of inquiries, nearly half the members of the Congressional Black Caucus want to rein in an independent ethics office that Democrats trumpeted after gaining control of Congress.
The nation's weather
Jun 2, 3:47 AM
Severe weather was forecast to continue developing along a warm front tracking through the Midwest on Wednesday.
Lost Ohio hiker in Maine learned to stay on paths
Jun 2, 1:03 PM
An Ohio hiker who went missing for three days in Maine's Baxter State Park says he learned the hard way to stay on marked trails.
Judge refuses request to delay Blagojevich trial
Jun 2, 12:12 PM
A federal judge in Chicago has turned down a last-minute request from former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attorneys to delay his corruption trial.
DOT: Airlines should pay bumped passengers more
Jun 2, 2:52 PM
Airline passengers would receive as much as $1,300 for being bumped from a flight and would have 24 hours to cancel reservations without penalty, among other consumer protections proposed Wednesday by the Obama administration.
Federal Gulf cleanup costs nation's most expensive
Jun 2, 4:23 PMFederal officials say cleanup costs for the catastrophic Gulf oil spill have topped $123 million.
Woman: One-time JonBenet suspect recruiting kids
Jun 2, 4:09 PM
A woman who has a restraining order against the man who falsely claimed to have murdered JonBenet Ramsey said Wednesday the former suspect is living as a woman and trying to form a cult of little girls to have sex with him.
2 off-duty NYPD officers in fatal crash were drunk
Jun 2, 3:33 PMA toxicology report shows an off-duty New York Police Department officer was drunk behind the wheel during a crash that killed him and a colleague, who also was drunk.
Obama takes economy spiel to Pittsburgh
Jun 2, 11:42 AM
President Barack Obama takes to the road again Wednesday to discuss the economy. This time he'll speak at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Alaska postpones wolf kill plans until judge rules
Jun 2, 1:31 PMThe state of Alaska is halting plans to kill wolves on caribou calving grounds in a national refuge until a federal judge rules on the matter.
States requiring PE, but amount varies
Jun 2, 2:15 AMMore states are requiring physical education for elementary, middle and high school students, though few require kids to exercise for a specific amount of time.
Exploration of West Virginia coal mine resumes
Jun 2, 4:28 PMThe underground search for clues to the nation's worst coal mining disaster in 40 years started Wednesday as two teams began exploring the West Virginia mine where 29 men died in an explosion last month.
UN criticism not likely to stop CIA drone strikes
Jun 2, 4:23 PMThe U.S. government's covert program using unmanned drones to strike at terrorists inside Pakistan is not likely to stop or change, despite new criticism from a U.N. human rights expert.
2 Washington climbers missing on Mount St. Helens
Jun 2, 3:26 PMSearchers are looking for two Vancouver, Wash., men who failed to return from a climb on Mount St. Helens.
Coroner rules death of Mexican migrant a homicide
Jun 2, 3:36 PMThe San Diego County medical examiner's office has ruled the death of a Mexican migrant a homicide, five days after a U.S. immigration officer shot him with a stun gun.
2 men plead no contest to 2007 Calif. fire charges
Jun 2, 3:10 PMTwo California men have pleaded no contest to felony charges for a 2007 wildfire in Malibu that destroyed 53 homes, damaged 23 others and injured six firefighters.
Annie Lennox named UNAIDS goodwill ambassador
Jun 2, 7:07 AMScottish rock singer Annie Lennox has become a spokeswoman for the U.N. agency fighting HIV/AIDS.
9 injured when lightning hits Old Faithful viewers
Jun 2, 3:17 PMA lightning strike in Yellowstone National Park injured nine people waiting to see Old Faithful geyser erupt.
Loyalty takes butler from poor Nepal village to NY
Jun 2, 2:58 PM
Indra Tamang was a teenage farmer in a Nepalese village without running water or electricity. He barely learned how to write and lived in a straw, mud and stone house with his parents before landing a hotel job in the capital of Katmandu.
Agents missed signs to stop molester-turned-killer
Jun 2, 4:23 PMState parole agents missed numerous chances to send a convicted child molester back to prison before he raped and killed two San Diego-area teenagers, the corrections department said Wednesday.
DA: No evidence to charge leaders in abuse scandal
Jun 2, 2:58 PMProsecutors haven't discovered enough evidence during eight years of investigation to charge the leaders of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles for their handling of the clergy abuse scandal, according to a memo provided Wednesday.
Carter condemns Israeli raid on Gaza-bound ships
Jun 2, 3:54 PMFormer President Jimmy Carter has condemned a deadly Israeli raid on a flotilla of aid ships on its way to Gaza.
States to establish uniform standards for teaching
Jun 2, 12:17 PMBy third grade, students should know how to write a complex sentence and add fractions, no matter if they live in Georgia or California.
Brooklyn Bridge getting a $500 million makeover
Jun 2, 4:09 PM
The Brooklyn Bridge has been through a lot in its 127 years, and now the New York icon needs a facelift.
Bus flips after running off NJ parkway; 6 injured
Jun 2, 10:47 AM
State police say a chartered bus carrying about 35 people ran off a New Jersey parkway and flipped on its side.
Times Square bomb suspect facing foreclosure
Jun 2, 2:51 PMThe suspect in last month's failed Times Square bombing is slated to lose his Connecticut home to foreclosure under a court order.
Ted Haggard to start new church in Colo. Springs
Jun 2, 12:33 PMFormer megachurch pastor Ted Haggard, who fell from grace amid a sex scandal, is starting a new church in Colorado Springs.
Even at 40 years like Gores, splits not so rare
Jun 2, 3:48 PM
There was no salacious sex scandal, no prostitution ring, no mysterious trip to Argentina.
Police: US lawyer held in Rwanda attempts suicide
Jun 2, 3:37 PM
A U.S. law professor jailed in Rwanda and charged with denying the country's genocide tried to commit suicide by swallowing dozens of pills in his prison cell, Rwandan officials said Wednesday, but his daughter said his family doesn't believe the claim.
Palin endorses GOP challenger in Alaska Senate
Jun 2, 3:55 PMFormer Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave longshot Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller a boost Wednesday by endorsing him in the Aug. 24 primary against Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Ex-Ill. cop Peterson's trial delayed until July 9
Jun 2, 1:37 PM
A judge has delayed the trial of a former suburban Chicago police officer in the death of his third wife.
Watchers get rare view of 8 orcas off Calif. coast
Jun 2, 4:02 PM
A boatload of watchers got their money's worth when they witnessed a rare encounter of eight killer whales killing and feasting on a sea lion off the Southern California coast.
