KANSAS CITY —One person died in an accident just after 8a.m. Saturday in Kansas City.

A Ford Escape was northbound on Hillcrest Road and Fairlane Drive, according to KCPD&nbsp;Sergeant Phil DiMartino.

The SUV struck a large trash dumpster that was in the roadway. Both the driver and passenger were transported to an area hospital.The passenger was pronounced dead of her injuries on Saturday evening, according to DeMartino.&nbsp;

This is fatal crash #74 in Kansas City, Missouri in 2024.

KANSAS CITY —One person died in an accident just after 8a.m. Saturday in Kansas City.A Ford Escape was northbound on Hillcrest Road and Fairlane Drive, according to KCPD&nbsp;Sergeant Phil DiMartino.The SUV struck a large trash dumpster that was in the roadway. Both the driver and passenger were transported to an area hospital.The passenger was pronounced dead of her injuries on Saturday evening, according to DeMartino.&nbsp;This is fatal crash #74 in Kansas City, Missouri in 2024.

KCPD: Woman dead after SUV crash into large trash dumpster

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — Sheriff's deputies in Southern California arrested a&nbsp; man with a loaded gun and fake passports near the entrance of the Donald Trump rally Saturday night.&nbsp;(Click below to watch the sheriff's press conference)

Just after 5p.m., deputies assigned to former President Donald Trump’s rally in the Coachella Valley contacted the driver of a black SUV at a checkpoint at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive, according to a media release from the Riverside County Sheriff's office

The driver, identified as Vem Miller, a 49-year-old resident of Las Vegas, was found to be illegally in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine. Miller was taken into custody without incident and later booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center for possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine. This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event, according to the sheriff's office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728861603734.png" alt="Donald Trump during the Southern California rally on Saturday-image from the campaign video" />
 <figcaption>Donald Trump during the Southern California rally on Saturday-image from the campaign video</figcaption>
 </figure>RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — Sheriff's deputies in Southern California arrested a&nbsp; man with a loaded gun and fake passports near the entrance of the Donald Trump rally Saturday night.&nbsp;(Click below to watch the sheriff's press conference)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Friversidecountysheriff%2Fvideos%2F1472199187069887%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=34" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>Just after 5p.m., deputies assigned to former President Donald Trump’s rally in the Coachella Valley contacted the driver of a black SUV at a checkpoint at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive, according to a media release from the Riverside County Sheriff's officeThe driver, identified as Vem Miller, a 49-year-old resident of Las Vegas, was found to be illegally in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine. Miller was taken into custody without incident and later booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center for possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine. This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event, according to the sheriff's office.

🎥Sheriff: Deputies ‘probably’ prevented 3rd assassination attempt on Trump

KANSAS CITY – A couple was indicted by a federal grand jury this week for victimizing three children to produce child pornography.

Jeremy James Cudney, 34, and his wife, Cassandra Elaine Cudney, 34, were charged in an eight-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Missouri, according to the United State's Attorney.

The indictment alleges that Jeremy and Cassandra Cudney participated in a conspiracy to produce child pornography from August 25, 2019, to April 25, 2022. They are also charged together in three counts of producing child pornography involving two child victims, one of whom was under the age of 12 and two of whom were under the age of 16.

In addition, Jeremy Cudney is charged with one count of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. Cassandra Cudney is also charged with one count of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa A. Pierce and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, Missouri State Technical Assistance Team, and the Howard County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728565850381.png" alt="Cudney photo Howard Co." />
 <figcaption>Cudney photo Howard Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY – A couple was indicted by a federal grand jury this week for victimizing three children to produce child pornography.Jeremy James Cudney, 34, and his wife, Cassandra Elaine Cudney, 34, were charged in an eight-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Missouri, according to the United State's Attorney.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728565828283.png" alt="Cudney-photo Howard County" />
 <figcaption>Cudney-photo Howard County</figcaption>
 </figure>The indictment alleges that Jeremy and Cassandra Cudney participated in a conspiracy to produce child pornography from August 25, 2019, to April 25, 2022. They are also charged together in three counts of producing child pornography involving two child victims, one of whom was under the age of 12 and two of whom were under the age of 16.In addition, Jeremy Cudney is charged with one count of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. Cassandra Cudney is also charged with one count of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa A. Pierce and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, Missouri State Technical Assistance Team, and the Howard County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

Husband, wife accused of using 3 children to produce pornography

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jacob-fischler/">JACOB FISCHLER</a>

Highlighted in Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign as one of the major crises facing the country, climate change has received much less attention in the 2024 race for the presidency.

The candidates, Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, share the twin goals of lowering energy costs and increasing U.S. jobs in the sector, but diverge widely in their plans to get there.

On the campaign trail, each has spent relatively little time detailing their own plans, instead criticizing the other as extreme.

Harris favors an expansion of renewable energy, which supplies power without the carbon emissions that are the primary driver of climate change.

She has touted her tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, the broad domestic policy law Democrats pushed through along party lines that includes hundreds of millions in clean-energy tax credits.

Trump supports fossil fuel production, blaming policies to support renewable energy for rising energy prices. He has called for removing prohibitions on new oil and gas exploration to increase the supply of cheap fuel and reduce costs.

Both candidates promise to lower the cost of energy.

For Trump, that has involved hammering the Biden-Harris administration for encouraging renewable energy production.

Inflation was caused by “stupid spending for the Green New Deal, which was a green new scam, it turned out,” Trump said at a Sept. 26 press conference. “Do you notice that they never mention anything about environment anymore? What happened to the environment?”

The former president said at a Sept. 25 campaign stop he would “cut your energy (costs) in half,” by reducing regulations and cutting taxes.

He has not produced a detailed plan to achieve that goal.

Implicit in Trump’s argument is that the Biden administration’s focus on renewable energy has hampered oil and gas production, limiting supply and driving up prices.

But Harris has presented her support for renewable energy modes as part of a broader portfolio that includes fossil fuels.

Harris has highlighted the Inflation Reduction Act opened up new leases for oil and gas production while providing incentives for wind and solar power.

“I am proud that as vice president over the last four years, we have invested a trillion dollars in a clean energy economy while we have also increased domestic gas production to historic levels,” she said at a Sept. 10 ABC News debate with Trump.

A<a href="https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec1.pdf" target="_blank">&nbsp;report</a>&nbsp;this month from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that U.S. fossil fuel production reached an all-time high in 2023.

Harris has also pointed to provisions of the IRA that provide consumers with tax benefits for green technology, such as home heat pumps, as a way to bring down costs.

“Thanks to tax credits on home energy technologies in the Inflation Reduction Act, more than 3.4 million American families saved $8.4 billion in 2023,” her campaign’s 82-page economic plan reads.

Trump also says he supports some climate-conscious technology, including megadonor Elon Musk’s Tesla brand of electric vehicles, but that Democrats have overinvested in non-fossil fuels.

He has called elements of the Inflation Reduction Act “giveaways,” and has singled out spending on electric vehicle charging infrastructure as wasteful.

Biden has long talked about a transition away from fossil fuels as a benefit to U.S. workers, positioning them on the cutting edge of a growing industry.

Harris has similarly framed the issue in economic terms, saying the Inflation Reduction Act and other climate policies have created jobs.

“We have created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs while I have been vice president,” she said at the Sept. 10 debate. “We have invested in clean energy to the point that we are opening up factories around the world.”

At a campaign stop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this month, Harris said Trump’s focus on fossil fuels would hamper job growth, saying he would “send thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs overseas.”

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, have said Democrats’ focus on renewable energy sources has limited existing energy jobs.

“We’ve got great energy workers in Ohio and all across our country,” Vance said at an August campaign stop in his home state. “They want to earn a reasonable wage and they want to power the American economy. Why don’t we have a president that lets them do exactly that?

“Unleash American energy,” he said. “Drill, baby, drill and let’s turn the page on this craziness.”

Trump has had harsh words for Democrats’ climate law, blaming its spending for rising inflation.

“To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably,” he told the Economic Club of New York in a Sept. 5 speech.

He said as president he would redirect any unspent funds in the law.

Trump has sought to distance himself from the policy blueprint<a href="https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf" target="_blank">&nbsp;Project 2025</a>, written by the Heritage Institute.

But there is some overlap between what the conservative think tank has laid out and what Trump said he plans to do in a second term in the White House.

Project 2025 calls for repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, describing it as a subsidy to special interests.

Harris often mentions her tie-breaking vote for the law and has described her plans as president to expand on the law’s objectives.

Harris’ policy plan said she “proudly cast” the tie-breaking vote for the climate bill and that, as president, she would “continue to invest in a thriving clean energy economy.”

She added she would seek to improve that spending by cutting regulations “so that clean energy projects are completed quickly and&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1586529773303.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jacob-fischler/">JACOB FISCHLER</a>Highlighted in Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign as one of the major crises facing the country, climate change has received much less attention in the 2024 race for the presidency.The candidates, Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, share the twin goals of lowering energy costs and increasing U.S. jobs in the sector, but diverge widely in their plans to get there.On the campaign trail, each has spent relatively little time detailing their own plans, instead criticizing the other as extreme.Harris favors an expansion of renewable energy, which supplies power without the carbon emissions that are the primary driver of climate change.She has touted her tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, the broad domestic policy law Democrats pushed through along party lines that includes hundreds of millions in clean-energy tax credits.Trump supports fossil fuel production, blaming policies to support renewable energy for rising energy prices. He has called for removing prohibitions on new oil and gas exploration to increase the supply of cheap fuel and reduce costs.<h2>Promise: Promote fossil fuels</h2>Both candidates promise to lower the cost of energy.For Trump, that has involved hammering the Biden-Harris administration for encouraging renewable energy production.Inflation was caused by “stupid spending for the Green New Deal, which was a green new scam, it turned out,” Trump said at a Sept. 26 press conference. “Do you notice that they never mention anything about environment anymore? What happened to the environment?”The former president said at a Sept. 25 campaign stop he would “cut your energy (costs) in half,” by reducing regulations and cutting taxes.He has not produced a detailed plan to achieve that goal.Implicit in Trump’s argument is that the Biden administration’s focus on renewable energy has hampered oil and gas production, limiting supply and driving up prices.But Harris has presented her support for renewable energy modes as part of a broader portfolio that includes fossil fuels.Harris has highlighted the Inflation Reduction Act opened up new leases for oil and gas production while providing incentives for wind and solar power.“I am proud that as vice president over the last four years, we have invested a trillion dollars in a clean energy economy while we have also increased domestic gas production to historic levels,” she said at a Sept. 10 ABC News debate with Trump.A<a href="https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec1.pdf" target="_blank">&nbsp;report</a>&nbsp;this month from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that U.S. fossil fuel production reached an all-time high in 2023.<h2>Promise: Promote renewables</h2>Harris has also pointed to provisions of the IRA that provide consumers with tax benefits for green technology, such as home heat pumps, as a way to bring down costs.“Thanks to tax credits on home energy technologies in the Inflation Reduction Act, more than 3.4 million American families saved $8.4 billion in 2023,” her campaign’s 82-page economic plan reads.Trump also says he supports some climate-conscious technology, including megadonor Elon Musk’s Tesla brand of electric vehicles, but that Democrats have overinvested in non-fossil fuels.He has called elements of the Inflation Reduction Act “giveaways,” and has singled out spending on electric vehicle charging infrastructure as wasteful.<h2>Promise: Restore jobs</h2>Biden has long talked about a transition away from fossil fuels as a benefit to U.S. workers, positioning them on the cutting edge of a growing industry.Harris has similarly framed the issue in economic terms, saying the Inflation Reduction Act and other climate policies have created jobs.“We have created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs while I have been vice president,” she said at the Sept. 10 debate. “We have invested in clean energy to the point that we are opening up factories around the world.”At a campaign stop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this month, Harris said Trump’s focus on fossil fuels would hamper job growth, saying he would “send thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs overseas.”Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, have said Democrats’ focus on renewable energy sources has limited existing energy jobs.“We’ve got great energy workers in Ohio and all across our country,” Vance said at an August campaign stop in his home state. “They want to earn a reasonable wage and they want to power the American economy. Why don’t we have a president that lets them do exactly that?“Unleash American energy,” he said. “Drill, baby, drill and let’s turn the page on this craziness.”<h2>Promise: Repeal Democrats’ climate law</h2>Trump has had harsh words for Democrats’ climate law, blaming its spending for rising inflation.“To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably,” he told the Economic Club of New York in a Sept. 5 speech.He said as president he would redirect any unspent funds in the law.Trump has sought to distance himself from the policy blueprint<a href="https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf" target="_blank">&nbsp;Project 2025</a>, written by the Heritage Institute.But there is some overlap between what the conservative think tank has laid out and what Trump said he plans to do in a second term in the White House.Project 2025 calls for repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, describing it as a subsidy to special interests.Harris often mentions her tie-breaking vote for the law and has described her plans as president to expand on the law’s objectives.Harris’ policy plan said she “proudly cast” the tie-breaking vote for the climate bill and that, as president, she would “continue to invest in a thriving clean energy economy.”She added she would seek to improve that spending by cutting regulations “so that clean energy projects are completed quickly and&nbsp;

Energy and climate: Where do Harris and Trump stand?

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident during a police pursuit just after 3a.m. Saturday in Leavenworth County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Dodge Charger driven by&nbsp;&nbsp;Jossue D&nbsp;Santos-Alejo, 18, Kansas City, Kansas, was being pursued by law enforcement northbound on U.S. 73 just north of Home Place.

The driver lost control while negotiating a curve. The car left the road to the right, overturned. and the driver was ejected through the sunroof.

EMS transported Santos-Alejo to KU Medical Center and a passenger Damian G&nbsp;Rios Chavira, 17, Kansas City, Kansas, to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. They were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.&nbsp; The KHP did not release details on what prompted the chase.

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident during a police pursuit just after 3a.m. Saturday in Leavenworth County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Dodge Charger driven by&nbsp;&nbsp;Jossue D&nbsp;Santos-Alejo, 18, Kansas City, Kansas, was being pursued by law enforcement northbound on U.S. 73 just north of Home Place.The driver lost control while negotiating a curve. The car left the road to the right, overturned. and the driver was ejected through the sunroof.EMS transported Santos-Alejo to KU Medical Center and a passenger Damian G&nbsp;Rios Chavira, 17, Kansas City, Kansas, to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. They were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.&nbsp; The KHP did not release details on what prompted the chase.

2 Kan. teens hospitalized after crash during police chase

Proposition A would raise Missouri’s minimum wage to $15 by 2026 and guarantee up to seven days of paid sick leave

BY&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/cbates/">CLARA BATES</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>

A measure that would guarantee paid sick leave for over 700,000 Missouri workers who currently lack it, as well as gradually raise the minimum wage to $15, will appear on voters’ ballots next month.

The ballot initiative, called Proposition A, has been&nbsp;<a href="https://mohealthyfamilies.org/endorsements/" target="_blank">backed by</a>&nbsp;various unions and workers’ advocacy groups, social justice and civil rights organizations,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessforafairminimumwage.org/statement/Missouri2024" target="_blank">over 500 state business owners</a>&nbsp;and others.&nbsp;

Some business groups, including the state Chamber of Commerce, have opposed it, especially the guaranteed sick leave portion. But thus far there hasn’t been a coordinated opposition campaign.&nbsp;

The campaign in favor of the measure, called Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages, has raised over $5 million — including from out-of-state groups that don’t disclose their donors— and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/01/group-turns-in-signatures-to-put-minimum-wage-hike-paid-sick-leave-on-missouri-ballot/">collected 210,000 signatures</a>&nbsp;to have the issue placed on the statewide ballot.

Most expect the ballot measure to succeed, given polling, national trends with similar ballot measures and the lack of coordinated opposition. Missourians have approved minimum wage increases on the ballot twice before by wide margins.&nbsp;

“We believe full-time work deserves better than poverty,” said&nbsp;Richard Von Glahn, campaign manager for Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages, “but current minimum wage — that’s what it leads to.”&nbsp;

The current minimum wage in Missouri is $12.30, which is equivalent to $492 per week, before taxes.

And without sick leave, proponents argue, workers have to choose between their financial and physical wellbeing — going into work sick or losing out on a needed paycheck.

“Everybody gets sick. Everybody has a child or someone they care for that gets sick,” Von Glahn said, “But when there’s an unequal ability to care for yourself or care for your family, that is unjust.”

Businesses would be required to provide one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to five days per year for small businesses and seven days per year for larger businesses. Small businesses are those with fewer than 15 employees.

Some business groups have said the proposal constitutes government overreach in what should be the decisions of business owners.

“A business owner’s ability to set their own workplace policies and procedures is really the bedrock on which our free enterprise system is built,” said Kara Corches, interim president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “So this is creating a new mandate for employers in terms of wage as well as paid leave policy, that is really against that principle of ‘let business decide.”

“…We want to make sure that Missouri is the most business friendly state in the nation, and we don’t think that this proposition is sending that message,” Corches added.

The ballot measure would make sick leave guaranteed for 728,000 workers who currently lack it statewide, or over 1 in 3 Missouri workers, according to an analysis from the progressive nonprofit the&nbsp;<a href="https://mobudget.org/analysis-min-wage-earned-sick-ballot/#:~:text=Allow%20Workers%20to%20Earn%205%20To%207%20Paid%20Sick%20Days%20Each%20Year&amp;text=An%20estimated%20938%2C000%20Missouri%20workers,access%20to%20paid%20sick%20leave." target="_blank">Missouri Budget Project.</a>

Many of those who lack paid sick leave are the lowest earners.

“Sick days are very common amongst the highest paid workers, you know, executives, those types of positions,” Von Glahn said, “but particularly in some of the lower wage industries — the industries that we’ve been calling essential for a number of years now — construction, retail, food service, nursing home, childcare workers, they lack access to this.”

Employees would be allowed to take the time for mental or physical illness, to take care of a family member, or due to a domestic violence situation, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Elections/Petitions/2024-038.pdf" target="_blank">proposition</a>.

Employers could require documentation when a worker takes three or more days off in a row, such as a doctor’s note, but wouldn’t be allowed to require disclosure of detailed health information.

Corches said the paid sick leave part of the measure is what “gives us a little more heartburn, just because it’s so nebulous,” and open to interpretation. She pointed specifically to confusion around provisions that would give employees a civil cause of action to sue if employers break the law, and another provision that prohibits employers from retaliation when workers take leave.&nbsp;

“Business owners have enough on their plates, just trying to, you know, keep their businesses open, retain and recruit employees, and this nine page new proposition is very complicated and is going to make compliance quite challenging,” Corches said.

If the&nbsp;measure&nbsp;passes in Missouri, the paid sick time provision will kick in on May 1, 2025.

Ray McCarty, CEO of Associated Industries of Missouri, a business advocacy organization, raised concerns that “you will have people that abuse the system,” meaning those who take sick leave who don’t qualify. McCarty said in some cases employers may need proof of the legitimate absence earlier than three days in, or need to ask for more detailed information.

Missouri would join&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/paid-sick-leave-post-pandemic-state-laws/" target="_blank">15 states</a>&nbsp;that require employers to provide paid sick leave. The United States,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldpolicycenter.org/policies/are-workers-entitled-to-paid-sick-leave-from-the-first-day-of-illness" target="_blank">unlike nearly every other country</a>, lacks federal paid sick leave, so states, as well as cities, have taken the lead.&nbsp;

In states that have adopted sick leave mandates,&nbsp;employees take, on average, two more sick days a year than prior to the law going into effect, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w26832/w26832.pdf" target="_blank">National Bureau of Economic Research report</a>&nbsp;found.

<a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/paid-sick-leave-2023/" target="_blank">S</a><a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/paid-sick-leave-2023/" target="_blank">tudies</a>&nbsp;have found that offering paid sick time can increase workers’ productivity and reduce illness, and generally adds little or nothing to business expenses.

Nebraska and Alaska also have paid sick leave on the ballot this year.

The ballot measure also would raise the state’s minimum wage to $13.75 next year and $15 in Jan. 2026.&nbsp;

The increase would affect over 562,000 workers in the state,&nbsp;<a href="https://mobudget.org/analysis-min-wage-earned-sick-ballot/#:~:text=Allow%20Workers%20to%20Earn%205%20To%207%20Paid%20Sick%20Days%20Each%20Year&amp;text=An%20estimated%20938%2C000%20Missouri%20workers,access%20to%20paid%20sick%20leave." target="_blank">according to the Missouri Budget Project</a>, or nearly one in every four workers. The minimum wage would be adjusted based on inflation every year after 2026.

McCarty said most members in Associated Industries of Missouri already pay at least $15 hourly, though they may not realize the “whole wage scale will slide up,” meaning raising the minimum wage could have spillover effects on other wages, for businesses to remain competitive.&nbsp;

He said some employers could go over to Kansas and pay less, so may choose to be based in neighboring states.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/08/27/voters-will-decide-minimum-wage-ballot-measures-in-several-states/" target="_blank">states neighboring Missouri</a>&nbsp;already have lower minimum wages, except for Illinois, which is $14 per hour.&nbsp;

A coalition of hundreds of businesspeople in the state have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessforafairminimumwage.org/press-release/missouri-business-owners-support-ballot-initiative-regarding-minimum-wage-and-paid#:~:text=Missouri%20Business%20for%20a%20Healthy%20Economy%20is%20a%20new%20and,Charlie%20O'Reilly%2C%20Treasurer." target="_blank">signed on to support the ballot measure,</a>&nbsp;arguing the policies help their bottom line, causing lower employee turnover, increased productivity and better health and safety conditions.

Ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage are generally&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/08/27/voters-will-decide-minimum-wage-ballot-measures-in-several-states/" target="_blank">likely to succeed</a>, and have previously succeeded in Missouri, amidst legislative inaction or opposition.

Voters approved a minimum-wage hike in&nbsp;<a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Minimum_Wage,_Proposition_B_(2006)" target="_blank">2006</a>, with 75% of the vote, and again in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/elections/results-missouri-elections.html" target="_blank">2018</a>, with 62% of the vote.

Advocates have had success with ballot measures as, for years, Republicans in the legislature have voted against or failed to hear proposals to increase the minimum wage, Von Glahn said. In 2017 the legislature passed a&nbsp;<a href="https://house.mo.gov/BillContent.aspx?bill=HB1194&amp;year=2017&amp;code=R" target="_blank">law</a>&nbsp;prohibiting cities from raising the minimum wage beyond that of the state’s,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/07/15/537381154/st-louis-raised-the-minimum-wage-then-missouri-reversed-it" target="_blank">after St. Louis</a>&nbsp;city passed an ordinance to raise the city’s minimum wage.

The federal minimum wage has been stagnant, at $7.25, since 2009.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/mw-consolidated" target="_blank">Thirty states</a>, including Missouri, have a minimum wage higher than the federal one.

Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages has so far raised over $5 million, according to campaign&nbsp;<a href="https://mec.mo.gov/MEC/Campaign_Finance/CF_SearchLrgContr.aspx" target="_blank">filings</a>.&nbsp;

That includes two $1.2 million donations from the D.C.-based Sixteen Thirty Fund, in August and October, a progressive nonprofit that is not required to disclose its donors. Other large donors include Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action and the D.C.-based The Fairness Project.

The campaign has purchased over $1.4 million in television ads, slated to begin airing next week, according to Federal Communications Commission filings.

The ballot measure would change the state law but not the constitution, meaning the legislature could overturn it, but that is unlikely, McCarty said.&nbsp;

“I don’t see any politician in their right mind — if this passes with a high percentage of votes, which we expect it will — I don’t see any politician in their right mind completely repealing the entire law,” he said, citing potential concerns about overturning the will of voters.

Corches said the Chamber is focused on the election and would only “start looking at, is it possible to modify this in the Capitol” if it passes.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Von Glahn said Prop A will be a test of whether or not the legislature “respects the will of voters.”

The St. Louis University/YouGov poll conducted in August&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/29/poll-shows-missouri-voters-back-trump-hawley-abortion-rights-and-minimum-wage-hike/">found</a>&nbsp;the ballot measure had a strong backing, with 57% of those surveyed supporting it.

“We feel confident that it will pass next month, but we’re also doing the work,” Von Glahn said. “I mean, we’ve got people out canvassing every day, talking to voters about it.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728643480866.png" alt="Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages prepare for a press conference in May, 2024 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages prepare for a press conference in May, 2024 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Proposition A would raise Missouri’s minimum wage to $15 by 2026 and guarantee up to seven days of paid sick leave</h2>BY&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/cbates/">CLARA BATES</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>A measure that would guarantee paid sick leave for over 700,000 Missouri workers who currently lack it, as well as gradually raise the minimum wage to $15, will appear on voters’ ballots next month.The ballot initiative, called Proposition A, has been&nbsp;<a href="https://mohealthyfamilies.org/endorsements/" target="_blank">backed by</a>&nbsp;various unions and workers’ advocacy groups, social justice and civil rights organizations,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessforafairminimumwage.org/statement/Missouri2024" target="_blank">over 500 state business owners</a>&nbsp;and others.&nbsp;Some business groups, including the state Chamber of Commerce, have opposed it, especially the guaranteed sick leave portion. But thus far there hasn’t been a coordinated opposition campaign.&nbsp;The campaign in favor of the measure, called Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages, has raised over $5 million — including from out-of-state groups that don’t disclose their donors— and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/01/group-turns-in-signatures-to-put-minimum-wage-hike-paid-sick-leave-on-missouri-ballot/">collected 210,000 signatures</a>&nbsp;to have the issue placed on the statewide ballot.Most expect the ballot measure to succeed, given polling, national trends with similar ballot measures and the lack of coordinated opposition. Missourians have approved minimum wage increases on the ballot twice before by wide margins.&nbsp;“We believe full-time work deserves better than poverty,” said&nbsp;Richard Von Glahn, campaign manager for Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages, “but current minimum wage — that’s what it leads to.”&nbsp;The current minimum wage in Missouri is $12.30, which is equivalent to $492 per week, before taxes.And without sick leave, proponents argue, workers have to choose between their financial and physical wellbeing — going into work sick or losing out on a needed paycheck.“Everybody gets sick. Everybody has a child or someone they care for that gets sick,” Von Glahn said, “But when there’s an unequal ability to care for yourself or care for your family, that is unjust.”Businesses would be required to provide one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to five days per year for small businesses and seven days per year for larger businesses. Small businesses are those with fewer than 15 employees.Some business groups have said the proposal constitutes government overreach in what should be the decisions of business owners.“A business owner’s ability to set their own workplace policies and procedures is really the bedrock on which our free enterprise system is built,” said Kara Corches, interim president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “So this is creating a new mandate for employers in terms of wage as well as paid leave policy, that is really against that principle of ‘let business decide.”“…We want to make sure that Missouri is the most business friendly state in the nation, and we don’t think that this proposition is sending that message,” Corches added.<h2>Sick leave</h2>The ballot measure would make sick leave guaranteed for 728,000 workers who currently lack it statewide, or over 1 in 3 Missouri workers, according to an analysis from the progressive nonprofit the&nbsp;<a href="https://mobudget.org/analysis-min-wage-earned-sick-ballot/#:~:text=Allow%20Workers%20to%20Earn%205%20To%207%20Paid%20Sick%20Days%20Each%20Year&amp;text=An%20estimated%20938%2C000%20Missouri%20workers,access%20to%20paid%20sick%20leave." target="_blank">Missouri Budget Project.</a>Many of those who lack paid sick leave are the lowest earners.“Sick days are very common amongst the highest paid workers, you know, executives, those types of positions,” Von Glahn said, “but particularly in some of the lower wage industries — the industries that we’ve been calling essential for a number of years now — construction, retail, food service, nursing home, childcare workers, they lack access to this.”Employees would be allowed to take the time for mental or physical illness, to take care of a family member, or due to a domestic violence situation, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Elections/Petitions/2024-038.pdf" target="_blank">proposition</a>.Employers could require documentation when a worker takes three or more days off in a row, such as a doctor’s note, but wouldn’t be allowed to require disclosure of detailed health information.Corches said the paid sick leave part of the measure is what “gives us a little more heartburn, just because it’s so nebulous,” and open to interpretation. She pointed specifically to confusion around provisions that would give employees a civil cause of action to sue if employers break the law, and another provision that prohibits employers from retaliation when workers take leave.&nbsp;“Business owners have enough on their plates, just trying to, you know, keep their businesses open, retain and recruit employees, and this nine page new proposition is very complicated and is going to make compliance quite challenging,” Corches said.If the&nbsp;measure&nbsp;passes in Missouri, the paid sick time provision will kick in on May 1, 2025.Ray McCarty, CEO of Associated Industries of Missouri, a business advocacy organization, raised concerns that “you will have people that abuse the system,” meaning those who take sick leave who don’t qualify. McCarty said in some cases employers may need proof of the legitimate absence earlier than three days in, or need to ask for more detailed information.Missouri would join&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/paid-sick-leave-post-pandemic-state-laws/" target="_blank">15 states</a>&nbsp;that require employers to provide paid sick leave. The United States,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldpolicycenter.org/policies/are-workers-entitled-to-paid-sick-leave-from-the-first-day-of-illness" target="_blank">unlike nearly every other country</a>, lacks federal paid sick leave, so states, as well as cities, have taken the lead.&nbsp;In states that have adopted sick leave mandates,&nbsp;employees take, on average, two more sick days a year than prior to the law going into effect, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w26832/w26832.pdf" target="_blank">National Bureau of Economic Research report</a>&nbsp;found.<a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/paid-sick-leave-2023/" target="_blank">S</a><a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/paid-sick-leave-2023/" target="_blank">tudies</a>&nbsp;have found that offering paid sick time can increase workers’ productivity and reduce illness, and generally adds little or nothing to business expenses.Nebraska and Alaska also have paid sick leave on the ballot this year.<h2>Minimum wage</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728643418242.png" alt="Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages prepares for a press conference in May about an initiative petition that seeks to raise the state’s minimum wage (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages prepares for a press conference in May about an initiative petition that seeks to raise the state’s minimum wage (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>The ballot measure also would raise the state’s minimum wage to $13.75 next year and $15 in Jan. 2026.&nbsp;The increase would affect over 562,000 workers in the state,&nbsp;<a href="https://mobudget.org/analysis-min-wage-earned-sick-ballot/#:~:text=Allow%20Workers%20to%20Earn%205%20To%207%20Paid%20Sick%20Days%20Each%20Year&amp;text=An%20estimated%20938%2C000%20Missouri%20workers,access%20to%20paid%20sick%20leave." target="_blank">according to the Missouri Budget Project</a>, or nearly one in every four workers. The minimum wage would be adjusted based on inflation every year after 2026.McCarty said most members in Associated Industries of Missouri already pay at least $15 hourly, though they may not realize the “whole wage scale will slide up,” meaning raising the minimum wage could have spillover effects on other wages, for businesses to remain competitive.&nbsp;He said some employers could go over to Kansas and pay less, so may choose to be based in neighboring states.&nbsp;The&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/08/27/voters-will-decide-minimum-wage-ballot-measures-in-several-states/" target="_blank">states neighboring Missouri</a>&nbsp;already have lower minimum wages, except for Illinois, which is $14 per hour.&nbsp;A coalition of hundreds of businesspeople in the state have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessforafairminimumwage.org/press-release/missouri-business-owners-support-ballot-initiative-regarding-minimum-wage-and-paid#:~:text=Missouri%20Business%20for%20a%20Healthy%20Economy%20is%20a%20new%20and,Charlie%20O'Reilly%2C%20Treasurer." target="_blank">signed on to support the ballot measure,</a>&nbsp;arguing the policies help their bottom line, causing lower employee turnover, increased productivity and better health and safety conditions.Ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage are generally&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/08/27/voters-will-decide-minimum-wage-ballot-measures-in-several-states/" target="_blank">likely to succeed</a>, and have previously succeeded in Missouri, amidst legislative inaction or opposition.Voters approved a minimum-wage hike in&nbsp;<a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Minimum_Wage,_Proposition_B_(2006)" target="_blank">2006</a>, with 75% of the vote, and again in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/elections/results-missouri-elections.html" target="_blank">2018</a>, with 62% of the vote.Advocates have had success with ballot measures as, for years, Republicans in the legislature have voted against or failed to hear proposals to increase the minimum wage, Von Glahn said. In 2017 the legislature passed a&nbsp;<a href="https://house.mo.gov/BillContent.aspx?bill=HB1194&amp;year=2017&amp;code=R" target="_blank">law</a>&nbsp;prohibiting cities from raising the minimum wage beyond that of the state’s,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/07/15/537381154/st-louis-raised-the-minimum-wage-then-missouri-reversed-it" target="_blank">after St. Louis</a>&nbsp;city passed an ordinance to raise the city’s minimum wage.The federal minimum wage has been stagnant, at $7.25, since 2009.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/mw-consolidated" target="_blank">Thirty states</a>, including Missouri, have a minimum wage higher than the federal one.<h2>‘Confident it will pass’</h2>Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages has so far raised over $5 million, according to campaign&nbsp;<a href="https://mec.mo.gov/MEC/Campaign_Finance/CF_SearchLrgContr.aspx" target="_blank">filings</a>.&nbsp;That includes two $1.2 million donations from the D.C.-based Sixteen Thirty Fund, in August and October, a progressive nonprofit that is not required to disclose its donors. Other large donors include Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action and the D.C.-based The Fairness Project.The campaign has purchased over $1.4 million in television ads, slated to begin airing next week, according to Federal Communications Commission filings.The ballot measure would change the state law but not the constitution, meaning the legislature could overturn it, but that is unlikely, McCarty said.&nbsp;“I don’t see any politician in their right mind — if this passes with a high percentage of votes, which we expect it will — I don’t see any politician in their right mind completely repealing the entire law,” he said, citing potential concerns about overturning the will of voters.Corches said the Chamber is focused on the election and would only “start looking at, is it possible to modify this in the Capitol” if it passes.&nbsp;&nbsp;Von Glahn said Prop A will be a test of whether or not the legislature “respects the will of voters.”The St. Louis University/YouGov poll conducted in August&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/29/poll-shows-missouri-voters-back-trump-hawley-abortion-rights-and-minimum-wage-hike/">found</a>&nbsp;the ballot measure had a strong backing, with 57% of those surveyed supporting it.“We feel confident that it will pass next month, but we’re also doing the work,” Von Glahn said. “I mean, we’ve got people out canvassing every day, talking to voters about it.”

Missourians to vote on paid sick leave and minimum wage hike next month

CRAWFORD COUNTY –&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, and the Frontenac Police Department are conducting an investigation into the death of a man from Frontenac, Kansas.

Just before 8:30p.m. Friday, the Frontenac Police Department received a 911 call reporting shots fired. Police officers located the victim, Jonathan D. Brewer, 39, of Frontenac, unconscious at a neighbor’s residence at 803 N Cayuga, in Frontenac, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

EMS arrived and attempted live-saving measures but the victim was pronounced deceased.

Preliminary information indicates Brewer and a neighbor, identified as Michael C. Simpson, 19, of Frontenac, were involved in a dispute. Simpson is suspected of shooting Brewer during the altercation.

Simpson was arrested on requested charges of second-degree murder and then booked into the Crawford County Jail. He is being held without bond, according to online jail records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728780059483.png" alt="Simpson is being held without bond, according to online jail records- photo Crawford County" />
 <figcaption>Simpson is being held without bond, according to online jail records- photo Crawford County</figcaption>
 </figure>CRAWFORD COUNTY –&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, and the Frontenac Police Department are conducting an investigation into the death of a man from Frontenac, Kansas.Just before 8:30p.m. Friday, the Frontenac Police Department received a 911 call reporting shots fired. Police officers located the victim, Jonathan D. Brewer, 39, of Frontenac, unconscious at a neighbor’s residence at 803 N Cayuga, in Frontenac, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.EMS arrived and attempted live-saving measures but the victim was pronounced deceased.Preliminary information indicates Brewer and a neighbor, identified as Michael C. Simpson, 19, of Frontenac, were involved in a dispute. Simpson is suspected of shooting Brewer during the altercation.Simpson was arrested on requested charges of second-degree murder and then booked into the Crawford County Jail. He is being held without bond, according to online jail records.

KBI: Kan. man accused of killing neighbor during dispute

KANSAS CITY– A man was sentenced in federal court this week for leading a drug-trafficking conspiracy and for illegally possessing a firearm.

Serjio Diaz, 40, Belton, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 15 years in federal prison without parole.

On April 9, 2024, Diaz pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, one count of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute, one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and one count of money laundering.

Diaz admitted that he was the primary organizer of a drug-trafficking conspiracy that lasted from Jan. 1, 2019, to June 22, 2021.

The investigation began on March 18, 2019, when federal agents interdicted and seized a package from California that contained more than 4.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, which was addressed to Diaz’s residence. On the same day, federal agents also interdicted and seized a package from California that contained more than three kilograms of methamphetamine, which was addressed to the residence of his brother and co-defendant, Tony Diaz, 41, of Raymore, Mo.

During the course of the investigation, investigators conducted 23 controlled transactions from Serjio and Tony Diaz, utilizing an FBI confidential source. Over the course of these controlled purchases, law enforcement purchased more than seven kilograms of methamphetamine, more than six kilograms of heroin, and 468.6 grams of cocaine from Serjio and Tony Diaz for a total of $243,900.

In one transaction, for example, the confidential source purchased a kilogram of methamphetamine for $9,000 from Tony Diaz. In another instance, the confidential source purchased 222.4 grams (7.5 ounces) of cocaine from Serjio Diaz for $7,000.

On June 22, 2021, law enforcement officers arrested Serjio and Tony Diaz and searched Serjio Diaz’s residences and vehicles. Officers found almost nine kilograms of heroin, 166 grams of cocaine, six bags of pills that contained fentanyl and weighed a total of 78 grams, a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol, and $82,250 in cash.

Officers searched Tony Diaz’s residence and found 1,128 grams of suspected heroin, 28 grams of suspected cocaine, a Zastava Arms 7.62x39mm semi-automatic rifle, a Romarm Cugir 7.62x39mm semi-automatic rifle, and $5,461 in cash in Tony Diaz’s bedroom. Officers also found a Remington Arms .22-caliber rifle in a shed, one pound of suspected marijuana in his Lincoln Navigator SUV, and a Ruger 9mm semi-automatic pistol and 3.4 grams of suspected marijuana in his BMW X5.

From May 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2020, Serjio Diaz deposited 93 money orders, totaling $82,145, into either his personal bank account or the bank account of his business, Imperial Window &amp; Gutter Cleaning, LLC. Serjio Diaz went to multiple post offices on the same date to purchase money orders; 21 of those purchases occurred soon after a controlled drug purchase was made by law enforcement in this investigation. Serjio Diaz limited his purchase to a maximum of $2,000 at each post office in order to avoid federal reporting requirements.

Tony Diaz has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, one count of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute, one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled for Tony Diaz.

Co-defendant Maria Jasmin Lopez, 24, of Phoenix, Arizona, also pleaded guilty to her role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and was sentenced on Aug. 1, 2023, to 10 years and three months in federal prison without parole.

KANSAS CITY– A man was sentenced in federal court this week for leading a drug-trafficking conspiracy and for illegally possessing a firearm.Serjio Diaz, 40, Belton, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 15 years in federal prison without parole.On April 9, 2024, Diaz pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, one count of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute, one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and one count of money laundering.Diaz admitted that he was the primary organizer of a drug-trafficking conspiracy that lasted from Jan. 1, 2019, to June 22, 2021.The investigation began on March 18, 2019, when federal agents interdicted and seized a package from California that contained more than 4.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, which was addressed to Diaz’s residence. On the same day, federal agents also interdicted and seized a package from California that contained more than three kilograms of methamphetamine, which was addressed to the residence of his brother and co-defendant, Tony Diaz, 41, of Raymore, Mo.During the course of the investigation, investigators conducted 23 controlled transactions from Serjio and Tony Diaz, utilizing an FBI confidential source. Over the course of these controlled purchases, law enforcement purchased more than seven kilograms of methamphetamine, more than six kilograms of heroin, and 468.6 grams of cocaine from Serjio and Tony Diaz for a total of $243,900.In one transaction, for example, the confidential source purchased a kilogram of methamphetamine for $9,000 from Tony Diaz. In another instance, the confidential source purchased 222.4 grams (7.5 ounces) of cocaine from Serjio Diaz for $7,000.On June 22, 2021, law enforcement officers arrested Serjio and Tony Diaz and searched Serjio Diaz’s residences and vehicles. Officers found almost nine kilograms of heroin, 166 grams of cocaine, six bags of pills that contained fentanyl and weighed a total of 78 grams, a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol, and $82,250 in cash.Officers searched Tony Diaz’s residence and found 1,128 grams of suspected heroin, 28 grams of suspected cocaine, a Zastava Arms 7.62x39mm semi-automatic rifle, a Romarm Cugir 7.62x39mm semi-automatic rifle, and $5,461 in cash in Tony Diaz’s bedroom. Officers also found a Remington Arms .22-caliber rifle in a shed, one pound of suspected marijuana in his Lincoln Navigator SUV, and a Ruger 9mm semi-automatic pistol and 3.4 grams of suspected marijuana in his BMW X5.From May 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2020, Serjio Diaz deposited 93 money orders, totaling $82,145, into either his personal bank account or the bank account of his business, Imperial Window &amp; Gutter Cleaning, LLC. Serjio Diaz went to multiple post offices on the same date to purchase money orders; 21 of those purchases occurred soon after a controlled drug purchase was made by law enforcement in this investigation. Serjio Diaz limited his purchase to a maximum of $2,000 at each post office in order to avoid federal reporting requirements.Tony Diaz has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, one count of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute, one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled for Tony Diaz.Co-defendant Maria Jasmin Lopez, 24, of Phoenix, Arizona, also pleaded guilty to her role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and was sentenced on Aug. 1, 2023, to 10 years and three months in federal prison without parole.

Suspect in Calif. sent package of meth to Kansas City area man 

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">ARIANA FIGUEROA</a>

WASHINGTON — As the cost and supply of housing remain top issues for voters, both presidential candidates have put forth plans to tackle the crisis, in hopes of courting voters ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

The coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020 exacerbated problems in the housing market, with supply chain disruptions, record-low interest rates and&nbsp; increased demand contributing to a rise in housing prices,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9744473/" target="_blank">according to a study by the Journal of Housing Economics.&nbsp;</a>

While housing is typically handled on the local level, the housing supply is tight and rents continue to skyrocket, putting increased pressure on the federal government to help. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump agree that it’s an issue that needs to be solved, but their solutions diverge.

The Harris and Trump campaigns did not respond to States Newsroom’s requests for details on the general housing proposals the nominees have discussed.

<a href="https://nhc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Harris-Walz-economic-policy-press-release.pdf" target="_blank">Harris’ plan&nbsp;</a>calls for the construction of 3 million homes in four years.

The United States has a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.freddiemac.com/research/insight/20210507-housing-supply" target="_blank">shortage of about 3.8 million homes for sale and rent</a>, according to 2021 estimates from Freddie Mac that are still relied upon.

Additionally,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/reports/files/Harvard_JCHS_Americas_Rental_Housing_2024.pdf" target="_blank">homelessness has hit a record-high of 653,100</a>&nbsp;people since January of last year, and a “record-high 22.4 million renter households spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities,” up from 2 million households since 2019, according to a study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

“This is obviously a multi-prong approach, because the factors contributing to high rents and housing affordability are many, and my plan is to attempt to address many of them at once, so we can actually have the net effect of bringing down the cost and making homeownership, renting more affordable,” Harris said during a September interview with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wpr.org/shows/wisconsin-today-2/vice-president-kamala-harris-veterinary-cooperatives-finding-phantom-towns" target="_blank">Wisconsin Public Radio.&nbsp;</a>

Trump has long opposed building multi-family housing and has instead thrown his support behind single-family zoning, which would exclude other types of housing. Such land-use regulation is conducted by local government bodies, not the federal government, though the federal government could influence it.

“There will be no low-income housing developments built in areas that are right next to your house,” Trump said during an August rally in Montana. “I’m gonna keep criminals out of your neighborhood.”

<a href="https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/09/22/racing-toward-election-day-control-of-u-s-senate-and-house-up-for-grabs/" target="_blank">Election forecasters have predicted</a>&nbsp;that Democrats will regain control of the U.S. House, but Republicans are poised to win the Senate, meaning any housing proposals will have to be overwhelmingly bipartisan.

“How much money is going to really be available without substantial increases in revenue to be able to do all these things that both Trump and Harris are proposing?” Ted Tozer, a non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center, said in an interview with States Newsroom. “All the money comes from Congress.”

Many of Harris’ policies rely on cooperation from Congress, as historically the federal government has limited tools to address housing shortages.

“On the Democratic side, there’s a hunger for more action, for more direct government intervention in the housing market than we’ve seen in a long time,” said Francis Torres, the associate director of housing and infrastructure at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Nearly all proposals that Harris has put forth would require Congress to pass legislation and appropriate funds. The first is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2224/text" target="_blank">S.2224</a>, introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, which would amend U.S. tax code to bar private equity firms from buying homes in bulk by denying “interest and depreciation deductions for taxpayers owning 50 or more single family properties,” according to the bill.

The second bill,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3692/text" target="_blank">S. 3692</a>, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, would bar using algorithms to artificially inflate the cost of rents.

Both bills would need to reach the 60-vote threshold in order to advance in the Senate, whichever party is in control.

Harris has pledged to support first-time homebuyers, but Congress would need to appropriate funds for the $25,000 down payment assistance program she has proposed that would benefit an estimated 4 million first-time homebuyers over four years.

It’s a proposal that’s been met with skepticism.

“I’m really concerned that down payment assistance will actually put more pressure on home prices, because basically, you’re giving people additional cash to pay more for the house that they’re going to bid on,” Tozer said. “So by definition, they get in a bidding war, they’re going to spend more.”

Harris has also proposed a $40 billion innovation fund for local governments to build and create solutions for housing, which would also need congressional approval.

Both candidates support opening some federal lands for housing, which would mean selling the land for construction purposes with the commitment for a certain percentage of the units to be kept for affordable housing.

The federal government<a href="https://www.gao.gov/managing-federal-lands-and-waters" target="_blank">&nbsp;owns about 650 million acres of land</a>, or roughly 30% of all land.

Neither candidate has gone into detail on this proposal.

“I think it’s a sign that at least the Harris campaign and the people in her orbit are thinking about addressing this housing affordability problem really through stronger government action than has happened in several decades,” Torres said.

The biggest tool the federal government has used to address housing is through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, known as LIHTC. Harris has promised to expand this tax credit, but has not gone into detail about how much she wants it expanded.

This program awards tax credits to offset construction costs in exchange for a certain number of rent-restricted units for low-income households. But the restriction is temporary,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.huduser.gov/publications/pdf/what_happens_lihtc_v2.pdf" target="_blank">lasting about 30 years.&nbsp;</a>

There is no similar program for housing meant to be owned.

“It’s an interesting moment, because then on the other side, on the Trump side, even though they diagnosed a lot of the similar problems, there’s not as much of a desire to leverage the strength of the federal government to ensure affordability,” Torres said.

The Trump campaign does not have a housing proposal, but various interviews, rallies and a review of Trump’s first four years in office provide a roadmap.

During Trump’s first administration, many of his HUD budget proposals were not approved by Congress.

In all four of his presidential budget requests, he laid out proposals that would increase rent by 40% for about 4 million low-income households using rental vouchers or for those who lived in public housing, according to an analysis by the left-leaning think tank the<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/trump-administration-budgets-and-programs-for-people-of-limited-means/#housing-and-rental-assistance" target="_blank">&nbsp;Brookings Institution.&nbsp;</a>

All four of Trump’s budgets also called for the elimination of housing programs such as the Community Development Block Grant, which directs funding to local and state governments to rehabilitate and build affordable housing. Trump’s budgets also would have slashed the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, which is a home energy assistance program for low-income families.

Additionally, Trump’s Opportunity Zones authorized through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are tax incentives to businesses and real estate to invest in low-income communities,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/metropolitan-housing-and-communities-policy-center/projects/opportunity-zones" target="_blank">have had mixed results.</a>

<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-trump-interview-transcript/?embedded-checkout=true" target="_blank">In an interview with Bloomberg,</a>&nbsp;Trump said he wanted to focus on reducing regulations in the permitting process.

“Your permits, your permitting process. Your zoning, if — and I went through years of zoning. Zoning is like… it’s a killer,” he said. “But we’ll be doing that, and we’ll be bringing the price of housing down.”

During campaign rallies, Trump has often said he would impose a 10% tariff across the board on all goods entering the U.S. He’s also proposed 60% tariffs on China.

<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/taxes-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">Trump said at a rally in Georgia that tariff</a>&nbsp;is “one of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard.”

Tozer said adding trade policies, such as tariffs on construction materials like lumber, would drive up the cost of homes.

Trump has argued that his plan for mass deportations will help free up the supply of housing. Karoline Leavitt, the Trump national press secretary,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/30/business/economy/housing-plan-harris-trump.html" target="_blank">told the New York Times</a>&nbsp;that deporting immigrants would lower the cost of housing because migration “is driving up housing costs.”

The former president has made&nbsp;<a href="https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2024/09/03/trump-promises-mass-deportations-of-undocumented-people-how-would-that-work/" target="_blank">a core campaign promise</a>&nbsp;to deport millions of immigrants.

Tozer said housing and immigration are tied, because the ability to build houses comes down to workers, and&nbsp;<a href="https://immigrationforum.org/article/immigrant-construction-workers-in-the-united-states/" target="_blank">roughly 30% of construction workers are immigrants.&nbsp;</a>

“By shutting down the border, you’re possibly shutting down your capacity to build these houses,” he said, adding that all those policies are intertwined.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/2/1643731279132.jpg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">ARIANA FIGUEROA</a>WASHINGTON — As the cost and supply of housing remain top issues for voters, both presidential candidates have put forth plans to tackle the crisis, in hopes of courting voters ahead of the Nov. 5 election.The coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020 exacerbated problems in the housing market, with supply chain disruptions, record-low interest rates and&nbsp; increased demand contributing to a rise in housing prices,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9744473/" target="_blank">according to a study by the Journal of Housing Economics.&nbsp;</a>While housing is typically handled on the local level, the housing supply is tight and rents continue to skyrocket, putting increased pressure on the federal government to help. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump agree that it’s an issue that needs to be solved, but their solutions diverge.The Harris and Trump campaigns did not respond to States Newsroom’s requests for details on the general housing proposals the nominees have discussed.<h2>Promise: millions of new homes</h2><a href="https://nhc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Harris-Walz-economic-policy-press-release.pdf" target="_blank">Harris’ plan&nbsp;</a>calls for the construction of 3 million homes in four years.The United States has a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.freddiemac.com/research/insight/20210507-housing-supply" target="_blank">shortage of about 3.8 million homes for sale and rent</a>, according to 2021 estimates from Freddie Mac that are still relied upon.Additionally,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/reports/files/Harvard_JCHS_Americas_Rental_Housing_2024.pdf" target="_blank">homelessness has hit a record-high of 653,100</a>&nbsp;people since January of last year, and a “record-high 22.4 million renter households spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities,” up from 2 million households since 2019, according to a study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.“This is obviously a multi-prong approach, because the factors contributing to high rents and housing affordability are many, and my plan is to attempt to address many of them at once, so we can actually have the net effect of bringing down the cost and making homeownership, renting more affordable,” Harris said during a September interview with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wpr.org/shows/wisconsin-today-2/vice-president-kamala-harris-veterinary-cooperatives-finding-phantom-towns" target="_blank">Wisconsin Public Radio.&nbsp;</a><h2>Promise: single-family zoning</h2>Trump has long opposed building multi-family housing and has instead thrown his support behind single-family zoning, which would exclude other types of housing. Such land-use regulation is conducted by local government bodies, not the federal government, though the federal government could influence it.“There will be no low-income housing developments built in areas that are right next to your house,” Trump said during an August rally in Montana. “I’m gonna keep criminals out of your neighborhood.”<h2>Promise: getting Congress to agree</h2><a href="https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/09/22/racing-toward-election-day-control-of-u-s-senate-and-house-up-for-grabs/" target="_blank">Election forecasters have predicted</a>&nbsp;that Democrats will regain control of the U.S. House, but Republicans are poised to win the Senate, meaning any housing proposals will have to be overwhelmingly bipartisan.“How much money is going to really be available without substantial increases in revenue to be able to do all these things that both Trump and Harris are proposing?” Ted Tozer, a non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center, said in an interview with States Newsroom. “All the money comes from Congress.”Many of Harris’ policies rely on cooperation from Congress, as historically the federal government has limited tools to address housing shortages.“On the Democratic side, there’s a hunger for more action, for more direct government intervention in the housing market than we’ve seen in a long time,” said Francis Torres, the associate director of housing and infrastructure at the Bipartisan Policy Center.Nearly all proposals that Harris has put forth would require Congress to pass legislation and appropriate funds. The first is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2224/text" target="_blank">S.2224</a>, introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, which would amend U.S. tax code to bar private equity firms from buying homes in bulk by denying “interest and depreciation deductions for taxpayers owning 50 or more single family properties,” according to the bill.The second bill,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3692/text" target="_blank">S. 3692</a>, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, would bar using algorithms to artificially inflate the cost of rents.Both bills would need to reach the 60-vote threshold in order to advance in the Senate, whichever party is in control.<h2>Promise: $25,000 down payment assistance</h2>Harris has pledged to support first-time homebuyers, but Congress would need to appropriate funds for the $25,000 down payment assistance program she has proposed that would benefit an estimated 4 million first-time homebuyers over four years.It’s a proposal that’s been met with skepticism.“I’m really concerned that down payment assistance will actually put more pressure on home prices, because basically, you’re giving people additional cash to pay more for the house that they’re going to bid on,” Tozer said. “So by definition, they get in a bidding war, they’re going to spend more.”Harris has also proposed a $40 billion innovation fund for local governments to build and create solutions for housing, which would also need congressional approval.<h2>Promise: opening up federal lands</h2>Both candidates support opening some federal lands for housing, which would mean selling the land for construction purposes with the commitment for a certain percentage of the units to be kept for affordable housing.The federal government<a href="https://www.gao.gov/managing-federal-lands-and-waters" target="_blank">&nbsp;owns about 650 million acres of land</a>, or roughly 30% of all land.Neither candidate has gone into detail on this proposal.“I think it’s a sign that at least the Harris campaign and the people in her orbit are thinking about addressing this housing affordability problem really through stronger government action than has happened in several decades,” Torres said.<h2>Promise: expand tax credits</h2>The biggest tool the federal government has used to address housing is through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, known as LIHTC. Harris has promised to expand this tax credit, but has not gone into detail about how much she wants it expanded.This program awards tax credits to offset construction costs in exchange for a certain number of rent-restricted units for low-income households. But the restriction is temporary,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.huduser.gov/publications/pdf/what_happens_lihtc_v2.pdf" target="_blank">lasting about 30 years.&nbsp;</a>There is no similar program for housing meant to be owned.“It’s an interesting moment, because then on the other side, on the Trump side, even though they diagnosed a lot of the similar problems, there’s not as much of a desire to leverage the strength of the federal government to ensure affordability,” Torres said.<h2>Trump’s record on housing</h2>The Trump campaign does not have a housing proposal, but various interviews, rallies and a review of Trump’s first four years in office provide a roadmap.During Trump’s first administration, many of his HUD budget proposals were not approved by Congress.In all four of his presidential budget requests, he laid out proposals that would increase rent by 40% for about 4 million low-income households using rental vouchers or for those who lived in public housing, according to an analysis by the left-leaning think tank the<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/trump-administration-budgets-and-programs-for-people-of-limited-means/#housing-and-rental-assistance" target="_blank">&nbsp;Brookings Institution.&nbsp;</a>All four of Trump’s budgets also called for the elimination of housing programs such as the Community Development Block Grant, which directs funding to local and state governments to rehabilitate and build affordable housing. Trump’s budgets also would have slashed the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, which is a home energy assistance program for low-income families.Additionally, Trump’s Opportunity Zones authorized through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are tax incentives to businesses and real estate to invest in low-income communities,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/metropolitan-housing-and-communities-policy-center/projects/opportunity-zones" target="_blank">have had mixed results.</a><h2>Promise: cut regulations and add tariffs</h2><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-trump-interview-transcript/?embedded-checkout=true" target="_blank">In an interview with Bloomberg,</a>&nbsp;Trump said he wanted to focus on reducing regulations in the permitting process.“Your permits, your permitting process. Your zoning, if — and I went through years of zoning. Zoning is like… it’s a killer,” he said. “But we’ll be doing that, and we’ll be bringing the price of housing down.”During campaign rallies, Trump has often said he would impose a 10% tariff across the board on all goods entering the U.S. He’s also proposed 60% tariffs on China.<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/taxes-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">Trump said at a rally in Georgia that tariff</a>&nbsp;is “one of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard.”Tozer said adding trade policies, such as tariffs on construction materials like lumber, would drive up the cost of homes.<h2>Promise: deport immigrants</h2>Trump has argued that his plan for mass deportations will help free up the supply of housing. Karoline Leavitt, the Trump national press secretary,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/30/business/economy/housing-plan-harris-trump.html" target="_blank">told the New York Times</a>&nbsp;that deporting immigrants would lower the cost of housing because migration “is driving up housing costs.”The former president has made&nbsp;<a href="https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2024/09/03/trump-promises-mass-deportations-of-undocumented-people-how-would-that-work/" target="_blank">a core campaign promise</a>&nbsp;to deport millions of immigrants.Tozer said housing and immigration are tied, because the ability to build houses comes down to workers, and&nbsp;<a href="https://immigrationforum.org/article/immigrant-construction-workers-in-the-united-states/" target="_blank">roughly 30% of construction workers are immigrants.&nbsp;</a>“By shutting down the border, you’re possibly shutting down your capacity to build these houses,” he said, adding that all those policies are intertwined.

Housing: Where do Harris and Trump stand?

WSU says internal inquiry compels attribution corrections to doctoral paper

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA —&nbsp;Kansas academics point to signs of plagiarism in Wichita State University President Richard Muma’s doctoral dissertation, but there’s a nuanced dispute about consequences for breaking scholarly writing protocol.

<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/07/read-the-evidence-examples-of-copied-material-in-wichita-state-university-presidents-dissertation/">Click here to view&nbsp;</a>some of the evidence

Debate emerged on campuses throughout the state since Monday when Kansas Reflector&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/07/wichita-state-university-presidents-doctoral-dissertation-raises-concerns-of-academic-misconduct/">published an investigation</a>&nbsp;of Muma’s 2004 dissertation that led to awarding of a doctorate by University of Missouri-St. Louis. More than 10 university professors employed outside of WSU told the Reflector that Muma’s use of dozens of passages from journals and books — without quotation marks to fully credit verbatim writing of others — met the definition of plagiarism.

In response, Muma said an internal, confidential review led by WSU administrators concluded he wasn’t guilty of misconduct. However, he said, there were instances in the dissertation where “attribution should have included the use of quotation marks around reuse of text.”&nbsp;The president said he would submit to UMSL a revised version&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/07/wichita-state-university-president-vows-to-fix-attribution-flaws-in-up-to-5-of-dissertation/">correcting attribution in up to 5% of his dissertation.&nbsp;</a>He also said “the matter was closed.”

Elizabeth Heilman, a Wichita State professor of education, said she was skeptical of WSU’s internal analysis of about 50 instances in which Muma borrowed the writing of more than 20 scholars.

“Issues with Muma’s dissertation are not technical omissions as he has stated. The issue raised is plagiarism and research misconduct,” Heilman said.

Chris Dudley, an assistant clinical professor in Wichita State’s physician assistant program, said missing quotation marks in Muma’s dissertation were “definitely a mistake,” but the dissertation contained references that could lead readers to original authors.

“There is a big difference between clerical/grammatical errors and not citing the author,” said Dudley, who graduated from WSU’s physician assistant program in 2008. “Both fall under the definition of plagiarism, but I think we can agree one is way worse than the other.”

Dudley said the Reflector’s reporting “stinks of a witch hunt” as if someone were “trying to tear down the reputation of someone who has worked in health care and who now leads a university brilliantly.”

Muma, who has worked at Wichita State for nearly 30 years, was a tenured professor and chairman of the physician assistant program at WSU when he completed the dissertation. He was promoted to vice president and provost before appointed president in 2020 by the Kansas Board of Regents.

Before publication of the story, Muma said he was confident his dissertation was “original.” He later said the article “raised misrepresentations about the academic integrity” of his dissertation.

The Reflector manually examined Muma’s 88-page dissertation on management of physician assistant programs.&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/07/read-the-evidence-examples-of-copied-material-in-wichita-state-university-presidents-dissertation/">Copies of original articles and books were acquired for line-by-line comparisons to the dissertation.</a>&nbsp;The extent of the copying by Muma led a diverse group of university educators interviewed by the Reflector to the conclusion the dissertation was partially plagiarized.

Dan Hoyt, a professor of English at Kansas State University, said it would be wrong for a college freshman to leave out quotation marks to highlight contributions of other writers. It would be “inexcusable” for someone to make the same mistake in a doctoral dissertation, he said.

“I think you could easily make the case this is plagiarism,” Hoyt said. “It does all kinds of harm to the world of ideas and the world of education.”

Jim Leiker, a history professor at Johnson County Community College, said the scholarly exception made for WSU’s president sent the wrong message to the university’s students. The bottom line, he said, was “we should hold the president of an institution such as WSU to a higher standard than we hold our students.”

Eve Levin, professor emeritus at the University of Kansas, said UMSL should rescind the doctoral degree it awarded to Muma because he produced a dissertation that claimed the words of others as his own.

“If he didn’t know better, he’s unqualified to be a university faculty member, much less a university president,” she said. “If he did know better, but was too sloppy in his research methods, he’s unqualified.&nbsp;If he did know better and deliberately decided to copy other scholars’ words, he’s unqualified.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728665053937.png" alt="Reaction at Wichita State University and other college campuses in Kansas affirms that WSU President Richard Muma improperly copied writing of other scholars in his doctoral dissertation, but differs on consequences for that decision. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Reaction at Wichita State University and other college campuses in Kansas affirms that WSU President Richard Muma improperly copied writing of other scholars in his doctoral dissertation, but differs on consequences for that decision. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>WSU says internal inquiry compels attribution corrections to doctoral paper</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA —&nbsp;Kansas academics point to signs of plagiarism in Wichita State University President Richard Muma’s doctoral dissertation, but there’s a nuanced dispute about consequences for breaking scholarly writing protocol.<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/07/read-the-evidence-examples-of-copied-material-in-wichita-state-university-presidents-dissertation/">Click here to view&nbsp;</a>some of the evidenceDebate emerged on campuses throughout the state since Monday when Kansas Reflector&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/07/wichita-state-university-presidents-doctoral-dissertation-raises-concerns-of-academic-misconduct/">published an investigation</a>&nbsp;of Muma’s 2004 dissertation that led to awarding of a doctorate by University of Missouri-St. Louis. More than 10 university professors employed outside of WSU told the Reflector that Muma’s use of dozens of passages from journals and books — without quotation marks to fully credit verbatim writing of others — met the definition of plagiarism.In response, Muma said an internal, confidential review led by WSU administrators concluded he wasn’t guilty of misconduct. However, he said, there were instances in the dissertation where “attribution should have included the use of quotation marks around reuse of text.”&nbsp;The president said he would submit to UMSL a revised version&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/07/wichita-state-university-president-vows-to-fix-attribution-flaws-in-up-to-5-of-dissertation/">correcting attribution in up to 5% of his dissertation.&nbsp;</a>He also said “the matter was closed.”But that doesn’t satisfy everyone.Elizabeth Heilman, a Wichita State professor of education, said she was skeptical of WSU’s internal analysis of about 50 instances in which Muma borrowed the writing of more than 20 scholars.“Issues with Muma’s dissertation are not technical omissions as he has stated. The issue raised is plagiarism and research misconduct,” Heilman said.Chris Dudley, an assistant clinical professor in Wichita State’s physician assistant program, said missing quotation marks in Muma’s dissertation were “definitely a mistake,” but the dissertation contained references that could lead readers to original authors.“There is a big difference between clerical/grammatical errors and not citing the author,” said Dudley, who graduated from WSU’s physician assistant program in 2008. “Both fall under the definition of plagiarism, but I think we can agree one is way worse than the other.”Dudley said the Reflector’s reporting “stinks of a witch hunt” as if someone were “trying to tear down the reputation of someone who has worked in health care and who now leads a university brilliantly.”Muma, who has worked at Wichita State for nearly 30 years, was a tenured professor and chairman of the physician assistant program at WSU when he completed the dissertation. He was promoted to vice president and provost before appointed president in 2020 by the Kansas Board of Regents.Before publication of the story, Muma said he was confident his dissertation was “original.” He later said the article “raised misrepresentations about the academic integrity” of his dissertation.The Reflector manually examined Muma’s 88-page dissertation on management of physician assistant programs.&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/07/read-the-evidence-examples-of-copied-material-in-wichita-state-university-presidents-dissertation/">Copies of original articles and books were acquired for line-by-line comparisons to the dissertation.</a>&nbsp;The extent of the copying by Muma led a diverse group of university educators interviewed by the Reflector to the conclusion the dissertation was partially plagiarized.Dan Hoyt, a professor of English at Kansas State University, said it would be wrong for a college freshman to leave out quotation marks to highlight contributions of other writers. It would be “inexcusable” for someone to make the same mistake in a doctoral dissertation, he said.“I think you could easily make the case this is plagiarism,” Hoyt said. “It does all kinds of harm to the world of ideas and the world of education.”Jim Leiker, a history professor at Johnson County Community College, said the scholarly exception made for WSU’s president sent the wrong message to the university’s students. The bottom line, he said, was “we should hold the president of an institution such as WSU to a higher standard than we hold our students.”Eve Levin, professor emeritus at the University of Kansas, said UMSL should rescind the doctoral degree it awarded to Muma because he produced a dissertation that claimed the words of others as his own.“If he didn’t know better, he’s unqualified to be a university faculty member, much less a university president,” she said. “If he did know better, but was too sloppy in his research methods, he’s unqualified.&nbsp;If he did know better and deliberately decided to copy other scholars’ words, he’s unqualified.”