SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after a traffic stop.

Just after 11p.m. January 30, a sheriff's deputy with the Shawnee County conducted a traffic stop on a white 2006 Dodge Ram pickup truck in the 1300 block of NW Van Buren Street, according to Shawnee County Sheriff's Deputy Abigail Christian.

It was discovered that the driver had a revoked driver’s license and a warrant for his arrest. The driver ran from the deputy and was taken into custody following a brief foot pursuit.

Trever J. Fanshier, 33, of Hoyt, Kan., was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Possession of an opiate, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant and Interference with law enforcement. Fanshier also had a misdemeanor warrant for a probation violation through Shawnee County.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738360669392.png" alt="Fanshier-photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Fanshier-photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after a traffic stop.Just after 11p.m. January 30, a sheriff's deputy with the Shawnee County conducted a traffic stop on a white 2006 Dodge Ram pickup truck in the 1300 block of NW Van Buren Street, according to Shawnee County Sheriff's Deputy Abigail Christian.It was discovered that the driver had a revoked driver’s license and a warrant for his arrest. The driver ran from the deputy and was taken into custody following a brief foot pursuit.Trever J. Fanshier, 33, of Hoyt, Kan., was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Possession of an opiate, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant and Interference with law enforcement. Fanshier also had a misdemeanor warrant for a probation violation through Shawnee County.

Wanted Kansas drug suspect ran from traffic stop

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Legislation that would cement child support payments for pregnancy-related costs before birth turned into a debate at a hearing Wednesday over whether the bill would establish “fetal personhood” in Kansas law.

<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/hb2062/" target="_blank">House Bill 2062</a>&nbsp;would guarantee mothers child support payments from the moment of conception. But House Democrats questioned at a judiciary committee hearing the real intent of the bill, and opponents speculated it was an attempt to establish fetal personhood, the idea that a fetus, embryo or fertilized egg has the same legal rights as a born person. Fetal personhood bills have taken many&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/07/31/conservatives-push-to-declare-fetuses-as-people-with-far-reaching-consequences/" target="_blank">forms</a>&nbsp;across the country with far-reaching consequences.

The bill would add the following definition to child support-related statutes under the Kansas family law code: “The term ‘unborn child’ means a living individual organism of the species homo sapiens, in utero, at any stage of gestation from fertilization to birth.”

It was written by Kansas Family Voice, an anti-abortion Christian advocacy group that also testified in favor of a gender-affirming care ban for trans youths this week. A nearly identical bill last year died in committee.

This year, eighty-three people submitted written testimony opposed to the bill, and three were in favor.&nbsp;

Pregnancy-related medical costs already can be considered in child support judgments in some cases. Brittany Jones, director of policy and engagement for Kansas Family Voice, told the committee the intent of the bill is to ensure pregnancy-related expenses are always considered.

“This is not a revolutionary bill,” Jones said. “This is not intended to change much of anything besides to make it uniform that courts consider it.”

Rep. Lindsay Vaughn, an Overland Park Democrat said she wasn’t sure of the point of the bill because much of its contents already exist in law.&nbsp;

“In my view, this is creating a new bill that just codifies fetal personhood and, you know, this idea of what an acceptable abortion is,” Vaughn said.&nbsp;

Taylor Morton, a lobbyist with the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, criticized the bill’s lack of “meaningful structure” for miscarriages, stillbirths, abortions and births that result in adoption. The bill also lacked clarity in how paternity would be determined before birth and protocol for how payments would be distributed given pregnancy complications.

“On the surface, this bill appears to be a means of supporting pregnant people and families, but in reality, it is just an attempt to advance an anti-abortion agenda, and again, further codifying that fetal personhood language into Kansas law,” Morton said.&nbsp;

Such language could give way to laws that criminalize or restrict access to health care during pregnancy, Morton said.&nbsp;

Jeanne Gawdun, a lobbyist for the anti-abortion organization Kansans for Life and one of the bill’s proponents, pointed to Kansas Department of Health and Environment data that showed of the roughly 12,500 children born out of wedlock in Kansas, 8,600 people could apply for child support benefits under the proposed legislation. Assuming 10% of those who applied would qualify for pre-birth child support payments, child support services would take on an additional 867 cases per year.&nbsp;

“Many women facing unexpected pregnancies choose abortion because of financial insecurity or uncertain relationship status,” Gawdun said.&nbsp;

This bill could address the financial aspect, she said.

Research has shown bad timing, concern for existing children and interference with future opportunities are also among the top reasons cited for obtaining an abortion.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1738509237585.png" alt="Jeanne Gawdun, a lobbyist for anti-abortion group Kansans for Life, leans to speak with Brittany Jones with Kansas Family Voice on Jan. 29, 2025, during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Jeanne Gawdun, a lobbyist for anti-abortion group Kansans for Life, leans to speak with Brittany Jones with Kansas Family Voice on Jan. 29, 2025, during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Legislation that would cement child support payments for pregnancy-related costs before birth turned into a debate at a hearing Wednesday over whether the bill would establish “fetal personhood” in Kansas law.<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/hb2062/" target="_blank">House Bill 2062</a>&nbsp;would guarantee mothers child support payments from the moment of conception. But House Democrats questioned at a judiciary committee hearing the real intent of the bill, and opponents speculated it was an attempt to establish fetal personhood, the idea that a fetus, embryo or fertilized egg has the same legal rights as a born person. Fetal personhood bills have taken many&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/07/31/conservatives-push-to-declare-fetuses-as-people-with-far-reaching-consequences/" target="_blank">forms</a>&nbsp;across the country with far-reaching consequences.The bill would add the following definition to child support-related statutes under the Kansas family law code: “The term ‘unborn child’ means a living individual organism of the species homo sapiens, in utero, at any stage of gestation from fertilization to birth.”It was written by Kansas Family Voice, an anti-abortion Christian advocacy group that also testified in favor of a gender-affirming care ban for trans youths this week. A nearly identical bill last year died in committee.This year, eighty-three people submitted written testimony opposed to the bill, and three were in favor.&nbsp;Pregnancy-related medical costs already can be considered in child support judgments in some cases. Brittany Jones, director of policy and engagement for Kansas Family Voice, told the committee the intent of the bill is to ensure pregnancy-related expenses are always considered.“This is not a revolutionary bill,” Jones said. “This is not intended to change much of anything besides to make it uniform that courts consider it.”Rep. Lindsay Vaughn, an Overland Park Democrat said she wasn’t sure of the point of the bill because much of its contents already exist in law.&nbsp;“In my view, this is creating a new bill that just codifies fetal personhood and, you know, this idea of what an acceptable abortion is,” Vaughn said.&nbsp;Taylor Morton, a lobbyist with the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, criticized the bill’s lack of “meaningful structure” for miscarriages, stillbirths, abortions and births that result in adoption. The bill also lacked clarity in how paternity would be determined before birth and protocol for how payments would be distributed given pregnancy complications.“On the surface, this bill appears to be a means of supporting pregnant people and families, but in reality, it is just an attempt to advance an anti-abortion agenda, and again, further codifying that fetal personhood language into Kansas law,” Morton said.&nbsp;Such language could give way to laws that criminalize or restrict access to health care during pregnancy, Morton said.&nbsp;Jeanne Gawdun, a lobbyist for the anti-abortion organization Kansans for Life and one of the bill’s proponents, pointed to Kansas Department of Health and Environment data that showed of the roughly 12,500 children born out of wedlock in Kansas, 8,600 people could apply for child support benefits under the proposed legislation. Assuming 10% of those who applied would qualify for pre-birth child support payments, child support services would take on an additional 867 cases per year.&nbsp;“Many women facing unexpected pregnancies choose abortion because of financial insecurity or uncertain relationship status,” Gawdun said.&nbsp;This bill could address the financial aspect, she said.Research has shown bad timing, concern for existing children and interference with future opportunities are also among the top reasons cited for obtaining an abortion.

Kansas bill attempts to establish fetal personhood with child support from conception

Punxsutawney Phil handlers said he has seen his shadow and is predicting six more weeks of wintry weather.&nbsp; Click below to watch the famous groundhog.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1738500732773.png" alt=" Punxsutawney Phil on Sunday morning- image from the video" />
 <figcaption> Punxsutawney Phil on Sunday morning- image from the video</figcaption>
 </figure>Punxsutawney Phil handlers said he has seen his shadow and is predicting six more weeks of wintry weather.&nbsp; Click below to watch the famous groundhog.<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Io374gxgT6E?si=xtOckYSpq8_I_RSf&amp;start=458" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

🎥Groundhog Day 2025: Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating a triple-homicide in Kansas City.

Just before 1a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to a shooting in the 4100 block of NW 65th Street, according to KCPD Captain Jake Becchina.

First responders were directed to a residence there. Inside that home officers located three adult female shooting victims unresponsive.

Officers summoned EMS to the scene who declared all three deceased at the scene.

Detectives and crime scene personnel are processing the scene for evidence and canvassing for witnesses to get a better idea of what led up to the shooting.

This case is being investigated as a homicide and there are no suspects in custody at this time. Police released no additional details early Sunday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1738502088711.png" alt="Photo Sheriff Daryl Forte'" />
 <figcaption>Photo Sheriff Daryl Forte'</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating a triple-homicide in Kansas City.Just before 1a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to a shooting in the 4100 block of NW 65th Street, according to KCPD Captain Jake Becchina.First responders were directed to a residence there. Inside that home officers located three adult female shooting victims unresponsive.Officers summoned EMS to the scene who declared all three deceased at the scene.Detectives and crime scene personnel are processing the scene for evidence and canvassing for witnesses to get a better idea of what led up to the shooting.This case is being investigated as a homicide and there are no suspects in custody at this time. Police released no additional details early Sunday.

Homicide: 3 women found dead in Kansas City home

In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted airstrikes against ISIS-Somalia on Saturday, according to a statement from the&nbsp;U.S. Africa Command.

The command’s initial assessment is that multiple ISIS-Somalia operatives were killed in the airstrikes and no civilians were harmed. U.S. Africa Command takes great measures to prevent civilian harm. Protecting civilians remains a vital part of the command’s operations to promote a more secure and stable Africa.

U.S. Africa Command will continue to assess the results of this operation and will provide additional information as appropriate. Specific details about the operation will not be released in order to ensure continued operations security.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1738433734400.png" alt="Photo released Saturday from U.S. Africa Command" />
 <figcaption>Photo released Saturday from U.S. Africa Command</figcaption>
 </figure>In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted airstrikes against ISIS-Somalia on Saturday, according to a statement from the&nbsp;U.S. Africa Command.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia. These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies. The strikes destroyed the caves they live in,…&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1885740103223648412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The command’s initial assessment is that multiple ISIS-Somalia operatives were killed in the airstrikes and no civilians were harmed. U.S. Africa Command takes great measures to prevent civilian harm. Protecting civilians remains a vital part of the command’s operations to promote a more secure and stable Africa.U.S. Africa Command will continue to assess the results of this operation and will provide additional information as appropriate. Specific details about the operation will not be released in order to ensure continued operations security.

U.S. forces conduct airstrike targeting ISIS in Somalia

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>&nbsp;

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to implement tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China on Saturday, potentially starting off a trade war that would likely lead to price increases on groceries and numerous other products.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing Friday that Trump will place 25% tariffs on goods coming into the United States from Canada and Mexico, and a 10% tariff on imports from China. Tariffs are paid by businesses bringing goods into the United States from other countries and they often pass on the increase in costs to consumers.

“The tariffs are incoming tomorrow on Canada and the reason for that is because both Canada and Mexico have both allowed an unprecedented invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens and also illegal immigrants into our country,” Leavitt said.

Trump hasn’t yet decided if he will later implement tariffs on the European Union, made up of&nbsp;<a href="https://european-union.europa.eu/easy-read_en" target="_blank">27 countries</a>, according to Leavitt.

“I won’t get ahead of the president on tariffs when it comes to the European Union,” she said.

Trump said later Friday from the Oval Office that he wasn’t using the tariffs as a negotiating tool, but as a way to raise revenue for the federal government and bring attention to fentanyl flowing into the country.

“We’re not looking for a concession. We’ll just see what happens,” Trump said.

The new tariffs will be stacked on top of existing tariffs, he said.

Trump said he planned to add additional tariffs at some point on computer chips and “things associated with chips,” oil and gas, steel, aluminum, copper, pharmaceuticals and “all forms of medicine.”

Trump said he will likely implement the oil and gas tariffs on Feb. 18, but didn’t provide dates for the other tariffs.

Trump brushed aside a question about how tariffs would impact prices, saying he was elected to reduce inflation. He said he wasn’t concerned about the stock market’s reaction on Friday afternoon to the impending tariffs.&nbsp;

Many economists, including those at conservative think tanks, like the American Enterprise Institute, have warned against broadly applying tariffs in this way.

Phil Gramm, former Republican chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and nonresident senior fellow at AEI, and Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary during the Clinton administration,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-letter-to-trump-from-economists-tariffs-policy-protectionism-economy-9a063b69?mod=opinion_lead_pos5" target="_blank">wrote an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal</a>&nbsp;on Thursday urging Trump not to implement tariffs.

“Our united opposition to non-defense-related tariffs is based not on our faith in free trade but on evidence that tariffs are harmful to the economy,” they wrote.

“Protective tariffs distort domestic production by inducing domestic producers to commit labor and capital to produce goods and services that could have been acquired more cheaply on the international market,” Gramm and Summers wrote. “That labor and capital are in turn diverted from producing goods and services that couldn’t be acquired more cheaply internationally. In the process, productivity, wages and economic growth fall while prices rise. Tariffs and the retaliation they bring also poison our economic and security alliances.”

Leavitt said during the press briefing that only Trump could decide whether he would eventually lift or alter the tariffs, while brushing aside the potential impacts to the U.S. economy.&nbsp;

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service writes on its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/chart-detail?chartId=58394" target="_blank">website</a>&nbsp;that Canada and Mexico “are the United States’ first and third largest suppliers of agricultural products (averaging $30.9 billion and $25.5 billion in 2017–21, respectively).

“Mexico supplied the United States with 31 percent of imported horticultural products including fruit, vegetables, and alcoholic beverages. Canada is also a source of horticultural products, as well as grains, and meats.”

The Office of the United States Trade Representative writes on its&nbsp;<a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/china-mongolia-taiwan/peoples-republic-china" target="_blank">website</a>&nbsp;that the U.S. imported $562.9 billion worth of goods from China during 2022.

U.S. agricultural exports to China, which could be impacted by retaliatory tariffs, totaled $36.4 billion during fiscal year 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/record-us-fy-2022-agricultural-exports-china" target="_blank">according to&nbsp;</a>the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.&nbsp;

“U.S. exports have returned to trend growth experienced since the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in the last 2 years the United States has witnessed record export values to China for soybeans, corn, beef, chicken meat, tree nuts, and sorghum. Cotton exports to China have also rebounded, propelled by strong demand. All these products are major contributors to the U.S. farm economy.”

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>&nbsp;WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to implement tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China on Saturday, potentially starting off a trade war that would likely lead to price increases on groceries and numerous other products.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">“We need to protect Americans, and it is my duty as President to ensure the safety of all. I made a promise on my Campaign to stop the flood of illegal aliens and drugs from pouring across our Borders, and Americans overwhelmingly voted in favor of it.” –President Trump <a href="https://t.co/rJ9opLBJzr">pic.twitter.com/rJ9opLBJzr</a>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1885833185012896054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing Friday that Trump will place 25% tariffs on goods coming into the United States from Canada and Mexico, and a 10% tariff on imports from China. Tariffs are paid by businesses bringing goods into the United States from other countries and they often pass on the increase in costs to consumers.“The tariffs are incoming tomorrow on Canada and the reason for that is because both Canada and Mexico have both allowed an unprecedented invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens and also illegal immigrants into our country,” Leavitt said.Trump hasn’t yet decided if he will later implement tariffs on the European Union, made up of&nbsp;<a href="https://european-union.europa.eu/easy-read_en" target="_blank">27 countries</a>, according to Leavitt.“I won’t get ahead of the president on tariffs when it comes to the European Union,” she said.Trump said later Friday from the Oval Office that he wasn’t using the tariffs as a negotiating tool, but as a way to raise revenue for the federal government and bring attention to fentanyl flowing into the country.“We’re not looking for a concession. We’ll just see what happens,” Trump said.The new tariffs will be stacked on top of existing tariffs, he said.Trump said he planned to add additional tariffs at some point on computer chips and “things associated with chips,” oil and gas, steel, aluminum, copper, pharmaceuticals and “all forms of medicine.”Trump said he will likely implement the oil and gas tariffs on Feb. 18, but didn’t provide dates for the other tariffs.Trump brushed aside a question about how tariffs would impact prices, saying he was elected to reduce inflation. He said he wasn’t concerned about the stock market’s reaction on Friday afternoon to the impending tariffs.&nbsp;Many economists, including those at conservative think tanks, like the American Enterprise Institute, have warned against broadly applying tariffs in this way.Phil Gramm, former Republican chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and nonresident senior fellow at AEI, and Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary during the Clinton administration,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-letter-to-trump-from-economists-tariffs-policy-protectionism-economy-9a063b69?mod=opinion_lead_pos5" target="_blank">wrote an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal</a>&nbsp;on Thursday urging Trump not to implement tariffs.“Our united opposition to non-defense-related tariffs is based not on our faith in free trade but on evidence that tariffs are harmful to the economy,” they wrote.“Protective tariffs distort domestic production by inducing domestic producers to commit labor and capital to produce goods and services that could have been acquired more cheaply on the international market,” Gramm and Summers wrote. “That labor and capital are in turn diverted from producing goods and services that couldn’t be acquired more cheaply internationally. In the process, productivity, wages and economic growth fall while prices rise. Tariffs and the retaliation they bring also poison our economic and security alliances.”Leavitt said during the press briefing that only Trump could decide whether he would eventually lift or alter the tariffs, while brushing aside the potential impacts to the U.S. economy.&nbsp;The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service writes on its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/chart-detail?chartId=58394" target="_blank">website</a>&nbsp;that Canada and Mexico “are the United States’ first and third largest suppliers of agricultural products (averaging $30.9 billion and $25.5 billion in 2017–21, respectively).“Mexico supplied the United States with 31 percent of imported horticultural products including fruit, vegetables, and alcoholic beverages. Canada is also a source of horticultural products, as well as grains, and meats.”The Office of the United States Trade Representative writes on its&nbsp;<a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/china-mongolia-taiwan/peoples-republic-china" target="_blank">website</a>&nbsp;that the U.S. imported $562.9 billion worth of goods from China during 2022.U.S. agricultural exports to China, which could be impacted by retaliatory tariffs, totaled $36.4 billion during fiscal year 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/record-us-fy-2022-agricultural-exports-china" target="_blank">according to&nbsp;</a>the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.&nbsp;“U.S. exports have returned to trend growth experienced since the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in the last 2 years the United States has witnessed record export values to China for soybeans, corn, beef, chicken meat, tree nuts, and sorghum. Cotton exports to China have also rebounded, propelled by strong demand. All these products are major contributors to the U.S. farm economy.”

White House announces tariffs on products from Canada, Mexico, China

GEARY COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a deadly shooting in Junction City and have made an arrest.

Just before 1p.m. Saturday, police were dispatched to a shooting the 900 block of Kramer Court in Junction City, according to a media release. 

First responders located a victim later identified as 22-year-old Carron D. Carter of Junction City, suffering from a gunshot wound.

He was transported to Stormont Vail Flint Hills, where he was later pronounced deceased. 

&nbsp;An autopsy is scheduled for later this week .Following an investigation, officers arrested Jonathan M. Lee, a 27-year-old male from Fort Riley, in connection with the incident. 

Lee was transported to the Geary County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond on requested charge of First-Degree Murder.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1738460887904.png" alt="Lee-photo Geary County" />
 <figcaption>Lee-photo Geary County</figcaption>
 </figure>GEARY COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a deadly shooting in Junction City and have made an arrest.Just before 1p.m. Saturday, police were dispatched to a shooting the 900 block of Kramer Court in Junction City, according to a media release. First responders located a victim later identified as 22-year-old Carron D. Carter of Junction City, suffering from a gunshot wound.He was transported to Stormont Vail Flint Hills, where he was later pronounced deceased. &nbsp;An autopsy is scheduled for later this week .Following an investigation, officers arrested Jonathan M. Lee, a 27-year-old male from Fort Riley, in connection with the incident. Lee was transported to the Geary County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond on requested charge of First-Degree Murder..

Suspect accused of killing 22-year-old in Junction City

&nbsp;JACKSON COUNTY, Kan.—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on drug allegaions.

Just before midnight January 25, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2000 Toyota Corolla on U.S. Hwy 75, near 118th Road, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

&nbsp; During the traffic stop, a Police Service Dog (PSD) Duke was deployed to conduct a free-air sniff of the vehicle.&nbsp; Duke alerted and indicated to the odor of illegal narcotics in the vehicle.&nbsp; During a search of the vehicle, methamphetamine, THC, &amp; drug paraphernalia were located.

The driver, Kaley Rae Lindberg, 32, of Topeka, was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of THC, possession of drug paraphernalia and violations of driver’s license restrictions.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738165796421.png" alt="Lindberg photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Lindberg photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;JACKSON COUNTY, Kan.—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on drug allegaions.Just before midnight January 25, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2000 Toyota Corolla on U.S. Hwy 75, near 118th Road, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.&nbsp; During the traffic stop, a Police Service Dog (PSD) Duke was deployed to conduct a free-air sniff of the vehicle.&nbsp; Duke alerted and indicated to the odor of illegal narcotics in the vehicle.&nbsp; During a search of the vehicle, methamphetamine, THC, &amp; drug paraphernalia were located.The driver, Kaley Rae Lindberg, 32, of Topeka, was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of THC, possession of drug paraphernalia and violations of driver’s license restrictions.

Sheriff's K9 helped catch Kansas woman transporting drugs

Investigators are seeking clues into this week's deadly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">midair collision</a>&nbsp;the deadliest aviation disaster in the U.S. almost a quarter century.&nbsp; The U.S. Department of Transportation and National Transportation Safety Board provided updates on Saturday afternoon.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-62adba7fb1f546b4cf1716e42b86482b">The collision</a>&nbsp;between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C, late Wednesday killed 67 people, including more than a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-helicopter-jet-crash-figure-skaters-391a4c7bd0e617a08d9532a8faab206b">dozen figure skaters</a>.

Investigators are seeking clues into this week's deadly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-aircraft-crash-9d79051a9e535bd855df5a4e5553b2e9">midair collision</a>&nbsp;the deadliest aviation disaster in the U.S. almost a quarter century.&nbsp; The U.S. Department of Transportation and National Transportation Safety Board provided updates on Saturday afternoon.<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6WzoEb0m8x4?si=jr_VkfzkxoEajZEA&amp;start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">My update on the crashes near Reagan National Airport and in Philadelphia: <a href="https://t.co/WZgDtcuHJ4">pic.twitter.com/WZgDtcuHJ4</a>&mdash; Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDuffy/status/1885796425436389862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-62adba7fb1f546b4cf1716e42b86482b">The collision</a>&nbsp;between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C, late Wednesday killed 67 people, including more than a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-helicopter-jet-crash-figure-skaters-391a4c7bd0e617a08d9532a8faab206b">dozen figure skaters</a>.

🎥 NTSB and USDOT update investigation of deadly mid-air collision

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement continue asking for the public’s assistance in locating 39-year-old Jason Keith, a homeless man believed to have stolen a firearm from a Kansas City, Kansas retailer, according to a media release from the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.

On January 10, video surveillance at the Bass Pro Shop, 10300 Cabela Drive in Kansas City, Kansas, captured Keith taking a firearm and walking out of the store with it concealed in a tan, backpack-style rifle bag.

 He then boarded a Metro Bus and was last seen in the area or 12th and Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Keith is described as a white male, blue eyes, 5-foot-9 and 135 pounds. He was wearing a green utility jacket, black hooded sweatshirt, blue pants, a beanie, and neon-colored athletic shoes with black laces on the left shoe and yellow laces on the right shoe. 

While Keith is believed to be homeless, his last known address was in Peculiar, Missouri.

If you believe you have seen Keith, or know of his whereabouts, please call 911 or the CrimeStoppers Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1736686363226.png" alt="Photos KCK Police" />
 <figcaption>Photos KCK Police</figcaption>
 </figure>WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement continue asking for the public’s assistance in locating 39-year-old Jason Keith, a homeless man believed to have stolen a firearm from a Kansas City, Kansas retailer, according to a media release from the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.On January 10, video surveillance at the Bass Pro Shop, 10300 Cabela Drive in Kansas City, Kansas, captured Keith taking a firearm and walking out of the store with it concealed in a tan, backpack-style rifle bag. He then boarded a Metro Bus and was last seen in the area or 12th and Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Keith is described as a white male, blue eyes, 5-foot-9 and 135 pounds. He was wearing a green utility jacket, black hooded sweatshirt, blue pants, a beanie, and neon-colored athletic shoes with black laces on the left shoe and yellow laces on the right shoe. While Keith is believed to be homeless, his last known address was in Peculiar, Missouri.If you believe you have seen Keith, or know of his whereabouts, please call 911 or the CrimeStoppers Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

Search continues for suspect who stole firearm from Bass Pro Shop

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

A Jackson County judge previously allowed certain regulations, such as mandatory pelvic exams for medical abortion, to remain in place

Nearly two months after<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/12/05/abortion-lawsuit-planned-parenthood-amendment-3-missouri-jackson-county/">&nbsp;a voter-approved constitutional amendment legalizing abortion</a>&nbsp;went into effect, the procedure remains inaccessible in Missouri.&nbsp;

On Friday, a Jackson County judge heard arguments over whether to grant an injunction requested by Planned Parenthood that would permit the organization to offer abortion services almost immediately.&nbsp;

Last month, Jackson County Judge Jerri Zhang&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/12/20/missouri-amendment-3-abortion-regulations-trap-laws/">struck down a number of “targeted regulation of abortion provider” statutes,</a>&nbsp;better known as TRAP laws.&nbsp;

Laws mandating a 72-hour waiting period for an abortion and a requirement that physicians performing the procedure have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals were put on hold.&nbsp;

But other regulations the judge allowed to remain — such as state licensing requirements and a mandate to receive a pelvic exam before being prescribed the pill used in medication abortion — have left clinics unable to perform the procedure in Missouri.

On Friday afternoon, Zhang again listened to arguments from Planned Parenthood and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office during the hearing in downtown Kansas City.&nbsp;

“We have still not been able to restore abortion access in Missouri,” Eleanor Spottswood, an attorney with Planned Parenthood, argued Friday.

Zhang asked how Planned Parenthood clinics would be regulated if she were to strike down the current licensing requirements from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Spottswood said that like other outpatient practices, the facility would not require a license, but the providers would need to meet their own professional licensing requirements through the Missouri Board of Healing Arts.&nbsp;

Planned Parenthood is currently held to a much higher threshold of regulations, she said.

Pottswood said if the judge strikes down the remaining TRAP laws, it’s Planned Parenthood’s intention to offer medication abortions at all nine clinics across the state within a week The organization hopes it can hire and train the necessary staff to also begin performing surgical abortions at its clinics in St. Louis and Kansas City.&nbsp;

The state previously asked that the case be dismissed, arguing that because abortion is still accessible by mail or by leaving the state, Planned Parenthood didn’t have the standing to ask for a temporary ruling.

Much of Friday’s hearing revolved around pelvic exams, which Planned Parenthood’s attorneys maintained are “invasive and unnecessary” ahead of prescribing abortion medication. Instead, Pottswood said, the clinics use other methods to determine if the pregnancy is at risk of being ectopic, meaning the fertilized egg has implanted itself outside the uterus.&nbsp;

Taking abortion medication to end an ectopic pregnancy can be dangerous.

Missouri Solicitor General Joshua Divine argued that pelvic exams ahead of any procedure are “routine care,” and should remain in place.&nbsp;

Zhang asked if hospitals can perform abortions following passage of Amendment 3 last year, seemingly attempting to determine whether the current pelvic exam law is discriminatory against abortion clinics or if it would also be required at hospitals.&nbsp;

Pottswood said they presumably can, but a question remains of whether any will. Divine agreed that while he believes hospitals can now provide abortions, it is “very, very rare” that they do so in Missouri … so there’s not much need to regulate.”

Without a broader injunction, Pottswood argued, “the state will enforce the law in the most obstructive way possible” and “treat abortion providers differently and worse than other providers.”&nbsp;

This interferes with patients rights, she said, which is in violation of&nbsp;<a href="https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Missourians-for-Constitutional-Freedom-Amendment.pdf" target="_blank">Amendment 3, which states in part&nbsp;</a>that “the right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the government demonstrates that such action is justifiable by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”&nbsp;

A decade ago, more than 5,000 abortions were performed in Missouri, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. By 2020, when abortions were still legal, that number fell to 167, a drop that abortion providers attributed to the state’s growing list of regulations.

Divine questioned why the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis hadn’t reapplied for a license, since they were the only clinic in the state that still met licensing requirements when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. He called the lack of access a “purely self-inflicted injury.”

Missouri’s trigger law banning all abortions with limited exceptions for medical emergencies went into effect the same day, ending the procedure at the St. Louis clinic.

Assuming that the state would grant the license, Pottswood said by limiting patients’ choices to one clinic in the state, “the licensing law inserts the state between the patient and the provider.”

The hearing, which lasted four hours, also discussed the state’s continued objection to the Jackson County prosecutor, formerly Jean Peters Baker and currently Melesa Johnson, being named as the defendants representing all county prosecutors in the case.&nbsp;

The attorney general’s office argues Johnson, who was endorsed by the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood, does not appropriately represent all statewide prosecutors.

Zhang previously denied the state’s request to remove the Jackson County prosecutor as a representative for the defendant class and move the case to Cole County, where last summer a judge attempted to strike the abortion-rights amendment from the ballot.&nbsp;

On Friday, the prosecutors from Wright, Texas, Franklin and Saline counties showed up in court to continue to object, arguing that because there isn’t a Planned Parenthood clinic in any of their counties, all county prosecutors shouldn’t necessarily be a party in the case.&nbsp;

Zhang said her concern centers around the possibility that residents in any county could be prescribed abortion medication at a clinic before returning to their home counties. She also noted that three of the four counties have emergency rooms where women experiencing any abortion complications could be admitted.

“There could be a risk of prosecution across the state because of telemedicine,” she said.

No specific examples of what cases could be prosecuted were entertained. Tyrrell added that if he did prosecute an abortion case, he was confident he’d quickly find himself again sitting across from Planned Parenthood in a courtroom.

“I won’t swear I won’t and I won’t swear I will prosecute,” Wright County ProsecutorJohn Tyrrell told Zhang. “ … but the likelihood is very, very low.”

Zhang gave both parties one week to file additional briefings. Her decision is expected after that. The bench trial, at which point the judge will make a permanent ruling, has been set for January 2026.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1738417012018.png" alt="A recovery room at the Planned Parenthood Great Plains office is pictured on June 21, 2024, in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>A recovery room at the Planned Parenthood Great Plains office is pictured on June 21, 2024, in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a><h2>A Jackson County judge previously allowed certain regulations, such as mandatory pelvic exams for medical abortion, to remain in place</h2>Nearly two months after<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/12/05/abortion-lawsuit-planned-parenthood-amendment-3-missouri-jackson-county/">&nbsp;a voter-approved constitutional amendment legalizing abortion</a>&nbsp;went into effect, the procedure remains inaccessible in Missouri.&nbsp;On Friday, a Jackson County judge heard arguments over whether to grant an injunction requested by Planned Parenthood that would permit the organization to offer abortion services almost immediately.&nbsp;Last month, Jackson County Judge Jerri Zhang&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/12/20/missouri-amendment-3-abortion-regulations-trap-laws/">struck down a number of “targeted regulation of abortion provider” statutes,</a>&nbsp;better known as TRAP laws.&nbsp;Laws mandating a 72-hour waiting period for an abortion and a requirement that physicians performing the procedure have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals were put on hold.&nbsp;But other regulations the judge allowed to remain — such as state licensing requirements and a mandate to receive a pelvic exam before being prescribed the pill used in medication abortion — have left clinics unable to perform the procedure in Missouri.On Friday afternoon, Zhang again listened to arguments from Planned Parenthood and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office during the hearing in downtown Kansas City.&nbsp;“We have still not been able to restore abortion access in Missouri,” Eleanor Spottswood, an attorney with Planned Parenthood, argued Friday.Zhang asked how Planned Parenthood clinics would be regulated if she were to strike down the current licensing requirements from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Spottswood said that like other outpatient practices, the facility would not require a license, but the providers would need to meet their own professional licensing requirements through the Missouri Board of Healing Arts.&nbsp;Planned Parenthood is currently held to a much higher threshold of regulations, she said.Pottswood said if the judge strikes down the remaining TRAP laws, it’s Planned Parenthood’s intention to offer medication abortions at all nine clinics across the state within a week The organization hopes it can hire and train the necessary staff to also begin performing surgical abortions at its clinics in St. Louis and Kansas City.&nbsp;The state previously asked that the case be dismissed, arguing that because abortion is still accessible by mail or by leaving the state, Planned Parenthood didn’t have the standing to ask for a temporary ruling.Much of Friday’s hearing revolved around pelvic exams, which Planned Parenthood’s attorneys maintained are “invasive and unnecessary” ahead of prescribing abortion medication. Instead, Pottswood said, the clinics use other methods to determine if the pregnancy is at risk of being ectopic, meaning the fertilized egg has implanted itself outside the uterus.&nbsp;Taking abortion medication to end an ectopic pregnancy can be dangerous.Missouri Solicitor General Joshua Divine argued that pelvic exams ahead of any procedure are “routine care,” and should remain in place.&nbsp;Zhang asked if hospitals can perform abortions following passage of Amendment 3 last year, seemingly attempting to determine whether the current pelvic exam law is discriminatory against abortion clinics or if it would also be required at hospitals.&nbsp;Pottswood said they presumably can, but a question remains of whether any will. Divine agreed that while he believes hospitals can now provide abortions, it is “very, very rare” that they do so in Missouri … so there’s not much need to regulate.”Without a broader injunction, Pottswood argued, “the state will enforce the law in the most obstructive way possible” and “treat abortion providers differently and worse than other providers.”&nbsp;This interferes with patients rights, she said, which is in violation of&nbsp;<a href="https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Missourians-for-Constitutional-Freedom-Amendment.pdf" target="_blank">Amendment 3, which states in part&nbsp;</a>that “the right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the government demonstrates that such action is justifiable by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”&nbsp;A decade ago, more than 5,000 abortions were performed in Missouri, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. By 2020, when abortions were still legal, that number fell to 167, a drop that abortion providers attributed to the state’s growing list of regulations.Divine questioned why the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis hadn’t reapplied for a license, since they were the only clinic in the state that still met licensing requirements when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. He called the lack of access a “purely self-inflicted injury.”Missouri’s trigger law banning all abortions with limited exceptions for medical emergencies went into effect the same day, ending the procedure at the St. Louis clinic.Assuming that the state would grant the license, Pottswood said by limiting patients’ choices to one clinic in the state, “the licensing law inserts the state between the patient and the provider.”The hearing, which lasted four hours, also discussed the state’s continued objection to the Jackson County prosecutor, formerly Jean Peters Baker and currently Melesa Johnson, being named as the defendants representing all county prosecutors in the case.&nbsp;The attorney general’s office argues Johnson, who was endorsed by the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood, does not appropriately represent all statewide prosecutors.Zhang previously denied the state’s request to remove the Jackson County prosecutor as a representative for the defendant class and move the case to Cole County, where last summer a judge attempted to strike the abortion-rights amendment from the ballot.&nbsp;On Friday, the prosecutors from Wright, Texas, Franklin and Saline counties showed up in court to continue to object, arguing that because there isn’t a Planned Parenthood clinic in any of their counties, all county prosecutors shouldn’t necessarily be a party in the case.&nbsp;Zhang said her concern centers around the possibility that residents in any county could be prescribed abortion medication at a clinic before returning to their home counties. She also noted that three of the four counties have emergency rooms where women experiencing any abortion complications could be admitted.“There could be a risk of prosecution across the state because of telemedicine,” she said.No specific examples of what cases could be prosecuted were entertained. Tyrrell added that if he did prosecute an abortion case, he was confident he’d quickly find himself again sitting across from Planned Parenthood in a courtroom.“I won’t swear I won’t and I won’t swear I will prosecute,” Wright County ProsecutorJohn Tyrrell told Zhang. “ … but the likelihood is very, very low.”Zhang gave both parties one week to file additional briefings. Her decision is expected after that. The bench trial, at which point the judge will make a permanent ruling, has been set for January 2026.

Planned Parenthood asks judge to block remaining Missouri abortion regulations

MILLER COUNTY —Two people died in an accident just after 1p.m. Friday in Miller County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Ford F150 driven by a 74-year-old Iberia man was eastbound on Route BB just before Hackberry Road. The driver failed to negotiate a curve.&nbsp; The pickup traveled off the right side of the road, struck a tree and overturned.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. A 65-year-old female passenger was pronounced dead at Lake Regional Hospital. The driver was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol no longer releases the identity of accident victims.

MILLER COUNTY —Two people died in an accident just after 1p.m. Friday in Miller County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Ford F150 driven by a 74-year-old Iberia man was eastbound on Route BB just before Hackberry Road. The driver failed to negotiate a curve.&nbsp; The pickup traveled off the right side of the road, struck a tree and overturned.The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. A 65-year-old female passenger was pronounced dead at Lake Regional Hospital. The driver was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP.The Missouri State Highway Patrol no longer releases the identity of accident victims.

Mo. man and woman dead after pickup strikes a tree, overturns

POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY —One person died in an accident just before 9p.m. Friday in Pottawatomie County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a westbound train in the&nbsp;100 Block of North 1st Street in Saint Marys struck a pedestrian identified as&nbsp; 45-year-old Virginia Marie Enockson of St. Marys. She was standing on the tracks facing southbound at the time of the incident.

Enockson was pronounced dead at the scene and was later transported to&nbsp; Piper Funeral Home.&nbsp;&nbsp;

POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY —One person died in an accident just before 9p.m. Friday in Pottawatomie County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a westbound train in the&nbsp;100 Block of North 1st Street in Saint Marys struck a pedestrian identified as&nbsp; 45-year-old Virginia Marie Enockson of St. Marys. She was standing on the tracks facing southbound at the time of the incident.Enockson was pronounced dead at the scene and was later transported to&nbsp; Piper Funeral Home.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Kansas woman dies after struck by a train

DICKINSON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a Kansas felon on new allegations after a drug bust at a residence in Dickinson County.

On Thursday, the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office Drug Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant in relation to a narcotics investigation, at a residence in the 200 Block of West 6th Street in Chapman, according to a media release from the sheriff.

The Chapman Police Department and Junction City Police Department assisted in the execution of the search warrant. While conducting the search warrant, deputies located Methamphetamine, Drug Paraphernalia and firearms.

As a result of the investigation, Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office Deputies arrested 40-year-old James Angelo Demaroney III of Milford and booked him into the Dickinson County Detention Facility on requested charges Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Possession of Paraphernalia with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Criminal Possession of Weapon by Convicted Felon and Defacing Identification Marks on Firearm.&nbsp; He has four previous drug convictions in Geary County, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738352660216.png" alt="Demaroney photo Dickinson County" />
 <figcaption>Demaroney photo Dickinson County</figcaption>
 </figure>DICKINSON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a Kansas felon on new allegations after a drug bust at a residence in Dickinson County.On Thursday, the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office Drug Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant in relation to a narcotics investigation, at a residence in the 200 Block of West 6th Street in Chapman, according to a media release from the sheriff.The Chapman Police Department and Junction City Police Department assisted in the execution of the search warrant. While conducting the search warrant, deputies located Methamphetamine, Drug Paraphernalia and firearms.As a result of the investigation, Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office Deputies arrested 40-year-old James Angelo Demaroney III of Milford and booked him into the Dickinson County Detention Facility on requested charges Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Possession of Paraphernalia with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Criminal Possession of Weapon by Convicted Felon and Defacing Identification Marks on Firearm.&nbsp; He has four previous drug convictions in Geary County, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Sheriff: Kansas felon accused of selling meth

People languish for an average of 14 months in jail before receiving the mental health treatment that could allow them to stand trial

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>

For nearly a year and a half, a woman has been languishing in Greene County jail, waiting to be transferred to a state mental health facility.

The woman was charged with a misdemeanor, found incompetent to stand trial and ordered by the court into state-run psychiatric treatment, Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott told The Independent.

She’s been waiting there for a Missouri Department of Mental Health bed to open up for almost 450 days, Arnott said.

Had she been convicted of the misdemeanor, Arnott said, the maximum sentence would have been 1 year. She would have gotten out in November.

“[The Department of Mental Health’s] main priority should be, how can we get people into beds quicker,” Arnott said, adding: “Quicker than a year and a half, which is absolutely an injustice.”&nbsp;

“These are people who are mentally ill,” he added. “That’s the only reason they’re in here.”

There are 418 Missourians across the state on a waiting list for a mental health bed, up from around&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/21/mental-health-jail-waitlist/">300 at this time last year.&nbsp;</a>

These are people who were arrested, found incompetent to stand trial and ordered into mental health treatment designed to allow them to have their day in court — a process called competency restoration that generally includes therapy and medication.

The average time these individuals wait in jail before receiving treatment is 14 months, according to department data.

Efforts to remedy the problem in the 2023 legislative session, including through a pilot program and increasing outpatient competency restoration, have been slow to get off the ground.&nbsp;

Greene County, which was included in the pilot program, decided not to participate. Clay County’s program was in operation for just three weeks last year before staff turnover put it on pause.&nbsp;

Only three people are currently enrolled in the jail-based treatment pilot program statewide, according to Debra Walker, a spokesperson for the state's Department of Mental Health. And only one person is currently in the outpatient treatment program.

Walker said the agency is working on solutions but “none of them will impact the numbers quickly.”

Last year, Department of Mental Health Director Valerie Huhn&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/02/07/missouri-chief-justice-calls-for-action-as-hundreds-wait-in-jails-for-mental-health-services/">t</a><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/02/07/missouri-chief-justice-calls-for-action-as-hundreds-wait-in-jails-for-mental-health-services/">old the House budget committee the problem would get much worse before it gets better.&nbsp;</a>

“It’s probably going to be 1,000 individuals,” Huhn said, “long before we’re at 100 individuals.”

‘Deprives them of humanity’&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Mary Fox, the director of the Missouri State Public Defender system, said the wait times for mental health treatment are the worst she’s seen. She has been going to courthouses throughout the state trying to get some of the cases dismissed.

Public defenders have identified at least 12 cases of individuals in Missouri being held longer than their maximum sentences would have been, Fox said, without receiving competency restoration.

“It's gotten so bad that people aren't getting any treatment within the time period of when their case should be over and done with,” Fox said.

One client was having paranoid delusions and called the police himself, convinced he was being watched. The police then arrested him because his license plate was expired and because he didn’t stop driving when they put on their lights.&nbsp;

Fox said he’s waited in jail for longer than he would’ve for the maximum sentence on those two charges.

In a recent case filing, Fox called detention beyond the maximum sentence “unconstitutional, illegal and improper.”

Walker said the agency is “aware of such circumstances.”

“Individuals are admitted in the order in which the court order is received, and admissions are triaged based upon clinical acuity,” she said, adding that DMH is also working to provide medication and case management to individuals while in jail, through mobile teams of clinicians.

While individuals wait in jail, their mental health often deteriorates, said Annie Legomsky, who runs the state public defense system’s holistic defense services program.&nbsp;

Many are placed in solitary confinement, isolated for 23 or 24 hours a day, she said, and can end up with irreparable damage.

“It just completely deprives them of humanity, and it’s the antithesis of anything you could call a therapeutic environment,” she said. “We see clients who do just really sad things like eating their own feces, having suicidal ideation and actions, who are just completely decompensating.”

And there isn’t anything those individuals can do: Their case is on hold until they’re restored to competency to stand trial, so they can’t get released after they’ve waited the maximum sentence.

“They can't do anything to, kind of, control their fate,” Legomsky said. “They're at the mercy of (the Department of Mental Health) getting them the treatment they need.”&nbsp;

In states including&nbsp;<a href="https://nondoc.com/2024/11/14/agreement-reached-in-oklahoma-mental-health-competency-lawsuit/" target="_blank">Oklahoma</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/19/kansas-settles-case-exposing-long-psychiatric-care-wait-times-for-inmates/" target="_blank">Kansas</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/washington-paid-100m-fine-for-neglecting-mental-health-services-months-earlier-than-expected/#:~:text=Washington%20late%20last%20month%20paid,the%20money%20until%20next%20year." target="_blank">Washington,</a>&nbsp;lawsuits&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aclukansas.org/en/press-releases/aclu-kansas-sues-over-unconstitutionally-long-wait-times-competency-evaluations-and" target="_blank">filed</a>&nbsp;by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union over similar wait times have succeeded, arguing the practice violates individuals’ rights to due process and the Americans with Disabilities Act.&nbsp;

So far, similar litigation hasn’t been filed in Missouri. A spokesperson for the ACLU of Missouri declined to comment.&nbsp;

Missouri has faced a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/tag/competency-restoration/">years-long struggle</a>&nbsp;with this issue, due to increasing numbers of court referrals for competency restoration, staffing issues and limited psychiatric hospital capacity. In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mobhc.org/uploads/DMH-Forensic-Mobile-Teams-Slides.pdf" target="_blank">Aug. 2013, there were only 10 people</a>&nbsp;waiting for an inpatient bed, but by Sept. 2021, that number had risen to 106 — and has continued to grow.&nbsp;

In 2023, the state legislature approved $300 million to build a psychiatric hospital in Kansas City.

The plan is for the hospital to have 100 beds for competency restoration patients, but it isn’t slated to open until 2028 or 2029, Walker said.

The legislature passed a law giving the Department of Mental Health the authority to treat people within jails, called jail-based competency restoration. It also passed a law giving the department the authority to provide treatment on an outpatient basis if the person can be safely released.&nbsp;

The budget included $2.5 million for the jail-based competency programs to be established in jails in St. Louis, St. Louis County, Jackson County, Clay County and Greene County. The program was designed to provide room, board and medical care for 10 people at each jail.

Three counties signed contracts for the program last year.&nbsp;Walker said a contract is pending with St. Louis City.&nbsp;

Walker said the Clay, Jackson and St. Louis county programs are “in their early days of getting up and running.”&nbsp;

Sarah Boyd, spokesperson for Clay County sheriff’s office, said their pilot program has hit some roadblocks and is on pause, though the office hopes it will resume soon.&nbsp;

There are seven individuals held in jail in Clay County waiting for treatment, and the longest has been there since the beginning of March 2024.

The Clay County pilot program was in operation for under three weeks — from Oct. 27 through Nov. 14. The Department of Mental Health and its contracted partner were only able to hire one clinician instead of two, Boyd said, and that person left the job in November.

“The initial feedback was that the program was successful. Within the first couple of weeks, the clinician was able to make recommendations to bring the inmates back to competency fairly quickly,” Boyd said. “She even found some of them should not have been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial, and we worked with the court system to rectify that, based on her recommendations.”

Boyd said the state and the contracted agency are interviewing clinicians to try to bring the program back within a few weeks. She said jail staff alone aren't equipped to provide the level of mental health treatment many of the patients need.

"This has been an issue for us for a long time, and we are excited to be part of a potential solution," Boyd said.

Arnott, Greene County’s sheriff, says he opted out of the program. He said he had never heard about it until he received the contract, and it was his understanding the contract would’ve required the Greene County jail to receive more patients from throughout the state.

“I'm not going to participate in a warehousing contract of people that are mentally ill that shouldn't be in the jail in the first place,” Arnott said.

He said he modified the contract and sent it back to state but his changes were rejected.&nbsp;

Walker said counties were selected for the program based on the number of individuals they had waiting for inpatient beds — at least 10 people. Jails with fewer than 10 qualifying individuals, like Clay County, "would need to make jail-based competency restoration beds available for neighboring counties" in order for the project to be "fiscally sustainable for the state."

"Numerous discussions and exchanges occurred with representatives from Greene County," Walker said, "but ultimately an agreement was unable to be reached."

The St. Louis County program has started, Walker said, and there are three individuals currently participating. The Jackson County program recently hired clinicians and anticipates a start date in March, she said.

Neither county returned a request for comment.

The money that would have gone to the Greene County program is being used for the state's team of mobile clinicians who provide medication and case management to those in jails.

Fox and Legomsky, from the public defender’s office, said the agency should be prioritizing offering treatment in the community for those who can be safely released from jail.&nbsp;

“Our concern is you cannot take care of people with mental health issues in the jail setting,” Fox said. “That's not a healthy setting for anyone, let alone someone with a mental health issue.”&nbsp;

Although the 2023 legislation authorized outpatient treatment for individuals who could be safely released, both Fox and Legomsky say there’s been little progress.

Fox estimates at least two-thirds of those on the waitlist, or around 280 people, are low-level cases that don’t pose a risk to receiving competency restoration treatment in their communities.

<h2>People languish for an average of 14 months in jail before receiving the mental health treatment that could allow them to stand trial</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>For nearly a year and a half, a woman has been languishing in Greene County jail, waiting to be transferred to a state mental health facility.The woman was charged with a misdemeanor, found incompetent to stand trial and ordered by the court into state-run psychiatric treatment, Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott told The Independent.She’s been waiting there for a Missouri Department of Mental Health bed to open up for almost 450 days, Arnott said.Had she been convicted of the misdemeanor, Arnott said, the maximum sentence would have been 1 year. She would have gotten out in November.“[The Department of Mental Health’s] main priority should be, how can we get people into beds quicker,” Arnott said, adding: “Quicker than a year and a half, which is absolutely an injustice.”&nbsp;“These are people who are mentally ill,” he added. “That’s the only reason they’re in here.”There are 418 Missourians across the state on a waiting list for a mental health bed, up from around&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/21/mental-health-jail-waitlist/">300 at this time last year.&nbsp;</a><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738361733740.png" alt="" />
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 </figure>These are people who were arrested, found incompetent to stand trial and ordered into mental health treatment designed to allow them to have their day in court — a process called competency restoration that generally includes therapy and medication.The average time these individuals wait in jail before receiving treatment is 14 months, according to department data.Efforts to remedy the problem in the 2023 legislative session, including through a pilot program and increasing outpatient competency restoration, have been slow to get off the ground.&nbsp;Greene County, which was included in the pilot program, decided not to participate. Clay County’s program was in operation for just three weeks last year before staff turnover put it on pause.&nbsp;Only three people are currently enrolled in the jail-based treatment pilot program statewide, according to Debra Walker, a spokesperson for the state's Department of Mental Health. And only one person is currently in the outpatient treatment program.Walker said the agency is working on solutions but “none of them will impact the numbers quickly.”Last year, Department of Mental Health Director Valerie Huhn&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/02/07/missouri-chief-justice-calls-for-action-as-hundreds-wait-in-jails-for-mental-health-services/">t</a><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/02/07/missouri-chief-justice-calls-for-action-as-hundreds-wait-in-jails-for-mental-health-services/">old the House budget committee the problem would get much worse before it gets better.&nbsp;</a>“It’s probably going to be 1,000 individuals,” Huhn said, “long before we’re at 100 individuals.”<h2>‘Deprives them of humanity’&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>Mary Fox, the director of the Missouri State Public Defender system, said the wait times for mental health treatment are the worst she’s seen. She has been going to courthouses throughout the state trying to get some of the cases dismissed.Public defenders have identified at least 12 cases of individuals in Missouri being held longer than their maximum sentences would have been, Fox said, without receiving competency restoration.“It's gotten so bad that people aren't getting any treatment within the time period of when their case should be over and done with,” Fox said.One client was having paranoid delusions and called the police himself, convinced he was being watched. The police then arrested him because his license plate was expired and because he didn’t stop driving when they put on their lights.&nbsp;Fox said he’s waited in jail for longer than he would’ve for the maximum sentence on those two charges.In a recent case filing, Fox called detention beyond the maximum sentence “unconstitutional, illegal and improper.”Walker said the agency is “aware of such circumstances.”“Individuals are admitted in the order in which the court order is received, and admissions are triaged based upon clinical acuity,” she said, adding that DMH is also working to provide medication and case management to individuals while in jail, through mobile teams of clinicians.While individuals wait in jail, their mental health often deteriorates, said Annie Legomsky, who runs the state public defense system’s holistic defense services program.&nbsp;Many are placed in solitary confinement, isolated for 23 or 24 hours a day, she said, and can end up with irreparable damage.“It just completely deprives them of humanity, and it’s the antithesis of anything you could call a therapeutic environment,” she said. “We see clients who do just really sad things like eating their own feces, having suicidal ideation and actions, who are just completely decompensating.”And there isn’t anything those individuals can do: Their case is on hold until they’re restored to competency to stand trial, so they can’t get released after they’ve waited the maximum sentence.“They can't do anything to, kind of, control their fate,” Legomsky said. “They're at the mercy of (the Department of Mental Health) getting them the treatment they need.”&nbsp;In states including&nbsp;<a href="https://nondoc.com/2024/11/14/agreement-reached-in-oklahoma-mental-health-competency-lawsuit/" target="_blank">Oklahoma</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/19/kansas-settles-case-exposing-long-psychiatric-care-wait-times-for-inmates/" target="_blank">Kansas</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/washington-paid-100m-fine-for-neglecting-mental-health-services-months-earlier-than-expected/#:~:text=Washington%20late%20last%20month%20paid,the%20money%20until%20next%20year." target="_blank">Washington,</a>&nbsp;lawsuits&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aclukansas.org/en/press-releases/aclu-kansas-sues-over-unconstitutionally-long-wait-times-competency-evaluations-and" target="_blank">filed</a>&nbsp;by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union over similar wait times have succeeded, arguing the practice violates individuals’ rights to due process and the Americans with Disabilities Act.&nbsp;So far, similar litigation hasn’t been filed in Missouri. A spokesperson for the ACLU of Missouri declined to comment.&nbsp;<h2>Legislative efforts</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738361704138.png" alt=" Valerie Huhn, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, speaks to reporters on Dec. 29, 2021 after being appointed to the job (photo courtesy of the Missouri Governor's Office)." />
 <figcaption> Valerie Huhn, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, speaks to reporters on Dec. 29, 2021 after being appointed to the job (photo courtesy of the Missouri Governor's Office).</figcaption>
 </figure>Missouri has faced a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/tag/competency-restoration/">years-long struggle</a>&nbsp;with this issue, due to increasing numbers of court referrals for competency restoration, staffing issues and limited psychiatric hospital capacity. In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mobhc.org/uploads/DMH-Forensic-Mobile-Teams-Slides.pdf" target="_blank">Aug. 2013, there were only 10 people</a>&nbsp;waiting for an inpatient bed, but by Sept. 2021, that number had risen to 106 — and has continued to grow.&nbsp;In 2023, the state legislature approved $300 million to build a psychiatric hospital in Kansas City.The plan is for the hospital to have 100 beds for competency restoration patients, but it isn’t slated to open until 2028 or 2029, Walker said.The legislature passed a law giving the Department of Mental Health the authority to treat people within jails, called jail-based competency restoration. It also passed a law giving the department the authority to provide treatment on an outpatient basis if the person can be safely released.&nbsp;The budget included $2.5 million for the jail-based competency programs to be established in jails in St. Louis, St. Louis County, Jackson County, Clay County and Greene County. The program was designed to provide room, board and medical care for 10 people at each jail.Three counties signed contracts for the program last year.&nbsp;Walker said a contract is pending with St. Louis City.&nbsp;Walker said the Clay, Jackson and St. Louis county programs are “in their early days of getting up and running.”&nbsp;Sarah Boyd, spokesperson for Clay County sheriff’s office, said their pilot program has hit some roadblocks and is on pause, though the office hopes it will resume soon.&nbsp;There are seven individuals held in jail in Clay County waiting for treatment, and the longest has been there since the beginning of March 2024.The Clay County pilot program was in operation for under three weeks — from Oct. 27 through Nov. 14. The Department of Mental Health and its contracted partner were only able to hire one clinician instead of two, Boyd said, and that person left the job in November.“The initial feedback was that the program was successful. Within the first couple of weeks, the clinician was able to make recommendations to bring the inmates back to competency fairly quickly,” Boyd said. “She even found some of them should not have been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial, and we worked with the court system to rectify that, based on her recommendations.”Boyd said the state and the contracted agency are interviewing clinicians to try to bring the program back within a few weeks. She said jail staff alone aren't equipped to provide the level of mental health treatment many of the patients need."This has been an issue for us for a long time, and we are excited to be part of a potential solution," Boyd said.Arnott, Greene County’s sheriff, says he opted out of the program. He said he had never heard about it until he received the contract, and it was his understanding the contract would’ve required the Greene County jail to receive more patients from throughout the state.“I'm not going to participate in a warehousing contract of people that are mentally ill that shouldn't be in the jail in the first place,” Arnott said.He said he modified the contract and sent it back to state but his changes were rejected.&nbsp;Walker said counties were selected for the program based on the number of individuals they had waiting for inpatient beds — at least 10 people. Jails with fewer than 10 qualifying individuals, like Clay County, "would need to make jail-based competency restoration beds available for neighboring counties" in order for the project to be "fiscally sustainable for the state.""Numerous discussions and exchanges occurred with representatives from Greene County," Walker said, "but ultimately an agreement was unable to be reached."The St. Louis County program has started, Walker said, and there are three individuals currently participating. The Jackson County program recently hired clinicians and anticipates a start date in March, she said.Neither county returned a request for comment.The money that would have gone to the Greene County program is being used for the state's team of mobile clinicians who provide medication and case management to those in jails.Fox and Legomsky, from the public defender’s office, said the agency should be prioritizing offering treatment in the community for those who can be safely released from jail.&nbsp;“Our concern is you cannot take care of people with mental health issues in the jail setting,” Fox said. “That's not a healthy setting for anyone, let alone someone with a mental health issue.”&nbsp;Although the 2023 legislation authorized outpatient treatment for individuals who could be safely released, both Fox and Legomsky say there’s been little progress.Fox estimates at least two-thirds of those on the waitlist, or around 280 people, are low-level cases that don’t pose a risk to receiving competency restoration treatment in their communities.She said the state has been slow to train community partners — that the training didn’t happen until November of last year even though the legislation was effective in August 2023.&nbsp;“They have totally failed in getting that program up and running,” she said.Walker said several provider groups have received training, which is ongoing. She didn’t answer a question about when that training began.&nbsp;Walker said, to date, there have been only two people placed in the outpatient restoration program, one of whom was successfully restored and the other is currently receiving treatment.&nbsp;Those currently waiting in jails for a bed to open up are "being assessed to determine if outpatient competency restoration is a viable option," Walker said."If so, the recommendation will be made to the committing court.&nbsp; Ultimately, the committing court would need to agree to change the individual’s commitment order to allow for outpatient competency restoration," Walker said.<h2>This session</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1738361670055.png" alt=" Missouri's Department of Mental Health building in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Missouri's Department of Mental Health building in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>The Department of Mental Health says it will know more about budget and legislative priorities after Gov. Mike Kehoe’s State of the State address Tuesday.&nbsp;Last year, former Gov. Mike Parson didn’t recommend a funding increase to the judiciary for pretrial services, which would have bolstered programs that divert those accused of crimes away from jail and to treatment for issues like substance abuse. Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Russell&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/02/07/missouri-chief-justice-calls-for-action-as-hundreds-wait-in-jails-for-mental-health-services/">highlighted</a>&nbsp;the issue in her address to the legislature last year, saying: “We know the success of these programs can be far-reaching.”State Rep. John Black, a Republican from Marshfield, led the House’s subcommittee on appropriations for health, mental health and social services in 2023 and 2024, which heard about these issues when debating the department’s budget.Black said in a text to The Independent that the legislature has “added money for competency restoration in the last&nbsp;few years to address the problem. Implementing new programs frequently encounters issues.” He added: “We need to work on those obstacles and will continue to do so to help those people we are trying to help.”State Rep. Betsy Fogle, a Springfield Democrat and the ranking minority member of that subcommittee and of the House budget committee, said the issue raises alarm.Fogle said the state’s detention issue is indicative of broader problems with the “way we treat individuals in the state with significant mental health needs,” referring to&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/20/missouri-is-breaking-federal-law-by-housing-mentally-ill-in-nursing-homes-doj-finds/">adults with mental illness being held in nursing homes</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/06/20/truly-a-crisis-missouri-hospitals-house-children-in-foster-care-with-no-place-to-go/">children in hospital rooms.</a>“I'm proud of the work that we did as a General Assembly to try to move the needle on some of these issues and pass legislative sessions," Fogle said, "but you can see in the data that we're trending the wrong direction."