OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) — A county attorney says police and sheriff’s deputies were justified in the fatal shooting of an unarmed eastern Kansas teenager.

KSHB-TV reports Franklin County Attorney Stephen Hunting issued his ruling Tuesday in the death of 18-year-old Ottawa resident Joseph Jennings on Aug. 25.

The shooting took place in a parking lot after police received a 911 call about a man waving a handgun and putting the weapon in his waistband. The caller turned out to be Jennings.

The responding officers told him to raise his hands. Instead, the county attorney’s report says, Jennings pulled a dark item from his waistband and pointed it toward some officers, who opened fire.

The item turned out to be sunglasses. Relatives have said Jennings was depressed and may have wanted to goad police into killing him.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback says the federal government is not doing a good-enough job protecting the country against the Ebola virus, requiring the state to step up to protect Kansans.

Brownback had no specifics Tuesday about what more the federal government should do. Nor did he offer details about what Kansas is doing, other than to say that health officials meeting over the issue. Brownback says the state plans to make statements and issue advisories this week.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer says Kansas has a hazards plan, but offered no details on how it would deal with Ebola.

Brownback says the federal government’s response is too casual and is not as intense as needed at the U.S. border or in west African countries where Ebola is originating.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is weighing what to do about a state regulatory board made up mostly of dentists that is trying to prevent lower-cost competitors who aren’t dentists from offering teeth-whitening services.

The outcome in the antitrust case argued at the high court Tuesday could turn on how the justices’ decision affects brain surgeons, lawyers and others whose practices often are regulated by other members of their profession.

Several justices worried aloud about dissuading people from serving on these state boards by opening their decisions to second-guessing by the courts. Justice Stephen Breyer was among members of the court who wanted to be sure that, whatever the court decides, brain surgeons and not bureaucrats will make decisions about the practice of neurology.

TOPEKA, KS – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan) today called for the President to finally take a proactive leadership role in battling the Ebola crisis and for an immediate travel ban from the countries in West Africa currently ravaged by the deadly virus.

“I have no confidence in how the Obama Administration is managing the Ebola crisis, and neither do the people of Kansas,” Senator Roberts said. “We are facing a potential national health emergency that could overwhelm our health care system, threaten the economy, and place national security at risk if not handled properly.

“I call on the President to actually lead on this issue, take emergency action and protect American lives before we have an epidemic here at home.  We cannot afford to be reactive or ‘lead from behind’ with a deadly and easily spread threat like Ebola.”

Infectious disease experts have said stopping the spread of Ebola is the only way to control an outbreak.  Therefore, Senator Roberts has called for a complete and immediate travel ban from the infected West African nations. All individuals attempting to enter the United States who have traveled to the affected area within the last 30 days must quarantine outside the country, and the effort to protect American lives from this deadly disease should be swift, transparent, and fully coordinated within our national security apparatus

Senator Roberts continued, “There are now more than 8,000 cases of Ebola spreading through West Africa and 4,000 deaths. The cases of Ebola in the United States came to our shores on a plane from Liberia. West Africa is the source of this potential pandemic, and we should fight this virus there, at its source, not on our borders or in our airports. The President has failed to secure our borders, and he is now failing to lead during this crisis.

“From the crisis in the Middle East with ISIS, to the standoff in Ukraine with Russia, and now to the spread of Ebola from West Africa to our own shores, this Administration has consistently been two steps behind and asleep at the wheel. We cannot afford the risk of President Obama’s inaction and failure to lead. American’s are frightened, and they deserve better.”

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A lawsuit filed by the Machinists union against Wichita aircraft parts maker Spirit AeroSystems appears headed for an out-of-court resolution.

A filing Tuesday in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, indicates the parties have reached a conditional resolution. It notes the union has agreed to withdraw its motion for an injunction to block Spirit from selling off its fabrication operations or laying off workers pending arbitration.

The filing indicates the union plans to dismiss its lawsuit.

The lawsuit contends the Machinists gave up the right to strike and accepted pay cuts and smaller wage increases in a 10-year contract negotiated in 2010. In exchange, Spirit agreed to maintain major manufacturing operations in Wichita.

It is unclear from the filing what the conditional agreement entails. A hearing was held last week.

United States Attorney

WICHITA, KAN. – A Wichita man was sentenced Tuesday to 92 months in federal prison for trafficking in methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Michael Ortega-Alvarez, 46, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. In his plea, Ortega-Alvarez admitted that on April 29, 2014, he met a Wichita police officer, who was working undercover, at a Quick Trip at 6011 W. Central and sold him an ounce of methamphetamine for $1,100.

On May 6, 2014, Wichita police stopped Ortega-Alvarez’s truck at 3100 E. 31st South. Police found a pound of methamphetamine in a red and white cooler in the truck. In addition, they found two bags of methamphetamine that weighed about a pound each hidden in a brown pillow in the truck. An additional pound of methamphetamine was located at his residence.

Co-defendant Manuel Bencomo-Rodriguez is set for sentencing Jan. 5.

Grissom commended the Wichita Police Department and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Jacobs for their work on the case.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — University of Kansas Hospital officials say preliminary tests show a patient who arrived Monday with Ebola-like symptoms does not have the deadly disease.

Chief medical officer Dr. Lee Norman said Tuesday the man is believed instead to have another tropical disease common in central and western Africa, although doctors haven’t determined which one.

Norman says the patient was serving as a medic on a ship off Africa’s west coast when he became ill about a week ago and flew back to the U.S.

He says the ship services the oil industry, and that the medic had treated a number of people with tropical diseases, including typhoid.

The man, who lives in Kansas City, Kansas, is being treated in an isolated room at the hospital with its own air-handling system.

Poll: Is the government doing enough?

The man worked recently as a medic on a commercial ship off Africa’s west coast. Norman said the man was exposed to typhoid but it was not clear if he also was exposed to Ebola

By MIKE SHERRY
Hale Center for Journalism

ROELAND PARK — A Roeland Park-based substance abuse center announced Monday that its founder and chief executive officer will step down at the end of the year.

The nonprofit Heartland Regional Alcohol and Drug Assessment Center (RADAC) said Dalyn Schmitt would hand the reins to Jason Hess, who has been with the organization since 2001 and currently serves as executive director.

According to a news release, Schmitt founded Heartland RADAC in 1998.

The organization provides assessment and referral services, as well as care coordination and case management, for 76 Kansas counties, according to the release.

The organization also has been a key partner in the recent conversion and reopening of the Rainbow Mental Health Center, in Kansas City, Kan., as a crisis stabilization facility.

“I have been contemplating the right time to ‘pass the baton’ for some time,” Schmitt said in the release, “and my decision was ultimately determined by the strong state of the organization right now and my absolute confidence in Jason’s leadership and the strength of the management team he leads.”

The release said Schmitt planned to continue in her role as president of Heartland Consultation Inc., where she supervises independent contractors involved in crisis intervention.

Mike Sherry is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Federal records indicate U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas has attended barely one-third of his Senate Agricultural Committee meetings during the past 15 years.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the three-term Republican from Dodge City was present for 71 of the 201 agriculture committee sessions from 2000 to 2014.

Roberts has emphasized endorsements from Kansas farm, crop and livestock organizations during his re-election bid against independent candidate Greg Orman.

Orman’s camp says the attendance figures show that Roberts is not representing the interests of Kansans. A Roberts spokesman called the senator a “tireless warrior for Kansas agriculture” and said the comment by Orman’s people is just an attempt to distract voters from looking into Orman’s “liberal, dishonest record.”

The ag committee is responsible for farm, nutrition and forestry issues.