NICHOLAS CLAYTON, Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators have given final approval to a measure declaring fantasy sports a legal game of skill.
The House approved the measure on a 98-21 vote Thursday. The Senate approved it on a 37-1 vote Monday, so it goes next to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
The bill would bring clarity to an ongoing dispute over the legal status of fantasy sports leagues.
The Kansas Constitution allows only the state to administer games fitting a broad definition of a lottery.
The state’s gambling regulator announced in August that it viewed fantasy sports as illegal lotteries.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt released an opinion in April saying the state could legalize fantasy sports if they were games of skill. Legally, the results of a lottery are determined by chance.
————————–
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas House is expected to vote on a bill that would define fantasy sports as legal.
The chamber passed over the bill in its schedule Wednesday, but a spokeswoman for House Speaker Ray Merrick said it would be addressed Thursday. If passed, it would be sent to Gov. Sam Brownback to sign. The measure would clarify an ongoing dispute over the legal status of fantasy football.
The state’s gambling regulator announced in August it viewed private fantasy sports leagues as illegal lotteries. But Attorney General Derek Schmidt released an opinion in April asserting they are legal games of skill.
Republican Rep. Brett Hildabrand from Shawnee has said he introduced the fantasy sports legalization language to prevent ordinary residents from being charged with gambling violations for playing the popular games.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has decided not to file against Richie Sambora after investigating allegations that he recently threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and one-time business partner, Nikki Lund.
According to TMZ, investigators determined that the supposed threats were part of a big misunderstanding between Lund and her publicist.
TMZ reports that Lund went to the police because her publicist told her that a friend had said Sambora had threatened to throw acid in Lund’s face.
However, prosecutors in the case revealed that the publicist told investigators Lund misunderstood him when he warned her that certain “bad things” could go down during a messy breakup.
Lund also had claimed that Sambora had pointed a gun at her and abused her physically while they were going out, she didn’t report the incidents after they occurred, according to the L.A. County D.A. office’s investigation.
The prosecutors noted that emails between Sambora and Lund seemed to support Richie’s claim that the accusations stemmed from bad feelings over the rocker’s decision to pull out of a planned business venture with his ex.
According to an article last month in the New York Daily News, Sambora and Lund, a fashion designer, launched the Nikki Rich clothing line last year and had been planning to open a boutique, but Richie pulled out of the business this past February.
The two had dated for about 10 years after the guitarist split with his wife, Heather Locklear, but Sambora recently began a relationship with Australian rock guitarist Orianth.
Police were gathering evidence at scene of shooting Thursday.
SALINA- An innocent Salina girl was shot and killed while a passenger in a pickup traveling a residential street on Wednesday evening.
Salina Police Chief Brad Nelson said Allie Saum, 17, died of a gunshot wound to the head, after several shots were fired at a pickup traveling in the 500 block of Russell Street just before 9:30 p.m.
Nelson said individuals arrested in connection with the shooting, thought the occupants in the pickup were involved in the fight and were standing in the street when the pickup driven by 18-year-old Vince Johnson drove by.
Johnson stopped the pickup in the 800 block of Russell.
Nelson, during a morning police briefing, thanked residents who helped police with a description of a car driven by the five suspects
Saum was taken to Salina Regional Health Center where she died early Thursday morning.
The five arrested were:
22-year-old Macio Palacio on requested charges of felony murder, and unlawful discharge of a weapon.
19-year-old Jerome Forbes, 17-year-old Stephen Gentry, 19-year-old Daniel Sims, on requested charges of conspiracy to commit felony murder, conspiracy to commit criminal discharge of a weapon and obstruction.
17-year-old Andrew Woodring on requested charges of conspiracy to commit felony murder, conspiracy to commit criminal discharge of a weapon.
21-year-old Azucena Garcia-Ferniza on requested charges of felony obstruction and child endangerment.
Chief Nelson offered his condolences to the family of Saum, and said the suspects and victim did not know each other.
Crime scene investigators were out at the site of the shooting early Thursday morning.
Police will issue a complete statement concerning the case later Thursday.
USD 489 will have six early release days for the 2015-2016 school year that will allow teachers to have time for collaboration and professional development.
Students will be dismissed at 1:00 p.m. on these days. The following are the scheduled early release days:
• September 2, 2015
• October 7, 2015
• November 4, 2015
• February 3, 2016
• March 2, 2016
• April 6, 2016
In an effort to accommodate students and families on those early release days, USD #489 has made the following arrangements at each of the schools:
• Hays High School
Students will be told to exit the building. Bussing will begin at 1:00 p.m. and be staggered by school. Athletic practices will be scheduled at their regular after school time. Students should report back to the school then. Please call the school with any questions regarding early release days at 785-623-2600.
• Hays Middle School
Students will be told to exit the building. Bussing will begin at 1:00 p.m. and be staggered by school. Parents can call Hays Middle School to make arrangements for after school care. Please call the school with any questions regarding early release days at (785) 623-2450.
• Elementary Schools
Bussing will begin at 1:00 p.m. and be staggered by school. Each elementary school will have the afterschool program on early release days. The afterschool programs will start as soon as the students are released, with the normal ending time still being in effect. Please contact your school with afterschool program questions.
Lincoln (785) 623-2500
O’Loughlin (785) 623-2510
Roosevelt (785) 623-2520
Wilson (785) 623-2550
Below are the start and stop times for each school in 2015-2016 as well as the USD 489 school year calendar.
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records by the government exceeds what Congress has allowed.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued its decision Thursday.
In it, a three-judge panel said the case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union illustrated the complexity of balancing privacy interests with the nation’s security.
A lower court judge had thrown out the case. The appeals court said the lower court had erred in ruling that the phone records collection program was legal.
However, the 2nd Circuit declined to block the program, saying it is now up to Congress to decide whether and under what conditions it should continue.
It said a debate in Congress could profoundly alter the legal landscape.
A new pest of grain sorghum called called the “Sugarcane Aphid” is working it’s way into Kansas. Stacy Campbell talks with K-State Entomologist, J.P. Michaud, and finds out more.
Gene Policinski is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center
The thwarted attack May 3 on a Prophet Muhammad “cartoon” competition in Texas aimed to put freedom of expression in the crosshairs.
Let’s examine the latest incident — which seems now to be an unsuccessful attempt to echo the Jan. 7 attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo — through a First Amendment lens.
The invitation to draw Muhammad cartoons at the Garland “art fair” may well be worthy of criticism by those who see respect for another faith’s beliefs as a guiding concern. But such drawings, which offend Muslims who see any imagery of Muhammad as blasphemous, are protected free speech.
Some say the cartoon exhibit was too provocative to be allowed, noting it was sponsored by the vehemently anti-Muslim group, American Freedom Defense Initiative, as an “in-your-face” response to the same civic center being used in January for an event denouncing Islamophobia.
But “provocative” must not mean prohibited. The First Amendment’s protection for free speech anticipates, invites and encourages blunt, emotional and sometimes shocking speech as part of the messy democratic process of exchanging views and vigorous public discussion.
Groups like the American Freedom Defense Initiative, and the better-known Westboro Baptist Church group and other groups outside the mainstream of American life, draw their life from testing our collective support for free speech. They attract attention by challenging the nation’s comfort zones, from politeness to political correctness to public safety.
But as Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a 2011 decision involving the Westboro group, “Speech is powerful. … It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and … inflict great pain.” But, he said, “We cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker,” adding that the nation’s commitment to free and open debate means protecting “even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”
Yes, the Garland, Texas, event was more P.T. Barnum than Picasso, and more crass than class. But, as Roberts wrote about Westboro admittedly using its presence at military funerals to attract attention, we cannot punish speakers for finding an effective way of being heard.
I wish I could say that the nation’s commitment to Roberts’s views is — pardon the expression — “bulletproof.” After all, we’ve had the First Amendment on the books since 1791. But we live in an age of rising terrorist threats, and the record also shows that fear dramatically affects public support for unfettered freedom.
In its annual nationwide State of the First Amendment survey by the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center, 49 percent of Americans, fully eight months after the 9/11 attacks, said the First Amendment “goes too far in the rights it guarantees” — with a similar bump up in the weeks after the Boston Marathon bombing. In such crisis moments, many of our fellow citizens apparently would surrender liberty to gain what they think will be some measure of safety.
But threats to our core freedoms don’t only come during crises. First Amendment scholars also warn that the ongoing “war on terror” with its repetitive, persistent threats from groups like al-Qaida and ISIS, has the potential to alter the very legal equations by which we determine the line between protected and unprotected speech, and the extent of religious liberty and other core freedoms.
One of those measures in law is the degree to which speech is an “incitement” to violence, which can place it outside First Amendment protection. In a 2005 article in the Whittier Law Review, scholar Kenneth Lasson noted that “terrorism creates a kind of permanent imminence” that could criminalize speech seen as protected in calmer times.
But such a moving standard invites abuse and overreaction. First Amendment freedoms live at the fringes, even as they encourage dialogue and debate that creates middle ground. We’ve spent two centuries and more profiting from those freedoms and that standard.
Reasonable and proper steps to protect public safety are a common-sense response to true threats. But the “Home of the Brave” has an added responsibility — even in the face of terrorist threats — to defend and protect the right to push, provoke and proclaim nonmainstream views.
Gene Policinski is chief operating officer of the Washington-based Newseum Institute and senior vice president of the Institute’s First Amendment Center. [email protected]
LA HABRA, Calif. (AP) – A little girl from La Habra, California, sent a card to a random member of the military and got a visit from Trace Adkins. He was doing a tour with the USO in Kandahar, Afghanistan, when a large donation of cookies and cards from the Girl Scouts was delivered. Adkins and Lt. Col. Bill Wyles randomly selected a letter and it was from Jessica Santos. Adkins and Wyles took a photo of the card, and Adkins promised to return it to Santos to let her know how much it meant to American troops. Adkins met with Santos on Tuesday and told her the news personally.
Fort Hays State University has once again been recognized by various online rating groups for its quality education and affordability.
GreatValueColleges.net created a list of all major accredited schools in the country for online bachelor degree programs in early childhood education and sorted it by the average cost. FHSU finished fifth with a net price of $11,207 on the “Top 30 Affordable Online Early Childhood Education Degree Programs” list. Find the list under “rankings by major” at www.greatvaluecolleges.net.
SuperScholar.org released a list of the “50 Best Online Bachelor’s in Computer Science and IT Programs” and FHSU’s College of Education and Technology found its way to No. 11. While ranking the schools, Smart Scholar took into consideration market reputation, awards and recognition, flexibility, accessibility and affordability. Find the list at www.superscholar.org under “Rankings” and “2015 Smart Choice Awards.”
ValueColleges.com ranked FHSU’s Virtual College No. 7 on its “50 Best Value Online Colleges” list. Value Colleges’ goal is to connect students with trustworthy programs that are both high quality and low cost. Find the list at www.valuecolleges.com under “Rankings.”
OnlineMastersPrograms.org selected FHSU’s online master’s psychology program as one of the best in the United States. After assessing over 1,000 different programs, Online Masters Programs said that FHSU excelled in dedication to online or hybrid education, graduate course selection, and providing academic and career services. FHSU’s ranking can be found at www.onlinemastersprograms.org/best-psychology-programs/.
U.S. News and World Report recognizes FHSU’s graduate nursing program as one of the top 10 most affordable public schools for out-of-state students. According to the data submitted to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average of the top 10 affordable programs is $251 per credit hour, which is significantly lower than the $729 per credit hour average from the 80 schools that reported data. The list can be found under “Online Graduate Nursing Programs” at www.usnews.com/education/online-education/the-short-list-online-programs.
A Hays man was arrested late last month on exploitation and drug allegations.
Sean Robert Morris, 28, Hays, was arrested April 30 on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a child, two counts of contributing to a child’s misconduct, suspicion of distribution of a depressant within 1,000 feet of a school and violation of the state’s sex offender registration act.
According to Assistant Chief Brian Dawson of the Hays Police Department, the victim was a female under the age of 18.
Morris is a convicted sex offender stemming from a case in Colorado, according to Assistant Ellis County Attorney Crystalyn Oswald.
Oswald said the case remains under investigation.
Morris is being held in Ellis County jail in lieu of a $95,000 bond.
