FARMINGTON, Mo. (AP) — A pickup truck slammed into a horse-drawn carriage in Missouri on Thursday, killing an 8-year-old Mennonite boy and seriously injuring four members of his family, including two other children, authorities said.

The crash happened at around 6:45 a.m. in a remote area of St. Francois County, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis, the Highway Patrol said.

The Mennonite family was on the way to pick blueberries at a nearby farm near when the truck slammed into the back of their carriage, patrol Cpl. Juston Wheetley told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“The truck went over the top of it. It’s literally destroyed,” he said of the carriage.

The 8-year-old died at the scene. The other two children, ages 10 and 12, were taken to St. Louis Children’s Hospital with serious injuries. The injured adults, ages 50 and 28, were also seriously hurt and were taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital, authorities said. The 19-year-old driver of the carriage wasn’t injured.

Authorities haven’t released the names of those involved in the crash.

The 19-year-old pickup truck’s driver and his passenger were not hurt, and the driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with police, Wheetley said. He said the crash happened on a straight stretch of the two-lane highway and that the carriage had an orange safety placard attached, adding that it isn’t clear how fast the truck was going.

The county’s Mennonite community was established just two years ago, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Wheetley said Mennonite and Amish carriages have previously been struck by motorized vehicles in Missouri, but that Thursday’s crash was the most “severe” he was aware of in that area.

There have been other similar fatal wrecks in recent years, including last month in Algansee Township in southern Michigan, when a pickup truck slammed into a horse-drawn carriage, killing three young Amish children and seriously injuring one other and their mother. The 21-year-old pickup truck’s driver was charged with drunken driving causing death and serious injury.

In October of 2017, a truck crashed into a buggy near Sheridan, Michigan, killing three children whose family was on its way to a Sunday service. The 29-year-old truck driver pleaded guilty to misdemeanor moving violation charges.

WILBER, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man was convicted Wednesday of killing a 24-year-old Lincoln woman and could now face the death penalty.

A jury began deliberating Wednesday afternoon and in less than three hours agreed to convict 52-year-old Aubrey Trail of first-degree murder in the 2017 death of Sidney Loofe. Trail also was found guilty of criminal conspiracy to commit murder.

Trail and his girlfriend, Bailey Boswell, were both charged with first-degree murder. Loofe’s body parts were found in 14 pieces in ditches along a state highway, weeks after her November 2017 disappearance.

Trail had maintained Loofe’s death happened accidentally during rough sex. Trail said he made up stories, including one about killing 14 other people, to throw investigators off track.

On Thursday, a second phase of the trial will begin to determine if Trail’s action qualify for the death penalty.

Boswell is awaiting trial.

Trail missed much of his own trial after slashing his neck in the courtroom on June 24. Trail yelled “Bailey is innocent, and I curse you all” before he swiped something across his neck that day. Deputies rushed to help as Trail lay bleeding.

Trail opted to skip the trial after that until he returned earlier this week to testify in his defense.

Prosecutors said Trail and Boswell planned to kill someone before Boswell met Loofe on the dating app Tinder.

Boswell solicited young women through social media sites, and she and her boyfriend together picked out a victim.

Trail said he and Boswell actually met Loofe several months earlier, but she didn’t want to participate in their other crimes. He said they rekindled a relationship in November 2017 through Tinder.

Prosecutors said Trail repeatedly changed his story during the investigation and trial.

Authorities said Trail and Boswell were captured on video at a Home Depot in Lincoln on Nov. 15, 2017, buying tools used to dismember Loofe, hours before Loofe’s death and while she was still at work.

BUHLER — A 17-year-old from Buhler escaped serious injury after he rolled his vehicle just before 7 a.m. Wednesday.

The teen was driving south on Buhler Road when he crossed the center line, over-corrected, left the road on the right side and rolled his vehicle.

He was treated by EMS on scene and was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center by his mother with non-life threatening injuries.

He was wearing his seat belt at the time of the accident.

UPDATE: 3:30 p.m. Thursday

TOPEKA – Agents from the Kansas Department of Revenue accompanied by the Saline Sheriff Department executed tax warrants and closed Rod’s Convenience Stores for nonpayment of Retailers Sales Tax totaling $49,540.23.

The warrants were filed in Saline County. The businesses affected are located at 1717 W Crawford St, 1401 S Santa Fe Ave, 1339 N 9th, 220 W Magnolia Rd, 1619 W Magnolia Rd, 2140 W Crawford St, 680 S Phillips Ave, Salina KS.

The owner of the business has until Monday, July 15th to enter into a mutual arrangement otherwise the businesses will be closed permanently.

It is KDOR’s policy and practice to work with taxpayers in delinquent status to voluntarily enter into repayment agreements. It is only after these efforts and multiple failed collection attempts that the Department is forced to execute a tax warrant, utilizing such actions as bank levies, till taps, and ultimately asset seizure to ensure compliance with the law.

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SALINA — Rod’s locations in Salina have been seized by the State of Kansas for nonpayment of taxes, according to signs from the Kansas Department of Revenue that were taped on doors and gas pumps.

GUTHRIE, Okla. (AP) — Police in Oklahoma say they found a rattlesnake, a canister of radioactive powdered uranium and an open bottle of Kentucky Deluxe whiskey during a traffic stop of a vehicle that had been reported stolen.

The traffic stop happened June 26 in Guthrie, about 30 miles north of Oklahoma City. Guthrie police Sgt. Anthony Gibbs told Oklahoma City TV station KFOR that police don’t know why the uranium was in the vehicle or how it was obtained, though uranium ore can be bought on Amazon.

Gibbs says police also found a gun in the console and a terrarium in the backseat containing a pet timber rattlesnake.

Gibbs says the driver, Stephen Jennings, was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, transporting an open container of liquor and driving with a suspended license.

Jennings remains jailed in Logan County.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A tractor-trailer hauling pig intestine has dumped its load across a downtown highway in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Missouri Department of Transportation tweeted that at least three lanes of westbound Interstate 670 were closed Thursday because of the spill, and that an emergency response truck with a snow plow blade was sent to the scene to help clean up the mess.

Transportation officials urged drivers to, “Find an alternate snout. Sorry, alternate route.”

Salina Post

SALINA — A Salina man wanted on active warrants out of Saline and Kiowa counties led law enforcement personnel on a chase Wednesday from Salina into Ottawa County before turning around and finally stopping near where the chase began.

Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said Thursday that at 10:52 a.m. Wednesday, a deputy was at the Red Carpet Inn, 222 E. Diamond Drive, to serve a warrant when he observed Lance Smith, 33, of Salina. Knowing that Smith had an active warrant from Saline County District Court for failure to appear, the deputy attempted to apprehend Smith, however, Smith took off in a 2010 Ford F150, Soldan said.

Smith then led the deputy and other law enforcement personnel on a chase along the following route, Soldan said.

• West on Diamond Drive, where he ran the stop sign at Ninth Street
• North on Ninth Street and continuing north when Ninth Street turns into Old 81 Highway, sometimes at speeds up to 100 mph
• East on Kansas Highway 18
• North through Bennington and continuing north
• West on Kansas Highway 106
• Back south on Old 81 Highway toward Salina

Soldan said Salina Police personnel set up spikes near the Saline River bridge, which took out the pickup’s tires. Smith continued south, finally coming to a stop in the middle turn lane of the 2400 block of North Ninth Street, which is just north of the Interstate 70 interchange, Soldan said.

After coming to a stop, Smith jumped out of the pickup and ran a short distance into a ditch, where he tripped and was apprehended, Soldan said.

In addition to the Saline County warrant and the warrant out of Kiowa County for probation violation, Soldan said Smith was arrested on suspicion of the following.

• Speeding
• Failure to stop at a stop sign
• Obstruction
• Flee and elude

By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post

GREAT BEND — The Associated Press reported that Kansas schools had more than 600 vacant positions last year. Low pay was blamed for many of the problems in attracting teachers to Kansas.

USD 428 in Great Bend, like many other districts in the state, have spent years going to job fairs in different states in hopes of luring educational professionals to start their careers in Great Bend. USD 428 Assistant Superintendent John Popp says Michigan used to be the state with an abundance of teachers, but that has shifted to New York.

“We will probably go back to Michigan, but it sounds like New York and the Pennsylvania area are more flush with teachers,” Popp said.

The Great Bend school district plans to attend a job fair in upper New York sometime during the 2019-2020 school year.

“There are some other districts in Kansas that have had luck pulling teachers out of there, so we’ll probably go to the New York area,” added Popp.

According to the National Education Association the 2017-2018 national average starting teacher salary was $39,249. The Kansas average was $35,769.

MULVANE (AP) — Some drivers got a surprise windfall when a malfunctioning toll machine spat out coins instead of accepting money near a Kansas casino.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Kansas Turnpike Authority spokeswoman Rachel Bell says the agency learned Tuesday morning about the problem with the machine at the Mulvane exit.

The agency inadvertently divulged details about the mishap when it sent a text alert to its public subscribers. The note said there was “NO WAY” to know the exact dollar amount that was taken.

KTA says the message was meant to be internal but made it out into the public realm after someone newly responsible for disseminating messages sent it to the wrong group of subscribers.

Bell wasn’t immediately sure how many customers used the machine while it was being generous.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A company that owns a duck boat that sank on a Missouri lake last summer, killing 17 people, said that it has settled or is in the process of settling more than half of the lawsuits it faces.

KYTV reports that Ripley Entertainment made the disclosure in documents filed this month in federal court.
The settled lawsuits include many stemming from the deaths of nine members of an Indiana family.

Ripley Entertainment said in a statement that the settlements demonstrate the company’s “continuing commitment to work with the victims and families.” The company says it won’t discuss details of the settlements out of “respect for the privacy of the families.”

The company suspended operation of the boats after the sinking. Three of its employees face federal charges, including the captain.

UPDATED 3:30 p.m. Thursday: With correct information on victims from police reports.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a woman who was wounded in a double shooting at a Kansas City, Kansas, deli was initially reported as dead but is alive.

The Kansas City Star reports that the shooting Wednesday at the Edwards Original Corner Market & Deli left one man dead. Police initially said the woman also had died but said Thursday she is in very critical condition and unresponsive.

Police arrested a suspect after a standoff at the deli and took him to a hospital with a gunshot wound.
A brother told The Star that the deceased man was market owner Dennis Edwards. Ellis Nave identified his niece, Lachelle Day, as the second shooting victim and said she had been dating the suspect.

It’s unclear why police initially reported that the woman had died.

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The federal government is warning Americans to brace for a “floodier” future.
Government scientists predict 40 places in the U.S. will experience higher than normal rates of so-called sunny day flooding this year because of rising sea levels and an abnormal El Nino weather system.

A report released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that sunny day flooding, also known as tidal flooding, will continue to increase.

“The future is already here, a floodier future,” said William Sweet, a NOAA oceanographer and lead author of the study.

The report predicted that annual flood records will be broken again next year and for years and decades to come from sea-level rise.

“Flooding that decades ago usually happened only during a powerful or localized storm can now happen when a steady breeze or a change in coastal current overlaps with a high tide,” it read.

The nationwide average frequency of sunny day flooding in 2018 was five days a year, tying a record set in 2015.

But the East Coast averaged twice as much flooding.

The agency says the level of sunny day flooding in the U.S. has doubled since 2000.

Nationwide, the agency predicted, average sunny day flooding could reach 7 to 15 days a year by 2030, and 25 to 75 days a year by 2050.

“We cannot wait to act,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, acting director of NOAA’s Ocean Service. “This issue gets more urgent and complicated with every passing day.”

Global sea levels are rising at a rate of about 3 millimeters a year, or about an inch every eight years, according to Rutgers University researchers, who predict that by 2050, seas off New Jersey will rise by an additional 1.4 feet.

The study noted floods interfering with traffic in northeast states, swamping septic systems in Florida and choking Delaware and Maryland coastal farms with saltwater over the past year.

Baltimore experienced 12 days of high-tide flooding from 1902 to 1936. Within the last 12 months, it experienced an additional 12 days.

Robert Kopp, a leading climate scientist with Rutgers University, who was not involved in the study, said it confirmed many well-established trends.

“It’s simple arithmetic: If you have higher sea level, you will have tides causing flooding,” he said. “We’re not talking about disaster flooding. We’re talking about repetitive flooding that disrupts people’s lives on a daily basis. It’s sometimes called ‘nuisance flooding,’ but it has real impacts and costs.”

The report cited the disruption of commerce in downtown Annapolis, Maryland, where parking spaces are lost to flooding. A 2017 study put the price tag on lost economic activity at as much as $172,000. The water table has risen to ground level and degraded septic systems in the Miami region, and farmlands in the Delmarva Peninsula in Delaware and Maryland have been damaged by salt water encroaching into planted areas.

High-tide flooding is causing problems including beach erosion, overwhelmed sewer and drinking water systems, closed roadways, disrupted harbor operations, degraded infrastructure and reduced property values — problems which “are nearly certain to get much worse this century,” the report read.
The report’s statistics cover May 2018 through April 2019.

The agency forecasts sunny-day flooding this year in Boston at 12 to 19 days (it had 19 last year). It predicted sunny-day flooding this year in New York (8 to 13 days, compared with 12 last year); Norfolk, Virginia (10 to 15 days; compared to 10 days last year); Charleston, South Carolina (4 to 7 days, compared to 5 last year); Pensacola, Florida (2 to 5 days compared with 4 last year); Sabine Pass, Texas (6 to 13 days compared with 8 last year) and Eagle Point, Texas (29 to 40 days, compared to 27 last year).

West coast predictions included San Diego (5 to 9 days compared to 8 last year); Los Angeles (1 to 4 days compared to 5 last year); Humboldt Bay, California (6 to 12 days compared to 12 last year); Toke Point, Washington (9 to 21 days compared to 12 last year) and 2 to 6 days in Seattle, compared to 2 last year.
The report documented that 12 locations broke or ties their record of sunny day flooding last year, including 22 in Washington, D.C., 14 in Wilmington, North Carolina; and 12 each in Baltimore and Annapolis.