AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Fiat Chrysler is recalling approximately 1 million trucks in North America due to a software glitch that could prevent side air bags and seatbelts from deploying during a rollover.

The company’s U.S. division said Friday that it is aware of one death, two injuries and two accidents that may be related to the problem.

The recall includes some 2013-16 Ram 1500 and 2500 pickups and 2014-2016 Ram 3500 pickups.

According to the company, after some trucks experience significant underbody impact, a computer module may incorrectly determine that one of its sensors has failed, temporarily disabling the side air bag and seat belt pretensioner. If the vehicle is turned off and then back on, those restraints become functional again.

The company plans to reprogram the software in effected vehicles.

BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison in the shooting death of his mother.

KVOE-AM reports that 30-year-old Daniel Harris was sentenced Thursday in Coffey County District Court for involuntary manslaughter in the death of 61-year-old Niki Harris.

Court documents say Daniel Harris’ mother came to his Burlington home on Feb. 1 after he argued with his wife over alcohol use.

Two guns were present, and Niki Harris picked up one of them. Her intoxicated son then retrieved the second gun, threatened to hurt himself and turned the handgun on his mother. When she advanced toward him, he fired once, hitting her in the abdomen. The bullet also narrowly missed Harris’ wife and baby. Niki Harris died several days later.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 28-year-old man is jailed on $1 million bond after being charged in connection with the shooting deaths of three people in Kansas City, Kansas.

Prosecutors in Wyandotte County on Thursday charged Jason R. Tucker with capital murder, attempted burglary and violating a protection order.

Tucker is also charged with attempted capital murder for allegedly wounding a man.

Police have said that survivor was struck in the head and shot in the back late Tuesday at a home, where officers later found the bodies of 47-year-olds Bernadette Gosserand and Vincent Rocha, and 26-year-old Jeremy Rocha.

Police say three children who were at the home during the shootings were unharmed.

It was not immediately clear Thursday if Tucker has an attorney. He has no listed home telephone number.

RENO COUNTY — A jury found Kansas man guilty of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated battery Thursday.

In August of 2016, Venancio Vigil Jr., 40 stabbed Francisco Gracia Jr, several times during an altercation at a home in the 300 Block of Logan in Hutchinson.

The victim spent five days in ICU at a Wichita hospital after the attack.

Gracia said the stabbing occurred because he went to  police with information about Vigil’s involvement with a gang known as the Texas Syndicate.

The defense couldn’t get past the defendant’s testimony that Vigil was the one who stabbed him and the fact that the victim’s blood was on Vigil’s shoe.

The jury spent about five hours deliberating before reaching a verdict.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 15. He could be sentenced to 20 years because of his past criminal history, according to District Attorney Keith Schroeder.  Vigil has a previous conviction for aggravated indecent liberties with a victim under the age of 16.

SEWARD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in southwest Kansas are investigating two suspects on drug charges.

On Wednesday evening, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Investigations and the KBI developed information which led them to believe a suspicious aircraft would be landing at the Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport, according to a media release.

The Seward County Sheriff’s Office was requested to conduct a ramp check, a review of the documentation and identification of the pilot and aircraft.

Just before 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, the aircraft landed and was detained by authorities. After contact was made with the plane’s occupants, over 65 kilograms (or 144 pounds) of cocaine were discovered. The cocaine is estimated to have a street value of approximately $2 million.

The KBI and the Seward County Sheriff’s Office seized the Beechcraft Queen Air and the approximately 65 kilograms (or 144 pounds) of cocaine found. The pilot and passenger of the aircraft were arrested soon after. Arrested were a 51-year-old black male and a 26-year-old Hispanic male.

 

WICHITA,– A Kansas man was sentenced Thursday to 293 months in federal prison for human trafficking, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Daederick Lacy, 26, Wichita, was found guilty in a jury trial in February on one count of sex trafficking of a minor, one count of sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud or coercion and one count of interstate transportation of a minor in furtherance of prostitution.

During trial prosecutors, presented evidence that three female victims – two minors and an adult – were trafficked for sex by Lacy. Lacy advertised victims on an adult Web site, rented rooms at motels for sex, transported victims to meetings with men who paid for sex, and drove a minor victim from Kansas to Texas to serve as a prostitute.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas education commissioner wants to choose seven school districts to participate in a major redesign of their systems based on the state board of education’s “Kansans Can” vision.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Commissioner Randy Watson told board members Tuesday the intent of the redesign project is to the help districts “determine what makes a successful high school graduate.”

Watson says the schools will base their redesign on the five goals of the “Kansans Can” vision for the students’ success. Those are locally measured social and emotional growth; kindergarten readiness; individual study plan focused on career interest; high school graduation rates; and postsecondary completion and attendance.

Inspired by the Mercury 7 astronauts, each district will be named after each astronaut.

Watson says the districts will be chosen by September.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Missouri state records show an emaciated boy whose father later killed him and fed his remains to the family’s pigs told authorities he was being abused.

Adrian Jones was 5 years old in July 2013 when he told a Missouri Children’s Division worker and police officer that a “little bone come out” when his father kicked him in the head. Two years later, Adrian was dead.

Adrian’s father and stepmother, Michael and Heather Jones, are serving life sentences in his death.

The records released this week show Missouri welfare officials said in 2013 that they didn’t think they could ensure Adrian’s safety at home, but that a county juvenile officer suggested the family be provided more services. The family then moved to

Kansas.

Similar records remain under seal in Kansas, where welfare officials have said allegations against the family were “thoroughly investigated.”

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas senators unanimously have passed a bill that would toughen the state’s laws on human trafficking.

The bill approved on Thursday creates new crimes related to trafficking and toughens some existing laws.

The House passed it unanimously on Monday. It now goes to GOP Gov. Sam Brownback for a signature.

The bill would create new crimes related to human trafficking, such as using communication devices to facilitate human trafficking or knowingly selling travel services connected with human trafficking. It also would create the crime of internet trading child pornography.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt backed the bill and told lawmakers in written testimony that Kansas’ response to human trafficking has improved. According to Schmidt’s testimony, victim offices served 463 victims of human trafficking last fiscal year, up from two in 2009.

OFFICE OF U.S. ATTORNEY-KANSAS

WICHITA–Ruth Noemy Galvan, 25, Long Beach, Calif., is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The crime is alleged to have occurred March 24, 2017, in Clark County, Kan.

If convicted, she faces not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $10 million. Noemy Galvan was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Wichita. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated.

In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the commission to review alleged voter fraud and vote suppression in the U.S. election system (all times local):

President Donald Trump has named Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to help lead a voter fraud commission. But Kobach won’t be leaving his post in Kansas.

Kobach and Vice President Mike Pence will lead a commission to review alleged voter fraud and suppression.

But Kobach spokeswoman Samantha Poetter says he does not plan to end his term as secretary of state early. Kobach also is considered a top likely contender in the 2018 Kansas governor’s race.

Kobach championed Kansas’ tough proof of citizenship requirement as a way to keep noncitizens from voting. He has stood by Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that millions of people voted illegally in November. He also advised the Trump transition team and has been ordered to turn over proposals he took to a meeting with Trump.

2:18 p.m.

The White House says President Donald Trump has signed an executive order creating a commission to look at the public’s confidence in the integrity of the voting system.

The long-awaited panel follows Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election.

The commission will look at allegations of improper voting and fraudulent voter registration in states and across the nation.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Vice President Mike Pence will chair the panel, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (KOH’-bahk) will co-chair it.

She says the group plans to complete its work with a report to the president by 2018.

——

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday launching a commission to review alleged voter fraud and voter suppression in the U.S. election system. That’s according to three White House officials.

One official says Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will lead the commission, which will look at allegations of improper voting and fraudulent voter registration in states and nationally. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details ahead of a formal announcement.

Trump has alleged, without evidence, that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally in his 2016 campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The official says the panel will include Republicans and Democrats and include current and former state election officials.

By JIM MCLEAN & STEPHEN KORANDA
 

After several false starts, the Kansas Senate on Wednesday finally took up a tax bill.

But after a brief debate, Democrats and conservative Republicans voted for different reasons to reject it.

Two Democrats joined 16 moderate Republicans in voting for the bill, which failed 18-22.

The seven Democrats who voted against the measure said they feared it would not generate sufficient revenue to both balance the state budget and increase funding for public schools by enough to satisfy the Kansas Supreme Court.

Sen. Lynn Rogers, a Wichita Democrat, said like many new members, he ran for the Legislature to fix the budget problems triggered by the income tax cuts that Gov. Sam Brownback pushed through in 2012, when conservative Republicans were firmly in control.

“While this (bill) makes many of the right moves in that direction, it does not fix school funding,” Rogers said.

Fifteen conservative Republicans, including Senate President Susan Wagle of Wichita, opposed raising taxes by more than $1 billion. They also objected to specifics of the plan, which would have effectively reversed Brownback’s income tax cuts by raising rates, restoring a third bracket and repealing a controversial business tax exemption.

Sen. Gene Suellentrop, a Wichita Republican, said any plan to balance the budget also should reduce the cost of government.

“There are some ways to lower that cost so that we do not have to take that much money from the citizens of Kansas,” Suellentrop said.

Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine, an Emporia Republican, warned members that rejecting the plan likely would push the session into overtime.

“My constituents and other people I’ve talked to around Kansas have told me time and time and time again, ‘You know what the problem is, find the political courage to fix it.’ I think this is the fix,” Longbine said, noting that lawmakers were approaching the 100-day deadline they set for ending the session.

Earlier this session, the House and Senate approved a tax plan, but it was vetoed by Brownback, who has staunchly defended the 2012 tax cuts. The House voted to override the veto, but the Senate was a few votes short of the 27 needed for an override.

Longbine was clearly frustrated after Wednesday’s vote.

“I think we went backward today,” he said. “Politics got in the way of good policy.”

Before they go home, legislators must approve plans to erase a projected two-year budget hole of $900 million and increase funding for public schools in response to a Kansas Supreme Court ruling that declared the state’s current formula unconstitutional.

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service. Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for kcur.org a partner in the Kansas News Service.

FINNEY COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities and officials at USD 457 continue to investigate threats toward students and staff.

Just after 11a.m. Wednesday, police learned through a teacher report to principals of a threat of violence at Garden City High School, according to a media release.

Police arrested 15-year-old Eudy Gonzalez for Criminal Threat in relation to allegedly making verbal threats towards students and staff that he had a gun and was going to commit violence to students and staff at the school.

Gonzalez is being held in the Southwest Kansas Regional Juvenile Detention Center and could face the possible charges of Criminal Threat.

Further investigation revealed Gonzalez allegedly made these statements in a facetious manner and did not have a gun or plan to carry out these acts. The case has been forwarded to the Finney County Attorney’s Office.

On Tuesday, police reported the arrest of Jaquelin Rico, 16, for criminal threat and identity theft in relation to a May 6, Snapchat message threatening violence towards students of the school

They also arrested 16-year-old Jonathan Gonzalez of Garden City. Police say he allegedly creating fake Snapchat accounts to send defamatory messages to other students at the school.