<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok <a href="https://t.co/dju9PJsPzd">pic.twitter.com/dju9PJsPzd</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957613826557325581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Q: &quot;Is there a date for you to meet with President Putin of Russian?&quot;<br><br>Ukrainian President Zelensky: &quot;No. No. We don&#39;t have any date. We just confirmed after this productive meeting...that we are ready for a trilateral meeting.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/B1gOLSC4n4">pic.twitter.com/B1gOLSC4n4</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1957593380877164872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Before heading over to the Multilateral Meeting with European Leaders in the East Room of the <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WhiteHouse</a>… <a href="https://t.co/720okDltQh">pic.twitter.com/720okDltQh</a></p>&mdash; Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scavino47/status/1957518905066549314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HAPPENING NOW!<br><br>President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> meets with European leaders at the White House <a href="https://t.co/FLwFXU2Mxs">pic.twitter.com/FLwFXU2Mxs</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1957519323049713933?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“That was not a great day!” <br><br>President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> shows the European Leaders his Butler ‘Fight, Fight, Fight’ painting <a href="https://t.co/fGdBKhLjxj">pic.twitter.com/fGdBKhLjxj</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1957515452114169929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We are here, as allies and friends, for peace in Ukraine and in Europe.<br><br>This is an important moment, as we continue to work on strong security guarantees for Ukraine and a lasting and durable peace. <a href="https://t.co/FFF0Fqcq6y">pic.twitter.com/FFF0Fqcq6y</a></p>&mdash; Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) <a href="https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1957553032712843775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">📸 Scenes from the Oval Office on an historic day <a href="https://t.co/ijs75dayYf">pic.twitter.com/ijs75dayYf</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957633630676914241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

President Trump called Putin to schedule meeting with Zelenskyy

COWLEY COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating two suspects for an alleged sex assault kidnapping in Cowley County.&nbsp; U.S. Department of Homeland Security was also looking for one of the men.

Just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to report of a kidnapping in the 1600 block of South Sixth Street in Arkansas City, according to a media release.

 The reporting party stated that the involved vehicle, a gray SUV, was traveling northbound on South Sixth Street. Officers located the vehicle a short time later in the 400 block of South Eighth Street.

Upon making contact, officers identified two men and one woman in the vehicle.

 The woman reported that she had been taken against her will from the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Okla. She further stated that she was sexually assaulted by both male suspects and that the assaults continued while traveling through ArkansasCity. 

The suspects were identified as 35-year-old Luis Miguel Dominguez and 24-year-old Jose Fernando-Lux Morales both of Arkansas City,

The victim was treated by the Arkansas City Fire/EMS Department on scene and transported to a hospital for further medical care.

Both suspects were arrested and transported to the Cowley County Jail.• Jose Morales is being held on requested charges of&nbsp; Aggravated Kidnapping&nbsp; on a $500,000 bond.

Luis Dominguez is being held on requested charges of&nbsp; Rape, Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, and Aggravated Kidnapping. He is being held on a $1,000,000 bond.

Officers also learned that Dominguez is subject to an immigration detainer from the Department of Homeland Security.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755531304119.png" alt="Morales photo Cowley County" />
                        <figcaption>Morales photo Cowley County</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>COWLEY COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating two suspects for an alleged sex assault kidnapping in Cowley County.&nbsp; U.S. Department of Homeland Security was also looking for one of the men.</p><p>Just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to report of a kidnapping in the 1600 block of South Sixth Street in Arkansas City, according to a media release.</p><p> The reporting party stated that the involved vehicle, a gray SUV, was traveling northbound on South Sixth Street. Officers located the vehicle a short time later in the 400 block of South Eighth Street.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755531263019.png" alt="Dominguez photo Cowley County" />
                        <figcaption>Dominguez photo Cowley County</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Upon making contact, officers identified two men and one woman in the vehicle.</p><p> The woman reported that she had been taken against her will from the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Okla. She further stated that she was sexually assaulted by both male suspects and that the assaults continued while traveling through ArkansasCity. </p><p>The suspects were identified as 35-year-old Luis Miguel Dominguez and 24-year-old Jose Fernando-Lux Morales both of Arkansas City,</p><p>The victim was treated by the Arkansas City Fire/EMS Department on scene and transported to a hospital for further medical care.</p><p>Both suspects were arrested and transported to the Cowley County Jail.• Jose Morales is being held on requested charges of&nbsp; Aggravated Kidnapping&nbsp; on a $500,000 bond.</p><p>Luis Dominguez is being held on requested charges of&nbsp; Rape, Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, and Aggravated Kidnapping. He is being held on a $1,000,000 bond.</p><p>Officers also learned that Dominguez is subject to an immigration detainer from the Department of Homeland Security.</p>

DHS was looking for suspect who is accused of sex crimes in Kansas

WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced to 126 months in prison for distributing child sexual abuse materials, according to the United States's Attorney.

According to court documents, David M. Follett, 38, of El Dorado pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography.

On multiple occasions Follett used his computer to share child pornography with other users on a peer-to-peer filesharing network. Among the recipients was an agent from Homeland Security

Investigations (HSI). While executing a search warrant at Follett’s home, agents found evidence of child pornography activities on Follett’s laptop.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755216248382.png" alt="Follett photo Butler Co." />
                        <figcaption>Follett photo Butler Co.</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced to 126 months in prison for distributing child sexual abuse materials, according to the United States's Attorney.</p><p>According to court documents, David M. Follett, 38, of El Dorado pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography.</p><p>On multiple occasions Follett used his computer to share child pornography with other users on a peer-to-peer filesharing network. Among the recipients was an agent from Homeland Security</p><p>Investigations (HSI). While executing a search warrant at Follett’s home, agents found evidence of child pornography activities on Follett’s laptop.</p><p>The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case.</p>

Prison for Kansas man who shared child porn online

Bailey’s short tenure as attorney general was defined by confrontation with the federal government and local officials, as well as accusations of corruption, incompetence and grandstanding

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jason-hancock/">Jason Hancock</a><br><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/"><i>Missouri Independent</i></a>

Missouri will need a new attorney general for the third time in six years as Andrew Bailey announced on Monday that he plans to step down to become co-deputy director of the FBI.&nbsp;

“My life has been defined by a call to service, and I am once again answering that call, this time at the national level,” Bailey said in a news release announcing his departure. “But wherever I am called, Missouri is and always will be home.”

Bailey was appointed attorney general in 2022 after Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate. Schmitt got the job in 2018, replacing another Republican who won a Senate seat, Josh Hawley.

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe will name his replacement at 10 a.m. tomorrow. The new attorney general will then serve until Bailey’s current term expires in 2028. Bailey said his last day in office will be Sept. 8.&nbsp;

Bailey had never run for public office before former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson tapped him to replace Schmitt in 2022. At the time, he was serving as Parson’s general counsel. He previously worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County and as an assistant attorney general.&nbsp;

Weeks after being elected to full four-year term last year, Bailey was vying to be&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/13/missouris-andrew-bailey-reportedly-a-finalist-to-be-donald-trumps-u-s-attorney-general/">President Donald Trump’s new attorney general or FBI director</a>. He will now join the FBI as it faces a torrent of criticism from across the political spectrum over the Trump administration’s refusal to release government files on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/24/pam-bondi-jeffrey-epstein-files-00475897" target="_blank">late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein</a>.&nbsp;

His short stint as Missouri’s attorney general was largely defined by confrontation — lawsuits against the federal government, investigations of health care providers and public fights with other statewide elected Republicans.

Bailey’s most high-profile cases since becoming attorney general included twice suing to block federal student loan forgiveness and carrying forward an unsuccessful lawsuit alleging the Biden administration was colluding with social media companies to censor conservative speech.

His office is also involved in four different lawsuits regarding medical records of transgender children — part of his effort to end gender-affirming care in Missouri.&nbsp;

The attorney general’s office under Bailey helped force St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner out of office and is pursuing felony charges against St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.&nbsp;

Bailey has also been unflinchingly loyal to Trump, including&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/16/republican-missouri-attorney-general-candidates-proclaim-2020-election-was-stolen/">publicly endorsing the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article290766434.html" target="_blank">unsuccessfully attempting to intervene in the criminal case</a>&nbsp;against him in New York that resulted in 34 felony convictions.&nbsp;

But Bailey’s tenure as attorney general has also been marked by accusations of corruption, incompetence and grandstanding, with his critics alleging he’s more interested in scoring appearances on Fox News than effectively running the sprawling office or winning in the courtroom.

Among the many lawsuits Bailey inherited from his predecessor was a case against&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/07/14/time-runs-out-for-missouri-ag-to-appeal-ruling-in-school-mask-mandate-lawsuit/">Missouri school districts that implemented mask mandates&nbsp;</a>during the COVID-19 pandemic. After a judge ruled in support of the school boards, Bailey’s office missed its deadline to appeal.

Last summer, he&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/judge-dismisses-lawsuit-before-missouri-attorney-general-could-be-questioned-under-oath/">narrowly avoided being questioned under oath</a>&nbsp;about his contact with a defendant in his own case against Jackson County. One of Bailey’s deputies lost his license because of the meetings, according to a filing from the county’s attorneys.

Bailey was also the focus of a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/hazelwood-schools-files-ethics-complaint-against-ag-bailey-over-dei-investigation/article_518f7ca0-07d2-11ef-a43d-9f3e0e63bf97.html" target="_blank">formal complaint about the behavior of his office</a>&nbsp;after he falsely blamed the Hazelwood School District’s diversity, equity and inclusion program for the off-campus assault of a student.

He’s also faced criticism over his contributions to his campaign.&nbsp;

<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/05/01/missouri-ag-faces-criticism-for-dropping-out-of-gambling-lawsuit-against-highway-patrol/">Bailey recused himself from a gambling lawsuit</a>&nbsp;filed against the Missouri State Highway Patrol after PACs connected to the lobbyist of the companies suing the state wrote checks to the committee supporting his campaign.

He raised eyebrows after accepting $50,000 in campaign donations from Doe Run, a St. Louis-based company<a href="https://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1661031_1661028_1661020,00.html" target="_blank">&nbsp;being sued by thousands of Peruvians</a>&nbsp;over allegations of lead smelter poisoning in their mining town in the Andes. A few months before the donation, Bailey filed a brief asking the federal court to move the lawsuit out of Missouri.&nbsp;

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681466878038.png" alt="Andrew Bailey courtesy photo" />
                        <figcaption>Andrew Bailey courtesy photo</figcaption>
                    </figure><h2>Bailey’s short tenure as attorney general was defined by confrontation with the federal government and local officials, as well as accusations of corruption, incompetence and grandstanding</h2><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jason-hancock/">Jason Hancock</a><br><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/"><i>Missouri Independent</i></a></p><p>Missouri will need a new attorney general for the third time in six years as Andrew Bailey announced on Monday that he plans to step down to become co-deputy director of the FBI.&nbsp;</p><p>“My life has been defined by a call to service, and I am once again answering that call, this time at the national level,” Bailey said in a news release announcing his departure. “But wherever I am called, Missouri is and always will be home.”</p><p>Bailey was appointed attorney general in 2022 after Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate. Schmitt got the job in 2018, replacing another Republican who won a Senate seat, Josh Hawley.</p><p>Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe will name his replacement at 10 a.m. tomorrow. The new attorney general will then serve until Bailey’s current term expires in 2028. Bailey said his last day in office will be Sept. 8.&nbsp;</p><p>Bailey had never run for public office before former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson tapped him to replace Schmitt in 2022. At the time, he was serving as Parson’s general counsel. He previously worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County and as an assistant attorney general.&nbsp;</p><p>Weeks after being elected to full four-year term last year, Bailey was vying to be&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/13/missouris-andrew-bailey-reportedly-a-finalist-to-be-donald-trumps-u-s-attorney-general/">President Donald Trump’s new attorney general or FBI director</a>. He will now join the FBI as it faces a torrent of criticism from across the political spectrum over the Trump administration’s refusal to release government files on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/24/pam-bondi-jeffrey-epstein-files-00475897" target="_blank">late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>His short stint as Missouri’s attorney general was largely defined by confrontation — lawsuits against the federal government, investigations of health care providers and public fights with other statewide elected Republicans.</p><p>Bailey’s most high-profile cases since becoming attorney general included twice suing to block federal student loan forgiveness and carrying forward an unsuccessful lawsuit alleging the Biden administration was colluding with social media companies to censor conservative speech.</p><p>His office is also involved in four different lawsuits regarding medical records of transgender children — part of his effort to end gender-affirming care in Missouri.&nbsp;</p><p>The attorney general’s office under Bailey helped force St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner out of office and is pursuing felony charges against St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.&nbsp;</p><p>Bailey has also been unflinchingly loyal to Trump, including&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/16/republican-missouri-attorney-general-candidates-proclaim-2020-election-was-stolen/">publicly endorsing the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article290766434.html" target="_blank">unsuccessfully attempting to intervene in the criminal case</a>&nbsp;against him in New York that resulted in 34 felony convictions.&nbsp;</p><p>But Bailey’s tenure as attorney general has also been marked by accusations of corruption, incompetence and grandstanding, with his critics alleging he’s more interested in scoring appearances on Fox News than effectively running the sprawling office or winning in the courtroom.</p><p>Among the many lawsuits Bailey inherited from his predecessor was a case against&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/07/14/time-runs-out-for-missouri-ag-to-appeal-ruling-in-school-mask-mandate-lawsuit/">Missouri school districts that implemented mask mandates&nbsp;</a>during the COVID-19 pandemic. After a judge ruled in support of the school boards, Bailey’s office missed its deadline to appeal.</p><p>Last summer, he&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/judge-dismisses-lawsuit-before-missouri-attorney-general-could-be-questioned-under-oath/">narrowly avoided being questioned under oath</a>&nbsp;about his contact with a defendant in his own case against Jackson County. One of Bailey’s deputies lost his license because of the meetings, according to a filing from the county’s attorneys.</p><p>Bailey was also the focus of a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/hazelwood-schools-files-ethics-complaint-against-ag-bailey-over-dei-investigation/article_518f7ca0-07d2-11ef-a43d-9f3e0e63bf97.html" target="_blank">formal complaint about the behavior of his office</a>&nbsp;after he falsely blamed the Hazelwood School District’s diversity, equity and inclusion program for the off-campus assault of a student.</p><p>He’s also faced criticism over his contributions to his campaign.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/05/01/missouri-ag-faces-criticism-for-dropping-out-of-gambling-lawsuit-against-highway-patrol/">Bailey recused himself from a gambling lawsuit</a>&nbsp;filed against the Missouri State Highway Patrol after PACs connected to the lobbyist of the companies suing the state wrote checks to the committee supporting his campaign.</p><p>He raised eyebrows after accepting $50,000 in campaign donations from Doe Run, a St. Louis-based company<a href="https://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1661031_1661028_1661020,00.html" target="_blank">&nbsp;being sued by thousands of Peruvians</a>&nbsp;over allegations of lead smelter poisoning in their mining town in the Andes. A few months before the donation, Bailey filed a brief asking the federal court to move the lawsuit out of Missouri.&nbsp;</p>

Andrew Bailey stepping down as Missouri AG for job in Trump administration

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sen. <a href="https://twitter.com/Eric_Schmitt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Eric_Schmitt</a>: The people who are most critical of <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>&#39; pursuit of peace &quot;have been wrong, for the last 30 years, about every single foreign policy issue under the sun.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/JMkr8ljDEy">pic.twitter.com/JMkr8ljDEy</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957081966991339558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Mo. U.S. Senator praises Trump's effort to pursue peace in Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump answered questions from the media prior to&nbsp;&nbsp;critical talks on Ukraine with European leaders at the White House on Monday.

A reported who was critical of Zelenskyy's appearance during a February meeting, praised what Zelenskyy was wearing for the Monday meeting and apologized for his earlier comments.

<p>President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump answered questions from the media prior to&nbsp;&nbsp;critical talks on Ukraine with European leaders at the White House on Monday.</p><p>A reported who was critical of Zelenskyy's appearance during a February meeting, praised what Zelenskyy was wearing for the Monday meeting and apologized for his earlier comments.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">REPORTER: &quot;You look fabulous in that suit!&quot;<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;I said the same thing!&quot;<br><br>🤣🤣 <a href="https://t.co/aRQLIOYJJC">pic.twitter.com/aRQLIOYJJC</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957495624531865910?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/brianglenntv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@brianglenntv</a>: &quot;President Zelensky, you look fabulous in that suit.&quot;<br><br>President Trump: &quot;I said the same thing...that&#39;s the one that attacked you last time.&quot;<br><br>President Zelensky: &quot;I remember.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/GqxHRzkVag">https://t.co/GqxHRzkVag</a> <a href="https://t.co/f6kty4fh7s">pic.twitter.com/f6kty4fh7s</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1957497115464085817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥President Zelensky wears a suit to White House meeting

CAMDEN COUNTY —A child drowned just before 12:30p.m. Sunday at Lake of the Ozarks.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2023 Lowe Pontoon was anchored at 4.8 mile mark of the Glaize arm of the lake. The Tuscumbia, Missouri boy entered the water from the back of the boat and did not resurface. 

State Troopers recovered the child's body and he was transported to Phillips Funeral Home in Eldon. The child was not wearing a life jacket, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

<p>CAMDEN COUNTY —A child drowned just before 12:30p.m. Sunday at Lake of the Ozarks.</p><p>The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2023 Lowe Pontoon was anchored at 4.8 mile mark of the Glaize arm of the lake. The Tuscumbia, Missouri boy entered the water from the back of the boat and did not resurface. </p><p>State Troopers recovered the child's body and he was transported to Phillips Funeral Home in Eldon. The child was not wearing a life jacket, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.</p>

Patrol: 3-year-old drowns at Lake of the Ozarks

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating another homicide in Kansas City.

Just after 12:15a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to the 1700 block of E 97th Street in Kansas City, Missouri on a reported sound of shots, according to Officer&nbsp; Alayna Gonzalez.

As they approached the scene, &nbsp;a bystander flagged down &nbsp;officers and reports several people were involved in an altercation that lead to gunfire in a nearby parking lot.

 All involved individuals were observed fleeing in unknown directions prior to police arrival. Officers were notified that a 14-year-old boy and a girl under age 16 arrived to an area hospital suffering from gunshot wounds

The boy, identified as Teandre Gibson was pronounced deceased at the hospital. The girl had non-life threatening injuries. 

Police had no details indicating what lead up to the shooting and have not reported an arrest.. This incident is being investigated as a homicide.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755433938342.png" alt="Photos Sheriff Daryl Forte'" />
                        <figcaption>Photos Sheriff Daryl Forte'</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating another homicide in Kansas City.</p><p>Just after 12:15a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to the 1700 block of E 97th Street in Kansas City, Missouri on a reported sound of shots, according to Officer&nbsp; Alayna Gonzalez.</p><p>As they approached the scene, &nbsp;a bystander flagged down &nbsp;officers and reports several people were involved in an altercation that lead to gunfire in a nearby parking lot.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755434009656.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p> All involved individuals were observed fleeing in unknown directions prior to police arrival. Officers were notified that a 14-year-old boy and a girl under age 16 arrived to an area hospital suffering from gunshot wounds</p><p>The boy, identified as Teandre Gibson was pronounced deceased at the hospital. The girl had non-life threatening injuries. </p><p>Police had no details indicating what lead up to the shooting and have not reported an arrest.. This incident is being investigated as a homicide.</p>

Homicide: 14-year-old KC boy dead, girl hospitalized 

JOHNSON COUNTY, Missouri —Law enforcement authorities in Johnson County, Missouri are working to make the public aware of a new drug threat. A Narcan-resistant substance known as "purple fentanyl."

According to a social media report from the sheriff, The Johnson County&nbsp; Crime Resolution Team (CRT) detectives recently seized purple powder containing fentanyl, possibly mixed with lidocaine, originating from the Kansas City area.

"Many families have been affected by fentanyl, and countless individuals are currently struggling with addiction. This reality adds urgency to our efforts to help those in need of recovery support. It is crucial to reach out and offer assistance to those affected."

Unlike traditional opioids such as fentanyl, this purple version may include lidocaine, a local anesthetic that blocks nerve signals but does not respond to Narcan. Narcan, which reverses the effects of opioids, is ineffective against this substance.

The purple color is likely a marketing ploy to attract more users. It's important to note that this color does not indicate the presence of a specific chemical but rather serves to appeal to potential users.

This mixture could intensify the side effects of the drugs, making it even more dangerous. There may also be other variants with different substances, including xylazine, which pose further risks as they are also Narcan-resistant.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755512118804.png" alt="Photos Johnson County Sheriff" />
                        <figcaption>Photos Johnson County Sheriff</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>JOHNSON COUNTY, Missouri —Law enforcement authorities in Johnson County, Missouri are working to make the public aware of a new drug threat. A Narcan-resistant substance known as "purple fentanyl."</p><p>According to a social media report from the sheriff, The Johnson County&nbsp; Crime Resolution Team (CRT) detectives recently seized purple powder containing fentanyl, possibly mixed with lidocaine, originating from the Kansas City area.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755512145422.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>"Many families have been affected by fentanyl, and countless individuals are currently struggling with addiction. This reality adds urgency to our efforts to help those in need of recovery support. It is crucial to reach out and offer assistance to those affected."</p><p>Unlike traditional opioids such as fentanyl, this purple version may include lidocaine, a local anesthetic that blocks nerve signals but does not respond to Narcan. Narcan, which reverses the effects of opioids, is ineffective against this substance.</p><p>The purple color is likely a marketing ploy to attract more users. It's important to note that this color does not indicate the presence of a specific chemical but rather serves to appeal to potential users.</p><p>This mixture could intensify the side effects of the drugs, making it even more dangerous. There may also be other variants with different substances, including xylazine, which pose further risks as they are also Narcan-resistant.</p>

Sheriff's warns of Narcan-resistant ‘purple fentanyl’ in KC area 

The U.S. Military had the opportunity to perform just before the start of the historic summit on Friday in Alaska. &nbsp;The performance lasted just a moment but certainly made an impression on those who saw it.

When President Donald Trump welcomed Russian leader Vladimir Putin to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, a B-2 bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base &nbsp;and four F35 fighter jets flew over the base.&nbsp;

&nbsp;The flyover was among the most successful portions of the historic meeting.&nbsp;Whiteman is located approximately 70 miles southeast of Kansas City.

<p>The U.S. Military had the opportunity to perform just before the start of the historic summit on Friday in Alaska. &nbsp;The performance lasted just a moment but certainly made an impression on those who saw it.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HAPPENING NOW! <a href="https://t.co/5OBEWIttVv">https://t.co/5OBEWIttVv</a> <a href="https://t.co/s9KIftc3ZW">pic.twitter.com/s9KIftc3ZW</a></p>&mdash; Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scavino47/status/1956435635818070211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">8/15/25 | Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska…<br><br>🇺🇸🦅 <a href="https://t.co/hjnYbfinLh">pic.twitter.com/hjnYbfinLh</a></p>&mdash; Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scavino47/status/1956503820206489970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>When President Donald Trump welcomed Russian leader Vladimir Putin to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, a B-2 bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base &nbsp;and four F35 fighter jets flew over the base.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;The flyover was among the most successful portions of the historic meeting.&nbsp;Whiteman is located approximately 70 miles southeast of Kansas City.</p>

🎥B-2 stealth bomber flyover at Trump-Putin summit

KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for distributing fentanyl, which resulted in three overdose deaths in Belton and Raymore, Missouri as part of a drug-trafficking conspiracy, according to the United State's Attorney.

Tiger Dean Draggoo, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to 40 years in federal prison without parole.

On Oct. 16, 2024, Draggoo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and three counts of distributing fentanyl resulting in death.

Draggoo admitted that during his fentanyl distribution conspiracy, on three separate occasions the fentanyl he sold caused the death of the purchaser, one of which was a juvenile.

“This case is a sad reminder of the horrific damage and destruction that fentanyl can have in our community.&nbsp; It is also a stern reminder to those who seek to make a profit off dealing fentanyl will be vigorously investigated, prosecuted, and incarcerated,” R. Matthew Price United States Attorney.&nbsp; “I want to express my condolences to the family members of the victims and thank our law enforcement partners and United States Attorney’s Office staff who worked on this case.&nbsp; I know that the sentence does not bring back their loved ones but hope that the lengthy sentence brings some measure of peace that justice was served for the individual responsible for providing the drug that killed their loved one.”

"Armed, violent criminals who traffic deadly fentanyl into our communities and prey on the most vulnerable pose an immediate threat to everyone’s safety,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Bernard Hansen. “We are grateful for our partnership with the Jackson County Drug Task Force and the United States Attorney’s Office, whose collaborative work not only delivered justice, but has put an end to this devastating path."

“This case further highlights the terrible effect fentanyl continues to have on public safety. The FBI is dedicated to work with all our local, state and federal partners to crush those that supply and sell fentanyl and other drugs within our communities,” said Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Stephen Cyrus.

Draggoo also admitted that the investigation established that he was responsible for distributing or possessing at least 22,364 pills that contained a total of 2,460 grams of fentanyl.&nbsp; As part of the investigation, during a search of Tiger Draggoo’s apartment, law enforcement found 17 firearms, including two machine guns, ammunition of various calibers, $246,769 in cash, a ballistic vest with plates, a money counter, numerous pills that contained fentanyl, eight suspected LSD tabs, and marijuana. The 17 firearms included a Del-Ton 5.56-caliber rifle (converted into a machine gun), a Glock switch (used to convert a Glock pistol into a machine gun), three Marlin .22-caliber rifles, a Norinco 7.62-caliber rifle, a Mosin-Nagant rifle, an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 .223-caliber rifle, a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, an Armscorp USA .308-caliber rifle, a Century Arms 7.62-caliber rifle, a Herbert Schmidt .22-caliber revolver, a New England Firearms .22-caliber revolver, a Kimber 9mm pistol, a Glock 9mm pistol, a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol, and a Metro Arms .45-caliber pistol.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brad K. Kavanaugh and Robert Smith. It was investigated by the Jackson County Drug Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Belton, Mo., Police Department, the Raymore, Mo., Police Department, the Cass County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the FBI.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/9/1696014760468.png" alt="Draggoo photo Lee's Summit Police" />
                        <figcaption>Draggoo photo Lee's Summit Police</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for distributing fentanyl, which resulted in three overdose deaths in Belton and Raymore, Missouri as part of a drug-trafficking conspiracy, according to the United State's Attorney.</p><p>Tiger Dean Draggoo, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to 40 years in federal prison without parole.</p><p>On Oct. 16, 2024, Draggoo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and three counts of distributing fentanyl resulting in death.</p><p>Draggoo admitted that during his fentanyl distribution conspiracy, on three separate occasions the fentanyl he sold caused the death of the purchaser, one of which was a juvenile.</p><p>“This case is a sad reminder of the horrific damage and destruction that fentanyl can have in our community.&nbsp; It is also a stern reminder to those who seek to make a profit off dealing fentanyl will be vigorously investigated, prosecuted, and incarcerated,” R. Matthew Price United States Attorney.&nbsp; “I want to express my condolences to the family members of the victims and thank our law enforcement partners and United States Attorney’s Office staff who worked on this case.&nbsp; I know that the sentence does not bring back their loved ones but hope that the lengthy sentence brings some measure of peace that justice was served for the individual responsible for providing the drug that killed their loved one.”</p><p>"Armed, violent criminals who traffic deadly fentanyl into our communities and prey on the most vulnerable pose an immediate threat to everyone’s safety,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Bernard Hansen. “We are grateful for our partnership with the Jackson County Drug Task Force and the United States Attorney’s Office, whose collaborative work not only delivered justice, but has put an end to this devastating path."</p><p>“This case further highlights the terrible effect fentanyl continues to have on public safety. The FBI is dedicated to work with all our local, state and federal partners to crush those that supply and sell fentanyl and other drugs within our communities,” said Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Stephen Cyrus.</p><p>Draggoo also admitted that the investigation established that he was responsible for distributing or possessing at least 22,364 pills that contained a total of 2,460 grams of fentanyl.&nbsp; As part of the investigation, during a search of Tiger Draggoo’s apartment, law enforcement found 17 firearms, including two machine guns, ammunition of various calibers, $246,769 in cash, a ballistic vest with plates, a money counter, numerous pills that contained fentanyl, eight suspected LSD tabs, and marijuana. The 17 firearms included a Del-Ton 5.56-caliber rifle (converted into a machine gun), a Glock switch (used to convert a Glock pistol into a machine gun), three Marlin .22-caliber rifles, a Norinco 7.62-caliber rifle, a Mosin-Nagant rifle, an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 .223-caliber rifle, a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, an Armscorp USA .308-caliber rifle, a Century Arms 7.62-caliber rifle, a Herbert Schmidt .22-caliber revolver, a New England Firearms .22-caliber revolver, a Kimber 9mm pistol, a Glock 9mm pistol, a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol, and a Metro Arms .45-caliber pistol.</p><p>This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brad K. Kavanaugh and Robert Smith. It was investigated by the Jackson County Drug Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Belton, Mo., Police Department, the Raymore, Mo., Police Department, the Cass County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the FBI.</p>

KC man going to prison for 3 fentanyl overdose deaths

KANSAS CITY —Police are investigating a fatal hit-and-run incident &nbsp;that occurred just after 10p.m. Saturday in Kansas City.

According to KCPD Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a silver Toyota Camry was &nbsp;westbound on Independence Avenue at a high rate of speed. A pedestrian was crossing Independence Avenue at Monroe from south to north in a marked crosswalk with a red traffic control signal. 

The Toyota driver failed to stop for the red traffic control signal and struck the pedestrian.

The Toyota then ran over the pedestrian and fled the scene without stopping. EMS transported the pedestrian to local hospital with life-threatening injuries and they were later &nbsp;pronounced deceased by hospital staff. 

This is Fatality #47 compared to #59 at this time last year, according to Gonzalez. Police did not release the name of the victim.

<p>KANSAS CITY —Police are investigating a fatal hit-and-run incident &nbsp;that occurred just after 10p.m. Saturday in Kansas City.</p><p>According to KCPD Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a silver Toyota Camry was &nbsp;westbound on Independence Avenue at a high rate of speed. A pedestrian was crossing Independence Avenue at Monroe from south to north in a marked crosswalk with a red traffic control signal. </p><p>The Toyota driver failed to stop for the red traffic control signal and struck the pedestrian.</p><p>The Toyota then ran over the pedestrian and fled the scene without stopping. EMS transported the pedestrian to local hospital with life-threatening injuries and they were later &nbsp;pronounced deceased by hospital staff. </p><p>This is Fatality #47 compared to #59 at this time last year, according to Gonzalez. Police did not release the name of the victim.</p>

Hit-and-run: Pedestrian killed walking in marked KC crosswalk 

KANSAS CITY—Authorities are investigating the cause of a house fire in Kansas City.

Just after 7p.m. Saturday, crews&nbsp;responded to a reported&nbsp;house&nbsp;fire in the 1100 block of West 76th&nbsp;Street in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Battalion Chief Riley Nolan.

&nbsp;The first company on scene reported heavy fire from a 2-story&nbsp;home&nbsp;and initiated an offensive fire attack. Crews advanced 2 hose lines to extinguish the flames, and searches throughout the structure came back "all clear". 

The fire was reported under control at 7:28 p.m. Companies continued with overhaul operations to expose and extinguish hot spots prior to returning to service. &nbsp;Dangerous buildings was ordered and the Red Cross was ordered for 2 adults. There were no injuries &nbsp;reported, according to Nolan.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755395379957.png" alt="Photos Kansas City Fire Department" />
                        <figcaption>Photos Kansas City Fire Department</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>KANSAS CITY—Authorities are investigating the cause of a house fire in Kansas City.</p><p>Just after 7p.m. Saturday, crews&nbsp;responded to a reported&nbsp;house&nbsp;fire in the 1100 block of West 76th&nbsp;Street in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Battalion Chief Riley Nolan.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755395360525.png" alt="" />
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>&nbsp;The first company on scene reported heavy fire from a 2-story&nbsp;home&nbsp;and initiated an offensive fire attack. Crews advanced 2 hose lines to extinguish the flames, and searches throughout the structure came back "all clear". </p><p>The fire was reported under control at 7:28 p.m. Companies continued with overhaul operations to expose and extinguish hot spots prior to returning to service. &nbsp;Dangerous buildings was ordered and the Red Cross was ordered for 2 adults. There were no injuries &nbsp;reported, according to Nolan.</p>

Cause of Kansas City house fire under investigation 

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our incredible First Lady ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/MELANIATRUMP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MELANIATRUMP</a>⁩ shared this powerful, deeply moving letter with President Putin. She speaks from the heart of every American in calling for a world where children, regardless of where they are born, can live in peace. <a href="https://t.co/Soqrv1euAm">pic.twitter.com/Soqrv1euAm</a></p>&mdash; Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1956829431831605620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Read the letter the First Lady had the President deliver to Putin

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem used social media on Thursday to congratulate the men and women of the South Dakota Highway Patrol.

Troopers in South Dakota this week made &nbsp;the largest meth bust in state history — 207 pounds worth $12 Million. &nbsp;

Noem, who served as South Dakota governor from 2019-2025 wrote, "This criminal, an illegal alien from Mexico, is now in immigration proceedings. Justice will be served."

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755117198647.png" alt="Photo Homeland Security Secretary&nbsp;" />
                        <figcaption>Photo Homeland Security Secretary&nbsp;</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem used social media on Thursday to congratulate the men and women of the South Dakota Highway Patrol.</p><p>Troopers in South Dakota this week made &nbsp;the largest meth bust in state history — 207 pounds worth $12 Million. &nbsp;</p><p>Noem, who served as South Dakota governor from 2019-2025 wrote, "This criminal, an illegal alien from Mexico, is now in immigration proceedings. Justice will be served."</p>

Patrol seized 207 pounds of meth worth $12 million

By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/harshawnratanpal/">Harshawn Ratanpal</a>

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe still hasn’t confirmed whether he’ll call a special session to change the state’s congressional map, but Republican lawmakers who’ve spoken to the governor say it’s very possible.

State lawmakers and officials gathered in Sedalia on Thursday morning for the annual Governor’s Ham Breakfast. Planned remarks from the podium focused on celebrating the Missouri State Fair and local agriculture. But, as it has in previous years, politics dominated breakfast-table conversations.

The issue at hand was the effort being pushed by President Donald Trump to change the congressional map of Missouri to increase the Republican delegation by one seat, therefore decreasing the number of Democratic-held seats to just one.

Similar efforts in Texas are underway, sparking counter-efforts by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in California.

Kehoe has stopped short of confirming that he’ll call the legislature into a special session to redraw Missouri’s congressional map.

“You got to make sure on any time you call a special session, or even a regular piece of legislation during the normal process, you want to make sure that what you’re doing is in the right direction and that you have as many people on board as possible,” Kehoe told reporters at the breakfast. “And I’m not saying we are at that point or not at that point, but it’s a process.”

However, Republicans who have spoken to Kehoe about the issue say they think he will call lawmakers back to Jefferson City.

The Kansas City Star reported that Kehoe discussed redistricting with multiple top Republicans in an early August meeting. House Majority Leader Alex Riley, a Springfield Republican, was in that meeting and said he thinks it’s “pretty likely” Kehoe will call a special session.

“I’m supportive of it,” he said. “Right now, Missouri is a solidly Republican state. When you look around the rest of the country, you’ve seen Democrat states, for very long periods of time, draw their lines in such a way that they have no Republican representation or very minimal.”

Missouri House Speaker Jon Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican, was also in the meeting but declined to comment.

The recent push to redistrict was ignited by U.S. Rep. Bob Onder from Missouri. He told Punchbowl News that the White House wants Missouri to redraw the map and send more Republicans to the House of Representatives.

As a state senator, Onder was supportive of a 2022 effort to draw Missouri’s congressional map in such a way to give Republicans seven seats, instead of the six they currently control.

“I wasn’t successful in that effort in 2022, but it looks like we will very likely be doing that shortly,” Onder said, before adding that he’d spoken to Kehoe about the issue recently and thinks he will be calling a special session.

Onder represents the 3rd Congressional District, which nearly entirely encircles the state’s 1st and 2nd Districts.

Lt. Gov. David Wasinger, who also supports redistricting, criticized the shape of the current congressional map and blamed state lawmakers for not creating one more favorable to Republicans in 2022.

“If you look at the map that’s currently drawn in Congressman Bob Onder’s district … it looks like a Pac-Man — you know, the old video game Pac-Man,” he said. “It looks like a Pac-Man with its mouth open.”

While he has not confirmed whether he’d call a special session, Kehoe said he shares Trump’s vision for a Republican-led House of Representatives following the midterms.

“My personal preference is just keep Speaker (Mike) Johnson in control in D.C.,” he said. “His values align much better with Missourians than Congressman (Hakeem) Jeffries does, and I think that would be the goal.”

This story was originally published by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kbia.org/kbia-news/2025-08-14/kehoe-wont-confirm-redistricting-republicans-in-the-room-say-its-likely" target="_blank">KBIA</a>.&nbsp;

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/7/1753559628377.png" alt="Missouri Congressional districts (Missouri Secretary of State’s Office.)" />
                        <figcaption>Missouri Congressional districts (Missouri Secretary of State’s Office.)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/harshawnratanpal/">Harshawn Ratanpal</a></p><p>Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe still hasn’t confirmed whether he’ll call a special session to change the state’s congressional map, but Republican lawmakers who’ve spoken to the governor say it’s very possible.</p><p>State lawmakers and officials gathered in Sedalia on Thursday morning for the annual Governor’s Ham Breakfast. Planned remarks from the podium focused on celebrating the Missouri State Fair and local agriculture. But, as it has in previous years, politics dominated breakfast-table conversations.</p><p>The issue at hand was the effort being pushed by President Donald Trump to change the congressional map of Missouri to increase the Republican delegation by one seat, therefore decreasing the number of Democratic-held seats to just one.</p><p>Similar efforts in Texas are underway, sparking counter-efforts by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in California.</p><p>Kehoe has stopped short of confirming that he’ll call the legislature into a special session to redraw Missouri’s congressional map.</p><p>“You got to make sure on any time you call a special session, or even a regular piece of legislation during the normal process, you want to make sure that what you’re doing is in the right direction and that you have as many people on board as possible,” Kehoe told reporters at the breakfast. “And I’m not saying we are at that point or not at that point, but it’s a process.”</p><p>However, Republicans who have spoken to Kehoe about the issue say they think he will call lawmakers back to Jefferson City.</p><p>The Kansas City Star reported that Kehoe discussed redistricting with multiple top Republicans in an early August meeting. House Majority Leader Alex Riley, a Springfield Republican, was in that meeting and said he thinks it’s “pretty likely” Kehoe will call a special session.</p><p>“I’m supportive of it,” he said. “Right now, Missouri is a solidly Republican state. When you look around the rest of the country, you’ve seen Democrat states, for very long periods of time, draw their lines in such a way that they have no Republican representation or very minimal.”</p><p>Missouri House Speaker Jon Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican, was also in the meeting but declined to comment.</p><p>The recent push to redistrict was ignited by U.S. Rep. Bob Onder from Missouri. He told Punchbowl News that the White House wants Missouri to redraw the map and send more Republicans to the House of Representatives.</p><p>As a state senator, Onder was supportive of a 2022 effort to draw Missouri’s congressional map in such a way to give Republicans seven seats, instead of the six they currently control.</p><p>“I wasn’t successful in that effort in 2022, but it looks like we will very likely be doing that shortly,” Onder said, before adding that he’d spoken to Kehoe about the issue recently and thinks he will be calling a special session.</p><p>Onder represents the 3rd Congressional District, which nearly entirely encircles the state’s 1st and 2nd Districts.</p><p>Lt. Gov. David Wasinger, who also supports redistricting, criticized the shape of the current congressional map and blamed state lawmakers for not creating one more favorable to Republicans in 2022.</p><p>“If you look at the map that’s currently drawn in Congressman Bob Onder’s district … it looks like a Pac-Man — you know, the old video game Pac-Man,” he said. “It looks like a Pac-Man with its mouth open.”</p><p>While he has not confirmed whether he’d call a special session, Kehoe said he shares Trump’s vision for a Republican-led House of Representatives following the midterms.</p><p>“My personal preference is just keep Speaker (Mike) Johnson in control in D.C.,” he said. “His values align much better with Missourians than Congressman (Hakeem) Jeffries does, and I think that would be the goal.”</p><p>This story was originally published by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kbia.org/kbia-news/2025-08-14/kehoe-wont-confirm-redistricting-republicans-in-the-room-say-its-likely" target="_blank">KBIA</a>.&nbsp;</p>

Missouri governor won’t confirm redistricting, but Republicans say it’s likely

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;I&#39;m going to start making a few phone calls and tell them what happened, but we had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to. There are just a very few that are left.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/p9MAivEbB6">pic.twitter.com/p9MAivEbB6</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1956493746414997647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: I believe we had a very productive meeting. There were many, many points that we agreed on... There&#39;s no deal until there&#39;s a deal. I will call up NATO... I&#39;ll of course call up President Zelensky and tell him about today&#39;s meeting... We really made some great progress. <a href="https://t.co/qEnZHW5D9i">pic.twitter.com/qEnZHW5D9i</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1956493139868369139?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“We had an extremely productive meeting.” President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> <a href="https://t.co/aIEWqkYYgN">pic.twitter.com/aIEWqkYYgN</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1956493879953563767?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump and President Putin in Anchorage, Alaska. <a href="https://t.co/d9DKQ0OtPa">pic.twitter.com/d9DKQ0OtPa</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1956441780544516497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">B-2 Stealth Bomber flies over President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> and President Putin <a href="https://t.co/HaAqyHLftx">pic.twitter.com/HaAqyHLftx</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1956443298400510377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Putin having to deal with a free press for the first time in years and he doesn’t seem amused. <a href="https://t.co/CI8iwqAQJM">pic.twitter.com/CI8iwqAQJM</a></p>&mdash; OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) <a href="https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1956447061043527837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🇷🇺🇺🇸 The meeting between President <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Putin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Putin</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> has begun in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Anchorage?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Anchorage</a>.<br><br>Also taking part in the talks are Russian FM Sergey <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lavrov?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Lavrov</a>, Presidential Aide Yuri <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ushakov?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ushakov</a>, US Secretary of State <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@marcorubio</a> &amp; US Presidential Special Envoy <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveWitkoff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SteveWitkoff</a>.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RussiaUSA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RussiaUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/6jW6MmSrkr">pic.twitter.com/6jW6MmSrkr</a></p>&mdash; MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) <a href="https://twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/1956444614271103120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> sits down with President Putin 🇺🇸🇷🇺 <a href="https://t.co/PJfqsvXdkI">pic.twitter.com/PJfqsvXdkI</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1956439512806207706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pursuing Peace. 🇺🇸🇷🇺 <a href="https://t.co/d9VqKzpF6g">pic.twitter.com/d9VqKzpF6g</a></p>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1956446335261175865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> begins his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin <a href="https://t.co/hpR641t8pJ">pic.twitter.com/hpR641t8pJ</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1956441246513467393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HAPPENING NOW! <a href="https://t.co/5OBEWIttVv">https://t.co/5OBEWIttVv</a> <a href="https://t.co/s9KIftc3ZW">pic.twitter.com/s9KIftc3ZW</a></p>&mdash; Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scavino47/status/1956435635818070211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="qme" dir="ltr">🤝 <a href="https://t.co/Tru212XRcu">pic.twitter.com/Tru212XRcu</a></p>&mdash; MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) <a href="https://twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/1956450765121396775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> and Russian President Vladimir Putin end the day&#39;s historic summit in Alaska <a href="https://t.co/80SsqP2Di8">pic.twitter.com/80SsqP2Di8</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1956494156487856548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Donald Trump: &quot;There&#39;s no deal until there&#39;s a deal. I will call up NATO in a little while. I will call up the various people that I think are appropriate and I&#39;ll of course call up President Zelensky and tell him about today&#39;s meeting. It&#39;s ultimately up to them.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ur3kxRIgM4">pic.twitter.com/ur3kxRIgM4</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1956496911503937682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“Next time in Moscow” President Putin on the next meeting with President Trump <a href="https://t.co/Eomwp1zs7S">pic.twitter.com/Eomwp1zs7S</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1956496289056653652?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥Trump and Putin reach an 'understanding,' but offer no details 

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> and President Putin deplane in Anchorage, Alaska ahead of their historic summit. <a href="https://t.co/qbYlQUGj2C">pic.twitter.com/qbYlQUGj2C</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1956433883949346958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska. <a href="https://t.co/so9yO9R5zt">pic.twitter.com/so9yO9R5zt</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1956434912136880310?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/tpRtgKjweY">pic.twitter.com/tpRtgKjweY</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1956430058043977743?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> greets Russian President Vladimir Putin at their historic Alaska Summit <a href="https://t.co/lc3klJso84">pic.twitter.com/lc3klJso84</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1956434737888722952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> and President Putin riding in The Beast together 🇺🇸🇷🇺 <a href="https://t.co/wBpVN30Mmm">pic.twitter.com/wBpVN30Mmm</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1956436029222850783?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

President Trump and Putin arrive in Alaska for high-stakes summit

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> en route to Alaska: &quot;I&#39;m not doing this for my health. I don&#39;t need it. I&#39;d like to focus on our country — but I&#39;m doing this to save a lot of lives.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/nHd5jKSXLI">pic.twitter.com/nHd5jKSXLI</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1956341194826424432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on &quot;security guarantees&quot;: &quot;Not in the form of NATO because there are certain things that aren&#39;t going to happen — but along with Europe, there&#39;s a possibility of that.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/p1VslFOrQH">pic.twitter.com/p1VslFOrQH</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1956340908728721532?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755264031202.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on the possibility of territorial swaps: &quot;They&#39;ll be discussed, but I&#39;ve got to let Ukraine make that decision ... I&#39;m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I&#39;m here to get them at a table.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/IQJGr1Wyi1">pic.twitter.com/IQJGr1Wyi1</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1956340201728426291?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> gaggles with the press while en route to Anchorage, Alaska 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/JnjEKlMj3K">pic.twitter.com/JnjEKlMj3K</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1956331165696045421?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> en route to ALASKA! 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/KOK2uHXSLZ">pic.twitter.com/KOK2uHXSLZ</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1956326375394005252?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Air Force One en route to Anchorage, Alaska. <a href="https://t.co/iyhVaDl4yx">pic.twitter.com/iyhVaDl4yx</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1956328369693327830?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">POTUS🛫ALASKA… <a href="https://t.co/13UM9NAZsb">https://t.co/13UM9NAZsb</a> <a href="https://t.co/Uw0CnzZ0HX">pic.twitter.com/Uw0CnzZ0HX</a></p>&mdash; Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scavino47/status/1956329245841531231?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump aboard Air Force One, en route to Alaska… <a href="https://t.co/Oxwvul96SL">pic.twitter.com/Oxwvul96SL</a></p>&mdash; Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scavino47/status/1956393300149105060?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥Trump discusses meeting with Putin while en route to Alaska

JOHNSON COUNTY—Authorities are investigating the cause of a restaurant fire in Overland Park.

Just after 2a.m. Thursday, crews&nbsp;battled a fire at Torreador Restaurant, 79th and Floyd, according to a social media report from Overland Park Fire Department.

&nbsp;The fire was quickly extinguished. There was smoke and fire damage to the restaurant and adjoining bookstore. There were no injuries.&nbsp;

Overland Park Consolidated Fire District #2 and Lenexa Fire responded to the scene.

<p>JOHNSON COUNTY—Authorities are investigating the cause of a restaurant fire in Overland Park.</p><p>Just after 2a.m. Thursday, crews&nbsp;battled a fire at Torreador Restaurant, 79th and Floyd, according to a social media report from Overland Park Fire Department.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">An OPFD firefighter emerges from an overnight building fire as an electrical panel arcs behind him. With a primary search completed and the fire knocked down, it was time to get to safety until power to the building could be disconnected. <a href="https://t.co/YGEgbJ2vVm">pic.twitter.com/YGEgbJ2vVm</a></p>&mdash; Overland Park Fire Department (@OverlandParkFD) <a href="https://twitter.com/OverlandParkFD/status/1955930175088062658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>&nbsp;The fire was quickly extinguished. There was smoke and fire damage to the restaurant and adjoining bookstore. There were no injuries.&nbsp;</p><p>Overland Park Consolidated Fire District #2 and Lenexa Fire responded to the scene.</p>

Crews battle fire at Kansas restaurant

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a><br><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039"><i>Kansas Reflector</i></a>

TOPEKA — The U.S. Department of Education is investigating four Kansas school districts after a right-wing nonprofit complained about their policies allowing teachers to maintain confidentiality with transgender students.

Topeka, Shawnee Mission, Olathe and Kansas City, Kansas, public school districts are under investigation for potentially violating Title IX and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, the department said in a Thursday press release.

The education secretary, Linda McMahon, said the districts’ alleged violations are an affront to the law and educational leadership.

“School personnel should not confuse and unsettle young girls by forcing them to share sex-separated sports and intimate facilities with boys,” McMahon said, “nor should school personnel abuse their position of authority by hiding sensitive information pertaining to a child’s health and wellbeing from that child’s parents.”

She vowed a vigorous investigation into the four districts.

Those school districts allegedly allow students to participate in sports and use restrooms and locker rooms based on gender identity instead of biological sex, said the initial complaint from the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies, a conservative nonprofit founded by two former Trump administration officials. Kansas law already prohibits transgender and cisgender girls from playing sports together and bans transgender girls from school locker rooms and bathrooms.

The district policies under investigation also allow educators to maintain confidentiality with transgender students, which in some cases means not disclosing a student’s gender identity to their parents without the student’s consent.

In a 35-page complaint detailing the districts’ gender identity practices and policies, the institute encouraged the federal department to pull funding from the districts, listing court decisions, a January presidential executive order, federal law and state law as justification.

The institute alleges Shawnee Mission, Topeka and Kansas City, Kansas, districts violated Title IX “by forcing students to share intimate facilities with members of the opposite sex as a condition of participation in their education programs and activities,” the complaint said. It argues that the districts’ gender identity policies “erase” sex.

All four schools, the complaint argues, are allegedly in violation of FERPA, which prohibits districts from preventing parental access to student educational records.

The districts “are undermining parents’ rights to access their children’s educational records and appear to be distributing the information contained therein to employees with no legitimate educational interest in these records without parental consent,” the complaint said.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach wrote a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ag.ks.gov/home/showdocument?id=24580&amp;t=638863684518261138" target="_blank">letter</a>&nbsp;to McMahon in June, urging the department to investigate. He said in a Thursday announcement that Title IX was created to safeguard girls’ equal educational opportunities.

Kobach had previously sent letters to six Kansas school districts in 2023, criticizing gender identity policies and practices.

“It would be arrogant beyond belief to hide something with such weighty consequences from the very people (parents) that both law and nature vest with providing for a child’s long-term well-being,” he wrote in the December 2023&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ag.ks.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/10474/638460589512800000" target="_blank">letter</a>. “That a Kansas school district could so cavalierly allow&nbsp;<i>a minor child</i>—whom science tells us does not even have a fully formed brain until into his or her twenties—to decide whether his or her parents know about such things is shockingly irresponsible.”

Two school districts reportedly modified their policies, Kobach said, but four did not. Those four districts are the subject of the recent complaint.

Kobach also sued the Biden administration in federal court in 2024 to challenge new rules that strengthened antidiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students and expanded the definition of sexual harassment at colleges and schools. A federal judge eventually&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/07/03/kansas-judge-issues-injunction-blocking-new-federal-anti-discrimination-rules-in-education/">blocked</a>&nbsp;the rules from taking effect in Kansas.

“I am grateful that we now have a federal government that takes Title IX seriously and will ensure that school districts follow the law,” Kobach said.

Title IX is enforced by the federal department’s Office of Civil Rights and FERPA is enforced by the department’s Student Privacy Policy Office.

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, said in a statement the investigation and complaint illustrate “how out of touch Republicans are with reality and with what is happening in our school buildings.”

“These vague, unspecified claims are a witch hunt and a distraction from providing a world-class education,” said Sykes, whose Senate district sits within the Shawnee Mission school district.

She said the investigations are a distraction “from the real issues that are impacting our students right now,” including access to mental and physical health care, food access for families and school funding threats.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755204689376.png" alt="U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon-courtesy image" />
                        <figcaption>U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon-courtesy image</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a><br><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039"><i>Kansas Reflector</i></a></p><p>TOPEKA — The U.S. Department of Education is investigating four Kansas school districts after a right-wing nonprofit complained about their policies allowing teachers to maintain confidentiality with transgender students.</p><p>Topeka, Shawnee Mission, Olathe and Kansas City, Kansas, public school districts are under investigation for potentially violating Title IX and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, the department said in a Thursday press release.</p><p>The education secretary, Linda McMahon, said the districts’ alleged violations are an affront to the law and educational leadership.</p><p>“School personnel should not confuse and unsettle young girls by forcing them to share sex-separated sports and intimate facilities with boys,” McMahon said, “nor should school personnel abuse their position of authority by hiding sensitive information pertaining to a child’s health and wellbeing from that child’s parents.”</p><p>She vowed a vigorous investigation into the four districts.</p><p>Those school districts allegedly allow students to participate in sports and use restrooms and locker rooms based on gender identity instead of biological sex, said the initial complaint from the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies, a conservative nonprofit founded by two former Trump administration officials. Kansas law already prohibits transgender and cisgender girls from playing sports together and bans transgender girls from school locker rooms and bathrooms.</p><p>The district policies under investigation also allow educators to maintain confidentiality with transgender students, which in some cases means not disclosing a student’s gender identity to their parents without the student’s consent.</p><p>In a 35-page complaint detailing the districts’ gender identity practices and policies, the institute encouraged the federal department to pull funding from the districts, listing court decisions, a January presidential executive order, federal law and state law as justification.</p><p>The institute alleges Shawnee Mission, Topeka and Kansas City, Kansas, districts violated Title IX “by forcing students to share intimate facilities with members of the opposite sex as a condition of participation in their education programs and activities,” the complaint said. It argues that the districts’ gender identity policies “erase” sex.</p><p>All four schools, the complaint argues, are allegedly in violation of FERPA, which prohibits districts from preventing parental access to student educational records.</p><p>The districts “are undermining parents’ rights to access their children’s educational records and appear to be distributing the information contained therein to employees with no legitimate educational interest in these records without parental consent,” the complaint said.</p><p>Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach wrote a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ag.ks.gov/home/showdocument?id=24580&amp;t=638863684518261138" target="_blank">letter</a>&nbsp;to McMahon in June, urging the department to investigate. He said in a Thursday announcement that Title IX was created to safeguard girls’ equal educational opportunities.</p><p>Kobach had previously sent letters to six Kansas school districts in 2023, criticizing gender identity policies and practices.</p><p>“It would be arrogant beyond belief to hide something with such weighty consequences from the very people (parents) that both law and nature vest with providing for a child’s long-term well-being,” he wrote in the December 2023&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ag.ks.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/10474/638460589512800000" target="_blank">letter</a>. “That a Kansas school district could so cavalierly allow&nbsp;<i>a minor child</i>—whom science tells us does not even have a fully formed brain until into his or her twenties—to decide whether his or her parents know about such things is shockingly irresponsible.”</p><p>Two school districts reportedly modified their policies, Kobach said, but four did not. Those four districts are the subject of the recent complaint.</p><p>Kobach also sued the Biden administration in federal court in 2024 to challenge new rules that strengthened antidiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students and expanded the definition of sexual harassment at colleges and schools. A federal judge eventually&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/07/03/kansas-judge-issues-injunction-blocking-new-federal-anti-discrimination-rules-in-education/">blocked</a>&nbsp;the rules from taking effect in Kansas.</p><p>“I am grateful that we now have a federal government that takes Title IX seriously and will ensure that school districts follow the law,” Kobach said.</p><p>Title IX is enforced by the federal department’s Office of Civil Rights and FERPA is enforced by the department’s Student Privacy Policy Office.</p><p>Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, said in a statement the investigation and complaint illustrate “how out of touch Republicans are with reality and with what is happening in our school buildings.”</p><p>“These vague, unspecified claims are a witch hunt and a distraction from providing a world-class education,” said Sykes, whose Senate district sits within the Shawnee Mission school district.</p><p>She said the investigations are a distraction “from the real issues that are impacting our students right now,” including access to mental and physical health care, food access for families and school funding threats.</p>

U.S. education dept. launches investigation into Kansas schools’ gender identity policies

KANSAS CITY— Law enforcement are investigating a fatal crash following an attempted traffic stop that occurred&nbsp; just after midnight Wednesday.

A police sergeant attempted to initiate a car check of a stolen white Hyundai Tucson in the area of Independence Avenue and Brooklyn in Kansas City, Missouri, according to.Officer Alayna Gonzalez.

The Hyundai refused to stop for the Sergeant and the Sergeant ended his attempt to stop the Hyundai in the area of Independence and Wabash. 

The Hyundai was last seen traveling northbound on Wabash at a high rate of speed with no patrol units pursuing it. In the area of Lexington and Wabash, the Hyundai driver failed to stop for the posted stop sign, entered the intersection and struck a westbound silver Jeep Grand Cherokee.

 The driver, front seat passenger, left rear seat passenger, and middle seat juvenile passenger of the Jeep were all transported to local hospitals with critical injuries. 

The right rear passenger of the Jeep was ejected from the vehicle and was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries and later was&nbsp; pronounced deceased by hospital staff, according to Gonzalez.

The driver and rear seat passenger of the Hyundai were both transported to local hospitals with serious injuries. The front seat passenger of the Hyundai was uninjured in the collision. The surviving driver and the surviving passengers of the Jeep are all currently in critical condition. The driver and passenger of the Hyundai are both currently in stable condition This is fatality #46 compared to #59 at this time last year according to&nbsp; Gonzalez.

<p>KANSAS CITY— Law enforcement are investigating a fatal crash following an attempted traffic stop that occurred&nbsp; just after midnight Wednesday.</p><p>A police sergeant attempted to initiate a car check of a stolen white Hyundai Tucson in the area of Independence Avenue and Brooklyn in Kansas City, Missouri, according to.Officer Alayna Gonzalez.</p><p>The Hyundai refused to stop for the Sergeant and the Sergeant ended his attempt to stop the Hyundai in the area of Independence and Wabash. </p><p>The Hyundai was last seen traveling northbound on Wabash at a high rate of speed with no patrol units pursuing it. In the area of Lexington and Wabash, the Hyundai driver failed to stop for the posted stop sign, entered the intersection and struck a westbound silver Jeep Grand Cherokee.</p><p> The driver, front seat passenger, left rear seat passenger, and middle seat juvenile passenger of the Jeep were all transported to local hospitals with critical injuries. </p><p>The right rear passenger of the Jeep was ejected from the vehicle and was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries and later was&nbsp; pronounced deceased by hospital staff, according to Gonzalez.</p><p>The driver and rear seat passenger of the Hyundai were both transported to local hospitals with serious injuries. The front seat passenger of the Hyundai was uninjured in the collision. The surviving driver and the surviving passengers of the Jeep are all currently in critical condition. The driver and passenger of the Hyundai are both currently in stable condition This is fatality #46 compared to #59 at this time last year according to&nbsp; Gonzalez.</p>

KCPD: 1 dead after driver of SUV fled traffic stop

MORGAN COUNTY —A 2-year-old girl drowned just after 10:30a.m. Wednesday at Lake of the Ozarks.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported the child wandered away from home located at 10.2 of the Gravois Arm of the lake. She was discovered face-up in the lake and transported by ambulance to Lake Regional Hospital. 

She was pronounced deceased just after 12:30p.m. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

<p>MORGAN COUNTY —A 2-year-old girl drowned just after 10:30a.m. Wednesday at Lake of the Ozarks.</p><p>The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported the child wandered away from home located at 10.2 of the Gravois Arm of the lake. She was discovered face-up in the lake and transported by ambulance to Lake Regional Hospital. </p><p>She was pronounced deceased just after 12:30p.m. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.</p>

2-year-old wandered from home, drowns at Lake of the Ozarks

KANSAS CITY —Three people were rescued from apartment building fire in Kansas City on Wednesday.

Just before 6a.m. Wednesday, crews&nbsp;responded to a reported building fire in the 4100 block of Pennsylvania in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins.

First responders reported heavy fire from the second floor of a three-story multi-use building. The building contained commercial space on the first floor and apartments on the second and third. 

Crews initiated interior operations and conducted three successful rescue operations. Additional searches of the structure came back all clear. All three patients were transported in stable condition to be evaluated for smoke inhalation. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation by KCFD.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755113249137.jpeg" alt="" />
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>KANSAS CITY —Three people were rescued from apartment building fire in Kansas City on Wednesday.</p><p>Just before 6a.m. Wednesday, crews&nbsp;responded to a reported building fire in the 4100 block of Pennsylvania in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins.</p><p>First responders reported heavy fire from the second floor of a three-story multi-use building. The building contained commercial space on the first floor and apartments on the second and third. </p><p>Crews initiated interior operations and conducted three successful rescue operations. Additional searches of the structure came back all clear. All three patients were transported in stable condition to be evaluated for smoke inhalation. </p><p>The cause of the fire is under investigation by KCFD.</p>

Three rescued from apartment fire in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY –&nbsp;<a></a>A Kansas City, Missouri man was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in federal court for conspiring to traffic firearms to prohibited persons and illegally trafficking firearms, according to the United State's Attorney.

Antonio Manning, Sr., 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips, to 48 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.&nbsp;The court also ordered the defendant to pay a criminal forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $11,260.

On April 14, 2025, Antonio Manning admitted that he knowingly and willfully joined in an agreement to sell firearms to individuals who were prohibited from possessing them under federal law.&nbsp; According to the plea agreement, the defendants trafficked at least 22 firearms to persons who were known felons or they sold firearms that were converted into unregistered machineguns in violation of federal law.&nbsp; Pursuant to the plea agreement, Antonio Manning admitted that he was personally involved in illegally selling at least nine firearms and one of those firearms was an unregistered machinegun.

On Jan. 22, 2025, co-defendant Sheron Manning, the brother of Antonio Manning, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to traffic firearms to prohibited persons and to one count of illegally trafficking a firearm that had been converted into an unregistered machinegun.&nbsp; On May 21, 2025, Sheron Manning, 22, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips, to 57 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.

On April 07, 2025, co-defendant Michael Dewayne Hardy, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to traffic firearms to prohibited persons, to one count of illegally trafficking a firearm that had been converted into an unregistered machinegun, and one count of knowingly being a felon in possession of firearms.&nbsp; On June 26, 2024, Michael Dewayne Hardy, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips, to 70 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.

<p>KANSAS CITY –&nbsp;<a></a>A Kansas City, Missouri man was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in federal court for conspiring to traffic firearms to prohibited persons and illegally trafficking firearms, according to the United State's Attorney.</p><p>Antonio Manning, Sr., 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips, to 48 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.&nbsp;The court also ordered the defendant to pay a criminal forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $11,260.</p><p>On April 14, 2025, Antonio Manning admitted that he knowingly and willfully joined in an agreement to sell firearms to individuals who were prohibited from possessing them under federal law.&nbsp; According to the plea agreement, the defendants trafficked at least 22 firearms to persons who were known felons or they sold firearms that were converted into unregistered machineguns in violation of federal law.&nbsp; Pursuant to the plea agreement, Antonio Manning admitted that he was personally involved in illegally selling at least nine firearms and one of those firearms was an unregistered machinegun.</p><p>On Jan. 22, 2025, co-defendant Sheron Manning, the brother of Antonio Manning, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to traffic firearms to prohibited persons and to one count of illegally trafficking a firearm that had been converted into an unregistered machinegun.&nbsp; On May 21, 2025, Sheron Manning, 22, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips, to 57 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.</p><p>On April 07, 2025, co-defendant Michael Dewayne Hardy, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to traffic firearms to prohibited persons, to one count of illegally trafficking a firearm that had been converted into an unregistered machinegun, and one count of knowingly being a felon in possession of firearms.&nbsp; On June 26, 2024, Michael Dewayne Hardy, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips, to 70 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.</p>