A Kansas City, Kansas, student is part of a St. Patrick celebration in Rolla, Missouri.
Eli Mitchell, a Kansas City, Kansas, junior in technical community at Missouri University of Science and Technology, will portray the trumpeter during a celebration at Rolla.
Missouri State plans its 109th celebration of St. Pat’s with a procession at noon Wednesday, March 15, in downtown Rolla, Missouri. After a procession downtown, the St. Pat’s court will preside over follies at the pavilion on 9th and Oak streets, near the railroad tracks.
The court also participates in formal coronation ceremonies at 9 p.m. Friday, March 17, in Leach Theater of Missouri Science and Technology’s Castleman Hall. A queen will be crowned at the event.
A Kansas House committee advanced a bill Monday that would amend the state’s juvenile justice policies — a year after lawmakers made sweeping changes to them.
Last year’s overhaul intended to create options other than incarceration for Kansas youth offenders. But the changes had some unintended consequences, said Rep. Russ Jennings. One example is that some crimes involving a gun, like a drive-by shooting, might only result in probation.
“Those are pretty serious offenses that at least the court should have an option to do something more,” said Jennings, a Lakin Republican.
The amendments in this year’s reforms, House Bill 2264, were crafted by Rep. Blaine Finch, a Republican from Ottawa who is also an attorney. They restore some flexibility for prosecutors when charging certain juvenile offenders.
Under the law passed last year, misdemeanor offenders must be given the opportunity to complete an “immediate intervention program” instead of prosecution. These diversion programs seek to keep low-level offenders out of the criminal justice system.
Finch’s amendments would rescind that requirement for offenders who plead down to a misdemeanor from a felony charge and for all sex offenses, even misdemeanors. Prosecutors still would be able to offer diversion to those offenders, but they wouldn’t have to.
“This is a little bit more discretion back into the … process,” Finch said.
Finch also offered two other amendments:
• One would require the state to create a database of offenders who have received diversion in the past, so the state can track re-offenders.
• The other would crack down on “absconders,” or offenders who skip out on their probation requirements.
Finch said the Kansas Department of Corrections can use the rules and regulations process to address other legislator concerns, such as making sure existing diversion programs like Youth Court fit into the new statutes.
Advocates of last year’s reforms had acknowledged there were elements of the reforms that needed to be revamped but feared opponents would attempt more drastic changes.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.
Kansas City, Kansas, police and the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office held a news conference after the sentencing today. (Staff photo) Curtis R. Ayers Detective Brad Lancaster by Mary Rupert
The killer of Detective Brad Lancaster received a life without parole sentence this morning in Wyandotte County District Court.
Curtis R. Ayers of Tonganoxie, Kansas, also received sentences of more than 490 months for nine other charges today. Ayers pleaded guilty to the charges, and some of the sentences will run consecutively. By pleading guilty to capital murder, he avoided the death penalty. Seven sentences will run consecutively, the judge said, while two sentences, for aggravated burglary, will run concurrently.
Ayers shot Detective Lancaster outside the Hollywood Casino on May 9, 2016, while Ayers was stealing a car.
The courtroom was packed with law enforcement officers and family members today.
Upon sentencing, the judge said that he thought an appropriate sentence might have been for Ayers to spend every waking moment feeling the same loss as Detective Lancaster’s family and friends; however, that sentence was not in his power to give.
Ayers did not make a statement at sentencing.
A Kansas City, Kansas, deputy police chief, Mike York, said Lancaster’s family, friends and the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department were forever changed the day he was killed.
“Detective Lancaster will never be forgotten by the Police Department; he is our hero,” he said.
“God is the one he (Ayers) has to answer to,” stated a letter from Lancaster’s mother. “Brad was tragically taken, but no one can take our memories,” she wrote. She also wrote that the family agreed with the decision to make the plea agreement.
The case was difficult for police and the district attorney’s office.
It’s very difficult when someone you know is doing everything in their power in law enforcement, and is a victim of the mega-foolishness of someone else, District Attorney Mark Dupree said.
Authorities discussed the importance of stopping bad behavior before it gets to a deadly level.
Dupree said it is very important for the community to speak up; they can speak up before a crime is committed and call the police. He said if someone had spoken up in advance that there was a person roaming the streets with guns and drugs, it might have been prevented.
“Don’t wait until they go to take a life, call the police now,” Dupree said.
The reality is that Ayers is going to prison for the rest of his life, he said, which affects his family as well as the others in the case.
“Nobody benefits from silence, nobody,” Dupree said.
Deputy Police Chief Tyrone Garner agreed, saying that neighbors need to speak up in an effort to keep people safe. If they don’t speak up today, they may be the next victim.
