Category: Kansas City Missouri

KCK man charged in connection with Westport shootings

A Kansas City, Kan., man, Kelvin Clark, 29, was charged in the Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court in connection with the 3 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, shootings in the Westport area in Kansas City, Mo.

Seven counts of first-degree accessory assault and seven counts of armed criminal action were filed against Clark, according to a statement from the Jackson County, Mo., prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors are requesting a bond of $250,000.

The probable cause statement says that shots were fired near large crowds of people in Westport early Sunday.

Kansas City, Mo., police officers responded after hearing shots fired and found several victims suffering from gunshot wounds, the probable cause statement says.

One victim told police he got “weird vibes” from guys in the area, hurried into a parking lot, and was struck by a black vehicle that knocked him to the ground. He was hit in the thigh by gunfire, he told police.

Kansas City, Mo., police detectives viewed video surveillance of the incident from a Westport business, and they said it showed the black vehicle striking the victim, the probable cause statement said. The video also showed two males exiting the black vehicle and firing shots toward the running victim and other victims, according to the probable cause statement.

The suspects then fled from the area in the black vehicle, with police obtaining the license number, and then it was involved in a car crash near 39th and Southwest Trafficway in Kansas City, Mo., according to a witness quoted in the probable cause statement. The two males in the car ran away, and one of them dropped a gun on the sidewalk, the witness stated.

Officers took Clark into custody in the area, where he was seen running, according to the probable cause statement. A female suspect was taken into custody inside the car, according to the statement.

Clark told police, “I don’t know what’s going on. I was the passenger in a wreck and then I ran,” according to the probable cause statement.

The female suspect told police they were all in Westport when the two males in the car began talking to another person. The female said she was inside the car when gunfire started and then ducked down, according to the probable cause statement.

According to the probable cause statement, Clark later told police he was in the back seat of a car that was in a wreck. He said he was too intoxicated to remember who else was in the car, and stated he was not involved in an altercation, according to the probable cause statement.

The probable cause statement does not contain information about the whereabouts of the driver.

Four former governors hit the road to support Kansas Supreme Court

by Sam Zeff, KCUR

Editor’s note: This story is part of a 2016 Kansas elections collaboration involving the KHI News Service, KCUR, KMUW, Kansas Public Radio and High Plains Public Radio.

A bipartisan group of four former Kansas governors is predicting dire consequences if conservatives successfully oust four state Supreme Court justices.

Former Democratic Gov. John Carlin has the harshest assessment. If the justices are kicked off the bench in November’s retention election, “then the hole this (Brownback) administration has dug for us may be too deep to get out of,” said Carlin during a stop Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo. Carlin, who served as governor from 1978 to 1986, also called this retention fight “chaos” and said it has “an indirect effect on economic growth” in the state.

The governors are on a two-day tour organized by Kansans for Fair Courts, the group campaigning on behalf of the targeted justices. Judges’ political activity is severely restricted.

The four appeared at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce before moving on to Topeka for a similar event; they’re headed to Wichita next.

Former Gov. Bill Graves, a Republican who served from 1994 to 2002, agreed. “We have the potential in this election to have tremendous upheaval in the stability, the institutional knowledge, the whole character and ability in our court system in our state.”

Conservative groups — including Kansans for Life, the state Republican Party and the state Chamber of Commerce — are committed to removing four Kansas Supreme Court justices: Carol Beier, Dan Biles, Marla Luckert and Chief Justice Lawton Nuss.

Also up for retention is the newest member of the court, Caleb Stegall, who was appointed by Gov. Sam Brownback.

Most conservatives are asking voters to retain Stegall but get rid of the other four. The former governors said they want all five justices to retain their seats.

“We’re suggesting that there’s no reason that they shouldn’t all be retained, regardless of which governor appointed them or which party that governor belonged to,” said former Gov. Mike Hayden, Republican governor from 1986 to 1990.

Conservatives have three main complaints about the four justices they seek to oust: the court’s rulings on school finance, abortion and the death penalty.

The toughest rhetoric has come from Kansas House Republicans. In an email last week, they said the four have a “shameful disregard for the law and that they’ve been scolded on numerous occasions by the U.S. Supreme Court.” House Republicans also said the justices use “their own erratic and illogical method” of interpreting laws.

But Hayden strongly disagreed and said he holds the court in high regard.

“While we may have some disappointment or maybe some disagreement, 99.5 percent of the time the court’s been upheld. That’s a tremendous record, and it should stand on its own merit,” he said.

Graves said this is all driven by the politics of Brownback and conservatives in the Legislature. Brownback has called several times for changing the current merit selection process for judges, and the Legislature has tried but failed to pass a constitutional amendment dumping merit selection.

“There’s clearly energy on the other side, if you will, and we just think it’s important that there be energy in support of retaining these five justices,” Graves said. “So someone has to speak for the justices, and we’ve chosen to do that.”

Clay Barker, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, had little reaction to Tuesday’s event. He did say that Stegall has been on the high court for just a year so “he hasn’t done anything to have the voters not retain him.”

— Sam Zeff is co-host of the political podcast Statehouse Blend and covers education for KCUR.

The nonprofit KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute and a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor reporting collaboration. All stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online.

– See more at http://www.khi.org/news/article/four-former-governors-hit-the-road-to-support-kansas-supreme-court#sthash.zs8URlpI.dpuf

KCK resident shares experience of getting through flooding

Editor’s note: Bob Evans, a freelance writer in Kansas City, Kan., shares his experiences of getting through the floods on Friday night.

by Bob Evans

Weather in Kansas City has always been difficult to predict as many of the TV meteorologists have explained so many times after they miss the forecast, but, still, they do their best to warn the public what’s in the stars.

Just look at the last week and the storms that roared through the metro. Probably the most intense of these stalled almost directly over the Westport area on Friday, Aug. 26. While many areas received between two and three inches of precipitation, the area around Westport received six inches of rain.

I happened to be at the Just Off Broadway Theatre for the debut of their current production “A Soft Escape,” a comedy that stirs memories of The Jeffersons and Jackie Gleason’s The Honeymooners. The show began with no fanfare, but about 15 minutes into it, thunder could be heard rumbling and crackling outside. Soon after, torrential rain could be heard and the actors had to nearly shout to be heard over the storm.

At intermission, the audience all headed to the windows to see how heavy the rain was falling—and it was shocking. Torrential rain continued through the second act. After the show, an opening night party allowed the audience the opportunity to eat some sandwiches and snacks until the rain subsided. And, that was almost 45-minutes.

Upon exit, proprietor Harvey Williams was directing patrons to drive south on Wyandotte Street and up a steep hill to avoid overflowing street drains. Once on Linwood Boulevard, emergency crews could be seen directing traffic away from the Westport area.

So, now, out of the theater, safe in my car, I needed to figure a way home to Kansas City, Kan. Parts of Broadway remain closed for some construction. Southwest Boulevard always seems to present problems. Interstate 670 was closed for the weekend, so the Bottoms would not be a good choice.

The best option seemed to be Interstate 70. So, the plan was to use Main and then switch to Broadway once beyond the construction. Good plan. All was fine until about Eighth and Broadway and emergency crews had stopped all traffic headed over the Broadway Bridge by the old airport.

To make things more difficult, the loop to the right from Broadway to Interstate 70 was flooded. Traffic on I-70 heading west was stopped. Police crews re-routed traffic to turn left to get to I-70.

Once on I-70 what could go wrong? Well, the sky opened up again, and visibility was barely one car length beyond headlights. Traffic was moving about 20 mph on the Interstate. Just changing lanes was a near nightmare. I wanted to exit and go down Minnesota Avenue. I could not get in the exit lane. So, I continued on I-70 westbound.

I considered getting off at 38th Street, but that’s a low area and I had no idea what I might find there, so I continued to 635. Once there, I exited at State and soon after moved to Parallel and home.

What is strange is that the trip from my house to Just Off Broadway Theatre is generally about 15-20 minutes, depending on traffic and detours. The trip home was well over an hour, after a 45-minute wait after the play.

I checked with my cousin when I got home to make sure she was home and safe. She said that she had to stop at Quick Trip on Roe for over 45 minutes because she could not see to drive. She chose to come back 18th Street and go through town because she was not sure where there might be problems.