KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Court records show that officers shot and wounded three suspects earlier this month in Kansas City, Kansas, after the suspects desperately tried to escape.

The Kansas City Star reports that police vehicles surrounded the van Nov. 6, and two different drivers then tried to ram their way out. After at least one of the van’s occupants raised a firearm, five officers fired on the van. Officers had been following the van after shots were fired. No officers were hurt, and the suspects’ injuries were minor.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ernest Jones and 25-year-old Taurez Adams were charged in federal court last week as convicted felons in possession of illegal firearms or ammunition. Jones and two others in the van also are charged in state court with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – Federal authorities are working to seize more than $491,000 of suspected drug money found during a traffic stop by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration alleges the money was meant for illegal drugs, or was proceeds from an illegal drug deal.

The Kansas City Star reports the traffic stop occurred in May on Interstate 35 in Daviess County.

Documents filed in federal court say the DEA told a patrol sergeant that a tractor-trailer registered in Oklahoma might be involved in drug-trafficking. The sergeant stopped the truck and a search found plastic bags containing money in a gas can strapped behind the truck’s cab. More money was found in plastic jugs in a storage compartment.

The driver was released because he didn’t claim ownership of the money.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A special Kansas legislative committee on public school funding is having its first meeting next month to start work on a response to a state Supreme Court order to boost funding.

The committee is scheduled to convene Dec. 4 at the Statehouse.

The Supreme Court ruled in October that state aid to public schools remains constitutionally inadequate even with a new law phasing in a $293 million increase over two years to make it $4.3 billion annually. The court directed lawmakers to enact a new law before July.

The committee’s chairman is Republican Rep. Blaine Finch of Ottawa. He also is the House Judiciary Committee’s chairman.

The panel’s 11 members include the Senate majority and minority leaders and the chairs of the House and Senate budget committees.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Some Kansas police departments do not identify officers involved in fatal shootings, and body camera footage from the incidents may never become public.

Records in unsolved criminal cases can remain closed indefinitely, even to victims’ families.

The Kansas City Star reports that grieving families can wait years to get answers about relatives who’ve been killed, and weak state transparency laws can allow law enforcement agencies to avoid public scrutiny.

And Kansas is less open than other states, including neighboring Missouri.

Kansas in 2014 became the last state in the nation to open affidavits spelling out the details behind arrests, though judges in some counties still seal them.

Authorities defend keeping records closed by citing the need for thorough investigations or to protect officers.

RENO COUNTY — A Michigan man jailed on August 16, after being caught with a large quantity of marijuana entered a guilty as charged plea in Reno County District Court Thursday.

Douglas Wyatt Kiss, 21, Big Rapids, MI., entered the plea to possession of marijuana with intent to sell for an amount of 21 ounces, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia also for distribution.

Kiss is also accused of speeding. Deputies say he was traveling north on Kansas 14 at 56^th Street at 89-mph in a 65-mph zone.

A Reno County Sheriff’s Deputy managed to stop the vehicle. Upon contact, the officer could smell the odor of marijuana. The driver told the deputy that he had the marijuana, which he apparently brought from Colorado. He was given the drugs in Colorado and told to take them to Joplin, Missouri.

In the trunk, officers found 17 black containers labeled “THC for medical use only,” four bags with the same label and a pickle jar. Each container was full of the green leafy substance. There was also a food sealer in the trunk.

With the plea, Kiss is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15. Both sides are expected to recommend three years of community corrections.

RENO COUNTY — A Kansas boy is recovering from injuries in a hunting accident.

Jean Carlos Alcala, 37, Wichita, his 11-year-old son and a 9-year-old nephew were hunting birds Sunday morning at a Walk-In-Hunting field in the 26000 Blk. of South Dean Road, according to a report from the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department.

The man swung his 12-gauge shotgun to the left to shoot at a flying bird. The 11-year-old was approx. 20 feet to the left and had walked a little ahead the group. Some of the birdshot struck the boy in the face.

The boy was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Wichita for treatment of the superficial wounds, according to the sheriff’s department.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and asking for assistance to find suspects.

Just after 11p.m. Saturday, police responded to calls of multiple gunshots in the area of NW Fairchild and NW Jackson in Topeka, according to Captain Scott Gilchrist.

Officers located a man later identified as 36-year-old David Davis, down in front of 1114 NW Jackson suffering from life threating gunshot wounds.

EMS transported Davis to local hospital and is in critical condition and he died.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact the Topeka Police Department.

WICHITA – Samantha “Sam” Neill, an English language arts teacher at Buhler High School, Buhler Unified School District 313, was named the 2018 Kansas Teacher of the Year on Saturday, Nov. 18, during a special ceremony in Wichita.

Kansas Commissioner of Education Randy Watson made the announcement at a gathering of 480 people during the Kansas Teacher of the Year Banquet at the Marriott Hotel, 9100 E. Corporate Hills Drive, in Wichita.

“I am very excited to present the 2018 Kansas Teacher of the Year award to Samantha,” Watson said. “Samantha exemplifies all that is great about Kansas’ education and the teaching profession. She possesses the courage to tackle hard challenges, and she has an innovative spirit that is infectious and deeply rooted in the need to ensure each of her students becomes successful. Samantha is a leader, not only in her classroom, but throughout the school and community. Congratulations to Samantha, our 2018 Kansas Teacher of the Year.”

Neill was named the 2018 Kansas Teacher of the Year from a field of eight finalists.

Throughout the coming year, all of the finalists will work as a team to advocate for education and teaching.

Selected from a pool of more than 100 nominations, the 2018 finalists were: Gilbert R. Still Jr., a fourth-grade teacher at Northwest Elementary School in Dodge City (Dodge City USD 443); Bradley “Brad” W. Weaver, an elementary music teacher at Atchison Elementary School (Atchison USD 409); Jamie D. Manhart, a junior high and high school journalism teacher at Silver Lake Junior-Senior High School (Silver Lake USD 372); Jennifer L. Donovan, an elementary music teacher at Clear Creek Elementary School in Shawnee (De Soto USD 232); Angela “Angie” R. Powers, a high school English teacher at Olathe Northwest High School (Olathe USD 233); Megan E. Nagel, a sixth-grade English language arts and science teacher at Santa Fe 5/6 Center in Newton (Newton USD 373); and Sarah C. VenJohn, a high school mathematics teacher at Winfield High School (Winfield USD 465).

Neill has taught at Buhler High School for 15 years. She received her bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education in 2002 from Emporia State University. In 2008, Neill received her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Wichita State University.

Neill is involved in several leadership roles and professional organizations.

“I have had the opportunity to see her develop as a teacher and then as a leader of teachers,” said Michael Ellegood, principal at Buhler High School. “Sam works extremely well with students and staff; she goes above and beyond on any task she is given. She is the ultimate team player. Her ability to meet kids where they are and then move them forward is outstanding. She takes many of our most challenging students and turns their difficult years at Buhler High School into their best years. She is a positive world changer for students and our school.”

Jenifer Purvis, vice president of human resources and chief learning officer for Security Benefit Corp., presented Neill with a $4,000 cash award

In addition, Neill will receive the Kansas Teacher of the Year Lifelong Learning Scholarship to attend participating universities free of charge as long as she continues teaching in Kansas, and The Hubbard Foundation Kansas Teacher of the Year Ambassadorship. The ambassadorship provides funds for travel and other necessary expenses incurred by the Kansas Teacher of the Year. Neill also will receive the use of a rental car from Enterprise Rent-a-Car for Kansas Teacher of the Year travel. Jostens Inc. also provided Neill with a Leader in Education ring.

All eight members of the 2018 Kansas Teacher of the Year team received a $2,000 cash award from Security Benefit and a red marble apple from the Master Teacher in Manhattan. In addition, each will receive Capturing Kids’ Hearts training from The Flippen Group, of College Station, Texas, and a one-year membership in the Kansas State Teachers of the Year organization.

The Teacher of the Year program has state and national competitions. The national program, presented by Voya Financial, is a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers. The Kansas program is sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education.

Neill is now a candidate for National Teacher of the Year.

By STEPHEN KORANDA

The 2017 Kansas election is officially in the books, as counties finished most of the work finalizing their results Thursday.

This was the first election since local races were moved to the fall, and voter turnout was up in many areas. Shawnee County saw turnout of around 19 percent, a jump of about 5 percentage points compared to recent local elections.

Election Commissioner Andrew Howell said when local elections occurred in the spring, they came soon after federal voting, which may have led to voter fatigue and lower turnout.

“Some of us are worn out with the ads, with the emotional event of a presidential election,” Howell said. “I do think giving some time helps.”

Johnson, Douglas and Wyandotte counties also reported higher voter turnout. Sedgwick County turnout was similar to the last local election but saw jumps in areas with contested races.

While the local elections are nonpartisan, the state political parties still play a part in the elections with recruitment and fundraising.

John Gibson, chairman of the Kansas Democratic Party, said the move made reaching out to voters easier because people are used to casting ballots in the fall.

“Back when these were spring elections, people would be surprised and shocked that there was an election happening,” Gibson said.

The new election cycle also benefited candidates. Kansas Republican Party Chairman Kelly Arnold said the old schedule, where local elections were right on the heels of a federal election, compressed the campaign into only a couple months. That made fundraising and outreach more difficult.

Arnold called moving the elections to the fall a “great benefit.”

“It gave the party time to recruit candidates. It gave our candidates time to campaign and get their message out,” Arnold said.

He said there are also more practical benefits, like better weather for campaigning.

“Have you ever tried to put a yard sign in the ground in February? It’s very difficult,” Arnold said.

Gibson said the change also offers another benefit to the parties, which have organizational meetings early in the year. The move gave new party leaders more time to prepare before the election. He was selected for the top job in the Democratic Party in late February.

“Having the fall election gave us time, at a state party level, to be thinking about them in ways that were not really possible for the Kansas Democratic Party in the past,” Gibson said.Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.

LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) – An Independence man faces charges after being accused of threatening Lee’s Summit police with a rifle.

Jackson County prosecutors say 30-year-old Richard Connely has been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.

Authorities say officers had been called to a Lee’s Summit apartment complex Friday for a report of someone stealing from cars. Officers stopped a man believed to be Connely driving a pickup from the complex to question him. The officers say he fled in the truck, and that when the officers gave chase, Connely slowed and pointed a rifle at the officers. Police say the man later tossed items out of the truck as he fled, including the rifle.

Police say Connely fled on foot after wrecking the truck around Grandview, and was later found and arrested.