Kansas City News Blog

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​It looks like the K is all but announced as the site of the 2012 All-Star Game. The MLB Owner's meeting just wrapped in Chicago, and Commissioner Bud Selig hinted that Kauffman Stadium's recent renovation has impressed a lot of people.

As a small digression, can you think of a better name for commissioner of baseball than "Bud." For some reason that just tickles me to no end. Yeah, I wrote "tickles," what of it?

Selig was quoted on MLB.com: "I haven't made a final decision, but we did promise (the Royals) an All-Star Game at some point. They did a magnificent job there. But I'm not going to say more than I've said."

Burrel Mohler Sr.

​

Jared Mohler

​Lafayette County prosecutors released additional sordid details of alleged sexual abuse perpetrated by Burrel Mohler, Sr., Burrel Mohler, Jr. and Jared Mohler on several young members of their families.

Three victims have come forward alleging various abuses. One, now age 28, recalled Burrel Mohler Sr. singing "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" to her when she was about 5-years-old as he allegedly moved his hand near her genital area, according to charging documents from the prosecutor's office.

The woman reported that Mohler Sr. had promised to take her and another alleged victim  to a horse pasture, but when they arrived, Burrel Mohler Jr. and Jared Mohler allegedly took the girls and had them have sexual contact with horses. Another girl has also claimed that she was made to have sexual contact with a horse, according to court records.

The new witnesses corroborated other reports of alleged "mock wedding" ceremonies and alleged non-mock consummation thereafter.

Court documents say the younger witness "reported that summers were the worst because the girls spent more time at their grandfather's farm."

And it goes on and on.

Burrel Mohler, Sr.

​Fans of Donnie Darko will remember when members of the fire department sift through motivational speaker Jim Cunningham's burnt-up house and find what's described as a "kiddie porn dungeon." Well, we at The Pitch are sad to report there's such a thing as an incest porn dungeon, too.

Fox 4 is reporting what police found when they searched 77-year-old Burrel Mohler Sr.'s home, where he lived in basement exile. His wife reportedly found some of his alleged deviant-porn stash and socked some away just in case Johnny Law came looking. Well, they did, and she turned stuff over to them. Boy did she.

Here's a partial list of items allegedly recovered.

• Incest porno mags with titles like "Family Taboo," "Best of Family Touch," and "X Family Matters."
• Porn videos with funny-if-not-for-the-human-tragedy-aspect names like "Pornochio."
• Four dildos and a penis pump
  
• Two shot guns, two rifles and two pellet guns
• Computers and such

I cringe to think what will happen next in this case.

John I. Battaglia

​After yesterday morning's chase, police charged John I. Battaglia, 25, with second-degree assault on a law officer and armed criminal action. His alleged weapon of choice: a 1981 black-on-grey Chevy Corvette.

Police encountered Battaglia on a car check near Anderson and Wheeling. They grew suspicious when the 'Vette's license plate came back from a different car, according to the probable cause statement.

Prosecutors say Battaglia took off on foot and was able to elude officers. He circled back to his car and attempted to drive away, ignoring an officer's commands to stop. As he was fleeing, he encountered a second officer and allegedly hit the gas and steered toward the cop.

The officer put a bullet into the Corvette then dodged out of the way. That's when Battaglia allegedly U-turned to have another try. Again, the cop shot.

Battaglia allegedly fled the scene in his shot-up 'Vette, but was apprehended near Independence and Manchester Street. He was treated for injuries.

​Update: KMBC Channel 9 reports that police have cleared and released Larry Kidd.

Kidd told Fox 4 that being named as an "associate" of the Mohler family and treated as a suspect was a "horrible nightmare."

KSHB Channel 41 explains how Kidd's name was brought into the case -- a new release issued by police.

***
Add Larry Kidd to the list of men suspected of sexually abusing young children in Lafayette County.

Authorities say the 55-year-old Kansas City man is an "associate" of the Mohler family, and they suspect him of raping a child younger than 14. Last night, he was taken to the Lafayette County jail. He has not been formally charged. 

KMBC Channel 9 has video of Kidd (see the screen shot from KMBC above) arriving at a jail.

Also last night, police wrapped up their investigation at a farm near Bates City. They were searching for possible bodies buried on the farmland as well as jars buried with notes alleging abuse.

This all comes after one of the alleged victims, now 26, came forward in August with allegations of sexual abuse dating back to 1988. She apparently wasn't the only victim -- five others, now in their 20s and 30s, also told authorities that they were abused.

Scott P. Roeder

​The man who confessed to killing a Wichita abortion provider doesn't believe he can get a fair trial in Sedgwick County.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Scott Roeder's public defenders want his trial moved, citing news reports in the Eagle and a reported comment made by District Attorney Nola Foulston that Roeder's past could lead reasonable people to believe that he had been engaged in "alleged acts of American terrorism." Whatever would lead her to believe that?

Roeder has a busy calendar leading up to his January 11 trial.

His next hearing is set for December 9. A judge is scheduled to consider the request to move the trial on December 22.

​The Shawnee Mission School District says notorious artist of phallic Florida and ex-teacher Ryan Haraughty isn't offering a full disclosure on the reason he was axed.

The district issued a long-winded statement about taking education seriously and taking appropriate action and how this wasn't a personality conflict between Mr. H and the principal and lots of blah, blah, blah.

But this part was rather intriguing:

"Mr. Haraughty has communicated to students, parents and the media that the decision to terminate him was based on one specific incident. The termination of Mr. Haraughty's contract was not based on one incident. The decision was based on numerous incidents over an extended period of time. Mr. Haraughty has failed to communicate this in his statements to parents, students, and the media. We are sorry that we can't get more specific regarding the incidents but the school district wants to be clear that what has been communicated by Mr. Haraughty is not a true representation of his situation.

Say it isn't so, Mr. Haraughty.

When Jason Miller started Bite Club of KC, the group's focus was squarely on saving the deer in Shawnee Mission Park. But the Lenexa resident is making good on his promise that the organization will target other forms of animal cruelty manifesting in Kansas City.
 
​Last month, a band of demonstrators gathered near the University of Kansas Medical Center to highlight the use of monkeys in brain-function experiments. Tonight their target is the Ararat Shrine Circus.

According to Bite Club:

Shrine Circuses have been notorious for their unmerciful cruelty to elephants, lions, and other forced circus performers. Not only are the circus animals at constant risk of injury and death, but so are those attending the show. Remember, elephants and tigers are wild animals, who have been stolen from their natural environment and placed into a very scary situation.

The protesters are planning to meet at 6:30 p.m. at the main entrance of Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City.

​If men could give birth, there would be a birth-control soft drink by now. When it comes to health care, anything that affects the wang becomes a national priority.

That's why the latest news on Bisphenol A is a good thing for all concerned. According to an article on ABC News, the chemical commonly found in clear plastic has been linked to sexual dysfunction in men.

Factory workers in China who were exposed to Bisphenol A in their work were four times more likely to report that they experienced sexual dysfunction than their counterparts who didn't work with the chemical, researchers found.

The ABC article includes lots of quotes from scientists who claim that Bisphenol A -- a sex hormone that is used in the production of clear plastic -- has not been proven to harm humans. But if you read my article on the subject, you'd know that the powerful chemical companies like Dow have poisoned the research on Bisphenol A, mucking up their own experiments on purpose and inserting industry-friendly scientists onto government panels convened to study BPA's potential harm. That's why the National Institute of Health's toxicology program rated Bisphenol A as a substance of only "some concern," even though it's been linked to cancer, obesity, hyperactivity and early onset of puberty in children.

But if further studies confirm that Bisphenol A messes with a man's bits and pieces, you can count on some serious backtracking by government agencies charged with protecting our health.

​Kansas City police released the names of victims of yesterday's industrial accident at the construction site of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Police say 35-year-old Ryan Goodman of Lee's Summit died after the cherry-picker lift he was in tipped over. Goodman was reportedly 50 feet in the air.

Police say 30-year-old Shane Wagener of Grain Valley is in serious but stable condition.

There are still no answers to why the lift collapsed.

From the album, "My New Family," on Robert Rogers' Web site

​Leading up to November sweeps, WDAF Fox 4 is checking in with subjects of past stories. Reporter Tess Koppelman caught up with Robert Rogers, whose wife and four children died when a flash flood in Emporia, Kansas, washed their car off the road in August 2003. Rogers has been touring churches around the country ever since, spreading his message about living for today.

According to Koppleman's story, Rogers remarried three years ago and now lives in Indiana with his new wife, Inga, and their two children.

Everyone grieves differently, sure, but there was a strange calmness in the way Rogers reacted to the loss of his family, even on the night they drowned.

Randy Knight, Johnson County Park and Recreation

​Jason Miller and the animal rights activists in Bite Club of KC are still waging their war against Johnson County Park and Recreation District, barraging officials with daily e-mails about their sadistic murder of innocent deer.

But, according to this afternoon's release from Randy Knight, the district's community relations manager, the hunt to cull several hundred deer from the over-populated herd in Shawnee Mission Park is already over.

A total of 313 deer were culled from the herd during the police operation that began on Sunday, Nov. 1 and ended on Wednesday, Nov. 4.... All of the deer harvested are undergoing testing coordinated by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks to ensure only meat from healthy deer are distributed for consumption. Distribution of the meat to needy families through Harvesters' Community Food Network will begin once the state's testing has been completed...

The next step in the ongoing management of the deer will be a survey later this month by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks to estimate how many deer per square mile still remain within the park and the adjacent properties managed by the Johnson County Park and Recreation District. The resulting data will be used by district staff to determine whether an approved secondary harvest by certified archers is still needed. The secondary harvest, if necessary, could begin as early as Dec. 7 and continue through the month of January.

Miller has emphasized from the start that, even if the sharp-shooting took place, Bite Club is determined to at least shut down the secondary bow hunt. And we know for a fact that Miller still has a few ideas he hasn't yet carried out.

​
​Last week, The Kansas City Star and metro TV news were all brooding over K2, a legal synthetic pot.

It supposedly gives you the same high as marijuana, and was legally available for purchase for $15 a bag at shops in Lawrence.

Of course, the cops don't like it. And legislators want to ban it.

But in all this fuss, no one actually said whether K2 gets you high or not.

The answer is important because a) if it doesn't get you stoned, lawmakers have better things to do than passing unnecessary laws to curry political points and b) you have better things to do than drive around searching for barely legal faux-reefer if it doesn't work.

So in the interest of investigating political intent and protecting consumers, the Pitch Action News Team took a day trip to The Sacred Journey -- a Lawrence botanical store -- bought two bags of K2 and smoked up in the parking lot like a bunch of high school kids getting stoned before first bell. 

Jill Conaghan

​A Johnson County judge denied bond yesterday for Jill Conaghan, the 19-year-old woman charged with involuntary manslaughter and driving under the influence in connection with the hit-and-run death of an Overland Park woman.

The Kansas City Star reports that the judge refused to lower Conaghan's bond due to her history of drug abuse. The judge even said her abuse of drugs left him "genuinely concerned about public safety."

Meanwhile, Conaghan's defense attorneys argued in favor of allowing her to finish an out-of-state, drug-treatment program.

​A little update from the KCPD's Vice Section on last week's large-scale prostitution bust.

The final tally of arrests was 123, split pretty much down the middle between soliciting (prostitutes) and patronizing (johns), said Sgt. Brad Dumit.

Officers and detectives in the multi-agency effort also recovered crack, marijuana, stolen autos and made arrests on outstanding warrants.

"It was a fun week," Dumit said.

​A committee studying the notion of a downtown convention hotel is beginning to spend its $500,000 allowance.

On Tuesday, the committee selected a consultant who will endeavor to find the City of Kansas City, Missouri, a developer and a hotelier. The proposal that's brought back will then be examined by a third party to determine the size of the crater it will make in the city budget. A "convention headquarters" hotel will require substantial taxpayer assistance if it's to be built.

Councilwoman Cindy Circo, who chairs the Kansas City Convention Center Hotel Development Steering Committee, says the third-party review will serve as a "reality check" against the typically lofty promises of developers. "Whoever wants to do the deal is going to bring you whatever it is you want to hear, is going to bring you all the numbers to say, 'Yes, this is the right thing to do.' We wanted to make sure we had a stopgap."

The committee chose Convention Center Hotel Advisors, a Minnesota company that in July completed an analysis of the key planning issues for a prospective convention hotel. Apparently, the keys include hiring Minnesota consultants.

​It didn't take long for eBay to pull the last two auctions aimed at raising money for the legal defense of Scott Roeder, the man accused of killing Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

The online auction house removed several auctions for Roeder early Monday, including one for a pencil sketch of Biblical character David holding the decapitated head of Goliath, whose forehead read "Tiller" and corpse read "Child murdering industry."

But two auctions -- one for a "prolife Bible" that belonged to Shelley Shannon, a convicted clinic arsonist who shot and wounded Tiller in 1993, and a Catechism from anti-abortion activist Michael Bray and signed by members of the militant anti-abortion group the Army of God -- lasted into late Monday afternoon before eBay pulled them.

I watched both items top $50.

​
Two auctions are ongoing to raise money for Scott Roeder, the man charged with killing Wichita abortion provider George Tiller. Earlier today, we noted Talking Points Memo's awesome coverage of the auctions to raise money for Roeder (although the items had been removed by the time we checked for them).

After 10 bids, a "prolife Bible" that belonged to Shelley Shannon -- the convicted clinic arsonist who shot and wounded Tiller in 1993 -- is up to $51. The Bible's description reads:

Don't believe me. Believe God. This is the King James Version Bible owned by S.h.e.l.l.y S.h.a.n.n.o.n until she sent it to me about 10 years ago when she was transferred from state to federal prison. I have highlighted many verses in it which prolifers cite to show that conception is "when life begins", at least in God's opinion.

The description also cites the Bible's glorification of violence.

There is real disagreement between God and America's police and courts. It is not over whether vio-lence is sometimes just-ified, but it is over when it is just-ified.

The listing also references Roeder by name, saying Roeder's attorney will employ "the Ne-cess-ity De-fense."

Also listed is a Catechism from anti-abortion activist Michael Bray and signed by members of the militant anti-abortion group the Army of God. After two bids, the Catechism is up to $15.50.

The items were listed by "freespeech4america."

Talking Points Memo has an enumeration of violations for the previous items pulled by eBay. They also have a statement from eBay.

Today, eBay removed several listings on our site that violated several of our policies including our offensive materials' policy. This policy prohibits items that promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual, or religious intolerance, or promote organizations with such views.

​
The auction to raise money for legal defense of Scott Roeder, the man charged with killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller, reportedly went live Sunday night.

KCTV 5 reported that up for auction was a Bible from Shelley Shannon, the convicted clinic bomber/arsonist who shot and wounded Tiller in 1993, and a Catechism signed by Michael Bray.

But the best coverage is from Talking Points Memo, which features a slideshow of the auction items, including the above signed pencil sketch autographed by Roeder.

Talking Points Memo says Roeder wrote this item description for the set of drawings, which had one bid of $50:

His name is Jason Dubrowski and is one of the best artists I've seen in here. The drawing of the man and woman at Tiller's tombstone was done in response to the opinion page depiction which I included. The drawing of the field of babies tombstones with the newspaper headline comments of Obama was done after a Christian newsletter printed this illustration which a lady in Valley Center sent to me. The David and Goliath depiction was my idea. I hope they help get the message out there.

On the David and Goliath sketch, Roeder wrote: "To all you precious prolifers, Thank you for your support!"

The seller of the auction items is "mission.of.life," Talking Points reports.

As of 10:30 a.m. Monday, the only item up for auction by mission.of.life was an "abortion is murder" bumper sticker. Starting bid is $5.

Talking Points Memo had links (here and here) to the auctions, but they now bring up this message:

This listing (200401118000) has been removed, or this item is not available

Jason Miller has become a recognizable face to the employees of the Johnson County Park and Recreation Department. Over the past six months, the founder of Bite Club of KC has been the most outspoken and visible activist protesting the deer cull in Shawnee Mission Park. He's testified at public meetings and demonstrated in various dramatic forms at the park gates.

Jason Miller with Victoria, the dead deer head

​But last week, he took his opposition to a more personal level.

A little after 8 p.m. on Thursday, Miller visited the Olathe home of Michael Meadors, director of Johnson County Parks and Rec.

Miller says he simply delivered a "Notice of Dangerous Condition," a two-page list of Bite Club's concerns about safety precautions during the hunt at Shawnee Mission Park. Among the list of complaints, the letter alleges that a lack of warning signs and inadequate security personnel are putting area residents at risk of "physical trauma and death" from deer hunters.

"He answered the door and he recognized me," Miller says of the encounter with Meadors. "I said, 'Hello, Mike, I've got something for you to read,' and handed him the envelope and left. Then, about an hour later, the police showed up at my house."

MySpace/dennishess

Chris Mitchell and Dennis Hess

​Chris Mitchell was a close friend and former fiancée of Dennis Hess, the former owner of Denim & Diamonds. Because space constraints and other complications prevented her from being quoted in the October 14 feature, "Denim & Death," she contributed this piece, sent to The Pitch via e-mail, for inclusion in our continuing coverage of the story.

Mitchell writes:

Dennis Hess was the love of my life.

We met about 15 years ago at Denim & Diamonds. He had his perch in the bar where he could sit and see most everything going on. It was from his favorite spot, a railing on the riser nearest the main bar, that he asked me out for the first time. That date started with my first visit to Corner Cafe, included a visit to his hometown of Atchison, Kansas, and ended enjoying the stars on his porch swing. That was the beginning of our years together.

Although I can't speak for the years between his last divorce and the beginning of our relationship, I would hardly describe Dennis as being "relatively unattached" before meeting Lena [Hess]. Dennis shared his love for Denim & Diamonds with me, but it was the sharing of his love for the friends he made there and the love of his family which I cherish most. He asked me to marry him on my birthday in 2002, and we were engaged when we met Lena.

On Friday night, the Folly Theater was full of men and women in tuxedos and ball gowns, sipping wine and greeting each other with kisses on the cheek. The audience for Ailey II was a who's who of city elite: Congressman Emanuel Cleaver; Tom McDonnell, CEO of DST Systems; Kansas City City Manager Wayne Cauthen.

Photo by Nicole Reinertson

​But those weren't the VIPs at this performance.

Up in the balcony, the back rows of the renovated venue were packed with kids in jeans and parkas, all students in the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey dance programs. Because of KCFAA's unique ties to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City, local kids get an unprecedented chance to see and study with some of the nation's most talented young dancers. While the slate of Ailey II performances, which raised more than $180,000 for local youth programming, started on Thursday, the professionals spent plenty of time off stage and in the community.

Tyrone Aiken, KCFAA's executive director, says the dancers visited not only area schools, like Cristo Rey, but also traveled to Lansing Correctional Facility to perform for the prisoners. Later in the week, more than 3,000 children packed into the Folly for mini-performances that, Aiken says, had students dancing in their seats. On Friday, the show had a similar effect, bringing the audience of movers and shakers -- and wide-eyed students -- to their feet for a standing ovation.

Click here for a slideshow of the stunning performance.

via cnsnews.com

Mark Muller

​A couple of days ago, we read about Mark Muller's boycott of the NFL.

Muller, owner of Max Motors and wannabe arms dealer (he offered $450 vouchers so Missourians get an AK-47 with the purchase of a truck from his dealership), claimed he was giving up his Kansas City Chiefs season tickets after the NFL supposedly blocked Rush Limbaugh's attempt to buy the St. Louis Rams.

I finally caught up with Muller yesterday, and he clarified: It's not about Rush. It's about America being "destroyed by a bunch of bunch of left-wing, politically correct morons."

"When the NFL decides that they want to step up and condemn a whole segment of America -- conservatives -- because he's [Rush] not appropriate for the NFL, then I'm not an appropriate fan," Muller said.

​

Jason Whitlock and friends

​Kansas City Star and Fox Sports columnist and noted fitness expert and master gardener Jason Whitlock apologized to Rush Limbaugh for last week's column in which he used a couple of unsourced quotes attributed to Limbaugh by Jack Huberman in his book 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America. These two to be exact:

• "You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray (Dr. King's assassin). We miss you, James. Godspeed."

• "Let's face it, we didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."

Limbaugh denies saying either.  And now Whitlock is sorry for using the unverified quotes. As I pointed out, there's a volume of work for Whitlock to pull from. He didn't have to use these quotes. And he knows it.

What really irritates me about my column last week is that I certainly didn't need the quotes to make my point.

He's right. Even though he apologized, Whitlock didn't back down from his stand that a man with Limbaugh's cache --  a man with the reputation of a little-blue-pill-popping sex tourist -- doesn't belong among the NFL's owners.

The word from Whitlock:

I'd write the exact same column if [Al] Sharpton and [Jesse] Jackson tried to buy a piece of the Chicago Bears.

It doesn't matter that many of the owners enjoy Limbaugh's hustle or agree with his politics. They earned or inherited their money legitimately, and they don't spend three hours a day on the radio trying to stir up racial animosity.

If that's not clear enough, think of it this way: Steve Hirsch, the founder of Vivid Entertainment, is wealthy enough to buy a piece of an NFL franchise. Porn is legal, enjoyed by many football fans and probably a few owners. No one would think twice if the NFL declined to associate its brand with Hirsch. No one would think it unusual or unfair if feminists and sportswriters objected to Hirsch purchasing an NFL franchise.

Solid point. Now can we get back to writing about "strange tang," already? Steve Phillips' sex scandal is calling your name, Whitlock.

Charles Hollingsworth III

​Next week, the Kansas Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal from Charles Hollingsworth III, the man serving a life sentence for hanging self-appointed homeless lobbyist David Owen in 2006.

A press release from the state's highest court says Hollingsworth is appealing on these grounds: "Whether defendant's statements to police were voluntarily and intelligently made and whether the court erred in permitting the state to introduce evidence of defendant's outstanding warrant to show motive or intent."

Earlier this year, the Kansas Supreme Court upheld first-degree murder and kidnapping convictions against Kimberly Sharp, who, in 2006, Hollingsworth called his "fiancée."

In a letter to the Pitch in 2006, Hollingsworth quoted Scripture as apparent evidence of his jailhouse conversion and halfheartedly confessed to killing David Owen.

"I had to kill a man to realize that the lifestyle I was living wasn't getting me anywhere," he wrote. "I had to kill a man just to realize that the path my father was trying lead me to was actually what I needed to do and was ... the best move for me. I say I had to kill a man because of killing a man I am guilty of, but of 1st degree murder, I am not guilty of, more like reckless second/voluntary manslaughter!!"

Hollingsworth added, "I also have the hope of David Owens [sic] and many others being resurrected either to everlasting life or to judgment here in the near future (John 5:28, 29)."

Hollingsworth's hearing before the Kansas Supreme Court is scheduled for October 28 at 9 a.m.

​First, a disclosure, my wife and I are one of the four community supported agriculture (CSA) members at Bad Seed Farm. As such, we have a vested interest in seeing Bad Seed succeed.

Jonathan Bender wrote this post on Fat City earlier today. Since it updates Carolyn Szczepanski's post from earlier this week, we're cross posting.

Urban farmers, community leaders and city officials gathered before a crowd of close to 100 people at Bad Seed Farm's downtown market space on Tuesday night to discuss the process for potentially changing the development code in Kansas City.

"We need to look at urban agriculture as a potential solution to problems in the city, whether it's the use of vacant lots, the greening effort, or health issues," said Daniel Heryer, who runs Bad Seed Farm with his wife, Brooke Salvaggio.

Katherine Kelly, the director of the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture, acted as moderator at the community meeting, which was designed to seek input and find community advocates willing to serve on an urban agriculture steering committee tasked with drafting an amendment to the current ordinance that governs zoning and development.

"Ideally we'll come up with templates that will serve as a model for other municipalities," said Kelly of the committee, which will have a separate subcommittee on raising livestock in an urban or suburban setting.

City officials candidly discussed the reasons why Bad Seed Farm was issued citations for violating the current development code, while also recognizing that this issue requires the code to be updated.

Self portrait via cnsnews.com

Mark Muller

The loonies claiming they're giving up the National Football League due to its treatment of oppressed rich white guy Rush Limbaugh can count a Kansas City car dealer among their ranks.

Our sister paper The Riverfront Times points out that Mark Muller, owner of Max Motors and wannabe arms dealer (he saved Missourians from having to make the hard choice between a pickup truck and an assault rifle this summer by giving away free AK-47s with purchase of a truck), is now claiming that he's canceling his Kansas City Chiefs season tickets because the NFL supposedly blocked Limbaugh's attempt to buy the St. Louis Rams.

Muller told the Cybercast News Service that Limbaugh was the reason he first went to an NFL game. Muller claimed that he heard Limbaugh endorse the NFL on his radio program in the '80s. Muller supposedly talked to his wife, and they "gave up everything in our life at the time [so] we could buy two season tickets, no more dinners out, nothing." But no more.

"Had they handled it behind closed doors and Rush had bowed out I'd have known that he'd taken a screwing but I wouldn't have cared because I love the NFL," said Muller. "But to have the commissioner of the NFL get on TV and say we find him inappropriate, well, by God, then I'm an inappropriate fan."

Muller claimed the decision was an emotional one for his family. He told Cybercast news:

"I'll never go to another NFL game. My wife and I, we had a family meeting over it. All day we talked about football and Rush Limbaugh, and by that night at dinner my wife broke down in absolute tears, and we decided to cancel our tickets, to never go to another game."

Not only do the Chiefs lose a pair of season ticket holders, but Muller also told Cybercast News that he's done throwing tailgate parties at Arrowhead -- parties he claims attract about 800 fans at a time. 

​Having pleaded guilty to multiple counts of possessing child pornography, jazz piano player Bill Laursen will be sentenced in a hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on December 3 in federal court.

Laursen was the subject of the July 30 feature story "Crash," which detailed the musician's history with legendary KC jazz band, the Scamps, as well as his attempts to explain, and in some ways justify, downloading thousands of photos of underage girls.

"First: Looking at pictures of naked people is not the same as molesting children. ...

"Second: We need to get things like this legal action against me moved over into the realm of where it belongs: not prison sentences but required psychotherapy with perhaps a little probation thrown in that will assure that emotional weaknesses like this are properly dealt with. ...

"Third: If the slow movement of American societal evolution when it comes to this delicate issue persistently remains stalled at focusing on punishing instead of curing, let's better educate the general populace that looking at naked images of minors will, without exception, get you a federal prison term of at least ten years."

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Laursen faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole or as many as 110 years without parole, plus a fine of $1.5 million.

A federal judge sentenced a former Naval recruiter yesterday to 15 years in prison without parole for attempted commercial sex trafficking of a child.

Shane Allan Childers pleaded guilty in July to trying to pay $80 to have sex with an 11-year-old girl. Of course, this was part of a sting.

Childers, a 32-year-old Olathe man, was a naval recruiter at the time of the offense, and he used his government-issued computer at the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Lenexa to reply to a Craigslist ad for sex with a child. He also used his Navy e-mail address and government-issued cell phone.

Childers even showed up to the rendezvous wearing his Navy uniform (but taking off the shirt). Inside the house used in the sting, Childers paid an undercover agent $60 to have sex with an 11-year-old girl and threw in an extra $20 so he wouldn't have to wear a condom.

Childers also admitted that he had used prostitutes since he served in Hong Kong in 1998.

The bio on Shane Childers' Facebook page read:

I am currently in the navy 12 years so far and 8 till i retire. married for 11 years so far and going strong, currently have 4 kids, my life!

Childers lists "family" among his interests. He also drops the ages of his children -- 10, 7, 5 and 3 -- and posts photos of himself and a woman under the title "love of my life."

​Carva Lee White, an itinerant preacher and convicted felon, has been implicated by federal authorities in an arson scheme.

An indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, says White set fire to a church in Leavenworth where he was working as a music director. White intended to embezzle the insurance money, according to the indictment.

White, the musically gifted son of a preacher, has a long history of trying to make money in ways that do not involve honest toil. In 2001, he went to prison on a bank-fraud charge. He came to our attention in 2006, when children representing his ministry were selling candy by wading into busy intersections.

A preacher White worked with after his release from prison told me that White used the money raised from the candy sales to support himself. "The fund-raising is a crap of bull," the minister, Mike Hardy, said. "It's to help him."