Kansas City, Mo.: Funding cuts target 52 teaching jobs

Fifty-two teaching jobs would be cut from the Kansas City school district under a proposed budget from Supt. Bernard Taylor Jr., who would also reorganize his administrative staff.

The cuts are due to a decrease in state aid and a drop in enrollment, partly because of charter school competition.

Taylor said Monday he expected the operating budget for the next fiscal year to be between $267 million and $272 million, down from $318 million this year.

Taylor said he did not expect to lay off any teachers, but refused to rule it out. The cuts, primarily at middle and high schools, would be accomplished through attrition and the elimination of some positions now held by long-term substitutes.

Albuquerque: Kansan faces charges for in-flight disturbance

A 22-year-old Kansas man has been charged with threatening to attack members of a crew aboard a Southwest Airlines flight.

Michael Patrick Semegen of Overland Park, Kan., was arrested Saturday at Albuquerque’s international airport after he allegedly threatened crew members on a Phoenix-to-Kansas City flight.

According to a criminal complaint filed Monday, Semegen, his 18-year-old brother and his 53-year-old mother became agitated because their drink order was not to their satisfaction.

The complaint said the three began yelling and that Semegen attempted to lunge at one of the flight attendants. No one was injured.

Semegen’s attorney said Tuesday that his client’s mother was having a panic attack.

Kansas City, Mo.: Log dropped onto I-70; three people are injured

Three people were injured, one critically, when someone dropped a log from a viaduct onto a passing car on Interstate 70, authorities said.

Police said they believe someone deliberately threw the log Monday morning on the car, possibly as a prank.

No arrests had been made Tuesday, and murder squad detectives were investigating.

Four people were inside the car, and the log hit the windshield on the passenger’s side, leaving a large hole.

A female passenger in the front seat was critically injured and a 22-year-old man in the back seat was seriously injured. A 24-year-old woman in the back seat was treated at a hospital and released Monday.

Police would not release names, but said the driver and passengers were related.