The state/region in brief

— 19 homes robbed Christmas morning

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Police in Columbia are investigating Christmas burglaries at 19 homes.

The first reports of the break-ins were received in the early hours of Friday morning. Police said a dozen homes were hit on a single Columbia street. Seven others in the neighborhood were also burglarized.

The thieves broke doors and windows and made off mostly with small electronics and flat-screen televisions.

Columbia police spokesman Jessie Haden said investigators believe the burglaries are related to another string of break-ins that occurred in November and December. The city had 42 home burglaries in November and 72 so far this month.

Thirteen people in Columbia were arrested recently for burglaries, mostly involving electronics.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSEscapee found

in Conway home

CONWAY - Authorities said a Greenbrier man who escaped the Faulkner County jail was found at a Conway home, trying to hide behind a toilet.

Police had been searching for 19-year-old Christopher Jordan McNeely, who escaped the county jail on Tuesday by apparently ramming a food cart into a fence, then slipping through the razor wire.

McNeely was awaiting trial on burglary charges, but prosecutors said he’ll now face a felony escape charge, too.

Major Andy Shock of the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office said McNeely was caught Thursday at an acquaintance’s house in Conway.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSTrooper killed at accident scene

EUREKA, Mo. - A Missouri state trooper died after being struck while working an accident on icy Interstate 44 southwest of St. Louis.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol identified the trooper as 49-year-old Patrolman Dennis Engelhard, a 10-year veteran from Wildwood.

Patrol spokesman Sgt. Al Nothum told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Engelhard was struck Friday by a sport utility vehicle that lost control on westbound I-44 near Eureka.

Nothum said Engelhard had been working a minor accident and was hit while walking back to his patrol car to retrieve something.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSEx-mayor charged after audits

GARLAND CITY - The former mayor of Garland City has been indicted on suspicion of creating fake invoices after state auditors questioned her about more than $42,000 worth of checks written to herself.

Yvonne Dockery has pleaded not guilty to the charge. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.

A grand jury indicted Dockery earlier this month, and the indictment was unsealed last week.

According to the indictment, Dockery is accused of making phony invoices from Dub City Auto Sales in Texarkana and mailing them tostate auditors in 2007. The indictment said Dub City was not in business when the invoices were made.

Dockery was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty in October to receiving payroll advances she wasn’t entitled to. As part of a plea agreement she resigned as mayor of Garland City.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSOsteopaths reject joint M.D. degrees

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The recently fired president of a Kansas City osteopathic medical school had been promoting a change that some feared jeopardized the independence of the entire profession.

Karen Pletz said in a widely distributed e-mail that the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences was looking into offering students the opportunity to become a doctor of osteopathy and a medical doctor at the same time.

The Kansas City Star reported that no other osteopathic school confers dual D.O.-M.D. degrees.

Two days before her Dec.

18 termination, a group of current and former leaders of the American Osteopathic Association who are alumni of the university sent Pletz a letter asking that any dual D.O.-M.D. proposal be abandoned.

Critics said the combined degree could raise questions about continued independence of the field of osteopathy, which emphasizes holistic care and employs manipulation techniques similar to those of chiropractic medicine. They said other osteopathic medical schools also would be forced to offer M.D. degrees if Pletz’s plan was adopted.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bereaved mother proposes changes

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

- A Jackson County woman whose estranged husband killed their two children and waited three years to lead authorities to their graves has proposed changes to Missouri laws and procedures that would better protect children.

Tina Porter is seeking a procedure to appeal denials of requests for Amber Alerts as well as more complete record-keeping on orders of protection in police databases, The Kansas City Star reported.

Law enforcement authorities and state legislators surrounded Porter when she made her case for the changes at a news conference.

Porter said the proposed changes could have led authorities to act more quickly when her 7-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter failed to return from a June 2004 visit with their father, Dan Porter.

He refused to tell authorities what he had done with the children, even suggesting they were still alive, until September 2007, when he led FBI agents to the children’s shallow grave.

Dan Porter is serving a life sentence with no chance for parole. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in January 2008 to avoid the death penalty.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 20 on 12/27/2009

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