Former Kansas City councilwoman injured in afternoon robbery in downtown KC
Collins, 89, was the first Black woman elected to Kansas City's City Council. She served as the 3rd District city council member.
Police were called to the area of West 12th Street and Central Street, near the Kansas City Convention Center, around 4:30 p.m. Monday for a robbery, and officers found the victim, Collins, had been injured in the incident, said Sgt. Phil DiMartino, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department.
Collins was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, he said.
'Detectives are pursuing all leads and making headway at identifying a subject,' he said. 'The investigation is ongoing.'
Collins became the first Black woman to be elected to City Council in 1974. She was re-elected to the seat four times before she stepped down in 1991. Collins also served in stints as the city's mayor pro tem and acting mayor.

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San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Things to know about the indictment against the New Orleans mayor
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Months before New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was set to leave office because of term limits, she has been indicted in what prosecutors allege was a yearslong scheme to conceal a romantic relationship with her bodyguard. Prosecutors say bodyguard Jeffrey Vappie was being paid as if he was working when he and Cantrell were really alone in apartments and visiting vineyards, hiding their communication by sending encrypted messages through WhatsApp and then deleting them. Although the pair have said their relationship was strictly professional, the indictment described it as 'personal and intimate.' The first female mayor in New Orleans' 300-year history has been charged with conspiracy, fraud and obstruction. Vappie was already facing charges of wire fraud and making false statements. He has pleaded not guilty. A grand jury returned an 18-count indictment Friday that added Cantrell to the case. The City of New Orleans said in a statement that it was aware of the indictment and that the mayor's attorney was reviewing it. Cantrell hasn't sent out a message on her official social media feed on X since July 15, when she said the city was experiencing historic declines in crime. She and her remaining allies have said that she has been unfairly targeted as a Black woman and held to a different standard than male officials. Here are things to know about the mayor and the indictment: Vineyard trips and alone time with bodyguard The indictment paints a detailed picture of Cantrell and her bodyguard traveling to vineyards and spending time alone in apartments at the same time it says Vappie was being paid as if he was working. Vappie reminisced in a WhatsApp exchange cited in the indictment about joining Cantrell in Scotland in October 2021, saying that was 'where it all started.' Cantrell had told local reporters she needed a security detail 'due to COVID,' saying her travel accommodations were 'a matter of safety, not of luxury.' The following year, instead of Cantrell attending a conference in Miami, authorities said the pair rendezvoused on Martha's Vineyard. Vappie's travel to the island was covered by the city to attend a separate conference. 'The times when we are truly (traveling) is what spoils me the most,' the mayor wrote to him that month. That same year, they also visited several California wineries, according to the indictment. After a 'trusted staff member' posted a photo of the three of them on social media, one of Cantrell's associates asked them to remove it. They met in an apartment while Vappie claimed to be on duty, and Cantrell arranged for him to attend 14 trips, Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Simpson said. The trips, he added, were described by her as times 'when they were truly alone.' In all, New Orleans taxpayers paid more than $70,000 for Vappie's travel, Simpson said. The pair used WhatsApp for more than 15,000 messages, including efforts to delete evidence, make false statements to FBI agents, 'and ultimately to commit perjury before a federal grand jury,' he said. A turbulent second term as mayor Cantrell, a Democrat, won a historic election in 2017 by portraying herself as a candidate for the people and not of the city's political class. Her mayoral tenure started strong with her securing tens of millions of dollars for city infrastructure improvements and taking decisive steps during the pandemic. There wasn't strong opposition to her 2021 election for a second term. But it was around that time that the wheels started to come off her administration. After Hurricane Ida pounded south Louisiana in 2021, residents were left without trash collection for weeks, while crime rates were surging. Meanwhile, Cantrell drew criticism for taking first-class trips abroad at the city's expense, violating a policy that requires city employees to use cheaper fares. She eventually agreed to repay the difference. A WVUE television investigation also found she was using a city-owned apartment as a part-time residence. Cantrell survived a recall campaign launched in 2022 by disgruntled Black Democrats and largely funded by wealthy white Republicans. She is also among more than 100 people brought up on corruption charges in Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans two decades ago, said Rafael Goyeneche, a former prosecutor who is president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, a watchdog group that provided photographs and information to federal authorities in the latest case. New Orleans' long history of corruption cases Although Cantrell is New Orleans' first mayor to be charged while in office, this is far from the first corruption case to impact the city. 'Public corruption has crippled us for years and years,' Simpson said. 'And this is extremely significant.' In 2014, former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced to a decade in prison for bribery, money laundering, fraud and tax crimes. The charges relate to actions during his two terms as mayor from 2002 to 2010. He was released early in 2020 during the pandemic. In 2022, Rodney J. 'Jack' Strain, a former Louisiana sheriff, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a federal bribery conviction. He also received four life sentences for earlier convictions for raping boys. After serving five terms, he admitted he used his authority as sheriff to steer profits from a $1 million work-release contract to himself, his family and two deputies. G. Thomas Porteous Jr., a federal judge from New Orleans, was impeached and removed from the bench after the U.S. Senate in 2010 determined he took money from attorneys and bail bondsmen and lied in a personal bankruptcy filing, among other offenses. He never faced criminal charges as a result of the probe, which ran from 1999 to 2007. He died in 2021.


San Francisco Chronicle
5 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Former city manager sues Santa Clara, claims scrutiny of 49ers led to her firing
The former city manager of Santa Clara filed a lawsuit alleging a pro- San Francisco 49ers bloc on the City Council harassed, bullied and ultimately fired her because she insisted on scrutinizing the team's financial management of Levi's Stadium. In the lawsuit against the city filed Thursday, Deanna Santana accused the so-called '49ers Five' of orchestrating a campaign of intimidation to prevent her from 'blowing the whistle' on suspected legal violations involving the city and 49ers. At one point, the lawsuit claimed, the city even hired an unknown person to conduct surveillance on her and her family when they were on a weekend trip to their vacation home in Pacific Grove. Santana, who served as city manager from 2017 until her 2022 firing, reported the alleged surveillance to police, 'who said they feared for her safety,' according to the complaint. The incident caused her and her family to suffer 'extreme fear, stress, anxiety, insomnia and health consequences," she complained. Soon thereafter, Santana told the council 49ers President Al Guido had potentially illegal conflicts of interest in connection with the team's effort to bring World Cup soccer matches to publicly owned Levi's Stadium. Two days later, she was fired. The council's rationale for firing Santana was a 'lack of confidence' in her, according to actions passed on the day of her dismissal. Mayor Lisa Gillmor had said she believed the 49ers wanted Santana fired because of her suggestion Guido had conflicts of interest involving the World Cup bid. Guido and the 49ers have denied wrongdoing. Thursday's lawsuit, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, said her firing was orchestrated by council member Anthony Becker, leader of the 49ers' bloc. Becker was convicted of perjury last year and lost his council seat in connection with election improprieties involving a 49ers lobbyist. A Santa Clara spokesperson declined comment, beyond acknowledging the city has been 'engaged in ongoing settlement negotiations' with Santana and her attorneys. After she was fired, Santana contends the city failed to comply with her termination agreement, withholding promised severance pay and even meddling with her CalPERS pension to deprive her of benefits. The lawsuit doesn't specify how much money is at stake in the dispute. As city manager, Santana was paid about $469,000 per year, according to the Openpayrolls website. She is now acting city manager of Milpitas. Many of the lawsuit's allegations concerning the 49ers and the City Council were first contained in a 2022 civil grand jury investigative report called 'Unsportsmanlike Conduct.' The watchdog agency rebuked pro-49ers officials, saying they 'put the 49ers' interests ahead of the city's interests.' The report also praised Santana and Gillmor for raising 'financial, safety and ethical concerns' about the city's relationship with the team. Santana, a former Oakland city administrator, came to Santa Clara when the council was dominated by 49ers critics. She led a move to replace the 49ers with an independent stadium management company, saying she feared the city was being short-changed on revenue from concerts and other non-NFL events at the stadium. The effort infuriated the 49ers, and in 2020 then-CEO Jed York (now owner) spent $2.9 millionto elect a team-friendly council majority. The new council dropped efforts to replace the 49ers as stadium manager and fired city attorney Brian Doyle, who had defended the city in a series of lawsuits brought by the team. The new council members also began complaining Santana was overpaid and rebuked her, often in sharply personal terms. At one point, council member Kevin Park referred to her as a "dog," the suit says. The allegations about surveillance appear related to a Jan. 26, 2022 article posted on a news website called San Jose Inside. The story accused Santana of being overpaid and reported that she and her husband had just bought the Pacific Grove home. The post was illustrated with a photo of the home, with Santana's car in the driveway. Both the story and photo were attributed to a writer named Alexander Cicak. Days later, the website re-posted the story, replacing the photo of Santana's house with a photo (credited to Cicak)of a public beach. The website soon re-posted the story yet again, this time removing the writer's name from both the byline and photo credits.


Axios
8 hours ago
- Axios
With indictment, Cantrell joins Louisiana's notorious political history
Mayor LaToya Cantrell became the first New Orleans mayor to ever be federally indicted while serving her term in City Hall. Why it matters: Cantrell becomes part of a notorious history of Louisiana politicians who have faced criminal charges from their time in office, which has long lent the state an unenviable reputation. Between the lines: Also the first Black female mayor of New Orleans, Cantrell has long said she has faced more intense scrutiny than others who have held the role. As New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow wrote last year during a failed effort to recall Cantrell, the mayor "has faced constant accusations of impropriety" as she's been "subject to a kind of sexism specific to Black women: misogynoir, as it's called." Worth noting: Cantrell's attorney told Axios around 1:30pm Friday that he had not received a copy of the indictment yet. He did not make any further comments. Catch up quick: Dozens of Louisiana politicians have faced criminal charges. Here are three standouts. Former Rep. William Jefferson Jefferson faced corruption charges after the FBI filmed him taking a $100,000 cash bribe with the goal of paying off an African official, the FBI says. Days later, the FBI infamously found $90,000 stashed in his freezer. He was convicted of bribery, racketeering and money laundering. Former Gov. Edwin Edwards The colorful Cajun was so popular with voters that he was elected governor four times from the 1970s through the early 1990s, though he faced multiple federal indictments during his third term. But he wouldn't be convicted until May 2000, when he was found guilty of taking bribes over riverboat casino licenses in his fourth term. Edwards spent eight years in a federal prison before launching a final unsuccessful campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014. Former Mayor C. Ray Nagin Nagin, who led New Orleans during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina, was the city's first mayor convicted of corruption, according to WWL. Nagin, who was charged after leaving office, was found guilty of 20 counts of wire fraud, bribery and tax evasion after prosecutors said he took bribes while in office. He was sentenced to serve 10 years and was released early when officials sought to decrease prison populations in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.