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ByBruceSchreiner The Associated Press EDDYVILLE,KY. AKentucky state trooper was killed in a shooting during a chase, and officers shot and killed the suspect when he refused to drop his weapon after an hours-long manhunt, police said Monday. Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder, who was 31 and had been on the force less than a year, was conducting a traf- fic stop Sunday night on In- terstate 24 when the driver fled, Kentucky State Police said. A chase ensued with the suspect stopping abruptly, causing the trooper's ve- hicle to "make contact" with the rear of the sus- pect's vehicle, said Trooper Jay Thomas, a state police spokesman. "At that point, the suspect leaned out of the driver-side window and fired multi- ple rounds at the trooper's car, striking the hood, the windshield and striking our trooper," Thomas said. Ponder was hit multi- ple times and was taken to a hospital, where he died shortly before midnight. The suspect, 25-year-old Joseph Thomas Johnson- Shanks of Florissant, Mis- souri, ran away and was found hours later in a ru- ral, wooded area a couple of miles from the shoot- ing, Thomas said. Johnson- Shanks refused to drop his weapon and was shot by of- ficers, and he later died at a hospital, Thomas said. Ponder had graduated from the Kentucky State Po- licetrainingacademyinJan- uary and was stationed at the state police post in May- field, police said. He was sin- gle and a Navy veteran. Flags fluttered at half- staff at the post Monday afternoon. "He was very proud to be a Kentucky State Trooper," Thomas said. "He was new, he was eager and just abso- lutely loved his job." State police spokesman Sgt. Michael Webb said Ponder was in the Navy for nearly six years and sta- tioned in Hawaii for some of that time. Ponder had been a Navy diver, Webb said. State police said numer- ous law enforcement agen- cies, as well as helicopters and dogs, were used to help with search efforts in the rural, wooded area that has homes scattered about. Thomas said there are nu- merous vacant summer homes in the area. Interstate 24 was shut down from mile markers 45 to 56 while investigators collected evidence but had been reopened by Monday afternoon, police said. Thomas said three other people were in the suspect's vehicle when he stopped — a woman and two chil- dren. Thomas said they were questioned but have not been charged or ar- rested. He did not release their names and did not know their relationship to the suspect. Thomas said he didn't know the reason for the ini- tial traffic stop on the vehi- cle, which was headed west on I-24. Calls by The Associated Press to a home telephone listing for Johnson-Shanks went unanswered Monday. Shawn McGuire, a St. Louis County police spokes- man, said Johnson-Shanks had been arrested in Au- gust 2014 for failing to ap- pear in an unspecified case. In May of this year, investi- gators began searching for him for questioning in the theft of lottery tickets. Ponder is the second trooper from the Mayfield post to be killed in the line of duty this year. In June, 23-year-old Er- ick K. Chrisman died in a traffic crash while respond- ing to a reckless driving complaint. He had also graduated from the police academy in January. "We're all just holding to- gether the best that we can and just continue to do our jobs," Thomas said. "We face dangers every day that ... we put our uni- form on and we go out to protect the public," Thomas said. "It's part of our job. We know the risks that are out there and we accept those risks." Gov. Steve Beshear called the shooting a "tragic re- minder of the risks that our law enforcement offi- cers face every day just by putting on their uniform and doing their job. CHASE Police:Kentuckytroopershootingsuspectkilled APPHOTO/BRUCESCHREINER Kentucky State Police Trooper Jay Thomas discusses the death of fellow KSP Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder on Monday near Eddyville, Ky. By Claire Galofaro The Associated Press MOREHEAD, KY. Kim Da- vis returned to work Mon- day for the first time since she was jailed for denying marriage licenses to gay couples and said she had been faced with a "seem- ingly impos- sible choice" between fol- lowing her conscience and losing her freedom. With her voice shak- ing, the Ken- tucky county clerk said she would not in- terfere with deputy clerks who continue to hand out the licenses, but Davis de- clared that the documents would not be authorized by her, and she questioned their validity. Davis, an Apostolic Christian who spent five days in jail for disobeying a federal judge, read from a hand-written statement outside the Rowan County courthouse, saying she was torn between obeying God and the judge's directive, which she said "forces me to disobey God." The first couple to ap- ply for a license Monday was Shannon Wampler and Carmen Collins. They stood at the counter for a half-hour, dozens of report- ers gathering behind them and microphones bobbing above their heads. Deputy clerk Brian Ma- son — sitting behind a sign that reads "marriage li- cense deputy" — gave them a license despite his boss's objections and after a delay because of a printer prob- lem. Protesters in the back heckled Mason, but he ig- nored them, initialed the license and shook the cou- ple's hands. As Davis indicated in her statement, the couple's license had the words "pur- suant to federal court or- der" typed on it. One protester waved a Bible. Elizabeth John- son from Ohio screamed, "Don't let Kim's five days in jail be in vain." Marriage-equality sup- porters chanted, "Love has won." Davis, a Democrat, sat in her office with the door closed and the blinds drawn. She became a hero to many conservative Chris- tians when she stopped is- suing the licenses after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Her profile rose when she was jailed, as protesters, pres- idential candidates and news crews from across the county descended on the small town of Morehead. The governor, the attor- ney general and the county attorney have said the li- censes are valid. "I don't want to have this conflict. I don't want to be in the spotlight. And I certainly don't want to be a whipping post," Davis said. "I am no hero. I'm just a person that's been trans- formed by the grace of God, who wants to work, be with my family. I just want to serve my neighbors quietly without violating my con- science." Mason, a 38-year-old for- mer retail worker who has unwittingly fallen into the middle of the issue, also has supporters.Amandelivered a gift bag to him today with bourbon balls and a candle. A Facebook support group was created for him. As he prepared to issue the license, Mason casually chewed gum and scrolled on his computer with doz- ens of cameras in his face, including people standing on ladders to get a better shot of him. Hecklers shouted "cow- ard" at him from the side of room. He smiled at them and turned back to his work. Mason said he spoke with Davis only briefly Monday. He's worked for her for a year and a half, he said. A lawyer for Davis said the license issued Monday did not violate Davis's con- science. "If it's satisfactory to the ... court, then I think we will have found that win- win solution that we have been asking for all along," attorney Harry Mihet told a news conference. GAY MARRIAGE CONTROVERSY Kentucky clerk returns to work a er 5-day jail stint Davis By Jeff Amy and Emily Wagster Pettus The Associated Press CLEVELAND, MISS. A pro- fessor was killed in his of- fice at Delta State Univer- sity in Mississippi, forc- ing terrified students and teachers to hunker down in classrooms as investiga- tors searched for another school employee in connec- tion with the killing, offi- cials said Monday. Investigators are search- ing for Shannon Lamb, who was initially identified as a person of interest and is now considered a sus- pect, Cleveland Police Chief Charles "Buster" Bingham said. Police do not yet know a motive in the slaying of Ethan Schmidt, a history professor at Delta State. Bingham said Lamb is considered armed and dan- gerous but is not believed to be on campus anymore. Lamb received a doctor- ate in education from Delta State University in the spring 2015, according to a copy of his resume posted on the university's website. He started working there in 2009 and taught geography and education classes, and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, according to the resume. Lamb also has been linked to a slaying in Gautier, about 300 miles away in south Mississippi, though authorities have not provided many details about that slaying. Gautier police spokes- man Matthew Hoggatt told The Sun Herald that a woman was found dead in her home, and that Lamb is the suspect in her death. "We're working right now under the assumption that both events are re- lated," Hoggatt said. "We hope that they are not. But at this point in time, in- formation indicates that they probably are linked in some way, shape or form." Mississippi Highway Pa- trolspokesmanJohnnyPou- los said investigators are searching for a black 2011 DodgeAvengerthattheybe- lieve Lamb is driving. The 3,500-student uni- versity in Cleveland, in Mis- sissippi's Delta region near the Arkansas-Mississippi state line, was first put on lockdown around 10:45 a.m. amid reports of an active shooter. Everyone on cam- pus was told to take shelter, away from windows. MISSISSIPPI Pr of es so r fa ta ll y sh ot o n ca mp us ; su sp ec t at l ar ge ANDREW HARNIK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Building is shown in Washington. By Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press WASHINGTON No checks, please. Starting next year, your check won't be any good at the IRS — if you're making a tax payment of $100 million or more. The IRS says it will re- ject all checks for more than $99,999,999 because check- processing equipment at the nation's Federal Reserve banks can't handle checks that big. Checks of $100 million or more have to be pro- cessed by hand, increasing the risk of theft, fraud and errors, according to a pair of memos from the IRS and the Treasury Department. As a result, the richest among us will have to wire their tax payments elec- tronically. Or write mul- tiple checks for less than $100 million apiece. Conservatives have been complaining for years that President Barack Obama is trying to stick it to the rich, regularly proposing to raise their taxes. Now, they say, the Obama administra- tion is making it harder for the super-rich to pay those taxes. "If Obama really gets mean, he's going to make them bring in pennies or nickels," said anti-tax guru Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Re- form, in a bit of tongue-in- cheek hyperbole. Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union, said: "When our in- debted federal government turns down large checks for fear of fraud or mishan- dling, it's time to revise pro- cessing procedures and se- curity rather than incon- veniencing or deterring taxpayers." Apparently, people send- ing huge checks to the fed- eral government is a grow- ing problem. The Treasury Depart- ment says it has noticed an increase in federal agencies trying to deposit checks of $100 million or more. This year, the IRS accepted 14 checks for more than $99,999,999. The Federal Reserve says most commercial banks can't process checks with amounts that stretch for more than 10 digits, in- cluding cents. The Fed says federal agencies have been prohibited from depositing checks of $100 million or more for years. Apparently, the IRS didn't get the memo. The IRS declined to com- ment even though the tax agency's memo urged of- ficials to spread the word about the check limit "in as many media forms as pos- sible between now and Dec. 31, 2015." The IRS didn't reveal who actually writes a check for $100 million, whether they were individuals or businesses. Confidentiality laws prevent those kinds of disclosures. Very few in- dividuals pay that much in federal income taxes. Each year, the IRS tracks the 400 taxpayers with the highest incomes. These high rollers had an average income of nearly $336 million in 2012, the latest year for data. Their average tax bill was $56 million. A corporation would have to make nearly $300 million in taxable profits to have a tax bill of $100 mil- lion. Investors who get the bulk of their income from capital gains would have to make about $500 million in taxable income to have a tax bill that big. Got a $100M tax bill? Check is no good at IRS PROCESSING EQUIPMENT Changing Lives One Career At A Time ◆ Emergency Medical Technician ◆ Criminology & Emergency Response Management ◆ Medical Office Administration ◆ Pharmacy Technician ◆ Professional Medical Assistant ◆ Vocational Nursing ◆ Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning 1755 Hilltop Drive, Redding CA 96002 (530) 224-1000 Facebook.com/IOTRedding Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate Allmakesandmodels. We perform dealer recommened 30K 60K 90K Service At Lower Prices. 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