KANSAS CITY (AP) — Emotions that simmered for nearly a year over the renaming of an historic major thoroughfare in Kansas City, Missouri, for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led to a tense scene at a black church as get-out-the vote efforts wound down ahead of residents going to the polls.

About 100 supporters of keeping the King name for the 10-mile boulevard were at a rally to court voters Sunday when opponents walked into the Paseo Baptist Church and stood along its two aisles. Those against the King name stood silently and did not respond to calls for them to sit down. Several speakers and people in the crowd told them they were being disrespectful.

On Tuesday, the debate will end, as voters decide if Kansas City’s reputation as one of the largest cities in the U.S. without a street named for the iconic civil rights leader will cease. The boulevard had been named The Paseo, and a group named Save the Paseo collected 2,857 signatures in April — far more than the 1,700 needed — to have the name change put to a public vote. Many of the opponents who stepped inside the small church along the boulevard Sunday were wearing Save the Paseo T-shirts at the voter rally.

Many supporters of the Martin Luther King name have suggested the opponents are racist, saying Save the Paseo is a mostly white group and that many of its members don’t live on the street, which runs north to south through a largely black area of the city. They say removing the name would send a negative image of Kansas City to the rest of the world, and could hurt business and tourism.

Supporters of the Paseo name bristle at the allegations of racism, saying they have respect for King and want the city to find a way to honor him. They are opposed to the name change because they say the City Council did not follow city charter procedures when deciding on the name change and didn’t notify most residents on the street about the proposal. They also say The Paseo was an historic name for the city’s first boulevard, which was completed in 1899. The north end of the boulevard is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The City Council voted in January to rename the boulevard for King, responding to a yearslong effort from the city’s black leaders and pressure from the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights organization that King helped start.

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a minister and former Kansas City mayor who has pushed the city to rename a street for King for years, was at Sunday’s rally. He said the protesters were welcome, but he asked them to consider the damage that would be done if Kansas City removed King’s name.

“I am standing here simply begging you to sit down. This is not appropriate in a church of Jesus Christ,” Cleaver told the group.

Tim Smith, who organized the protest, said it was designed to force the black Christian leaders who had mischaracterized the Save the Paseo group as racist to “say it to our faces.”

“If tonight, someone wants to characterize what we did as hostile, violent, or uncivil, it’s a mischaracterization of what happened,” Smith said. “We didn’t say anything, we didn’t do anything, we just stood.”

The Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Kansas City chapter of the SCLU, told The Associated Press that the King street sign is a powerful symbol for everyone but particularly for black children.

“I think that only if you are a black child growing up in the inner city lacking the kind of resources, lacking the kinds of images and models for mentoring, modeling, vocation and career, can you actually understand what that name on that sign can mean to a child in this community,” Howard said.

If the sign were taken down, “the reverse will be true,” he said.

“What people will wonder in their minds and hearts is why and how something so good, uplifting and edifying, how can something like that be taken away?” he said.

But Diane Euston, a leader of the Save the Paseo group, said The Paseo “doesn’t just mean something to one community in Kansas City.”

“It means something to everyone in Kansas City,” she said. “It holds kind of a special place in so many people’s hearts and memories. It’s not just historical on paper, it’s historical in people’s memory. It’s very important to Kansas City.”

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a gas leak that left one dead and have identified the victim.

Just after 8p.m, Friday the Topeka Fire Department was dispatched to possible gas leak at a residence in the 900 block of SW Warren in Topeka, according to Lt. Shane Hilton.

Topeka Police were requested to assist with forcing entry into the home. Once inside, first responders found a woman later identified as 36-year-old Brandi Prchal.  She was pronounced deceased by medical personnel.

A second person was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Due to suspicious circumstances witnessed by the responding officers, the residence was secured and Crime Scene Officers and Detectives were investigating the scene, according to Hilton.

Authorities have not released the cause of Prchal’s death or additional details.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating 16 more suspects on sex related charges after weekend arrests.

On Friday evening, police from the Wichita Police Vice Section, the Patrol South and Patrol West Community Response Teams and the Broadway Corridor Team worked together during a sex trafficking sting along the Broadway Corridor, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Police arrested 16 men including Melvin Teufel, Xong Vo, Terry Powers, Koby Konecne, Jamie De La Torre, Dagoberto Aguilar-Ramos, Michael Briggs, Shawn Craven, Christian Dunn, Vondell Kelly, Koby Konecne, Gerano Marin-Hernandez, Juan Martinez, Nabil Nikoula, Mark Rodriguez, Mario Sanchez and Raylon Snovelle on sex related charges. They also arrested  one other man for an outstanding warrant, according to Davidson.

This the 18th sex trafficking sting in Wichita this year resulting in 154 arrests including 27 women, according to Davidson.

Police reminded that those who come to the Broadway Corridor for this activity will be arrested.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas voters are deciding whether to end the state’s unusual policy of using its own numbers in addition to federal census data to redraw boundaries of state legislative districts.

The ballot in Tuesday’s election includes a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution to eliminate a requirement for the state to adjust federal census figures when the Legislature redistricts itself.

The adjustment counts college students and military personnel not where they’re living but in a “permanent” home elsewhere. That’s outside Kansas for thousands of people and the practice has cost university towns some political clout.

Secretary of State Scott Schwab argues that the policy is outdated and says the next adjustment for 2022 would cost $835,000.

Kansas is among only a few states that adjust federal census figures for redistricting.

JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects in connection to a stolen vehicle in Jackson County.

Just after 3p.m. Saturday, Holton Police and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office arrived at O’Reilly Auto Parts at 204 U.S. Highway 75 in Holton in  reference to a report of a possible stolen vehicle, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

Authorities determined that the 2004 Pontiac Vibe had been reported stolen out of Rossville, Kansas.

Deputies arrested two suspects believed to be associated with the vehicle, Theresa Michelle Fitzgibbons Miller, 34, of Auburn was booked into the Jackson County Jail for possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and Brad A. Emmerson, 52, of Topeka was booked into the Jackson County Jail for felony possession of stolen property according to Morse.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Court documents say a Lawrence man told police that child pornography found on his electric devices was a “form of art.”

46-year-old Charles Tingler is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on two counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

The recently released affidavit says a woman called police in 2016 to report finding child porn on Tingler’s devices. Tingler told police that the images on the devices belonged to the previous owners, although they had been downloaded recently.

Tingler later told police that he “equated the access of the imagery to an appreciation for the imagery as a form of art or curiosity.” The affidavit says he denied accessing the images for sexual arousal.

It is not clear why Tingler wasn’t charged until September.

WICHITA, KAN. – A woman from Mexico who was stopped in Kansas with 21 pounds of methamphetamine pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge of drug trafficking, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Maria Alonso-Espinoza, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The Kansas Highway Patrol stopped her car on Feb. 26, 2019, on Interstate 70 near Russell, Kan. Her brother was driving and she was riding as a passenger. She was the registered owner of the car.

Troopers found 21 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the driver’s side rear quarter panel. Investigators learned Alonso-Espinoza was taking the methamphetamine from Colorado to Wichita for distribution.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 27. She could face a penalty of not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $10 million.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Relatives of a Kansas man who was fatally shot by a police officer have settled a wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit for $1 million.

The settlement Monday for the family of Antonio Garcia Jr.

Garcia was killed by a Leavenworth officer on July 11, 2017, while sitting in a car in the driveway of his home. The lawsuit said Officer Matthew Harrington unjustifiably shot and killed Garcia. The suit cited what it called the city’s “shoot-first-ask-questions-later” policy.

Harrington was fired. A grand jury indicted him on an involuntary manslaughter charge . That case has not yet gone to trial.

Garcia’s family reached the settlement with the city and the officer in August, and a federal judge approved it Monday.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a criminal homicide and are asking the public for help with information.

Just after 5p.m. Sunday police responded to a home in the 1300 Block of South Greenwood in Wichita, according to Captain Brent Allred.

A 52-year-old woman told police she went to the home to check on 72-year-old Raymond Koob, Jr., and found him unresponsive.

He was pronounced dead at the scene and had numerous injuries to his body, according to Allred. Police believe the injuries were the result of someone assaulting him, according to Allred.

This is the 23rd criminal homicide in Wichita in 2019.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement and USD 259 authorities are investigating an alleged school threat at a Kansas Middle School.

Just after 7p.m. Sunday, CrimeStoppers and 911 received reports of individuals posting on social media about the possibility of gun violence at Truesdell Middle School 2464 South Glenn in Wichita, according to Captain Brent Allred.

There were additional officers at the school Monday as police work to speak with several individuals involved and determine the credibility of the threat, according to Allred.

“It may have started as an argument between two juvenile female students and a boyfriend but we are not sure,” said Allred.

Police have not reported an arrest.