SPRINGFIELD (AP) – Springfield police said the death of a 30-year-old woman is being investigated as a homicide.

Police found Tara Mauldin dead Tuesday at her Springfield home. Police said in a news release Wednesday that officers investigating the scene saw visible injuries on her body and evidence in the house that she had been assaulted.

After questioning, Mauldin’s 36-year-old husband was arrested. He has not been charged.

Police said her husband had called his mother Tuesday and said he found his wife dead at their home.

An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death. No further details were released.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback is promising to finish work on a 50-year water conservation plan for Kansas if he’s re-elected this fall.

The Republican governor also said Democratic challenger Paul Davis has no credibility on water issues because he showed no interest in the subject as a legislator.

Brownback held a news conference Wednesday on a boat ramp on the Kansas River to discuss water policy and protecting the state’s natural resources. It’s the last piece of his re-election campaign platform. His administration is already working on a 50-year water plan and expects to roll out pieces of it next year.

The governor says his administration already plans to issue $20 million in bonds for reservoir dredging.

Davis campaign spokesman Chris Pumpelly did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

 

OZARK (AP) – Although a majority of its members supported the proposal, the Ozark Fire Board will not extend same-sex benefits to a female captain and the woman she married.

The board decided Tuesday that it did not have the authority to change the department’s policy after the board’s attorney, Todd Johnson, said the Missouri Constitution doesn’t allow the action because it defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

The Springfield News-Leader reports about a dozen people testified about the proposal Tuesday, equally split between opponents and supporters.

The female captain, Andi Mooneyham, had sought the benefits after marrying her partner in another state.

Three of the five board members supported her request but said state law did not allow them to vote on the issue.

INMAN, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Sampler Foundation is planning a new crowd funding site to support projects that help rural communities.

A pilot website, called Kanstarter, is scheduled to be up and running later this month.

The foundation’s director, Marci Penner, says projects allowed on the website will have to be good for the community and supported by several generations. She says the projects cannot cover salaries or promote religious or political views.

The Hutchinson News reports 24 proposals were submitted for the pilot project and a committee narrowed the initial list to four.

Those projects are an update to the Burdett Mini Golf Course; purchasing land in Plains for a grocery store; constructing an amphitheater to replace the Wilson Opera House and construction of a recreation trail in Yates Center.

 

CARBONDALE, Kan.- A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 6 a.m. on Wednesday in Shawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2009 Honda Civic driven by Jo Ann Call, 60, Overbrook, was northbound on U.S. 75 in Carbondale in the right lane. The driver lost control of the vehicle due to heavy rain.

The vehicle hydroplaned striking the inside bridge rail, then slid further north entering the center median and striking a metal guardrail.

Call was transported to a local hospital. The KHP report did not indicate if she was properly restrained at the time of the accident.

PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — The Pittsburg Police Department says it is looking for vandals who damaged several fiberglass footballs that were part of a public art project called SEK Art Fest.

Police say they have video showing people who might have vandalized one of the painted footballs on Sunday. The footballs have been on display in downtown Pittsburg since June.

The Joplin Globe reports continued vandalism prompted art festival organizers to move 20 of the 24 large painted footballs out of downtown Monday and into the Meadowbrook Mall in south Pittsburg. Four of the footballs have been damaged by vandals since July.

The footballs were to remain on display downtown until Oct. 12, and then were to be auctioned off to raise funds for future art exhibits.