LACYGNE, Kan- A Kansas woman was hit and killed by a train just before 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Linn County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported Linda K, Durk, 64, Pleasanton, was walking westbound on Kansas 152 at Market Street and Railroad Avenue in La Cygne in the eastbound lane.

A northbound train hit her. Durk was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics.

The accident remains under investigation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has approved assigning 350 additional troops to protect the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and its support facilities.

The White House says in a statement that the State Department had asked for the additional military personnel to help protect U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel in the Iraqi capital. The Defense Department reviewed the request and recommended the additional troops.

The White House says Obama approved the additional troops on Tuesday and that they will not serve in a combat role.

The Pentagon says most of the additional troops are from the Army and some are Marines.

The new deployment raises the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq to more than 1,000, with just over 800 providing security for American personnel and facilities in Baghdad.

LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — A big study says removing both breasts to treat cancer in just one doesn’t boost survival for most women. That’s compared with removing just the tumor plus radiation.

The results raise concerns about a riskier, potentially unnecessary operation that increasing numbers of women are choosing.

The study involved nearly 200,000 California patients followed for several years.

Ten-year survival rates were nearly identical — or roughly 82 percent — for lumpectomies plus radiation, and for double mastectomies. Women who had a single mastectomy, removal of just the cancerous breast, fared slightly worse.

Most women choose lumpectomy treatment. But double mastectomies have increased substantially in recent years, especially in younger women.

The study was published Tuesday in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic challenger Paul Davis predicts that funding for Kansas public schools will be cut if Republican Gov. Sam Brownback wins re-election, but Davis is not outlining a specific education plan.

Davis had a news conference Tuesday at Lowman Hill Elementary School in Topeka to criticize Brownback on education funding issues. Davis said Brownback has made cutting the state’s personal income taxes his top priority, to the detriment of public schools.

The Democrat said that if Brownback wins a second four-year term, Kansas will have to reduce aid to schools because of budget problems created by the tax cuts. The Legislature’s nonpartisan research staff is projecting a budget shortfall of $238 million by July 2016.

Brownback spokesman John Milburn said Davis is distorting the governor’s record while offering no specifics.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge has rejected a legal challenge to a November ballot proposal that asks voters whether to link teachers’ jobs to the performance of their students.

An attorney for public education groups challenging the measure said he intends to appeal Tuesday’s decision by Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green.

The lawsuit contends the amendment violates the Missouri Constitution by addressing two topics at once — by requiring the evaluation system and limiting the ability to collectively bargain over it.

Green ruled that the provisions all relate to the single topic of teacher employment.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police say three adults have been shot to death and two others critically wounded in a residential neighborhood in the southern part of the city.

The shootings occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday. Officers found one person dead and two wounded at a home, then discovered two others dead at a nearby residence.

No one was in custody three hours later. Police Sgt. Kari Thompson would not describe the victims or the suspected shooter. She also would not comment on whether the deaths were being investigated as a homicide-suicide.

Police went door-to-door talking to neighbors but said there was no indication of danger to the public.

Officers are looking for a beige 2002 Toyota Highlander, with Missouri license plate KC5-A4X, that was missing from one of the homes.

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY- A Kansas man was injured in a rollover accident just after 1 p.m. on Tuesday in Leavenworth County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Isuzu Pickup driven by Bradley W. Hillebert, 29, Lawrence, was westbound on Kansas 32 at Linwood Road.

The truck left the roadway for an unknown reason. The driver overcorrected, crossed both lanes of the highway and overturned.

Hillebert was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. The KHP reported he was not wearing a seat belt.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A woman accused of pretending to be pregnant to scam prospective adoptive parents in Kansas and elsewhere has notified the court she intends to change her plea.

A court notation Tuesday shows 34-year-old Chrystal Marie Rippey, of Marshall, Texas, is scheduled for a change-of-plea hearing Sept. 17 before a federal magistrate judge in Kansas City, Kansas.

Rippey was indicted in February on federal charges of mail and wire fraud.

Defense attorney Thomas Bartee did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Prosecutors allege Rippey contacted adoption agencies and individuals, pretending she was pregnant and seeking to give up her unborn child for adoption. The indictment contends prospective parents bought her meals and gifts, believing she was willing to let them adopt her baby after birth.