JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Republican Party is questioning the legality of a Democratic nominee’s withdrawal from the race against three-term GOP U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts.

Democrat Chad Taylor sent a letter to the Kansas secretary of state Wednesday saying he was withdrawing. He issued a separate statement saying he had terminated his campaign, without an explanation.

State GOP Chairman Kelly Arnold issued a statement Thursday questioning whether Taylor complied with a state law allowing nominees to withdraw.

The law says candidates may withdraw if they declare they are incapable of fulfilling the duties of the office.

The secretary of state’s office still listed Taylor as a candidate on its website Thursday.

Roberts’ campaign called Taylor’s withdrawal a “corrupt bargain” between Democratic leaders and a viable independent candidate, Olathe businessman Greg Orman.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — The Springfield City Council is scheduled to take up a controversial proposal to add sexual orientation to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance.

The council has scheduled a public hearing on the ordinance, and a substitute ordinance, at next Monday’s meeting. The original ordinance would make it illegal to fire someone or deny housing based on a person’s sexual orientation. The substitute would ban discrimination only in housing.

OZARK (AP) – A southwest Missouri city says its insurance deductible has increased by $95,000 after it recently settled a harassment complaint with a former employee.

Last month, Ozark settled a lawsuit with former human resources director Cara Borneman for $78,000. It paid $5,000 out of pocket and insurance paid the rest.
The city’s insurance provider then sent a letter to Ozark, saying its deductible on employee practices coverage would rise from $5,000 to $100,000 starting September 1.

Some alderman say the city still has unresolved issues and they want a human resources consultant to conduct a review.
Borneman filed a sex discrimination lawsuit after her position was eliminated earlier this year.

She tells the Springfield News-Leader she was dismissed after she complained some city officials were spreading false rumors about her.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State health official say whooping cough cases are increasing across Kansas, with Pottawatomie County particularly hard hit.

The state has recorded 405 confirmed cases of the disease so far this year, compared with 172 in all of 2013. In Pottawatomie County 17 confirmed cases have been reported. Last year, the northeast Kansas county had one case.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports  that all schools within the Wamego School District have had free vaccination clinics for staff members. A clinic for students was held Wednesday at West Elementary, the hardest hit school in the district

The disease, also called pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection. It can be prevented by vaccine.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic challenger Paul Davis has pulled his first television ad of the Kansas governor’s race after the state Republican Party questioned the background of an actor in the spot.

The ad featured Davis responding to criticism from Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s campaign and other groups. Topeka actor Jeff Montague (mon-TAYG) was in it.

City of Topeka spokeswoman Suzie Gilbert confirmed that Montague was arrested in October 2007 for soliciting sodomy and entered into a diversion agreement but could provide no further details. Such agreements allow people to avoid prosecution.

Kansas GOP Executive Director Clay Barker questioned Davis’ judgment for using Montague.

Davis said he pulled the ad immediately and apologized for what he called a mistake.

Montague did not immediately return a telephone message Wednesday evening seeking comment.

SPRINGFIELD, (AP) – The sentencing for a former Springfield police officer who shot an unarmed panhandler will be delayed until a new judge can be appointed.

Jason Shuck was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday but asked for a new judge. The Springfield News-Leader reports Judge Ronald Carrier approved the request. A new sentencing date has not been set.

Shuck pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault. He told investigators that he meant to use his Taser on Eric David Butts but accidentally grabbed his pistol and shot the man in the back on May 9. Butts suffered severe internal injuries.

At a hearing last week, attorneys proposed a deal that would allow Shuck to avoid jail and have no criminal record if he completes two years of unsupervised probation.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State University officials say personal information from applicants for its graduate program in agronomy might have been exposed on the Internet.

The university said Wednesday that it notified 19 people who applied for the program between 2010 and 2013 about the possible problem, which did not involve outside hackers. Information from 56 other applicants was exposed but the school said that information wasn’t likely to result in credit fraud.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports spokesman Jeff Morris says the error happened when student information was being moved into a central management system. Morris says a small number of the tens of thousands of pages that were moved were not property protected.

The school says the files were removed when the problem was discovered Aug. 22.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), who serves as a member of the defense authorizing and appropriations committees, released the following statement today in response to President Barack Obama’s assertion that “if we are joined by the international community, we can continue to shrink ISIL’s sphere of influence, its effectiveness, its military capability to the point where it is a manageable problem.”

“As we were reminded this week, ISIS is clearly prepared to perpetrate contemptible boundaries that are unacceptable to Americans – and hopefully all civilized worlds. Terrorists who behead Americans are not ‘manageable.’ They must be stopped, and we need President Obama to communicate a clear strategy and goals on how he plans to eliminate this threat.”