Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism

PRATT – A deer hunter from Labette County got a surprise recently when he checked his trail camera he had set up for deer. He found a single image of a mountain lion walking away, down the trail, the characteristic long tail prominently displayed. Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) staff visited the site last week and verified the photo’s authenticity. This is the tenth mountain lion verified by KDWPT since 2007, but the first in almost two years.

The first confirmed mountain lion in 2007 was killed by an individual in Barber County. Since then, most of the sightings have been confirmed with photographs taken by remote, motion-triggered cameras commonly used by deer hunters to keep track of deer movement near their stands.

In each instance, KDWPT staff traveled to the sites where photos were taken to validate the photographs. Staff investigates sightings whenever evidence, such as tracks, a cached kill or a photograph exists. Biologists assume most sightings are of transient young males, coming from established populations in nearby states.

“It’s not uncommon for young males to travel great distances looking for home ranges,” said Matt Peek, KDWPT furbearer biologist. “So far, these animals appear to be passing through, rather than staying and establishing home ranges in Kansas.”

BRIAN MELLEY, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge has fined a California company $25 million for misleading 110,000 people to buy into a work-at-home scheme that almost never paid off.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service has apprehended a man who jumped over the White House fence.

This latest incident comes about a month after a previous White House fence jumper sprinted across the lawn, past armed uniformed agents and entered the mansion. The fallout from that September incident and other Secret Service breaches in security for the president led Julia Pierson to step down as director of the agency.

Video of the incident Wednesday night taken by TV news cameras shows a man in white shorts just inside the White House fence on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The video shows the man lifting his shirt as if to show agents that he has no weapons. The man is then seen kicking and punching two Secret Service dogs that were released on him.

PHOENIX (AP) — Charges have been dropped against one of three men accused of alcohol-related violations in connection with the fatal fall of an Arizona State University student.

Court documents say prosecutors failed to provide probable cause to continue the case against 21-year-old Alex Kraus.

Kraus’ attorney says his client was the victim of mistaken identity and should never have been linked to the case.

David Siegel and Matthew Farberov, both 20, are charged with minor possession of liquor and failing to require identification.

Naomi McClendon plunged 10 floors to her death March 30 from an apartment complex near ASU’s campus.

Tempe police say the 18-year-old woman from Manhattan, Kansas, initially attended an “all-you-can-drink” party thrown by ASU fraternity members.

Surveillance video showed her stumbling and intoxicated when she entered the residential building.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Google is introducing an application designed to make it easier for its Gmail users to find and manage important information that can often become buried in their inboxes.

The service, called Inbox, can sort electronic receipts and bank statements into bundles so they can be quickly fetched. This method is similar to the way that Gmail currently separates promotional emails from other communications sent to its Gmail users.

Google says Inbox can also figure out the key points of an email, such as travel itineraries, event times and photos, and highlight the information.

Inbox can also be used to create to-do lists.

Invitations to test Inbox will begin to be sent out Wednesday. Recipients can then invite their friends and families to check out Inbox.

THOMAS BEAUMONT, Associated Press
JOHN D. HANNA, Associated Press

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Embattled three-term incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts is taking the endorsement of a former governor and seeking votes in the rural west of Kansas, where he needs to win big to fend off independent challenger Greg Orman.

Orman is pushing themes centered on dissatisfaction with Washington government, where Roberts has been working for more than 40 years. Orman plans to campaign in Olathe, his home turf and the heart of the more politically diverse and bustling Kansas City suburbs.

In this unlikeliest of battleground states, the Senate candidates are entering the final weeks to Election Day by trying to shore up supporters before focusing on undecided voters. Polls show the race is a dead heat.

By Dave Ranney
KHI News Service

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Midwest Cancer Alliance on Tuesday announced the formal opening of a clinic designed especially for adult survivors of childhood cancer.

“This program helps give pediatric cancer survivors access to long-term care tailored to their unique needs,” Dr. Becky Lowry, the new clinic’s medical director, said in a prepared statement.

Survivors of childhood cancer, she said, often are prone to secondary cancers, fertility issues, cardiovascular disease, weakened immune systems and endocrine problems.

Lowry also is an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

The clinic is a project of the cancer alliance, Children’s Mercy Hospital and KU Medical Center. It’s housed in the Physicians Medical Office Building on the KU Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kan.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 6.

The Survivorship Transition Clinic is meant to complement the Children’s Mercy “Survive and Thrive” program, which is geared toward cancer patients who are not yet 18. The new clinic is for patients who are 18 and older.

“We have patients in their 50s as well as young adults who are college age and were seen within the past year or two in a children’s hospital or clinic,” said Kyla Alsman, a nurse at the new clinic.

The new clinic’s staff, Alsman said, reviews patients’ medical records to develop a treatment summary. It serves as the foundation for knowing how to monitor for health problems after treatment, she said, and is shared with the patient and his or her primary care physician.

Laura Long, a spokesperson for the cancer alliance, said the new clinic is one of only six of its kind in the nation. The alliance is the outreach arm of the University of Kansas Cancer Center.

T.J. Horton, who was first diagnosed with leukemia when he was 4 years old, welcomed news of the clinic’s formal opening.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Horton, who’s now 34 and has been in remission since he was 8. “Once you’re in remission, you start thinking you’re healthy and you never want to go through that again. I’ve had some issues that, fortunately, my wife and I were able to work out, but it sure would have been nice if we’d have had someone there to lead us in the right direction.”

Horton, athletic trainer at Garden City Community College, was the subject of a recent feature story in the Garden City Telegram.

“I think this will be a wonderful opportunity for guiding teenagers through the transition into adulthood, and give them a place to go to get answers when things come up later in life,” Horton said.

For more information about the clinic, call the cancer alliance at (877) 253-4477.

Dave Ranney is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gov. Jay Nixon is seeking a federal disaster declaration for 20 northern Missouri counties that were raked by severe storms last month.

Nixon said Wednesday that the storm system on Sept. 9-10 spawned high winds that damaged schools and other public buildings and dumped heavy rains that caused widespread flooding.

If approved, the disaster declaration would allow federal reimbursements for the costs of responding to and repairing public infrastructure and buildings.

The request covers the counties of Adair, Andrew, Atchison, Daviess, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Knox, Lewis, Linn, Livingston, Macon, Mercer, Nodaway, Putnam, Ralls, Shelby, Sullivan and Worth.