ADAM BEAM, Associated Press

FLORENCE, Ky. (AP) — Officials in both political parties are making multimillion-dollar advertising decisions that offer clues about where the real Senate battlefields lie.

Republicans are flooding Kansas with campaign help for Sen. Pat Roberts, who’s in a tough re-election fight against independent candidate Greg Orman. Republicans must gain six seats to control the Senate.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee went off the air Tuesday in Kentucky, where it has already spent more than $2 million to attack Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell.

WAVERLY, Kan- Two people were killed and two injured in an accident just after 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Osage County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Krystal R. Smith, 26, New Strawn, was southbound on Interstate 35 four miles north of Waverly. For an unknown reason, the vehicle left the roadway and entered the median.

The driver attempted to bring the vehicle back onto the roadway and overcorrected, causing it to roll.
Smith and one passenger Cory M. Sheppard, 4, New Strawn, were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics.

Two additional passengers Christian M. Smith, 9, and Doavan J. Krutchfield, 6, both of New Strawn were transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

The KHP reported all were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A Springfield mother has been arrested after police say she brandished a fake handgun when an elementary school principal tried to prevent her from leaving with her child.

The Springfield News-Leader reports 43-year-old Carrie Brooks has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon. Springfield police say she tried to take her 8-year-old daughter from Pittman Elementary on Friday but doesn’t have custody of the child.

The principal tells police that Brooks pulled what appeared to be a pistol out of her pocket when confronted but didn’t point it at anyone. Police say the weapon looks like a gun but is a knife.

No injuries were reported.

Brooks is being held at the Greene County Jail on $35,000 bond. It wasn’t immediately clear if she has an attorney.

MANHATTAN, KAN. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Health Subcommittee, issued the following statement regarding the isolated patient at The University of Kansas Hospital:

“While it is good news that the preliminary test results are negative, a possible patient with Ebola in Kansas is a serious development and reiterates the need for us to heighten coordination and vigilance. I have spoken with hospital administrators who will continue to treat the isolated patient with an abundance of caution. I have also asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to expedite the confirmatory test to definitively rule out any possibility of Ebola. I will continue to be in touch with The University of Kansas Hospital and the CDC to monitor the situation.”

On Oct. 6, 2014, Sen. Moran called on the CDC to implement Ebola-specific screenings at U.S. airports. On Oct. 1, 2014, Sen. Moran issued a statement on the United States’ response to the nation’s first Ebola case.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police are searching for whoever stole a century-old bronze urn from an area cemetery.

Police say the 3-foot tall and 3-foot wide urn was taken Sunday night or Monday morning. It was placed at the cemetery between 1912 and 1917 to mark the grave of Bell Hurley.

The urn stood on top of a hill next to a 40-foot obelisk honoring her husband, James Hurley.

A historian tells the Topeka Capital-Journal the urn and obelisk have been major sights at the cemetery and were meant to memorialize the couple that contributed to the Santa Fe Railroad.

James Hurley was a general manager of the railroad and employees raised money for two years to help purchase the obelisk and urn.

Police are investigating and have asked for the public’s assistance.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas State Board of Education has added three school districts to a program that allows them to operate with less regulation in hopes of boosting student performance.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the board approved innovative-district applications from the Hugoton, Blue Valley and Kansas City, Kansas, districts.

The board previously approved applications from the McPherson and Concordia districts under a 2013 law aimed at allowing districts to pursue creative strategies for improving student achievement.

For example, the Blue Valley district in Johnson County sought an exemption from some teacher licensing requirements.

But it’s still not clear how free of regulation the five districts will be, because the state board and the districts have adopted bylaws for the innovative schools program.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Rain across most of Kansas in the past week slowed the harvest of fall crops, but farmers still made progress.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Tuesday that Kansas farmers were still busy harvesting row crops, seeding wheat and marketing livestock.

Winter wheat planting in the state is now 67 percent complete. About 42 percent of the crop has emerged.

Corn harvest in the state is 56 percent finished.

Sorghum harvest is 15 percent done, while the soybean harvest is at the 18 percent mark. About 7 percent of the sunflower crop has also been cut.