EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say an Alabama man suspected in a kidnapping and robbery in eastern Kansas has been arrested after fleeing from law enforcement in a stolen pickup truck.

The Lyon County, Kansas, sheriff’s office said in a news release that the man surrendered Tuesday after ditching the truck and fleeing on foot.

He is being held on various Kansas charges, including kidnapping, burglary, robbery, multiple counts of theft, possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a firearm. The release says there also are warrants for him from Alabama.

The release says the kidnapping and robbery occurred in nearby Coffey County, Kansas. The release provided no details about the crime.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators have given final approval to a bill rewriting rules for special congressional elections so military personnel overseas have more time to vote.

The Senate approved the measure on a 40-0 vote Tuesday.

The House passed the bill last week. It goes to Gov. Sam Brownback and he is expected to sign it.

The measure arose from congressman Mike Pompeo’s nomination by President-elect Donald Trump as Central Intelligence Agency director.

If Pompeo is confirmed, the 4th District in south-central Kansas would have the state’s first special congressional election since 1950.

State law says a special election must occur from 45 to 60 days after the governor declares a vacancy. The bill would make the window from 75 to 90 days to give people overseas more time to return ballots.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s spokesman says the president believes Chelsea Manning received “an appropriate punishment.”

Obama yesterday cut short the sentence of the transgender Army intelligence officer who leaked more than 700,000 U.S. documents. Manning was one of 273 people receiving clemency yesterday.

Manning will now be freed in May, almost 30 years ahead of schedule.

Obama is expected to defend the decision at his final news conference today.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest tells CNN that the amount of time Manning has served is consistent with the sentence imposed on others who committed similar crimes, but who received less attention.

But House Speaker Paul Ryan is denouncing the clemency for Manning as “just outrageous,” saying Manning “put American lives at risk.”

Obama yesterday issued a pardon for retired Gen. James Cartwright, who was charged with making false statements during another leak probe. With his last-minute clemency for Manning and Cartwright, Obama appeared to be softening what has been a hard-line approach to prosecuting leakers.

But Obama did not grant a pardon to another prominent leaker, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, whom the U.S. has been unable to extradite from Russia.

 

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police are looking for a teen suspect and his mother in the fatal shooting of a Missouri State University football player who witnesses say tried to stop a fight involving his sister and others in Las Vegas over the weekend.

Authorities have not named the 17-year-old sought in the Saturday evening killing of 18-year-old Richard J. Nelson or the suspect’s mother.

She is believed to have driven her son from the scene before police arrived.

Witnesses told police Nelson pulled a person away from his sister before he was shot.

The Clark County coroner says Nelson died of multiple gunshots.

Police homicide Lt. Dan McGrath said Tuesday that detectives are looking for the boy and his mother.

Nelson was a redshirt freshman last season at Missouri State.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A conservative Kansas House member says he’s drafting a bill to require transgender students in public schools to use bathrooms associated with their genders at birth.

Republican Rep. John Whitmer of Wichita said Tuesday his bill also would impose the same policy for locker rooms and accommodations for students on overnight trips.

Whitmer said he plans to introduce the measure soon. He said it will not apply to private schools or higher education, and it won’t allow people to sue for damages if a school violates the policy.

He and other supporters of such a policy believe it would protect students and their privacy.

But LGBT-rights advocate Tom Witt says transgender students shouldn’t be singled out because it will make them targets for bullying.

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 43-year-old man has died in a collision between his car and a semi-trailer in Otoe County.

The accident occurred Sunday on U.S. Highway 75 south of Nebraska City. The Otoe County Sheriff’s Office says the northbound car crossed the center line and struck the oncoming truck.

The car driver was identified as Scott Koch, from rural Auburn. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver was identified as 56-year-old Mark Rieke, of Gretna. The Sheriff’s Office says Rieke wasn’t injured.

Deputies don’t think weather conditions contributed to the crash, which remains under investigation.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court is ordering Kansas City to put a proposed minimum-wage hike to $15 an hour on the ballot.

Supreme Court judges ruled Tuesday that a vote is needed before judges can decide if a wage increase is lawful.

A group of citizens had collected enough signatures to force a vote on minimum wage in 2015. But the vote was scheduled to take place after the enactment of a new state law prohibiting higher local minimum wages from the state’s minimum wage.

Missouri’s minimum wage is $7.70 an hour.

Kansas City argued it shouldn’t be forced to spend money on an election for an issue banned by state law.

Supreme Court judges say the issue must go before voters before it can be challenged in court.

CARTHAGE, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a 10-year-old girl has died in a southwest Missouri shooting that appears to be accidental.

Carthage police identified the victim Tuesday in a news release as Sa’nya LaTrinity Faith Hill. The release said the girl was unconscious when officers responded Friday afternoon.

She was rushed from her home to a hospital, where was declared dead several hours later.

The release said two other juveniles were present when she was shot. Police declined to release their ages and relationship to the girl. Chief Greg Dagnan says the handgun with which the girl was shot came from the home where the shooting happened and that the parent had taken steps to secure the weapon.

Authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy and continue investigating.

DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — Several thousand people in the Dodge City area are still without power after an ice storm coated the region during the weekend.

The Victory Electric Cooperative out of Dodge City reported at least 5,000 homes were without power by Monday afternoon and it could take several days to restore all power.

The conditions caused most schools around Dodge City and Dodge City Community College to call off classes for Tuesday.

Victory officials said in a news release the utility is bringing in more crews to help restore services.

Victory serves customers in Ford and Gray counties and parts of seven other counties.

A shelter was opened Monday at the Dodge City Community College.

Other utilities and electric cooperatives reported scattered outages Monday in western and south-central and central Kansas.

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart plans to add about 10,000 retail jobs in the U.S. as it opens new stores and expands existing locations.