TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas residents are being warned to be cautious around skunks during an uptick in rabies cases.

Kansas State University’s veterinary diagnostic laboratory says 70 rabies cases have been reported this year — the same number as all of last year.

The Wichita Eagle reports skunks accounted for almost 75 percent of the rabies cases. A Kansas State lab diagnostician says most of the other cases probably began with a rabid skunk biting another animal.

Starting in 1997, the Kansas State lab saw a rise in rabies cases, peaking at 164 cases in 2003 before declining over the past decade.

The last time someone in Kansas died from rabies was in 1968.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas gun dealer sued for selling the shotgun a man used to kill himself and his son has reached a $132,000 settlement.

Elizabeth Shirley sued the owners of a Baxter Springs gun shop, claiming negligence in preventing the 2003 sale of the gun to her husband’s grandmother when her husband, Russell Graham, a felon, was at the sale. Graham used the shotgun to kill his son and himself that day.

The Kansas Supreme Court later ruled firearms dealers must use the highest degree of care in preventing gun sales to felons, sending the case back to Cherokee County.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said Wednesday the case was settled.

A lawyer for the gun dealer says the settlement was for $132,000 and his clients admit no liability.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chief U.S. auto safety regulator says Fiat Chrysler will face sanctions for violating safety laws in multiple recalls.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief Mark Rosekind says the agency will act before Labor Day and that the automaker will face enforcement action.

But Rosekind, speaking to reporters after a public hearing on Fiat Chrysler’s handling of 23 recalls, wouldn’t say more until a comment period closes on July 17.

“There’s a pattern that’s been going on for some time,” Rosekind said, referring to the automaker’s conduct. “It’s the law; this is what you’re supposed to follow.”

Rosekind said a number of options for agency action are “on the table,” including fines against the company and requiring it to buy back vehicles subject to recall.

WELLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — Wildlife officials say troublesome zebra mussels have been found in a lake in south-central Kansas.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism said Wednesday that well-established populations of invasive zebra mussels have been found in multiple locations around the 675-acre Wellington Lake in Sumner County.

The department says there’s no way to completely rid a lake of zebra mussels, which are usually introduced into lakes after attaching themselves to boats or from bait buckets.

Zebra mussels can produce huge populations in a short time. Their vast populations can clog intake pipes and prevent water treatment and electrical generating plants from drawing water.

The department says that in 2012, Council Grove and Osage City experienced temporary water shortages from zebra mussel infestations.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Department of Revenue is dropping plans to change how it reminds residents to renew their vehicle tags.

Department spokeswoman Jeannine Koranda confirmed Tuesday that the state will not replace 2.6 million personalized vehicle renewal letters with a generic postcard reminder beginning in August. The proposed change was announced in May as a way to save the state $500,000.

The plan was dropped because a new tax law passed by the Legislature requires the state to send notices that include all information needed for the owner to register the vehicle and pay the tax by return mail. The postcards would not have contained all the information and would have required citizens to print their renewal notices off of a state website.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for stabbing a teenager to death at a southwest Missouri apartment complex.

Jesus Padilla was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Prosecutors say he stabbed Joey Michael Phillips, known to his friends as Joey Michael-Clay, in the throat during a scuffle at a Nixa apartment complex.

The victim was scheduled to start sophomore year at Nixa High School when he died.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis’ mayor says the cash payout of more than a half million dollars to a retired firefighters pension director “sounds like legalized robbery” and reflects the need for pension reform.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports 63-year-old Vicky Grass left her $117,000-a-year job in May with the Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis.

Her $579,210 payout included a one-time payment for severance and unused sick and vacation time, and an undisclosed amount from a deferred compensation plan. Her monthly pension will be $4,870.

Grass says she always says “I’m the luckiest broad I know.”

But the payout that Mayor Francis Slay criticizes comes at a time city leaders are asking voters to approve a $180 million bond issue for infrastructure improvements they say they can’t afford otherwise.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials have approved a new combination drug for the most common form of cystic fibrosis, the debilitating inherited disease that causes internal mucus buildup, lung infections and early death.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the twice-a-day pill from Vertex Pharmaceuticals for a variation of cystic fibrosis that affects about 8,500 people in the U.S. who are 12 years and older. The approval notice was posted to the agency’s website.

The new drug, to be sold as Orkambi, is Vertex’s follow-up to its breakthrough pill Kalydeco, which became the first drug to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis in 2012. Orkambi combines Kalydeco with another new drug ingredient.

Kalydeco is only approved for a cluster of rare forms of cystic fibrosis.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A Salina man convicted of rape and indecent liberties with a child has been sentenced to more than nine consecutive life sentences.

The Salina Journal reports that 41-year-old Glenn Lippard was sentenced Wednesday in Saline County District Court. He was found guilty in March of rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child and indecent liberties with a child.

Judge Jared Johnson imposed life sentences with a minimum of 25 years served for four counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and five counts of rape, and ordered the sentences served one after another.

Johnson also imposed an additional nine years and 10 months in prison and ordered that if Lippard is ever released from prison, he’ll be subject to lifetime electronic monitoring and lifetime sex offender registration.