TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man who fled the state three years ago before sentencing on a child rape charge has been captured in Mexico.

The U.S. Marshal’s Service said Wednesday 31-year-old Jeffrey Dane Swindler is jailed in Texas awaiting extradition to Kansas.

Swindler fled in May 2014, a month after he was convicted for a second time in the 2008 rape of an 11-year-old child in Sumner County.

Marshals and Mexican authorities determined Swindler was living in Monterrey, Mexico, where he was taken into custody without incident and sent to Texas to await extradition. It was not immediately clear when Swindler was arrested.

Swindler was first convicted in 2010 and was sentenced to life in prison. The Kansas Supreme Court overturned that conviction but he was convicted again in 2014.

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — Supporters of a new osteopathic medical school in Joplin are looking forward to late July, when the first class of 162 students is scheduled to arrive.

The Joplin campus of the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday. It is the first medical school to open in Missouri in nearly a half century.

The Joplin Globe reports a local steering committee raised nearly $30 million to contribute to the school, and the property and school building were donated. The school is in the former temporary home of Mercy Hospital, used after a 2011 tornado that killed 161 people.

After four years, the school expects to enroll 600 students, with a goal of improving access to health care in rural areas.

LONG ISLAND, Kan. (AP) — A fire at a north-central Kansas hog farm has injured a worker and killed 9,000 animals.

Phillips County sheriff’s deputy Pat Hewitt says the fire started about 11:20 a.m. Tuesday at a barn for sows and piglets at Husky Hogs in 130-resident Long Island. The fire spread to two other farrowing barns before being controlled about two hours later.

Hewitt says the injured worker is hospitalized in Wichita with arm and leg burns not considered life-threatening.

The fire’s cause wasn’t clear. The Kansas State Fire Marshall’s office is investigating.

Husky Hogs’ Julia Nelson told The Associated Press the blaze killed about 2,000 sows and 7,000 piglets, though roughly 4,500 sows were spared.

Nelson calls it a tragedy, and that “we did what we could to save everything we could.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Republican Gov. Eric Greitens says he’s calling lawmakers back to the Capitol to work on abortion policies.

Greitens announced Wednesday he’s calling another special session starting Monday to address a St. Louis ordinance against discrimination based on abortions and pregnancies. Greitens has criticized the ordinance.

Greitens says he also wants new abortion regulations, including annual inspections of clinics.

While largely symbolic, the St. Louis ordinance bans employers from firing, refusing to hire or disciplining women because they have an abortion, take contraception, use artificial insemination or become pregnant while not married. It also bans such discrimination in housing.

This is the second time Greitens has called lawmakers back since the May end of their annual session. The last special session dealt with utility rates for steel and aluminum plants.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri plans to close its Washington-based lobbying office by the end of the summer, costing two staff members their jobs.

The cuts are part of the university’s system-wide budget reductions announced Friday by president Mun Choi.

Federal disclosure reports show the university system spent $320,000 in 2016 on the Washington lobbying operation.

University spokesman Christian Basi says the university also plans changes to its Jefferson City lobbying office. The Joplin Globe reports Basi couldn’t say whether that office would be closed or would reduce staff.

The university will keep its contract with Andy Blunt, the son of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt. Andy Blunt earns $10,000 a month under a contract signed in 2015. Basi says the university can’t cancel the contract because it is legally binding.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley is accusing the Department of Veterans Affairs of lying about the length of time veterans wait for medical appointments at Iowa’s VA hospitals.

The Iowa Republican said detailed data provided by a whistleblower shows the VA wasn’t truthful in February when it told the committee he chairs that no patients waited longer than 90 days at Iowa City and Des Moines hospitals during January and February. He said in reality thousands of veterans at the hospitals wait longer than 90 days.

In a letter to VA Secretary David Shulkin, Grassley said he was extremely disturbed by the misinformation.

Shulkin responded in a letter May 26 that it was a misunderstanding and not a deliberate attempt to mislead.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — More lenient penalties for first-time marijuana offenders in Wichita are a step closer to reality.

The Wichita City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave initial approval to an ordinance that would reduce some marijuana penalties. The council will have to give the ordinance final approval at a later meeting.

Among other things, the ordinance would require a $50 fine for first-time offenders, who will not have to undergo drug-related counseling if they are over 21. A second marijuana conviction would bring a fine not to exceed $2,500 and one year in jail.

Wichita voters approved more lenient penalties in a 2015 special election. The Kansas Supreme Court invalidated the election because of a technicality in the petition-gathering process.

 

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — The annual revival of the Pony Express has been chosen as the official event to celebrate Nebraska’s 150th birthday.

More than 700 horse-riders began the mail service trip in Missouri Monday and will travel nearly 2,000 miles via the Pony Express National Historic Trail to California by June 15. The 565-mile route in Nebraska is the longest trek among the eight states.

This year’s commemorative letter honors Nebraska’s sesquicentennial, describing the Great Platte River Road’s history and featuring the iconic Chimney Rock. The envelope will also showcase the U.S. Postal Service-issued Nebraska Sesquicentennial postage stamp.

Though the original Pony Express only operated for 19 months in the 1860s, it was the most direct means of connecting the new state of California with the rest of the U.S.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators have voted to override Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of a bill that would repeal or roll back past income tax cuts he has championed.

The House voted 88-31 Tuesday night to overturn Brownback’s veto of a bill that will increase income taxes to fix the state budget and provide additional funds for public schools. Supporters had four votes more than the two-thirds majority necessary to override a veto.

The Senate earlier voted 27-13 to override, exactly a two-thirds majority.

The tax increase is expected to raise $1.2 billion over two years by increasing income tax rates and ending an exemption for 330,000-plus farmers and business owners.

Kansas faces projected budget shortfalls totaling $889 million through June 2019 and the state Supreme Court ruled in March that education funding is inadequate.

BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — No damage is reported after a small earthquake shook some areas of eastern Missouri early Tuesday.

The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 2.6 earthquake occurred at 6:29 a.m. Tuesday, centered near the town of Bonne Terre, Missouri, about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis.

There were no immediate reports of injury or damage.

The New Madrid Fault, which produced strong earthquakes in 1811 and 1812 that were felt as far away as Boston, runs through southeast Missouri. But Bonne Terre is about 130 miles north of the New Madrid Fault, and even small earthquakes are uncommon.