By BRIAN GRIMMETT

Wheat producers in Kansas are worried about the potential for freeze damage after temperatures stayed below freezing for much of the weekend.

While it’s not unusual for Kansas to see spring freezes, the frigid temperatures and blowing wind over the weekend likely caused some damage to the state’s wheat crop.

“I think this year we’re really putting the crop to the test,” said Romulo Lollato, wheat specialist at Kansas State University.

Wheat fields in south-central and southeast Kansas are the most susceptible to freeze damage right now because of where they’re at in development. Lollato suggests producers in those regions evaluate their crops for damage before putting any more money into them.

But freeze damage isn’t even the biggest problem wheat is facing.

“I think the biggest concern as a state right now is definitely the drought,” Lollato said.

Almost the entire state is experiencing drier than normal conditions, with most of southwest Kansas in extreme or exceptional drought.

Lollato said he has seen crops in some fields in southwest Kansas with roots that only go down one to two  inches when they should be at least a foot deep at this point.

If May ends up being as hot and dry as expected, already stressed wheat crops may face even greater damage and, ultimately, lower yields.

Brian Grimmett reports on the environment and energy for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett.

TOPEKA —Governor Colyer signed Substitute for SB 423, the School Finance Bill, and made a series of stops at Kansas schools Tuesday.

The Governor signed the first copy of the bill at Seaman High School.

He is scheduled to sign a ceremonial copy of the bill at two additional schools.

12:45pm-1:15pm
Valley Center High School (Valley Center USD 262)
900 N. Meridian
Valley Center, KS 67147

2:50pm-3:20pm
Riverton Schools (Riverton USD 404)
7120 SE 70^th

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Health officials say a northeast Kansas measles outbreak that started in a day care has grown to 16 cases.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment says 13 of the cases are in Johnson County, two in Linn County and one in Miami County.

The outbreak started March 8 after a traveler brought the virus back from Asia. It spread mostly through infants too young to be vaccinated at the day care in Johnson County.

Measles is extremely contagious, and health officials are warning that exposure was possible at several locations, including an Olathe doctor’s office and a Leawood church. Symptoms typically begin one to two weeks after exposure.

Officials say the Kansas outbreak isn’t linked to two measles cases in Kansas City, Missouri.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Police are seeking the public’s help identifying the person who opened fire outside a Kansas City home, killing a woman as she slept inside.

Police have identified the victim as 24-year-old Kindrea Brown. Investigators don’t believe Brown was the intended target of the early Saturday shooting. Her mother, Janet Brown, said she realized something was wrong when she couldn’t awaken her daughter so she could get her ready for her job sorting packages at UPS.

Kindrea Brown also she was taking community college classes and wanted to become a physical therapist.

Anyone with information is urged to call the police homicide unit or a tips hotline.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday ordered importers of U.S. sorghum to pay deposits for possible higher tariffs in an anti-dumping investigation, adding to growing trade conflict with Washington.

A preliminary ruling by the Commerce Ministry said U.S. sorghum was being sold at improperly low prices, hurting Chinese farmers. It said importers must post bonds of 178.6 percent of the value of their goods to cover possible anti-dumping duties while the probe is completed.

Beijing launched the sorghum investigation on Feb. 4 in what some businesspeople saw as a warning shot after President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese-made washing machines and solar modules.

Since then, Trump has threatened to raise duties on up to $150 billion of Chinese goods in a dispute over technology policy. Beijing has responded with its own list of U.S. goods for possible retaliation.

The measures on sorghum, a grain used in animal feed and for making the fiery traditional Chinese liquor baijiu, target farm areas that voted for Trump in 2016. China is one of the biggest foreign markets for U.S. sorghum growers.

Investigators concluded dumping of U.S. sorghum “substantially damaged” Chinese competitors, the Commerce Ministry said. It said prices of U.S. sorghum fell 13 percent from 2013 to 2017, while shipments increased 14-fold.

According to the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission, the Sorghum Belt runs from South Dakota to Southern Texas and the crop is grown primarily on dryland acres.  In addition to animal feed it is used for ethanol production. Kansas, Texas and Arkansas are among the top Sorghum producing states, according to the the commission’s web site.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri lawmakers may face an unprecedented question as they decide whether to impeach Gov. Eric Greitens: Does it matter that the alleged actions occurred before he was in office?

There’s no definitive answer because only one Missouri executive official has been ousted from office following impeachment and her offense was directly related to her job.

Greitens is accused of misbehavior during an extramarital affair in 2015, before he won election.

The Missouri Constitution says officials can be impeached “for crimes, misconduct, habitual drunkenness, willful neglect of duty, corruption in office, incompetency, or any offense involving moral turpitude or oppression in office.”

Some legal experts who spoke to The Associated Press said “crimes” and “misconduct” could potentially apply to things before taking office.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Two former employees are charged with defrauding DST Systems in Kansas City out of nearly $400,000.

The Kansas City Star reports 48-year-old Thomas Ray Jones, of Blue Springs, and 45-year-old Russell Fotovich, of Kansas City, are charged in federal court with fraud, money laundering and filing false income taxes.

Prosecutors say the two men were supposed to take scrap metal from a renovation project at a DST facility to a scrap dealer. They allegedly kept most of the proceeds and didn’t report the money on their income tax returns.

Federal prosecutors say the men turned in only about $175,000 of the $563,556 in proceeds due to DST. The men reportedly bought several cars and motorcycles with the embezzled funds.

Online records don’t show that either man has an attorney.