WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The government has decided not to pursue one of the charges against a man accused of plotting to bomb an apartment complex housing Somali immigrants in western Kansas.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted a government request to end its appeal of a lower court’s order dismissing a firearms charge against Curtis Allen. A judge last year had threw out that count after an appeals court ruling in an unrelated case that a person convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery under a city ordinance can legally carry a gun.

Allen and co-defendants Patrick Stein and Gavin Wright still face charges of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy against civil rights. Wright also is accused of lying to the FBI.

Their trial begins March 19.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is defending his office after a federal judge’s sanction for failure to timely produce documents in a police brutality case.

U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig fined the attorney general’s office $500 last week in connection with a lawsuit filed by Scott O’Rourke, who accused St. Louis police of injuring him during a 2012 protest arrest. The attorney general’s office is defending the department, which was under state control in 2012.

Hawley filed a motion asking Fleissig to reconsider. Hawley said in an interview Monday that an assistant attorney general simply misinterpreted the documents request. Meanwhile, he says his office is upgrading software and instituting practices to better track cases and documents.

Hawley, a Republican, is running for the Senate seat held by Democrat Claire McCaskill.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Departing Gov. Sam Brownback wants Kansas residents to observe his final full day in office with prayer and fasting, but some critics are opting for pizza and beer.

The governor’s office issued its last proclamation, designating Tuesday as a “Day of Prayer and Fasting.” He’s resigning at 3 p.m. Wednesday to become U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

Critics posted plans on Facebook for a 24-hour “Bye Brownback” pizza and beer party starting at 3 p.m.

Brownback said in a statement Monday that he feels blessed to have served the state. He said he would like to observe a time of prayer and fasting before, in his words, “God takes me on to the next part of my journey.”

Fellow Republican Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer will succeed Brownback as governor.

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man pleaded guilty to shooting and injuring a 5-year-old girl when he meant to shoot another man.

Antwaun Nelson Fulton pleaded guilty Monday to attempted second-degree murder, aggravated battery and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling.

The girl who was shot in the leg last July at the Crossland Economy Studio in Lenexa.

Investigators say the 36-year-old Fulton shot at a man he had been in an earlier dispute with but the bullet missed the man and hit the young girl.

The Kansas City Star reports under terms of Monday’s plea, lawyers will recommend a sentence of about 18 years in prison.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas, man has pleaded guilty to causing a deadly crash while fleeing from a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper.

David Colvin, 47, admitted to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the August 2016 death of Janet Eimer. The 66-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, woman died when Colvin took off after the trooper tried to stop him for a traffic violation. He then ran a red light and collided with Eimer’s vehicle.

The patrol said at the time that the trooper hadn’t started to pursue the vehicle, but was following at a distance when the crash occurred.

Sentencing is set for March 23.

NEVADA, Mo. (AP) – A southwest Missouri pastor has admitted to stealing more than $90,000 in federal benefits.

Federal prosecutors say 58-year-old Dennis Engelbrecht, of Nevada, pleaded guilty Monday to theft of government money.

Engelbrecht received disability benefits for about four years while serving as pastor at Pentecostal Assembly of God Church in Nevada. He admitted he didn’t report his work as pastor to the Social Security Administration.

Engelbrecht was paid $650 a week by the church but received nearly $88,000 in disability payments from February 2011 to May 2015. His son received about $3,220 in auxiliary benefits to which he was not entitled.

Under the plea agreement, Engelbrecht must pay restitution of $90,925.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Legislature requires interns to sign confidentiality agreements that lawmakers say are intended to protect private political discussions but some legal experts contend could deter interns from reporting harassment or illegal activity.

The Kansas Star uncovered the agreement as part of an open records request as the Legislature discusses improving transparency and addressing sexual harassment and treatment of interns.

According to the agreement, interns who disclose activity in a lawmaker’s office could be fired. Employment law experts who reviewed the document for The Star said not only could it discourage interns from reporting harassment, it also might violate interns’ free speech rights.

“What do they have to hide?” asked Kelly McCambridge, an employment law attorney in the Kansas City area. “Seems they are more interested in protecting the reputations of their politicians than they are in protecting the safety of their student interns.”

Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, said she thought the confidentiality agreement applied to political conversations, with no intention of protecting sexual harassers. But she acknowledged the three-paragraph agreement could have been writing more clearly.

“I think that maybe someone was trying to help people understand that communication in offices is confidential,” she said. “And it could have been written in a better way. And I’m sure it will be written with more complete language in the future, with more distinct clarity.”

The Star requested 15 years of codes of conduct, rules, dress code materials and any other documents about interns’ behavior at the Kansas Legislature. Speaker Pro Tem Schott Schwab, an Olathe Republican whose office plays a key role in administering the intern program, initially rejected the request but a month later provided no or barely any information concerning the internship program from 2009, 2010 and 2012. The newspaper reported the missing documents made it impossible to know when or why policies changed to require the confidentiality agreements.

A thorough explanation of the Statehouse’s sexual harassment policy does not appear until the 2018 intern handbook, which came months after reports that female interns were sometimes asked to drive male lawmakers home.

Schwab’s office said it didn’t know when interns were first asked to sign a confidentiality agreement or whose idea it was. The office noted that other legislative staff members also are subject to confidentiality obligations.

Ronald W. Nelson, an Overland Park attorney, called the confidentiality agreement “staggeringly broad.”

“It does not say anything about sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior being excluded from its terms, which it should,” Nelson said.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas police officer has been fired six months after fatally shooting a man, and prosecutors continue to review the case.

Leavenworth Police Chief Patrick Kitchens said in an email Monday that Officer Matthew Harrington was terminated Friday for violating the department’s use of deadly force policy. The release said Harrington responded in July to a domestic argument over possession of a sport utility vehicle that initially was reported as a stolen automobile.

The release says a man involved Antonio Garcia left before officer Harrington arrived, then returned and had an “encounter” with Harrington in the driveway.

Garcia was shot while in the SUV. No other details were provided about what led up to the shooting.

Harrington doesn’t have a listed phone number. The department doesn’t have union representation, and it wasn’t immediately known if Harrington had an attorney.

Leavenworth County prosecutor Todd Thompson said in a news release that his staff hopes to complete its review soon, noting that they’re awaiting requested information. The release noted that the criminal investigation is separate from the police inquiry.

“The standard for terminating an employee based on upon professional standards is also a much lower burden than the burden used to charge and/or convict someone of a crime,” the release said. “We have an ethical duty to do our best to fully vet a matter before we file charges on anyone.”

Gina Mays, who raised Garcia starting when he was a teen, told The Kansas City Star that Garcia “did not deserve to die” and that the family wanted to see body camera footage.

“We’re all hoping to see this,” Mays said. “I want answers like everyone else. There is a man dead here because of neglect.”

Kitchens said police aren’t releasing body camera footage because the investigation is ongoing and it’s classified as evidence.

SHAWNEE COUNTY —  A Kansas man died in an accident just before 6:30p.m. Sunday in Shawnee County.

A vehicle driven by Daniel V. Martinez, 23, Overland Park, was eastbound at 102 West Railroad Avenue (U.S. Highway 24), according to Corporal Jace Beightel with the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department.

The vehicle traveled left of center and struck an industrial forklift parked off the north side of the road.

Martinez was the only occupant of the vehicle. He was transported to a Topeka hospital where he died.

The sheriff’s department did release the name of the victim late Sunday. The accident remains under investigation.

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SHAWNEE COUNTY —  A Kansas man died in an accident just before 6:30p.m. Sunday in Shawnee County.

A vehicle was eastbound at 102 West Railroad Avenue (U.S. Highway 24), according to Corporal Jace Beightel with the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department.

The vehicle traveled left of center and struck an industrial forklift parked off the north side of the road.

The driver was the only occupant of the vehicle. He was transported to a Topeka hospital where he died.

The sheriff’s department did release the name of the victim late Sunday. The accident remains under investigation.