TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The cost of protesting at the Kansas Capitol in Topeka is increasing — sometimes substantially.

Currently, Kansas charges $20 for any event at the Capitol. But beginning Jan. 1, it will charge based on the size of the event and other factors. The lowest price will be $50 for events that require no setup or cleanup.

The Kansas City Star reports factors increasing the price will include if groups require a podium, access to the public address system or tables and chairs.

Kansas Department of Administration spokesman John Milburn says the increase will help the state recover costs it incurs from providing space and cleanup for protests.

Davis Hammet, a Topeka activist, says the price for his group’s event in January went from $20 last year to $500 this year.

MOBERLY, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri man has been charged with causing a crash that killed a 75-year-old woman.

The Moberly Monitor-Index reports that a warrant was issued Thursday for the arrest of 32-year old James Hartung, of Macon. He’s charged with second-degree involuntary manslaughter in the Nov. 9 death of Marlene Mathis, of Cairo.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Hartung was driving at a speed of 89 mph and didn’t hit the brakes before his pickup truck rear-ended Mathis’ sports utility vehicle. The crash happened as Mathis slowed to turn off U.S. 63 onto a Randolph County road.

Troopers say Hartung was following too closely and wasn’t paying attention. A witness reported that Hartung was aggressively weaving in and out of traffic and passed him at a high rate of speed beforehand.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – A major agribusiness company is asking an Arkansas judge to halt the state’s plan to ban an herbicide that’s drawn complaints from farmers across several states who say the weed killer has drifted onto their crops and caused widespread damage.

Monsanto asked a Pulaski County judge Friday to strike down the dicamba ban approved earlier this month by the state Plant Board. The board voted to prohibit the use of the weed killer in the state from April 16 through Oct. 31, and the ban is expected to go before lawmakers next month.

The company added the request to a lawsuit it filed last month challenging a previous ban of its dicamba products. The Plant Board says it has received nearly 1,000 complaints this year about dicamba.

LACLEDE COUNTY — A Missouri man died in an accident just before 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Laclede County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Ford Focus driven by James D. Beck, 49, Hermitage, was eastbound on Highway 64 eight miles west of Lebanon. The vehicle hit a man identified as Richard T. Kanthak, 42, Lebanon, who was standing in the road.

The impact sent the pedestrian into the westbound lane where a 2008 Ford Focus driven by Kenneth L. Ruble, 69, Lebanon, hit him.

Kanthak was pronounced dead at the scene by Laclede County Coroner Steve Murrell.

The drivers were both properly restrained at the time of the accident and not injured, according to the MSHP.   The MSHP did not release details on why Kanthak was in the road.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with an alleged kidnapping.

Just after 11:30p.m. Thursday, police responded to the 1000 Block of SW Clay in Topeka regarding several calls of a woman being attacked and forced into a brown Cadillac SUV, according to Lt. Steve Roth.

Shortly thereafter, a security guard near 29th and SE Indiana called stating that he was flagged down by the victim who needed assistance.

The woman told officers that she had been beaten and forced into a vehicle where the suspect attempted to rape her.

A short time later, officers saw the Cadillac and conducted a high risk stop, taking the suspect identified as 67-year-old Leroy Hudson of Topeka into custody after a brief struggle.

Police booked Hudson into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections for charges in connection with the incident.

The victim sought treatment at a local hospital for minor injuries. Police released no additional details early Friday.

Hudson has a previous conviction for criminal threat, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Jackson County prosecutors say a homeless Kansas City man stabbed his victim with a screwdriver for more than 7 minutes before taking his wallet.

Forty-year-old Sonny Scott was arrested with a blood-covered screwdriver Tuesday after the attack on a 51-year-old man at a car wash. Prosecutors say the victim suffered life-threatening injuries.

The Kansas City Star reports police used surveillance video from the car wash and a nearby convenience store, which showed the 7-minute attack and the assailant going through the victim’s pockets and removing his billfold.

A witness who arrived at the car wash, prompting Scott to leave. The witness told police he knew the assailant and had told him to stay off the property in the past.

Online court records don’t that Scott has an attorney.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – A man accused of killing a 2-year-old Topeka boy more than 11 years ago is free after a jury acquitted him in the case.

The Shawnee County District Court jury on Thursday found 33-year-old Johnathan Davion Mango not guilty of second-degree murder in March 2006 death of Eli Clemens.

An affidavit said the boy died at a Topeka apartment from blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen.

Mango was the former fiancé of Fawn Clemens Mack, the child’s mother. He testified during the trial that he was not responsible for the child’s death.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports witnesses said the youngster had fallen off a slide in a park the day before he died, perhaps injuring his head.

Mango was arrested last year in Florissant, Missouri.